Newtown celebrates Christmas amid signs of mourning

NEWTOWN, Conn. - Newtown celebrated Christmas amid piles of snow-covered teddy bears and heaps of flowers as volunteers manned a 24-hour candlelight vigil in memory of the 20 children and six adults shot to death in the second-largest school shooting in U.S. history.Well-wishers from around the country showed up Tuesday morning to hang ornaments on memorial Christmas trees, while police officers from...

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Bolivia’s Morales visits Cuba after Chavez surgery

HAVANA (AP) — Bolivian President Evo Morales has made a lightning trip to Havana where key ally Hugo Chavez is convalescing after cancer surgery.Morales did not speak to foreign journalists during his weekend visit. Cuban state-run media didn’t confirm that he visited Chavez, but said he came “to express his support” for the Venezuelan president. The Cuban government had invited media to cover Morales’...

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Reaction to the death of actor Jack Klugman

Celebrities on Monday reacted to the death of “Odd Couple” star Jack Klugman, who died Monday at age 90. Here are samples of sentiments expressed on Twitter:___“R.I.P. Jack Klugman, Oscar, Quincy a man whose career spanned almost 50 years. I first saw him on the Twilight Zone. Cool guy wonderful actor.” — Whoopi Goldberg.___“You made my whole family laugh together.” — Actor Jon Favreau, of “Swingers,”...

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‘Dystextia’: Gibberish texts sound stroke alarm

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Imagine you were a devoted husband, waiting to hear from your wife about her due date after a visit to the obstetrician, and you saw these on your phone:“every where thinging days nighing”“Some is where!”That’s what happened last December to a Boston-area man, who knew that autocorrect – known for its bizarre replacements – was turned off on his 11-week-pregnant wife’s...

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Nasty weather threatens Gulf Coast for Christmas

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nasty weather, including a chance of strong tornadoes and howling thunderstorms, could be on the way for Christmas Day along the Gulf Coast from east Texas to north Florida.The storms held off long enough, though, to let Christmas Eve bonfires light the way for Pere Noel along the Mississippi River, officials said.Farther north, much of Oklahoma and Arkansas were under a winter...

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Taliban not demanding Afghan power monopoly

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban representatives at a conference did not insist on total power in Afghanistan and pledged to grant rights to women that the militant Islamist group itself brutally suppressed in the past, according to a Taliban statement received Sunday.The pledges emerged from a rare meeting last week involving Taliban and Kabul government representatives.The less strident substance...

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How to Get Free Last-Minute Shipping

First, the bad news: the cut off for free shipping on most online sites was Tuesday, Dec 18th. But the good news – we’ve got some sneaky ways to finagle free rush shipping and a list of sites still offering free shipping guaranteed to arrive before December 25th.Free Rush ShippingSome of the biggest online retailers are still offering free last minute shipping:Barnes & Noble – free shipping on...

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Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel and husband to separate

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel and her husband Jason Hoppy are separating, Frankel announced on Sunday.“It brings me great sadness to say that Jason and I are separating. This was an extremely difficult decision that, as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family,” Frankel said in a statement confirmed by her representative.“We have love and respect...

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn’t cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it’s monitoring in New York and New Jersey.But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm,...

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NRA chief LaPierre fires back at his critics

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults."If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," the head of...

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