Black Friday planner: Shoppers, get your game face on!

I wish i had seen this two days ago. But I didn't. Why do I post it, for those maybe still thinking about shopping. Or thinking about cyber Monday.

Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images file

Last year's scene at a San Diego Best Buy store. Expect similar lines this year.

The most hyped and hectic shopping day of the year is just hours away. If you intend to fight the crowds to grab some bargains, you need to have a plan.

A number of major retailers are opening earlier than ever – moving the start of Black Friday to Thanksgiving. Some have staggered the door-buster sales.

The newspapers are filled with special Black Friday circulars. You can see most of what’s available at sites such as bfads.net, blackfriday.com and blackfriday.gotadeal.com.

The editors at dealnews.com analyzed these ads and concluded that some products are being offered at all-time low prices – but not all. For example, you’ll find the best prices on toys not on Black Friday, but instead two weeks before Christmas. Dealnews put together a list of 10 things not to buy on Black Friday.

Hate crowds? You might be able to shop from home. While some door-buster deals can only be snagged at the store, most Black Friday specials can be found online. Dealnews found that 70 percent of the deals available at Wal-Mart and Target stores on Thanksgiving last year were also available online for the same price or less.

At least half of all Americans have started their holiday shopping already. The big retailers have taken notice, with some opening their doors Thursday night to kick off Black Friday deals. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

Let’s go shopping! 

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening at some of the nation’s biggest retailers (in alphabetical order): 

Best Buy: The electronics retailer starts its Thanksgiving Weekend sale at midnight on Friday. To make things easier, they hand out tickets two hours before the store opens. BestBuy.com is open on Thanksgiving.

 
JCPenney: This is the store’s only sale of the year. Prices on hundreds of items (online and in the store) will be reduced for one day only, starting at 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Store employees will hand out holiday buttons that offer the chance to win one of 20 million gifts, including gift cards, merchandise and vacations. This promotion starts on Black Friday and runs through Christmas Eve.

 
Kmart: The store’s three day sale is the earliest of the bunch and there are three rounds of doorbusters – both in-store and online. Round one is on Thanksgiving Day from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the stores and 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. online. Round two goes from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the stores and 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. online. Round three, on Black Friday, runs between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the stores and 4 a.m. and 1 p.m. online. Did you get all that? 

Kohl’s: Things get going Wednesday as 500 Early Bird specials went on sale at Kohls.com. The stores open at midnight on Friday. Shoppers get $15 Kohl’s Cash for every $50 they spend in store or online, with no limit during this “Operation: Black Friday” sales event. Kohl’s “Dream Receipts” promotion starts on Friday and runs through Christmas Eve. Every day, one shopper at each store and online will be picked at random and Kohl’s will pick up the tab. No purchase necessary. 

PetSmart: Pet parents will find Black Friday deals online beginning Thanksgiving Day. Some pre-Black Friday items, discounted by as much as 75 percent, are already available online. Retail stores open at 7 a.m. on Friday. 

Sears: The bargain-hunting (both online and in the stores) starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday and continues through 10 p.m. on Black Friday. Sears says it is offering more than a thousand doorbuster deals during its 26-hour sales event broken into two groups. Some go on sale at right away. The rest are available starting at 4 a.m. Black Friday. Check the Sears Thanksgiving and Black Friday circular for a savings pass or online purchase code that gives you an extra 10 percent off when you spend $40 or more on clothing, intimates, sleepwear, accessories, fragrances and cosmetics. “Shop Your Way” members get extra perks for this sale. Check out the deals and door-busters at sears.com/Black Friday. 

Staples: The world’s largest office products company promises savings online and at the store. Early Bird Deals are available on Black Friday from 5 a.m. until noon. Find savings of $200 or more on select HP personal computers with Windows 8. Online orders are shipped for free. A new service this year: you can reserve products online and pick them up at the store, normally within two hours of ordering.
Target: Black Friday starts at 9 p.m. on Thursday. That’s the earliest Target has ever opened on Thanksgiving Day. Also new this year, additional doorbusters will go on sale at 4 a.m. on Black Friday. Shoppers who spend $50 or more on apparel, accessories or home products between 4 a.m. and noon on Friday will get a $10 Target gift card to use on a future purchase. Target says its website will have exclusive discounts starting Thanksgiving Day. 

Toys R Us: The fun starts at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Look for the Thanksgiving weekend circular in newspapers on Thursday. Those sale items will also be posted at Toysrus.com. You can see some of the deals right now on the company’s Facebook page. The first 200 customers in line when each store opens will receive a free “Great Big Goody Bag” filled with stocking-stuffers and valued at $30. For those who don’t want to give up their Thanksgiving to shop, Toys R Us and Babies R Us will offer a new selection of doorbuster deals at 5 a.m. Friday morning. 

Wal-Mart: The doors open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, two hours earlier than last year. This is just the first of three Black Friday sales at Wal-Mart. The electronics event begins at 10 p.m. and the third wave of door-busters starts at 5 a.m. on Friday and lasts through the weekend. Something else new this year at Wal-Mart: the “1-Hour In-Stock Guarantee” on Thanksgiving night. Customers who are inside the store or in-line between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. are “guaranteed” to get super-low prices on the Apple iPad2, an Emerson 32” TV and LG Blue-ray player. If any of these items sell out before 11 p.m., and the customer pays for it before midnight, the product will be shipped to that Wal-Mart store for pick up before Christmas.

Your iPhone or Android is probably in your pocket no matter where you go, so why not take advantage of it during your shopping trips? NBCNews.com's Rosa Golijan shows you how.

(You can print a simple list of Black Friday 2012 store hours at Cheapism.com)

If you're ready to begin the holiday shopping blitz, TODAY contributor Elizabeth Mayhew has tips on what to buy this month, including the best deals on electronics you'll find on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as low prices on cookware and kitchen appliances.

More Black Friday Resources
ConsumerMan: How to snag door-buster deals
10 Tips to Bag a Bargain on Black Friday
Black Friday diehards will do just about anything for a bargain
Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart: Who has the best deal?
Tips on how not to bust your budget over the holidays

What Gaza fighting taught Israel about possible war with Iran

Jim Hollander / EPA

An Israeli soldier from the Home Front Command comforts and plays with a boy in an air raid shelter in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon on November 19. Many people in this border town close to the Gaza Strip stayed close to the shelters, and even spent most the day inside.

7
hours
ago

By Martin Fletcher, NBC News

News analysis

ASHKELON, Israel -- Israel's warplanes and Iron Dome anti-rocket missiles have been facing south for eight days, but their message was heard loud and clear to the north -- by leaders in Iran and Lebanon. The fighting against Hamas in Gaza, carried out by mostly missiles and planes, can be seen as a war game for what could happen if Israel moved to take out Iran's nuclear program, a much larger action that could result in both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran firing rockets toward Tel Aviv.

And violent as it has been, one Israeli general described Hamas, when comparing its might to Hezbollah and Iran, as a rain drop in a storm.

In other words, there's worse to come if Israel attacks Iran, much worse.

Israel declares mission accomplished, Hamas claims victory

So, what, if any, lessons did Israel learn that can be applied to Iran?

Homefront
The most obvious concerns the endurance of Israel's "homefront," which is simply a military, dehumanizing term for "the people." Verdict: good.

There were almost no complaints by the people that they had to spend so long in bomb shelters. Southern towns like Ofakim, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva and even Ashdod closer to the center were attacked about a 150 times each in seven days. That means the people rushed to their shelters as the sirens wailed on average 21 times a day.

Shops and stores are reopening and a semblance of normalcy is returning to Gaza's streets after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is put into effect. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Gaza.

Yet despite the discomfort and fear, most people did not call for an end to Israel's assault on Gaza. They wanted it to last as long as necessary to stop all rockets from Gaza in the future.

Iron Dome
The Iron Dome, Israel's home-made anti-rocket missile system, Israel's key defense against rockets from Gaza prevented carnage. Verdict: Very good with an official hit rate of 84 percent.

Israeli officials say over 900 rockets have been fired at the country in the past 6-days. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

According to Israeli army figures, Islamist militants in Gaza fired 1,506 rockets at Israel in eight days. Eight hundred and seventy-five fell harmlessly into open areas like fields and the sea. The Iron Dome is programmed to let those alone and to intercept only rockets that would hit urban areas.

Iron Dome intercepted 421 rockets and 58 rockets actually got through, killing three civilians and wounding about 100 more, mostly lightly.

How Israel's 'Iron Dome' intercepts incoming rockets in Gaza conflict

Shelters
The small number of casualties was because a few people did not use Israel's second defense layer, the bomb shelters. Verdict: Very good.

Nobody in a shelter was hurt. The three killed did not do as they were advised and stood on their balcony watching the action. A rocket shot right through the window, splattering them against the walls. 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

But while the world has been watching the war in the south, the threat from the north is much bigger. Israeli intelligence sources say Hamas and partners in Gaza had 10,000 rockets. Hezbollah in South Lebanon has between 100,000 and 200,000, including longer range rockets that carry heavier explosive warheads, according to Israeli military analysts.

The Iron Dome could be effective against several fired at the same time and even a dozen or two, but if hundreds of long-range rockets are fired, for instance, at Israel's largest population center Tel Aviv, it is guaranteed that many would get through, causing havoc, heavy damage and possibly loss of life.

Israel needs America
How long could the homefront, or the people, withstand such an onslaught, especially if compounded by rockets from Iran?

The answer is not clear, but what is clear is that such an attack from Lebanon would provoke instant and massive Israeli retaliation.

That leads to another lesson, or rather byproduct, of the assault on Hamas -- Hamas may already be eliminated from the equation of a post-Iran strike. Would Hamas fight for Iran after the punishment it received in the past week and the depletion of its rocket supply and rocket-manufacturing ability? Nobody knows.

Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

Mohammed Salem / Reuters

Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

Shot dead, dragged through the streets: The fate of an alleged spy in GazaMore likely is that Islamic Jihad, which is armed, trained and financed by Tehran, would fire its rockets at Israel, even if Hamas tried to stop them. So another lesson for Israel: Take out Islamic Jihad in Gaza -- and that could lead to conflict with Hamas anyway.

But as political and military leaders here analyze the results and lessons of the past week, the clearest lesson is probably this, and it is hardly new: Israel needs the United States.

It was President Barack Obama who insisted on a cease-fire, who called Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi three times in 24 hours, and who had several calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shepherding both through the difficult process of reaching an agreement.

Americans tied to Israel caught in the chaos of Gaza conflict

The fact is, Israel could not have carried out an invasion of Gaza without Washington's support. And as Obama made clear in his talks with Netanyahu, the United States prefers no ground invasion. And Israel agreed.

So at the moment, Israel has Western support for latest action in Gaza. This support would evaporate if it decided unilaterally to invade Gaza. 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If the cease-fire holds for 24 hours, Israel will start talking about lifting border control on Gaza. In the meantime, Israeli ground troops remain mobilized in case Hamas resumes rocket attacks from Gaza. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

But if newly re-elected Obama says the same about an attack on Iran, only more forcibly, will Israel agree again?

That is a different issue. Israel's homefront and defensive shield give Israel's freedom to act, but the bit questions are, for how long? And against what strength enemy?

And critical will be this: Will Obama be for or against?

Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List", "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel".

Hordes of shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday

Black Friday frenzy starts Thanksgiving night

11/23/2012: Though Black Friday officially kicked off the holiday shopping season this morning, many shoppers were already bargain-hunting before Thanksgiving dinner had a chance to settle. CNBC’s Courtney Reagan reports from the Black Friday fren...

Hordes of shoppers descended on stores across the country in the ritual known as Black Friday after many major retailers moved their openings into Thanksgiving night.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, reported its best ever Black Friday events after opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. During the high traffic period from 8 p.m. through midnight, Wal-Mart processed nearly 10 million register transactions and almost 5,000 items per second.

"The early read is Wal-Mart’s been one of the clear winners," said R. J. Hottovy, a senior retail analyst at Morningstar. "The combination of expanded hours, aggressive pricing and guaranteed availability of some doorbuster deals are likely to pay off for the nation’s largest retailer." The retailer was the target of a broader campaign against the company's treatment of workers that is being waged by a union-backed group called OUR Walmart, which includes former and current workers. On Friday morning, about 250 protesters were marching outside a Walmart store in Woodlawn, Md.

People crowd the first floor of Macy's department store in New York on Friday, Nov. 23 after the store opened at midnight on Thursday to start the store's "Black Friday" shopping weekend.

For their part, retailers say they are giving shoppers what they want.Dave Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said that the discounter learned from shoppers that they want to start shopping right after Thanksgiving dinner. Then, they want to have time to go to bed before they wake up to head back out to the stores.

Still, Tovar said that Wal-Mart works to accommodate its workers' requests for different working hours. "We spent a lot of time talking to them, trying to figure out when would be the best time for our events," he said.

'I only shop for sales'
At the Mall of America, outside Minneapolis, shoppers thronged the stores to load up on goods early Friday but the situation was under control, NBC News’ Jay Gray reported.

Stores typically open in the wee hours of the morning on the day after Thanksgiving, named Black Friday because it is traditionally when they turn a profit for the year. However, these days, most retailers must be profitable year round.

But this year, stores such as Target and Toys R Us opened as early as Thanksgiving evening.

That led holiday shoppers to ask themselves a tough question: Deal with the crowds now or later?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Macy’s CEO: We have ‘a record crowd’ today

11/23/2012: Terry Lundgren, chairman, president, and CEO of Macy’s, speaks from the store’s most famous location in Manhattan about what the retail giant expects from this year’s Black Friday sales.

About 11,000 shoppers were in lines wrapped around Macy's flagship store in New York City's Herald Square when it opened Thursday night.

Avoid early bird remorse: 10 Black Friday gadget do's and dont's

Joan Riedewald, a private aide for the elderly, and her four children ages 6 to 18, where among them. By the time they showed up at the department store, Riedewalde had already spent about $100 at Toys R Us and planned to spend another $500 at Macy's before heading to Old Navy.

"I only shop for sales," she said.

A few hours later at about 3:30 a.m. ET at a nearby Toys R Us in New York's Times Square, the scene was a bit calmer.

Elizabeth Garcia, 17, a sales rep from the city's Bronx borough, was shopping for toys for her three children ages three, five and seven. She said she specifically decided on the later shopping start to avoid the crowds on Thanksgiving. She believes that was the best decision: Last year, she almost got into a fight over a Tinker Bell couch. But this year was much calmer.

"This year I wasn't about to kill people," Garcia said.

Black Friday shopping: Where to score deals, freebies

11/23/2012: Shopping experts Mario Armstrong, Elizabeth Mayhew, and Bahar Takhtehchian reveal where you can find the best deals (and freebies!) this Black Friday on electronics, clothing, and more.

Retailers are hoping that the earlier openings will help boost sales this holiday season. It is unclear how many shoppers took advantage of the earlier openings.

But about 17 percent of shoppers said earlier this month that they planned to shop at stores that opened on Thanksgiving, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs survey of 1,000 consumers.

"I think it's better earlier. People are crazier later at midnight. And I get tired at midnight," Renee Ruhl, 52, a hotel worker, said at a Target in Orlando, Fla., where she was already heading back to her car with an air hockey game loaded in her shopping cart at 9:30 p.m., 2-1/2 hours before the chain opened last year.

Chris Dispenza of Vicksburg, Miss., tries to keep his daughter Jayde Dispenza, 8, awake as they wait to enter a Best Buy store in Jackson, Miss., Friday morning, Nov. 23. The Dispenzas waited in line for a couple of hours before entering the store after midnight.

Overall, it is estimated that sales on Black Friday will be up 3.8 percent to $11.4 billion this year.

Adding convenience
The earlier hours are an effort by stores to make shopping as convenient as possible for Americans, who they fear will not spend freely during the two-month holiday season in November and December because of economic uncertainty.

At the same time, Americans have grown more comfortable shopping on websites that offer cheap prices and the convenience of being able to buy something from smartphones, laptops and tablet computers just about anywhere.

'Watching the insanity' of Black Friday — on Thursday

That has put added pressure on brick-and-mortar stores, which can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue during the holiday shopping season, to give consumers a compelling reason to leave their homes.

Shoppers wait in line for the 8 p.m. opening of the Times Square Toys R Us store in the lead-up to Black Friday in New York on Nov. 22.

Retailers have been trying everything they can to lure consumers into stores.

Some stores tested the earlier hours last year, but this year more retailers opened their doors late on Thanksgiving or earlier on Black Friday

At the Target on Elston Avenue on Chicago's Northwest side, known as one of the highest-volume Target stores in the entire chain, the $25 Dirt Devil vacuum that normally goes for $39.99 was gone, while there were still several large televisions. Items such as $2 towels were selling well, so were blankets, kids' slippers and pajamas.

Store team leader Lee Crum said that it looked like people who were there for the 9 p.m. event were staying longer.

Slideshow: Americans line up for Black Friday

"These are the folks that are Christmas shopping, you can see it's a family event," he said. "At midnight it was one person, coming in for one item."

In addition to expanding their hours, many retailers also are offering free layaways and shipping, matching the cheaper prices of online rivals and updating their mobile shopping apps with more information.

Best Buy employees participate in a group huddle as they prepare to open the store on Nov. 22 in Naples, Florida.

From turkey to the stores
Some holiday shoppers seemed to find stores' earlier hours appealing.

"I ate my turkey dinner and came right here," said Rasheed Ali, a 23-year-old student in New York City who bought a 50-inch Westinghouse TV for $349 and a Singer sewing machine for $50 at a Target in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood that opened at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. "Then I'm going home and eating more."

"I think it should go back to Friday," he said. "It breaks up families. Just look at us -- our kids are with their grandparents and they should be with us on Thanksgiving, but we're here getting them a TV."
Mike Labounty, 34, Lyndonville, Vt., was shopping on Thursday night for 32-inch Emerson televisions and other items on sale at the Walmart in Littleton, N.H., with his partner, Darcy Mitchell.Not everybody was happy with Black Friday starting earlier.

NBC News contributor Martha C. White, Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Small businesses offer discounts on Saturday

11/23/2012: Today may be the biggest shopping day of the year, but you might want to reserve some money for small business Saturday, when locally owned shops will be offering holiday deals. American Express Chairman Ken Chenault and Karen Mills of...

The ghosts of Muranow: A journalist's mission to illuminate Poland's haunted past

Courtesy of Adam Galica

Photos of Jews who died during World War II adorn one of the few remaining buildings on Prozna Street in this picture taken during October of 2011 in Poland's Muranow district.

By Donald Snyder, NBC News Special Correspondent

Marianna Sowinska


Journalist Beata Chomatowska's new book, "Stacja Muranow," recounts the history of Muranow, a district in Warsaw where thousands of Jews were buried underneath the ruins of World War II.

When Polish journalist Beata Chomatowska walks the streets of Muranow, she can’t stop thinking about the horrible things that happened there.

“It’s a daily trauma,” she said.

Present-day Muranow, a district of Warsaw, Poland, is built on rubble and the remains of Jews who perished there during World War II, but many residents are ignorant of the area’s past.

So Chomatowska started a website to educate them called “Stacja Muranow,” which means “Muranow Stop.” And in October she published a book by the same name, chronicling the haunted past of the former Jewish ghetto.

“It’s a metaphor for Poland after the war, which largely erased the memory of its Jews,” said Chomatowska, 35, who is not Jewish but has long been fascinated by the history of Jews in Poland. A native of Krakow, she moved to Muranow in 2005 to start working at Rzeczpospolita (The Republic), a leading Polish newspaper, and was shocked by the silence and emptiness of her new neighborhood.

“How do people live in houses made of ghetto bricks?” she asked. “The houses looked artificial and so did the hills. It was scary.”

During World War II, the Germans packed 400,000 Jews into the 1.3 square-mile area that became known as the Warsaw Ghetto, where Muranow is located.

Some 300,000 Jews were deported to the killing center at Treblinka. The final deportation, on April 19, 1943, became the prearranged signal for an armed uprising against German forces. After the Jewish resistance was crushed on May 16, 1943, most of the remaining Jews were sent to death camps and the Germans razed the ghetto. Thousands were buried in the ruins. Many hid in cellars and were killed when the buildings were flattened.

Poland’s post-war communist rulers, who were faced with the challenge of building housing for its many citizens left homeless by the war, found the rubble of the ghetto too extensive to clear. Buildings were constructed on the ruins using bricks from the ghetto. Built on this rubble, the street levels are uneven and often hilly.

Handout

The ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto right after World War II.

Communist rulers touted Muranow as a utopia for workers and purposefully erased its Jewish history, leaving subsequent generations in the dark. In her book, Chomatowska tells the stories of some of the Jewish dead and laments the fact that most of today’s Muranow residents know little of the neighborhood’s history.

That is starting to change. Thirty residents have joined Chomatowska’s Muranow education project, meeting in an unfurnished office with no hint of the past. She’s particularly proud of one of the murals painted by members of the group in the entry way of an apartment building. It features prominent Jews who lived in Muranow before the war, such as the creator of Esperanto, Ludwik Zamenhoff, who hoped his universal language would unite people of different cultures.

Restoring memories of the Holocaust

In her book, which is in Polish, Chomatowska tells the stories of former Muranow residents such as Jakub Wisnia, a Warsaw Ghetto fighter who survived the Holocaust.

After researching Wisnia’s life, she described what he saw in August 1942 when Jews were being herded into trains destined for the Treblinka death camp.

One passage reads: “The streets of the ghetto were hell. Women wept. Children held their mothers tightly, and the men clenched their teeth nervously, looking for a moment when they could escape. Anyone who stepped out of line was beaten unconscious, or shot.”

Wisnia fought alongside fellow Jews during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising until the Germans arrested him and sentenced him to death. The Polish underground rescued him, and in August 1944, he joined Poles, Jews and non-Jews, in their abortive revolt against German rule. He avoided arrest by hiding in the city’s rubble for 108 days. He lived into his 80s, and was buried in Warsaw’s Jewish Cemetery in 1983.

‘Haunted’ by Muranow

The area’s tragic past have led to claims of ghosts and feelings of dread. For example, Audrey Mallet, a French researcher who wrote a paper on Muranow, said some current inhabitants fear that Jews will come back and kill them.

Holocaust historian Barbara Engelking moved out of Muranow because she said she was haunted by its past.

“It was not like living in a graveyard,” she said during an interview with NBC News at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw in October 2011. “It was like living with ghosts, and my research made them real.”

Muranow residents should not be mired in the past, Chomatowska says, but it should inform their view of the present.

Her book, centered on the oblivion surrounding Muranow, is about “how people forget,” she said. “And how the place doesn’t let them forget.”

To learn more about the book Stacja Muranow, please visit the publisher’s website:www.czarne.com.pl

Don Snyder, a veteran NBC News producer for more than 25 years, is a special correspondent for NBCNews.com.

Uploaded by bro2baseball on Jun 20, 2007
Documentary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This is a ten minute video meant to give a very brief overview of the event. Research, video and sound editing, and narration by Israel Piedra.

Warsaw » Sightseeing » Jewish Warsaw

A Footbridge of Memory

One of the most recognisable images of the Warsaw Ghetto is that of the footbridge constructed over ul. Chłodna to connect the large and small ghettos.Read_on(No Comments)

I can still see their faces

The Holocaust and the subsequent destruction of Warsaw in WWII erased virtually all remnants of the bustling pre-war Jewish community’s presence in the city, but there is one place where it is still possible to sense this lost age. Read_on(No Comments)

Jewish Cemetery

A beautiful and poignant place to visit. The cemetery was originally founded in 1806 and currently houses around 250,000 tombs. Read_on(No Comments)

Jewish Historical Institute

A chilling recollection of Polish Jewry and the only institution in Poland focusing entirely on the study of the history and culture of the Polish Jews. Read_on(No Comments)

Jewish Museum

This place promises to be one of the city's biggest and best museums when it officially opens in December 2013 (temporary exhibits and a cinema will open this April). Read_on(2 Comments)

Miła 18

A grass mound and monument now marks the spot from where the Ghetto Uprising was lead. Note that while this is on Miła street it is not actually at number 18 - instead find it next to the office building at Miła 2. Read_on(No Comments)

Monument to the Ghetto Heroes

Designed by Natan Rappaport, the monument pays tribute to the heroes of the Ghetto Uprising of 1943. Found between (E-1) ul. Read_on(No Comments)

Nożyk Synagogue

Built between 1898 and 1902 in a neo-Romanesque style, this was the only Warsaw synagogue to survive the ravages of war. It was fully restored between 1977 and 1983. Read_on(No Comments)

Traces of the Ghetto

Following the Ghetto Uprising the whole area was levelled so few traces remain. If you duck into the courtyard at (E-3) ul.Read_on(No Comments)

Umschlagplatz

Found on ul. Stawki (E-1), close to the intersection with ul. Dzika, Umschlagplatz is a bleak, slightly disappointing monument marking the spot where around 300,000 Jews were loaded on cattle wagons bound for Treblinka.Read_on(No Comments)

Willy Brandt Statue

On December 7, 1970 images were flashed across the world of German Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt in pensive apology in front of Warsaw’s Monument to the Ghetto Heroes. Read_on(No Comments)

PSY

PSY (With Special Guest MC Hammer) - Gangnam

Style (Live 2012 American Music Awards)

Published on Nov 18, 2012 by joeyzolanski

PSY with Special Guest Performs "Gangnam Style"

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Published on Sep 1, 2012 by whatsupelle

Hot Moms & Cute Babies dancing to the best toddle tune ever! MAKING OF:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B8z5S7Bs6I

Published on Aug 28, 2012 by Michelle FoodieFashionista

I interview K-Pop superstar PSY, and he teaches me how to do the horse riding dance from his hit song "Gangnam Style."

Despite my lack of coordination, he's not a bad teacher.

video footage courtesy of YG Family, SBS and MBC

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Published on Sep 16, 2012 by DoubleBondProduction

This is the 22nd Company spirit spot, created by DoubleBond Productions based on the song and music video, "Gangnam Style" by PSY. Get your t-shirt at http://www.trendingtees.net

Ron Paul: Petitions on secession raise 'worthwhile questions'
By Justin Sink - 11/19/12 03:49 PM ET


Former presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Texas) said in a blog post Monday that secession protests launched in the wake of President Obama's reelection "raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union."

Thousands of Americans have signed digital petitions — at least one from every state — on the White House's "We the People" petition website. The administration has promised a response to every petition on the site that collects at least 25,000 signatures within 30 days. At least seven states, including Texas, have hit that mark.

Paul, writing on his congressional website, conceded that he "wouldn't hold my breath" on states, including his own, actually moving to leave the union. But he argues that "secession is a deeply American principle" rooted in the country's Revolutionary War that sought independence from Great Britain.

"There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents," Paul writes. "That is what our Revolutionary War was all about and today our own federal government is vastly overstepping its constitutional bounds with no signs of reform. In fact, the recent election only further entrenched the status quo."

Paul goes on to cite recent state-level efforts to legalize marijuana — and subsequent federal arrests — as an example of what "shouldn't happen in a free country."
"If the Feds refuse to accept that and continue to run roughshod over the people, at what point do we acknowledge that that is not freedom anymore?" Paul asks. "At what point should the people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with an increasingly tyrannical and oppressive federal government? And if people or states are not free to leave the United States as a last resort, can they really think of themselves as free?"

Paul concludes by arguing "if a people cannot secede from an oppressive government, they cannot truly be considered free."

But while the Texas congressman sees clear ability for states to secede, the legal actuality is considerably more murky. There is no constitutional mechanism by which states can leave the union, and the federal government responded forcibly when states attempted to secede during the Civil War.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia actually addressed the question in a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, in which the conservative justice said the "answer is clear."

"If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede," Scalia wrote.

The secession move also does not seem particularly popular among large swaths of the population. According to a YouGov poll released Friday, more than half of all Americans opposed seeing their state secede, with 42 percent strongly opposing the idea. Only 22 percent said they supported secession.


Secession: Are We Free To Go?  


Is all the recent talk of secession mere sour grapes over the election, or perhaps something deeper? Currently there are active petitions in support of secession for all 50 states, with Texas taking the lead in number of signatures. Texas has well over the number of signatures needed to generate a response from the administration, and while I wouldn't hold my breath on Texas actually seceding, I believe these petitions raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union.

Is it treasonous to want to secede from the United States? Many think the question of secession was settled by our Civil War. On the contrary; the principles of self-governance and voluntary association are at the core of our founding. Clearly Thomas Jefferson believed secession was proper, albeit as a last resort. Writing to William Giles in 1825, he concluded that states:

"should separate from our companions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dissolution of our Union with them, or submission to a government without limitation of powers."

Keep in mind that the first and third paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence expressly contemplate the dissolution of a political union when the underlying government becomes tyrannical.

Do we have a "government without limitation of powers" yet? The Federal government kept the Union together through violence and force in the Civil War, but did might really make right?

Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England, but those "traitors" became our country's greatest patriots.

There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents. That is what our Revolutionary War was all about and today our own federal government is vastly overstepping its constitutional bounds with no signs of reform. In fact, the recent election only further entrenched the status quo. If the possibility of secession is completely off the table there is nothing to stop the federal government from continuing to encroach on our liberties and no recourse for those who are sick and tired of it.

Consider the ballot measures that passed in Colorado and Washington state regarding marijuana laws. The people in those states have clearly indicated that they are ready to try something different where drug policy is concerned, yet they will still face a tremendous threat from the federal government. In California, the Feds have been arresting peaceful medical marijuana users and raiding dispensaries that state and local governments have sanctioned. This shouldn't happen in a free country.

It remains to be seen what will happen in states that are refusing to comply with the deeply unpopular mandates of Obamacare by not setting up healthcare exchanges. It appears the Federal government will not respect those decisions either.

In a free country, governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. When the people have very clearly withdrawn their consent for a law, the discussion should be over. If the Feds refuse to accept that and continue to run roughshod over the people, at what point do we acknowledge that that is not freedom anymore? At what point should the people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with an increasingly tyrannical and oppressive federal government? And if people or states are not free to leave the United States as a last resort, can they really think of themselves as free?

If a people cannot secede from an oppressive government, they cannot truly be considered free.