On the first day of Christmas my puppy gave to me The Santa topper from the Christmas tree. On the second day of Christmas my puppy gave to me

The Centers for Disease Control are advising a record 86% of Americans to get inoculated against influenza. For the first time, all three strains in the vaccine are new, based on the types of flu that made their way around the Southern Hemisphere.

Apparently both houses of congress have reached a substantial agreement on a "modified" Wall Street bailout plan...but there are some Republicans who deny there is a bipartisan deal. Straight from the Wall Street Journal...

As full of drama as a soap opera, the supposed bailout agreement blew apart yesterday evening. Read about Henry Paulson kneeling before Nancy Pelosi, Repubs in revolt, Dems blaming McCain and Obama siding with the banking industry.

This doesn't surprise me, since the plan is clearly geared toward saving the cronies and donors of politicos. But it's good to know what these academic economists object to.

I will always remember Paul Newman, not primarily as an actor, but as a person who used the fortune he made from acting to better the lives of millions. Here's an obituary from SLATE MAGAZINE on just that subject.

""We've been working on this a long time. We've still got more to do to finalize it, but I think we're there. So far, so good," beamed Henry Paulson. Good for whom?

Heartwarming story of thousands of baby squirrels knocked out of their nests by Ike being hand-fed & raised for healthy release by the Houston chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Read about their work to save these babies.

Would you be happy if your husband spent a good deal of his time with another woman? Here's a touching story of one wife who is.

This is a sensation - a baby who grew in the abdomen of his mother survived...