To Forgive Is Divine (Then Comes the Tax Bill)

The people who brought you Occupy Wall Street have come up with an extremely clever idea: raising money to buy random citizens’ overdue debt, and then—poof!—forgive it. One day a debtor is fielding calls from a collection agency; the next day, she’s not.If this vanishing act sounds too good to be true—and it might be, but we’ll get to that—it helps to...

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Clarke’s 218 puts Australia on front foot

BRISBANE (Reuters) – Australia captain Michael Clarke scored a brilliant unbeaten double century to give the hosts a remarkable 37-run first innings lead on the fourth day of the first test against South Africa on Monday.Supported first by a maiden century from opener Ed Cowan in a record stand of 259, and then by Mike Hussey‘s 86 not out, Clarke’s 218...

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Condom conundrum: Porn industry ponders latex law

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The show must go on, is the entertainer’s credo, and it did just that in the nation’s Porn Capital even after Los Angeles County voted to require performers to use condoms when filming sex scenes.One of the industry’s biggest stars, James Deen, reported for work, condom-free as usual, just hours after voters adopted the new law. During...

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Pedometers play up every step you take

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pedometers have ticked off many miles since Leonardo da Vinci sketched his version, essentially a pendulum for walkers, in the 15th century.While step counting will never be a magic fitness pill, experts say this most pedestrian of gadgets can put extra spring in an ambulatory routine. “Just as a...

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Badlands Crude

Photograph by Ben GriemeTex Hall, head of three affiliated tribes, runs an oil empire in the DakotasTex Hall strolls across a parking lot at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota and enters the tribe’s administrative headquarters. Hall, 56, is wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and an ornate silver belt buckle the size of a tortoise shell. He...

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Israel kills Gaza rocket crewman in second day of clashes

GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian militant in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip on Sunday as a surge in cross-border violence entered its second day, local officials said.Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction than Hamas which often operates independently, identified the dead man as one of its own, saying he was a member of a rocket crew...

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Sharp aims for near full-output from display plant – media

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sharp Corp aims to raise the output from its Kameyama No.2 plant to near 100 percent, from a current 30 percent, as early as the end of 2012, by mass producing larger, high definition, power-saving IGZO screens, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday.The Kameyama plant makes IGZO displays, which consume 10 percent to 20 percent of the power...

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Still photos from Hitchcock’s “Mountain Eagle” film up for auction

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A newly discovered collection of still photos from Alfred Hitchcock’s lost silent film “The Mountain Eagle” is going up for auction in Los Angeles next month.On Thursday, auction house Profiles in History said the 59 photos were made for the British thriller director’s personal archive in the 1920s. Thirty-five of the photos come...

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U.S. investigator in Afghan rampage case suggests gunman not alone

TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) – The wife of an Afghan villager killed in a rampage blamed on a decorated U.S. officer told an Army investigator that more than one soldier was present when her husband was shot dead at their home in March, the investigator testified on Saturday.Military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Army Staff Sergeant Robert...

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Right or Wrong, Gallup Always Wins

In the weeks before the 2012 election, Gallup was an outlier among political pollsters. It showed an electorate leaning Romney, when most others showed a dead heat. The discrepancy sparked controversy among poll watchers. By the election’s eve, Gallup fell back in line with the consensus, narrowly underestimating President Barack Obama’s support. But for...

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