Customers hit by pepper spray at Wal-Mart describe scene of chaos  —  Matthew Lopez went to the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch on Thursday night for the Black Friday sale but instead was caught in a pepper-spray attack by a woman who authorities said was “competitive shopping.”

Death of a currency as eurogeddon approaches  —  It's time to think what hitherto markets have regarded as unthinkable - that the euro really is on its last legs.  —  They need to wake up fast; it's happening before their very eyes.  In its current form, the single currency may always have been doomed …

GQ thinks Ed Schultz is one of ‘The Least Influential People Alive’  —  Wow.  Is it that time of year all ready?  —  Well, yes it is.  When publishers come up with end of the year lists.  Here's one from the December GQ: the magazine's list of “The 25 least Influential People Alive” MSNBC's Ed Schultz comes in at #3.

Support Builds for a Plan to Rein In Medicare Costs  —  WASHINGTON — Though it reached no agreement, the special Congressional committee on deficit reduction built a case for major structural changes in Medicare that would limit the government's open-ended financial commitment to the program, lawmakers and health policy experts say.

Not Photoshopped: Beam of Light Shines on Fallen Soldier's Miracle Dog  —  Reported by ABC News' Kimberly Launier:  —  It was an overcast day in Newport, N.H., when a simple “20/20″ shoot turned into something that made me wonder about life after death.

Disparaging tweet about Gov. Sam Brownback lands Kansas teen in principal's office  —  A Kansas teenager is in trouble after mocking Gov. Sam Brownback during a mock legislative assembly for high school students.  —  Emma Sullivan, a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village …

Occupy News Bin  —  Though I often disagree with the sentiments I hear by folks at Occupy Wall Street encampments, I strongly support their rights to say them peacefully.  So when I see so much footage of police using heavy handed tactics on non-violent protestors it not only makes me more sympathetic to OWS... it makes me feel sick.

Man arrested for Facebook comment threatening Gov. Haley's life  —  COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A South Carolina man is accused of threatening the life of Gov. Nikki Haley on Facebook, but he claims he was only making a point about free speech.  —  When 26-year-old Nathan Shafer heard about the arrests …

Is the end near?  —  I am seeing reports of 7.7 on the Italian ten-year bond, over eight percent on the two-year bond, 6.5 percent on the six-month note, and so on.  Here is one account.  —  Maybe these markets simply will shut down soon.  There is so much talk about what the Germans should do, but I don't see the viable options.

Driven By Drug War Incentives, Cops Target Pot Smokers, Brush Off Victims Of Violent Crime … Drug War , Crime , SWAT Team , Violent Crime , Asset Forfeiture , Byrne Grants , Chicago , Chicago Pd , Law Enforcement , Leap , Marijuana Possession , Police , Police Abuse , War On Drugs , Politics News

Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood  —  Fans were shocked when Batman writer Frank Miller furiously attacked the Occupy movement.  They shouldn't have been, says Rick Moody - he was just voicing Hollywood's unspoken values  —  A sturdy corollary emerges in the wake …

Anarchy in the U.S.A.  —  The roots of American disorder.  —  Ever since September, when activists heeded Adbusters editor Kalle Lasn's call to Occupy Wall Street, it's become a rite of passage for reporters, bloggers, and video trackers to go to the occupiers' tent cities and comment on what they see.

Image Expert Shapes Romney (His Hair, Anyway)  —  BELMONT, Mass. — Voters routinely ask about it on the campaign trail.  Pundits chronicle the slightest changes in its presentation.  There is a Facebook page devoted it — not to mention an entire blog.  “Has it always been this good?” read a recent online entry.