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RECESSION, YEAR 8 (Ted Rall)

Ted Rall - Bickering Over Terminology Delays Real Action Read more...

Russian scientists begin trial exploration of world's deepest lake (AFP)

AFP - Russian scientists leading a submarine expedition to probe the world's deepest lake on Thursday carried out test dives ahead of the start of the operation next week, reports said.

Boiling Hot Water Found in Frigid Arctic Sea (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Many miles inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found elusive vents of scalding liquid rising out of the seafloor at temperatures that are more than twice the boiling point of water. Read more...

All types of mortgages see rate increases (AP)

AP - Mortgage rates shot up this week with 30-year mortgages climbing to the highest level in nearly a year, reflecting concerns in financial markets about the troubles at corporate giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Spill closes Miss. River, shuts off exports (Reuters)

Reuters - The largest petroleum spill to hit the Mississippi River since 2005's Hurricane Katrina snarled ship traffic on Thursday from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico and brought flows of grain and other key exports to a standstill. Read more...

CFTC charges Optiver with oil-market manipulation (Reuters)

Reuters - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday charged global trading fund Optiver Holding BV with manipulating the NYMEX oil market in March 2007.

NY AG sues banking giant UBS for securities fraud (AP)

AP - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued banking giant UBS for fraud Thursday, accusing the company of marketing tens of billions of dollars of auction-rate securities as safe even when they knew the investments were in trouble.

1 dead in N.H. storms that leveled several homes (AP)

AP - Violent storms on Thursday in a 25-mile-long swath of central New Hampshire destroyed several homes, damaged dozens of others and left at least one person dead, authorities said as police and firefighters went door-to-door searching for more possible victims. Read more...

Toxic Chemicals Found in Laundry Products, Air Fresheners (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - A study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels. Read more...

Feds charge shipping company in SF Bay oil spill (AP)

AP - The Hong Kong-based operator of a container ship that struck a bridge support in the San Francisco Bay last year has been indicted for allegedly doctoring paperwork in an attempt to thwart the investigation.

Bleeding cash, Ford looks to Europe for help (AP)

AP - Bleeding cash and with its very survival uncertain, Ford Motor Co., an icon of American automaking, will try to import some of its success from across the Atlantic.

Immigration raids Ohio restaurants, arrests 58 (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. immigration agents raided eight Mexican restaurants in northern Ohio on Wednesday and arrested 58 employees as part of a criminal operation against illegal immigrants, federal authorities said.

Okla. crane fall kills man watching construction (AP)

AP - Church members watching the steeple being raised on their new building looked on in horror Thursday as a crane holding the structure toppled, crushing a car and killing a 79-year-old man who had been watching from inside the vehicle, firefighters said.

2002 Justice memo OKs CIA interrogation tactics (AP)

AP - The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause "prolonged mental harm."

Unique Habitat Found Inside Earth (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Researchers studying life in the deep subsurface of our planet have discovered a unique bacterium living 1 mile (1.7 km) below the Earth's surface. The tiny bacteria live in a community of subsurface microbes inhabiting a South African platinum mine. Read more...

Peacock hitches ride with pair along Pa. roadway (AP)

AP - Picking up hitchhikers can be risky, but this one in northeast Pennsylvania was a bird of a different feather. Jerry Dimick and a friend were driving along Route 307 near Clarks Summit on Wednesday when they spotted a peacock standing by the edge of the road. Read more...

Pet Doors Opening at Assisted Living Centers (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) -- When the elderly woman first arrived at Brooke Grove Retirement Village in Sandy Spring, Md., some of the staffers were skeptical when they saw she had brought her cat along. Read more...

Should the votes of dead people be counted? (AP)

AP - If you vote by mail, but die before Election Day, does your vote count? It depends on where you lived.

Judge: Idaho child-killer is mentally competent (AP)

AP - Convicted child-killer Joseph Edward Duncan III is mentally competent to face a death penalty hearing, a federal judge in Idaho ruled Thursday. Read more...

Feds say Utah mine operator courted danger (AP)

AP - The operator of a collapsed Utah mine violated safety protocols by cutting coal pillars that should have been left standing to prevent cave-ins, federal regulators said Thursday.