May 2011
225 posts
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Sarah Palin Visits Liberty Bell, Plans Bus Tour... →
(PHILADELPHIA) — More than a hundred tourists, fans, and members of the media crowded around Sarah Palin as she visited the Liberty Bell Museum in Philadelphia on Tuesday. She told ABC News that she’s relishing her whirlwind road trip. “Each site we’re at is just so inspiring,” she said. Palin confirmed she’s heading to the Empire State next, saying,...
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Rich Keep Getting Richer, New Report Claims →
(NEW YORK) — The world’s rich continued to get richer over the last year, according to a report from The Boston Consulting Group issued Tuesday. Their figures show that globally, there is about $121.8 trillion in global wealth around the world today, up $20 trillion since the depths of the financial crisis. The firm, which looks at investable global wealth assets like cash, money...
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Congress Mulls Cuts to Food Stamps Program →
(WASHINGTON) — Congress is under pressure to cut the rapidly rising costs of the federal government’s food stamps program at a time when a record number of Americans are relying on it. The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday will review the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $71 billion for the agency’s “Supplemental...
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Lady Gaga Poised for Biggest First-Week Sales... →
(NEW YORK) — Lady Gaga’s album Born This Way was initially projected to sell just under a million copies in its first week of release. Now, those sales figures have been revised upward — way upward. Billboard.biz reports that Born This Way will likely sell a staggering 1.15 million copies in its first full week of sales, making it the biggest debut since ‘N Sync’s...
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Ozzy Osbourne Talks Possible Black Sabbath Reunion →
(LOS ANGELES) — So is that Black Sabbath reunion ever going to happen? Even though Geezer Butler is on record saying it won’t, Ozzy Osbourne has a different opinion. He tells Billboard.com, “I’m sure eventually somebody will pop the question in a serious manner…I’m here if they want to call me.” However, the Prince of Darkness seems to want Sabbath to...
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Smoking Will Kill Six Million People This Year,... →
(GENEVA) — Six million people will die from tobacco this year, including 600,000 non-smokers from secondhand smoke, according to the World Health Organization. These latest figures, released Tuesday, are huge and projections show they’re heading upward. The WHO says smoking could kill eight million a year by 2030. The organization attributes the increasing number of deaths to...
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Rogue Is Vogue: What Is Sarah Palin Trying to Tell... →
(WASHINGTON) — For the last 48 hours, the biggest mystery in political circles was where Sarah Palin and her giant tour bus, draped in images of the American flag and the Constitution, were going next. She’s already stopped in Washington, D.C., Mount Vernon, and Fort McHenry in Maryland. On Tuesday, she starts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and her next stops continue to be the subject...
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Pentagon to Take Military Action Against Cyber... →
(WASHINGTON) — Hacker attacks have become more widespread and damaging lately, enough so that the government is considering stepping in and taking military action. According to the Wall Street Journal, some top officials at the Pentagon are now calling computer sabotage an act of war, and are considering using military force as one way to respond to the malicious attacks against the U.S. ...
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Lady Gaga's First Polaroid Product Now Available →
(NEW YORK) — Last year, Lady Gaga was named creative director of Polaroid, and earlier this year, she announced some of the products she had a hand in designing for the company. Well, one of those products is now finally available for “Little Monsters” to buy — at least in her hometown of New York. Zdnet.com reports that Bloomingdale’s flagship store on...
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Women Fighting and Dying in War, Despite Combat... →
(WASHINGTON) — By this Memorial Day, nearly 150 U.S. female troops have made the ultimate sacrifice in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with over 700 wounded. Although Department of Defense policy precludes women from being assigned to ground combat-infantry units, women have for years served in combat situations where they’re just as vulnerable. Marine Lance Corp. Angelica Jimenez,...
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Holiday Hack Attacks Plague PBS, Lockheed Martin →
(NEW YORK) — This holiday weekend has seen a number of prominent cyber attacks. Since Friday, there was a fake news story posted on the PBS website that claimed murdered rapper Tupac Shakur was alive and well in New Zealand, and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin found itself the target of a data breach. Add to this a claim from Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, that a hacker allegedly sent a...
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Adjust How You Drive and Save on Gas →
(NEW YORK) — You can’t control gas prices, but you can get better mileage by adjusting how you drive. One tip is to keep all of your tires properly inflated. “You really can get 3 percent better fuel economy if you keep them properly inflated,” says Mark Solheim ofKiplinger’s Personal Finance. Another tip is to shed excess weight. “If you’re carrying...
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Memorial Day Outrage: Feds on Lookout for Fake War... →
(WASHINGTON) — As millions of Americans honor the service and sacrifices of veterans this Memorial Day, the FBI said it will be busy keeping a close eye out for reports of “frauds” who don fake medals and tell tales of false heroism in hopes of taking advantage of honest patriotism. While at any particular time the FBI is investigating from 15 to 30 cases of people...
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Obama Naming Next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of... →
(WASHINGTON) — President Obama is expected to name Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday. The four-star general will succeed Adm. Mike Mullen, who will retire from the position on Oct. 1. Dempsey served two combat tours in Iraq where he commanded the 1st Armored Division shortly after the 2003 invasion and later ran the U.S....
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World Marks 'No Tobacco Day' →
(NEW YORK) — Americans along with others around the world are gearing up to acknowledge World No Tobacco Day on Tuesday. The World health Organization (WHO) has chosen “The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” as the theme for the 2011 installment of World No Tobacco Day on Tuesday. According to statistics provided by the WHO, tobacco kills almost six million people worldwide...
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President Obama Visits Tornado-Ravaged Joplin,... →
(JOPLIN, Mo.) — President Obama, on Sunday, told the shattered survivors of the tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, that their tragedy is “a national tragedy,” and pledged long-term support from the federal government. “This is not just your tragedy, but a national one, and there will be a national response,” he said. “We’re going to be...
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Legendary Poet, Musician Gil Scott-Heron Passes... →
(NEW YORK) — Legendary composer, writer, and musician Gil Scott-Heron died on Friday at the age of 62. Scott-Heron came to prominence with his albums “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” “Pieces of a Man,” and “Winter in America” during the 1970s. He is attributed with developing the genre of hip-hop and rap, which he felt was a medium to animate the...
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Autopen Controversy: Should Presidents Use It to... →
(WASHINGTON) — With the Patriot Act set to expire Thursday night, President Obama signed legislation extending it — from France. How did he do that? Using an autopen, of course. Article 1, section 7 of the United States Constitution states: “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the...
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Would Michele Bachmann Challenge Sarah Palin? →
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — It would be a match-up pitting two dynamic conservative women who appeal directly to evangelicals and the Tea Party faithful: Sarah Palin vs. Michele Bachmann in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. ABC News’ Jon Karl caught up with Bachmann and asked her about the prospect of running against Palin. Here’s the exchange: Karl: Would you run...
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Military Industrial: Should Pentagon Budget Be... →
(WASHINGTON) — Defense accounts for the largest chunk of U.S. federal spending. Of all the money that Congress controls each year, nearly a quarter goes towards the Pentagon and defense spending. As Congress mulls budget cuts, defense spending is coming increasingly under scrutiny and threatens to become another explosive topic that could divide Republicans as the 2012 race heats up. ...
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Republicans Showing Little Appetite for 2012... →
(WASHINGTON) — Republicans who flirted with running for president in 2012 — and decided not to try — showed little appetite for the relentless demands and punishing grind of a campaign. Their candid characterizations now make one wonder who would. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran an insurgent campaign in 2008 and had led in many 2012 pre-primary polls, said he...
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Driving This Weekend? Three Keys to Finding Cheap... →
(NEW YORK) — At least 35 million people are expected to hit the road this Memorial Day Weekend, choosing cheaper hotels and restaurants because of high gas prices. If gas prices will determine if you’re going to get behind the wheel, here are some tips on how to find the cheapest way to fill up your car’s tank. Fill Up On Fridays: Using mapping firm Esri, ABC News looked at...
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Tornadoes Caused by Military? Recent Events Fuel... →
(NEW YORK) — It’s an astonishing claim: The tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri last Sunday, killing at least 125 people, was not a random act of nature but the result of an obscure military-backed research program in Alaska that shoots radio waves into the upper atmosphere. Here’s another one: The shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona last January that killed six people and...
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Court Rules In Favor of Arizona Immigration Law →
(WASHINGTON) — In a victory for the State of Arizona, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a strict immigration law that sanctions employers for knowingly or intentionally employing unauthorized aliens. The Obama administration argued that the law conflicted with existing federal law. But Chief Justice John Roberts writes: “Because we conclude that the State’s licensing...
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Exclusive: Taxpayer Money Spent on Shrimp on... →
(WASHINGTON) — You’ve probably heard of shrimp on the barbie, but what about shrimp on a treadmill? The National Science Foundation has, and it spent $500,000 of taxpayer money researching it. It’s not entirely clear what this research hoped to establish, but it’s one of a number of projects cited in a scathing new report from Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma,...
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Provisions of Patriot Act Set to Expire at... →
(WASHINGTON) — Congress has until midnight Thursday to renew several provisions of the Patriot Act, the country’s counterterrorism law that was passed after 9/11. If passed, the measure would extend powers for investigators in national security cases to conduct roving wiretaps, seek certain business records, and gather intelligence on “lone wolf” suspected terrorists who...
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Mitt Romney Plans Iowa Campaign Trip →
(WASHINGTON) — For the first time this year, former Massachusetts Governor and likely presidential candidate Mitt Romney will travel to Iowa on Friday, a state he’s largely been criticized for avoiding after coming in second to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. Just days after naming former 2008 campaign staffer Sara Craig as his State Director for Iowa,...
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Michele Bachmann Prepping a 'Money Bomb' →
(WASHINGTON) — Michele Bachmann’s goal? Raise $240,000 in 24 hours. Though the Minnesota Republican says she won’t officially announce whether she is running for president until June, it has not stopped the Tea Party favorite from an aggressive grassroots fundraising effort.
“Please make a contribution and join my 24-hour money bomb to raise $240,000 in 24 hours and make...
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Atheists Have Best Sex Lives, Claims Psychologist →
(TOPEKA, Kan.) -– Darrel Ray, raised a fundamentalist Christian in Topeka, Kan., shed a heavy cloak of guilt surrounding sex after he left the church in the late 1970s, and wondered if his experience reflected that of others. Now he’s completed research that he said bore out his hypotheses — that religion and good sex don’t mix. In an online survey of 14,500 people who had come...
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Did Obama Administration Cut Corners for Green... →
(WASHINGTON) — The Obama administration bypassed procedural steps meant to protect taxpayers as it hurried to approve an energy loan guarantee to a politically-connected California solar power startup, ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News have learned. The Energy Department in March 2009 announced its intention to award Solyndra Inc. a $535 million loan guarantee...
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Bob Dylan Celebrates 70th Birthday →
(LOS ANGELES) — Blow out a birthday candle for Bob Dylan, because Tuesday is the iconic songwriter and rock legend’s 70th birthday. Dylan’s 70th is celebrated in Rolling Stone magazine’s newest issue, which features Dylan on the cover and includes a list of his 70 greatest songs, according to a panel of Dylan experts, writers and artists. Rolling Stone writer Christian...
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Is Biden Already Setting the Stage for 2016 White... →
(WASHINGTON) — Apparently looking far off into the future, Vice President Joe Biden is considering his job options, whether the Democratic ticket wins or loses in 2012. A source told the website Politico that Biden brought up the subject of a possible run for the White House in 2016 during a dinner with major Democratic donors last week in Cincinnati, Ohio. He suggested that existing...
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Top Palin Aide Mocks Bristol, Mitt Romney in... →
(WASHINGTON) — Leaked private messages from one of Sarah Palin’s top aides reportedly offer insight into how in people in Palin’s inner circle really feel about her, her family, and fellow politicians. On Tuesday, website The Daily Caller published a series of inflammatory messages Palin’s speechwriter and domestic policy adviser Rebecca Mansour sent last year via Twitter....
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Exclusive: Return to Normal 'Many Months' Away,... →
(JOPLIN, Mo.) — The death toll from a vicious tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, has risen to 117 as searchers claw through rubble hoping to find survivors. In an interview with ABC News Radio, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said the Tuesday morning sunrise gave crews a boost, but also a dose of reality. “Over these last two dark and windy and rainy days, everybody’s been...
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Preacher Says Rapture Prediction Was Wrong but... →
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Harold Camping, the radio evangelist who predicted the apocalypse would begin Saturday, May 21, said on Monday that his understanding of God’s plan was just a little off. Speaking to reporters outside his Family Radio International office near the Oakland, California airport, Camping said his prediction that the Biblical Rapture would occur Saturday might have been...
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MacBooks for Charity Among Gifts Obama Gives Royal... →
(LONDON) — Newlyweds Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, received a present from President Obama and the first lady Tuesday: six donated MacBook Notebook computers to Peace Players International in Belfast Ireland, a charity of the Duke and Duchess’ choosing. The White House said that the president and Mrs. Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II a collection...
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“The medical and mental health care provided by California’s prison falls...”
– Justice Anthony Kennedy
Supreme Court Orders California to Slash Prison Population -»
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How to Help Tornado Victims in Joplin, Missouri →
(JOPLIN, Mo.) — Rescue efforts are underway as residents of Joplin, Mo., try to pick up the pieces of their lives after a devastating tornado hit the city of about 50,000, and severe storms ravaged the Midwest this weekend. At least 89 people have been reported dead in Joplin. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency Sunday evening and activated the National Guard. Find out...
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'Cheating' Website Makes Schwarzenegger a $10... →
(NEW YORK) — Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie career is now on hold in the wake of his escalating paternity scandal, but at least he’s gotten one new, lucrative job offer. ABC News Radio has confirmed the parent company of the website AshleyMadison.com — which helps facilitate marital affairs between its more than 9.3 million anonymous members — has offered the disgraced...
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Is Dems' Praise of GOP 2012 Hopefuls Poisonous? →
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats are hoping to put their imprint on the 2012 Republican presidential primary with an unlikely weapon: the hug. Leading Democrats have spent the past few weeks embracing several leading likely GOP candidates and showering them with praise for holding Democrat-favored positions on an array of key issues. President Obama credits former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with...
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Lance Armstrong Doping Investigation Widens →
(NEW YORK) — A federal investigation into Lance Armstrong and doping in cycling continues to expand, as now a second and a third teammate are reportedly telling investigators that the seven-time Tour de France champion used performance enhancing drugs during his reign at the top of the cycling world. Tyler Hamilton, a close friend and U.S. Postal Service teammate of Armstrong’s, told...
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Lab-Grown Meat: Food of the Future? →
(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — Next time you fire up the grill for a backyard barbecue, think about this: at some point in the future, those steaks sizzling over the flames might not come from livestock, but a lab. For some scientists, so-called “test-tube” meat has been the dream of decades. And fueled by concerns about the consequences of meat consumption for our health, the environment...
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Donald Trump Back in the 2012 Race? →
(NEW YORK) — Perhaps Donald Trump didn’t really bow out after all. The billionaire business mogul phoned into Fox News’ Fox & Friends Monday to lament the state of the Republican field. He took issue with Mike Huckabee exiting the race, saying he’s sure Huckabee could win and he’s still sure he himself could have won. Trump refused to rule out a late entry into...
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NYC Smoking Ban in Parks, Beaches Goes Into Effect →
As of Monday, all public parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas will be smoke-free, enforced by fines that range from $50 to $250.
With bars and restaurants already giving them the brush, places like Central Park, Times Square plaza, and Coney Island’s boardwalk will join the list of places that no longer welcome smokers to sit back and light up. … Read the Full Story -»
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Smallpox Scab Plucked From Virginia Museum... →
(RICHMOND, Va.) — Few crusts of hardened blood end up in public display cases. But an 135-year-old smallpox scab, encased in thick plastic, was a star artifact in the Virginia Historical Society’s “Bizarre Bits” exhibit. “It was certainly interesting, and a little bit out of the ordinary, but you’d be surprised at some of the things we get around ...
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Jon Huntsman's Full Court Press →
(HANCOCK, N.H.) — While Jon Huntsman may have ventured to New Hampshire to mix and mingle with voters, he’s spent more time weaving through hordes of cameras and microphones than shaking hands. Friday marked the first time the press had full access to the former ambassador since his return to the United States three weeks ago, and it’s clear that everyone wanted to make up...
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Macho Man Randy Savage Dies In Car Crash →
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Randy “Macho Man” Savage, one of the World Wrestling Federation’s most famous faces of the 1980s, has died, according to TMZ. The flamboyant pro-wrestling icon born Randall Mario Poffo is believed to have suffered a heart attack behind the wheel of his car in Tampa, Fla., before crashing it Friday morning, TMZ reported. Savage, also known for his appearances...
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As May 21 Doomsday Looms, What's Behind Armageddon... →
(NEW YORK) — This Saturday in Times Square, amidst bewildered tourists and hot dog vendors, Robert Fitzpatrick will be waiting for the world to end. The 60-year-old MTA retiree from Staten Island joins the hordes who follow the Biblical calculation of Family Radio preacher Harold Camping. Camping predicts that the end of days is near — in fact, it’s May 21, at about 5:59 p.m....
