What a Bonus

Goldman Sachs Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein won the battle of the Wall Street bonuses raking in a record $53.4 million for 2006. Blankfein earned a cash bonus of $27.3 million, $10.5 million in options and the rest in restricted stock. You could probably buy a lot of Starbucks gift cards with that, right? Here's to hoping your holiday bonus is just as fruitful. Read the full article here.

These Ladies Are Golden

For the first time ever, the U.S. Mint is dedicating a series of coins to the nation's first ladies. First up is Martha Washington. Each coin will be a half ounce of pure gold and sold as commemorative items retailing at about $300. Sometime in the future, they'll also release bronze versions of these coins which would sell for a more reasonable $3 to $4 a piece. So when can you expect to see the wives of our founding fathers? In May around Mother's Day. To read more, click here.

Men & Women Feel Different Pain

New research at the University of Maryland Dental School conference suggests that men's and women's nervous systems process pain information differently and act on it differently. This new research is just building on what other have already reported. This article from The Washington Post says that everything from estrogen to emotions are considered factors in the perception and processing of pain. So maybe in the future when your spouse is complaining of pain and you think they need to suck it up, realize that what they're feeling could be much more severe than what you perceive.

eHarmony Marriage

The people who help connect couples through the chemistry of science have recently launched a new resource for married couples called eHarmony Marriage. Based on their website, it looks like they've got two different marriage programs for users to choose from. To get started, eHarmony marriage asks visitors to answer four simple questions. The program gives users a 40-page marriage profile with details on 10 key areas. If anyone have done this, please let us know what you think.

Blood Diamonds

A few weeks back, James Park wrote an article (click here) anticipating a backlash from the diamond industry over the movie "Blood Diamond". Well, he was right. The World Diamond Council trade group has launched an estimated $15 million PR and education campaign to combat the movie's images of diamond smuggling from war-torn African countries. This article article in Advertising Age also mentions that diamond-industry powerhouse, DeBeers is also putting together a huge PR push. The WDC also launched the website DiamondFacts.org to help educate consumers on new procedures for the diamond industry. So where do you stand with diamonds?

Tiger Woods: Marriage Makes Him Better Golfer

When you're the greatest golfer in the world, pressure can be intense. In this article from USA Today, it's reported that Tiger Woods credits his marriage and outside interests as making him a better golfer because he says they help him keep focus during competition. So what are the outside interests? He's just started getting involved in designing golf courses. I wonder how he would make a Tiger-proof course? Nevermind, with a successful career and happy marriage, there's no such thing as a Tiger-proof course.

New Parenting Resource

Now we don't aim to be a parenting resource, but sometimes being a parent definately affects marriages. And with that in mind, we've come across a website with quite a few parenting-related articles. It can be found at http://parentinginfo4u.com/. This site includes articles on everything from parenting tips to being a new parent. It even has articles depending on the age of your child, like being a teen parent.

Happily Ever After

In most fairy tales, the credits start to roll right after the royalty get married. So what happens then? The Queen of Jordan has revealed her secrets to marriage success. Among them Queen Rania says, "Teamwork! While my husband obviously has more of a political and economic role, I complement him by working with civil society organisations." She goes on to say, "He is interested in my work and I am interested in his; we have to be because everything we do is so inter-related. We are each other's biggest fans and toughest critics."

To read more, click here.

Mom Has Son Arrested for Opening X-mas Gift Early

Kids get real excited around the holidays. They snoop around in the cupboards, look under beds and every once in a while, they'll find and play with a toy before Santa has a chance to drop it off. Well, not in Brandi Ervin's home. She had the cops come and arrest her 12-year-old son for larceny. They put him in cuffs and took him to the police station. I'm guessing they'll need to exchange they Gameboy he was playing with for a new pair of shorts. Read the full article here.

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

According to this release, the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine has an interview with Snoop Dogg, in which he opens up about his life as a real life pimp and how that almost cost him his marriage. What? Who'd a thunk it. Snoop was so heavy into the game that was the recipient of the Bishop Don Magic Juan Lifetime Achievement Award. And while Snoop says pimping helped him sever past gang ties, it nearly ruined his bond with his current gang--his family.

Free SwapThing

Looking for a great gift for your husband or wife this year but don't have a great budget? There's a website called SwapThing that lets members swap items. Users post what they're willing to swap and what they're looking for. A recent swap that they've announced was a 10 carat diamond bracelet for a Mitsubishi 3000GT 71K Miles (It's an $8,000 Stereo). For the first week of December SwapThing is allowing free swaps for the first week in December. Swaps are normally a couple bucks a swap. If you have items of lesser value than what you're looking for, then you can add money to your offer. Hey, it beats a stocking full of coal.