In the Waterfront: The U.S. Prison for Iraq’s Worst Prisoners Prepares to Close

A distinct vibe emanates from behind the 15-ft.-high chain fences reinforced with rebar and rimmed by razor wire that encircle the so-called “Waterfront” compound at Camp Bucca. It’s different from the other compounds in this sprawling 100-acre, open-air U.S detention center close to the Kuwaiti border, the largest in Iraq, which houses a little over 10,000 of the 13,832 detainees currently in U.S custody

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Cheney says Obama’s policies ‘raise the risk’ of U.S. terror attack

The Obama administration has endangered Americans and opened the country to further attack by reversing Bush administration anti-terrorism policies such as harsh interrogations of suspects, former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday. Cheney told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Bush administration’s “alternative” interrogation techniques were “absolutely essential” to preventing further assaults like the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Critics said those techniques amounted to the torture of prisoners in American custody.

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Eating a Bit Less Salt Can Be a Big Health Boon

Over the years, Americans have become inured to salt. Most people have no idea how much salt they consume — on average, about 9 to 12 g per person per day, according to the American Heart Association . That’s twice the amount recommended by the government

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The Trouble with Obama’s New Deal

President Barack Obama faces a daunting political reality: the world he envisioned in the spring and summer of 2008, when he was formulating his political strategy and building his political alliances, has been replaced by a world in economic danger. His $3.5 trillion budget might make sense if these were normal times, with a newly elected, very liberal Administration wanting to focus on reshaping America and redistributing wealth. However, these are not normal times

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Obama’s honeymoon with Americans still going strong

President Obama is halfway through his first 100 days in office and he’s still enjoying a honeymoon with the American public, according to an average of recent polls. Obama’s job approval rating stands at 61 percent in a new CNN poll of polls, which averaged seven national surveys conducted over the past two weeks

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Credit Problems Are Climbing the Income Scale

For years, the typical caller at CareOne Credit, one of the biggest debt counseling outfits in the nation, has been a woman in her 30s with a family income of $30,000 to $35,000 and a credit score around 550 . In the past two months, though, the people at CareOne have noticed a shift. It’s still women who usually get stuck making the call, and the age range isn’t dramatically different

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Why Some Brits Don’t Want a Sir Ted Kennedy

If Gordon Brown expected props back home for being the first European leader to enjoy President Obama’s hospitality at the White House and only the fifth British Prime Minister ever to address Congress, he might have reconsidered the fourth paragraph of that speech. Like a nervous entertainer at a particularly rowdy children’s party, Brown pulled his rabbit out of the hat almost at the start of his act. Her Majesty — Britain’s Queen — had bestowed an honorary knighthood on “Sir Edward Kennedy,” he announced

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Cancer and Insurance: Who Do You Call?

For families affected by cancer, the phone number is easy to remember: 1-800-ACS-2345. The letters stand for the American Cancer Society, and dialing the number takes you to the ACS’s National Cancer Information Center in Austin, Texas. The call center fields about a million calls a year, offering answers questions both simple and complex, from “Where can I get help with transportation when I can’t drive to chemo appointments?” to “How do I find insurance if my illness forces me to quit my job?” Half the calls coming into the center deal with paying for treatment, either because lifetime limits on policies are quickly reached — cancer is one of the five most costly medical conditions in the U.S., according to the ACS — or because the patient is struggling to maintain coverage in the face of rising premiums and accumulating co-pay costs.

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