Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Early bird shoppers filed into U.S. stores on Thanksgiving day on Thursday, drawn by bargains from retailers who hope to salvage what could be a disastrous holiday sales season. ... While most stores start sales on "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, several opened their doors on Thursday, aiming to capture business even before consumers started their traditional holiday meal with family or friends. ... Retailers fear the shrinking economy and mounting job losses could cost them billions of dollars during the crucial season that brings in up to 40 percent of annual sales. Many started...

Church "hopping" is the ultimate "all about me" experience. I'm not talking about church "shopping" - say, moving into a new community, or deciding to start attending church altogether, and then visiting churches until becoming a member of one as soon as reasonably possible. And I'm not talking about leaving one's church after finding un-addressed scandal in a church's leadership, for instance, or when a person's conscience becomes persuaded that something foundational to the belief system of that church is very wrong. I'm talking about the growing tendency in America's evangelical churches for folks who decide, after they have officially...

Joe Skarimbas was just learning to read when he decided he was ready to join the digital age. "When he went to first grade he said, 'When am I going to get a cell phone?'" said Joe's mother, Tara Skarimbas. The Leonia family decided to hold off on getting young Joe a phone until he turns 10 and starts walking home from school alone. But his mother understands the temptation to get her son, who turns 8 this month, a cell phone as soon as possible. "Just for safety purposes," she said, glancing toward the new Disney Mobile kiosk during...

Dick Cheney warned President Putin that he has"unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people." The Russian people responded by going shopping. Russians are a resilient bunch of people. They are also a pessimistic lot. Most people in Russia still feel they are know better off, though they are consuming more. Inflation is 12% but economic growth is above that. Apartment prices are going up quicker than they are in Shanghai or New York. Of course, once it reaches the $1 million price tag, everything slows down, eh? Putin has a popularity rating of 70%, twice that of the...

A Camry hybrid costs about $5,000 more than it's nonhybrid brother, or is it sister? If a driver goes 15,000 miles a year with an efficiency of 39mpg s/he will save about $500/yr. Easy math. It will take 10 years to get your money back. The good news is a Toyota will last 10 years and 150,000 miles. The bad news is Americans won't drive the same car for that long. But then neither will anybody else in any other country. The Japanese will change cars every 3-5 years. This is one of the reasons why the hybrid market only...

Russia is flooded with cash that comes for high oil prices so high. And the walls of the rich and corrupt are starting to overflow to the little fellow in the distant outposts. For seven years, Russia has seen 6% growth AFTER inflation. There is now a consumer class in Russia and they can't wait to go shopping. For as little as $1000/month a family of four can live somewhat comfortably...and this salary is within reach of about 30% of the population and continues to grow. In 2002, 12% of all Russians had a cell phone. In 2006, 88% of...

What would we do without a friendly holiday column praising the crass commercialism of the Christmas season? It seems that as some try to further secularize Christmas, the reflex has been just as harmful: condemning anything commercial associated with the holiday. Trust me, buying your kids a "SpongeBob Nautical Nonsense" DVD in no way erodes their belief in the Shroud of Turin. In fact, if churches just started handing out Electronic Minimoto Sport Racers, they would be teeming with adolescent boys. Not long ago, John Paul II, who doesn't exactly see it my way, drew a contrast between the simplicity...