At a campaign event on Saturday in Laconia, New Hampshire, Chris Christie announced that, if elected president, he would ask the CEO of FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, to devise a tracking system to combat illegal immigration.

The Justice Department indicted FedEx Thursday on federal charges that accuse the company of having conspired with illegal online pharmacies to deliver controlled substances and other pharmaceuticals purchased by people without prescriptions.

At least six people were injured in a shooting this morning at a FedEx facility in Kennesaw, Georgia. More than 50 law enforcement officers have responded to the scene, though the gunman reportedly remains at large (UPDATE: The suspect was found dead, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound).

At least ten people, including five students, are dead after a FedEx truck crossed a divider on a Northern California freeway and slammed into a bus carrying a group of high school seniors who were on their way to tour a college campus.

This FedEx driver inadvertently delivered some classic physical comedy when his truck got away from him yesterday morning.

When you're a logistics company, you should probably be able to get things done on time. But an uptick in online shopping this year may have been the downfall of FedEx and UPS, both of which are scrambling to deliver Christmas packages that were supposed to have arrived by Tuesday night.

FedEx says it fired the employee caught on camera throwing delivery boxes into her truck with reckless abandon.

A Massachusetts woman who opened a FedEx package expecting to find a birthday present she purchased for her 11-year-old daughter was in for a surprise of her own when she discovered that the box contained several vacuum-packed bags stuffed with seven pound of marijuana.

One of two US-bound bombs that were found on cargo planes last week also flew on passenger jets between Yemen, Qatar and Dubai, according to Qatar Airways. A notorious Saudi bomb maker is the prime suspect for counterterrorism officials.

A flack for Ketchum named James Andrews had to fly into Memphis yesterday for a client meeting with FedEx, and observed, correctly, that Memphis is a hellhole. This could get him fired.

• For the first time in 12 years, FedEx is skipping the Super Bowl. [AdWeek]
• Another gloomy sign for NBC as the Super Bowl approaches: The network is allowing an agency to divide up 30-second commercials. [THR]
• GQ's cover featuring a half-nude Jennifer Aniston seems to be too risqué for the Hudson News outlet in Grand Central Terminal. [Folio]
• SAG has delayed voting on a potential strike until at least January 14. [EW]
• Ticket sales have tumbled since Jeremy Piven ditched Speed-the-Plow. [AP]

Though they may lavish Wall Street Journal reporters with leaks and other scoops, American corporate executives tend to keep their names out of the newspaper's editorial pages. Overt support for the opinion section's relentlessly right-wing politics carries too much risk of customer blowback. But FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith will tolerate no such sissiness. A former George W. Bush fraternity brother, Smith was named as a possible Bush defense secretary and has become involved with John McCain's presidential run. Fair enough. But Smith has to figure many customers might take it personally when tells the Journal opinion section "a majority of the population" is unproductive and greedy:

Thompson LES, the latest addition to Jason Pomeranc’s hotel franchise, recently opened its shiny doors. (Well, prematurely half-opened: Before you book a room or head over for a drink, bear in mind that the pool, outdoor bar, and restaurant are still under construction.) The luxe lodge's rooms are equipped with mini-bars stocked by Dean and Deluca, Sferra linens, and Frette robes. But most importantly, guests won't be offended by badly-dressed staff, thanks to their Rogan Gregory-designed uniforms. But Gregory, who collaborated with Bono on the eco-friendly clothing line Edun, is far from the first designer to cash in by dressing the help. Employees at other swanky hotels, waitstaff at restaurants, athletes, and even the Boy Scouts can boast of high-end names on their uniforms' labels. For example:

• Lehman Brothers is reportedly looking to raise capital (yet again) to shore up its balance sheet. The grim news sent the stock down 8% this morning, and likely ruined Dickie Fuld and Erin Callan's day. [WSJ, AP]

While none of these can match the drama of Apple's 1984 ad — or the actual football game — a few of this year's crop of tech ads made me laugh. Check out these clips from Dell, GoDaddy.com, Cars.com, CareerBuilder, E-Trade and more.

FedEx was hit with a $319 million tax bill over the job classification of FedEx ground employees. A number of lawsuits have been filed by FedEx ground drivers who believed the company was responsible for their taxes; FedEx maintained that they were independent contractors. That's not the interesting part, though. FedEx, in a tried and true public relations move, "took out the trash" and released the bad news late Friday on a holiday weekend. The earliest story we could find on the IRS charge was released at 6:34 pm Eastern, well beyond when most people were reading news stories. Very clever, FedEx. (Photo by Brosner)

FedEx anticipates a record holiday quarter as "e-commerce will continue to drive holiday spending." TNS Retail Forward predicts a $42 billion quarter, up 18.5 percent from last year. [Memphis Business Journal]