... Beijing and athletic competition, Russia and the Soviet Republic of Georgia participated in a deadly competition of their own: a conflict now being referred to as the Russia-Georgia Conflict. It is a conflict with a long history, but the latest chapter began on August 8 when military troops from Russia entered South Ossetia, a state that has declared its dependence from Georgia, with the stated goal of removing Georgian troops from ... the region. Georgian troops had been present as self-proclaimed "peace-keeping forces," monitoring criminal activity in the region, but on August 7 their...

• Word Count: 405
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Jackson's death, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor sentenced Murray to the maximum of 4 years in prison. However, under the new state law regarding conditions in state prisons, Murray will serve time in the LA County Jail rather than in the state prison. Even at that, a spokesman for the county Sheriff's Department said Murray would only spend a maximum of two years behind ... for insomnia as "horrible medicine" practice, citing that Murray was more interested in his $150,000 a month than obeying the Hippocratic Oath. In fact, Murray recently commented in a televised...

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• Grade Level: High School

... that is hard to define, and in this economic climate, hard to come by. What do the people of the U.S. hope for? The end of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? An economy that isn't crashing and taking the middle class with it? Universal Health Care? There are so many things wrong in this country, that it's hard to ... Secretary of State. His Change.gov website has changed this country by giving a voice to all people, not just the influence peddlers in Washington. Not since Bill Clinton's open line to the White House have we been able to so easily communicate our wants and needs to Pennsylv...

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... B. Hepatitis B is a main cause of liver cancer and disease. The recommendation suggests that testing be done on all persons born in Africa and Asia and that it also be done on others in the at-risk population, such as men who have sex with men and injection drug users. The recommendations sent out by the CDC, for the first time, come with guidelines for managing chronically infected ... more people know that they have it, they can keep from giving it to others and get the treatment they need for a longer life. With the new medicines that have come out in just the last five years, those ...

• Word Count: 375
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... a new music application that allows users to essentially create their own radio stations. Surfing the stations for a good song just went out of style. Can't live without Facebook or Flickr? The iPhone caters to all you social butterflies, too. These social media sources and others are available right in the palm of your hand, so you can take your network of friends, family and ... colleagues right along with you. And you thought having a laptop made your life mobile! The iPhone has made the globe just a little bit smaller, too. In a successful effort to keep pace with the "trend to opti...

• Word Count: 414
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... is suffering, but it isn't a Civil War that is tearing us apart, it is the greed of the wealthy and the suffering of the rest of us. In the war of the upper class against the masses, the casualties aren't bodies strewn on a field, but the American Dream itself that is dying, and may soon be buried. We turn to our leaders, and it seems they are against us as ... well. Will this union survive? Only time will tell, but just as on that November day in Gettysburg, we are seeking someone who can bring us hope ... , and lead us back from the depths of despair and the fear of a destruction of o...

• Word Count: 597
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... meet this child's needs. It's beyond what I"m able or willing to give." They are as devastated as the children. They are doing what's in the best interest of the child. Better that they step forward with the truth than try to raise and resent a child they truly do not want."--Social worker, name withheld. "Cabinet ... fail couples that want to give these children homes. I know I need to come to terms with it, and someday I hope to. The anger that I have is with many of the people involved in the "adoption process", so they call it. We did love and care about two special little children fo...

• Word Count: 1517
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... is nothing humanitarian or anything that has to do with Palestinian welfare in the organizing of this flotilla," said Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor. He added that the flotilla participants are "extremists" (Chick). The U.S. Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland agreed that the participants are taking "irresponsible and provocative" actions and urged them to ... the flotilla (Weiss). Approximately ten ships are still involved in the flotilla, which will transport about 500 activists and humanitarian aid. The biggest ship, the Turkish Mavi Marmara, pulled...

• Word Count: 620
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... allow major corporations and companies to register almost any word, in any language, as their domain ending (Gross). "Icann has opened the Internet's naming system to unlease the global human imagination. Today's decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all mankind," said Rod ... Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of Icann (IBTimes). Icann is a nonprofit group, founded in 1998, that assigns addresses ... to Internet service providers. Icann has members from ...

• Word Count: 583
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... for a more hasty withdrawal of the troops and those who warned against abandoning Afghanistan too early (CNN). "It's important that we retain the flexibility necessary to reconsider troop levels and respond to changes in the security environment should circumstances on the ground warrant," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "It is my hope that the president will continue to listen to ... our commanders on the ground as we move forward. Congress will hold the Administration accountable for ensuring that the pace and scope of the drawdown ... does not undermine the progress we've m...

• Word Count: 1589
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... this year to choose from more houses on the market at lower prices, can receive up to $7500 as a tax credit if they buy their first house this year. Incentives for businesses were also a part of the Economic Stimulus package, giving businesses the ability to deduct expenses at much higher levels than in previous years. The hope: that businesses will buy equipment or property ... that they need this year to take advantage of the incentives. By encouraging businesses to spend more money, the economy benefits, and with the new tax incentives, businesses are not hurt even ... if their reven...

• Word Count: 443
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A landlord of a Philadelphian apartment discovered four mentally handicapped people chained in the basement when he went to investigate a short circuit on October 15th. Turgut Gozleveli discovered dogs locked inside of the boiler room and four adults hiding underneath a blanket. They were hunched together in a space not tall enough for an adult to stand, surrounded in human waste with only a jug of orange juice (Hoye). He unchained them while asking questions about their identity, but he didn't receive any answers. Believing them to be illegal immigrants, Gosleveli called in the police who qui...

• Word Count: 787
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... even lower than expected. A division of MasterCard showed holiday spending this year was down by as much as 4% over the same period last year, making this year the worst holiday season for them in modern times. Even retail behemoths such as Gap experienced a drop in sales by close to 20 percent. Best Buy and other electronics and appliance stores experienced even more significant drops ... for market share, will also have to face laying off more and more of their employees the longer the recession continues. As 2009 begins to unfold, the retail industry could see a dramatic decrease in ...

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... of toxic red sludge, Zoltan Bakonyi, is being questioned on the suspicion of public endangerment causing multiple deaths and environmental damage (Yahoo! News). The sludge burst from its reservoir last week, killing eight people. The European Union and environmental groups are worried that the sludge could spread down the Danube River, resulting in long-term consequences for many nations. Emergency workers are currently ... trying to build temporary barriers to slow down the sludge before it reaches the Danube River. They will ... then scoop out as much as possible. The idea is that the...

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... a stink. Their sets will merely become trash. One overall affect, then of the decision to do away with analog television for the United States is that landfills will pick up about 6 million energy hogging televisions and over the course of a few years, electronic sellers will benefit from a boom in the sales of converter boxes and new televisions. Television is a privilege, not a right ... . Change is coming, and as the car replaced the horse, and faster cars replaced the model T, change is on the horizon for television. Its affect will make TV better. ... Information will travel faster...

• Word Count: 337
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Occupy movement that began months ago in New York and has since grasped hold of the rest of the country turned violent for the first time on November 2nd in Oakland when a small group of protestors smashed the windows of a Wells Fargo bank branch during a protest of wealth inequalities. The Occupy Oakland movement scheduled a noon rally in front of City Hall and then a free lunch afterward. The day's events were planned to wrap up with a "general strike mass convergence, rally, and labor cookout." Each of these were intended to be peaceful protests, but a small faction began passing out fl...

• Word Count: 804
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Following a series of political assassinations of Afghanistan's political leaders, the United States' military officers have seen dramatic improvement in securing the country. Following the assassination of Osama bin Laden, President Obama announced the hasty drawdown of the extra "surge" troops he ordered to finish off the al-Qaeda regime. However, there have been several recent acts of violence that have some officials worried. Following the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother, a suicide car bomber attacked a police headquarters, killing twelve policemen and a ch...

• Word Count: 527
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . That money, which has been as high as $30 million in some cases, has helped to finance the war in Somalia, according to some reports. Groups like Al-Shabaab, which the U.S. had designated a terrorist organization, are on the receiving end of some of these funds. According to Roger Middleton, author of a key report on the situation, "at the moment it's a five-six problem [on a scale of one ... itineraries, which would mean more fuel consumption and, ultimately, higher shipping costs. More than that, even, piracy has hampered relief efforts to Somalia. The World Food Programme has been f...

• Word Count: 419
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... cardboard boxes and aluminum foil. They are good for slow cooking, and larger ones can be used to bake bread. If you live in a place where there is sunshine most of the time, a solar cooker can save you considerable money over using even a crock pot. They are especially good for drying/dehydrating food ... itself very quickly. There are even solar powered jackets. No, I'm not joking. If you live in a sunny but cold climate, this could be a great way to keep a little warmer. Of course, there are the small solar cells that can recharge your cell phones and ipods. These are very inexpensive,...

• Word Count: 752
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... suffered one case of breast cancer are very susceptible to a second bout with the disease. They are at a much higher risk than the remainder of the male population or even women caught in a similar situation. As the Cancer Association and other organizations move forward in their efforts to find a cure for breast cancer, lets hope that they remember it isn't just a woman's disease. No one wants to ... take anything away from the female of the species. However, wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters ... also do not want to lose their beloved husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons to the b...

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... which they see as an attempt to set up a successor (Hadid). Since the announcement, Cairo has been engulfed in chaos. Looting and lawlessness ran rampant through the streets. Many residents are boarding up their homes to protect against thugs roaming the streets with sticks, knives, and guns. The headquarters of Mubarak's party was burned down, as well as many other buildings. ... said Mohammed Mahmoud, a protestor in the city's main Tahrir Square. Although tanks were deployed to Tahrir Square, no reports have surfaced about clashes between the army and the protestors. In fact, many fee...

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... liner from his car, although his father protested that he had removed the liner because of a fuel leak. Neighbors also reported that a bonfire was held at the McGuffin household the day after Freeman disappeared (Lohr). In October of 2009, Freeman's mother, Cory Courtright, requested that the Coquille Police Department and the district attorney's office reinvestigate the case. "They need to have a dedicated team go back and look ... through all of the files again, re-interview everyone involved, and re-examine all of ... he couldn't recall a single case where a judge released a homicid...

• Word Count: 515
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... a house party. When he showed up, they burned, beat, tortured, and sodomized him with a miniature baseball bat (The Berkshire Eagle). The gang then went to the older man's house, tied up his brother, and stole three cell phones, $1,000 in cash and a 52-inch television (ABC News). The eight suspects include Ildefonzo Mendez, 23; Elmer Confresi, 23; David Rivera, 21; Steven Caraballo, Denis Peitars, Nelson ... Bryan Almonte, all 17; and Brian Cepeda, 16. They were arraigned on hate crime charges. They were seen in the courtroom with their heads down as their relatives wept. The charges th...

• Word Count: 502
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... for an audience to their agendas, Mr. Obama uses language like "I support" and "I believe we need to." Neither is a lie, but one speaks of promise to act. The other, of promise to react. In other words, on some issues, Mr. Obama has every intention of taking his cause to Congress, and seeks to bolster that cause by creating public outcry through ... the internet, using the amazing network his campaign created during the election season. On other issues, he is merely indicating what his inclinations are should someone else's pet project arrive on his desk for his perusal. So it is in the ...

• Word Count: 515
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... industry be next on the government bailout list? Not likely. Despite the woes over the decline in the economy, travel is down only slightly compared to previous years. In fact, according to a study by an independent group representing travel agents, while 68 percent of Americans would describe the economic conditions as "terrible", only 22% of that 68% has actually cancelled a flight, or plans to reschedule at a cheaper ... jobs have been lost and many have lost their homes or are in danger of losing their homes, it seems that the bulk of Americans are more plagued by the promise of woe...

• Word Count: 388
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate