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ABC News: McCain Camp: Obama 'Wrong' on Iraq (U.S., 31 articles)
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BAGHDAD - On the eve of Senator Barack Obama s visit to Iraq, its prime minister tried to step back Sunday from comments in an interview in which he appeared to support Mr. Obama's plan for troop withdrawal. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks Sunday with its Western-backed leader and vowed to pursue the war on terror "with vigor" if elected, an Afghan official said. The campaign of presidential nominee-to-be Sen. John McCain drew on comments by the Pentagon's top military commander today to attack Sen. Barack Obama's plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, as part of a Middle East trip that has many concerned about the candidate's safety. Obama said the troop surge in Iraq would fail to cut violence or improve political reconciliation, calling Iraq "an impediment" to success in the war on terror, which he said should be focused on Afghanistan. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign today released details of the candidate's upcoming trip to the Middle East and Europe, while dismissing criticism from the McCain camp that the trip is all show.
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Outlook: A Glass-Half-Full View of the Budweiser Bid (U.S., 12 articles)
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Slate political writer John Dickerson was online Monday, April 7 at 2 p.m. ET to discuss his Outlook article about how and why past presidential candidates have made their decisions to end their campaigns, and what this tells us about Clinton-Obama. Washington Post metro reporter Ian Shapira was online Monday, May 5 at noon ET to discuss his Outlook article about Chelsea Clinton, her appeals to young voters on her mother's behalf, and to what extent she reflects the rest of her generation. Clinical psychologist Linda Blum was online Monday, June 30 at noon ET to discuss her Outlook article recounting the stories of the Iraq veterans she met and treated at Fort Dix, N.J., and psychological therapy for the persistent nagging mental trauma of war.
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Bush pressures Congress on gas prices (U.S., 7 articles)
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CRAWFORD, Texas - Responding to Americans' anger over gas prices and the housing bust, President Bush is stepping up pressure on Congress to open up offshore oil exploration and work to restore confidence in the housing finance industry. It's part of nearly 2 billion acres overseen by two federal agencies - the Bureau of Land Management and the Minerals Management Service - that have potential for oil and gas exploration, the bulk of which is strictly off limits. The 68 million acres under lease to oil companies has potential reserves to nearly double U.S. oil production and increase natural gas output by 75 percent, the Democrats claim.
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Trouble at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Stirs Concern Abroad (U.S., 15 articles)
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A senior US Treasury official has welcomed Freddie Mac's efforts to continue raising capital from private investors after a government rescue plan for the troubled mortgage firm and its sister company Fannie Mae was announced. Shares of Freddie plunged nearly 50 percent last week amid speculation the government might step in and take control of the company, which some investors believed could wipe out equity shareholders' positions even if the company continued to operate. The Wall Street Journal today reported that the company might try to raise as much as $10 billion in new shares to investors, a move that analysts said could nearly double its market capitalization.
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Appealing to Bloggers’ Influence, Gore Asks for Help in Promoting Energy Challenge (U.S., 8 articles)
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AUSTIN, Tex - Nancy Pelosi was asked a question here at a bloggers conference about energy. Former Vice President Al Gore made a surprise appearance Saturday at the Netroots Nation conference, a gathering of nearly 2,000 left-leaning bloggers and political organizers. The Nobel laureate and former US vice- president, Al Gore, has urged Americans to abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within a decade.
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New York City News (U.S., 10 articles)
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UNIONS WIN, YOU LOSE LABOR BOSSES RULE LAWMAKERS - AND CHOKE NY June 13, 2008 - KEY triumphs by New York union bosses this spring offer textbook lessons for how to keep Labor strong. Consider... more BAM 'S LAND OF LOSERS HIS PATHETIC ADVICE TO GRADS May 30, 2008 - FOR all his soaring, hopeful rhetoric, Barack Obama chose an odd message this week to send Wesleyan's graduating seniors. WHAT 'BOMB IRAN' REALLY TAKES July 17, 2008 - MY greatest worry on Iran's nuclear threat to civilization isn't the military option.
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Beware those who promise to repair debts - (U.S., 6 articles)
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In recent years, as credit card debt has mounted, the number of for-profit companies offering debt settlement has exploded. The Association of Settlement Companies estimates that the number of debt settlers has doubled in the past two years, to as many as 1,000. Now the Ellicott City entrepreneur has three credit cards that carry a combined $30,000, is behind on his bank loan and has moved out of the industrial space he had leased.
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S.F. Food Bank struggles to keep up with crush (U.S., 5 articles)
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The real problem is that day in and day out, the meats and poultry that come to our supermarkets, restaurants and fast food outlets are potentially unsafe. A list of resources from and from around the Web about local food as selected by researchers and editors of The Times. Do you have a question about a particular recipe or a food-related anecdote to share? The Food section staff goes every Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET.
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Gay marriage opponents got a surprise boost from San Diego mayor's change of heart (U.S., 5 articles)
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The campaign against same-sex marriage in California was treading water until it got help from an unexpected corner: a Republican mayor choking up and announcing he would not betray his gay daughter. In March 2000, Californians passed Proposition 22, making the Defense of Marriage Act law: " Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Since June 16, same-sex couples have been marrying at a rapid clip, pursuant to last month's landmark ruling by the state Supreme Court.
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Olmert's lawyer: Police pressure shaped Talansky testimony (U.S., 5 articles)
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JERUSALEM - Lawyers defending the Israeli prime minister against a web of corruption allegations launched their cross-examination of a key witness yesterday by painting him as a lying, litigious businessman with an unsavory reputation and a faulty memory. New York businessman Morris Talansky did major political, if not legal, damage to Ehud Olmert during his testimony in May by alleging that the Israeli leader accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash over the years. According to the original accusations, Olmert received the cash as bribes or illegal campaign financing, and used it in part to fund his high living.
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Anglican Bishops Meet in Canterbury (U.S., 9 articles)
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WHAT MAKES the Lambeth Conference, the world meeting of Anglican bishops now taking place in England, worthy of attention? Not the intra-religious squabble. Bishops attending the Lambeth Conference have heard how the row over gay clergy has left the Anglican church a "wounded community". Those who did come for the opening service of the conference listened to Bible readings in Korean and French, prayers in Swahili, and music and dance from Melanesia.
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Excerpts From the Opinions (U.S., 5 articles)
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" The handgun ban amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of arms' that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose. The prohibition extends, moreover, to the home, where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute. Why did the Supreme Court rule against the District? In a 5 to 4 opinion, the court said that the law, widely viewed as the strictest in the nation, violated Second Amendment rights.
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ABC News: Houston Crane Collapse Still a Mystery (U.S., 4 articles)
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HOUSTON Federal officials started their investigation today in the collapse of one of the nation's largest mobile cranes, which toppled at a Houston oil refinery, killing four workers and injuring seven others. The 30-story-tall crane, capable of lifting 1 million pounds, crashed to the ground Friday at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston. Representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began their formal accident investigation this morning, said David Roznowski
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Glenn Fleishman and Jeff Carlson Practical Mac columns (U.S., 8 articles)
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Election Nights: May 6 April 22 (Pa.) March 4 Feb. 19 Feb. 12 Feb. 5 Jan. 26 (S.C.) Jan. 8 (N.H.) Jan. 3 (Iowa) On the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. April 29, 2008. Sunday, July 20, 2008 - Page updated at 12:02 a.m. Assessing the home situation, I 'm sitting tight Sunday Punch. Jennifer Carlson's list of low-maintenance, well-behaved plants (PDF) North Seattle Garden As Gallery Outdoor Living.
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ABC News: Woman in Pa. Baby Mystery Partially Eviscerated (U.S., 8 articles)
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The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office has tentatively identified the victim as Kia Johnson, an investigator at the office who declined to give her name said Saturday night. PITTSBURGH An autopsy on a woman's body found in an apartment linked to a mystery newborn baby found that the woman was partially eviscerated and her uterus was cut open, authorities said today. Investigators found the body hours after Curry-Demus was charged with one count of child endangerment and one count of dealing in infant children, a misdemeanor, according to court records.
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Tomatoes are safe to eat again despite salmonella outbreak (U.S., 7 articles)
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Tomato farmers, packers and distributors made the request to the Food and Drug Administration last week, a month after the agency first told consumers to avoid eating certain tomatoes from suspected regions, later identified as parts of Florida and Mexico. Tomatoes haven't been harvested from the suspected areas in weeks, and investigators haven't found any evidence that tomatoes were to blame. WASHINGTON - It's OK to eat all kinds of tomatoes again, the U.S. government declared Thursday - lifting its salmonella warning amid signs the record outbreak, while not over, finally may be slowing.
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Tropical Storm Cristobal brushes North Carolina coast, weakens (U.S., 7 articles)
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Dolly, the fourth such storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, was churning in the western Caribbean about 200 miles southeast of Mexico's popular tourist island Cozumel, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. " The impact of the storm is imminent tonight said Felix Gonzalez, the governor of the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo which is home to tourist resorts like Cancun. RALEIGH, N.C. - Tropical Storm Cristobal dumped rain and brought rough seas to the North Carolina coast Sunday, and forecasters predicted the weakening system was headed for the open Atlantic.
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To avoid Olympic smog, Beijing limits traffic :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Beijing 2008 (U.S., 7 articles)
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With less than three weeks before the Olympics begin, host city Beijing launched a traffic plan Sunday to cut its high levels of air pollution. The flow of cars was lighter than usual as motorists followed the rules on the first day of efforts to clear smog-choked skies for the Games, which begin Aug. 8. Under a two-month plan that started Sunday, half of the capital's 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets on alternate days, depending on whether the license plate ends in an odd or even numbers.
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Mandela Celebrates His 90th Birthday (U.S., 6 articles)
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Friday was also the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Graça Machel, the widow of Samora Machel, a revolutionary leader and former president of Mozambique. QUNU, South Africa - Songs, laughter, teasing and tender words marked Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration Saturday as presidents, village elders and African royalty joined him for a festive luncheon on his rural homestead. The Nobel Peace Prize winner celebrated privately with his family in this rural southeastern village Friday, the day he turned 90.
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Make doctors agents of health cost controls (U.S., 6 articles)
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Cutting health costs by paying doctors more? That is the premise of experiments under way by federal and state government agencies and many insurers around the country. Nationally, Medicare and commercial insurers pay an average of only about $60 a visit to the office of a primary-care doctor and rarely if ever pay for telephone or e-mail consultations. Many health policy experts say the payments are not enough to let the doctors spend more than a few minutes with each patient.
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A longtime addict wants out; he needs helping hand - (U.S., 5 articles)
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There are still too many homicides in Baltimore - though, at 242, not as many as the 259 last year at this time - and too many men and women addicted to heroin and cocaine. Those still using heroin and cocaine were referred to Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, the quasi-governmental agency responsible for providing treatment for the uninsured and underinsured, or to a treatment center that offered its services. Their sons, husbands, brothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends, sisters are clean, staying out of trouble and away from their old junkie friends, working and taking care of their children.
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Beyond the water bond (U.S., 5 articles)
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WATER MAKES THE GRADE - The Wareham Fire District Board of Water Commissioners and SEA Consultants Inc. will detail results of the district's annual ground water monitoring program tomorrow night. The latest results show that the district's drinking water supply meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards, according to Water Superintendent Michael A. Martin. As California contemplates its water future, one simple principle should guide its choices: Any 30-year investment in water infrastructure must take into account what California's water supply situation will be 30 years from now.
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Selling hot dogs at Fenway is serious business (U.S., 4 articles)
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Michael W. Fox can offer advice on these quandaries, and other issues related to the care and feeding of our furry friends (as well as those with feathers or scales). The Truth About Manufactured Dog and Cat Food "and" Dog Body, Dog Mind which takes a holistic approach to pet care and communication. Please join us again Wednesday, July 16 at 11 a.m. ET for a discussion on dog grooming with Bonnie Peregoy of Capitol Hill's The Healthy Dog Store.
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Aviation industry shows green efforts at Farnborough (U.S., 4 articles)
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The figures are staggering - 256 aircraft were ordered at the Farnborough International Airshow, worth a total of US$40.5bn to the European plane maker Airbus. Behind the headline figures lies an intricate web of suppliers that will spread this money to the corners of Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. " One hundred and fifty people working in Crewkerne, Somerset, making parts for Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier Mr Hitchings explains to a potential customer.
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China's largest city, Shanghai, tightens transportation security as Olympics approach (U.S., 4 articles)
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SHANGHAI, China - China's largest city and the host of a dozen Olympic football matches started tightening security over the weekend at airports and train stations, reports in state-run media said Monday. The Chinese government is worried about foreign terrorist plots as well as political protests from domestic critics such as Uighurs in the restive western province of Xinjiang and Tibetans. Bags at Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports were being searched at entrances to terminals for explosive, flammable, biochemical or radioactive materials, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported.
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Many retirees could outlive their assets - (U.S., 4 articles)
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The latest alert about prospects for retirement comes from a new study by the Ernst & Young accounting firm undertaken for Americans for Secure Retirement, a coalition of interest groups concerned about retirement affordability. To reduce the likelihood of that happening to 5 percent, recent retirees need to reduce their standard of living by about one-fourth. Real average weekly earnings have fallen 2.4 percent during the past 12 months when inflation, as measured by growth in the Consumer Price Index, is factored in.
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News for Dallas, Texas (U.S., 4 articles)
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The dream scenario for someone selling his or her home is a long line of prospective buyers shouting at the top of their lungs in a protracted bidding war for the home. Unlike traditional negotiations, there should not be a "winner" or "loser" in the process. Real estate agents generally have a variety of standard forms, including residential purchase agreements that are kept up to date and made available to those who use the services of an agent.
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Seattle Times Newspaper (U.S., 4 articles)
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Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson serves up the best info and tips on Northwest food, cooking, dining and restaurants. The lawyer for the widower of a slain North Carolina mother said Friday that his client did not kill his wife. " The bizarre and unsupported theories that are floating around the television and the Internet have made it impossible for us to sit quietly and to say nothing Blum said.
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Spears and Federline Reach Custody Agreement (U.S., 4 articles)
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Attorneys for the pop singer and ex-husband Kevin Federline reached an agreement Friday that allows Spears three visits a week from Sean Preston and Jayden James, including two overnights with potential for more. The agreement not only increases Spears' time with her sons, but also removed need for a trial scheduled for next month to resolve lingering visitation and financial issues. Spears 'increased involvement in her boys' lives was almost unimaginable in January, when the 26-year-old twice had to be removed from her home by authorities and was committed to a psychiatric ward.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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