Special Edition:Bethlehem To Have Successful Season

The Palestinian Authority is predicting a successful Christmas-New Year season for the town so revered by Christians as the site of Jesus' birth.Minister of Tourism Khulud Deibes said she is looking for more than 100,000 tourists during the period,with some 50,000 from December 24-25.
Ms.Deibes participated in a kickoff event with Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh,a children's march through the town to Nativity Square.More than 1,000 children marched along with camels,costumed characters and clergy in the colourful event.Some of the children wore their scout uniforms.
Mayor Batarseh has commented that the wall surrounding Bethlehem has a negative impact on every aspect of daily life in the sacred town,which has one of the highest densities of population in the Palestinian Authority.Even with that,we insist on celebrating Christmas-both Christians and Muslims.We ask for a right to self-determination and our own Palestinian State.
We are staying put on this land.The pilgrims are actually breaking down the walls of separation.That is why we insist on doing Christmas better each year.This is defying this wall,Mayor Batarseh declared.
This year,a very special concert is being held at the Bethlehem Convention Palace on Christmas Day:Christmas in Bethlehem,A Concert for Humanity at the Bethlehem Convention Palace from 7-9 PM(12-2 PM Eastern).
The concert may be viewed free of charge on Facebook.Visit "Project-Peace on Earth" from 12-2 PM Eastern U.S. time.Featured artists in the mystical songs of peace and healing include Grammy winners Joanne Shenandoah and Gary Nicholson,The Magnetic Zeros,Hani Naser,Enigma, and Zarah,the much-admired host of the teen music program B InTune TV,which reaches 200 million homes worldwide.Zarah will perform in the Global Musical Prayer for Peace and original songs from her upcoming album.
Update:The Christmas in Bethlehem concert was a complete success,concluding with some songs composed by the late John Lennon:"Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance,"performed by all the musicians together and with the audience singing along.It benefited the UNWRA,a UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees in Jordan,Gaza,the West Bank,Syria and Lebanon.For more information and to contribute,visit www.unwra.org

Commodities Drop;NBA Fans Hopeful

Wheat dropped to a sixteen-month low this week.It was believed to be because of the fear that a weak economy is causing a reduction in demand.Cocoa,sugar and coffee also declined.
Stocks had a very poor Thanksgiving week on thin trading,and the S&P futures fell 6.50 Friday evening,portending an unenthusiastic Monday morning.Next week will be dominated by Friday's employment report,along with the deficit-driven headlines of the day.
NBA fans are cheering the announcement that the professional basketball season will tentatively begin with a triple-header on Christmas Day after the bitter labor squabble that threatened to cancel the entire season.Many hospitality workers were laid off because of the games already canceled,but their prospects are looking decidedly better this weekend.

Bethlehem In Carol Fashion

The West Bank town of Bethlehem,homeland of all Christians,is truly peaceful this year.Palestinian choirs are able to travel there again,as Israel has lifted the roadblocks that troubled them previously.Boy Scouts paraded with bagpipes and kilts to the delight of the 90,000 pilgrims-up from 70,000 last year.Hotels are sold out,aiding the Palestinian economy greatly.The weather was spectacular Christmas Eve at 70 degrees F and sunny.It is a postcard Christmas,thanks be to God.
A very different postcard depicts Bishop Pass,California in the Sierra Nevada range.The alpine area is currently under 16.5 feet of snow.At 11,960 feet altitude-or 3645.4 meters-Bishop Pass is a popular hiking destination on Inyo National Forest,for those who don't mind the rocky conditions.
The NBA is gearing up for a smooth Christmas Day of many games,which ESPN and ABC will broadcast.
The stock market is resting at an S&P futures mark of -1.50,while the 10-year Treasury futures are flat.

Dubai World Crisis Subsides

The debt crisis of Dubai World,a United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund,has quieted down for the moment.The fund will meet with its major creditors,all of them British banks,some time next week.Dubai World is about 60 billion in debt,and wants to restructure 26 billion of it now.This announcement calmed world markets and foreign leaders.The consensus now is that everything will be worked out.The S&P futures pointed up this evening,and next week will be light on U.S. data.As we sit here tonight,there isn't too much to fret over other than Christmas shopping and decorating,which is a fun sort of concern.Buy yourself a present if you can and check back with the markets Sunday night,when Asia begins trading.The retailers need you.