No job, no insurance — Now what?

On a recent afternoon, Pamela Rinchich quietly recalled how her cancer doctor abruptly canceled an appointment. Rinchich owed $268 from a previous visit: She didn’t have the money and the doctor refused to see her until she paid. “I offered to do whatever I could, even work in the office to cover it,” said Rinchich, with tears in her eyes

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Four arrested in 2 states in assisted-suicide probe

Four people in two states have been arrested as part of an investigation into the Final Exit Network, an organization that police believe helped a Georgia man end his life in June, authorities said Thursday. Black, a 55-year-old former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, isn’t the only person who holds such firm beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which today released its annual hate group report. The center’s report, “The Year in Hate,” found the number of hate groups grew by 54 percent since 2000

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What Do Dreams Mean? Less Than We Think

Most people dream enthusiastically at night, their dreams seemingly occupying hours, even though most last only a few minutes. Most people also read great meaning into their nocturnal visions. In fact, according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the vast majority of people in three very different countries — India, South Korea, and the United States — believe that their dreams reveal meaningful, hidden truths.

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Netanyahu picked to form Israeli government

Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen Friday to form Israel’s next government, Israeli President Shimon Peres’ office said. The decision comes after Avigdor Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party, said he would recommend Netanyahu for the post, but only if he promises to form a “broad-based” coalition government

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Economy puts bite on shark attacks, researcher says

Shark attacks on humans were at the lowest levels in half a decade last year, and a Florida researcher says hard economic times may be to blame. Sharks attacked 59 people in 2008, the lowest number of attacks since 57 in 2003, according to George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, part of the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. There were 71 attacks in 2007

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Is Genius Born or Can It Be Learned?

Is it possible to cultivate genius? Could we somehow structure our educational and social life to produce more Einsteins and Mozarts — or, more urgently these days, another Adam Smith or John Maynard Keynes? How to produce genius is a very old question, one that has occupied philosophers since antiquity

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Australia wildfires slowly being controlled

The wildfires that have roared through southeast Australia for nearly a week were slowly coming under control Friday, as investigators continued the search for who may have set some of the deadly blazes. The Country Fire Authority said the number of fires burning had dropped to 21 from about 35 on Thursday.

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Australia’s PM announces day of mourning

A national day of mourning and a memorial service will honor the victims of the past week’s wildfires in southeastern Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Thursday. “It is important, it is very important that the nation grieves,” Rudd said, according to the Australian Associated Press. The government is working with the Council of Churches on the details of the service.

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