For the sixth year in a row, President George W. Bush is the most admired man and Sen. Hillary Clinton the most admired woman in Gallup’s annual survey. But neither winner had a very decisive win this year, with former President Bill Clinton nearly tying Bush and Hillary Clinton barely topping talk-show host Oprah Winfrey.

Full Gallup Polling Data Found Here.

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Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index dropped 6.7 percent in October, the largest monthly drop recorded since 1991.

“No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim,” said Robert Shiller, who helped create the index, in a statement.

• Atlanta -0.7%
• Boston -3.6%
• Charlotte +4.3%
• Chicago -3.2%
• Cleveland -4.5%
• Dallas -0.1%
• Denver -1.8%
• Detroit -11.2%
• Las Vegas -10.7%
• Los Angeles -8.8%
• Miami -12.4%
• Minneapolis -5.5%
• New York -4.1%
• Phoenix -10.6%
• Portland +1.9%
• San Diego -11.1%
• San Francisco -6.2%
• Seattle +3.3%
• Tampa -11.8%
• Washington -7.0%

Source: Standard & Poor’s
Data through October 2007

October Home Prices Post Record Decline (AP)

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The Huffington Post features video clips of The View’s proud know-nothing in her 5 (greatest? most embarrassing? most infuriating?) best moments of 2007. Among the choice soundbites on display:

1. Sherri Says She Doesn’t Know If The World Is Flat
2. Sherri Says Christians Came Before Anything Else In History
3. Sherri Discusses How Her Abstinence Is Leading To Sleep Orgasms
4. Sherri Condones Hitting Her Kid…Just Not In A “Rich White Folks’ Store”
5. Sherri Condones Men Hitting Women Back

Sherri Shepherd’s Top 5 Moments Of 2007: Hitting Her Kid, Sleep Orgasms, Pondering Jesus And Asking If The World Is Flat (Huffington Post)

Gift cards have become the popular holiday present du jour. But there are plenty of things to consider before giving or even receiving (and using) a gift card. For example, did you know this?

Retailers can’t account for the sale of a gift card until the card is redeemed for merchandise. If you don’t redeem a card within a certain period of time, your state’s escheat laws kick in and the unused money goes to the state or is divided between the state and the retailer.

The 8 tips after the break:

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Who knew Swan prices could fluctuate so much!

After all the verses — when the singer has 12 partridges in 12 pear trees — the song’s gifts would cost $78,100, up 4 percent over 2006. This contrasts with $128,886, a 2.5 percent increase from last year, to assemble the same gifts on the Internet. Giving only the gifts from the 12th day, an online shopper would be set back $31,249, 3 percent more than last year and significantly more than the old-fashioned way of gathering the gifts because shipping costs drive the tab higher.

The only time that the PNC index has not closely paralleled the Consumer Price Index was in 1995, when swan prices tumbled because of increased availability. The cost for seven swans a-swimming is $4,200 today, nearly half the price two decades ago.

A Partridge, a Pear Tree, a Price Tag That Grows (NYTimes)

Source: PNC Christmas Price Index

(1) Charge up all available cell phones before you leave.
Even the one you keep in the glove box just so you can dial 911 in a pinch. Get them all charged up, so that you reduce the potential variables that would keep you from being able to call ahead about emergencies and call family and friends to let them know what’s happened with you. The technology is available - use it.
(2) Keep an extra set of clothes or two available to you inside the interior of the vehicle. If you’re in a situation where you have to get out of the automobile for some reason, more layers of clothes are better. Make it as easy as you can for yourself to access these extra clothes. (more…)

PC Magazine has written a series of articles outlining the best times of year to buy various tech gadgetry. We all know the pain of buying a new computer or flat screentv , only to find out a month later that the same product is now on sale for 30% less. Different types of products are discounted at different times of year. Knowing when to buy is as important as knowing what to buy.

So, here’s a calendar summary of the best times of year to buy various electronic goodies:

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10 questions will bring resonance to your choices and heart to your actions:

1. What is it to be completely fulfilled in life?
2. What values, qualities of being must be present for you to have a fulfilled life?
3. How would honoring those values impact your experience of work-life balance?
4. What are you committed to? (Not goals… goals are the doings that happen inside the field of commitments.)

This list has been severely abridged. To read the full list, view the original post at it’s source:
Two Methods to Maximize Creativity (Lifehack.org)

Additionally, the original post has 10 Signs Your Life Is Out Of Balance.