Mortgage rates level off near record low, Freddie Mac says

Freddie Mac's corporate offices in McLean, Va. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais...

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Poll says 6 in 10 Americans back tax hike on income over $250,000

WASHINGTON -- Six in 10 Americans support a tax increase on annual income of more than $250,000, according to a nationwide poll...

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Seattle police plan for helicopter drones hits severe turbulence

SEATTLE (Reuters) – One of the latest crime-fighting gadgets to emerge on the wish lists of U.S. law enforcement agencies – drone aircraft – has run into heavy turbulence in Seattle over a plan by police to send miniature robot helicopters buzzing over the city.A recent push for unmanned police aircraft in several cities is being driven largely by grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,...

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In elf ears and wizard hats, 'Hobbit' fans rejoice

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Wearing elf ears and wizard hats, sitting atop their dad's shoulders or peering from balconies, tens of thousands of New Zealanders watched their favorite "Hobbit" actors walk the red carpet Wednesday at the film trilogy's hometown premiere.An Air New Zealand plane freshly painted with "Hobbit" characters flew low over Wellington's Embassy Theatre, eliciting roars of...

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The New Old Age Blog: Doctor's Orders? Another Test

It is no longer news that Americans, and older Americans in particular, get more routine screening tests than they need, more than are useful. Prostate tests for men over 75, annual Pap smears for women over 65 and colonoscopies for anyone over 75 — all are overused, large-scale studies have shown.Now it appears that many older patients are also subjected to too-frequent use of the other kind of testing,...

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Stocks decline as investors wait on 'cliff'

Stocks declined for a third day on Wall Street as investors waited for signs of progress on the “fiscal cliff.”The Dow Jones...

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Former baseball union head Miller dead at 95

Marvin Miller, the union leader who created free agency for baseball players and revolutionized professional sports with multimillion...

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Audra McDonald new 'Live From Lincoln Center' host

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Broadway superstar Audra McDonald is adding a new chapter to her long history with Lincoln Center.The singer-actress is the new host of "Live From Lincoln Center," PBS said Tuesday.McDonald will emcee seven broadcasts from December through spring 2013, starting Dec. 13 with "The Richard Tucker Opera Gala" and Dec. 31 with the New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve gala."It's a great...

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Clearing the Fog Around Personality Disorders

For years they have lived as orphans and outliers, a colony of misfit characters on their own island: the bizarre one and the needy one, the untrusting and the crooked, the grandiose and the cowardly. Their customs and rituals are as captivating as any tribe’s, and at least as mystifying. Every mental anthropologist who has visited their world seems to walk away with a different story, a...

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Stocks fail to get boost from consumer confidence

Investors took little comfort from the latest deal to deliver financial aid to Greece and increases in U.S. consumer confidence...

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