The Conservation Beat
12:15 pm
Thu January 19, 2012

Sportsmen Mobilizing Under Threat of Land Loss

In a new report, the Wilderness Society describes US public lands as “under siege” by Congress.  A slew of bills would open millions of acres to new roads and development, while curtailing the President’s ability to establish new national monuments.

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The Two-Way
12:15 pm
Thu January 19, 2012

Wait A Minute ... Or Three Years: Leap Second's Fate Put Off

The timekeepers at the International Telecommunication Union's Radiocommunication Assembly, who were supposed to decide this week whether to keep or eliminate the leap second, have decided to take some more time to decide.

Three years, apparently, the BBC reports.

The experts, it says, "were unable to reach a consensus, so moved the matter to a meeting in 2015."

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The Two-Way
11:40 am
Thu January 19, 2012

After Digging Out Snow, Washington Is Hit With Ice Storm

Washington, which over the past few days has gotten an unusual amount of snow, is getting another round of unexpected weather. Here's the Seattle PI's lede this morning:

"First snow, now ice."

And the ice, which coated the roads, trees, and power lines is continuing the havoc that the snow brought.

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The Two-Way
11:05 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Auction Of Audubon Set On Friday Could Mark New Record For Books

A rare four-volume set — John James Audubon's Birds of America — stands a good chance of becoming the most expensive such books ever auctioned on Friday.

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The Two-Way
10:46 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Endoscope Captures First Glimpse Inside Crippled Japanese Reactor

The images are blurred by steam and obscured by radiation. But they are the first look we've gotten inside Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor that was crippled by a tsunami last year.

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Mitt Romney
10:11 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Who Exactly Is 'The Real Romney'?

Originally published on Thu January 19, 2012 11:45 am

In a new biography, two longtime Boston Globe reporters write about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a complicated man who also "loves dichotomies ... strong versus weak, stagnation versus prosperity, leadership versus drift."

On their hunt for The Real Romney, Scott Helman and Michael Kranish traced Romney's life from his childhood in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., to his career at private equity firm Bain Capital, and then to his work in politics — first as the governor of Massachusetts and then as a presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012.

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Music Interviews
10:08 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Kathleen Edwards: A Breakup Song's Bigger Picture

Credit Tanja-Tiziana Burd
Kathleen Edwards' new album is Voyageur.

Kathleen Edwards is a singer-songwriter from Canada who just released her fourth album, Voyageur. There's a lot of heartache and self-doubt on the record, and that makes sense — much of it was written around the time of Edwards' divorce from her husband and musical collaborator. The song "Pink Champagne" would seem to be a case in point: It takes place at a wedding where a young bride is second-guessing her decision. But Edwards says the message of that song isn't quite so literal.

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Shots - Health Blog
10:05 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Stories About High Health Care Costs Win Prizes

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Thu January 19, 2012 10:39 am

If you're bugged by cost problems you find in health care, you can draw attention to them (and blow off a little steam) by writing about them. And if you're really lucky your work might help change things.

Who knows? You might even make a little cash. Essays from four people just won them $1,000 each in the second annual Costs of Care contest.

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The Two-Way
10:05 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Nevermore? Mysterious Visits To Edgar Allan Poe's Grave Declared Over

For decades, until 2010, someone appeared at Edgar Allan Poe's grave site in Baltimore before dawn on Jan. 19 — his birthday.

The mysterious visitor, who was never identified, would leave behind three roses and a half-filled bottle of cognac as a tribute to the man who wrote The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher and other classic poems and tales.

Last night, there was no visit.

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It's All Politics
9:57 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Reports: Gingrich's Ex-Wife Says He Wanted An 'Open Marriage'

Credit MARK WILSON / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his then-wife, Marianne, leave their home on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 1997. At the time, Gingrich was in the midst of an investigation over congressional ethics violations.

If Newt Gingrich got a boost for his prospects in South Carolina on Thursday with rising poll numbers and an endorsement from rival Rick Perry, his second ex-wife, Marianne, seemed to be doing her best to dampen his prospects with an ill-timed interview on ABC's Nightline Thursday night.

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