Customers hit by pepper spray at Wal-Mart describe scene of chaos  —  Matthew Lopez went to the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch on Thursday night for the Black Friday sale but instead was caught in a pepper-spray attack by a woman who authorities said was “competitive shopping.”

“Awful” Italy debt sale heightens euro zone stress  —  (Reuters) - Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances, raising the pressure on Rome's new emergency government.

We Are the 99.9%  —  “We are the 99 percent” is a great slogan.  It correctly defines the issue as being the middle class versus the elite (as opposed to the middle class versus the poor).  And it also gets past the common but wrong establishment notion that rising inequality is mainly …

Anarchy in the U.S.A.  —  The roots of American disorder.  —  Ever since September, when activists heeded Adbusters editor Kalle Lasn's call to Occupy Wall Street, it's become a rite of passage for reporters, bloggers, and video trackers to go to the occupiers' tent cities and comment on what they see.

Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood  —  Fans were shocked when Batman writer Frank Miller furiously attacked the Occupy movement.  They shouldn't have been, says Rick Moody - he was just voicing Hollywood's unspoken values  —  A sturdy corollary emerges in the wake …

'Occupy'-Inspired Campaign Urges Boycott of Black Friday  —  Occupy Wall Street-inspired protesters are eyeing a new target — Target.  And dozens of other companies.  —  A campaign under the name “Occupy Black Friday” is trying to enlist supporters to boycott just about every major retailer …

Mark Kelly and Piers Morgan blast Sarah Palin for ‘not bothering to pick up the phone’ over crosshairs map after Giffords shooting  —  Mark Kelly has spoken candidly about the moment he learned his wife, Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot at a voting event in Tuscon …

Man arrested for Facebook comment threatening Gov. Haley's life  —  COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A South Carolina man is accused of threatening the life of Gov. Nikki Haley on Facebook, but he claims he was only making a point about free speech.  —  When 26-year-old Nathan Shafer heard about the arrests …

Why cutting fiscal deficits is an assault on profits  —  Reducing the government's debt was “proving harder than anyone envisaged”, David Cameron, UK prime minister, said in a speech on Monday.  He even admitted that “high levels of public and private debt are proving to be a drag on growth …

Image Expert Shapes Romney (His Hair, Anyway)  —  BELMONT, Mass. — Voters routinely ask about it on the campaign trail.  Pundits chronicle the slightest changes in its presentation.  There is a Facebook page devoted it — not to mention an entire blog.  “Has it always been this good?” read a recent online entry.

NEWS ALERT: Nigeria Militants Kill Children Of Christian Convert, Missionaries Say  —  ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)— A militant group seeking to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, throughout Nigeria, has shot and killed two children of an ex-terrorist and “murderer” because he converted to Christianity …