Latest News and Politics from the U.S. - Huffington Post (April 2011 Diet)

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"I want them too."That was Donald Trump's pithy response last December to Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade's question regarding Trump's position on whether or not to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for people earning more than $200,000 a year.More...

Source: Trump Once Proposed Tax On Wealthy To Plug Deficit

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Late last year, I signed up for a review copy of Draculas, an ebook authored by self-publishing guru Joe Konrath and friends. Hundreds of bloggers and reviewers signed up for review copies. Unfortunately, one of the e-mails sent out from Konrath's crew was CC'd -- and not BCC'd -- to everyone who had signed up. This was unintentional, and apologies were sent for the error. Fine.But almost immediately, the list of reviewers' e-mail addresses was appropriated by several self-published authors hoping to ride Konrath's coattails -- resulting in a flood of spam e-mail requests to review their ebooks.More...

Source: Are You a Spammer? A PSA for Authors

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Cleveland is a challenging place. It has lost more than 50 percent of its population in the last few decades. When you arrive at the airport you notice gates sitting empty with no planes to unload. Storefronts downtown are boarded up. Unemployment hovers around 25 percent.  The streets seem to have too little traffic. And winter is bleak, long and awfully cold.Cleveland is not unlike other industrial cities that we've turned our back on through a disastrous mix of failed industrial policy, a tax system that rewards companies that export jobs overseas, regulations and public policy that reward financial gambling, and business that creates no real value at the expense of business that makes products that people can actually use, and politicians who have put themselves up for sale to the highest bidder.More...

Source: The Sun Does Shine in Cleveland

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By Bruce NolanReligion News ServiceMore...

Source: Toxic Drywall Taxes Katrina Relief Groups

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Secret spending in our elections is a toxic problem. But last week, strong steps in the right direction were taken to fix it. The Obama administration proposed expanding disclosure requirements for government contractors who spend money on elections. In addition, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD), sued to get the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to require shadowy outside groups to disclose the real source of their money spent in elections.Historically, the idea that sunlight is the best disinfectant in a democracy has been accepted as a non-partisan truth. Unprecedented levels of money are expected to be spent to influence the 2012 elections, and reformers are racing to implement measures so this unrestricted spending is above board. Now, opponents of rational reform are preparing the ground for their next campaign: the fight to keep political spending in the dark.More...

Source: Darkness or Disclosure?

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(Russell Contreras, AP/Huffington Post) -- An iPhone game developed by a Boston company that allows users to drive a truck full of immigrants through the desert while trying to prevent them from getting thrown out of the vehicle has been rejected by Apple Inc.Owlchemy Labs, which developed the game "Smuggle Truck: Operation Immigration," said Thursday that the Apple App Store turned down the game.More...

Source: Apple Bans 'Smuggle Truck: Operation Immigration' Game From App Store (VIDEO)

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It's time to get fired up for the 2011 NFL Draft. The first round of the draft starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Rounds two and three will resume on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and rounds four through seven will start on Saturday at noon.The Carolina Panthers have the first overall pick and are said to have narrowed it down to four choices: Quarterback Cam Newton, defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, cornerback Patrick Peterson and wide receiver A.J. Green.More...

Source: NFL Draft 2011 LIVE UPDATES: Round 1

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When your extended wedding guest list includes over two billion people from around the world, there can be no dispute over your celebrity status. And as the world counts down to tune in at all hours of the day and night to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, their star is set to skyrocket."You're talking about a stratospherically big event, and it will propel William and Kate into the absolute quadruple A list of celebrity," British journalist and CNN host Piers Morgan told The Huffington Post Thursday. "They will automatically, by tomorrow night, be the two biggest stars on the planet. We will have a new Diana and Charles from when they got married."More...

Source: Royal Wedding: Prince William & Kate Middleton's Celebrity Future, According To Piers Morgan

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Over 2 billion people are expected to tune in to the royal wedding, and the world is eagerly hanging on every detail surrounding the big event -- beer banned from the reception! 10,000 canapés ordered! David Beckham will indeed attend! We can't even imagine the media frenzy that will ensue when Kate Middleton's wedding dress designer is finally revealed!Speaking of frenzy, at the time of this writing, a Google search for "royal wedding frenzy" returned 1,650,000 results. Here are 10 of my favorite moments of madness so far.More...

Source: The 10 Craziest Moments of Royal Wedding Frenzy Yet

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Question:

Dear Irene,More...

Source: How to Cope with the Loss of a Friendship