US: Unseen Injury

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AppId is over the quota
After his third deployment, Sgt. Matthew Pennington, 28, returned to his home in Dexter, Me., where he is recovering from both physical and psychological traumas.

Produced by Sarah Kramer, Meaghan Looram, Todd Heisler

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U.S.: Love on the Spectrum

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AppId is over the quota
Jack Robison and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students living in Greenfield, Mass., discuss how autism affects their lives and relationship.

Produced by Sean Patrick Farrell

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The Choice Blog: As Jan. 1 Application Deadline Nears, an Argument for a Yearlong Breather

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AppId is over the quota

Robert Clagett is a former dean of admissions at Middlebury College and former senior admissions officer at Harvard College.

As the cultural significance that Americans attach to the college admissions process gets ratcheted up year after year, it can frequently seem as if where we go to college has become more important than what we actually do with the opportunity once we get there.? For some, getting into the perfect college has become an end in itself, rather than a means to an end, and finally having the brass ring in hand can sometimes lead to a sense of letdown and even underachievement once they arrive on campus.

But there are a few positive trends happening out there that may help us refocus our attention on what should be the educational goals of going to college in the first place.? As was reported in September on The Choice, one of those is the burgeoning interest that some students are demonstrating in taking a gap year between high school and college, voluntarily removing themselves from the lock-step mentality that can too often characterize the high school experience.

It is by no means a new idea, and for university-bound students in some parts of the world, it is practically the norm.? But since the convention for most in this country is to graduate from high school in the spring, then head off to college the following fall, it has taken time for it to take root.

Gradually, however, this idea is catching on, and more and more students are stepping off the educational treadmill, pursuing interests, talents or jobs for reasons other than just helping them get into their college of choice, and reminding themselves in the process of what their education is really all about.?

There has also developed an industry of programs, books, gap year fairs, counseling services and sometimes even financial aid to help students pursue their passions during a year away from their formal education.

The reason for all of this interest is that much evidence has shown that students who take a gap year bring more to their college experiences and derive more from them as well.? What often happens is that students end up “reinventing” themselves during their gap year, discovering where their true interests and talents lie, and helping them bring a more mature outlook to their education in the future.

There is even good news on the academic performance front, with several studies showing that students who take a gap year end up doing better than their non-gap year classmates.? At Middlebury College in Vermont, for example, this was true even when controlling for the academic credentials that gap year students brought with them from their high schools.? On average, those students have shown a clear pattern of having higher G.P.A.’s than would otherwise have been predicted, and the positive effect lasts over all four years.

So here, for once, is a college admissions trend that is a win-win for everyone involved.? Most students who take a gap year still go through the college admissions process when they are seniors in high school, then request a deferral of their enrollment after they have decided where they would like to matriculate.? But as long as those students are proposing something worthwhile for their year off, most colleges are open to approving these requests, since they realize it can only lead to a more focused and mature student body.

And for many students, parents and colleges, that would be a welcome trend indeed.

Have you taken a gap year? Contemplated one? Please use the comment box below to let us know your thoughts.

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The next war: this Vision the reduced army Pentagon

Shift the fiscal reality and deal with the issue last summer, which are considered to be in the United States, its liabilities set forth in the doctrine of Mr. Panetta is expected to outline the plans for the armed forces by reducing the amount of care — and in doing so, to make clear that the Pentagon does not maintain the ability to fight two wars at the same time to be a good.

Instead, he said that the army be large enough to fight and win the one major conflict at the same time also have the opportunity to "ruin" the second part of the second enemy, while at the same time in the world with the intentions of the other smaller operations, such as for providing disaster relief or n: o the number of compliance with the air traffic control zone.

Pentagon officials have in the meantime, the final discussions about possible cuts almost every important area of military expenditure: the nuclear arsenal, to combat aircraft, warships, and salaries and pension and benefits. To end the war in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, Mr. Panetta is weighing how to significantly reduce the American ground forces.

There is broad agreement in left, right and center of the 450 billion dollars of that of the more than a decade — an amount that the White House and the Pentagon agreed last summer — is acceptable. That is about 8% of the Pentagon base budget. But there is a strong debate about $ 500 billion in cuts, which may have to be done, if Congress follows the deeper reductions.

Mr. Panetta and defense Hawks say, discount, $ 1 trillion, approximately 17% of the Pentagon base budget would be Cataclysmic in the field of national security. Democrats and a few Republicans to say that it would be painful, but manageable; They Add that the cold war and Korea, and Viet Nam after the war was more pronounced the military cuts.

Gordon Adams, who oversaw the military budgets to the Clinton White House and is now in the public interest research group in Washington to fellow Stimson Center "even a trillion dollars, where this is shallower build down than any of the last three weeks we have done," said. Most of the armed forces would still be "world. We should ask ourselves involved in Racing. "

Many of which are more concerned about the cuts, including Mr. Panetta accepts that the Pentagon personnel costs are unsustainable and generous retirement benefits may be back to Save a crucial weapons programs to scale.

"If we do not allow the current trend will continue," said Arnold l. Punaro, consultant, the Pentagon Advisory Group, the Defense Business Board, which changes have been inserted into a military pension system, "we are going to turn the benefits for the company, which kills some of the Ministry of defence in the terrorist attack."

Mr. Panetta will outline the guiding principles in his Kuroakseen plans news conference this week with the strategy and special cuts — now, the Pentagon has drawn up some 260 billion dollars of cuts over the next five years — the President's annual budget in accordance with the procedure set out at the Congress, where they discussed, and almost certainly in detail before approval is hereby amended as follows:. Although the proposals seem to budget cuts, more than a decade, in the future, the President proposes spending plan as an alternative to the Congress.

Within the scope of decisions looming cuts forces inevitably and in the future, the American army. If, say, the Pentagon save 7 billion dollars over a decade by reducing the number of aircraft carriers, there should be sufficient to force 10 to 11 in order to combat the increasingly bold Chinese Pacific? If the Pentagon saves over the next ten years, nearly 150 billion dollars by reducing the size of the army, said, sets of America manufactured for grinding, 483,000 Asia war from the ground long, 570,000?

Save more than 100 billion dollars what about reductions in the number of working-age for military retirees health care? That would break a promise to those who may in her country?

Calculations to leave Iraq and Afghanistan, which will move to the next, the cost of the wars of the Decade. After the war and the potential $ 1 trillion of that of the next decade down the winding, the Pentagon the annual budget, now 530 billion dollars, reduce the 472 billion dollars in 2013, or about the size of the budget in 2007.

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The Presidential Hopefuls, in the past, support the G.O.P. high-speed,

Newt Gingrich, former speaker to the House, is written in the books and the importance of the United States gave speeches, and he supported high speed research Atlanta, high-speed line in Riga, Latvia, Tenn., requested by local boosters, when he was Congress. .Gov Rick Perry of Texas saw his failed 175 billion dollars, the transport plan to build what is called the Trans-Texas corridor high-speed role.

Representative Ron Paul of Texas, a small up-government libertarian, signed a letter that several members of Texas ' U.s. delegation be sent to the Federal officials contacted the State money in 2009 in rail transport studies to help it build a "really ambitious and world-class high-speed network."

But Mr. Gingrich may be most outspoken Republican presidential candidate, when it comes to his aid high-speed. He has spoken and written in France and China, and how far the admiringly forward, they were, when the United States, it will be high-speed. He is a burden on the high-speed lines in the sense in Florida and California — to place the Obama administration tried to build it — and in conjunction with the Northeast. And he has spoken to the role of the Government to help build the national railway network.

"If you want to be the most competitive country in 2040, or 2050, you need to think big," Mr. Gingrich said 2009 videotaped the Governors of the national central banks in forum sponsored by the Association and the building of America in the future, the infrastructure advocacy group. Mr. Gingrich great idea was the United States of America to build a high-speed magnetic field levitation trains, because China is a.

"Now and really bold and go head with the development and implementation of maglev trains, which transmits the 280, 300, 320 miles per hour in China," Gingrich said in his speech, which Mr. Streetsblog.org transport Web site wrote about recently. "And you change all of a sudden all sorts of information about how this country is working equations."

Before the rail transport policy was the account ID over the last few years, rates of Republican support is not unusual. Recently, in 2004, the Republican Guard party platform stated that "Republicans support, if economically viable, the development of high-speed passenger railroad system as a tool for economic development and enhanced mobility."

But rail transport policy changed significantly after Mr. Obama convinced Democrats Congress include 8 billion u.s. dollars of passenger rail and high-speed his 787 billion dollar stimulus plan.

States originally competed fiercely money, but that the tonne-kilometres after the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans swept by the Congress and many statehouses. The new Governors of Ohio and Wisconsin Republican hundreds of millions of dollars was rejected by the Federal Republic of Germany, the aid which the States won their passenger-rail systems to build up to.

Then who won 2.4 billion dollars of federal money to build the nation's first True high-speed network between Orlando and Tampa, Florida after the money sent back to the new Republican Governor Rick Scott, said, is a boondoggle. Republicans Congress have since denied Obama administration requests more expenditure on the railway.

Against this background, it is a good idea to some rail traffic, it was some Republican said at the "Innocence" is to support high-speed history hopeful mark. "I hope that we can move in the process of partisan behavior speeds past — it was certainly not always this way," said Petra Todorovich, America 2050, the regional plan Association, an independent branch of research and advocacy group in the cities. "Even though politicians may vary depending on the design and management of both sides of the aisle on the speeds of the politicians in the United States, which this is recognized by the it makes sense to have certain corridors."

Spokesmen for Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Perry did not respond to e-mail messages, make their views known, rail traffic from seeking comment. But Mr. Gingrich outlined their views on the 2008 paper, "Real change: From the world that fails to the World that Works" by saying that California, Florida and the Northeast corridor from Boston to Washington are all "very favourable this type of high-speed investment."

But he will take a different tack, Obama administration, and many Democrats, arguing that the development of rail transport in the Union work rules, "stymied" Amtrak, Washington politicians, who authorities an unprofitable routes, inefficiency and the "regulations and disputes involved in the large-scale construction in the United States."

Mr. Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said, via email, and that Mr. Paul "thinks rates is a very interesting idea and can be very valuable for the project, in many cases."

Mr. Benton, said that Mr. Paul believed that ideally should be left to the high-speed development of the private sector, but that he, by, on behalf of the federal tax rebates and shall be withdrawn in accordance with the regulations of its development. He said that Mr. Paul signed other 2009 Texas-the members of the delegation of the Federal — letters with which sought to raise money for the research, which it said would help "to attract high-quality private and public sector investors, which can be made, the key to the success of the large number of" — was intended to ensure that "a fair share of the money was spent in Texas to Texan taxpayers received some of their money back." In that letter announced the first in the Newsweek article in October about fiscal policy of the conservative party for their chips on the Federal Government.

But the rail projects will continue to be tough with the sell-to customer, many conservatives these days, such as Mr. Gingrich Hinted his 2009 remarks, Governors ' Forum. "Let me just close with I think is a central issue, that I am ready to debate both the Liberals and the Conservatives, but probably I'm a little more value with the v?ittelev?t of the conservative party," he said, speaking of the need to amend the federal funding process. "You cannot talk about the fundamental rights of the American national security in the long term without this country economically. redevelopment aid It is not possible. And competitive American economy without dramatically more reliable and modern infrastructure, it is not possible to talk about. "

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Suspect, hacking, 9 and 11 victims relatives await answers

Some of the sounds heard on the mysterious, home and mobile phones. One man, who died in the World Trade Center, taking her to his discussion of one of the snippets on listening. The husband of the victim is similar to the session, someone using a different remote through his home answering machine, which held a final, reassuring message left his wife before the Flight 93 crash. Others say they are, how the information about their loved ones looked fühlen British tabloids terrorist attacks during the day.

Ten years later, the world phone hacking scandal in London, the News attracted the suspicions held by relatives of the victims of the dozens of us Justice Services Department. Britannicassa 24 in eight of the Attorney General Eric h. holder Jr. met and asked him to determine whether their privacy was violated. As a first step, they asked him to see if Scotland Yard had their names or phone numbers from a private investigator, who among the hacked cellphone messages tabloid material record.

Four months later, they are still waiting to hear back, and the Law Department of silence blank.

"Is not that difficult to determine — is quite simple really, is it?" said Patricia Bingley, the Great Britain national, whose son, Kevin Dennis, 43-year-old trader is Cantor Fitzgerald worked at the World Trade Center North Tower 101st floor.

Ms. Bingley said he was stunned to see Sun, 18. disc 2001 issue, the photo of his son reading bedtime story to his two sons, of which he or she is not a paper. His son, that he said, none of his family had provided information also becomes one of the story included, "it never made sense to me," he said, adding that he doubts that the hacking or worse. "I would like to tell the Government, whether or not. Celebrities show is unable to resolve. "

July, such as announcements, information about a wide range of phone hacking, according to the tabloid newspaper the other capitalization were the British, the Daily Mirror, reported the private investigator, said that the world's suppliers of News had offered to pay him to retrieve the phone records the disk 11 of the victims. After the report, which is confirmed by other news organizations, the Department opened an investigation. So far, evidence has emerged publicly disk 11 victims were hacking objectives.

Iodine Westbrook flowers, a lawyer, South Carolina investment firm, which represents more than 6700 relatives of the victims, said he and the disc 11 of his colleagues was the British tabloids and find information about scoured scores of victims. Authorities were not certain how the tabloids so much so quickly found after the terrorist attacks.

One of the relatives, whom he refused to be identified, said that five days after the publication of the Sun disk 11, left his mobile phone, his son, which was used by one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center the voice mail message from the words. (The British authorities are also investigating whether hacking took place in the Sun, which is owned by the news of the world, such as News Corporation.)

At the end of September, the band the flowers of Ms Rice law firm sent ... Mr. holder's victims, the relatives of the two dozen telephone numbers, and requested that Scotland Yard carries out them from home, Glenn Mulcaire seized 12,000, most of the world now l?p?ll? news of hacking is responsible for the private investigator through the documents page. He said at least 100 of his clients in the United States and Britain, now you want to.

Nov 3, on the basis of the Vida (G) the Department of Justice Chief down. public corruption unit, wrote a number of lawyers, saying, "the F.B.I. is committed to assess the veracity of these claims, the preliminary examination."

Ms. flowers said he was disappointed by the response to the ep?m??r?isyytt?. "We have asked the simple question, and we got to the threshold-nonanswer, basically," he said.

Ms. flowers added, "If there was no hacking, it is wildly coincidence that so many people describe the corresponding."

Two Justice Department officials in the knowledge of the inquiry, even so, said they did not expect much to come into contact with in the study. Officials, who declined to identify because they were not allowed to discuss the continuing criminal inquiry, said the investigation remained open in case Scotland Yard found evidence of suspicions of relatives of disk 11. They both said they were uncertain that such evidence so far.

Tracy Schmaler, a legal Department spokesman said only, "in the ongoing investigation."

Charlie Savage contributed reporting.

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Many Iowa voters are uncertain liquidity brigades

Try to understand why so many voters are uncommitted to this reporter spoke of some Iowa Republicans, as they made their choices — if indeed they are.

TWICE, A BROKEN

-Ames straw poll, that at an early stage, for the purpose of non-formal competition leading up to the summer days, Jason Anderson, the President of the competitors was "fully pumped, ' as he put it, Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota that seemed promising candidate for the Republican nomination.

"He gave me such a good feeling that six or seven of my friends, all of the fans we drove out of the query for the root user for Tim to him," said Mr. Anderson, 35, to the right, two to the North of Ankeny, a small town father of Des Moines. "It was like a rock concert, we were so excited."

Mr. Anderson feelings were different on the next day, when Mr. Pawlenty, finishing out of the race in the third place, fell a disappointment.

"I felt lucky," Mr. Anderson said.

His mood brightened again only when Herman Cain candidacy took off two months later. Mr. Cain business-minded School Department and opeista Mr. Anderson, who is employed in the auto insurance industry, freedom of thought, he had found another good match. But when Mr. Cain to suspend his campaign in the face of accusations of sexual misconduct, has been tense at the beginning of December, Mr. Anderson felt that sinking feeling again. The Frustration Edicomiin.

In an interview in mid-December, Mr. Anderson vented out: "I hate wavering back and forth. It has been a rollercoaster as. "

But what was he to do? Mr. Anderson said, he found a Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor, "too large". .Gov Rick Perry of Texas was "without a clue." Representative Michele Bachmann appeared not to know his facts, he said, and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, smacked of old news.

It was not, before Christmas, when the family of the guest collection asked, "have you looked at the Ron Paul?", that Mr. Anderson realized he was not.

"Cannot explain the why it had not occurred to me, but the more I learned about him, the more I liked Ron Paul," he said. "Of course, but not all, ever, you are going to find the perfect candidate. And this is not just about jumping on the trend, even if you want someone who is on Tuesday to win back. "

"My wife and I we have a small government and less spending, and he is about that," Mr. Anderson said, 6.4.2004 some of Mr. Paul more controversial positions such as his goal of eliminating the Federal Reserve as the "of course, highly unlikely."

"I vote for him, and I do not see any changes," Mr. Anderson said. "Two weeks ago, I was confused and distraught about the whole thing. Now I am happy. "

SUPPORTERS? MAKE SURE THAT THE. THE FANS? BIT MUCH.

When Arthur and Norma Doenecke semiretirement, while leaving it to the busy lives on the East Coast, went behind the move for nearly 10 years ago and a new life in rural Iowa, one of the national policy was the ability to take a look at the closeup of perk, this favorite pastime. And last year, they were almost in the whole of the candidates were: picnics and sudden upward through dinners and forums and discussions. Open the magazine Time March 21 issue, the attention of the Newt Gingrich campaign and see the rapt adjusted photo.

"Standing behind him, but Was, as I said to my friends, this does not mean that he was standing," Dr. Doenecke, family physician was careful to note sly smile. Moderate Republican Guard, he takes his responsibility with a view to caucusgoer than the democratic process so seriously that the founding fathers of swoon.

Mrs. Doenecke, former advertising Executive is no different. "We believe that if it is not indicated and if you don't vote for the right to criticize the country or do not have to be the case," he said.

Yet this political season, the couple, most of the below has been unsure to whom aid, more than any Republican competitors, diagnose problems, which arise from tension in the reader or by multiplying with. The process of elimination rather than raw or cooked, in their decision making and, ultimately, was to remain one of the man. But barely.

That man is Mitt Romney.

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