Black Friday

Everyone loves Black Friday.  I take that back.  There are lots of people who don't like Black Friday.  I am one of them.  I can see no point in going out at 3 in the morning in the freezing cold and waiting hours to stand in line and try to get something that is really a bargain.  If I needed it that bad, I would have bought it a long time ago.  I can't see fighting for a parking place either, a half mile from the entrance to the store.  I think the best shopping is done starting in January, picking up things along the way till November and then stay away from the big stores, all the traffic, and fighting over items that are marked way down but there are never enough of them for everyone.  So I am sitting here in my warm house, with a hot cup of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie and enjoying every minute of it while others are out again today in freezing 19 degree weather shopping.

Rwanda Anger at Congo Rebel Move

Rwanda has criticized the Democratic Republic of Congo for halting military operations against Hutu rebels who fled there after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The foreign minister said the rebels were attempting to gather strength in easter DR Congo to launch attacks on his country. Earlier this week, DR Congo said it stopped the seven month offensive to avoid further bloodshed. The UN says more than 160,000 people have been displaced by fighting.

Fighting in Lebanon Camp

Fighting broke out between soldiers and Islamist militants at a second Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon according to security officers. It is said to involve Jund al-Sham militants in the violence in the Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern city of Sidon. When suspected militants fired a grenade at an army checkpoint, a soldier and a civilian were injured. It's not clear if the biolence is linked to the fighting at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the north. Army troops at the Ain al-Hilweh camp responded to the rocket propelled grenade attack with gunfire. Fighting between the militants and the army began at the camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon two weeks ago. It is reported that more than 100 civilians, soldiers and militants have died since then.