If Obama wins, will he finally tell us his second-term agenda?

By Walter ShapiroLIMA, Ohio—Speaking at a rally here last Friday afternoon, Barack Obama stressed his old-shoe familiarity: “After four years as president, you know me.” That’s a standard stump speech line, but the more than 3,000 Democrats in local high-school gym burst into cheers, brimming with confidence that they knew the Real Obama. But does anyone outside his family and the inner sanctum of...

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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces...

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Apple sells 3 million iPads over first weekend

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Experimental Pfizer cholesterol drug promising in study

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An experimental Pfizer Inc cholesterol drug showed promise in a small midstage trial, putting the world’s largest drugmaker in the race to develop a medicine from a promising new class, albeit behind similar programs by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Amgen Inc.The drug, RN316, which Pfizer acquired with its purchase of Rinat...

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Everything you wanted to know about voting machines

Ever since punch-card voting machines produced the "hanging chads" that led to the Florida recount in the 2000 election, Americans have been looking for new and more reliable technology to use on Election Day.One result: The Help America Vote Act of 2002, which authorized $3.9 billion in federal funds for trading in punch-card and lever systems with either e-voting or optical scan systems. The act...

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Newspaper discloses new Cameron text messages

LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker says he’s asked the country’s media ethics inquiry to consider newly disclosed text messages sent between Prime Minister David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, the ex-chief executive of Rupert Murdoch‘s British newspaper division.The Mail on Sunday newspaper on Sunday published two previously undisclosed messages exchanged between...

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Google's Android software in 3 out of 4 smartphones

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Robbie Williams returns to top spot on UK pop charts

LONDON (Reuters) – Robbie Williams‘ new single “Candy” shot straight to number one in Britain’s pop charts on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said, dislodging Labrinth and Emeli Sande‘s “Beneath Your Beautiful” from the top spot.Scottish producer and singer Calvin Harris entered the album charts at number one with “18 Months”, his second top-selling...

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Turkish ex-president’s autopsy fuels poisoning speculation

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An autopsy on late President Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and whose body was exhumed last month, will reveal he was poisoned, his son believes, calling for a full investigation of the “dark years” two decades ago when he died.Ahmet Ozal was speaking after a newspaper report said high levels of poison...

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Florida's I-4 corridor: The mother road of swing voters

By Bob Sacha and Maisie CrowInterstate 4 bisects the center of America's most notorious swing state, running 132 miles from Tampa, through Orlando and ending near Daytona Beach. Fifty-five percent of Florida voters live in the I-4 corridor. It is often where elections are decided in a state that has frequently switched sides, voting for Republicans seven times and Democrats three times in the past...

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