Celebrity News

Celebrants of the holiday have delighted in such customs as festive goods and handcrafted gifts like decorations and wooden toys, musical performances, rides for kids, mulled wine (Glühwein), cider, hot chocolate, and of course, delicious food that fills the senses and pleases the palate. Illuminated with the beautiful bright glow of Christmas lights, these outdoor markets offer everything from spicy sausages and gingerbread to sumptuous sweet pastries and confectionary Christmas cakes. These culinary delights and seasonal scents combine to make these Christmas markets as much of a delight to the nose as they are to the eyes and the ears. And they’re all set up to be especially pedestrian-friendly. If all of this sounds like the perfect atmosphere to celebrate the sacred holiday season, then Christmastime might be your time to book a visit to Germany, where you will be overwhelmed by the prospect of more than  all over the country to which you can plan a visit. Whethe...

From tax-free shopping to wine tasting, here are the top five reasons to make a trip to Oregon’s Washington County this holiday season. 1. Tax-Free Shopping:  With holiday sales at every turn, and no sales tax to be found, make Oregon’s Washington County your go-to destination for all of your holiday needs. Find unique gifts at local boutiques or save big time at one of the area’s "big-box" stores. Of course, Oregon wine always makes a perfect gift. 2. U-Cut Christmas Trees:  If you’re planning a holiday road trip this Thanksgiving, Washington County is a great place to cut down your own Christmas tree. Oregon ranks among the top tree-producing states in the U.S., and Washington County has a in the area, ready for that perfect tree to be taken home. 3. Wine Tasting:  Thanksgiving kicks of the holiday season, and at wineries throughout the northern Willamette Valley.  The holiday months are the season for celebration; harvest is over and new vintages ar...

Since the tragic death of Paul Walker many have speculated the initial cause of his death. Now     that the L.A. County Coroner’s Office has completed their examination via dental records for both Walker, and his friend, Roger Rodas, who was driving the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. Read more at 

When the economy started to show troubling signs, many decided to skip college and join the workforce earlier.  According to the , more than 60 percent of U.S. workers don't have a bachelor's degree, but if you have an associate’s degree, a postsecondary non-degree award, or a high school diploma, you can still get a high-paying job. The BLS provided a list of 80 high-paying occupations that don't require a college degree. The median annual wages listed include hourly, weekly, annual pay, sales commissions, and production bonuses. Overtime wages are not included in the data. We also included the expected job openings through 2020 and what kind of work experience or on-the-job training are needed for a particular job.

The U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbour was struck by a surprise Japanese military strike on the 7th December 1941. Last Friday saw the 72nd anniversary of the event and the Blogosphere witnessed yet another example of a Urgent Fail by a brand trying to Newsjack in an inappropriate way. SpaghettiO tweeted the following message: With over 3 thousand retweets the tweet whipped up a storm that lived up to the brand’s strapline “Uh-Oh”. As we’re highlighted before on this blog and in the book if it looks like blatant commercial exploitation don’t enter the conversation. The anniversary of such a significant historical event really doesn’t need a cheer leading spaghetti hoop to remind everyone of its significance. The brand has since apologised and  tweeted the below:

  Delov Digital in Hungary have stormed YouTube with their pastiche of Van Damme’s split. Chuck Norris takes the splits to another level as he delivers a festive message \

Apple and Google celebrated a big milestone this year. The App Store  commemorated its fifth anniversary  with a fire sale of free downloads, while  Google Play  touted  50 billion downloads and over 1 million apps posted in the platform . Despite the abundance of programs housed within these separate stores, quite a few slip below the radar that don't receive the recognition they deserve. We've rounded up the most underrated apps you really should be using. Check out our top 15 picks

The New York Fed's  Empire State Manufacturing Survey  was a disappointment. The headline index climbed to just 0.98 in December from -2.2 in November. This was far short of the 5.0 expected by economists . Here's some more color from the NY Fed: ...The new orders index inched up, but remained negative at -3.5, while the shipments index rose to 7.7. The unfilled orders index fell to -24.1, and the inventories index declined twenty points to -21.7; both indexes reached their lowest levels since 2009. The prices paid index was little changed at 15.7, and the prices received index climbed to 3.6. Labor market conditions remained weak, with the index for number of employees holding at 0.0 for a second month in a row and the average workweek index dropping six points to -10.8. Indexes for the six-month outlook generally conveyed a fair degree of optimism about future conditions, though to a lesser extent than in the November survey. According to the report, the bi...

Quickly! One of the last remaining potential solutions to the Europe crisis--albeit a temporary one--is for the  European Central Bank  to aggressively intervene and start buying the sovereign debt of Europe's weaker countries. If this intervention is big enough, it should reduce borrowing costs (interest rates) and thus allow the countries to finance their deficits for a while longer, until a more permanent solution to the Europe mess can be worked out. The big reason the ECB has not aggressively intervened so far is Germany. The Germans are adamantly opposed to ECB intervention, for two reasons: First, politically, an ECB bailout would be a disaster for German politicians. German voters are appalled by the idea that industrious Germans will be bailing out lazy Italians and Greeks, and they would likely vote accordingly. Second, the Germans are terrified that huge ECB intervention will trigger massive inflation that will destroy the value of the Euro. The latter...

From the German campaigning group Campact , very loosely translated and with our own interpretations added: A moment of danger has arrived for transparency in Europe. Several German states governed by the SPD and the Green party are threatening to reverse their previous opposition to a scandalous tax amnesty agreement with Switzerland, which provides impunity (and numerous escape loopholes) for wealthy criminal tax evaders. We have written about often this  before . If this agreement goes ahead, it will have the political effect of undermining many years of work to build transparency in Europe through the Savings Tax Directive and its forthcoming amendments

From the German campaigning group Campact , very loosely translated and with our own interpretations added: A moment of danger has arrived for transparency in Europe. Several German states governed by the SPD and the Green party are threatening to reverse their previous opposition to a scandalous tax amnesty agreement with Switzerland, which provides impunity (and numerous escape loopholes) for wealthy criminal tax evaders. We have written about often this  before . If this agreement goes ahead, it will have the political effect of undermining many years of work to build transparency in Europe through the Savings Tax Directive and its forthcoming amendments

Of all the companies in the nation, which ones are the best to work for according to their own employees? That's the question that Glassdoor's annual list of the  answers. (See a .) Interestingly, almost half of the best rated companies (22 of them) were tech companies. So we created this list that ranks only tech companies. And the outcome was surprising. For instance, Apple didn't make it into the top 10. There are a few companies on this list we bet you've never heard of. Most of the best tech companies offer enterprise tech, not consumer tech. Glassdoor filtered through over half a million company reviews submitted by during the past 12 months to come up with its list of 50. It ranked companies based on how employees rated the company's CEO, its business strategy and the positive and negative things they said.

The House of Representatives will vote Thursday on the , who appeared on multiple morning shows to sell the deal.  During an appearance on "Morning Joe," Ryan was asked by host Joe Scarborough to respond to criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who said in a statement that the deal would contribute to making it "harder for more Americans to achieve the American Dream." Ryan seemed dumbfounded by this criticism, and when asked to respond, he hesitated. "Uh ... read the deal and get back to me," Ryan said, chuckling. Ryan then argued that it's easier for Rubio and Republicans in the Senate to be against the bill, because they are in the minority party in that chamber. Ryan said that in the House, where he is chairman of the Budget Committee, he is worried about governing. "Look, that's — people are going to do what they need to do. In the minority you don't have the burden of governing, of getting things done," Ryan sai...

Sometime today/tonight we’re going to attempt a monumental Back Office feat. Our goal is to move RTH off of the old and aging current platform onto a bright new shiny one. There will certainly be hitches some of which we are already aware of and will address as soon as possible but there will be others. Hopefully the ability to login and comment will remain active and we can use this thread to point out issues. In the unlikely case that login and/or comment is unavailable we will post updates here on the Main Stage to keep you up to date. In the even more unlikely case that the site is down altogether, please refer to the RTH Facebook page for updates:

This post is sponsored by  UPS . Why would a corporation want to make itself more sustainable? Because it's good business. It takes real effort (and a lot of moving parts) to change a big company, but those with serious sustainability goals can become more efficient, improve their reputations, and find new business opportunities. Here are four major corporations — a car manufacturer, a furniture retailer, a food packager, and a bank — with one thing in common: They're all trying to carry out ambitious sustainability plans.  Heading Back To The Farm Leading packaged food-maker General Mills has a long history in sustainability: Back in the 1930s, its Green Giant brand encouraged crop rotation as a way to protect farmland from the then-devastating Dust Bowl. According to its most recent sustainability report , General Mills plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage, and water usage by 20% within two years, and solid waste generat...

You clicked send. Oh crap. When you send a no-take-backs email — maybe an admission to a secret crush, or accidental reply-all — there's an instant pang of regret. It feels like there's no going back. Meet Gmail's Undo Send feature, a lifesaving little hack buried in the Gmail Labs settings. It gives you a 30-second window to "undo" sending an outgoing email. You just have to enable it first. Here's how it works: 1. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of your Gmail window and select Settings from the dropdown menu.

The entire financial TV industry is in a state of flux. The Wall Street Journal  recently reported  on the dismal ratings at CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. Bloomberg, meanwhile, is in the midst of some kind reassessment of its TV business, and there's widespread apprehension there about what the next direction is for the network. And the big momentous event was the recent departure of Maria Bartiromo from CNBC to Fox Business. Bartiromo is the biggest star in financial TV history, and her leaving the biggest network to go to a much smaller rival is a major moment. So what's the mood at CNBC following this departure? One person who was at CNBC headquarters the day after Bartiromo's departure actually described a widespread sense of "relief." It's not that Bartiromo was disliked.  It's that CNBC, according to multiple sources, is an insanely competitive place internally, especially with respect to booking guests. And Bartiromo often had...

In this week’s episode your Moderator bemoans the dissipation of yet another clubhouse. Boo hoo hoo! Good work abounds regardless and will continue to do so. Listen in and see if you can’t help this man out of his latest crisis in faith.

© AFP A deal to boost global trade was approved on Saturday by the World Trade Organization's 159 member economies for the first time in nearly two decades. The deal, struck on the Indonesian island of Bali, could add $1 trillion to the world economy. The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Saturday struck a “historic” deal on international commerce that could add up to $1 trillion to the global economy. The agreement falls far short of the WTO's lofty but elusive vision of tearing down global trade barriers through its frustrating, 12-year-old Doha Round of talks. But the accord reached on the Indonesian resort island of Bali nevertheless marks the first global agreement struck by the Geneva-based body since its 1995 founding. "For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered," an exhausted but relieved WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo told a closing ceremony. The...

Diesel also visited the crash site Monday night, and borrowed a megaphone from one of the sheriffs on the scene to address the crowd. [Related:  'Fast and Furious' Stars and Other Celebs React to Paul Walker's Death ] "If my brother were here right now and saw all the love that you're bringing here, if he could see for himself that all of you have showed up to show my brother love at this hard time, that his family gets to see all of you show the love that you've shown Paul – it's going to stay with me forever," he announced. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for coming down here and showing that angel up in heaven how much you appreciate him. It's going to stay with me forever." According to the  Santa Clarita Valley Signal , the site was cleared shortly after 7 p.m. for a private memorial. Universal Studios, which produces the "Fast and Furious" films, reportedly obtained the permit so family and members of ...

Like many bargain hunters this past weekend, Robin Crowley of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, thought she found a deal on a new iPad Air. Robin told  CTV , “I actually researched in the flyers for Black Friday deals and Target as far as I was concerned had the best deal.” Buying what was sold as a brand new iPad, the shopper was surprised when she opened up the sealed box and turned on the gadget. The device did not default to a setup screen, but instead Robin said she found the personal information of the tablet’s previous user which included, “Hundreds of pictures of friends and family. Her complete schedule that was on the calendar there. There was three pages of apps that she had obviously added.” The tablet’s address book also contained contact information of over 207 people.

Fundamentally, our conduct is guided by our values, our code of ethics and a commitment to openness and transparency. Corporate governance is ultimately overseen by our board of directors, which is composed largely of directors who are independent of management. Detailed information about our approach to corporate governance and changes made over the past two years are available in our  2012 Proxy Statement . Managing Risk As a leader in financial services, we serve people, companies and institutional investors worldwide. We help them achieve their goals by bringing them value, convenience, expertise and innovation, while adhering to our key operating principles. One of those principles is “Manage Risk Well.” Risk is inherent in all of our material business activities. Our strong risk management practices allow us to help our customers and clients achieve their goals and strengthen our institution. We manage risk with a focus on our company as a whole and by busi...

Bank of America Corporation announced today that it has issued a “green bond” consisting of a three-year, fixed-rate bond that is $500 million in aggregate principal amount. This issuance of bonds is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to advance renewable energy initiatives and promote energy efficiency. Bank of America’s green bond is a senior bond where the funds will be used specifically to finance green investments such as renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The proceeds from this offering will be used in furtherance of Bank of America’s 10-year, $50 billion environmental business initiative to help address climate change, reduce demands on natural resources and advance lower-carbon economic solutions. Bank of America viewed this issuance as an opportunity to expand its investor base and to support an important market as investors seek more socially responsible investment options. Many investors dedicated to supporting socially responsible investments ...

Bank of America Corporation announced today that it has issued a “green bond” consisting of a three-year, fixed-rate bond that is $500 million in aggregate principal amount. This issuance of bonds is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to advance renewable energy initiatives and promote energy efficiency. Bank of America’s green bond is a senior bond where the funds will be used specifically to finance green investments such as renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The proceeds from this offering will be used in furtherance of Bank of America’s 10-year, $50 billion environmental business initiative to help address climate change, reduce demands on natural resources and advance lower-carbon economic solutions. Bank of America viewed this issuance as an opportunity to expand its investor base and to support an important market as investors seek more socially responsible investment options. Many investors dedicated to supporting socially responsible investments ...