Angels: Nearly 8 In 10 Americans Believe These Ethereal Beings Are Real

-- Angels don't just sing at Christmastime. For most Americans, they're a year-round presence. A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 77 percent of adults believe these ethereal beings are real.

Belief is primarily tied to religion, with 88 percent of Christians, 95 percent of evangelical Christians and 94 percent of those who attend weekly religious services of any sort saying they believe in angels.

But belief in angels is fairly widespread even among the less religious. A majority of non-Christians think angels exist, as do more than 4 in 10 of those who never attend religious services.

Beyond the religious gap, women are more likely than men to believe angels are real, and those over 30 are more apt than younger adults to think they exist.

The finding mirrors a 2006 AP-AOL poll, which found 81 percent believed in angels.

Previous polling has found the public a bit more likely to believe in God, but far less likely to believe in other other-worldly beings. In May, 92 percent of adults told Gallup pollsters they believed in God. But just 34 percent in an AP-Ipsos poll in 2007 said they believed in ghosts or UFOs.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Dec. 8-12 and is based on interviews with 1,000 adults nationally. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Via: HuffingTonPost

Michael Jackson's Estate Items Raise Nearly One Million Dollars

by: Alanna Conaway 1 hour ago

Mark Davis, Getty Images

The items that belonged inside home where Michael Jackson spent his last moments on earth raised close to one million dollars this past weekend when they were auctioned off through Julien’s Auctions.

Pre-auction estimates from the company were said to be around $200,000 to $400,000, but fans of the late King of Pop paid a pretty penny to get their hands on some of the furniture that was in the home he rented in California up until his death in June of 2009.

Among the items sold were a kitchen chalkboard where one of Jackson’s children wrote “I love daddy” that pulled in $5,000 and a mirrored armoire that Jackson scrawled the message: “Train perfection March April May. Full Out” raked in an amazing $25,750.

While Jackson’s death bed was not on the auction block per his family’s request, the rug that laid beneath the bed where his lifeless body was found sold for $15,360.

“Michael Jackson has the greatest fans in the world. I can see why he lived for them,” says Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions. “They came out every day this week to bring gifts. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen as it relates to a celebrity and their fans.”

In the past, Julien’s Auctions has helped other famous faces with auctions including Cher, Barbra Streisand, William Shatner and Slash.

Via: Pop Crush