Business
2:29 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Disabled Workers' Victory Exposes Risks To Most Vulnerable

Credit John Schultz/Quad-City Times / ZUMAPRESS.com
For decades, Hill County Farms, also known as Henry's Turkey Service, housed a group of mentally disabled men in squalor in this former schoolhouse in Atalissa, Iowa. The EEOC won a judgment against the company for exploiting the men.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 11:35 am

Four years ago, 21 men with intellectual disabilities were emancipated from a bright blue, century-old schoolhouse in Atalissa, Iowa. They ranged in age from their 40s to their 60s, and for most of their adult lives they had worked for next to nothing and lived in dangerously unsanitary conditions.

Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission won a massive judgment against the turkey-processing company at which the men worked. The civil suit involved severe physical and emotional abuse of men with intellectual disabilities.

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Parallels
2:25 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Underground Tunnels Feed Gaza's Hankering For KFC

Credit Wissam Nassar / Xinhua /Landov
KFC is delivered in one of the many underground smuggling tunnels connecting Egypt to the Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 4:09 pm

Hundreds of underground passageways wind like a maze beneath the Egypt-Gaza border, providing a way for Gazans to maneuver around the 2007 Israeli-led economic blockade that took effect after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.

And while subterranean tunnels may seem like something out of a thrilling spy movie, the reality and practicality of these channels is somehow not surprising.

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Shots - Health News
2:14 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

A Small Shock To The System May Help Brain With Math

Credit iStockphoto.com
Ever get stuck on these?

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 8:59 am

Stimulating the brain with a very small electrical current through the forehead could boost a student's ability to learn and remember basic mathematics, a provocative experiment suggests.

The work, published online Thursday by the journal Current Biology, could help those who struggle with mental arithmetic. But the study was small and the long-term effect wasn't profound.

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The Two-Way
1:40 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Pope Francis Denounces 'Cult Of Money'

Credit Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis adjusts his pellegrina during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 3:05 pm

Pope Francis has demanded that financial and political leaders reform the global money system to make it more equitable.

"Money has to serve, not to rule!" the pontiff declared.

As The Associated Press writes:

"It's a message Francis delivered on many occasions when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, and it's one that was frequently stressed by retired Pope Benedict XVI.

"Francis, who has made clear the poor are his priority, made the comments as he greeted his first group of new ambassadors accredited to the Holy See."

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Parallels
1:39 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

From The Heart Of Egypt's Revolt, The Pulse Of Artistic Life

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 6:34 pm

Egypt's capital, Cairo, is now synonymous with protests and sometimes violence. Late at night, the once-bustling downtown streets are largely empty these days. People worry about getting mugged or caught up in a mob.

But the recent Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival is an attempt to revitalize the area with music, art and culture in the old and forgotten venues of downtown Cairo, like the Qasr El Nil Theater.

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The Two-Way
1:34 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

U.S. Airlines Forecast A Sunnier Summer

Credit David McNew / Getty Images
More passengers are expected to fly on U.S. airlines this summer, an industry group said Thursday.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 2:53 pm

After a long bumpy ride that started five years ago, the domestic airline industry seems to be pulling up and smoothing out.

The number of passengers planning to fly this summer will tick up 1 percent from 2012, climbing back to the highest level since 2008, an industry group said Thursday.

The airlines' profit outlook is also brighter, as jet fuel prices have settled down a bit. Passenger complaints are quieting down, too.

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Shots - Health News
1:12 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Swell Of Goodwill For First Medicare Chief Confirmed Since 2004

Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Presenting Marilyn Tavenner, the first official official in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in years.

When the Senate voted Tuesday to make Marilyn Tavenner the official administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, it was the first time the world's greatest deliberative body had approved someone to head the huge health agency since 2004.

That's right, you have to go way back to the Bush administration to find Dr. Mark McClellan, the last person to be officially put in the post.

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All Tech Considered
12:45 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Google's Privacy Shift Powers New Customized Maps

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 9:15 am

This week, Google, already a leader in mapping, created more space between itself and its competitors by more deeply mining the data users provide the company when using its various services.

At the Google developers' conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps, crowed about the company's mapping app for the iPhone — and couldn't quite stop himself from taking a dig at Apple.

"People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and let's not forget, accurate," he said.

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U.S.
11:59 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Managing The $30 Million 'One Fund' To Aid Boston Victims

Days after the marathon bombing, officials established the One Fund for Boston to assist victims and their families. Attorney Ken Feinberg, who managed similar funds after Sept. 11 and Virginia Tech and is managing this fund, says there's no easy way to decide who gets how much of the $30 million that's been donated.

The Two-Way
11:27 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Obama: 'I Certainly Did Not Know' What The IRS Was Doing

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images
Rain fell Thursday during part of President Obama's joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 5:39 pm

Update at 5:38 p.m. ET. One More IRS Official To Leave

Another official is out at the embattled agency.

The Associated Press reports that Joseph Grant, commissioner of the IRS' tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3. The division scrutinized Tea Party groups when the applied for tax-exempt status.

Update at 4:45 p.m. ET. Obama Names New IRS Acting Chief

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