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NEWS ABOUT: America

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We're Close on AIDS: Don't Blow It Now, America

Bono, George W. Bush warn against the US pulling back

(Newser) - Two big names—Bono and George W. Bush—weigh in on World AIDS Day, both with the general theme that tremendous progress has been made in the last decade but that it won't matter if the world, specifically the US, gets complacent now. Some highlights:
  • Bono: How did all
... More »

Video Pokes at 50 State Stereotypes

...in a succinct 2:03

(Newser) - Every one of the 50 states will no doubt be teeming with barbecues, parades, and fireworks today. But that shared love of corn on the cob isn't the only thing the 50 states have in common. Each lays claim to a specific stereotype. Like, for instance, Indiana: "You... More »

Wake Up, America, You're in Dangerous Decline

Fareed Zakaria: Our days of glory seem to be behind us

(Newser) - Fareed Zakaria is seriously worried about his adopted homeland of the United States. In a Time essay titled "Are America's Best Days Behind Us?" he makes the case that if they're not, they will be soon unless we wake up. The US may have been No. 1 for decades,... More »

Sorry, Naysayers, US Isn't Doomed

Rebuttal essay: Don't cherry-pick stats, look at the bigger picture

(Newser) - David von Drehle begs to differ with fellow Time writer Fareed Zakaria's gloomy view of America's future . These doomsayers have been around since the country was in diapers, and the modern ones love to "cherry-pick dismal statistics from here and there to create an overall image of decline,"... More »

Why We Hate to Be Called a Wuss

It goes right to our he-man national identity

(Newser) - You want to really hurt an American? Call him a wuss. That's why all hell broke loose last week when Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called America a nation of wusses after the NFL canceled an Eagles game because of a snowstorm. We can't stand to be considered weak. "We... More »

Simon & Garfunkel Lyrics Cover Dying Michigan Town

Fortunes even bleaker in Saginaw than songwriters imagined

(Newser) - Real life is underscoring art in a Midwest town even more poignantly than Paul Simon imagined. Simon and Garfunkel's famous tune " America " recounts a young man's journey from the working class Michigan town of Saginaw to seek his fortunes elsewhere. Now the song's bittersweet lyrics have turned up... More »

Four Ways America Could Completely Fall Apart by 2025

Demise 'could come far more quickly than anyone imagines'

(Newser) - The United States' power is declining, and its total demise as the global superpower could be here by 2025, asserts history professor and author Alfred W. McCoy. On Tom Dispatch , he offers four scenarios detailing how that could happen:
  • Economic decline: Years and years of foreign wars swell the deficit,
... More »

Rubio's Right: America Is Exceptional

Essay: More Republicans should follow his lead

(Newser) - Marco Rubio triumphed in Florida with a stump speech that focused on American exceptionalism, notes Andrew Ferguson in the Weekly Standard . (Sample line: "It's sometimes easy to forget how special America really is.") More Republicans would be wise to follow suit in part because it's true and... More »

Americans Don't Want Change

Nation grows timid after election year

(Newser) - America projects an image of bold decisiveness. But while we deploy our troops to foreign soil without batting an eye, we're paralyzed when it comes to broad domestic changes, except in the throes of crisis, Neal Gabler writes for the LA Times . Sure, we make all the right resolutions come... More »

We Once Feared Catholics, Jews, Too

It also fed campaigns against Catholics, Germans, and Jews

(Newser) - The Islamophobic sentiment shaking America is rooted in fear, not bigotry, writes Nick Kristof for the New York Times . The "well-meaning worriers" of the " Not-at-Ground-Zero Mosque " movement genuinely believe Muslims "don’t share their values, don’t believe in democracy, and may harm innocent Americans."... More »

The 50 States' Grossest Dishes

From reindeer fat ice cream to 2-foot-long hot dogs

(Newser) - Some states are pudgier than others—here's looking at you, Texas—but none escapes this list of beloved yet fat-filled dishes. Health.com tracked down the worst offender in each of the flabby 50:
  • Alaska: Eskimo Ice Cream, a mix of blackberries and salmon berries—in reindeer fat and seal
... More »

Obama, Medvedev Sign Historic Nuke Pact

Treaty reduces the number of long-range nuclear weapons

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev today agreed to trim their nuclear arsenals to the lowest level in 50 years, reports the New York Times . If ratified, the treaty would limit each country to 1,500 strategic warheads. The Treaty of Moscow, signed in 2002, limited them to 2000 apiece. Each... More »

Actually, There Are Seven Americas

Facebook data reveal a map of close regional ties

(Newser) - Where do your friends live? For most people, the answer is “nearby.” PeteSearch compiled data from 210 million public Facebook profiles, mapping where our friends connections are, and found some tight regional clustering—and some big divisions. The blog breaks the country into seven distinct groupings:
  • Stayathomia: People
... More »

Arctic Blasts Drop US Big Chill to -37

Weather brr-acing from Plains to Florida

(Newser) - A large chunk of the US was in the deep freeze yesterday, with temperatures plunging below freezing to as low as -37 in Minnesota's hapless International Falls, the town's coldest day since 1911. Temperatures dove from the Plains, Midwest and Northeast to Florida, giving citrus growers the shivers. Jacksonville was... More »

Crime Down, Despite Recession

Experts puzzled by drop in murder, property crime

(Newser) - Despite financial misery, unemployment, and foreclosures, America's crime rate actually dropped in 2009. Preliminary FBI figures show murder and manslaughter are down 10%, January to June, while property crimes overall dropped 6%, the AP reports. Car theft is down 19%. "That's a remarkable decline, given the economic conditions,"... More »

Columbus the Crusader's Legacy Endures

Americans forget religious fervor drove the 1492 expedition

(Newser) - This Columbus Day, James Carroll invites us to reconsider the man and his motivations. Pop culture has secularized Columbus, concentrating on his mission in search of gold, spices, and trade routes. That ignores his central motivation: expanding the dominion of Christianity. An “old Crusader” ambition motivated Columbus, Carroll writes... More »

'Cupcakists' Find Happiness in a Simple Pastry

Cultural movement extols the virtues of butter and frosting

(Newser) - Johnny Cupcakes operates stores that sell cupcake-themed merchandise—shirts and stickers bearing a skull-and-crossbones logo with a cupcake instead of a skull—but not cupcakes. Johnny Cupcakes sells the idea of cupcakes, a symbol of an uncomplicated, untouchable childhood pleasure, safe from the stresses of adult life, writes Jennie Yabroff.... More »

US to Pressure Brits for More Troops in Afghanistan

(Newser) - The US is expected to push for more British troops to help fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, a move certain to be unpopular with the British public, reports the Guardian. NATO Gen. Stanley McChrystal will likely recommend to President Obama that the current total of 150,000 Afghan troops should... More »

Ben Stein to Wal-Mart: Hands Off Civil War Battlefield

(Newser) - Ben Stein loves Wal-Mart—just don’t put one smack-dab in the middle of a historic Civil War battlefield in Orange, Va. The 1864 Battle of the Wilderness was a turning point in the conflict, Stein writes in the American Spectator, and the “battlefield is incredibly important environmentally and... More »

Queen Livid at French Snub for Obama D-Day Fete

Sarkozy wants to focus on 'main event' of US prez visit

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth is furious at not being invited by the French for D-Day ceremonies next week that will include President Obama, reports the Daily Mail. The French never had any intention of inviting members of the British royal family to the 65th anniversary commemoration in Normandy in order to allow... More »

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