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Forget the traditional economic indicators that track holiday shopping. The true cost of Christmas has already been measured for 2009 via the classic carol "The 12 Days of Christmas."
If you ever tried to figure what it would cost to purchase all the items mentioned in the song, wonder no more because the PNC Christmas Price Index did if for you. And it increased by a modest 1.8 percent this year.
This means if you're a devoted romantic, slightly crazy or exceedingly wealthy -- it will cost you $87,403 to assemble everything from the partridge to the drummers. If you were only to buy one of each item, it would cost you $21,465.56.
Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing
Twenty-five years ago this week, in the early hours of Dec. 3, 1984, large amounts of water entered a tank at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India. That water reacted with the 42 tons of methyl isocyanate inside, raising temperature and pressure so high that it began venting massive amounts of gas made up of methyl isocyanate, phosgene, hydrogen cyanide and more. The poisonous cloud swept through neighborhoods near the boundary wall, waking sleeping residents with burning throats and eyes, killing about 4,000 people in the first few hours. Over the next few years, the lingering effects increased that toll to about 15,000 dead, according to government estimates. A quarter-century later thousands of people are still grappling with the effects of the world's worst industrial accident and the continued contamination. Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemical in 2001, and Dow claims the legal case was resolved in 1989, with responsibility for continued cleanup now falling to the local state government. (28 photos total)
Click the picture to see the full collection.
Great panaramoic view at Kyle Field from the Texas game on Thanksgiving night. Click the picture to see it full size.
