Etc...

I just can't accept this

Just in time for the Christmas gift-buying season, a woman in Murcia, Spain - we'll call her Maria - last weekend won the grand prize in a promotional contest sponsored by the chamber of commerce: a three-hour, $7,000 shopping spree in local stores. Hey, great deal, right? Well, apparently not great enough for Maria. She failed to show up to claim her award. When asked why, she said she was too busy. The prize went instead to the runner-up.

On a per-capita basis, Mississippi is the most generous state in the country when it comes to donating to charities, according to the Catalogue of Philanthropy. On average, Mississippians donate $3,500, compared to an annual income of $34,000. In fact, Southern states dominate the upper ranks of the annual "generosity index" compiled by the nonprofit, which is based in Needham, Mass. Northerly New Hampshire came in last for the third time in five years. The five states at the top and bottom of the index:

Most generous:

1. Mississippi
2. Arkansas
3. South Dakota
4. Oklahoma
5. Alabama
Least generous:
46. Minnesota
47. Massachusetts
48. New Jersey
49. Rhode Island
50. New Hampshire - Associated Press, The Oklahoma City Journal Record