Sales of women’s clothing, a traditional pillar of the holiday shopping season, are unusually bleak so far this year, according to a major credit card company, an ominous sign for the retail industry. From high-end dresses to bargain coats, spending on women’s apparel dropped nearly 6 percent during the first half of the Christmas season, compared with the same period last year, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. Analysts blamed a rough economy, which has discouraged women - and mothers, in particular - from splurging on clothing for themselves and a lack of compelling fashions this winter. The drop-off, which the credit card company described Sunday as ‘surprising,’ bodes poorly for chains like Chico’s FAS and Ann Taylor, which specialize in women’s clothing, and could result in steeper-than-expected discounts on their merchandise in the final week before Christmas. The slowdown is worrisome because women make the vast majority of purchases in retailing, and their spending is a closely watched barometer of the industry’s health. In contrast, sales of men’s clothing rose 4.5 percent during the first 20 days of the season, MasterCard Advisors said. The credit card company issued […]
BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. - When a New York designer came up with a plan for a tiny cottage that could offer permanent shelter for Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi officials pressed hard for federal funding. Why build a flimsy government trailer, they asked, when it was possible to build a sturdy, long-lasting cottage — especially one as charming as the ‘Katrina cottage,’ designed in a Southern vernacular style, with a steep metal roof and a deep front porch? But now that the ‘Mississippi cottage,’ a small shotgun-style house inspired by the original, is rolling onto the coast, things have become a little more complicated: The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency provides only the cottage — not the land — and cities have imposed rule after rule to keep qualified residents from settling into them. Local officials, it seems, fear that the brightly colored cottages will become permanent fixtures in their hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods. They say the cottages, which range from 400 to 840 square feet and cost as little as $34,000 to build, will hurt property values. And so the cottage that was designed to offer long-term shelter is now being used strictly temporarily […]
BAGHDAD AND BASRA, IRAQ — Nine of 18 provinces are now under Iraqi security forces. But central and southern Iraq face a vicious power struggle between Shiite parties and militias. A largely symbolic ceremony was held in Basra Sunday marking the transfer of security in the province to Iraqis from British forces, who had previously withdrawn from the city in September. The event shines the spotlight on the willingness and ability of the central government and the Iraqi Army to exert their authority over Iraq’s most strategic and resource-rich city, which is now in the grips of feuding militias. Some of those militias are beholden to Iran, or are criminal gangs and religious fundamentalists who have stepped up in recent weeks their campaign of killings against women, minorities, and secular figures. Just last week, a Christian brother and sister were shot on a Basra street by gunmen posing as police. The Basra hand-off to Iraqi forces (they can still call on multinational forces for help), would be the sixth and most significant so far among the nine predominantly Shiite provinces of central and southern Iraq. Counting the three Kurdish provinces, Iraqi forces are […]
In the nearly a decade since the U.S. rejected the landmark climate change agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. has become accustomed to being attacked at U.N. environmental gatherings. But the pounding it took in the tortured all-night negotiations that capped the UN climate change conference in Bali was unprecedented. Not only did developing nations big and small from India to Papua New Guinea openly chastise the U.S. for its last-minute refusal to endorse the new agreement dubbed the Bali Roadmap, but - with the exception of a confused statement from Japan - not one of the allies that had generally stood with the U.S. the past two weeks - Australia, Russia, Canada - rose in its defense. In the end, the U.S.’s total isolation was too much for even it to bear. ‘We’ve listened very closely to many of our colleagues here during these two weeks, but especially to what has been said in this hall today,’ said lead American negotiator Paula Dobiansky. ‘We will go forward and join consensus.’ Boos turned to cheers, and the deal was essentially sealed. Here’s a breakdown of what it means, who won and who lost: WHAT WAS ACHIEVED […]
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he will declare a ‘fiscal emergency’ in January to give him and the Legislature more power to deal with the state’s growing deficit. Schwarzenegger made the announcement Friday after meeting with lawmakers and interest groups this week to tell them California’s budget deficit is worse — far worse — than economists predicted just a few weeks ago. The shortfall is not $10 billion, but more than $14 billion — a 40 percent jump that would put it in orbit with some of the state’s worst fiscal crisis, those who have met with him said. A fiscal emergency would trigger a special session and force lawmakers and the governor to begin addressing the shortfall within 45 days. ‘What we have to do is fix the budget system. The system itself needs to be fixed, and I think that this is a good year, this coming year, to fix it,’ Schwarzenegger said in Long Beach, where he was promoting his plan for health care reform. California is struggling with shrinking state tax revenue from the meltdown of the subprime housing market and the credit crunch on Wall Street. State spending also […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
