Topic: United States
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
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Bestselling books the week of 1/3/13, according to IndieBound*
What's selling best at independent bookstores across America.
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10 best books of January, according to Amazon's editors
Amazon editorial director Sara Nelson shares her thoughts about the Amazon staff picks for the 10 best books of January 2013.
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Fiscal deal will cost you: 8 tax changes
[Editor's note: This story was updated on Jan. 2 at 10:00 am ET.]
Congress has passed a fiscal deal that averts the worst of the tax increases under the "fiscal cliff." But most Americans will still end up paying more in federal taxes. Here are eight tax changes under the fiscal deal that may hit your pocketbook:
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Sports in 2012: here are some Monitor highlights
It’s impossible to list all the records set in 2012, but here’s a short rundown of some heralded highlights, plus 20 of our favorites, including some you might have missed.
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How much do you know about US entitlement programs? Take our quiz.
The push to reform entitlement programs is at the heart of debates about the future of the US budget. They include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare).
All Content
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Obama-Karzai talks near: How many US troops should stay in Afghanistan?
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be in Washington next week to meet with President Obama. Top of the agenda: deciding whether US troops should stay beyond 2014 – and how many.
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FTC says Google does not abuse its power
The FTC ended a 19-month investigation into Google's business practices, concluding that the company didn't violate antitrust law.
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Elvis Presley musical banned in Utah for being 'sexually explicit'
A Utah school district has banned a high school from performing 'All Shook Up,' an Elvis Presley musical. In 2013, Elvis Presley returns to the list of music deemed worthy of parental censorship.
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Paper Economy
ADP: Employers add 215,000 jobs in DecemberADP, a private staffing and business services firm, showed that private employers added 215,000 jobs in December. The total employment level is 1.57 percent above the level seen in December 2011, according to ADP.
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Could gang-rape protests mark beginning of an age of activism for India?
India's youth bulge and its disillusionment with political leaders may have helped drive recent post-rape protests and an anticorruption movement. But it's not clear the new activism will sustain itself.
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Stocks fall with Fed undecided on stimulus
Stocks faded Thursday after rallying for two days when investors caught drift of bank officials at the Federal Reserve disagreeing over continued economic stimulus. Mixed holiday sales didn't help stocks either.
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The Monitor's View: Taking choice out of personal health
As more governments move to restrict personal choices as a way to cut costs, especially in health care, they can easily impinge on both liberty and alternative ideas about health.
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Energy Voices
Transocean fined $1.4 billion in Gulf oil spill. Is justice served?Transocean, Ltd., agreed Thursday to a $1.4 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Compared to BP's $4.5 billion fine, Transocean may have avoided the brunt of the blame.
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Good Taliban, Bad Taliban? Pakistani commander's killing exposes blurry lines
Analysts say the US drone killing of a 'Good Taliban' commander in Pakistan could unleash new violence by anti-government insurgents - or undo peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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In Gear
Subaru recall: 'Puddle lights' can cause firesSubaru recall involves nearly 634,000 late-model Legacys, Outbacks, Tribecas, and Foresters. Vehicles with faulty exterior lights on doors – 'puddle lights' – could be affected by the Subaru recall.
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How Air Force database is preventing its old bombs from claiming new victims
The US military estimates that an Air Force lieutenant colonel is saving hundreds of lives a year through a new database he is creating of past bombing campaigns. He's also challenging the history books.
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Amid bloodshed and chaos, Syrian wages a war for neutral reporting
Rami Jarrah, a Syrian anti-regime activist now living in Cairo, is launching Syria's first non-state-run news outlet to provide something he sees as sorely missing: objective reporting.
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FTC clears Google on antitrust
But in antitrust settlement with FTC, Google agrees to license some mobile-phone patents to Apple, RIM, and other rivals. Google also will stop quoting from other websites in its search results when websites object.
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Backchannels
Libyan cop in Benghazi kidnappedThe kidnapping of the head of the criminal investigations department in Benghazi, where four US officials were killed last year, is a reminder of how tough Libya's transition remains.
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N.Y. newspaper's map of local gun owners: A cheat sheet for burglars? (+video)
Gun owners whose names and addresses were published on a 'gun map' in a New York newspaper are angry. But a county official suggests that the map shows burglars which homes to avoid.
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Dynamic passives and the 'exonerative past'
A look at the language of responsibility in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
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Why Al Jazeera bought Al Gore's Current TV (+video)
Al Jazeera's purchase of Current TV, the news network cofounded by former Vice President Al Gore, boosts Al-Jazeera's reach in the US nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. Jazeera plans to add more US bureaus and transform Current TV to 'Al-Jazeera America.'
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Backchannels
Backward step for reform in Myanmar?Yes, Myanmar's military backed government has promised elections in 2015 and released Aun San Suu Kyi from prison. But it's still calling the shots - and violently.
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Sandy Hook students return, putting spotlight on need to help children cope (+video)
Counselors are at Sandy Hook Elementary, but a survey finds that 93 percent of US teachers say they’ve never received training on how to support students who have lost a loved one.
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Global News Blog
Gerard Depardieu's latest drama: a Russian passport (+video)Russian President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to the famous French movie star in what some see as part of an escalating war of words between Russia and the West.
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House speaker vote: John Boehner wins reelection after tough few weeks
John Boehner's reelection to a second term as House speaker followed failed negotiations with Obama, a divisive fiscal cliff vote, and a bashing over delays in relief aid for hurricane Sandy.
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Change Agent
Former Islamist seeks to turn the tide of religious extremism in PakistanMaajid Nawaz has founded Khudi, the first social movement in Pakistan to challenge extremist religious ideas and instead promote democratic culture among youths.
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Opposition demands details on ailing Hugo Chavez as swearing-in looms
Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information provided by government officials 'continues to be insufficient.'
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Chapter & Verse
Presidential biographer Edmund Morris discusses Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and more'I was not drawn to either man because he was president,' says Morris of Roosevelt and Reagan, but instead by 'the enduring fascination of their character.'
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Briefing
A look at America's gun industryPer capita ownership of firearms in the US has doubled since 1968.
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