If we move away from the question, "Did TJX do everything possible to try and protect consumer data?" (which merits a "What planet are you on? Of course it didn't,") and focus on, "Did TJX do what was reasonable and appropriate at the time it did it?" things look a lot different.

The latest news was utterly predictable. TJX's deal with Visa, in which TJX would give money to certain banks in exchange for promises to not sue, was approved overwhelmingly on Dec. 20. Two days earlier, TJX also worked out similar settlements with most of the banks suing it. In short, only one bank is left suing TJX and that litigation will happen in Alabama state court. The consumer class action lawsuit is essentially settled as well. (The final approval will come from a federal judge who has already said he will approve it.)

The core problem with the TJX cases is that the lawsuits wanted to accuse TJX of something that is not illegal in any state.

The Talleys get their lift

This is an updated version of a story posted earlier on Thursday. GRANDVIEW — Robert Talley could not believe it. By about 3 p.m. on Thursday, he had the lift that he and his wife, Ann, had been waiting for, a gift from the Barstow Senior Center. "I just felt, well, if we had that, why not?" said Ethel Bussman, the office manager at the senior center. Ethel said after reading about the struggle Robert and Ann have been through to try to get a lift so Robert could be set upright and clear the mucus and fluid from his lungs, she wanted to be able to help. The senior center often accepts donations of equipment to help ailing senior citizens in the area, and Ethel felt certain they had a lift for Robert. She found one and made arrangements for her husband, Larry, to deliver it. The Talleys, she said, were in tears.

Man has intricate knowledge of Detroit Zoo's feathered friends

ROYAL OAK, Mich. - They fight for space, form alliances -- and break them -- romance new mates, and then break up.

No, it's not the latest season of "The Real World." It's the real-life world of penguins in the Penguinarium at the Detroit Zoo.

"They're very social," said Tom Schneider, curator of birds at the region's only zoo. "They form bonds. Then sometimes they have divorces, and they take up with someone else."

EU bid to freeze out patio heaters

They have only been popular in the UK for little more than a decade, but patio heaters could become history if MEPs vote to ban them today.

The EU parliament is expected to back a resolution requiring the use of appliances with low energy efficiency to be phased out.

Patio heaters are specifically targeted in the motion, which calls on the EU to act urgently and introduce minimum standards for energy efficiency on such appliances as air-conditioning, television "decoder" boxes and light bulbs. It also calls for the abolition of stand-by mode on electrical appliances.

If the ban comes into effect and is enforced, it could cost pubs, restaurants and caterers in the UK up to £250m in lost revenue per year.

The use of outdoor heaters increased with the new UK smoking ban, as well as growing use at home as garden accessories for the British summer.

Hummer H3 gains a more potent Alpha version

After 15 years traveling civilian highways, Hummer is gaining distance from the original war wagon.