Holiday Spirit: Millions of Americans went shopping yesterday, probably before the Thanksgiving dessert was served. Christmas shopping has officially crept into Thanksgiving Day. Shoppers were lined up for the doors to open at Wal-Mart and Target stores across the country. Also open were JC Penney, Macy’s, and Staples. Get out there and buy those office supplies! Some shopping malls were open all night long and shoppers tussled over bargain goods in the wee hours. The Black Friday madness has even spread to England where police had to keep wild shoppers under control.

Nation: In Austin, Texas overnight a gunman fired at several downtown buildings, including the police station, before being killed by the police. The shooter was described as wearing  some kind of vest and a helmet. Investigators were examining a possible explosive device.

>Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine after an early winter nor’easter dumped snow and ice the day before Thanksgiving.

> Protesters in Ferguson, Mo. last night took their march inside a local Wal-Mart chanting “Hands Up. Don’t Shoot.” They’ve called for a shopping boycott.

World: Oil prices are dropping below $70 a barrel because the Organization of  Petroleum Exporting Countries decided not to cut production quotas. Oil prices have dropped 35 percent since June and are at their lowest since August, 2010. The demand for oil is growing, which should drive prices up, but the supply is plentiful.

Kremlinology: Kim Jo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, has been promoted to a senior position in the Worker’s Party, a signal that she is climbing closer to the center of power. Kim-she, as we’ll call her, is 27. She’s been put in a position that controls ideological messaging in the media, arts and culture.

The Cosby Trail: Amid a flurry of rape allegations, Comedian Bill Cosby has been forced to resign as an honorary co-chair of UMass Amherst’s capital campaign. He earned his doctorate in education from the University in the 1970s. The University says it no longer has any ties with Cosby. At least 15 women have come forward to say Cosby drugged and raped them.

Not Cricket: Australian cricket fans are mourning the death of a popular batsman who died two days after being hit by a 90 mph pitch. Phillip Hughes, 25, was hit on the neck and slipped into a coma. He died two days later.

The Obit Page: British crime writer PD James, known as “the Queen of Crime,” has died in England at age 94. Her plots were complex and her characters had psychological depth. She was a writer who made literature out of crime and brought to life her detective, Adam Dalgliesh. Among her titles: Cover Her Face; Children of Men; Death in Holy Orders, The Murder Room. About her fascination with murder, James used to say, “When I first heard that Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, I immediately wondered: Did he fall, or was he pushed?”

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