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21 Feb 2012 00:41

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Culture: Comeback trail: Lindsay Lohan’s “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig

  • Set your DVRs now: Although she hasn’t been on the show since 2006 (when her personal problems started affecting her work), Lindsay Lohan will host “Saturday Night Live” for the fourth time on March 3. Could this be her first step back into acting? She hasn’t made a movie since 2010’s “Machete,” but based on their recent tweets, Lohan and her mother are both excited about this being a real corner-turning opportunity for the 25-year-old. Hopefully this won’t be as terrible as it could be. The musical guest will be Jack White, after all. source

16 Feb 2012 23:41

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Politics: Occupy Wall Street files paperwork to become a Super PAC

  • Occupying from within the system: Today, OWS created a super PAC called the “The Occupy Wall Street Political Action Committee.” John Paul Thornton is the treasurer of the committee. “It’s going to be fairly democratic. We’ll take opinions on how much candidates need and in what areas,” Thornton said. The point of this super PAC is to raise money … to stop politicians from raising too much money. “I am out to get the bloated amounts of money out of politics but to do that, we need to support candidates looking to do that,” Thornton said. source

16 Feb 2012 19:11

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Culture: Study: Common sweetener in organic food tied to high arsenic levels

  • the research Extremely high levels of arsenic have been found in food products such as infant formulas, organic cereal bars and energy shot drinks. These are foods that use organic brown rice syrup (a common substitute for high fructose corn syrup) as a sweetener and main ingredient. The impact of such concentrated levels of arsenic might cause more damage to babies than scientists realize.
  • the damage Arsenic has been known to cause cancer, chronic diseases and developmental defects. According to the article, “one of the infant formulas tested contained twice the inorganic arsenic allowed in drinking water … one cereal bar contained 12 times the legal limit for drinking water.” Research has been done for arsenic levels in drinking water, but little is known about levels found in food. source

16 Feb 2012 19:05

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Politics: Is Sarah Palin a master of girl-who-cried-wolfing presidential elections?

  • I cannot predict what will happen in the future, but I know that I have got the fire in my belly to try to help, to try to make a difference and if that involves running for public office at some point in the future, I’m game for that.
  • Fox News analyst Sarah Palin • Continuing her long-running game of chicken with the idea of a future run for public office. Palin did not fully deny that she would jump into the presidential race if necessary. Sarah Palin may not be running for president, but she’s not entirely opposed to the idea either. In an interview Wednesday, she noted that she would “do whatever I could to help” in case the Republican party does not have a clear frontrunner by this summer.  source

14 Feb 2012 20:18

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U.S.: Researchers gradually deprive children of sleep over a century

  • 70 minutes of sleep taken away from children over 100 years source
  • » Between 1897 and 2009, 32 separate sets of sleeping guidelines for kids gradually suggested that children get less and less sleep — at a rate of about 0.71 fewer minutes each year. Despite this, parents over the year managed to fail at these declining expectations, with children getting on average of 37 fewer minutes of sleep each year. Why’s that? Depends on the era — at the turn of the 20th century, it was artificial light, radio and cinema; in the ’90s, it was video games, cell phones and the Internet. Let’s update these standards slightly: We blame Twitter and the iPad.

10 Feb 2012 10:31

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U.S.: *ALARM* MASSIVE POWERBALL JACKPOT THIS WEEKEND

  • $310million Powerball jackpot in play this weekend source
  • » Trying to win it? Your odds are 1 in 175,223,510. (We like your odds, though.) This is the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot ever; the largest went for $365 million in 2006. 44 states take part in Powerball, and most of them chill with its brother from another mother, Mega Millions, too.

10 Feb 2012 09:40

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Tech: Three rumors currently circulating Apple’s third-generation iPad

  • release The next version of the iPad is expected to be released in March; the iPad 2 was released around roughly the same time last year.
  • features The device is expected to have a screen similar to the iPhone 4’s “Retina Display,” along with better cameras and a memory boost.
  • speed The device would be 4G LTE capable and have a quad-core processor, making it much faster than the iPad 2 in more ways than one. source
 

10 Feb 2012 08:04

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World: Start clutching your handkerchiefs; Prince Harry is returning to battle.

  • Killing insurgents is what the machine Prince Harry flies is there for; you cannot put it any other way.
  • A British defense source • Regarding Prince Harry’s return to combat. Prince Harry is returning to duty with the Royal Air Force shortly. No one is sure when his four-month tour begins, but he’ll be working with the unit with the highest “kill rate” while it was in Afghanistan. source

07 Feb 2012 10:20

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Politics: Biden pitches affordable education plan to Florida college students

  • The single most significant thing we can do is have the best educated population in the world. It literally is the thing, the key that leads to everything else from our economic security to our physical security.
  • Vice President Joe Biden • Speaking at Florida State University about America’s education. Biden said in his speech that he wants to make education in America more affordable, citing his own experience with higher education, in which his father was initially denied for a loan. Biden ended up going anyway, eventually getting a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware, a law degree from Syracuse and a spot in the White House.  Biden says the Obama administration won’t waver from its goal of providing better education, while at the same time making it more affordable for more parts of society. Biden’s a bit up against it, though: His visit to Florida comes as the state legislature plans to vote on statewide tuition hikes. source

07 Feb 2012 01:35

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U.S.: Earthquake drills: Millions remember New Madrid by hiding under desks

  • 2.2 million people in eight states to participate in a “ShakeOut” source
  • » Get ready Tuesday morning: In honor of Missouri’s earthquake awareness month and timed in honor of the New Madrid Earthquake, millions will take part in a giant earthquake drill that starts at 10:15 CST. Will you take part? You never know when another earthquake might hit.