Week of December 8, 2008

Media conglomerate Tribune Co. has filed for bankruptcy protection. The owner

properties has $13 billion in debt. Severe reductions in advertising this year

because of the recession has put pressure on the company. Most of its debt

comes from the complex transaction in which the company was taken private by

real estate mogul Sam Zell last year. Although the next major principal payment

isn't due until June, analysts say Tribune has been in danger of missing lender-

imposed financial targets.

A military fighter jet slams into a San Diego neighborhood Monday, killing four

people and destroying two houses as the plane burst into flames. The pilot of the

F/A-18D Hornet jet ejected safely before the crash, according to a statement

from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The arrest this week of Illinois Gov.

conspiracy and bribery schemes so

brazen that veteran investigators

and prosecutors could barely

contain their revulsion."The conduct

would make Lincoln roll over in his

grave," said U.S. Attorney Patrick

Fitzgerald. In breathtaking detail,

the criminal complaint describes the

efforts of the Democratic governor

and his chief of staff John Harris,

who also was arrested, to "sell the

U.S. Senate seat" once held by

President-elect Barack Obama for a

high-paying job, promises of

campaign funds, a Cabinet post or

ambassadorship or corporate-board seats for Blagojevich's wife, Patricia.

The British press reports that British troops will begin pulling out of Iraq in March

and be largely gone by July.

Households, hit by declining net worth, have cut back on their debt levels for the

first time on record as loans remain scarce.

The Federal Reserve releases its latest quarterly look at consumer and business

finances showing that households reduced their debt levels 0.8% at an annual

rate in the July-September period, the first drop on records that go back more

than 50 years.

Week of December 8, 2008

The decline in household debt levels is evidence of the severe credit squeeze

that is occurring as banks, saddled by billions of dollars of losses in mortgage

debt, have tightened lending standards and made it harder for people to get

loans.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Friday asked the state Supreme Court

to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office temporarily because his arrest on

federal corruption charges makes him unfit to serve.

The aide who was arrested with the governor on corruption charges, John Harris,

dropped off a letter of resignation Friday and won't return to the office, his lawyer,

Terry Ekl, said.

visit to Iraq, a place that defines his presidency

for better or worse, just 37 days before he

hands the war off to a successor who has

pledged to end it.

David Gregory is named permanent host of

“Meet the Press.” The NBC newsman is best

known for his touchy exchanges with President

Bush — who nicknamed him Stretch — and

with administration press secretaries since

being named the network's chief White House

correspondent in 2001.

Jay Leno, expected to hand the “Tonight” show reins to Conan O’Brien in May,

will stay with NBC and get his own prime time talk show. The new show will be

segments. And though giving Leno a prime-time slot protects O'Brien from

competing directly with him on another network, it risks draining audience and

producers knew Paula Goodspeed had stalked her, and

allowed the woman to audition for the show anyway. "I said

this girl is a stalker of mine and please do not let her in,"

Abdul said Monday during an interview with Barbara Walters

on her Sirius XM radio show. Ms. Godspeed, a former

“American Idol” contestant, was found dead of an apparent

suicide in a car near Abdul's home last month.

Week of December 8, 2008

Michael Jackson's glove is going on the auction

block.

The white glove, which inspired countless

copycats, quips and Halloween costumes after it

was unveiled in the 1983 video for Jackson's hit

April. Jackson is also unloading the grandiose

gates that once led to his Neverland Ranch,

along with more than 2,000 other personal items.

Passing - Van Johnson, whose boy-next-door

wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood

At the movies -

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Four Christmases

Twilight

Times.cc

Quantum of Solace

Nothing Like the Holidays

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Milk

Transporter 3