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Opinion
By Holly Dagres, Contributing Editor (World News) Reenactment of Khomeini’s arrival to Iran after exile (Credit: Mehr News Agency) Today marks the thirty-third anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran. With growing tensions arising on both sides of the negotiating table, Iran’s place has rather changed in the past thirty years. Notions of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s concept of a velayat-e faqih or ‘guardianship of the jurisconsult’ have waned, leaving his deteriorating legacy to appear solely in cardboard form. [...]
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Opinion
By Tamer Fouad (Contributor) Several months ago, the Muslim Brotherhood’s English website, IkhwanWeb, published an article I wrote calling for the release of an Egyptian activist, named Maikel Nabil. The imprisoned blogger is not only an ardent defender of Israel’s right to exist but also a self-proclaimed atheist born into Coptic family. The same website then issued a statement by an executive member of the Organization, Dr. Mohamed ElBeltagy, citing Nabil’s right to freedom of expression. Brotherhood sympathizers responded in disbelief. [...]
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Economy Headlines World News
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama levied tough new sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank Monday amid increased tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program and the specter of an Israeli attack on the Islamic republic. In a letter to Congress, Obama said more sanctions were warranted, “particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks.” He said the problems included the hiding of transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies of Iran’s anti-money laundering regime and [...]
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Opinion
By Holly Dagres, Contributing Editor (World News) Protesters by Tahrir Square after Port Said incident (Credit: Reuters) Clashes between protesters and the Egyptian police have recommenced again in Tahrir Square, almost reminiscent to the November 18th clashes: gas masks, vinegar remedies for tear gas, motorbike angels – all in its essence. However this time around, it’s due to an incident at a football match; where the winning team al-Masry’s fans after the match bombarded the field after a match with [...]
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Headlines US News
The National Defense Authorization Act is being called the most traitorous act ever witnessed in the Senate, and the language of the bill is cleverly designed to make you think it doesn’t apply to Americans, but toward the end of the bill it essentially says it can apply to Americans ”if we want it to.” This bill, passed late last night in a 93-7 vote, declares the entire USA to be a ”battleground” upon which U.S. military forces can operate with impunity, [...]
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What the heck
Dearest Dear Sex Advisor, I’ve been friends with a girl for fifteen years and we recently just had sex for the first time. Suddenly she is calling me FIVE times a day and exhibiting clingy behavior. I have no interest in being her boyfriend, but I would like to have sex with her even though she is clearly more interested in me than I am in her. Is it wrong to continue to have sex with her even though I [...]
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Opinion
By Holly Dagres, Contributing Editor and Mayada Soliman By now if you have been keeping up with the ‘Arab Awakening,’ you have probably heard of Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the 20-year-old Egyptian blogger who posted a nude photo of herself. For those of you not familiar with the story, Elmahdy posted the photo as an act of expression against the ‘norm’ found in the traditionally Muslim society in Egypt. She was formerly a student at the American University in Cairo majoring [...]
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US News
PHOENIX – A small airplane with three men and three young children onboard crashed Wednesday evening into mile-high mountains east of Phoenix while going around 200 mph, the Pinal County sheriff said. The body of one child was recovered and “it is not hopeful” there are any survivors because of the nature of the crash and explosion, said Sheriff Paul Babeu. Ten deputies spent the night on the mountain to keep it secure. They and dozens of volunteers were to [...]
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Headlines World News
SANAA, Yemen – President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s agreement to step down failed to end Yemen’s violence Thursday as security forces killed five protesters demanding that the ousted leader be put on trial for past crimes ranging from corruption to bloodshed during the current uprising. Saleh signed the U.S.-backed power-transfer deal, brokered by neighboring countries, Wednesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh. It officially transfers power to his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in exchange for immunity from prosecution. But many [...]
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Headlines World News
LONDON – Actress Sienna Miller told a media ethics inquiry Thursday that she was left paranoid and scared by years of relentless tabloid pursuit that ranged from paparazzi outside her house to the hacking of her mobile phone. Miller said the surveillance, and a stream of personal stories about her in the tabloids, led her to accuse friends and family of leaking information to the media. In fact, her cell phone voice mails had been hacked at Rupert Murdoch’s News [...]
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US News
ATLANTA – Newt Gingrich has charged into the fray over illegal immigration, risking conservative ire just as his Republican presidential campaign – once declared all but dead – has vaulted into front-runner status. The firebrand former House speaker broke with what has become a reflexive Republican hard line on immigration, calling for “humane” treatment for otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, establishing deep family and community ties. Gingrich suggested they should be provided [...]
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US News
SAN FRANCISCO – Los Angeles and San Francisco are seeking long-term solutions to the entrenched encampments by anti-Wall Street protesters, hoping to end the drain on resources and the frayed nerves among police and politicians. Officials in both cities have considered providing protesters with indoor space that would allow the movement to carry out its work in more sanitary, less public facilities. Occupiers are debating among themselves about whether to hold their ground or try to take advantage of possible [...]
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Headlines World News
STRASBOURG, France – President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to temper his calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in solving Europe’s debt crisis as he agreed to a German effort to change EU treaties to improve the governance of the troubled eurozone. Speaking after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Mario Monti on Thursday, Sarkozy said “propositions for the modification of treaties” would be presented in the coming days. He wouldn’t elaborate on what [...]
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Headlines World News
CAIRO – Egypt’s military rulers said Thursday that parliamentary elections starting next week will he held on schedule despite spreading unrest. The military also rejected protesters’ demands that it im mediately step down, saying that doing so would amount to a “betrayal” of the people’s trust and arguing that the military took over from ousted president Hosni Mubarak by popular demand. “Let me just say this: There will be no postponement in the election,” said Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, one [...]
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US News
NEW YORK – A festive mood prevails as the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade makes its way through the crowded streets of Manhattan. The parade stepped off beneath brilliant sunshine Thursday morning. The celebration includes two big balloons making their inaugural appearances: a jetpack-wearing monkey and a freakish creation from filmmaker Tim Burton. In all, the parade features more than 40 balloon creations, 27 floats, 800 clowns and 1,600 cheerleaders. Stars on hand include Mary J. Blige, Cee Lo Green, [...]
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Headlines World News
CAIRO – Egyptian officials say a court has ordered the release of three American students arrested this week during the unrest in Cairo. An Egyptian official said Thursday the three who attend the American University in Cairo were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square where they were allegedly throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. The three, arrested Sunday, are Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student, Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana [...]
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Opinion
Picking up where they left off in 2008, the media is in the midst of a campaign to ignore and undermine the presidential candidacy of Ron Paul (they gave me even rougher treatment during my 2010 Senate run). Political pundits just do not know what to do with a candidate who fails to fit into the blue and red boxes that form the simple narrative of American politics. They are perturbed by the grass roots nature of the campaign, by the [...]
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Opinion
This week, world attention finally shifted away from debt problems in Europe to the unresolved and worsening debt crisis here in the United States. The Congressional Super Committee, which had been created over the summer to postpone making tough cuts, chose to avoid responsibility itself. In so doing, the Committee has followed the path of least resistance and maximum irresponsibility. Given the likely after-effects, the outcome should be judged as criminal dereliction of duty. It should now be crystal clear [...]
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US News
SALEM, Ore. – Haunted by regret for allowing two men to be executed more than a decade ago, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber now says it’ll never happen again on his watch. Calling Oregon’s death penalty scheme “compromised and inequitable,” the Democratic governor said Tuesday he’ll issue a reprieve to a twice-convicted murderer who was scheduled to die by lethal injection in two weeks. He said he’d do the same for any other condemned inmates facing execution during his tenure in [...]
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Headlines World News
SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to sign a U.S.-backed power transfer deal mediated by Gulf Arab states to resolve the impoverished country’s crisis, Yemen’s state television reported. Saleh has repeatedly promised to sign the Gulf-brokered agreement, only to change his mind every time. Under the deal, Saleh would step down and transfer power to the vice president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The TV said Saleh arrived in the Saudi [...]
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US News
NEW YORK – During the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services, according to a survey by The Associated Press. The heaviest financial burden has fallen upon law enforcement agencies tasked with monitoring marches and evicting protesters from outdoor camps. And the steepest costs by far piled up in New York City and Oakland, [...]
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US News
CHICAGO – Whether on the highway or at home, Americans will pay more to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. But higher gas prices and costlier airfare are not stopping millions of people from traveling for the holiday. About 42.5 million people are expected to drive, fly or ride trains to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to travel tracker AAA. That’s the highest number since the start of the recession. Ninety percent of them will drive. It won’t be cheap. Drivers will pay [...]
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Headlines World News
WASHINGTON – The departure of Pakistan’s man in Washington, Ambassador Husain Haqqani, leaves U.S.-Pakistani relations temporarily adrift, with few trusted go-betweens after months of bruising political sparring that followed the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Haqqani resigned Tuesday over what has become known as “memo-gate” – allegations that he sought U.S. help to head off a possible Pakistani military coup after the bin Laden operation. Former information minister Sherry Rehman, an important player in President Asif Zardari’s [...]
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Headlines World News
Seoul, South Korea – Seven crew members from a South Korean cargo ship remained missing Tuesday after the boat sank Monday in the South China Sea, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. Fourteen people have been rescued, according to the ministry. The ship was headed from Penang, Malaysia, to China and disappeared after sending out an emergency signal Monday afternoon. While six South Koreans and eight crew members from Myanmar were rescued by nearby vessels, seven seamen are still missing. [...]
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Headlines World News
Pakistan’s prime minister asked his country’s ambassador to the United States to resign amid a probe into a secret offer to Washington by Pakistan’s president to cut down the powers of the country’s military leadership. Ambassador Husain Haqqani’s resignation is necessary “so that the investigation can be carried out properly,” a statement from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said Tuesday. “All concerned would be afforded sufficient and fair opportunity to present their views and the investigation shall be carried out [...]
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Headlines World News
Russia called new sanctions against Iran “unacceptable,” saying the new punishments would hurt efforts to talk with Tehran. The Russian Foreign Ministry posted a statement Tuesday, a day after the United States announced tougher sanctions against Iran — joining Britain and Canada in a coordinated effort to tighten the screws around the country’s suspected nuclear weapons program. “Russia sees such extraterritorial measures as unacceptable and against international law,” the statement says. “Such a practice seriously obstructs advancement toward a constructive [...]
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Economy
Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether. On this the fourth Thanksgiving since the economy sank, prices for everything from airline flights to groceries are going up, and some Americans are scaling back. Yet in many households, the occasion is too important to skimp on. Said one mother: “I don’t have much to give, but I’ll be cooking, and the [...]
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US News
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A former Penn State official charged with enforcing discipline at the school said Tuesday that Joe Paterno’s players got in trouble more often than other students, and got special treatment compared to non-athletes. Vicky Triponey, who resigned her post as the university’s standards and conduct officer in 2007, confirmed that she sent a 2005 email to then-president Graham Spanier and others in which she expressed her concerns about how Penn State handled discipline cases involving football players. [...]
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Economy
MANCHESTER, N.H. – President Barack Obama dashed into politically important New Hampshire Tuesday, seeking to steal the spotlight from Republican presidential candidates and challenging GOP lawmakers back in Washington to stand by their anti-tax pledges on one big measure. He was greeted with a blunt message from Republican contender Mitt Romney, who bought campaign ads telling Obama, “Your policies have failed.” In his first trip to New Hampshire in nearly two years, the president was confronted by a state that [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – Michele Bachmann did not intend to be taken literally when she told the Republican presidential debate Tuesday that civil-liberties activists have taken over the interrogation of terrorists from the CIA. But even as a rhetorical point, it didn’t hold water. Her hyperbole on the American Civil Liberties Union was one of the more notable stretches in the national security and foreign policy debate. A look at some of the claims and how they compare with the facts: — [...]
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Economy
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopefuls warned in near unanimity against deep cuts in the nation’s defense budget Tuesday night, assailing President Barack Obama in campaign debate but disagreeing over the extent of reductions the Pentagon should absorb to reduce deficits and repair the frail U.S. economy. The debate ranged widely, from Iran’s threat to develop a nuclear weapon to the anti-terror Patriot Act, the war in Afghanistan, U.S-Pakistan relations and illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. across the Mexican [...]
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Opinion
With investors now emerging from a state of panic after the harrowing losses of late July and August, stock markets are now rising and gold is finally falling after a record run that pushed its price north of $1,900 per ounce. The buoyant mood is largely undergirded by the hope that on this Friday, August 26th, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will announce another round of stimulus to stop the U.S. economy from slipping back into another recession. In contrast to [...]
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Opinion
This morning many on Wall Street were stunned by the big fat zero put up by the August jobs report, the worst showing in 11 months. The data convinced many previously optimistic economists that the United States will slip back into recession. I believe that we have been in one giant recession all along that was only temporarily interrupted by trillions of useless and destructive deficit and stimulus spending. Unfortunately, the August numbers will increase the talk of government efforts [...]
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US News
An armed, active-duty Air Force member surrendered late Monday night after barricading himself inside a building on a Colorado air base, where he engaged in an hours-long standoff with authorities. The unidentified 21-year-old airman gave up peacefully after hours of negotiations at about 8 p.m. and was being detained, base officials said. “We are grateful for all our first responders in their professionalism that was critical to the peaceful resolution of this situation,” said Col. James P. Ross, 50th Space [...]
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Headlines World News
Sanaa, Yemen – An oil refinery in Yemen has stopped operation due to lack of raw materials, according to officials at the refinery. Senior officials at the Aden Oil refinery in Aden told The Professional Express on Sunday that the last day of production was Thursday, following an attack in Marib province on one of the country’s main oil pipelines. The attack on a pipeline was the fifth in less than three months. The official warned that the refinery’s stopping [...]
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Headlines World News
Madrid, Spain – Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy is poised to become the next prime minister of economically embattled Spain, with his ascension assured after the ruling Socialist Party’s candidate conceded Sunday’s national election. Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba made the concession before a somber audience of Socialist Party supporters — a stark contrast to the raucous, celebratory crowd gathered outside the Popular Party headquarters in Madrid. Less than 30 minutes later, Rajoy offered “a message of confidence” and vowing to push [...]
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Headlines World News
Cairo – Fresh violence broke out in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square early Tuesday, hours after Egypt’s Cabinet submitted its resignation to the nation’s military-led government. Multiple people suffered injuries in intense early morning clashes, according to The Professional Express staff on site. Ambulances could be seen on video rushing in and out of the square, which served as the hub for the movement that led to the ouster nine months ago of long-time President Hosni Mubarak and is now [...]
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Headlines World News
Hundreds of Cambodians packed a courtroom in Phnom Penh on Monday as three top Khmer Rouge leaders went on trial for their role during the bloody four-year regime in the mid-1970s. The U.N.-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has scheduled four days of opening statements for the defendants, who are all in their 80s. On trial are Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister; Khieu Samphon, the nominal head of state; and Nuon Chea, the prime minister, [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama turned the White House into a country music hall on Monday, inviting an array of country stars for a concert that gave voice “to the emotions of everyday life.” Cowboy hats and bolo ties mixed with the majestic chandeliers of the East Room for a toe-tapping series of performances by Dierks Bentley, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, Darius Rucker, James Taylor, The Band Perry, Lauren Alaina and Micky. “Tonight, we are turning the East [...]
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US News
PHILADELPHIA – As a dyed-in-the-wool Penn State alumnus, Jeff Jubelirer watched helplessly as his beloved alma mater became engulfed in an explosive child sex-abuse scandal this month. As a crisis communications specialist, he cringed. Jubelirer, based in Philadelphia, described the university’s initial response to the allegations involving retired assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky as disastrous – “like an ostrich who hides its head.” Still, he and other experts say Penn State’s shattered reputation can be repaired. And perhaps the biggest [...]
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Headlines World News
KY SON Vietnam – This is where Vietnam’s rising middle class is dying to flaunt its bling: a new cemetery at the end of a golden-gated “Highway to Eternity” where relatives can order graveside offerings of Hennessy online. The Lac Hong Vien Cemetery is bringing in tomb shoppers by the busload through its Las Vegas-style marquee to choose from XL, state-of-the-art resting places for themselves and their dearly departed. Some 120,000 graves are scheduled to be built on terraced hillsides [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – Targeting Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, President Barack Obama is in New Hampshire, a political battleground, to begin a year-end push to extend payroll tax cuts. During a speech Tuesday at a Manchester high school, the president was to argue that a failure to extend the tax breaks would hurt middle-class families already struggling amid a shaky economy, effectively daring congressional Republicans to block a measure and thus increase taxes. “If we don’t act, [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – A long-running war between Democrats and Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts doomed the debt supercommittee’s chances of reaching a deal. Efforts to overhaul the tax code may await the same fate as both parties gear up to make taxes a central issue in 2012 elections. Republicans insisted during the supercommittee negotiations that curbing tax breaks to raise revenues be coupled with guarantees that all the Bush tax cuts would continue beyond 2012. The tax cuts, which affect families [...]
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Headlines World News
CAIRO – Egypt’s civilian Cabinet offered to resign Monday after three days of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Tahrir Square, but the action failed to satisfy protesters deeply frustrated with the new military rulers. The Health Ministry and a doctor at an improvised field hospital on the square said at least 26 people have been killed and 1,750 wounded in the latest violence as activists sought to fill the streets for a “second revolution” to force out [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – Don’t look for the Pentagon to shut down one side of its famous five-sided building. Don’t expect the Education Department to pull back its grants just yet. With the collapse of the deficit-cutting supercommittee, Congress’ emergency backup budget-cutting plan now is supposed to take over – automatic, across-the-board spending reductions of roughly $1 trillion from military as well as domestic government programs. But the big federal deficit reductions that are to be triggered by Monday’s supercommittee collapse wouldn’t [...]
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US News
WASHINGTON – Congress’ supercommittee conceded ignominious defeat Monday in its quest to conquer a government debt that stands at a staggering $15 trillion, unable to overcome deep and enduring political divisions over taxes and spending. Stock prices plummeted at home and across debt-scarred Europe as the panel ended its brief, secretive existence without an agreement. Republicans and Democrats alike pointed fingers of blame, maneuvering for political advantage in advance of 2012 elections less than a year away. The impasse underscored [...]
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Opinion
Although it was labeled and hyped as a “jobs plan,” the new $447 billion initiative announced last night by President Obama is merely another government stimulus program in disguise. But semantics are of supreme importance in American politics…some could argue that word choice is the only thing that matters. As a result, despite the fact that this plan bears no substantive difference from previous stimulus bills, the President never once mentioned the word “stimulus” in his hour-long speech. But a [...]
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Opinion
Tonight, the NFL season will begin. One of the best aspects of this national spectacle is the fierce competition of evenly matched teams, any one of which can beat, on “any given Sunday,” any of the league’s best teams. While Americans admire league parity in football, they have come to despise the tiered structure that the government has created in the financial services arena. Many Americans blame Big Finance for the recession, and as a result, many have expressed outrage [...]
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Headlines World News
LONDON – Actor Hugh Grant said Monday that he believes his phone was hacked by Britain’s Mail on Sunday tabloid – the first time he has implicated a newspaper not owned by Rupert Murdoch in the wrongdoing. Grant told an inquiry into media ethics that a 2007 story about his romantic life could only have been obtained through eavesdropping on his voice mails. He said he could not think of any other way the newspaper could have obtained the story [...]
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US News
SAN FRANCISCO – The president of the University of California system said he was “appalled” at images of protesters being doused with pepper spray and plans an assessment of law enforcement procedures on all 10 campuses, as two police officers and the police chief were placed on administrative leave. “Free speech is part of the DNA of this university, and non-violent protest has long been central to our history,” UC President Mark G. Yudof said in a statement Sunday in [...]
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The Professional Express is a weekly newspaper published in downtown Los Angeles. read more
