Obama: Don't Hold Middle-Class Tax Cuts Hostage

Dec 1, 2012 6:00am AP Photo/Charles DharapakPresident Obama is urging Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it’s “unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.”With the clock ticking toward the so-called “fiscal cliff,” Obama asked...

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Friday Illusion: Mystery mirror reveals missing banana

Joanna Carver, reporter!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->There are no editing tricks involved and it's not CGI. In this video, filmed in one continuous shot, a banana vanishes before your eyes. Of course, the disappearance could be explained by some sleight of hand, but what's even more...

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WP says SMRT must address workers' grievances better

SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party said it is disappointed that it has taken a strike to bring to the forefront the bus drivers' grievances about their pay and living conditions.In a statement issued on Friday evening, the party said the strike signals a failure in the labour dispute settlement process within SMRT.It said while much attention this week has focused on the grievances of the bus...

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Name your own price for a THQ game bundle (PC)

Forget no-name indie games; the Humble THQ Bundle includes some top-rated mainstream titles.(Credit:Humble Bundle)Got plans this weekend? Cancel 'em.The Humble Bundle folks have put together what is arguably the best game bundle ever. It's called the Humble THQ Bundle, and it comes with six top-rated action/strategy games -- plus a seventh if you beat the average purchase price.I'm going to start...

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNLLooking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand...

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2 Towns Hint at Powerball Winners

The $587 million question on the identity of the winners in the historic Powerball jackpot is still a mystery, but residents in Missouri and Maryland say they already know who the two lucky winners are.Employees and customers at Marlboro Village Exxon in Upper Marlboro, Md., said a tall, black, bald man held the winning ticket purchased in Arizona, according to ABC News affiliate...

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Junk radio signals track all space debris in one go

Call it Junk FM. Rogue signals from your radio may help warn about space debris on a dangerous collision course with Earth. Stray FM signals from radios, bouncing back off space junk, could allow astronomers to track the whole population of space debris, suggest preliminary...

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S R Nathan Fellowship set up for foreign dignitaries' training

SINGAPORE: Starting next year, a new high-level fellowship honouring former Singapore President S R Nathan will see foreign officials, such as cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and mayors, coming to Singapore on customised training visits that meet their interests and needs.The S R Nathan Fellowship will be part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), which provides technical assistance...

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AT&T yet again the worst-rated carrier in U.S.

More bad news for AT&T.Consumer Reports has released its annual carrier ratings. And just as it had in the last two years, AT&T landed in last place, far behind the top major carrier in the company's roundup, Verizon Wireless.Verizon Wireless fared somewhat well in the study, earning relatively strong marks on voice and data. The only bright spot in AT&T's review was its 4G LTE network,...

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again. Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite...

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