Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Terror In Detroit Update (CNN)
A Nigerian man is “talking a lot” to the FBI, said a senior U.S. official, after what the United States believes was an attempted terrorist attack on an inbound international flight.
The initial impression is that the suspect was acting alone and did not have any formal connections to organized terrorist groups, said the official, who [...]
Saving Money, Pinching Pennies – Teenagers Get It (New York Times)
After a year of observing their parents pinch pennies and fret about the economy, the nation’s teenagers may be coming to grips with reality.
Sales are down sharply in recent months at nearly every major retail chain catering to teenagers, and interviews with teenagers suggest that the reasons go beyond their own difficulty finding part-time jobs.
“I [...]
Failed U.S. Terror Attack On U.S. Plane – Potential Links To al-Qaida (Yahoo! News)
A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida’s instructions, set off an explosive device Friday in a failed terrorist attack on the plane as it was landing in Detroit, federal officials said.
Flight 253 with 278 passengers aboard was 20 minutes from the airport when it sounded like a firecracker had [...]
David Sirota/Opinion: Today’s Big Winners In the Health Care Bill Passage, The Insurance Companies (USA Today)
The Senate health care bill betrays the promise of fundamental “change” Democrats made during the 2008 election. It cloaks a handout to the health industry in the veneer of “reform.”
Though it includes some positive subsidies and regulatory tweaks, the bill creates few mechanisms to halt premium increases, bust insurance monopolies and end price discrimination — [...]
McCain Emerges As Front Man In GOP Efforts To Claim Reform Mantle (The Huffington Post)
The way Democrats secured the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster of health care legislation has exposed them to accusations that they have abandoned the “reformist” platform that swept them into office.
No cameras were allowed in the room where the final bill was written. And legislative sweeteners were added to the product to [...]
Senate Approves Landmark Health-Care Bill (The Washington Post)
The Senate passed a landmark health-care bill Thursday morning that would provide coverage to more 30 million people and begin a far-reaching overhaul of Medicare and the private insurance market.
Vice President Biden presided over the 60-39, party line vote.
Thursday’s vote — which came on the first Senate session on Dec. 24 in more than five [...]
Raising I.Q. in Toddlers With Autism (The New York Times)
A new intensive program for very young children with autism has produced impressive results, leading to substantial gains in I.Q. and in listening skills after two years of therapy.
The program, called the Early Start Denver Model, or E.S.D.M., was part of a two-year study of 48 children as young as 18 months old. Half the [...]
Health Care Bulletin: The President Makes A Dubious Claim About His Campaign Promises (Slate.com)
In an interview with the Washington Post that hit the Internet Tuesday afternoon, President Obama sought to defend himself from the criticism he’s faced from the left over the way the healthcare reform debate has ended up. While doing so, though, he may have only succeeded in further alienating and angering liberals.
“Nowhere has there been [...]
Medical Charts: The Senate vs. The House on Health Care Reform (Yahoo!)
Early Christmas Eve morning, Senators are due to vote aye or nay on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as their vision of how to reform health care in America.
The House wrangled its version last month. While President Obama says the two proposals are 95% “identical,” that 5% difference has spurred some [...]
How Restaurants Menus Use Psychology To Entice You (New York Times)
CHICKEN liver is what the restaurateur Danny Meyer calls a torpedo.
Left to its own devices, it may be unappetizing and unpopular, but when paired with what he calls an enhancer — applewood smoked bacon in the case of the chicken liver on the menu at Tabla, Mr. Meyer’s Indian fusion restaurant in the Flatiron District [...]
