23,000 candles placed at Antietam Battlefield each December

A beautiful and understated commemoration of the Civil War takes place every December in the hills of western Maryland, on the site of the Battle of Antietam. To mark the casualties of September 17, 1862, more than 23,000 candles are placed on the battlefield, lighting up the night in remembrance of the soldiers killed or wounded on both sides.
The annual illumination of the battlefield began in 1989, and volunteers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia participate each year in placing the thousands of luminaria, small candles in paper bags, in rows upon the battlefield.

http://history1800s.about.com/b/2010/12/05/remembering-antietam-with-illumination.htm

Of course, that's what Fedex and UPS do

US Postal Service seeks to end next-day mail - Reuters

Today, 6:41 PM

USA Today

US Postal Service seeks to end next-day mail Reuters WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The cash-strapped US Postal Service on Monday moved forward with plans to end next-day delivery of letters, postcards and other First Class mail. In a notice filed with its regulator, it also sought ... First-class mail: Just a little bit slowerBoston.com Netflix Shares Shrug Off Postal Service ChangesTheStreet.com Postal Service about to get even less relevant, businesses complainChicago Tribune Wall Street Journal -The Seattle Times all 2,416 news articles »

I just flew in from Norway and, boy, are my arms tired

On a wing and a prayer: Amazing footage of wingsuit flyer soaring through Norwegian gorge at 155mph

Espen Fadnes was filmed after leaping off the top of a cliff and flying at an astonishing 155mph in his wingsuit through a gorge in Stryn, Norway. The daredevil plunges towards the ground, before opening his suits 'wings' and soaring just feet away from the cliff face as he descends towards a fjord.

And she likes working with bald men

Tracy Postert, a biomedical scientist who has her Ph.D., found a job after passing out resumes in Zuccotti Park during the Occupy Wall Street protests. She now works as a junior analyst at John Thomas Financial Brokerage specializing in evaluating investments in medical companies.

Maybe a doff of the cap would have sufficed

He's back! Tiger Woods claws his way back to the top with first win in two years after dramatic fall from grace

After a two-year period marred by a car crash, an expensive divorce, a foul-mouthed caddy and more than a dozen mistresses, Tiger Woods has come out on top.

Message inside probably said "return to sender"

Message in a bottle sent by New York boy, 10, travels 2,500 miles across Atlantic to Azores

Curtis Kipple, 10, of Adams Basin, New York, wrote a letter along with his fellow fourth graders at the Fred W. Hill School in Brockport, and it was dropped into the Gulf Stream in March.

Nine-year old painter

When 9-Year Old Kieron Williamson’s paintings were put up for sale in Norfolk, England, they were sold out in just 10 minutes. While artists more than twice his age struggle to find buyers for even a single piece of art, Kieron’s story is one that could spark envy in the most established of painters.

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/kieron-williamson-%E2%80%93-the-9-year-old-monet.html#more-27434

Kepler-22b marks the best candidate yet for a life-bearing world beyond our solar system,

The search for Earth-like planets circling other stars is heating up, but the latest discovery is not too hot at all. It’s not too cold, either. Instead, the temperature on the newly announced planet Kepler-22b could be just right for life — about 72 degrees, a perfect spring day on Earth.

Spied by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, Kepler-22b marks the best candidate yet for a life-bearing world beyond our solar system, project scientists said Monday.

If it has a surface, it ought to have a nice temperature,” said Kepler’s lead scientist, Bill Borucki, during a teleconference Monday.

“It’s right in the middle of the habitable zone,” said Natalie Batahla, a Kepler scientist, referring to the narrow, balmy band of space around any star where water can be liquid. “The other exciting thing is that it orbits a star very, very similar to our own sun.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/newest-alien-planet-is-just-the-right-temperature-for-life/2011/12/05/gIQAPk1vWO_story.html?hpid=z4

Sports car enthusiasts involved in massive pileup in Japan

An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup — smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

Police say they believe the accident Sunday was touched off when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, and the other cars collided while trying to avoid hitting his car.

http://news.yahoo.com/fleet-ferraris-ruined-japan-sportscar-pileup-064013838.html

Claim: Clinton Collected $50K Per Month From MF Global

A former MF Global employee accused former president William J. Clinton of collecting $50,000 per month through his Teneo advisory firm in the months before the brokerage careened towards its Halloween filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Teneo was hired by MF Global’s former CEO Jon S. Corzine to improve his image and to enhance his connections with Clinton’s political family, said the employee, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retribution.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47938