... vacation this year. She's not alone. Whether a household has one or four members, the double-digit rate rise in the cost of groceries this year is eating up discretionary spending, boston.com writer Robert Gavin says. Milk prices averaged a 26 percent increase, he reports, and egg prices jumped 40 percent. Even an ordinary red apple costs over $1, and unanticipated low crop yields ... food than gasoline. That's not to say the increase in gasoline prices the past two years isn't hurting consumers. Last week, a gallon of low-grade gasoline cost $3.69 in central Illinois. Hurricane Ike's a...

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... . Conrad Murray, the personal physician of the late Michael Jackson, took a turn for the worse after the 911 call was played to jurors on September 29th. Murray chose not to call for an ambulance for nearly ... know CPR?" although he was the doctor on hand. Murray then calmly told Alvarez that the singer had "a bad reaction" and needed to be taken to the hospital. However, instead of calling an ambulance right away, he collected medical vials and pill bottles and instructed Alvarez to put them in a bag. The most suspicious evidence so far is that Murray asked ... ...

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... . I'm telling the truth. From my heart. God knows that. And he knows that," she said (BBC). Linda Fairstein, a crime writer, questions Diallo's motives were agreeing to interviews during this stage of the investigation. "As a prosecutor, the rule is you want your witness to speak in the courtroom, and ... he said (IBN Live). Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, Ben Brafman and William Taylor, commented that Diallo's interviews were an "unseemly circus." They accused the maid of waging a media campaign "intended to force a prosecutor to pursue charges against an innocent person, an innocent person fro...

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... don't are now in the minority. More than one out every two people now own a cell phone, and that number is growing larger every day. The impact of cell phones on society has become huge. One reason that the cell phone has made such an impact on society today is because ... of the advances they have made with them through modern technology. When the cell phone first debuted, its only function was to make calls. That is not the ... cell phone, and stay up to date on the latest news, banking, entertainment and fashion. You can check your email and chat to friends. Cell phones of today also...

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... the downtown scene. But not always in a positive way. Dancehall, like most music, is a form of self expression. It is an art form through which the entertainers explore and relate the events and issues of their lives. In dancehall's infancy, the message was predominantly light-hearted and even humorous, and it was ... spoke, and behaved. The result: A generation of young people who think that gangbanging, violence, the degradation of women and a life of crime is what the cool crowd does. The music is no longer about the music, the story, and the enjoyment of a good beat. Being a fan of d...

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... but toxic to them? According to an article in Time magazine one culprit is undoubtedly global warming. Global warming increases the amount of carbon dioxide in our air. While that is good news for plants since they breathe in carbon dioxide, it's bad news for our children ... who are being deprived of oxygen. Plants, especially the weedier plants, are thriving and producing pollen out of proportion to their growth. Our children's respiratory systems, already struggling to take in oxygen are being forced to ... it's no wonder that 250,000 asthma related deaths are reported to the World He...

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... as a mere request for clemency escalated into a heated, public racial battle when a five-member board confirmed that Troy Davis will indeed be executed by lethal injection on September 20th. Twenty-two years ago, Davis was tried and convicted of murdering a police officer who was attempting to break up a fight in a fast food parking lot. According to witnesses, Davis shot Mark MacPhail in ... in an Atlanta hotel room to hear the news that Davis' stay would not be granted. Davis refused a last meal and is reportedly in high spirits. "I will not stop fighting until I've taken my last brea...

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... is unhappy in its own way."" And the family in Nia Vardalos' movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding could have just as easily been Italian or Jewish or just about any other nationality on earth. The point is, the family was happy in the kind of ways to which most of us can relate. And that's the recipe for a very funny movie. The ... . No, it's not War and Peace, and it won't earn you credibility points in academic circle to quote it, but My Big Fat Greek wedding is a good bit of honest-to-goodness fun. Anyone who has ever experienced the joys and pain of planning a wedding will relate to this m...

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... doctors in New York City probably already begin treatment early, but there are no official guidelines that enforce it, said Dr. Moupali Das, director of research in the San Francisco health department's HIV prevention section (Hartocollis). While Dr. Farley is a firm believer that early treatment can help stop ... and lead to longer lives for those already infected, others, like Charles King who is president of Housing Works, do not think science has proved significant enough benefits to require early treatment by law. King opted for early treatment himself, but he says many HIV-positive ...

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... of the 1970s. Izod, polo, leg warmers, Ug boots, parachute pants, and short shorts make us think of the 1980s. Flannel shirts, worn out loose fitting jeans induce memories of the 1990s. Low rise jeans, and layered camisoles have been popular over most of the first decade of the new millennium, but unlike decades gone by, ... for the first time in the history of modern fashion, all worlds ... out. Fashion has gone cliquey rather than global, and more than ever before people, at least in western society use fashion to communicate the sort of person that they want you to believe they are. I...

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... . If you supplemented your solar with wind power, you wouldn't need as many cells. The whole solar powered watts/hours calculation should actually be done by a professional for your particular needs. The point is, that while there is labor involved, and the quality is obviously not going to be as high ... as a professionally built and installed system, it is possible to have solar power for about a tenth of the cost of a professionally installed solar system. Even one cell can reduce your electric bill considerably. If building your own solar array doesn't appeal to you, there ... . They...

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... are not confined to one area, so they incur large shipping fees that they then pass on to their customers, the grocery stores, in the form of higher prices. The grocery stores cannot afford to absorb the higher costs, so they in turn pass it on to the consumer. Local farmers do not ... corporations even though they haven't changed anything. But don't get us wrong, local farmers are still, and probably will always be, in danger of being over run by larger corporations. Thankfully, government supplements help ease some burden and organized events such as Farm Aid bring attention to the iss...

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... on debit card usage garnered the most widespread backlash as it affected the greatest number of customers (Fitzpatrick). "Consumers have clearly said this is a no-go," said Patricia Hewitt, an employee of Mercator Advisory Group Inc. who specializes in debit cards (Fitzpatrick). Not only were ordinary citizens angered by this decision, but many political mega-figures also expressed their anger. President Obama and ... . "We have heard from our customers and are responding to their feedback by eliminating the monthly fee," said John Owen, head of consumer services for Regions (Fitzpatrick...

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... would have killed himself, considering he was making many plans for the future. "I talked to him the other day and he was going to be back for my birthday and we were going to celebrate together," Bernie said (FOX23news.com). George Bennett, Jones' uncle, was first to be notified. After answering a knock ... at his door on Saturday, George was told that his nephew was found dead in his bunk by two US Army officials. Jones' family has said that the Army is being very brief and is hesitant to give them any details (Bailey). "They said ... . That was it. They didn't say anything about anyth...

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... don't click, often separating the two parties can be dicey. People in real life generally meet in workplace situations, or in similar social settings, or because of mutual friends. It's hard to simply cut bait. On the internet, you can generally click ignore and move on. If it doesn't work out, ... intimacy happens in the mind among people who are communicating. In real life, a couple can slow intimacy down by involving themselves in a movie or a game. They don't have to actually speak. The benefit of internet dating, when it comes to intimacy is that speaking is a requirement. People g...

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... in his mother's non-practicing or his father's atheist beliefs, Obama made a change. Obama was raised to be a skeptic of religion, but a change occurred. " Mr. Wright's blend of scripture and social action resonated with Obama, then a young community organizer in black neighborhoods ravaged by steel-mill closings," (Sabar, CSMonitor.com). Also, according to a recent article, "He realized something was missing in his life ... and he felt drawn to be in Church," (Fairchild, Christianity.About.com). The story goes: one day Obama decided to visit Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, ...

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... tag of bailing out the banks, 61% of the American public does not want to bail out the auto industry, and no one is blaming them. The first checks written to the banking industry had no conditions attached, and were veritably squandered. After the public outcry, the reins were pulled in, but by ... would surely be job losses, it's not realistic to think that they all three companies would just up and close their doors. Give them help, of course, but force them to make major changes in the way they do business. No more private planes, no more huge executive salaries, and wages ... inter...

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... and will continue to be proven wrong at calling him an "alarmist." The following evidence is likely just the "tip of the iceberg." The Associated Press reported on August 27 of this year that "sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in about thirty years." Scientists characterize ... this fact as a "global warming tipping point" and speculate that by the end of the season, it could be a record-breaking year. ... With this trend, within 5-10 years, the Arctic could be free of ice in the summer. NASA ice scientist Jay Zwally said, "It also means that ... are predicting...

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... Center, beginning at 7:40 AM Hawaii time. Thousands will attend the ceremony, but the number of Pearl Harbor survivors gets smaller every year (Lynch). Unfortunately, because of the dwindling number of survivors, and the ill health and old age of the remaining ones, this ceremony will be the last one conducted by the survivors' association (Lovett). "We had no choice," said William H. Eckel, who previously directed ... the Fourth Division of the association. "Wives and family members have been trying to keep it operating ... ...

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... . So why is everyone clamoring for bailouts? Why can't they just live off of their savings and weather the storm? The answer is boring, but it is also the harsh reality faced by those who make money by loaning money. Competitive lending practices of the last 15 years have kept interest rates at bay. In the 1980s home owners were faced with interest rates on ... their mortgages that were double digits as a standard. Nowadays, those sorts of rates would be considered Usury. Mortgage rates in some cases ... loan sales come greater risks, but less surety. In other words, the cap on interest...

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... heard a lot about Wall Street and the banks and how greed brought them down. We did not hear about how greedy the construction and real estate sales market was. All of the blame seemed to be put on the financial sector, when in fact, these two industries were actually complicit in pushing for more lenient guidelines so that they could build ... rate went up to 25% at one point. The only thing that brought it back down was that most of those who were unemployed moved out of the area to find work. Those people who were foolish enough to think it would last forever bought homes and set up ...

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... debt, but assuming the loans as their own. In other words, the government is becoming a part of the bank. In the future, as the economy stabilizes, the government will come out of this with an enormous amount of loans, including interest, that will be due to the U.S. The government will be paid back for ... economy at a profit. It really isn't a bad idea on the U.S.'s part when you think about it. They are helping in the present by contributing to the stabilization of the banking industry, and will earn their money back plus more in the long run. So those that are worrying about the add...

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... report on the situation, "at the moment it's a five-six problem [on a scale of one to ten] with the potential to be a seven or eight You're lookin at nine, ten, if it starts to be co-opted by international terror organizations." The Gulf of Aden, which serves as the southern passageway to the Suez Canal, sees about 16, 000 ships pass each ... year, making it one of the world's most important trade routes. Through this route, ships transport oil from the Middle East and ... no plans to replace their escort at that time. On June 2, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1816, which ...

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... average distance a grocery store's produce has to travel before it gets on your plate is 1,500 miles. That travel could be by container ship, by truck or by train. Regardless of the mode of transport, carbon emissions are created to get that food to you. Eating locally reduces those carbon emissions. If a farmer drives 30 ... used than if those turnips were shipped from Mexico. There are other reasons why consumers choose to eat local foods. The most important of these is the transparency of the production process. You can see the farmer that grew the tomato or see the cow that ends up...

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... as freeways, is one of the deciding factors. Your avoidance of such clear breeding grounds for pollution can help you limit your intake of these possibly harmful substances. Everyone knows you are what you eat, but people are beginning to understand that you need to watch what you breathe in, too. Health conditions can be worsened or even caused by the inhaling certain amounts ... of common air pollutants. Environmental effects of traffic congestion include pollution and can affect the ... quality of your life. The next time you are about to take a deep breath, think about what you mig...

• Word Count: 396
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