... , constructed by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is a revised draft of the plan proposed earlier this month, that also resulted in great controversy. Changes to the second draft include higher domestic cuts than the original version, as well as a decrease in the health care savings from overhauling the medical malpractice system. Unlike the original proposal, the revised version does not call for ... by 2075. The cost-of-living for the programs will decrease, and the cap on income subject to Social security taxes will increase. The plan also calls for an increase in the price of gasolin...

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... ! 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 ... ...

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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...

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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...

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... were enraged at their president's move, 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 ... to leave, not just his government. We will not stop protesting until he goes," 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 protesto...

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... . After the argument, Freeman chose not to wait for her ride and instead decided to walk home but never made it (CBS News). On August 3, 2000, her body was found in a wooded area about eight miles from her hometown of Coquille. The autopsy revealed that she had died from "homicidal violence." The only piece of evidence found was a single tennis shoe ... 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 Cour...

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... solid signs of chloroform or decompositions inside the trunk of Casey's car were produced by the prosecutors, who claimed that Caylee's body was stashed in the trunk. Furthermore, Caylee's exact cause of death could not be determined because her body was too badly decomposed when it was found ( ... "right down to the cause of death" (Alvarez). Baez approached the jury with a different story. The defense argued that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool, and her panicked grandfather, George Anthony, helped Casey to conceal the death. Furthermore, they argued that Casey h...

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... to the surge as "one of the most difficult decisions that I've made as president" but said the military campaign was "meeting our goals" in Afghanistan and the troops will be withdrawn "from a position of strength" (CNN). "Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since ... "Over the last decade, we have spent a trillion dollars on war, at a time of rising debt and hard economic times. We take comfort in knowing that the tide of war is receding" (Stockman). Obama is coming through on the promise he made 18 months ago when he announced the ... troops by next month. This time fra...

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... that the storage tank had a capacity of 27.7 million gallons and had just refilled. According to them, more oil has been collected in the cleanup process than was reported to have been leaked. The explosion occurred after workers continually injected an agent to strip sulfur from oil after ... an oil storage tank was replenished by a tanker. Afterwards, workers released oil from other tanks in the area to prevent another explosion (The Huffington Post). Cleanup efforts were much more immediate than those that followed the Gulf incident. 40 oil ... officials, oil company workers, and vo...

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... Jason Baldwin were released from prison, where they were currently serving out their sentences for the murder of three second-graders in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. Steven Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were found dead in a ditch with their bodies mutilated and hog-tied by their own shoestrings. Police immediately suspected Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin ... CNN). Echols, who was given the death sentence because he was believed to be the ringleader while the other two allegedly involved were sentenced to life in prison, said he was "very much in shock, very overwhelmed....

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... Rubin). NATO helicopters came to the aid of the Afghan security forces killing three suicide bombers on the roof. A fourth bomber was killed in the beginning of the attack, but it is unclear whether he detonated his bomb or was shot by the security forces. However, several ... were armed and there were at least two explosions which we believe were the suicide vests detonating. Then Afghan National Security Forces who were in the hotel and were clearing the hotel worked their way onto the roof and were securing the roof" (Rubin). Samoonyar Mohammad Zaman, ... However, this recent attack...

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... Israel's right do defend itself and to knowingly violate Israeli law" (JTA). "The flotilla has nothing constructive. There 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 ... the participants are taking "irresponsible and provocative" actions and urged them to use "established and efficient" measures to get aid to Gaza (Chick). The Foreign Press Association ...

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... (Clark). "It's the same story with a few crucial additions, the most important of which is you," Rowling said in her announcement on YouTube that ran simultaneously with her news conference in London. "Just as the experiences of reading requires that the imaginations of the author and the reader work together to create ... the story, so Pottermore will be built, in part, by you, the reader. The digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experience built around the Harry Potter ... books. Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participa...

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... include .com, .org, .info, .edu. and .net (Stevenson). This new rule will 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...

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... , a former New York City Sanitation Department police officer, and two other unidentified men. The majority of the men all worked at the Brooklyn station house sometime in the past. These eight men accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to drive a caravan of M-16 rifles and handguns, as well as stolen merchandise, across state lines. For these crimes, they face charges of conspiracy ... to transport and receive stolen property across state lines (Rashbaum). Ironically, the men's plot was uncovered after an FBI confidential informant received a traffic ticket and tried to have it erased ...

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... is a current New York Assemblyman who formerly served as a member of the New York City council. Last year, he was elected to the state Assembly but failed in his campaign for city comptroller in 2009 (Carnia). "It is expected that David Weprin will be unanimously supported by the Democratic parties of Brooklyn and Queens," said Evan Stavisky (Koplowitz). Weprin will meet with ... their redistricting process to cut down two congressional seats due to population losses. The winner of the special election winner will serve out the remainder of Weiner's term, which ends in January 2013 (Car...

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... openings nationwide and weakened his job approval standing with the public. Obama vowed to begin a $500 million initiative which will use technological innovations to create jobs and spur growth in clean energy and advanced manufacturing. To reach these goals, the government will join teams with universities and corporations to jumpstart the manufacturing sector, specifically targeting cutting-edge research and ... During his visit, Obama was inspired by mini-robots that explored water and sewer pipes (Kuhnhnen). Pittsburgh is an important city for Obama's plan to build up the middle cla...

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... mistakes (Vogt). The rescue team came under fire from within the Taliban compound, as well as from an overwatch position nearby. A spokesman at NATO headquarters in Kabul, Lt. Col. John Dorrian, reported that, "It was a very high elevation area, very very challenging terrain." According to his reports, the ... six gunmen who fought back against U.S. forces were killed, although women and children in the compound were not injured. No one from the U.S. rescue team was injured (Vogt). Prime Minister Cameron, defended the original reports, saying, "The statements ... fire, some are questioni...

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... too fast. On the other hand, they have also criticized Republicans for contradicting the conservative principles that the party was founded on by spending too much money when they were in power also (Spillius). At Tea Party gatherings, many advocate doing away with the Federal Reserve, the federal income tax, countless agencies, bailouts, and stimulus packages. Some even call for the ... , and Medicaid. They remedy the problems caused by the recession with secession, tax boycotts, states nullifying federal laws, and citizen militias. Although many of the Tea Party groups differ slightly ...

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... from 4,611 to 1,925 per year from 2001 to 2007 had texting not existed. Because of its existence, fatalities actually increased to 5,870 in 2008 (Hanes). LaHood referred to the recent onslaught of fatalities caused by cell phones as "an epidemic. It's an epidemic because everyone has ... everyone thinks they can use it while driving. They can't" (Hanes). Although distracted driving covers anything from talking on a cell phone to eating in the car, cell phone usage most likely tops the charts. Many celebrities have adopted strong anti-cell phone usage campaigns to reiterate the message ....

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... will be no time to waste when he gets there. The new president will be facing the challenges of having to deal with two wars in which his country is embroiled, ensuring his country are safe from the threat of terrorism, and work toward helping the United States economy break ... hold true, that could be done within 16 months of his taking office. Obama will also have to address the problem of terrorism. Historically, transitions in the American government, when the government is assumed to be at its weakest, have been prime striking moments for terrorists to launch attacks. Even the ......

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Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was recently in America this week for the UN General Assembly being held in New York City. The problem with this is, that puts her right in the fire, so to speak. She and her country have defaulted on billions in debt owed to U.S. creditors. President Kirchner has repeatedly ignored the U.S. federal court system and supposedly removed any of her country's assets to outside the U.S. and away from collectors. With her being in New York this week for the UN talks, U.S. bondholders' have become more upset due this obvious slap in the face to the U.S. Justice s...

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... person for every 72 poor.[1] Yet global spending would make war and war-related expenses as the number one item in global spending. Consider the following statistics: • The world spends one trillion dollars in armaments while 800 people million live in extremely bad poverty, 770 million people do not have food for an active working life, 100 million people are without shelter ... thirds of world trade are controlled by multinational corporations. • The top five multinational corporations control 70 percent of the global market for consumer durables. • The top five firms in automot...

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... 1 rich person for every 72 poor.[1] Yet global spending would make war and war-related expenses as the number one item in global spending. Consider the following statistics: - The world spends one trillion dollars in armaments while 800 million people live in extremely bad poverty, 770 million people do not have food for an active working life, 100 million people are without shelter ... investments. - Two thirds of world trade are controlled by multinational corporations. - The top five multinational corporations control 70 percent of the global market for consumer durables. - The top f...

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... if the jails get overcrowded (Ryan). Murray was convicted on November 7th of involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Since then, he has lost all of the medical licenses he held in three different states. Murray's lawyer joked about his job prospects post-jail time, which included working as a coffee barista or as a Wal-Mart greeter. Murray will have little chance of ... dangerous" (Ryan). Judge Pastor went on to criticize Murray's tactics of administering surgical anesthetic for insomnia as "horrible medicine" practice, citing that Murray was more interested in his $150,000 a month...

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