Peanut Butter News

Full Story atCNN.com

Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) — A white van sits at a warehouse loading dock in Boston. Buckled in the front passenger seat is Eeyore, the donkey friend of Winnie the Pooh.

“This is the back seat driver,” says one of several volunteers removing the stuffed animal and other donated children’s items for the local Toys for Tots campaign.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program, which began 62 years ago in Los Angeles, California, now gives Christmas presents to underprivileged children in nearly 700 cities and towns across the country.

Full Story at news.Yahoo.com

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday it will be at least 15 years before his government can bankroll a security force strong enough to protect the country from the threat of insurgency.

Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Karzai said Afghan security forces would take the lead in securing the nation within five years, but he said his nation would need financial help to pay the salaries and equip a growing army and police force.

“Afghanistan is looking forward to taking on our responsibilities in terms of paying for its forces with its own resources, but that will not be for another 15 years,” Karzai said.

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Because oil prices have always been directly related to the strength of the economy, a recovery might have seen headlines like these:

• The recession ends: Get ready for $100 oil

• The economy roars: $140 oil, is there an end in sight?

• Everyone in China buys a Cadillac: World tapped out

But a growing number of experts are saying that you can forget all that. For the next couple of years, they say, oil prices will remain well below $100 a barrel as the economy remains fragile and efficiency measures kick in.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — About 70 students at UC Santa Cruz in California avoided arrest early Sunday morning when they surrendered the administration building they had occupied for three days, according to a school spokesman.

But, school officials said in a statement, “students who participated in this incident face possible criminal and/or student judicial sanctions.”

Kerr Hall, the Santa Cruz campus’ administration building, won’t be ready for its normal duties Monday, the officials said, because some areas — particularly the second floor, which school officials said might not be ready for several days — were damaged and left in disarray.

Full Story at CNN.com

The Belle Mead, New Jersey, resident runs the car-review Web site mpgomatic.com with a focus on fuel efficiency, but even he strays over to public transit every now and then. Nowadays, even the biggest car lovers are taking notice of energy conservation.

Readers may not realize a guy who revs engines for a living might need a ride back home after dropping off a test car in New York. In these cases, he typically takes a train most of the 55-mile trip and gets a car ride for the rest of the route.

Gray shared an iReport video explaining how he decided — for one day only, he emphasizes — to see whether he could go entirely without the assistance of an automobile on the return trip. His journey was successful, but he spent an extra hour fumbling around with local buses and taking an unintentional detour to a local mall.

Full Story at CNN.com

With more than $6 billion in losses through June, the global airline industry is on track to outpace the initial yearlong prediction that it would lose $9 billion, said Brian Pearce, chief economist for the International Air Transport Association, which represents about 230 airlines.

“Airlines are in survival mode,” as they approach the end of the third quarter, Pearce said from his office in Geneva, Switzerland. “They’re trying to raise cash to carry them through, are starting to see some benefit, but they’ve got a very long way to go.”

Among the number of recent U.S. airline announcements meant to offset losses: A paring down of Southwest Airlines flights; the layoff of 921 flight attendants at American Airlines; a creeping up of baggage check-in fees at US Airways, among others; and the exclusive use of smaller, cheaper to operate regional jets for United flights out of St. Louis, Missouri.

Full Story at msnbc.com

LINCOLN, Neb. – Jackie Harpst expected a busy summer at her nonprofit housing agency, as work crews backed by Nebraska’s share of $5 billion in federal stimulus money headed out to seal windows and spread insulation.

Months after she thought work would begin, not a single window has been caulked. And she’s still not sure if her team will be able to get to work adding insulation before the summer heat passes — or even before the winter’s chill sets in.

“We’ve hired people and purchased equipment with the anticipation we’d be able to spend the money soon, and now, as we see it drag on and on, it’s just very frustrating,” said Harpst, housing director of the Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska.

Full Story atCNN.com

Zach McGuire is selling his toys to raise money for his family, which like others across the country, has bills piling up and a home in jeopardy.

The youth said the idea came up during a conversation with his father.

“You can’t live in toys, or eat toys,” he told CNN television affiliate WNWO. “Even though they are fun, you don’t need them.”

Zach plans to use the proceeds for a good cause: helping his unemployed father.

Tom McGuire, a licensed contractor in Toledo, Ohio, has not had a job since December. The economy is partly to blame, he said, adding that he did a job last summer and never got paid.

Full Story At  msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – An economic downturn can have a bright side: U.S. highway deaths in 2008 fell to their lowest level since John F. Kennedy was president.

The recession and $4 per gallon gas meant people drove less to save more. Experts also cited record high seat belt use, tighter enforcement of drunken driving laws and the work of advocacy groups that encourage safer driving habits.

Full Story At  CBS News

(AP) The Obama administration plans to spend more than $400 million to upgrade ports of entry and surveillance technologies to help thwart drugs and arms smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the projects will help keep violence from spilling across the border.

“Working together at all levels, we take them on and we take them out. That is our goal,” Napolitano told reporters after an aerial tour of the border area near San Diego.

Full Story At CNN.com

BALLWIN, Missouri (CNN) — For Stuart and Dianne Falk, it is a two-bus, 45-minute trip into downtown St. Louis to head to the gym and to volunteer at a theater group.

And it is a lifeline that ends Friday.

“To be saddled, to be imprisoned, that is what it is going to feel like,” says Stuart Falk. “It is going to feel like being punished for something we didn’t do.”

Stuart and Dianne Falk are confined to wheelchairs. And the bus route that takes them downtown, and to one of the few tastes of personal freedom they have, is being eliminated because of a funding crunch.

Full Story At  msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – American workers — whose taxes pay for massive government health programs — are getting squeezed like no other group by private health insurance premiums that are rising much faster than their wages.

While just about all retirees are covered, and nearly 90 percent of children have health insurance, workers now are at significantly higher risk of being uninsured than in the 1990s, the last time lawmakers attempted a health care overhaul, according to a study to be released Tuesday.