Veterans Day is this Wednesday, November 11th. Honoring all those who have served for this country, a number of restaurants and retail outlets are giving away freebies for veterans. Here are a few of the ones we've been informed about:

• Applebee's - free dinner on Nov. 11th at any time of the day
• Outback Steakhouse - free Blooming Onion and beverage on Nov. 11th.
• Golden Corral - free buffet dinner on Nov. 16th from 5 to 9pm.
• Krispy Kreme - 1 free doughnut, any variety.
• Lowe's & Home Depot - extra 10% off.
• Texas Roadhouse - free dinner on Nov. 11th/li>

Before you head out, call to make sure your store is participating and be sure to bring along proof that you are a veteran. If you know of any other freebies for veterans, be sure to let us know in the comments and we will update the list above.

On Friday, the Labor Department revealed the latest jobs report and the picture was not pretty. Their broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment has reached its highest level in decades, and if their statistics went back so far, it would most certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

One out of every six workers, or 17.5%, were unemployed or underemployed in October 2009. The previous record high was set in December 1982 at 17.1%. WIthout an end in site to our economic woes, the figures could go even higher in the coming months.

That 17.5% figure includes the officiall unemployed, which are those who have looked for work in the last four weeks. It also includes discouraged workers who have looked in the past year, and millions of part-time workers wanting to be full-time.

The official jobless rate is at 10.2% for October, and remains lower than the early 80's peak at 10.8%. But again, this latest figure continues the upward trend, and isup from 9.8% in September 2009. It is highest in those states which had big housing bubles, such as Arizona and California, and those with large manufacturing sectors, including Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Oregon.

With his cute round features and high-pitched voice, Disney's iconic character Mickey couldn't possibly be evil... or could he? For the past year, Disney and Nintendo have worked on redesigning the 81-year-old character for an upcoming Nintendo Wii video game.

The new Mickey is now leaner and meaner. While it is a departure from the Mickey we've come to know and love, it's actually a closer depiction to the original incarnation in 1928's "Steamboat Willie", in which he got into fistfights, played tricks on his friends, and amorously pursued Minnie.

The new Mickey still sports his trademark red shorts, yellow shoes, and white gloves. But he now has longer limbers and a bit edgier facial expressions that some have even called "demonic". Demonic might be going a little too far, but it is definitely a look that conveys that this Mickey isn't all sweetness and nice.

With the makeover, company execs are hoping that it will keep Mickey relevant in a generation growing up with Nickelodeon and Pixar. And what better a way to do that than to put him in a video game.

There are privileges that come along with working on Wall Street, and one of those is apparently getting your swine flu vaccine before other high-risk groups that actually need it. Thousands of at-risk Americans sit patiently waiting for their turn to get the hard-to-find shot, while some Wall Street banks have already secured supplies of the vaccine.

The New York Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and the Federal Reserve have all received H1N1 vaccine doses to administer to their employees. Like other companies, Wall Street banks put in a request to receive doses, but it appears they have a leg-up on other applicants. Case in point: Goldman Sachs received 200 doses, the same amount as Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. There's something seriously wrong with this picture.

NBC's chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Schnyderman commented:

"I think they probably played by the rules, there are corporations all over the country who put in there dibs...But, what a sore eye for Wall Street. Wouldn't have been lovely if they had said, look we put it in our dibs, we played by the rules, but we're going to donate our 200 doses."

Since January, first-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 as part of an economic stimulus package put into place earlier this year. That program, which left those who are not first-time home buyers out in the cold, was set to expire at the end of November 2009. On Wednesday, the Senate voted to extend and expand the tax credit to include many buyers who already own homes. Now it just needs to get through Congress, where a vote will take place Thursday.

Buyers owning their current homes at least five years will be eligible for tax credits up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers or those who haven't owned a home in the last three years would get up to $8,000. Both groups would have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010 in order to be eligible.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), said, "This is probably the last extension."

Also included in the bill passed in the Senate is a plan to extend unemployment benefits for those without a job for more than a year, and a clause that would allow companies now losing money to recoup taxes paid on profits earned in the previous five years.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said:

The economy sucks and most of us are a little short on cash. However, that doesn't mean you have to forgo visiting family or taking that much needed weekend vacation. Southwest Airlines makes it easy - and CHEAP - to get where you need to go, rolling out new $25 fares.

The new sale began on Tuesday, and is a part of the airline's fourth-quarter sale. The $25 fare is available on several one-way flights of less than 375 miles. For travel between 375 and 549 miles the price is $50, and for travel between 550 miles and 999 miles the fare is $75.

The new campaign is being heavily promoted and carries with it the tagline:

With fares this low, you should invent a reason to go.

Faires are available for travel between December 2-16 and January 5-February 10, 2010. They are available for purchase through Thursday online. As always, some restrictions apply. Visit southwest.com more information and to purchase tickets.

Unlike your Yahoo email account, which ceases upon death, Facebook wants to keep your profile alive. Upon the request of friends or family, Facebook will "memorialize" profiles of those who have died.

These accounts will be different than regular Facebook profiles. For example, any contact information will be removed and people will be barred from logging in. The profile also will not be included in the "suggestion" section, and only the deceased person's confirmed friends will be able to find them in a search.

On Monday morning the Audit Bureau of Circulations released the latest figures for the six months ending in September 2009, and they're not pretty. Circulation at many of the country's largest newspapers continued a downward slide. In Cleveland, The Plain Dealer experienced a 11.2 percent reduction in daily circulation and was down 4.9 percent for Sunday circulation.

Nationwide, of the 379 newspapers that file with the organization, the average daily circulation was down 10.6 percent at 30,395,652 and Sunday circulation for 562 reporting papers was down 7.4 percent at 40,012,253. This marks one of the most severe drops in overall circulation.

At the PD, daily circulation now stands at 217,180 daily and Sunday circulation is now at 390,636. According to Editor & Publisher, the PD is now No. 16 on the list of the country's top 25 newspapers according to daily circulation, just barely inching ahead of No. 17's Detroit Free Press.

It sounds like additional job cuts are more inevitable than ever.

Ever since the first cases of swine flu broke out earlier this year, demand for hand sanitizer has skyrocketed. Some makers of the gels are now scrambling to keep up with the demand.

The marketing research firm Panjiva recently estimated that 3 million kilograms of hand sanitizer were shipped in the 3rd quarter, compared to 1 million kilograms during the same quarter last year. Panjiva CEO Josh Green says that concerns over the H1N1 virus is the "most likely explanation" for the surge. Given the outlook for a particularly bad flu season, demand is only expected to rise further.

In response, companies like Purell are ramping up production and are urging customers not to hoard the product. Purell manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) says that demand for Purell has been "heavy" since the first swine flu cases were reported.

J&J spokesman Marc Boston said in a statement:

"Due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreak this past spring and resurgence this fall, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc. has experienced heavy demand on supplies of Purell.

Boston said that the company is working to increase production for the remainder of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, but acknowledges that supplies could be limited in some areas:

The worldwide recession has caused hard times for many businesses, however it has had little effect on their use of mobile data services. According to an update to ABI Research's Business Mobility Market Data, global mobile data services revenue are expected to increase by 17 percent in 2010, and through 2014, mobile data services revenues will grow at a Compound Annual Growth rate of 12 percent.

Revenues from mobile broadband are expected to be at their highest from 2010 to 2014 in North America, but the largest share of mobile broadband services revenue will go to mobile business customers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where 2014 revenues will increase to 27 and 26 percent of total spending respectively.

The Asia Pacific area, application download revenues will see its greatest growth amongst mobile business customers The highest portion of average revenue per user spent for these applications will come from business customers in Western Europe and Asia Pacific.

ABI practice director Dan Shey said: