Attorney gives Jena 6 teen counsel, chance at new life

Jesse Ray Beard said he was constantly in trouble, even when he behaved. It took being accused of the racially charged attempted murder of a white classmate in the Deep South to turn his life around. Beard, 18, now interns at a New York law firm as he prepares for his senior year next month at Canterbury School, a Connecticut prep academy where Beard is highly regarded among peers and teachers

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The Obamas and Bo kick back on Martha’s Vineyard

President Obama and his family are hoping for a chance to unwind during their weeklong getaway to Martha’s Vineyard. The first family, along with Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and the first dog Bo, arrived on the Massachusetts island Sunday. The Obamas are staying at a secluded 28-acre private estate.

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Commentary: Sick man of the Middle East

After smiling broadly for the TV cameras and complimenting one another, U.S. President Barack Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak provided little food for thought about what really transpired between them in an Oval Office meeting Tuesday. (CNN) — After smiling broadly for the TV cameras and complimenting one another, U.S.

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Tweeting the World’s Longest Poem, 140 Characters at a Time

It’s the world’s longest poem — over 1.8 million words, containing over one hundred thousand verses and approximately ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined. And now India’s celebrated epic the Mahabharata, the writing of which began around 300 B.

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The CIA Scandals: How Bad a Blow?

The last thing the CIA needs right now is another scandal, let alone two. Allegations that the CIA chief in Algiers drugged and raped two women is going to hurt badly. The accusations that Harold Nicholson, a former CIA operative in federal prison convicted of spying for the KGB, continued his work from behind bars isn’t nearly as serious, but it won’t exactly help the agency’s reputation

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Ridge: Bush officials sought to raise terror alert before ’04 vote

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge says he successfully countered an effort by senior Bush administration officials to raise the nation’s terror alert level in the days before the 2004 presidential vote. “An election-eve drama was being played out at the highest levels of our government” after Osama bin Laden released a pre-election message critical of President George W. Bush, writes Ridge in his new book, “The Test of Our Times.” Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld strongly advocated raising the security threat level to “orange” — even though Ridge believed a threatening message “should not be the sole reason to elevate the threat level.” The former Pennsylvania governor also writes that he saw no reason for the move, which he now calls a bad idea, because additional security precautions had already been taken in advance of the election

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