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No one doubts that hCG is critical to sustaining pregnancy. Its main role is to block menstruation and stimulate release of the hormones that prepare the uterus for occupancy. But it may do more than that. To a woman’s immune system, the emergence of an embryo can come as bad news, for its cells contain the father’s alien genes as well as her own. When embryonic cells are covered with hCG, they acquire a strong negative charge....

But if the ’50s weren’t much fun to live through, they turn out to be a lot of fun to read about. Tainted fun, I-shouldn’t-be-enjoying-this fun, but fun all the same. Cars guzzled gas, soulless suburbs bloomed, “Ozzie and Harriet” reigned on TV and political correctness meant voting a straight Republican ticket. If the Dulles brothers felt like overthrowing the government of Guatemala to protect the interests of United Fruit, nobody said boo....

Why did you write this book? I wanted to explain why bulls––t has become the etiquette of choice in office life. How do you define b.s.? It’s telling people what you think they need to hear. It may involve finessing the truth or outright lying, but the purpose is always self-serving. And while I appreciate the role of some b.s. in keeping the corporate peace, it makes people feel beaten up, deceived— even dirty....

Antigovernment themes like Thompson’s played so wellin the recent elections thatthey crushed even conservative Democrats like Cooper, who is best known for opposing the Clinton health plan as too liberal. As a result, for the first time since Reconstruction, a majority of congressmen and senators from the old Confederacy are Republican. And because the most powerful members of the new majority hail from Dixie, the “Contract With America” is being expounded by voices with distinctively Southern accents: Newt Gingrich of Georgia; Phil Gramm, Dick Armey and Tom DeLay of Texas; Trent Lott and Thad Cochran of Mississippi....

Knoller, who faces manslaughter and second-degree murder charges, wept as her attorney told the jury that she “risked her life” in an attempt to save Whipple from the dog, a 150-pound male Presa Canario named Bane. At times, defense attorney Nedra Ruiz burst into tears herself, before falling to the floor in front of the jury in order to pantomime what she described as Knoller’s desperate attempts to pull the “berserk beast” off of Whipple....

Yes, Virtual Prozac–the only medication guaranteed to have no side effects and no direct effects either. Virtual Prozac is the paradigm shift in a bottle–only without the bottle! Virtual Prozac cannot be bought at health-food stores, pharmacies or by mail order. It is not available in pill, capsule, liquid or any other form. Virtual Prozac is the first antidepressant of the Information Age, the only one to harness the incredible healing power of the Placebo Effect....

Catania is a member of the “Austin 12,” an informal group of gay Republicans who advised the Bush 2000 campaign, serving as a sounding board on gay issues. In April of that year, the 12 traveled to Austin to meet with the then Governor Bush, who was eager to burnish his image as a “compassionate conservative.” He’d resisted meeting with the chief gay GOP group, the Log Cabin Republicans–they’d backed his presidential-primary rival John McCain–but agreed to sit down with a dozen handpicked gay supporters....

But inch by painful inch, old enemies on the Korean peninsula are edging toward conciliation. In the agreement reached last week, the North, the South and the United States will hold a “joint briefing” in a few weeks on beginning real peace negotiations; they will talk about talking. Immediately after that briefing, bilateral discussions between North Korea and the United States are supposed to resume on a number of subjects: opening liaison offices in Pyongyang and Washington, ending North Korean missile sales abroad and allowing officials from the U....

As Pyne and other experts see it, the suburban sprawl of southern California is one more example of inadvertently increasing the risk of natural disaster by trying to avoid it. “It’s like the Midwest with flood control,” Pyne says. “in the Midwest, the system of levees has controlled the smaller floods, which no longer spill out through the bottom lands. That saves up for bigger floods, and the big floods are much more devastating....

One of President Joe Biden’s first policies appeared to bridge the gender divide by creating a White House Gender Policy Council. As someone who served on the Board of the National Organization for Women in New York City, I have seen enormous progress in women’s issues, and a need for more. Simultaneously, for a half century, millions of parents of boys and I have witnessed an ever-growing boy crisis. We see it hurting not only boys, but the fathers they may become, and our daughters who seek future young men worthy of their love....

Over 6ft tall, Parmar was commanding in the air and despite a lack of pace his tackling, man marking and interception were quite exceptional. He did not have exceptional ball playing skills but his long range distribution was very accurate. In international football, Parmar was a late bloomer. He was first chosen for India at the age of 26 years for the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games. Parmar came into the national reckoning because of two brilliant matches he played in domestic football for JCT in the Durand Cup final in January 1978 and the Santosh trophy final for Punjab a month later....

As a member of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, it is clear Grace is an extraordinary athlete. Starting her gymnastics career in 2006, Grace has earned numerous athletic accolades. She is a two-time world team champion, a U.S. balance beam bronze medalist and a U.S. all-around bronze medalist. Grace’s undeniable talent, inspirational work ethic and unwavering dedication to her sport enabled her to achieve her dream of competing in the Olympics....

Hidden treasures buried inside the code of video games have always been an incredibly rewarding treasure when stumbled upon. Whether you figured out the Konami Contra code on your own or learned it from a buddy, it’s hard to forget that magic feeling of being in on a secret with the developers that produced one of your favorite games. Last month we saw an article highlighting the ten best video game secrets and Easter eggs and this month Reddit user Ordered has outlined another list of interesting facts that gamers should store away for any future video game trivia challenges....

Unfortunately, Jaws did not have such a glamorous debut in its video game run. The first game released was Jaws for the NES, and although it probably stands as one of the better games to come out of the franchise, Jaws never really managed to find its footing after a shaky start. While Jaws can take credit for kicking off a new genre of game, fans that are eager to take the reins and control a ferocious, bloodthirsty shark should probably look outside the franchise to alternatives like Maneater....

Assertively speaking, Van Persie was undoubtedly a legend of the Premier League and one of the most prolific strikers to have played in the league. But the question which needs to be considered and answered is whether he qualified as a legend for Manchester United and Arsenal? Recently shipped off on a private jet to Istanbul to join Fenerbahce to pen down a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, Van Persie was seen commenting that he had “no hard feelings” over his departure....

You would be wrong. In recent years, DNA testing has freed 72 inmates from prison –eight from death row. Each year brings new advances that expand the universe of cases where DNA analysis can help. But the political and legal systems are just now waking up to the potential of this rapidly improving technology. Only two states –Illinois and New York –give inmates the right to use the latest DNA testing....

The 1926 storm so devastated the region that eight years later it was still a prominent local topic of both conversation and, oddly enough, popular music. “The Storm That Struck Miami” is a raggedy waltz recorded by “Fiddlin’” John Carson and his daughter Rosa (Moonshine Kate) Lee in 1934, teeming with a mournfulness that the city’s pummeled residents surely felt the morning after. (“The water fell in torrents for nine long hours or more,” it goes....

What Is Microsoft 365? The latest version of Microsoft Office is called Microsoft Office 2019, although the web-based Microsoft 365 is the version that Microsoft would prefer users to adopt. Various versions of the suite have been around since 1988, including but not limited to Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Office Home and Student, and various collections of Microsoft Office 2016. Most people still refer to any version of the suite as Microsoft Office, though, which makes distinguishing among editions difficult....

No question of it. And I think it’s the economy. I think there’s a fair amount of evidence that there’s frustration with me. But I’m going to turn that around. They’re likely to learn about our accomplishments. And I think they’re likely to learn about what I want to do in the next four years to build on these accomplishments; the emphasis being on education, the emphasis being on doing better to make these neighborhoods safer, winning the anticrime battle, pointing out the progress we’ve made, incidentally, on drugs....