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It’s time for the holidays. The air is getting colder. The football season is ending and the basketball season (college at least) is beginning. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Families will get together and stuff their faces full of turkey and stuffing. The only problem is, some people are more excited for the day after Thanksgiving. After reading this article on msn.com, I realized that people focus too much on what more they can get rather than be thankful for what they already have.

Thanksgiving has been losing more and more interest in the minds of many people considering the popular and ever-growing event that follows. No, I’m not talking about Christmas. The words “Black Friday” are virtually universal and mean “day of deals” or “day of mayhem” depending on who you ask.

Black Friday on Thursday?

Some retailers are taking advantage of the shopping holiday by lowering their prices two hours early. That’s right, Wal Mart will be starting their Black Friday at 10:00 PM Thanksgiving night. Does anybody else feel bad for those Wal Mart employees that have to leave their families the night of Thanksgiving to deal with an onslaught of customers running over each other to get their kid’s favorite toy?

Target, Best Buy and Macy’s are starting their Black Friday deals early as well.

The idea of Black Friday isn’t a bad one. It allows for shoppers to get a head start on Christmas shopping deals. I’m all for creating jobs and boosting the economy. But Thanksgiving should be a day in which we are thankful for what we have. We should not be squandering it away looking at coupons or ads and camping outside our favorite retail store.

Man, the rich just keep getting richer don’t they? No wonder Obama is trying to raise taxes on these people swimming in money.

Forbes just came out with their, “Forbes 400” list which ranks the richest Americans today. Surprisingly, these 400 people are still making money – and lots of it – in this down economy. According to the report on MSN.net, collectively, those on the list have increased their wealth by 12% over the past calendar year.
12%! I’ve got to figure out how these guys are doing it.

Who is No.1?

Again, Bill Gates ranked No.1 on the list, making him the richest person in America for the 18th straight year. If you do the math, Bill has held the title of “Richest American” since 1993.

And guess who was No.1 in 1993? That would be Mr. Warren Buffet, the CEO of Bershire Hathaway (among many other notable positions and titles). Ironically, Buffet’s fortune plummeted $6 billion dollars this past year, making him the biggest money loser of the 400 people.

Of course, Buffet did give away half of that money…who just gives away $3 billion dollars? He probably did it in cash as well.

Other Headliners

Also, if you were wondering how Mark Zuckerberg is faring, a.k.a. Mr. Facebook, you probably be interested to know that he added $10.6 billion dollars to his fortune – making him the biggest money maker of this past calendar year.

That $10.6 billion dollars also vaulted Mark into the top 20 on the list.

Right behind Zuckerberg are Google co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who actually gained in total fortune but dropped in the overall “standings” on the Forbes 300 list.

Page and Brin both grossed $1.7 billion dollars apiece this past year, but that was only good enough for No.15 on the list as they dropped five spots from their perch as No.10 in 2010.

Newcomer of the Year

Bob Parsons, the CEO of The Go Daddy Group’s, should be hailing Danica Patrick and flowering her with kisses right about now. That’s because Parsons made it onto the Forbes 400 list for the first time, making him one of the most “notable newcomers” to join the prestigious club.

The List

If you want to look at an online version of the Forbes 400 rankings, you can click here. Just don’t get to jealous as you scroll through the names.

After all, we can’t all have the last name of ‘Walton’ and own part of Wal-Mart.

Waterfalls and Trees

Just ten years ago, the Twin Towers lay in ruin at Ground Zero as masses of rescue workers worked frantically to find those who may have miraculously survived the terrorist attacks of the day. Now ten years later, Ground Zero has a whole new inspirational look to it, marked by a memorial that will always help us to remember the events of September 11, 2001.

Yesterday morning, the World Trade Center Memorial Site was fittingly unveiled to the public on the 10th anniversary of the attacks for dedication and a commemorative ceremony. Those in attendance, including many family members who lost loved ones, were treated to a site that now includes two reflective pools, waterfalls, and oak trees where the Twin Towers once stood. Each pool is also surrounded by bronze panels which have all 3,000 victims and their names etched into them.

The Ceremony

President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former U.S. President, George W. Bush, all attended the commemorative ceremony and shared their thoughts and feelings on the new Memorial Site.

“It will be said of us that we kept that faith; that we took a painful blow, and emerged stronger,” said Obama in his remarks.

“Never before in our history has America asked so much over such a sustained period of an all-volunteer force,” Bide said. “The 9/11 generation ranks among the greatest our nation has ever produced.”

Along with remarks and speeches given, the names of the fallen were also read out loud by their own children, some of which were unborn at the time of the attacks. Many of the children spoke of their desire to make their fathers or mothers proud as they moved forward in their lives.

Musical performances at the ceremony included Paul Simon, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus

A Whole Nation in Remembrance

New York was certainly not the only place on the planet who remembered the events of 9/11. People, schools, and business across the country flew the American Flag at half-staff in remembrance of the day. Sporting events all around the world including NFL games, Premiership games, the US Open, and more, also saw it fit to hold either pre-game or halftime ceremonies as athletes and sports fans around the world came together to honor the victims of 9/11.

What the Future Holds

Only 7,000 people were allowed onto Ground Zero for the commemorative ceremony, but another 40,000 have tickets to visit the site in the coming month. Once construction is fully complete, a much higher volume of visitors will be allowed to visit.

As for the National September 11 Museum, it is scheduled to open sometime next year according to reports.

Who needs Big Brother when we have each other? And unfortunately, while we’re not going to be the ones calling the Thought Police, we’re doling out our personal information to those who will use it for their own profit.

Let’s face it: Facebook and other social networks are business. Their primary purpose is to make money: they do this by running ads. And where most mass ad campaigns get really spammy, Facebook looks at your personal information to figure out what ads will appeal to you the most.

Wait, “Personal Information”?! Yes, like your relationships and friends (big whoop, that’s why I’m on Facebook), your likes (And?) and your internet history. Ever wonder why your significant other keeps having those “dating sites” advertise to them? Because they keep visiting them!

With this sort of information, Facebook can figure out your very personal information. Like where you live and work (oh, wait, that wasn’t hard: you already told them), what you were doing last Friday (hey, that wasn’t hard either) and what when you’ll be on vacation and your house will be abandoned (Alright I get the idea).

He’s the kid that has more influence over the internet world than President Obama and the Dali Lama: Justin Beiber. With more hits–and more dislikes–on Youtube than anything else, he’s a force to be reckoned with. He could probably take over the world with his army of tweens.

Several of Beiber’s concerts, performances and appearances have been canceled due to public unrest and nuisance. Cops have had to threaten him with arrest so he wouldn’t leave his hotel and cause a riot.

What gives this boy his power? Well he was discovered by Usher. I wonder if Usher thinks about the Beibster in the same way Einstein does the nuke?

We’re soon going to all have to sign Anti-Beiber Proliferation Treaties.

If you’re a college basket ball fan and haven’t heard of Jimmer Fredette, you’re probably living under a rock. The Brigham Young University point guard sensation, is currently the nation’s leading scorer and his Cougars are ranked third overall. Many analysts have them in top contention for one of the four coveted #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. But with some recent news, BYU’s aspirations of pushing far into March Madness may be crushed.

According to MSN’s sport page, BYU has announced that its starting center has been dismissed from the team and will not play again this season. Brandon Davies, a 6’9” sophomore was apparently kicked off the team for a BYU honor code violation. Being owned and run by the LDS Church, BYU students are required to sign an agreement upon enrollment committing them to observe the law, maintain academic honesty, and abstain from porfanity, coffee, drugs, alcohol, gambling, and pre-marital sex. The BYU honor code office declined to specify which of these rules Davies violated but did say that his offense was not criminal or academic in nature. Some local radio stations in the area have been saying his girlfriend recently discovered she was pregnant.

With this dismissal, BYU may have lost an irreplaceable component to their team. Davies averages about 11 points a game and leads the team in rebounds with 6 per game. Losing his fire power and his inside presence could be a huge setback for the Cougars. While honor code violations have led to the suspension of athletes in the past at BYU, none have ever come at this critical of a juncture. Last year it was learned that the football team’s running back star, Harvey Unga was expecting with his girlfriend. However, this news came during the off season when BYU had time to adjust and nothing was on the line.

Because of the honor code, many people think BYU will never have another championship team in any sport. Only time will tell. But in any case, without Davies or not, we’re still looking forward to see Jimmer go crazy come March Madness. Let’s hope it last for more than just two games this year.

I don’t usually tackle sports headlines that MSN usually posts, but I thought this one interesting. Apparently the New Jersey Nets are close to making a trade for Utah’s All-Star guard, Deron Williams. The big news to me isn’t that they didn’t get Carmello. That boy was going nowhere else than to the Knicks, that much was apparent. The interesting thing about this story is what is happening to the Jazz during the aftermath of Jerry Sloan’s departure.

A little less than a month ago, the Hall of Fame coach, Jerry Sloan stepped down from the Jazz organization. It happened the same night as the Jazz’s heartbreak loss to the Bulls (ironically the team who kept the Jazz from winning two straight championships). Apparently, there had been a shouting match between Deron Williams and the coach during halftime. The next day, Sloan resigned.

At a press conference, Sloan did his best not to pin the blame on any player. Instead he claimed his energy level wasn’t where it used to be and that it was time to move on. But after remarks from Karl Malone saying that the coach he knew would never quit, some fans began to wonder just how much a part Deron played in the coach’s sudden departure.

The fans are suspicious and I think Deron feels it. He may be getting a ton of hate mail from die-hard Jerry fans as well. I think he feels like he’s under a magnifying glass. He’s starting to see that his All-Star talent and rising star status doesn’t mean as much to Salt Lake as Jerry did. Many people will probably defend D-Will saying that he just wants to win. Well if that’s true, why’s he going to the Nets? The Jazz haven’t had the most success as of late, but they haven’t lost 40 games. It seems that reasons are mostly to get away from the scrutiny.

In the trade the Jazz will receive Derrick Favors, a 6’11” forward/center averaging around 6 points and 5 rebounds a game, and Devin Harris, a 6’3” guard averaging 15 points and about 8 assists a game.

Just a few hours ago, the crowds protesting against President Hosni Mubarak, were met by a massive throng of government supporters. These supporters, dressed in civilian clothing quickly turned things violent as they stampeded in (someo on horses, some on camels) lashing whips, hurling stones, and tossing firebombs into the once peaceful crowd. In the ensuing chaos, 3 were killed while 600 more wounded, many of which were foreign journalists.

But though these violent perpetrators hope to seem like fierce loyalists supporting the country and President Mubarak, most anti-government demonstrators have their doubts. Most believe these pro-government aggressors to be nothing more than a private army of petty thugs and mercenaries hired to punish those who would challenge the president.

Though terrible as these acts are, the demonstrators had been given warning by the Egyptian military to abandon Tahrir Square in the days before. They claimed that “violent groups” were coming to set fire to the square. Instead of leaving, the protesters stayed and were thus met with violence. The link between these violent groups and Mubarak became clear when the military did not interfere.

But even though these tactics might have some protesters scared, these violent acts have only strengthened the people’s resolve to oust President Mubarak. This the first major out break of violence since the revolution began. Who’s to say if it’s the last. It may not be considering Mubarak has been in power for the last 30 years. Making a man give up that kind of authority will be a difficult task. Power is hard to relinquish. It’s even harder to take away. It’s times like these I am grateful that I live in a nation still governed by the rule of law that remains un-suffocated by tyranny, bureaucracy, and corruption. The United States may have a little in each category but I’d say we’re pretty lucky. I wish the people of Egypt the best and hope that they can achieve a peaceful resolution to all this.

Recently posted on MSN.com was a story from MSNBC about the possibility of cloning a woolly mammoth. A team of scientists from Russia, America, and Japan have began banding together to start trying to revive and reintroduce a viable woolly mammoth baby back into the world. They plan to take 40,000 year old Woolly Mammoth ova (eggs from the mammoth’s uterus) recovered from the frozen remains of Mammoth corpse and injecting it into an African Elephant ova. This would mean that a modern day elephant would be giving birth to the creature.

The main Japanese scientist heading the project has already been able to clone domesticated animals from corpses already 16 years old. Though in this case, he’ll be dealing with DNA over 40,000 years old. Unlike we might imagine, the frozen corpses of these Mammoths didn’t just freeze until scientists found them eons later. They have been through freezes and thaws over and over, leaving the DNA badly damaged fragments. Cloning offspring from these samples is more than likely impossible though there is a slim chance it could work.

But more importantly than “if” is “should.” Should we be trying to revive dead animals in the first place? One major problem to all this would be the thousands of nonviable offspring that might be brought to term before getting the process right and finally producing a healthy living specimen. There are definitely several animal rights issues surrounding this issue as well considering all the Elephant mothers who would have to bear the stillborns and dead fetuses before everything pays off.

Beyond that, there are several issues here worth exploring. Is our technology sophisticated enough to pull off such a feat? Would the clone survive? Would it be ethical and moral to bring an extinct animal into a world where it was the only one of its kind? And finally, will this one day be applied to humans? These are serious matters that will probably be discussed for decades.

Though we’d like to blame our kids’ ADHD on that brain-rotting TV or the hours spent on the computer, the blame falls on the parents. The parents’ genes of course. ADHD has been proven to be caused by genetics. However, MSN has posted an article about some food additives that might potentially make the symptoms of ADHD worse. These food additives are mostly colorings and dyes that are aggravate hyperactivity.

Quoting several doctors, it seems though that not everyone has come to consensus about the possible side effects of these dyes. Voices for and against are both represented in the article. But some of the doctors who support the claims that these additives were putting ADHD children at risk, are actually petitioning the FDA to ban these dyes in food altogether. In Europe, the EU has plans to start requiring warning labels on food if they contain these ingredients.

These additives include Blue No. 1 (Brilliant blue), Blue No. 2 (Indigotine), Green No. 3, Orange B, Red No. 3 (Carmoisine), Red No. 40 (Allura red), the food preservative Sodium benzoate, Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine), and Yellow No. 6 (Sunset yellow).

Sadly, these dyes and additives are in almost every snack, chip, soda, and piece of candy out there on the shelves. But with these ingredients in so many different products, is it really possible to pinpoint these as the culprit to making children more hyperactive? Couldn’t it be the sugar, the carbs, the caffeine in other products that bring on more severe ADHD? According to MSN’s source, Catherine Ulbricht, “There’s inconclusive evidence that food additives actually cause ADHD, but some research suggests that they may be linked to exacerbated symptoms in people who already have ADHD.” So in the final evaluation, it might be too close to tell if these additives are really responsible. Until further research can be done, it looks like the jury is still out.