Israel Launches Unprecedented Series of Strikes on Gaza

 

Palestinians carry the body of a Palestinan from the rubble following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —  Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from Gaza pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of air strikes Saturday, killing at least 145 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day in Gaza in recent memory.

Knicks fall to Timberwolves for worst skid of the season

Knicks shoot 39% from the field and turn the ball over 15 times in the home loss.

With nine stitches on the left side of his head and a bandage partially covering his left eye after taking an elbow in the first half, Chris Duhon might have been the luckiest guy at the Garden Friday night: he didn’t have to cover his eyes as the Knicks suffered an embarrassing 120-107 loss to the Timberwolves.

Maybe it’s something about the day after holidays – Minnesota’s last win had come in Oklahoma City on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. The Timberwolves had come to the Garden losers of 13 in a row.

Santa gunman was in bitter divorce, lost job

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

COVINA, Calif. (AP) — A man who carried out a Christmas Eve massacre and arson dressed as Santa at the home of his former in-laws apparently intended to flee the U.S., but his plans were dashed after the inferno he created severely burned his arms and melted his red costume onto his body, police said Friday.

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, a laid-off aerospace worker, apparently shot some of his nine victims execution-style in a plot to destroy his ex-wife’s family after a costly divorce that was finalized last week. He had an airline ticket for a Christmas morning flight to Canada and $17,000 in cash on his body, some attached to his legs with plastic wrap and some in a girdle, Covina police Chief Kim Raney said. He did not know the Canadian destination.

Cabinet Choices Touch off Scramble in States

President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet choices have sent a ripple through state politics, fostering behind-the-scenes jockeying to fill key vacancies in the shadow of the Chicago scandal over filling Obama’s Senate seat.

The shift started with the election of Obama and his vice president-elect, Joe Biden, senators from Illinois and Delaware respectively. His Cabinet and White House staff selections created two more Senate openings, as well as two in the House and two in gubernatorial seats, arousing interest from some of the nation’s most famous political families while creating opportunities for less prominent rising stars.

Goodbye for Brett Favre might be short & bittersweet

Brett Favre’s completion percentage may be high this year, but his arm strength might be at all-time low.

Well, of course we know how big this Sunday is for the Jets. If good fortune and better football prevail, the franchise might yet wriggle its way out of the bad ending it has penned for itself.

 

 

 

But there is another important bit of closure up for grabs, and that involves the quarterback. Brett Favre is not just another mercenary temp. He is a beloved, longstanding figure in the NFL, known for his straight talk and his straight-arrow spirals. He’s been playing in this league since 1991, started every game since the Packers’ fourth one in 1992, and led Green Bay to four NFC Championship Games.

Like Favre said this week: He holds the record for all the good and bad things a quarterback can possibly accomplish. New York gets to view his work right now, the way the Met features a special exhibition by Gustave Courbet.

Stores cut prices to entice post-holiday shoppers

A line of shoppers extends out of the store into the mall hallway at the Game Stop store in Berlin, Vt., Friday, Dec. 26, 2008. Shoppers hit the stores early Friday to return unwanted gifts and take advantage of drastic price cuts offered by retailers desperate to get rid of old merchandise and boost their less-than-cheery holiday sales.

Two hours before the doors were set to open Friday morning, a Miami-area Wal-Mart parking lot was full of cars — and possibility. But in a Christmas shopping season in which many Americans were unwilling to spend, even a packed lot doesn’t always translate into holiday cheer for stores.

As stores offered rock-bottom prices and extended return policies, shoppers returned to the malls the day after Christmas. But many were on the hunt for big bargains on specific items or hoping to return unwanted gifts — not looking to splurge.