Happy New Year 2011: Countdown to 2011 and New Year Quotes

We are a couple of hours away from New year and we will be into 2011. You might want to check out this this countdown clock over at the central clock. For those who also wants some New Year Quotes both Funny and Inspiring, we have a couple of them gathered right below. This Happy New Year 2010 Countdown will start this December 31, 2010. See more Funny New years wishes as we have the added below.

These are some celebrity quotes for the New Year, Wishing all of us a great Happy New Year 2011!

John Stewart

“What you do for Jewish New Year is you go down to Times Square… It’s a lot quieter than the regular New Year. It’s just a few Jews walking around going, ‘sup?’”

Jim Gaffigan

“My new years resolution for 2010? I will be less laz”

Laura Kightlinger

“It goes Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Valentine’s Day. Is that fair to anyone who’s alone? If you didn’t get around to killing yourself on Christmas or New Year’s, boom, there’s Valentine’s Day for you.”

Zach Galifianakis

“This year my New Year’s resolution was to stop saying ‘Seacrest out!’ after I ejaculate.”

P. J. O’Rourke

“The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year’s Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you’re married to.”

John Bowman on Dick Clark

I wish I didn’t watch [Dick Clark] because New Year’s Eve is that one little time when you get to suspend the disbelief that next year is going to be crap. You forget about it! You look at the person next to you and kiss them and say “Happy New year!” and you have a moment of happiness. I don’t wan to be reminded at that exact moment of my own mortality.”

Jay Leno

“Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average, which means you’ve already met your New Year’s resolution.”

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Goodbye 2010, hello 2011

FROM learning how to meditate to wishing Asian stock markets continue to head higher to hoping a painless cure for cancer is discovered to a further strengthening of India-Singapore bilateral relations... tabla! readers have a wide range of wishes for the coming year.

When approached in early December to share their wishes for 2011, the first reaction from most people was that they had not thought about it. But, given some time to mull over the matter, they all came back with their inputs. Some very wholesome, some driven by corporate aspirations, others very down to earth and personal. You can read what 16 tabla! readers wish for in the coming year.

As for us at tabla!, we'd first like to thank all our friends - readers, advertisers and all those who work with us in any manner - for all the support during this year. And our wish for 2011 is to become an even better product that reaches out to the growing Indian diaspora here in Singapore.

Of course, even our wish for 2011 pales in comparison to the one sent in by an eight-year-old reader. Bathed in the pure innocence that only childhood can provide, she wishes that her "BFF" - that's best friend forever, in case you were wondering - didn't have to go to Australia "so then I could play with her".

Here's wishing all tabla! readers - nay, friends - a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

My wish for 2011

On a professional level, I wish to grow the Candylicious, Hersheys and Garrett popcorn business in South-east Asia. The confectionary business is growing and I want to bring a more creative, a more experiential retail experience to it. On a personal level, as the last 21/2 years have been very intense, I would like to spend more time with my family and friends. It will be hard with the expansion but my wish for 2011 is to have a better work-life balance.
- Gill Capital director Sunaina Gill

In the last couple of years I saw some close friends suffering from cancer. I wish from the bottom of my heart that there would be lesser diseases, deaths and violence in the coming year. I also hope more effective and painless cures for diseases like cancer are found. Personally, I hope 2011 offers me a balance between academic and social life. I am planning to be more involved in community service projects at my school.
- Class 6 student Paul Immanuel

Never for once intending to be arrogant or complacent, one has to look for new challenges after you have dominated the sport locally for over a decade. Having said that, my wish for 2011 is to go across the Causeway and challenge in the Malaysian hockey league and give a lift to this dying sport of hockey in Singapore.
- Former Indian hockey captain and Singapore Recreation Club head coach Jude Felix

I wish my BFF (best friend forever) Cynthia did not have to go to Australia so then I could continue playing with her. She has been the kindest person ever and I want her to stay in Singapore. I also wish the pain in my father's neck goes away and he becomes okay fast.
- Class 3 student Anagha Nautiyal

In 2011, we like to place greater emphasis on our corporate social responsibility programme and make a difference in the lives of many more children from different parts of the world. And I hope to spend more time with my family. These are my wishes for 2011.
- WhiteLodge Education Group Services founding director Jayne Nadarajo

My wish for 2011 is for the Singapore economy to sizzle and the ever-buoyant construction industry to march forward with more self-reliance... less dependent on foreign workers (through higher mechanisation/productivity) and less dependent on foreign sand and aggregates (through resource recovery and reuse).
- Holcim (Singapore) chief executive officer Sujit Ghosh

It is great to finish 2010 on a positive note with Asia recovering faster than the rest of the world and our own Singapore economy turning in a stellar performance. While the United States and Europe grapple with both short term challenges and long term structural issues, we look forward to welcoming 2011 as the Year of the BRIIC (including Indonesia), the leaders in the emerging markets and biggest contributors to world economic growth.
- Nanyang Executive Education (at the Nanyang Business School) associate dean Nilanjan Sen

I hope that stock markets here in Asia will continue to head higher and offer investors decent returns in the year ahead. Hopefully, uncertainties in Europe and China won't derail the uptrend in regional markets. Personally, I hope to enjoy a year of good health and happiness, which are priceless.
- OCBC Bank vice president (wealth management Singapore) Vasu Menon

I look forward to confidently stepping forward (in my Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, of course!) to a great new year ahead and hope this year's economic recovery will ride its way smoothly all through 2011. On the home front, I look forward to spending more quality time with family and friends. And on a personal front, I would finally like to start learning how to meditate... calming my over-active mind.

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‘Extreme Couponing’ on TLC Shows How to Save Big!

TLC’s new show Extreme Couponing features people who go to great lengths for a deals. Some of the people on Extreme Couponing got $1100 worth of stuff for only $50!

Coupon Queen Joanie rakes in a $638.64 haul for just $2.64! She has massive stocks of supplies, as does Amanda, another ‘extreme couponer’ featured who shows off her toilet paper reserves.

Entertainment Tonight dished with one of the coupon diva Amanda:

“I’ve been stockpiling for about three and a half years,” she says. “When I look at my toilet paper the feeling it brings to me is absolute joy!” She and her partner have over 3000 rolls of toilet paper, enough to last the couple around 40 years.

Another coupon clipper, Nathan, arms himself with coupons. He had one order so big he had to break it up, because the register can only scan 500 items at a time! Nathan purchased 60 bottles of hand soap, 40 bottles of water and 1100 boxes of cereal — a nearly $6000 value at just $241. Nathan also has over 10,000 items stocked at home.

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Aretha Franklin is well and alive after death hoax

Los Angeles: Aretha Franklin`s representative has confirmed that the `Queen of Soul` is alive and well after she became the latest victim of an Internet death hoax.

The `Respect` hitmaker who recently underwent surgery for a disease rumoured to be pancreatic cancer, was reported dead on Monday.

But her spokesperson has slammed the claims, saying, "Aretha is fine," reported TMZ.

Franklin is the latest star who has had to respond to a death hoax. Actor Charlie Sheen was incorrectly reported to have died in a snowboarding accident on Sunday and singer Aaron Carter also denied reports he had passed away last week.

It is believed that the 68-year-old Motown legend was given the diagnosis of the same cancer which killed Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon, though she has neither confirmed nor denied it.

Though this type of cancer has only a 5 to 10 per cent survival rate, Franklin had said in a press statement that she had a very successful surgery.

Last month, the singer announced she was cancelling all concert dates and personal appearances until May on the orders of her doctors.

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First Night Boston 2011 New Year Celebration Breaking News

Are you ready for the First Night Boston 2011 event? The city of Boston is now bracing for more than 1 million visitors that will flock on the New Year’s Eve for its annual First Night celebration.

Since 1976, this signature event has attracted audiences from near and far to take part in a spectacular celebration that inspires creativity as it begins a new year filled with promise.

First Night is proud to present an amazing group of performers and visual artists who truly represent the richness of Boston’s cultural landscape. The celebration features longtime audience favorites like the interactive FedEx Family Festival, colossal ice sculptures, the Grand Procession, and the Midnight Fireworks, along with new and exciting performances and exhibitions.

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Scandal Threatens India's Economic Growth

A couple of months ago, India was riding high. Its economy came through the worldwide recession with growth at 8 1/2 percent.

World leaders, including President Obama, visited New Delhi to proclaim that India had "arrived."

Yet today, India's government is mired in a series of costly scandals, its parliament is gridlocked, and business leaders fret that foreign investment will fall.

What happened?

Leaked Wiretapped Phone Calls

Some analysts say India's surge in growth exposed conflicts and contradictions that have haunted the country since it won independence.

The scandals have been brewing for years, but they erupted in the past two months with the leak of a series of wiretapped phone calls.

India's income tax department had tapped the phone of a prominent lobbyist named Niira Radia, looking for evidence of alleged tax evasion and money laundering.

One call that raised a lot of eyebrows showed Radia trying to convince a fellow power broker to help get a former telecommunications minister restored to his post despite allegations of corruption against him.

"Can he be put somewhere other than telecom?" the man asks.

"Trust me," Radia says, "he'll behave himself."

That minister, Andimuthu Raja, later resigned amid charges that he had allocated lucrative cell phone licenses to well-connected companies at yard-sale prices.

The alleged under-pricing may have cost the Indian government as much as $40 billion in potential revenue. Both Raja and Radia deny any wrongdoing.

Is India An Oligarchy?

What the tapes seemed to reveal was a web of influence with Radia at the center, making deals among business tycoons, top politicians and journalists.

Saikat Datta is an assistant editor at Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine that has put some of the leaked tapes on its website. He says the tapes reveal that the country that prides itself on being the world's largest democracy is really ruled by a small coterie of powerful people.

First of all, it completely clears one myth that has been around for the past 63 years — that India is a democracy. It completely establishes for the first time that India is an oligarchy.

- Saikat Datta, an assistant editor at Outlook, a weekly news magazine

"First of all, it completely clears one myth that has been around for the past 63 years — that India is a democracy," he says. "It completely establishes for the first time that India is an oligarchy."

Datta says that ultimately, the problem stems from the fact that, after independence in 1947, the Indian state never attempted land reform, leaving the country's wealth in the hands of the same people who'd always held it — and still do.

Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University who has followed the scandals, says the growth in the scale and scope of corruption has a lot to do with India's move toward a free-market economy after many decades of government control.

"In the process of shifting from a government-led economy to a private sector-led economy," Prasad says, "the opportunities for graft were enormous, because those who were politically well-connected could most benefit from the private-sector expansion."

The Need For Transparency

Prasad likens India to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, when state-owned enterprises were sold cheaply to plugged-in businessmen who became billionaires.

He notes that India will privatize more industries in the years to come, and warns that the losses could be huge if the country fails to adopt clear rules and transparent processes.

Journalist and historian Prem Shankar Jha says the convergence of money and political power in India stems from a problem that's also fiercely debated in the United States: "The lack of any system for financing elections."

Jha says that wealthy donors seeking influence don't have to support political parties. They found they could spend their money on people who already held public office

"That is the cronyism which has now been exposed," Jha says.

Jha says he's not necessarily optimistic that this exposure will lead to immediate reforms. He says he thinks the public will have to undergo more scandals and more shocks before enough outrage builds up to change the system.

"What you see here is a middle-class revolt," Jha says. "It's coming from the fact that the Indian middle class feels that it can be first rate. And everything which stands in the way, which makes them look bad, or which stands in the way of efficiency — and corruption does both — is something that'll now be attacked."

The next development, he suggests, is that India is now growing a strong enough middle class to eventually give power to outrage.

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Jersey Shore extended trailer Video

Jersey Shore season 3 has arrived, giving us a better sense of the complex plotlines we’ll see play out when the gang returns to Seaside Heights. New cast member Deena is “exactly like Snooki,” according to Sammi, and haven’t we all been feeling like the show could use another Snooki? (Deena’s first line in the trailer: “It took a day for someone to see my goods!” We really have to do something about our education system.) Also, J-Woww is going through a painful break-up, which is sad, but Snooki gets arrested, which is even sadder. (“I’m a good person!” she screams.) At one point, Sammi appears to leave the house … for good? And, finally,, Ronnie gets a proctology exam

Jersey Shore - MTV Shows

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Chicago Fire Department: 2 Firefighters Killed, 4 Serious-to-Critical, 10 Stable Condition

WGN LIVE video recorded before all firefighters were ‘accounted for’ at about 8:13 a.m. CST Monday —

UPDATE: Corey Ankum, 34, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Edward Stringer died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Two firefighters were killed, four firefighters were reported in serious-to-critical condition, and ten firefighters were reported injured in stable condition after a wall and roof collapse just after 7:00 a.m. CST. Firefighters responded to a routine fire at a vacant one-story commercial building at 1744 East 75th Street, and were inside searching for homeless occupants when a rear roof collapsed and a MAYDAY alert was called. The rear roof was a bowstring truss roof, and the front roof of the building was a flat roof.

View Chicagoland Major Fires & Rescues in a larger map

View Chicagoland Major Fires & Rescues in a larger map

Firefighters worked expeditiously to rescue up to 16 firefighters that were injured by the collapsed roof. After the collapse, the extra-alarm fire was elevated from a 2-11 to a 3-11. An EMS Plan 2 was also called for the incident. Firefighters were rescued from different corners of the building.

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Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber Dating Rumors: Selena Gomez Says No (Video)

Those Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber dating rumors heat up with every picture of the couple snapped together, but Selena Gomez says no, she and Justin Bieber aren’t dating.

They’re just friends, according to Gomez.

Are Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber dating?

Selena Gomez recently addressed the Justin Bieber dating rumors, telling MTV News (video) that they were simply having breakfast together when the dating rumors blew up:

“It was pancakes. Who doesn’t like pancakes? We were both performing in the same place so we went and had pancakes together. That’s all it is. All innocent.”

Can’t two super-attractive teenage sensations just be friends?

Sure they can, but isn’t it more fun to speculate that the teen stars are dating, envisioning their wedding day and future babies?

Selena Gomez explained her relationship with Justin Bieber, saying they are like brother and sister, NOT a dating couple: “I love Justin. When he first started to come over from Canada his manager contacted me and he just said that he would like to meet me and he was just such a good kid. And I feel like a big sister now, ’cause I want to protect him. So I’m always very cautious with him, but he is so talented and he’s so sweet, so that just started us wanting to work together. Now he’s just become one of my good friends.“

MTV Shows

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Govt reduces customs duty on onion imports to zero

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) The customs duty on import of onion has been abolished in an attempt to bring down its prices that have shot up to Rs.80-85 a kg in retail across the country in the past few days.

The government had already banned export of onion and now now the import duty has been brought down to zero from five per cent.

"The customs duty on onions has been brought down to zero," Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here today.

The step comes amid a sharp rise in the price of onions up to Rs 70-85 per kg in retail markets across the country from just Rs 35-40 a few days ago on account of damage suffered by crops in the key-producing states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and a few Southern states due to excessive rains, which has led to large-scale hoarding by some traders.

The steep hike in onion prices set alarm bells ringing in the government, which has imposed a ban on onion exports till January 15, 2011, with a view to increase availability in the domestic market. However, it is likely to take at least three weeks before the common man gets any relief from the measure.

"Onion prices will remain high for the next 2-3 weeks and the situation is likely to improve only after that," Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said yesterday.

While Pawar had indicated the government did not have any plans to import onions to bring down prices at home, small 450-tonne consignments of the commodity from neighbouring Pakistan have been making their way into the country across the Punjab border since yesterday.

Compared to the exorbitant domestic prices, the price of the onions imported from Pakistan is just Rs 18-20 per kg.

A worried Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose government has been grappling with high inflation for much of the past year, has also stepped into the picture and asked the agriculture and consumer affairs ministries to take effective steps to rein in onion prices.

"The Prime Minister desires all necessary steps to effectively deal with the extraordinary price rise of onions and bring the prices down to an affordable level," an official source said, quoting letters written by Singh to the ministries concerned.

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Who Won Skating With the Stars ?

Who won “Skating with the Stars?” The finale to the 6 week celebrity skating competition aired last night on ABC.

The two finalists were Real Housewives star Bethany Frankel and All My Children’s Rebecca Budig.

The winner was the one who was the favorite to win all season: Rebecca Budig. She was the only one to receive a perfect score all season.

This was the first season of “Skating With the Stars.” I admit that when I saw the previews for the show, I thought that it was a joke: some sort of Saturday Night Live skit instead of an actual competition. Having stars dance is one thing, but putting them on ice skates? But, it wasn’t a joke.

The ratings for the finale were not pretty, so perhaps this will be the last season for the skating show.

Did you watch the show? Do you want to see another season or was one enough?

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Jayamala chargesheet reignites temple entry debate

Wednesday’s Kerala police action against Kannada actress Jayamala revives a debate over women’s entry rights at the Sabarimala shrine.

Some say she is lying, and that she couldn’t have ever gone inside a temple where women between 10 and 50 are barred, but others say she is being victimised because she spoke the truth.

The police filed a chargesheet against the Kannada actress, four years after she claimed she had entered the shrine and touched the idol of god Ayyappa in Sabarimala. 

Her claim created a furore in Kerala.

Wednesday’s chargesheet says Jayamala, astrologer Parappanangadi Unnikrishnan and his Bangalorean assistant Raghupathy caused outrage and hurt religious sentiments in 1986, a full 24 years ago.

 In November this year, Jayamala had approached the Karnataka High Court, seeking anticipatory bail, but the Kerala police had told the court they had no intentions of arresting her.

In 2006, Sanskrit scholar R Ganesh had argued in Deccan Herald that the question of who should be allowed into the sanctum “depends on the traditions of a shrine”.

He said, “The conventions of excluding women are seen in many places. The shrine of Annappa Daiva at Dharmasthala is a good example… some mosques have taboos for women. During the time of the Buddha, women were not allowed to enter the order of Buddhist monks.”

Jayamala (50) has served as president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, and starred in blockbuster hits with the biggest Kannada movie icon, Rajkumar. She has also produced a Kannada film directed by the auteur Girish Kasaravalli.

In 2006, she claimed that she had entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple when she was 27.

 After the story broke, and a debate raged, retired government official M P Bhattathiry put the ban on women’s entry in perspective:

“(The temple board) gives a smorgasbord of reasons: The eight kilometer trek to the temple along dense woods is arduous for women; Ayyappa is a bachelor God and his bachelorhood will be broken if he sees a woman; the forty-one-day penance for the pilgrimage, where one must live as abstemiously as a saint, cannot be undertaken by women – they are too weak for that; men cohorts will be enticed to think bad thoughts if women joined them in their trek; letting women into the temple will disrupt law and order; women’s menstrual blood will attract animals in the wild and jeopardize fellow travelers; menstruation is a no-no for God…. And so the list of lame reasons grows. Don’t think that no one has ever questioned the inanity of those reasons…”

Bhattathiry also talks about the difficulty of fighting a battle for women’s entry into the shrine:

“Several Indian feminists have fought, and keep fighting, with the Temple board in favour of the women devotees. But the Temple board remains implacable. It is backed by enormous political clout, and poor Indian feminists, like feminists almost everywhere, must fend for themselves. It doesn’t help that many Indian women are disinterested in any feminist struggle. They think that it is presumptuous for women to defy established customs. It is hard to rally them, especially when it involves flouting tradition or religion.”

Blogger E Pradeep believes Jayamala could be lying, but readers responding to his post suggest it is not impossible to enter the shrine if one is influential or willing to grease palms.

Jayamala, who lives in Bangalore, has not received the chargesheet yet, and plans to take legal advice once it arrives.

The police chargesheet raises many questions: Is it all right for shrines to keep women out? Do such restrictions violate the gender equality principle? Should shrines follow convention or change with the times? Is Jayamala guilty of sacrilege if she has indeed entered the temple and touched the idol? Should the police go after her even when she has made it clear that she has great devotion for the deity? Why is a 24-year-old incident being reopened now?

On web message boards, defenders of entry restrictions say it is not unusual for mosques, gurudwaras and churches to enforce their own dress and gender conventions, and that it is unfair just to target Hindu temples and accuse them of bias.

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Deena Nicole Cortese in the Jersey Shore season 3 Premiere Video

Watch Deena Nicole Cortese in the Jersey Shore season 3 premiere video – Deena Nicole Cortese is Jersey Shore’s newest bad girl, sure to bring plenty of drama to the new season.

Who is Deena Nicole Cortese?

Deena Nicole Cortese, 23, is an actual New Jersey girl, and friend to Snooki (she even resembles Snooki!).

Deena Nicole Cortese apparently has no problem fitting in, as she strips off her bikini in front of The Situation, noting that “It took a day for someone to see my goods!”

What do you think of Deena Nicole Cortese? Is she the latest bad example to join the Jersey Shore and one more reason to keep our kids from watching this reality train wreck?

Of course, you can watch Jersey Shore season 3 when it premieres January 6 (after the kids are in bed!).

Are you a Jersey Shore fan? What do you think of the addition of Deena Nicole Cortese?

Jersey Shore - MTV Shows

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Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley Done for May 7

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports tonight that a May 7 fight has been agreed to between Manny Paccquiao and Shane Mosley. The fight will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO) and Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KO) are at very different points in their respective Hall of Fame-bound careers right now. The 32-year-old Pacquiao is coming off of a pair of dominant wins in 2010, beating Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, with both fights taking place at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Mosley, however, turns 40 next September and went 0-1-1 in 2010, losing a wide decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May and winding up with a controversial draw against Sergio Mora, with the story of the fight not so much the scoring, but the fact that neither fighter looked good in a miserably dull 12-round affair.

It will be a return to the 147-pound ranks for Mosley, who fought Mora at 154. Bob Arum says in the Rafael article that “Mosley knows how to deal with speed,” but this is debatable at the very least. He fought a fast fighter in Mayweather and couldn’t even come close to keeping up after the second round. In fact, the last time Mosley beat what you might consider a “fast” fighter, it was Oscar de la Hoya in 2003.

The fight is sure to draw criticism, and rightly so. Mosley is old and looked worn out this year. While it’s worth asking who else was really available, I would point to Andre Berto, though with the admission that Berto is nowhere near Mosley’s star level. Our friend Corey Erdman spoke with Lou DiBella, Berto’s promoter, and Lou said, “It was never a true sweepstakes. [Pacquiao-Mosley] is not a surprise. Smart business, but maybe not good for boxing.”

DiBella also addressed the idea that Berto might have priced himself out. “Arum said publicly and privately that my ask for Berto was reasonable.”

While I am not a fan of this fight on paper, I like both guys, so I’m sure I’ll be able to talk myself into believing Mosley has a shot in the fight week. I really don’t think he has a shot, though. It’s not even just that Shane isn’t what he used to be; it’s that Manny Pacquiao is too good for him anymore. Sadly, I can see the reality that with Berto not being a star and Floyd Mayweather Jr. being a public trainwreck at the current time, the other option might have been Pacquiao not fighting at all.

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Matthew Morrison Sing Mele Kalikimaka VIDEO

If your only reference point for the song “Mele Kalikimaka” is “Christmas Vacation,” here’s a treat: “Glee’s” Matthew Morrison singing “Mele Kalikimaka”(Hawiaan for “Merry Christmas) during “Christmas in Washington,” which aired recently on TNT. Yes, the teacher you wished you had in high school has a dreamy voice (and did we mention dreamy pecs – sadly not on display here), but he’s also playful, strumming along to the song as he sings. Click on for the Matthew Morrison “Mele Kalikimaka” video.

He starts off with a beautiful version of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” that’s equally enjoyable. Which Matthew Morrison song did you like better?

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10 Christmas Sweets Recipes

“‘Tis the season to be jolly…”

And why not? The Christmas season is a time to indulge in the most decadent, slurpy, chewy, and yummy homemade sweets and snacks. In our country, we have a wonderful tradition to make homemade specialties and gift them to relatives, friends, and neighbours on Christmas day.

But if you don’t know how to make these Christmas treats, fret no more! My dear friend Lisabelle Gonsalves wrote this recipe piece which I am sharing with you. Make sure you try these out and let me know how they turned out.

You can also share with me your own Christmas treat recipes.

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Christmas cake

A must-have for Christmas is the rich Christmas plum cake. And once you try it, you will be making it year after year.

Ingredients:

240 gms flour (maida)
200 gms sugar
4 eggs
120 gms butter
1 tsp. baking powder
360 gms raisins
100 ml rum
few drops vanilla essence
150 gms lemon peel
50 gms walnuts
30 gms crystallised cherries

Method:

Grease the cake tin and sprinkle a little flour on the surface. Place a sheet of paraffin paper on the bottom.

Cut the cherries, walnuts and lemon peel into small pieces and immerse them along with the raisins in the rum.

Cream the butter and sugar along with the vanilla essence.

Add in the eggs gradually mixing all the while.

Fold in the flour and baking powder.

Mix in the rum with all the ingredients soaked in it.

Pour the cake batter into the tin and bake at 160° C for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 to 20 minutes

Chef: Lavina Machado Lavina’s Special Tip: Prepare syrup with 100 ml water, 50 gms sugar and a large spoon of rum. Pour it over the cake to keep it rich and moist.

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Kulkuls

No Christmas sweet platter is complete without kulkuls. And the best part is they are simple to make so your kids can join in too!

Ingredients:

2 kg flour (maida)
½ kg ghee
½ kg sugar
6 eggs

Method:

Grind the sugar well. Beat up the eggs.

Mix the ghee, the sugar and the eggs with the flour. Then knead it into a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for half and hour.

Take portions of the dough and roll it out into a flat sheet. Then cut into small sections.

Flatten each section on the kulkul comb and then roll neatly into thin cylindrical shapes. Make sure the kulkul is not more than an inch to one and a half inch long. Press the ends slightly so that they do not open out while frying.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep-fry the kulkuls on slow fire one handful at a time. Remove the kulkuls onto newspaper to drain out the extra oil. Leave to cool. Then transfer the kulkuls into airtight containers.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Chef: Pam Xavier Pam’s Special Tip: After forming the kulkuls let them dry for about 2 hours. This way they won’t open out when frying.

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Snowballs

Snowballs are just the same as nankhatais. The only difference is that they are much smaller and rounder with a little cherry on the top. That’s why they are perfect for Christmas.

Ingredients:

600 gms ghee (not pure)
1 tsp. powder salt
500 gms castor sugar
800 gms flour (maida)
crystallised cherries (cut into small pieces)

Method:

Cream the ghee well and add the castor sugar little by little along with the salt and mix till foamy.

Stir in the flour gradually kneading with the hand all the time.

Cover with a wet napkin and keep overnight.

Form small balls of dough and place a bit of cherry on the top of each snowball.

Place at well spaced intervals on greased tray.

Bake in a moderate oven at 300° F for 10 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Chef: Ena D’Sliva Ena’s Special Tip: Instead of the cherries, mix a little icing sugar, lime and food colour. Draw little stars, hearts or flowers on the top of each snowball.

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Marzipan

A delicacy made during both Christmas and Easter, marzipan with its interesting shapes and colours is a great choice.

Ingredients:

1 kg sugar
½ kg cashew nuts
White of 8 to 10 eggs (depending on size)
30 ml water and 2 to 4 ml rose essence or 30 ml rose water
3 to 5 ml almond essence (optional)

Method:

Grind the sugar, nuts, water and egg white into a thin paste in a blender.

Put the mixture into a thick bottomed pan on slow flame. Stir continuously. Increase to a medium flame very slowly if you can manage.

Bring to a bubbling boil to melt the sugar. Then reduce the flame but don’t stop stirring.

Cook till it starts leaving the sides of the vessel. Run a spatula through the mixture. If the mixture takes a second or two to follow your spatula, you know it’s done.

Pour into a flat thali. Spread out the mass to cool otherwise it will keep cooking with the heat inside.

Then add a little almond essence.

Divide the marzipan into portions and colour each portion as you please. Then mould the marzipan into attractive shapes with a mould.

Cooking time: 1 hour

Chef: Regina Sheikh Regina’s Special Tip: Make sure that the sugar you buy is crystal white and the nuts look bleached. If not, your marzipan will look slightly brownish.

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Jujups

Jujups are not a very traditional Christmas sweet but nonetheless they are made in most Catholic homes during the festival. Your kids will love them!

Ingredients:

50 gms gelatine
200 gms sugar
Food colouring of your choice

Method:

Soak the gelatine.

Boil sugar and 3 cups of water until it becomes a sticky syrup and about 2/3 the liquid you started with.

Add in the soaked gelatine without the water and boil.

Put in the colouring.

Boil for 15 minutes or so and pour into a dish.

Put it in the refrigerator and let it set.

Cut into cubes. Then roll the sticky cubes in crystal white sugar.

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Chef: Rosette Gonsalves Rosette’s Special Tip: If you are in a hurry, put the dish in the freezer so it forms faster. But don’t leave for too long as it will freeze and get ruined.

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Shania Twain Engaged to Frederic Thiebaud

Shania Twain photo by Bryan Bowen Smith, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

A day after numerous news outlets reported on Shania Twain’s engagement, the singer officially announced the news with a note to fans on her website Tuesday morning.

“I’m in love!” she wrote. “Frederic Nicolas Thiebaud has been a true gift to me as a compassionate, understanding friend and over time, an amazing love has blossomed from this precious friendship.”

Details? Well, Shania didn’t really offer a lot. She shed no wedding date, didn’t mention how or when Fred popped the question and didn’t specify where she was when she wrote the note — and knowing what a world traveller she is, that’s a very legitimate question.

Shania did, however, offer “seasons greetings to all” and suggested that the pain of her broken marriage forced her to break down some of the walls around her. In that process, she rediscovered the value of personal connection and renewed her faith in it.

“In the last two and a half years of adjusting to life after separation and divorce, I needed to lean on others more often than I was accustomed to,” she confessed. “These people have been gifts, and I am fortunate to have so many of these beautiful people — friends, family and beloved fans, [whose] support I cherish more deeply with each day that passes. Now another year is about to pass, and I would like to thank everyone who helped me believe that new beginnings are possible and that love can be trusted.”

Next week — Dec. 28, to be exact — will mark 17 years since Shania married record producer and songwriter Robert John “Mutt” Lange. A little more than a year after that, she released The Woman In Me, a breakthrough album that launched her from an attractive, developing singer into a full-fledged country star. Her 1997 release Come On Over became the best-selling album ever by a female country singer, certified for sales of 20 million copies in the U.S. In 1999, she ultimately collected the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award.

The relationship with Mutt turned sour in 2008, and Frederic — the ex-husband of her former best friend — became a shoulder to lean on.

The split with Mutt was emotionally challenging, but she emerged from a dark period with a new lease on life and new positivity about the future.

“I’ve spent much time over the course of this past year, learning about others who have suffered loss in their lives and taken inspiration from how they’ve managed to overcome it,” she wrote. “I’m learning that grief, and the suffering of loss, challenges me to be more sensitive and understanding of [others] and also more accepting of my own struggles. Challenge reminds me how important it is to let those who love me, care for me when I need it. The support of others has helped me to move forward less fearful of change, allowing me to embrace the beauty of life today and remain more open to whatever it brings tomorrow.”

Shania’s personal turn-around is a reminder that hard times don’t have to be permanent. Her revival is likely to be centerstage in 2011. An autobiography is due in the spring. And she’ll be appearing in a reality series on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) beginning in April.

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Jason Segel Shows Jimmy Fallon the Muppet He Created on 'Late Night' (VIDEO)

Jason Segel has been passionate about the Muppets longer than he's been on 'How I Met Your Mother.' Now that he's written and is directing their big-screen comeback, he brought that passion to 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' (Weeknights, 12:37AM on NBC).

For the first table read, Segel revealed that the Muppets themselves were brought in to perform their parts, so it wasn't just the voice actors sitting around. "Kermit comes out," he said. "He goes, 'Hi-ho' and then I said I needed a five minute break."

At that moment, it must have been like the culmination of a dream for Segel, who said in his youth he'd thought of Kermit as the everyman, even moreso than Jimmy Stewart and Tom Hanks. Now, he'd taken his passion and love of the Muppets, and he was bringing about their revival.

Even better, Fallon noticed on a picture he'd brought a new Muppet. "A tech Muppet?" he asked, referencing the smart phone the puppet was holding.

"He was born in my brain," Segel said, admitting he'd created the newest member of the cast. "His name is Walter. He's the sweetest Muppet of all time." His enthusiasm and passion for the Muppets is so palpable and infectious, you can't help but get excited about this project every time he's talking about it. Their long-awaited return appears to be in the right hands.

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Sherri Shepherd Gets Down with the Rhythm Rocker on 'The View' (VIDEO)

Today was another day of giveaways on 'The View' (Weekdays, Syndicated on ABC), but if someone wants theRhythm Rocker" that Sherri Shepherd demonstrated on the show, they may have a fight on their hands. Shepherd took quite a liking to the The Rocker today, a fitness product from the As Seen on TV folks that is supposed to allow you to exercise by "dancing in place."

And dance Shepherd did, rhythmically gyrating and putting on a show for the camera, as the spokesman encouraged her with quips like, "the rhythm is gonna get ya." She worked the machine long and hard enough, seemingly enjoying herself the whole way through, that Whoopi had to step away from the hilarious spectacle.

When asked to try it, Whoopi demurred, saying, "That's just me, but you know what you just did is what we've always suggested for you."

Shepherd then began bouncing again, telling the audience they were "taking home all of these products." Except, presumably, for the one she was using. She should definitely keep that one.

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The Top 10 TV Jerks of 2010: The Archie Bunker Awards

Back in the glory days of television (when there was no cable), the idea of having a unlikeable person on a show was anathema to the networks.

Sure, there were silly or angry characters (Ralph Kramden comes to mind), but protagonists weren't actually mean or spiteful (except when the plot called for it and usually only for an episode). But after the breakthrough of 'All in the Family' and the character of Archie Bunker, jerks began to fill the television landscape, both on camera and behind the scenes.

This year saw quite a few of these boors. See which 10 stars earned themselves an "Archie Bunker award" as one of the biggest TV a**holes of 2010.


1. Jeff Zucker. The NBC ex-president could probably hold the top spot for the decade after dragging the Peacock Network down to fourth place in the ratings, sometimes even being beaten by cable shows -- all despite having really great shows like '30 Rock' and 'The Office.' He secured his place on the list this year by agreeing to the bone-headed decision to boot Conan O'Brien in favor of the the aging Jay Leno. Thankfully, NBC's new owners, Comcast recognized his incompetence and let him go, which is a bit like the new police state ousting the previous dictator.



2. Kate Gosselin. Kate Gosselin shouldn't be on television. She should be arrested for exploiting her own children. Enough said about that.








3. Simon Cowell. Granted, Simon Cowell is an a-hole every year, but this year he took the cake. He left the show that made him famous in America in the lurch (and left us with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez as replacements). 'American Idol' will probably never go off the air, since it's still a ratings juggernaut and cheap for Fox to make relative to scripted shows. But the numbers will likely decline in the post-Cowell years -- that is, until Fox negotiates to bring him back, probably with a hefty salary increase.


4. Roger Sterling ('Mad Men'). While many of this show's male characters deserve a space on this list, including Don Draper himself, Roger seems to go that extra mile. He forever acts like the immature spoiled child. This past season had him cheating on his wife (again) with the married Joan (and all it took was a street mugging to get her to agree). Now Joan is having his child and she probably will never tell her husband who the true father is. It could be argued that Joan also let it happen, but Roger still behaved very badly. Plus, he lost Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce's biggest account, which led to mass firings and low morale.

5. Sheldon Cooper ('The Big Bang Theory'). Sheldon's behavior is narcissistic at best and sociopathic at worse. He believes himself to be superior to other people because of his intelligence and usually has a very negative reaction when someone proves him wrong. His relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler has done nothing to improve his arrogant and passive-aggressive tendencies (which is why they probably won't last).




6. Anna ('V'). Anna is one cold, uh, witch. She had her own child beaten in order to further her plans for whatever the Visitors want to do with Earth (which is still vague at this point). She also keeps her own people drugged and docile to obey her.






7. Dwight Schrute ('The Office'). Never a model for civil behavior, Dwight got particularly nasty this year (check out his behavior in the most recent Christmas episode of 'The Office' to see an example). Dwight has devolved from office suck-up and nuisance to lunatic. Even worse: he could become the new Dunder-Mifflin branch boss after Michael Scott's departure.





8. Eric Cartman ('South Park'). There are many animated television characters who probably deserve to be on this list; Peter Griffin and Rusty Venture come to mind. However, none of those other characters took an alliance this year with the dark god Cthulhu to betray his friends. That alone earns him a place among the year's biggest a-holes.




9. Jay Leno. It's possible that Leno should be higher on this list. The situation with Conan and 'The Tonight Show' has certainly been discuss ad infinitum here and on other sites. Leno worked the system for the second time in two decades to stay on 'The Tonight Show.' Anybody else would have simply walked away and found another network to appear on -- or just rolled around in his money at home. What Leno lacks in talent, he makes up for in ruthlessness and tenacity.



10. The entire cast of 'Jersey Shore.' Someone please end this show. Not only are the entire cast a-holes, but the show actually glorifies the fact that they are self-centered, dim-witted brats. To make it worse, most of them aren't even from New Jersey. As a New Jersey native, I take offense at the libel against my state via the title. And while we're at it, can we do something about 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' as well? And the other 'Real Housewives' shows? And 'The Millionaire Matchmaker'? Please?



Obviously, there are a myriad of television a-holes that are not on this list. Which TV jerks did I miss? Who on this list is undeserving of his/her spot? Sound off in the comments.

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'Barney Miller' Star Steve Landesberg Dead at 65

Steve Landesberg, who played dry, intellectual detective Arthur Dietrich on the classic ABC sitcom 'Barney Miller,' has died.

Landesberg passed away in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. He was 65.

Aside from his role on 'Barney Miller,' Landesberg was also a veteran stand-up comic and writer. He wrote several episodes of the STARZ series 'Head Case,' and played Dr. Finkelstein on the show. He also had a regular role on 'Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers' and made appearances on 'The Golden Girls,' 'Ghost Whisperer,' 'That '70s Show,' 'American Dad,' 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney-At-Law,' 'Law & Order,' The Rockford Files' and many others.

His last role was in a 2009 episode of 'The Cleaner.'


But Landesberg will always be remembered best as Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich on the comedy 'Barney Miller.' What a lot of people forget is that Landesberg wasn't on 'Barney Miller' from the beginning; he actually joined the show in the second season. I remember well when he joined the cast because he was very different than the other characters on the show -- a calm know-it-all who could get under your skin. He got into a lot of battles with Harris (Ron Harris), another cop who looked at things differently.

'Barney Miller' is one of those shows that has been lost to time somehow. You don't see it on TV anymore and no one under the age of 35 really remembers it. But it was a well-written, clever series that would be loved today for its quirky characters and odd rhythms. It ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982.






Landesberg is survived by his wife, Nancy, and a daughter.

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Sing-Off Winner Season 2 Results

The Sing-Off winner was crowned last night as Nick Lachey hosted the live season 2 finale.

Who was The Sing Off Winner? The Sing-Off Season 2 was quick and I have to admit it was quite an amazing show. While Nick Lachey had his moments as the host, the real pleasure was watching the 10 a cappella groups take the stage. Last night The Sing Off winner was announced and one group walked away with a Sony Music recording contract and $100,000.

In a night filled with amazing performances: Boys II Men and Committed, Nicole Scherzinger and Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town, Sara Bareilles and The Backbeats and Ben Folds with Street Corner Symphony, NBC went all out with its season 2 finale of The Sing Off. Let’s not forget to mention the Christmas medley which had Nick Lachey grab a mic and get back to his singing roots. (I think he sounded pretty damn good to be honest) as well as a special appearance by Sheryl Crow. Performances aside, we were all tuning in for one thing, to see who The Sing Off winner would be.

As the four groups took the stage, Nick Lachey announced that Jerry Lawson & Talk Of The Town along with The Backbeats had been eliminated. That leaves us with the final two a cappella groups: Street Corner Symphony and Committed. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I wanted Street Corner Symphony to win but that is not how it went down.

The Sing Off winner is Committed and I honestly think they deserve it 100%. Hell, any one of those 10 a cappella groups that competed deserve it as they are all amazing singers. I can guarantee that we will be seeing a lot more from the groups that performed on The Sing-Off Season 2. In case you missed The Sing Off competition, you can head on over to NBC to watch all of the amazing performances online.

There you have it everyone, The Sing Off Season 2 is now officially over and Committed was crowned the winner. We want to congratulate both Committed and all of the groups on The Sing Off as you were a pleasure to watch.

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Carol Anne Riddell And John Partilla's New York Times 'Vows' Story: Readers Weigh In

We can't remember the last time a New York Times 'Vows' column caused such an outpouring of public opinion more than this week's, about a couple who left their respective spouses to marry each other (oh wait, yes we can).

139 people commented on the story before the Times closed it to comments, while the blogosphere ripped into the couple--and the paper--for everything from referring to "spouse-dumping" with "unmitigated pride" to failing to adhere to even "basic journalistic practice" by not calling the exes for comment, even as other outlets asked "what's all the fuss?"

We've collected some of the fiercest reactions from the Twitter-verse--both positive and negative. We'd love to hear your thoughts, too: Tweet your responses with the hash tag #vowsbacklash or add your comments below.

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2010 Census Results

(Washington, DC) -- The results of the 2010 U.S. Census show more than 308 million people are living in the U.S. now.

At a Washington, DC, press conference, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said the 2010 count represents a nine-point-seven percent increase over the 2000 resident U.S. population count.

The new numbers show California is the most populous state, with more than 37-million residents.

Wyoming is the least-populated state, with more than 563,000 residents.

Census results show Texas notched the biggest numerical increase in population to more than 25-million residents.

Nevada had the highest percentage gain in population, growing by more than 35 percent since the 2000 Census.

The South and West regions made the biggest population increases since the last count.
The Northeast and Midwest also picked up in population count.

The Census measures population changes and density in the United States and is key in allocating billions of dollars in spending.

The numbers are also used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House among the 50 state

The U.S. Census 2010 results will provide much more information than just how many people are in the country. Image: Flickr / US Census / CC-BY

The full results of the 2010 U.S. Census have wide-ranging effects. Everything from federal funding to Congressional seats are determined by this nationwide headcount. Tuesday morning, the 2010 Census results are being announced via live webcast that starts at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

First 2010 Census results announced

The initial announcement of 2010 Census results is scheduled for Tuesday morning. These initial results will provide a basic overview of the population and distribution of United States residents. These initial results are followed closely, mostly because they determine the number of Congressional seats for each state. These 2010 Census results mean that some states will be gaining political pull, while others will be left with less. You can watch the live webcast of the 2010 Census results on the Census 2010 website.

2010 Census results come with controversy

The 2010 Census results come with a very heavy dose of controversy. The constitution requires that a full count of the citizenry of the United States be taken every 10 years. There are many people that question the fact that the U.S. Census asks questions beyond the simple number of people living in a household. The U.S. Census also takes a measurement of the ethnicity, age and relationship of people in a household. These numbers help determine how state and federal governments spend their money. This does not, however, mean that all the 2010 Census results are embraced. Some call them a violation of privacy.

Uses of 2010 Census results

The uses of Census results expand far beyond governmental entities. Census information is often used to help accurately report statistics such as home ownership and even the unemployment rate. Businesses often use census information to determine whether there is a customer base for new stores in a particular area. Census information is also used by nonprofit organizations who want to provide their services in areas that need them the most. It will take a year or more for detailed results of the 2010 Census to be released, but Tuesday’s first major release of data is sure to provide a lot of insight into the makeup of our country.

Real Video :::::::- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tng1UhL4VvU

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Lunar Eclipse Live Stream Online Camera

Alright, I admit it. I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night to watch the lunar eclipse live last night. Thankfully I can still catch the event via the lunar eclipse live camera [CNN] and you can too!

Watch the lunar eclipse live camera below:

Last night’s total lunar eclipse marks the first time a lunar eclipse has coincided with the winter solstice since 1638 [via KidGlue].

Not only that, a total eclipse of the moon is visible from all places within the hemisphere where the moon is above the horizon. Meaning that last night’s lunar eclipse was visible across North and South America, northern and western Europe, and a small part of northeast Asia, including Korea and most of Japan. That’s a potential viewing audience of about 1.5 billion people!

Did you catch the total lunar eclipse December 20, 2010? Or were you too snuggled up in bed like me to enjoy the live views of the moon? Tell us in the comments!

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Watch lunar eclipse 2010 live stream video online

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When Zombies Win

When historians look back at 2008-10, what will puzzle them most, I believe, is the strange triumph of failed ideas. Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever.

How did that happen? How, after runaway banks brought the economy to its knees, did we end up with Ron Paul, who says “I don’t think we need regulators,” about to take over a key House panel overseeing the Fed? How, after the experiences of the Clinton and Bush administrations — the first raised taxes and presided over spectacular job growth; the second cut taxes and presided over anemic growth even before the crisis — did we end up with bipartisan agreement on even more tax cuts?

The answer from the right is that the economic failures of the Obama administration show that big-government policies don’t work. But the response should be, what big-government policies?

For the fact is that the Obama stimulus — which itself was almost 40 percent tax cuts — was far too cautious to turn the economy around. And that’s not 20-20 hindsight: many economists, myself included, warned from the beginning that the plan was grossly inadequate. Put it this way: A policy under which government employment actually fell, under which government spending on goods and services grew more slowly than during the Bush years, hardly constitutes a test of Keynesian economics.

Now, maybe it wasn’t possible for President Obama to get more in the face of Congressional skepticism about government. But even if that’s true, it only demonstrates the continuing hold of a failed doctrine over our politics.

It’s also worth pointing out that everything the right said about why Obamanomics would fail was wrong. For two years we’ve been warned that government borrowing would send interest rates sky-high; in fact, rates have fluctuated with optimism or pessimism about recovery, but stayed consistently low by historical standards. For two years we’ve been warned that inflation, even hyperinflation, was just around the corner; instead, disinflation has continued, with core inflation — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — now at a half-century low.

The free-market fundamentalists have been as wrong about events abroad as they have about events in America — and suffered equally few consequences. “Ireland,” declared George Osborne in 2006, “stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking.” Whoops. But Mr. Osborne is now Britain’s top economic official.

And in his new position, he’s setting out to emulate the austerity policies Ireland implemented after its bubble burst. After all, conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic spent much of the past year hailing Irish austerity as a resounding success. “The Irish approach worked in 1987-89 — and it’s working now,” declared Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute last June. Whoops, again.

But such failures don’t seem to matter. To borrow the title of a recent book by the Australian economist John Quiggin on doctrines that the crisis should have killed but didn’t, we’re still — perhaps more than ever — ruled by “zombie economics.” Why?

Part of the answer, surely, is that people who should have been trying to slay zombie ideas have tried to compromise with them instead. And this is especially, though not only, true of the president.

People tend to forget that Ronald Reagan often gave ground on policy substance — most notably, he ended up enacting multiple tax increases. But he never wavered on ideas, never backed down from the position that his ideology was right and his opponents were wrong.

President Obama, by contrast, has consistently tried to reach across the aisle by lending cover to right-wing myths. He has praised Reagan for restoring American dynamism (when was the last time you heard a Republican praising F.D.R.?), adopted G.O.P. rhetoric about the need for the government to tighten its belt even in the face of recession, offered symbolic freezes on spending and federal wages.

None of this stopped the right from denouncing him as a socialist. But it helped empower bad ideas, in ways that can do quite immediate harm. Right now Mr. Obama is hailing the tax-cut deal as a boost to the economy — but Republicans are already talking about spending cuts that would offset any positive effects from the deal. And how effectively can he oppose these demands, when he himself has embraced the rhetoric of belt-tightening?

Yes, politics is the art of the possible. We all understand the need to deal with one’s political enemies. But it’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas. When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain — and quite possibly your economy too.

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Death Penalty Down in U.S., Figures Show

States are continuing a trend of executing fewer prisoners and juries are wary of sentencing criminal defendants to die, according to year-end figures compiled by a group that opposes the death penalty.

The 46 executions in 2010 constituted a nearly 12 percent drop from the previous year’s total of 52, according to the group, Death Penalty Information Center, which produces an annual report on execution trends. The overall trend shows a marked drop when compared with the 85 executions in 2000.

Jurors, too, show a continuing preference for the alternative of punishing criminal defendants with sentences of life without parole. Juries handed out 114 death sentences in 2010, slightly higher than the 112 death sentences last year, and 50 percent fewer for the current decade than in the 1990s — before the widespread availability of life without parole sentences for juries in capital cases.

“There’s just a whole lot more concern about the accuracy of the death penalty, the fairness and even the costs — all are contributing,” said Richard C. Dieter, the author of the report and the executive director of the center, which is in Washington. The availability of the alternative to the death penalty, Mr. Dieter said, also means that “prosecutors know it’s going to be a harder sell and are seeking it less.”

The states continue to condemn far more prisoners to death than they actually execute.

There are 3,261 people on death row in the United States; California has the largest population, with 697, while New Hampshire and Wyoming have one apiece. A majority of Americans support the death penalty, with 64 percent of those surveyed by Gallup in October 2010 favoring it and 29 percent opposed.

One contributing factor in the low number of executions nationwide is the shortage of a drug used for executions — they were postponed or canceled in Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Hospira, the company that makes sodium thiopental, the drug, has said that it expects to resume production in the first quarter of 2011.

The legal director of a group that supports the death penalty, Kent S. Scheidegger, said Mr. Dieter’s group had interpreted facts selectively. Mr. Scheidegger, of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said that at least half the drop in death sentences could be attributed in part to a smaller number of murders in recent years, a fact that he and his group argue is a result of the nation’s high rates of incarceration.

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Injured dog's selflessness draws tears

EDMONTON -- She was a young, homeless single mom trying to raise a family of five, but true to the spirit of the season there was room for one more.

Esperanza had been badly injured when she was hit by a car, but the young shepherd-cross with the thick white coat was still caring for her newborn puppies -- and a kitten -- when she was found on a central Alberta reserve.

Criss Gerwing, who runs a small animal rescue group, discovered the dog earlier this month and couldn't believe it when the canine led her to her blended brood.

"I cried because she was in such bad condition with her leg, but she was obviously nursing her puppies and this kitten," Gerwing told a media outlet.

Gerwing took the entire family to the Edmonton Humane Society, where veterinarians thought they'd have to amputate the mother dog's bad leg.

But local vet Dr. Milton Ness volunteered to do a special surgery that saved Esperanza's hind quarter. He calls her a "special soul."

Shawna Randolph at the humane society couldn't agree more.

"She is such a sweet, sweet dog. She has such a wonderful personality," Randoph said.

"It's amazing when you think about it. You have this dog who is just so giving of herself, caring for these newborn puppies and the kitten, making sure they were cared for even though she was obviously in a lot of pain."

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