Iraq’s Bombs of August: A Return to the Bad Old Days?

Iraq dreams of what is called sustainable peace — a qualified condition that allows life to go on with an acceptable level of tumult. And so, with a measure of bravado, the government recently announced the imminent removal of most of the concrete blast walls that separate warring neighborhoods and protect citizens traveling on main and secondary roads. As it tries to put the bad days of Sunni vs

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Reforming Crack-Cocaine Laws, but Leaving Injustice Intact?

In early 2006, a young man named DeJarion Echols stood in a federal courtroom in Waco, Texas, and pleaded for leniency. After police found about 40 grams of crack cocaine, cash and an assault rifle in his bedroom, the promising athlete and father pleaded guilty to crack distribution and gun charges.

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What Insurers Are Trying to Get Out of Health Reform

Insurance companies have always been an effective villain in the health-care reform debate, but this year the industry thought things might be different. Recognizing the growing sentiment for some kind of change and fully aware that universal coverage would help bulk up their rolls as baby boomers age into the Medicare system, private insurers early on declared their support for President Obama’s health reform effort

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HSBC sees pre-tax profits drop by half

Banking group HSBC has seen its pre-tax profits slump by 51 percent for the first six months of 2009, tumbling to $5 billion compared to $10.2 billion for the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, total operating income for the half-year fell six percent to $40.2 billion, from $42.9 billion a year ago.

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Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice: A Magical Mystery Tour

After the vast tundra of his last book, Against the Day, which was a thousand-plus pages, with more than a hundred or so scurrying characters and a shape-shifting plot that went everywhere and nowhere, Thomas Pynchon has decided to give his fan base a break. His seventh novel is practically beach reading. Inherent Vice is a comic-noir detective tale set in Los Angeles around 1970, not long after the Manson murders added their special note to the already twitchy local vibe

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Health-Care Poll: Americans Support Obama’s Reform Goals

Congressional Democrats and a barnstorming President face deep skepticism from the American public about the details of their effort to change the nation’s health-care system, even as enthusiasm for the prospect of reform remains high, according to a new TIME poll. By significant margins, survey respondents said they believe the final health-reform legislation is likely to raise health-care costs in the long run , make everything about health care more complicated and offer less freedom to choose doctors and coverage .

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Prosecutor: Juvenile sexual assault is ‘heartrending’

With four Phoenix, Arizona, boys ages 9 to 14 charged with sexual assault on an 8-year-old girl, a prosecutor vowed Thursday his office will "seek justice for the young victim in this heartrending situation." “This is a deeply disturbing case that has gripped our community,” said Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas. According to Phoenix police, the girl was lured to a storage shed at an apartment complex on July 16.

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