NEW CONGRESS CONVENES, BOEHNER RE-ELECTED SPEAKER: The new 113th Congress convened on Thursday (January 3rd), featuring slightly more Democrats -- two more in the
Senate and seven more in the House -- and facing a whole range of problems to deal with, including the coming debt ceiling battle. House Speaker John Boehner was re-elected to his post, but with just two votes to spare, as 14 conservative Republicans either voted for someone else or didn't cast a ballot. In the Senate, the chamber will have a record 20 women, as well as the first black Republican in more than three decades, Tim Scott of South Carolina, who was appointed to take over the seat of Republican Senator Jim DeMint, who stopped down from his seat to join a conservative think tank.

CLINTON TO RETURN TO WORK NEXT WEEK: The State Department said Thursday (January 4th) that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is resting at home in New York after being treated for a blood clot in her head and plans to return to her office next week. The 65-year-old Clinton had been released from the hospital Wednesday after being treated there for several days for the clot, which formed after Clinton fainted and suffered a concussion when
she got dehydrated while battling a stomach virus. Doctors says Clinton is expected to make a full recovery. The State Department has said that the sectary of state is keeping up with her work by talking to her staff and receiving memos.

AUTO INDUSTRY HAS A GREAT 2012: Automakers saw better-than-expected sales in December, capping a banner 2012 in which U.S. car sales rose to a five-year high.  There were an estimated 14.5 million vehicles sold last year, up 13 percent from 2011 for the biggest yearly increase since 1984. Analysts expect sales to continue to increase this year, with 15 million vehicles forecast to be sold in 2013. At the same time, however, auto sales in the U.S. are still below pre-Great Recession levels, when annual sales averaged 16.7 million in the decade prior to 2008.  The auto industry was slammed by the recession, leading the federal government to bail out both General Motors and Chrysler.

SHELTER HOUSING SUPERSTORM SANDY PETS HAS TO SHUT DOWN: A Brooklyn animal shelter that's still housing 280 pets displaced by Superstorm Sandy in late October has to shut down, and because nearly half of the pets are still unclaimed, the ASPCA, which
runs the shelter, says it can't rule out having to euthanize the animals left behind. The facility was originally supposed to close down in mid-December, but the date was pushed back because of the number of unclaimed pets. Most of the owners that the ASPCA has identified are living in temporary housing or with family and friends, making them unable to take their pets home. For pets whose owners don't come back, the ASPCA is looking to place them in foster homes before turning to euthanasia as a last resort. However, after Hurricane
Katrina, many unclaimed pets were put up for adoption and placed in homes, only
to have their owners return months later and try to get them back.

STUDY: 1 IN 24 ADMIT RECENTLY NODDING OFF WHILE DRIVING: In what may be a surprising statistic to many Americans, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 24 U.S. adults -- about four percent -- say they had recently nodded off while driving. And if that's not bad enough, health officials behind the study think the number is really probably higher, because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two while driving. CDC researchers found that drowsy driving is more common in men, people ages 25 to 34, those who averaged less than six hours of sleep each
night, and -- for an unknown reason -- people in Texas. The government estimates that about
three percent of fatal crashes involve drowsy drivers, but other estimates have
put the number as high as 33 percent.

SPECULATION OVER WHETHER NORTH KOREA'S FIRST LADY HAD A BABY: It's usually gossip sites that speculate over whether some actress or singer is sporting a "baby bump" and will soon be a mother, but it's something North Korea watchers are currently doing, suspicious
that the wife of the secretive communist nation's leader, Kim Jong-Un, may have recently been pregnant and given birth. The speculation began when North Korea's Central News Agency released photos taken at a musical performance on October 29th that showed First Lady Ri Sul-Ju wearing a long, loose yellow knit jacket with a bow on her stomach and what looked like a larger belly. It was particularly noticed because it was a contrast to the vivid, fitted dresses she'd previously been seen wearing. Then Ri was seen at a December 17th
memorial for Kim's late father, Kim Jong-Il, who'd died a year earlier. She was wearing the traditional Korean black funeral costume, which is wide below the chest. Still, her face
appeared swollen and what looked like a stomach bump could still be seen. But
then the most recent photos released, taken on New Year's Day, show Ri with a
visibly thinner waistline, and back to wearing a Chanel-style pink jacket and
skirt. The North Korean government hasn't confirmed any of the baby speculation.

JACK WHITE HAS BEST-SELLING VINYL ALBUM OF 2012: Jack White's debut solo album, Blunderbuss, was the biggest selling vinyl recording of 2012, according to his publicist.
The Nielsen Soundscan sales chart for vinyl indicated that Blunderbuss sold more than 33,000 copies during the past 12 months, knocking the Beatles's Abbey Road off the chart's top spot for the first time in three years. The sales of Blunderbuss are also the highest for a
new album and not a catalog item since Soundscan began tracking vinyl sales in
2008.

• Blunderbuss is also up for three Grammy Awards this year, including Album of
       the Year. The Grammys will be handed out next month in Los Angeles.
• Meanwhile, White's Third Man record label has issued three rare and exclusive new items, two on vinyl and the third on DVD.
• The first vinyl offering is an album titled Jack White And The Bricks: Live On The Garden Bowl Lanes. The set, pressed on white vinyl, documents the first-ever live show by Jack White And The Bricks, a short-lived act featuring White and his future Raconteurs bandmate Brendan Benson on guitar.
• The band only played for a few months in 1999 and the album was recorded on White's 24th birthday, July 9th, 999 at a bowling alley in Detroit.
• In addition to covers of songs from Bob Dylan and ? And The Mysterians, the set
       features early versions of tunes later recorded by the White Stripes, including
       "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and "The Union Forever"
• The second vinyl release is a seven-inch single featuring a 2004 demo by White and Benson of the Raconteurs song "Steady, As She Goes" and a 1999
       demo of the future White Stripes track "The Same Boy You've Always
       Known."
• The third item, White Heat, is a concert DVD of the White Stripes and Whirlwind Heat on tour together in Europe during winter 2002.
• All three releases are part of a package offered to members of the Third Man club known as the Vault.

METALLICA STILL SUPPORTING PARENTS OF MURDERED FAN: More than
three years after 20-year-old Metallica fan Morgan Harrington vanished after leaving one of the band's concerts, only for her remains to be found several months later, the young girl's parents say that the band is still supporting their efforts to solve her murder and bring her killer to justice.  Morgan's mother, Gil Harrington, told Noisecreep, "It has been humbling from the very beginning. Two days after Morgan was abducted, they could have distanced themselves from an ugly occurrence. But (Metallica frontman) James Hetfield called this house to speak to Dan (Harrington, Morgan's dad), as a father, and asked, 'What can we do?' Three years out, they are still doing things. James participated with the FBI and did public service
announcements."

• Metallica has also added $50,000 to the $100,000 reward already offered by the Harringtons for information on their daughter's murder, and invested another $50,000 in a scholarship named in her memory.
• Yet another $40,000 from the sale of a special "Enter Sandman" T-shirt was donated in Harrington's name to a medical scholarship fund at Virginia Tech, where the victim was a student.
      
• The case remains unsolved and Morgan's parents continue to press the investigation in the hope that the killer does not claim another victim.
• Morgan vanished while hitchhiking home from the band's show on the Virginia Tech campus on October 17th, 2009. Her remains were found on a farm about 10
       miles from the venue in January 2010.

PEARL JAM UPDATE: Singer Eddie Vedder gave an update to Rolling Stone on the status
of the band's 10th studio album, which will follow up 2009's Backspacer.  He said, "(We're) maybe halfway there. We're taking our time . . . at some point, we'll join forces again for sure, but the band is as healthy as ever and I'm sure it's good to get a little break from each other." He added, "We'll be ready to go when we're ready to go." Vedder also said that
he and his bandmates "really work together as a unit these days. It's really the compilation of all the parts. It's not like one guy trying to tell everybody, 'These are my songs. This is what it should sound like.' We've figured out after all these years that if everybody just puts their stamp on it, then it sounds like how we want it to." (Loudwire)

MATT SORUM IN THE STUDIO: Former Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum has entered the studio to begin recording his new solo album. Sorum said that
the project "will not be a rock record and I am not playing drums on it.  (I am) singing and (playing) acoustic (guitar) mainly, (and) using another drummer (for the recording sessions)." Sorum, who issued his first solo effort, Hollywood Zen, added that his new music sounds like "a cross between The Doors, Pink Floyd, Wilco, David Gray, Peter Murphy and Portishead."

AIRPORT PLAYS DOWN CHANCE OF BEING NAMED AFTER OZZY OSBOURNE: Representatives for Birmingham Airport in England have played down reports that the
facility could be renamed in honor of Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne.
The Birmingham Mail reported a few days ago that former Sabbath manager Jim Simpson had launched a campaign to have the airport named after Ozzy, with at least one city councilor named Philip Parkin interested in pursuing the idea as well.

But an airport spokesperson threw cold water on the idea, telling Travel Mole,
"We've no plans to rename the airport so we're not quite sure where the story's come from. But we're certainly not in discussions."

• All four original members of Sabbath -- Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi,
       bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward -- are from Birmingham and formed the group there in the late '60s.
• Simpson floated the idea of the airport name change after a proposal for a "Black Sabbath Day" fell through, saying, "The message that would carry is instantly international, confident, powerful, unforgettable and says 'Hey world, we are proud of
       our own.'"
• Osbourne, Iommi and Butler, but not Ward, are currently working on their
       first album together under the Sabbath banner since 1978.

CHECK IT OUT: Airports named after celebrities http://tinyurl.com/clprxoc

STEVE JOBS BIOPIC WILL HIT THEATERS IN APRIL: The Steve Jobs biopic jOBS starring Ashton Kutcher will be released by Open Road Films in April. The film makes its
worldwide premiere as the closing-night film at Sundance this month.

'CARRIE' REMAKE PUSHED TO HALLOWEEN 2013: The release date for the remake of the 1976 horror film Carrie has been pushed from March 15th to October 18th to take advantage of the Halloween audience. The remake stars Chloe
Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore.

JENNA DEWAN-TATUM WILL BE RETURNING TO 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM': Even though her character appeared to have been killed off earlier in the season, Jenna Dewan-Tatum will be returning to season two of American Horror Story. It has not been made clear in what capacity her character will appear.

HBO IS BEING SUED OVER ANIMAL ABUSE ON 'LUCK' SET: Barbara
Casey, who worked for 13 years as the director of production for the American Humane Association's film and television unit, is suing her former employer, HBO, and the production company behind Luck for trying to cover up the abuse and safety violations that occurred on-set and resulted in the death of three horses. Casey also alleges that she was wrongfully terminated from her position for blowing the whistle on the abuse.

DIET COMPANIES DON'T WANT KIM KARDASHIAN: Reps for Jenny Craig and Medifast have made statements to TMZ to say they are not interested in hiring Kim Kardashian as a celebrity spokesperson when she is ready to lose her baby weight. Medifast said they are not looking for any celebrity endorsements and Jenny Craig said Kim doesn't fit their "real results for real women" slogan.

BRISTOL PALIN FILES FOR RESTRAINING ORDER FROM ALLEGED STALKER: Bristol Palin has been granted a temporary restraining order against 39-year-old Texan Michael Cummings. Cummings allegedly sent her a marriage proposal complete with a ring and showed up at her mother's house during Tripp Palin's birthday party.

BRADLEY COOPER AND ZOE SALDANA SPLIT UP AGAIN: Bradley Cooper
and Zoe Saldana have called it quits for the second time. The couple had planned to spend the holidays together in Europe with Bradley's family but after the breakup Zoe opted to celebrate the new year in Miami instead.

CHRIS PRATT AND ANNA FARIS' PREMATURE SON IS HEALTHY: Chris Pratt appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote Zero Dark Thirty and shared that his four-month-old son Jack is healthy and starting to laugh after being born nine weeks
premature. The newborn spent a month in the intensive care unit after his
birth.

JENNIE GARTH REVEALS DIET SECRETS IN 'HEALTH' MAGAZINE: Beverly Hills 90210 star Jennie Garth covers the January/February issue of Health magazine and discusses how she keeps in shape as a 40-year-old mother of three. She says that she does kickboxing,
boxing, and weight training with a trainer three days a week and eats a lot of salads with beets.

GERARD DEPARDIEU IN EXILE FROM FRANCE: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a document granting citizenship to Life of Pi actor Gerard Depardieu. Gerard is in a dispute with his home country of France over the president's attempt to raise
taxes for the rich by 75 percent.

The Huffington Post reports that the actor wrote an open letter in December saying he
would turn over his passport and French social security card. He also stated in
the letter, "I'm a true European, a citizen of the world."

• There is no word on whether Gerard has accepted the citizenship but France's civil code requires a person to have another nationality if they are seeking to give up French citizenship.
• Depardieu is well-known in Russia for appearing in a credit card ad for Sovietsky
       Bank.
• Russia has a flat income tax of 13 percent.

NEW WEBSITE CAN FIND WHERE INSTAGRAM PHOTOS WERE TAKEN: A new website created by students at Rutgers University in New Jersey harvests image data from Instagram and then uses Google Street View to find exactly where the photo was taken. The website is called "The Beat," and allows users to filter photos from Instagram by searching for key words. The search then displays photos tagged with the search term along with images of the address where they were taken.  Privacy advocates say this website highlights just how much personal information we make available online when we upload our photos. One privacy
campaigner says, "Your smartphone is a tracking device that lets you make
calls." (Daily Mail)

IT'S ONLINE-DATING HIGH SEASON: More people are looking online for love this time of year. Vice president of customer service at eHarmony, Grant Langston, says each year on Christmas Day a surge of people sign up for the online-dating service, which then bumps up on New Year's Day and continues until Valentine's Day. Match.com reports that 64-percent of single's 2013 New Year's resolutions are about finding love this year. Langston says the increased activity on dating sites between December and February means the pool of prospective daters is bigger. A representative from Match.com says, "This is a time when hope and optimism are strong within the single community." (Mashable)

PEOPLE WHO FEEL LOW IN STATUS CRAVE MORE BLING: A new study finds that people who feel low in status try to compensate by buying high-status goods such as fur coats, Italian suits, and caviar. Lead study author Phillip Mazzocco of Ohio State University says it is a basic psychological tendency that all humans have when we feel inferior in some part of our life- we wish to compensate. Mazzocco says that because our society is consumption-oriented we compensate by buying high-status products. For the experiment, researchers told 146-American adults, half white and half black, that they were participating in a study of consumer preferences, and asked them to rate ten products. Overall, blacks evaluated high-status products more positively than whites did. It was also found that blacks who considered their
race to be an important part of their identity rated high-status goods higher
than did blacks who had lower racial identification. (UPI)

A SOCIAL NETWORK FOR CATS?
Attention cat-lovers-- a new social network called Catmoji is a social network
designed specifically for sharing cat pictures and videos. Users can browse cat
photos by categories such as cute, funny, happy, sad, or "surprise."
Each user has a profile with a timeline. Designers of the site explain it by
saying, "Because the Internet loves cats and we want to make the Internet
a better and happier place with cats."

• Check out a cat's profile on the site: http://tinyurl.com/aee2tjr

APPLE SAYS "DO NOT DISTURB" BUG WILL BE FIXED SOON: Apple says the bug affecting the "Do Not Disturb" mode of iPhones and iPads will automatically correct
itself after January 7th (Monday.) On New Year's day iPhone and iPad users reported that the "Do Not Disturb" mode failed to turn off as scheduled. Apple said in a statement that users can manually turn the feature on and off until the issue is fixed on Monday (January 7th.) When Apple devices are switched to "Do Not Disturb" mode calls go straight to voicemail
and text messages are silent. (CBS)

HOT CHOCOLATE TASTES BETTER OUT OF AN ORANGE CUP: Researchers from Polytechnic University of Valencia and University of Oxford recently conducted a study and found that people think hot chocolate tastes better when served in an orange or cream-colored cup. For the experiment researchers served the same hot chocolate in four different colored cups - white, cream, red, and orange. The 57 participants said the chocolate was slightly sweeter and more aromatic when served from orange or cream-colored cups. One researcher says that this effect occurs often, and more attention should be paid to the color of the container food and drinks are served in as it has "more potential than one could
imagine." (Gothamist)

CareerCast Releases List of Most
Stressful/Least Stressful Jobs for 2013

CareerCast.com has come out with its annual list of the Most Stressful and Least Stressful
Jobs, using 11 criteria to put together its picks for 2013.

Most Stressful:

1. Enlisted Military Personnel
2. Military Generals
3. Firefighter
4. Commercial Airline Pilot
5. PR Executive -- Although this job may be a surprise, CareerCast publisher Tony Lee explains, "Their job is completely in the public eye, trying to manage awareness and branding for various products and services." Additionally, if something bad happens, they are the first ones called.

Least Stressful: - Lee explains that key to these jobs are that people have control of they day, managing their pace and workflow without someone breathing down their neck.

1. University professor
2. Seamstress/Tailor
3. Medical Records Technician
4. Jeweler
5. Medical Laboratory Technician