Washington Informer

WASHINGTON -- U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season for the worst year-over-year performance since 2008, a disappointment for retailers who slashed prices to lure people into stores and now must hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending.

Sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent compared with last year, according to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report, the first major snapshot of holiday retail sales.

That was below the healthy 3 to 4 per cent growth that analysts had expected _ and it was the worst performance since spending shrank sharply during the Great Recession. In 2011, retail sales climbed 4 to 5 per cent during November and December, according to ShopperTrak.

This year's shopping season was marred by bad weather and rising uncertainty about the economy in the face of possible tax hikes and deep spending cuts early next year. Some analysts say the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, earlier this month may also have chipped away at shoppers' enthusiasm.

Retailers still have time to make up lost ground. The final week of December accounts for about 15 per cent of the month's sales, said Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.

Still, this season's weak sales could have repercussions for 2013, McNamara said. Retailers will make fewer orders to restock their shelves, and discounts will hurt their profitability. Wholesalers will buy fewer goods and orders to factories will likely drop in the coming months.

Steep discounts weren't enough to get people into stores, said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at the market research firm NPD Inc.

''A lot of the Christmas spirit was left behind way back in Black Friday weekend,'' Cohen said, referring to the traditional retail rush the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in late November. ''We had one reason after another for consumers to say, 'I'm going to stick to my list and not go beyond it.'''

Holiday sales are a crucial indicator of the economy's strength. November and December account for up to 40 per cent of annual sales for many retailers. If those sales don't materialize, stores are forced to offer steeper discounts. That's a boon for shoppers, but it cuts into stores' profits.

Spending by consumers accounts for 70 per cent of overall economic activity, so the eight-week period encompassed by the SpendingPulse data is seen as a critical time not just for retailers but for manufacturers, wholesalers and companies at every other point along the supply chain.

The SpendingPulse data released Tuesday captures sales from Oct. 28 through Dec. 24 across all payment methods. A clearer picture of holiday sales will emerge next week as retailers like Macy's and Target report revenue from stores open for at least a year. That sales measure is widely watched in the retail industry because it excludes revenue from stores that recently opened or closed, which can be volatile.

In the run-up to Christmas, analysts blamed bad weather for putting a damper on shopping. In late October, Superstorm Sandy battered the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, which account for 24 per cent of US retail sales.

Shopping picked up in the second half of November, but then the threat of the country falling off a ''fiscal cliff'' gained strength, throwing consumers off track once again.

Lawmakers have yet to reach a deal that would prevent tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect at the beginning of 2013. If the cuts and tax hikes kick in and stay in place for months, the Congressional Budget Office says the nation could fall back into recession.

Shopping over the past two months was weakest in areas affected by Sandy and a more recent winter storm in the Midwest. Sales declined by 3.9 per cent in the mid-Atlantic and 1.4 per cent in the Northeast compared with last year. They rose 0.9 per cent in the north central part of the country.

The West and South posted gains of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent, still weaker than the 3 per cent to 4 per cent increases expected by many retail analysts.

Online sales, typically a bright spot, grew only 8.4 per cent from Oct. 28 through Saturday, according to SpendingPulse. That's a dramatic slowdown from the online sales growth of 15 to 17 per cent seen in the prior 18-month period, according to the data service.

Online sales did enjoy a modest boost after the recent snowstorm that hit the Midwest, McNamara said. Online sales make up about 10 per cent of total holiday business.

(The Economic Times)

Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world are expected to converge upon New York City's Times Square this evening to ring in 2013.

The giant ball that is also traditionally dropped, will be covered with 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles and illuminated by more than 32,000 LEDs in red, blue, green and white, according to reports.

Security will be tight, with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly stating that Times Square will be the "safest place in the world on New Year's Eve."

Joining uniformed police who will be using barriers to prevent overcrowding, checking handbags and enforcing a ban on alcohol, will be plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd.

Reports also state that there have been no specific terror threats related to the celebration.

(Source: Wire Reports)

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital, ending a nearly three-week stay during which he was treated for a lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones, the government recently said.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been moved to his Johannesburg home. He has been in frail health for several years.

"He will undergo home-based high care at his ... home until he recovers fully," the government said in a statement issued by the presidency.

"We request a continuation of the privacy consideration in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery," it said, without offering further details.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis while in jail as a political prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.

The former president was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on Dec 8 and this was his longest stay in hospital since he was released from prison in 1990.

Current President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela on Christmas Day and said the former South African leader was doing much better, making progress and in good spirits.

Mandela was also admitted to hospital in February because of abdominal pain but released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with him.

He has spent most of his time since then in another home in Qunu, his ancestral village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province.

(Source: Reuters)

Rapper Kanye West announced during a concert Sunday nightnin Atlantic City, NJ, that his girlfriend Kim Kardashian is pregnant. He made the announcement before a crowd of more than 5,000 fans in the form of the song: "Now You Having My Baby," according to a Fox News report.

The crowd roared in response.

Kardashian's family, who was also excited about the news, shared their sentiments in several tweets. Her sister Kourtney Kardashian wrote: "Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!"

Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian is still waiting for her divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries to be finalized. The couple wed in August 2011.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized following discovery of a blood clot that doctors say resulted from a concussion she suffered earlier this month.

According to Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines, doctors who are treating Clinton with an anti-coagulant, discovered the clot during a follow-up exam over the weekend.

Clinton is expected to remain under care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for at least two more days, reports state.

(Source: Newsone.com)

Terry Glover, managing editor of Ebony magazine, has died of colon cancer after battling the disease for nearly two years.

Glover, 57, who had also served as a senior editor for the magazine's website, died Monday at her home Chicago home.

Johnson Publishing chairwoman Linda Johnson Rice said in a statement that Glover was passionate about her work and made innumerable contributions to Ebony.

Editor-in-Chief Amy DuBois Barnett added that Glover was "the heart and soul" of the magazine's team.

A graduate of Northwestern, with a B.A. in radio, TV and film, Glover was an expert content producer. She'd served in staff and freelance roles for the likes of Playboy, Savoy and Uptown magazines, as well as the Chicago Tribune. She also served on local boards including Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and The Awassa Children's Project

Source: Ebony.com

Fontella Bass, the singer whose 1965 hit "Rescue Me" exemplified the decade's finest pop-soul, has died. She was 72.

Bass, an older sibling of singer David Peaston who died in February, passed on Wednesday at her home in St. Louis, Mo., following complications of a recent heart attack, according to her daughter Neuka Mitchell.

Bass was born in St. Louis on July 3, 1940, and learned gospel at the side of her mother, Martha Bass, a member of one of the era's major traditional gospel groups, the Ward Singers. From a young age she served as her mother's pianist, but eventually, as an adolescent, got the itch to sing secular music. By the early 1960s she was playing with Little Milton, a blues guitarist and singer with links to the Chess label in Chicago.

After some early recordings with Little Milton's Bobbin label in St. Louis, she joined Chess and released her first records on its Checker subsidiary in early 1965. The first two, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" and "You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)," duets with Bobby McClure, had modest success on the rhythm-and-blues charts. But her career was made by "Rescue Me," released later that year.

Driven by a bubbly bass line, it featured Bass's high-spirited voice in wholesomely amorous lyrics like "Come on and take my hand/Come on, baby, and be my man," as well as some call-and-response moans that Bass later said resulted from a studio accident.

"When we were recording that, I forgot some of the words," she told The New York Times in 1989. "Back then, you didn't stop while the tape was running, and I remembered from the church what to do if you forget the words. I sang, 'Ummm, ummm, ummm,' and it worked out just fine."

A major crossover hit, the song reached No. 4 on Billboard's pop chart and has remained a staple on oldies radio, movie soundtracks and television commercials; Aretha Franklin sang a version of it for a Pizza Hut ad in the early '90s (as "Deliver Me").

Bass recorded several follow-up singles for Checker, but all fell short of the popularity of "Rescue Me," and she then veered toward the avant-garde jazz of her husband, Lester Bowie, the trumpeter of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. She went with the group to Paris at the turn of the 1970s and recorded with it there, but soon returned to the United States.

A 1972 solo album, "Free," was another commercial disappointment, and Bass turned to raising her four children with Mr. Bowie. Beside Mitchell, they include another daughter, Ju'Lene Coney, and two sons, Larry Stevenson and Bahnamous Bowie. They all survive her, along with 10 grandchildren.

Source: The Huffington Post

Lorenzo Alexander and Trent Williams also Earn Pro Bowl Nods

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA -- The National Football League has announced that linebacker/special teamer Lorenzo Alexander, quarterback Robert Griffin III and tackle Trent Williams have all been selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl. The annual contest of the AFC and NFC's best will take place Sunday, Jan. 27 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

In addition, linebacker London Fletcher and running back Alfred Morris were selected as alternates.

Alexander, 29, is in his third season as Washington's special teams captain. The two-time team recipient for Walter Payton Man of the Year has played eight different positions in six NFL seasons, but has earned acclaim as one of the top special teams players in the NFL. This season, Alexander has been credited by coaches with a team-high 29 special teams tackles. His 19 special teams tackles as credited by STATS, LLC are the most in the NFL.

Alexander is the first Redskin since long snapper Ethan Albright (2007) selected to the Pro Bowl on the basis of special teams play.

The Redskins selected Griffin III, 22, with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft last April, and despite being inactive in Week 15, Griffin III has completed 249-of-375 passes (66.4 percent) for 3,100 yards with 20 touchdowns, only five interceptions and a passer rating of 104.1. Griffin III already holds at least a share of team rookie records for passing attempts, pass completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, and is on pace to set team rookie records for completion percentage and passer rating. In addition, he has rushed 114 times for 752 yards with six rushing touchdowns this season, all three of which are team records for a quarterback. His 6.6 yards per carry average leads the NFL among players with at least 100 rushing attempts.

Griffin III is the first rookie quarterback selected to the Pro Bowl in Redskins history. Prior to 2012, only six rookie quarterbacks in NFL history had been named to the Pro Bowl. He is the first offensive rookie for the Redskins to be selected to the Pro Bowl since running back Larry Brown in 1969. Griffin III is the first Redskin quarterback of any experience level to earn a Pro Bowl selection since Brad Johnson following the 1999 season. His selection is the 21st by a Redskins quarterback, joining Johnson, Gus Frerotte (1996), Mark Rypien (1989, 91), Jay Schroeder (1986), Joe Theismann (1982-83), Billy Kilmer (1972), Sonny Jurgensen (1964, 66-67, 69), Norm Snead (1963), Eddie LeBaron (1955, 57-58), Al Dorow (1956), Harry Gilmer (1950, 52) and Sammy Baugh (1951).

Williams, 24, is in his second season as an offensive captain for the Redskins. The first player drafted during Mike Shanahan?s tenure in Washington, Williams has blossomed into one of the league?s elite left tackles in his first three seasons since being selected No. 4 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. Williams anchors an offensive line that has helped the Redskins average a league-high 162.3 rushing yards per game this season. He has helped rookie running back Alfred Morris shatter team rookie rushing records, as well as bring Morris to within 104 yards of breaking the Redskins? single-season rushing record. Despite fighting several significant injuries throughout the season, Williams is one start on Sunday away from having started all 16 games in a season for the first time in his career.

Williams becomes the first Redskins offensive lineman selected to the Pro Bowl since Chris Samuels in 2008. With Williams? first Pro Bowl selection and Samuels? six career selections, the Redskins? last seven Pro Bowl offensive linemen have all been left tackles. Williams? selection is the 14th by a Redskins offensive tackle since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, joining Samuels (2001-02, 05-08), Jim Lachey (1990-91), Mark May (1988) and Joe Jacoby (1983-86).

With the Redskins' selections this year, the team has had at least one Pro Bowl player for 19 straight seasons. The only year Washington has not had a Pro Bowler in team history was 1993. Shanahan has now coached players responsible for 73 Pro Bowl selections during his tenure as an NFL head coach. Shanahan has had at least one player selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his 19 seasons at the helm.

Source: Redskins Public Relations

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is she's stepping down after nearly four years on the job.

In announcing her plans to leave the agency, Jackson said in a statement on Thursday that she was ready for new challenges, time with her family and new opportunities to make a difference.

Jackson's tenure was marked by high-profile brawls with industry and congressional Republicans over such issues a global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline and new controls on coal-fired plants.

She says she's leaving the agency, in her words, "confident the ship is sailing in the right direction."

Jackson is expected to leave after the State of the Union address in late January. Cabinet members looking to move on often leave at the beginning of a president's second term.

Source: Political  Eye

Two-Time WNBA Coach of the Year to Lead Team

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mike Thibault has been named the head coach and general manager of the Washington Mystics as announced by team president and managing partner Sheila C. Johnson. "Mike Thibault has an exemplary track record in building and coaching successful teams," said Johnson. "We are excited about him coming on board, and based on his experience and sustainable tenure in the WNBA, we are confident that he will establish a new era in Mystics basketball."

Thibault brings a wealth of experience to the Mystics. He has spent the last 10 years at the helm of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, leading the team to eight playoff appearances and two WNBA finals as the team's head coach. A two-time WNBA Coach of the Year (2006, 2008), Thibault has recorded more wins (206) than any active coach in the WNBA and currently ranks second on the all-time wins list. During his tenure with the Sun, Thibault oversaw the development of Tina Charles, who was recently named the league's MVP.

"I am extremely excited to be asked to lead the Washington Mystics into a new era that I believe will be extremely successful on and off the court," said Thibault. "Ted Leonsis, Sheila Johnson, and all of their partners in Monumental Sports & Entertainment are making a commitment to me, the players and all of our fans and sponsors to re-dedicate the Mystics to being one of the WNBA's flagship organizations and I am ready to get started doing my part to make that happen."

Prior to joining the Sun in 2003, Thibault has spent numerous years in various roles with NBA teams. He was an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. He also served as a scout for the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks. He served as the director of scouting for the Chicago Bulls during a time when the organization selected Michael Jordan, Charles Oakley and John Paxson.

Thibault served as the general manager and head coach of the Omaha Racers of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) where his team captured the league's title in 1988. During his tenure with the Racers, the team made nine consecutive playoff appearances, and Thibault was named the 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Omaha broadcasters. He also coached the Calgary 88's of the World Basketball League (WBL) where he received Coach of the Year honors in 1988.

Thibault has had an extensive collaboration with USA Basketball. He most recently served as an assistant coach to the women's National Team that won gold during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was on the coaching staff of the 2006 National Team that captured silver during the World Championships, was the head coach of the men's team that participated in the 1993 FIBA World Championship qualifying tournament and was also at the helm of the men's team that won the silver medal during the 1995 Pan American Games.

Source: Washington Mystics