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Economy
4:03 am
Tue December 25, 2012

Back To The Economy Of The '90s? Not So Fast

Credit Ovak Arslanian / Time
A lone employee oversees Hewlett-Packard workstations being assembled at a plant on Jan. 1, 1993. Huge improvements in computer technology propelled the economy during that decade.
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Originally published on Tue December 25, 2012 9:42 am

Throughout the debate over taxes and the "fiscal cliff," there's been a lot of looking backward — to the 1990s. The economic expansion of the 1990s was the longest in recorded American history.

Democrats say the economy thrived under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, including his tax rate increase on high earners. Republicans say government didn't spend as much then and that growth didn't really take off until the GOP took control of Congress in 1995.

So what actually happened in the '90s? What made them tick?

A Unique Boom

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Middle East
5:18 pm
Mon December 24, 2012

As Syrian War Grinds On, A Rebel Keeps Reinventing Himself

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Credit Courtesy of Ibrahim Abazid
In March 2011, at the beginning of the Syrian uprising, protester Ibrahim Abazid made a massive white flag out of a sugar sack. This picture of him waving the flag in his hometown of Dera'a became a hugely popular image. Now Abazid hopes to serve on a city council in Dera'a.
Credit REUTERS TV / Reuters TV via Landov
Syrian rebels shout "God is greatest," near the southern Syrian town of Dera'a in this still image taken from a video obtained by Reuters on May 17.
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Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 6:51 pm

Ibrahim Abazid had no idea he would be part of a nationwide revolt in Syria — or that his role would keep evolving.

It was March 2011. Some teenagers in his hometown, Dera'a, got arrested for spray painting anti-government slogans outside a school. Rumors began circulating that the teenagers were being tortured while in detention in the southern town.

In the broader region, Arab protesters had been filling the streets for months. Dictators in Tunisia and Egypt had already fallen. Abazid and his friends went to pray.

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Around the Nation
5:18 pm
Mon December 24, 2012

Finding New Meaning In The Loss Of A Son

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Credit Courtesy of Maya Thompson
Ronan at 2 years old. "I know Ronan's purpose in life was to shed light on this disease," says his mother, Maya Thompson. "This is why I will continue to fight for childhood cancer for the rest of my life."
Credit Barbara Bradley Hagerty / NPR
Maya Thompson holds a sonogram of her unborn daughter. After a period of hopelessness after her son's death, Thompson says you "either let this pain kill you or you let it make you stronger."
Credit Courtesy of Maya Thompson
Maya Thompson with Ronan just a few weeks before his death in May 2011. A broviac on his chest administered chemotherapy, platelets and red blood cells when needed. He wanted to play in the hot tub that day, so Maya let him go in up to his midsection to keep the broviac dry.
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Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 6:00 pm

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It's All Politics
5:00 pm
Mon December 24, 2012

Obama Administration Deported Record 1.5 Million People

Credit John Moore / Getty Images
Employees with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency search Guatemalan immigrants before they are put aboard a deportation flight to Guatemala City on June 24, 2011, in Mesa, Ariz.
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Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 8:34 pm

Although President Obama supports setting a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants, his administration deported a record 1.5 million of them in his first term.

In addition, the latest data released by the government in recent days show that an unprecedented 409,849 people were deported for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The increase from the previous year occurred despite policy changes ordered by Obama to reduce the deportations of otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants.

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National Security
4:38 pm
Mon December 24, 2012

Hagel Would Be First Former Enlisted Soldier To Run Pentagon

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Credit Paul J. Richards / AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in Amman, Jordan, in 2008.
Credit Photo provided by Library of Congress / AP
Chuck Hagel (right) and his younger brother Tom sit atop an armored personnel carrier in Vietnam, in a photo taken in or around 1968. The Hagel brothers were squad leaders with the U.S. Army's 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong River Delta.
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Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 11:20 am

Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is said to be on President Obama's short list to be the next defense secretary. But even the possibility of his nomination has stirred up opposition — particularly from members of his own political party.

If Hagel can survive a political ambush in Washington, he would be the first Pentagon chief who saw combat as an enlisted soldier.

The blunt-spoken Hagel favors deeper cuts in military spending and is wary of entangling America in long overseas missions.

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