VOTE ON PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD MOVE TODAY AT U.N.: A vote is set to take place at the U.N. today (November 29th) on a Palestinian bid for indirect recognition of statehood. A Palestinian resolution would change its U.N. observer status from an "entity" to a "non-member state," implicitly recognizing a state of Palestine. It's expected to pass easily in the U.N. General Assembly, including with support from more than a dozen European nations. However, the U.S., Israel, and a few other states will vote against it. The U.S. mounted an ultimately fruitless last-ditch effort Wednesday to get the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reconsider, saying the only road to true statehood is through reaching a peace deal with Israel. However, talks have been stalled for two years, mainly over the issue of continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.

MODERATE GOP SENATOR COLLINS NOW SAYS CONCERNED ABOUT RICE: The potential nomination of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice for secretary of state took a fresh blow Wednesday (November 28th) with moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine saying she wouldn't be able to back any nomination until more questions are answered about Rice's televised statements about the Benghazi attack five days after it happened. Collins raised her concerns after a meeting yesterday with Rice about Benghazi. Collins' public statements of concern come after Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham
and Kelly Ayotte have led a sustained effort against Rice over her initial comments that the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was spurred by a protest over an
anti-Islam video. She has said she was relying on talking points from the intelligence community. Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell have held two days of private meetings with Republican senators in hopes of easing their concerns, but it appears to have
backfired.

TWO WINNERS OF RECORD POWERBALL JACKPOT: Powerball officials say there are two winning tickets for last night's (November 28th) record $579.9 million jackpot, one sold in Arizona and the other in Missouri. The numbers drawn were: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and Powerball of 6 for the largest Powerball jackpot ever and the second-largest lottery jackpot of any kind in the U.S.

REPORT: SEA LEVELS RISING FASTER THAN PROJECTED: New satellite measurements suggest that sea levels are rising around the world some 60 percent faster than the most recent projections from the U.N.'s climate change panel in 2007. The new report from European researchers found that sea levels are rising at an annual rate of 0.12 inches,
faster than the estimate of 0.08 inches. The rise in sea levels is believed to be driven by glacier melt due to climate change, as well as thermal expansion, which is the expansion of ocean water as it warms. In gauging the increase in global temperatures, however, the new research found it corresponding closely with the climate change panel's estimates, finding that warming is happening by about 0.28 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.

EGYPT SENTENCES KORAN-BURNING PASTOR, ANTI-ISLAM FILMMAKER, OTHERS TO DEATH: An Egyptian court has sentenced Koran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones and
seven other people who are all Coptic Christians to death for their involvement or relation to the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims, that sparked riots across the Muslim world two months ago. Among the seven is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the Egyptian-American man who made the film and is currently serving jail time in the U.S. for probation violations related to a
previous bank fraud conviction. The eight people were found guilty of, quote, "harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information," all charges that carry the death penalty. However, unless any of the eight people ever enter Egypt on their own, the chances are near zero that they'll ever face the declared punishment.

FIRST LADY UNVEILS WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS: First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the White House Christmas decorations on Wednesday (November 28th), which this year have the theme of "Joy to All," in a special ceremony for military families and their children. The biggest of the Executive Mansion's 54 Christmas trees is a 18-foot-6-inch
Fraser fir in the Blue Room, which features handmade decorations by children whose parents are stationed on military bases around the world. There also a tree that features special Gold Star ornaments bearing the names of those who died in combat. Other trees feature tributes to past first ladies and their Christmas themes, going back to Jacqueline Kennedy's Nutcracker-themed decorations. In what has become somewhat of a tradition, there are also decorations throughout the White House in the likeliness of the Obamas' dog, Bo.  And, as always, there is the nearly 300-pound gingerbread house that's an exact replica of the White House.

IVANKA TRUMP DENIES INTERVENTION WITH DAD OVER OBAMA BASHING: Ivanka Trump went on Twitter Wednesday (November 28th) to deny a recent New York Daily News story that she and her two brothers staged an intervention of sorts with their father, Donald Trump, in mid-October to try to get him to stop bashing President Obama.  According to the story, the Trump siblings told their father that his attacks on the president were hurting his image. Trump himself denied the story and Ivanka tweeted yesterday, "I totally respect @realDonaldTrump's opinions & rights to articulate his views, which is what I would have told
@nydailynews if they'd called me to fact check their false story."  Ivanka's brother, Donald Jr.,
also slammed the report on Monday, tweeting, "This article is nonsense, never happened, but what's news anymore if u can't make it up."

STEROID-ERA STARS BONDS, CLEMENS, SOSA ON HALL OF FAME BALLOT: Barry
Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, three of the biggest names of baseball's steroids era, all of whom were tainted by accusations that they used performance-enhancing drugs, appear for the first time this year on the Hall of Fame ballot, which was released yesterday (November 28th). Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, who vote on the candidates, will have to decide if they want to weigh the suspected doping against the players'
on-field accomplishments, and if so, by how much. The task will be a big one with these three players: Bonds is the all-time home run champion and won a record seven MVP awards; Clemens won a record seven Cy Young awards and is ninth on the all-time wins list; and Sosa ranks eighth in career home runs.  Still, recent history isn't a good omen for them, as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro haven't been voted in despite having Hall of Fame-caliber
playing records because of the doping questions surrounding them. Voting results will be announced in January.

NHL TALKS RESUME WITH MEDIATOR HELP: NHL talks resumed for the first time in a
week on Wednesday (November 28th), but this time negotiators for the league and
the players were joined by federal mediators for the first time. Talks are set to continue today. It's hoped the mediators will be able to help end the lockout in enough time to have a shortened NHL season. All games through December 14th have already been canceled, as well as the New Year's Day Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend.

SEVENDUST SETS RELEASE DATE FOR NINTH ALBUM: Sevendust has set March 26th, 2013 as the release date for its ninth studio album, Black Out The Sun. The disc will be issued, like the last several from the group, through their own 7Bros Records label. A first single called "Decay" will hit the radio airwaves and digital retailers on January
22nd.

  • In a recent interview with Revolver, guitarist John Connolly described the new music as having "a darker vibe...but there's still plenty of melody. It fits right in with Animosity, Alpha and our self-titled album. Lots of heavy stuff and some more mellow moody songs as well."
  • Black Out The Sun follows up 2010's Cold Day Memory, which notched the highest Billboard chart debut of the band's career at Number 12.
  • Sevendust has also unveiled the dates for a North American tour that will begin on February 2nd in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Support will come from Lacuna Coil. Tickets for all the shows confirmed so far go on sale this Friday (November 30th).
  • Confirmed Sevendust tour dates (subject to change):

         February 2 - Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy's

         February 3 - Jacksonville, NC - Hooligans

         February 5 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club

         February 6 - Clifton Park, NY - Upstate Concert Hall

         February 7 - Portland, ME - The Asylum

         February 8 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock

         February 9 - Lynchburg, VA - Phase 2

         February 10 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works

         February 12 - Fayetteville, AR - George's Majestic Lounge

         February 14 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

         February 15 - Broussard, LA - The Station

         February 16 - Beaumont, TX - Dixie Dance Hall

         February 17 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution! Music Room

         February 19 - Springfield, IL - Boondocks

         February 21 - Bloomington, IL - The Castle Theatre

         February 22 - South Bend, IN - Club Fever

         February 23 - Cedar Rapids, IA - Pepsi Pavilion

FORMER BASSIST APPEARING ON NEW QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ALBUM: Former Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri will contribute guest vocals to the band's new album, according to Loudwire. Oliveri, an important member of the band in its early years, was thrown out in 2004 by frontman Josh Homme over allegations that Oliveri had abused his girlfriend. Earlier this year, however, Homme appeared on a track by Oliveri's band Mondo Generator, indicating that the two friends had mended their fences.

Homme told us a while back that he was sorry the split with Oliveri turned into a
public feud: "That separation there was tough enough for me in the first place, and then on top of it, it ended up being, like, more public. You know, I've always had sort of a 'my
business is not your business' sort of, and more to protect the people I care about than anything else. It's like that in my family, it's like, you don't talk about your family outside of the family, you know."

  • With Oliveri back on board for the new Queens album -- at least in limited fashion -- that means the disc will feature three members from the lineup that recorded 2002's classic Songs For The Deaf: Homme, Oliveri and Dave Grohl, who has returned to
         play drums on the record.
  • Oliveri has also rejoined the band Kyuss Lives!, which features several members of that legendary stoner rock group. Homme co-founded and played in Kyuss and got embroiled in a legal battle over the rights to the name with the members of the current version earlier this year -- at which point Oliveri left.
  • Oliveri made the news in July of 2011 when he was involved in a five-hour stand-off with police, who were called to Oliveri's home over a domestic dispute between Oliveri and his then-girlfriend. Oliveri later took a plea deal in the case and avoided
         jail time.
  • The new Queens Of The Stone Age album, the follow-up to 2007's Era Vulgaris, is due out sometime in early 2013.

NYU STUDENT REPLIES ALL TO 40,000 CLASSMATES: An e-mail sent from New York University's Bursar's Office to nearly 40,000 students was sent using the wrong listserv, which allowed students to 'reply all.' The student who ended up making the first 'reply all' did it entirely on accident. Max Wiseltier meant to forward the e-mail to his mom but accidentally
sent it to everyone when he clicked 'reply all.' Max realized his mistake and promptly apologized with a second 'reply all.' Once students realized that they were all on the same e-mail, many decided to chime in on the conversation. One student wrote, "So how is everyone today?" Another wrote, to everyone, "Would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck?" The string of 'reply all' messages that followed has been categorized into one event: NYU's "replyallcalypse." An employee at NYU's Student Resource Center later came forward to apologize for the e-mail, which he says is his fault. He wrote, "Hi everyone. I'm the
culprit behind the Lyris blunder. I was assisting the Bursar with an email message and in populating one of the SRC Listserves did not realize the list I was using was one that allowed for responses and thus the 'replyallcalypse.' I take full responsibility for this blunder and offer my sincere apologies for the frustrating situation that was created." (Yahoo)

NO ONE GOT SHOT, STABBED, SLASHED OR MURDERED IN NYC ON MONDAY: The NYPD announced on Tuesday (November 27th) that there were no shootings, stabbings or murders in New York City between 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night (November 25th) and 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Police say they can't remember the last time that happened. According to reports, there was one non-violent gunshot on Monday when a teen accidentally shot himself in the thigh. (New York Daily News)

OREGON DAD USES SCANTILY CLAD DAUGHTER TO SELL CAR: A father in Oregon who was trying to sell his 1977 Datsun decided the best way to go about taking photos was to have his 20-year-old daughter pose seductively, and scantily clad, with the vehicle. The photos showcase Lexxa Ridley with her dad's car in various poses and a couple of
outfits. Kim Ridley told AdWeek that he has very few regrets, explaining, "If I felt bad about it, I wouldn't do it." (MsnNOW)

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EVER FELT LIKE SLATHERING BACON ON YOUR FACE? From the people who brought you Bacon Salt and Baconnaise, it's Bacon shaving cream! Justin and Dave, of J&D Foods, have 2,500 jars of "pork-scented" lather available as of yesterday (Wednesday, November
28th). The guys claim that their new product is best used "after a hot shower or before an important date." At press time the company still had the shaving cream in stock.

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EIGHT GREAT PLACES TO HIDE HOLIDAY GIFTS FROM KIDS (The Stir)

1) The Attic. It's dusty. It's scary. It might be impossible for the kids to even get up there. Just be sure to store your gifts in a big black garbage bag or two to keep the dust off!

2) Your Underwear Drawer. No kid (especially boys) is going to want to dig through your underwear drawer. Or even worse, dad's drawer.

3) Suitcases. Kids will never suspect this one! Whether you have small duffel bags or huge suitcases, hide as many of your gifts as you can in these travel necessities. Just make sure you're not going on any trips before the holidays!

4) Right in Front of Their Eyes. The best hiding place is right out in the open. Well not completely. But store your gifts in crates or large boxes, and label them with boring, frightening things that will terrify your children.  Grab a Sharpie and write "Math Study Guides" or "Tax Receipts 2007" on them.

5) The Garbage. Get yourself an extra large garbage can and keep it in your garage. Put your presents in a large black garbage bag and then keep it in the can. Just be careful NOT to put that can out on Garbage Days!

6) Under Your Bed. Put your gifts in large black garbage bags and hide them under your bed. Too obvious, you say? Okay, then add a number of decoys.  Fill a handful of bags with old clothes and stick those under the bed too, surrounding the actual gifts.

7) In the Hamper. If you have a large hamper, stick the presents at the bottom and cover with dirty clothes. Alternatively, do the same thing in your closet with a large box, but cover with a mound of old dirty clothes.

8) Your Car. Keep what you can in the locked trunk of your car. As long as your kids don't look back there while you're out shopping, they'll never think to look there.