Last year, the economy was strong, the holiday shopping season brisk and carefree, and my dad made me proud. A self-made man, my father went from a childhood in the projects of Owensboro to working two jobs to support our family, to early retirement at 50.

Before Kentucky reserve Josh Harrellson took on West Virginia Saturday, he challenged himself. "I kind of got in my head before the game that I was going to come out and I was going to be the best player on the floor," he said after UK's 54-43 victory.

Former President Bill Clinton says he's thankful that Barack Obama has chosen his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to be his secretary of state.

A British mother lost a libel suit Monday against the daughter who claimed in a book that her childhood had been marred by emotional and physical abuse.

It's a given in private life that things always go wrong at the worst possible time.

Lifelong Red Sox fans can now take their love of the team to the next level - eternity.

The Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Moesto, Calif., wants to make this clear: He didn't mean that parishioners who voted for Barack Obama needed to go to confession. He meant they needed to confess only if they knew Obama favored abortion rights when they cast their vote. Otherwise, he said, he supports the president-elect. Illo's initial letter drew wide attention.

Investors uneasy about the holiday shopping season gave Monday back some of Wall Street's recent gains, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 400 points.