Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, which means that winter is on the horizon. Thanks to El Niño, the National Weather Service is predicting a warmer-than-average winter across much of the western and central US, but a cooler-than-average winter across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Guidelines Push Back AgeFor Cervical Cancer Tests
New guidelines for cervical cancer screening say women should delay their first Pap test until age 21, and be screened less often than recommended in the past.
U.S. Takes A New Look At Terrorism Air Defenses
The commander of military forces protecting North America has ordered a review of the costly air defenses intended to prevent another Sept. 11-style terrorism attack, an assessment aimed at determining whether the commitment of jet fighters, other aircraft and crews remains justified.
Air Traffic System Fails, Causing Delays in Flight in Eastern U.S.
Flights over much of the eastern United States were delayed Thursday by a predawn failure in a fairly new communications system, which led to the shutdown of a computer that accepts flight plans from the airlines and feeds them to air traffic controllers.
Senate Bill Covers Fewer Than House Version, Costs Less
The Senate version of health reform legislation would cover 5 million fewer people than a companion bill passed by the House, but it would cost less, in part because Senate Democratic leaders said they believed they had to win support from fiscally conservative members of their party.
Shorts (right)
First the reviled Yankees won the World Series; now Shake Shack, the New York burger joint, might stake a claim in one of Boston’s most sacred spaces.
Shorts (left)
Emily Keller, a Watervliet, N.Y., high school senior, has read the four “Twilight” books 28 times.
A Medical Culture Clash of Science and Practice
This week, the science of medicine bumped up against the foundations of American medical consumerism: that more is better, that saving a life is worth any sacrifice, that health care is a birthright.
Rise to the Occlusion
Today’s weather will be influenced by the passage of an occluded front, as the center of a low pressure system passes to our north. An occluded front is formed in a mature cyclone (low pressure system) when the cold front associated with the system overtakes the warm front, causing the two fronts to merge. Unlike a cold or warm front, an occluded front usually does not result in a large temperature difference at the surface upon its passage, since there is relatively cold air on either side of it. However, there is often a pocket of warm air pushed aloft in association with the occluded front, which can lead to precipitation along the frontal boundary.
A U.S. Visa, Shouts of Corruption, and Barrels of Oil
Several times every year, Teodoro Nguema Obiang arrives at the doorstep of the United States from his home in Equatorial Guinea, on his way to his $35 million estate in Malibu, Calif., his fleet of luxury cars, his speedboats and private jet. And he is always let into the country.
Shorts (left)
During the best of the times, Miguel Salcedo’s son, an illegal immigrant in San Diego, would be sending home hundreds of dollars a month to support his struggling family in Mexico. But at times like these, with the American economy out of whack and his son out of work, Salcedo finds himself doing what he never imagined he would have to do: wiring pesos north.
GM Shows Signs of Recovery Despite Quarterly Loss
General Motors, whose very survival was in doubt earlier this year, is showing signs of life after its brief tour through bankruptcy this summer.
When the Budget Director Talks, People Will Listen
Most people have never heard of Douglas W. Elmendorf. But all of official Washington is waiting to hear what he has to say.
U.N. Inspectors Fear Iran Is Hiding Nuclear Plants
On Monday, International inspectors who gained access to Iran’s newly revealed underground nuclear enrichment plant voiced strong suspicions in a report, saying that the country was concealing other atomic facilities.
Shorts (right)
The number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million, the highest since the government began tracking what it calls “food insecurity” 14 years ago, the Department of Agriculture reported Monday.
Sun, Sun, Sun
High pressure builds into the area today, providing light winds and a sunny sky and letting meteorologists let down their guard for a few days. Light winds and a lack of clouds is a win-win combination for winter cold at night, since these are the circumstances that allow the ground to radiate heat efficiently to space once the sun goes down.
Obama Takes Part in a Town Hall, Chinese Style
The event was called a town hall, but President Barack Obama’s meeting with a group of about 500 students in this Chinese city on Monday had little in common with the sometimes raucous exchanges that have become a fixture of American politics.
In Remote Afghan Area, A Model Development Program
A plan for grass-roots aid using small sums of money and village councils has nurtured modest but important changes in this corner of Afghanistan, raising hopes that it could become a model in a country where official corruption and a Taliban insurgency have frustrated many large-scale development efforts.
Housing Agency Tightens Rules as Reserves Dwindle
The Federal Housing Administration, the government agency whose loan-insurance programs have become a crucial source of support for the housing market, said Thursday that its cash reserves had dwindled significantly in the last year as more borrowers defaulted on their mortgages.
Shorts (left)
Many Americans do not think twice about taking medicines to prevent heart disease and stroke. But cancer is different. Much of what Americans do in the name of warding off cancer has not been shown to matter, and some things are actually harmful. Yet the few medicines proved to deter cancer are widely ignored.