Latest News and Politics from the U.S. - Huffington Post [May ‘11 Series]

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Some 15-20 percent of Roku owners are cancelling their cable or satellite services agreement and are relying solely on a broadband connection to get their television programming, said company VP Jim Funk in this exclusive interview with Beet.TV.More...

Source: Roku Owners Are "Cutting the Cord" in Substantial Numbers

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Facebook users will soon be able to tag more than just people in photos.On Wednesday, Facebook announced a new photo-tagging feature that lets users identify people or objects that have their own Facebook Pages. Previously, users could tag only their friends.More...

Source: Facebook Photo Tags For Pages Let Users Show Their Love For Brands (PHOTO)

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Since 2004 I have made several trips to this region: Darfur, Eastern Chad and now South Sudan.  I am here because I believe there is an obligation to "bear witness" and to take action.  One acts in a variety of ways:  humanitarian aid, advocacy for human rights and sharing the story of the most vulnerable that are desperately yearning to know that the world cares.  I got involved when I realized that the world stood by until it was too late during the Holocaust, and during Rwanda, I did not act in anyway.  Darfur was the catalyst in making me realize my responsibility to do something.   I am here to witness and understand what will happen here in the months to happen -- and to try and grasp what it will take on a human and political level.Sitting here in this lush remote village filled with mango trees (unlike much of South Sudan which is dry desert), it is hard to imagine how much blood has been spilled here on this soil -- over two million people lost their lives, and two million people saw their villages, homes and lives destroyed.  South Sudan and Darfur are inextricably linked. It is no coincidence that the genocide in Darfur began only when the north and south had just about worked out their peace agreement.   The reasons for all this are explained in lengthy papers and there are a variety of views.  The discussion is complex but for me it boils down to one fundamental thing -- man's inhumanity to man.More...

Source: The Birth Pangs of the World's Newest Country: The Republic of South Sudan

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Books on our radar: what's just come out or about to come out that we think you should know about. Some have buzz, some will fly too low, but we wanted to bring them to your attention.Let us know what books are on your radar in the comments section below.More...

Source: On Our Radar: Books Just Out Or Coming Soon We Thought You Should Know About

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Source: Warren Buffett To Cameo On 'The Office' (Video)

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I've been working on a writing project that does not involve my day job at CBS News, and it's interesting to notice the different treatment I receive.For one thing, when I call or email someone and say I'm from CBS News, I get an immediate response. When I'm on my own, not as much. That's to be expected, of course, but it's still eye-opening. I'll tell you this much: I notice and very much remember those who respond to me as a person and not just as a person representing an organization.More...

Source: The Unmistakable Importance of Kindness

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Mount Etna erupted for the second time this year early Thursday morning, spewing molten hot lava and clouds of ash into the sky.The eruption, which can be seen in the raw video below, was most intense between midnight and 4 a.m. GMT, according to the BBC. The lava flow luckily only reached uninhabited areas, though the nearby town of Catania was forced to close its airport after it became covered in ash.More...

Source: Mount Etna Erupts Again, Send Lava Flying Through The Night Sky (RAW VIDEO)

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There are many reasons why Ron Swanson from "Parks and Recreation" is one of the best characters on TV right now, not least of which is his voracious appetite for red meat in all forms. On a recent episode, Rob Lowe's character Chris, a health nut, recommended that Swanson (played by Nick Offerman) switch from beef hamburgers to turkey burgers. Swanson's response: "Is that a deep-fried turkey leg inside a beef burger? If so, delicious."Offerman proved that he's a man of his word last night on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" by indulging in a real-life Ron Swanson Turkey Burger with a glass of scotch to wash it down, in true Ron Swanson fashion. Watch as Offerman, Fallon and guest Maya Rudolph discover how a red-blooded American man eats a turkey burger.More...

Source: Nick Offerman Of 'Parks and Rec' Eats A 'Ron Swanson Turkey Burger' On Fallon (VIDEO)

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NEW YORK -- While one's college graduation is normally a time of jubilation, Megan Muller can more than relate to the sense of defeat that now hangs over the class of 2011.Muller, 26, graduated from Kean University in Union, N.J., yesterday with a bachelor's degree in communication. She is the first person in her family to graduate from college.More...

Source: 2011 College Grads Moving Home In Record Numbers, Saddled With Historic Levels Of Student Loan Debt

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You hear it again and again, variation after variation on a core message: if you tax rich people it kills jobs. You hear about "job-killing tax hikes," or that "taxing the rich hurts jobs," "taxes kill jobs," "taxes take money out of the economy, "if you tax the rich they won't be able to provide jobs." ... on and on it goes.  So do we really depend on "the rich" to "create" jobs?  Or do jobs get created when they fill a need?Here is a recent typical example, Obama Touts Job-Killing Tax Plan, written by a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth:More...

Source: Actually, "The Rich" Don't "Create Jobs," We Do