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More than $2,000 a month for day care. Some of the highest phone bills in the country. Jam-packed, 50-plus-minute commutes to work. You knew it was tough to live in New York City — but this tough? A new report shows just how ugly — and expensive — New York City can be, especially for the middle class, squeezed by skyrocketing living costs and stagnant wages. The study, released Thursday by the Center for an Urban Future, shows that New York City is hands-down the most expensive place to live in the country. Among the findings: A New Yorker would...

Ashes of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and his actress wife will blast toward the far reaches of the cosmos in keeping with the show's famed opening line "Space, the final frontier." Majel Roddenberry died in December, two months before her 77th birthday, and will posthumously fulfill a "dream of journeying through space with her husband," according to Celestis Inc, the US company behind the memorial flight.

NEW YORK – The investigation of the emergency crash landing of a US Airways jetliner will last a year and the lessons will go on for decades. That's the word from Robert Benzon, the National Transportation Safety Board's chief investigator on the crash. He spoke on Monday as teams of investigators began the lengthy process of analyzing the damage to each part of the aircraft.

All this talk of voter fraud and people casting multiple votes. Why don't we take our own advice and do something very simple yet effective?Sorry if anyone already had this idea. It came to me this AM when I was changing for work. Here's my idea: The purple ink we used in Iraq. Can't we use that here as well?

Recently, the IRS extended its definition of acceptable retirement age to all defined benefit plans, including governmental plans. The regulations state that normal retirement age under a plan must be an age that is “not earlier than the earliest age that is reasonably representative of the typical retirement age for the industry in which the covered workforce is employed.” For most workers, a normal retirement age that falls between ages 55 and 62 would meet the new IRS standard. The IRS has made an exception for plans where the majority of the plan participants are qualified public safety employees. For...

BILL and Hillary Clinton are doing their bare minimum to help elect Barack Obama president because the Democratic nominee refused to guarantee Hillary a US Supreme Court judgeship should he win the White House, sources say. A rep for Sen. Clinton e-mailed Page Six yesterday: "Absurd. Nonsense. Rubbish. Hogwash. Malarkey." But the word in Democratic circles is that Hillary - after being rejected by Obama as his running mate, the position given to Sen. Joe Biden - made it clear to Obama's camp that she wanted to be appointed to the Supreme Court. One insider said, "Hillary wants an assurance...

Younger delegates are complaining that most of the songs being piped into the Pepsi Center are not-so-golden oldies from the '80s and earlier. But hip-hop star Big Boi, chronicling the confab for Internet radio outlet Interactive One, went easy on the geezers and wheezers, saying "we may have to ease them into" his 21st century rap music. ***** The American Kennel Club is closely watching whom Barack Obama will pick as his family's canine "running" mate. Obama promised his daughters the family will adopt a dog, but since one of the girls is allergic, it has to be a hypoallergenic...

MICHAEL Moore says a top priority of the next president should be making 411 local again. "Replaced by robots, computers and way-too-happy workers in Calcutta, the 411 information system is where the real joke is . . . [It turns] your brain into a rototiller of rage," the beefy documentarian fumes in his new book, "Mike's Election Guide 2008." "By the time you've spelled and respelled the name for them . . . that [it's] Portland, Ore., not Portland, Maine . . . you could have driven over to the guy you were calling and gotten the number from him...

A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing. He attacked a trend of giving children bizarre names, citing several examples. Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed. One mother wanted to name her child O.crnia using text language, but was later persuaded to use Oceania,...

Five policemen were stabbed to death in Shanghai today after a man set fire to their station before charging in with a knife in a frenzied attack. Government officials said the man, a 28-year-old from Beijing named only as Yang, was "quickly overpowered" and arrested. Police said the attacker confessed he had wanted revenge after police arrested him last year on suspicion of stealing bicycles. "He was unhappy ... In order to take revenge, he decided to commit criminal actions," a statement said. "He broke into the building, attacking policemen who were at work."According to the statement, the man set...

A jobless man bent on revenge and armed with a butcher knife stormed a police station in Shanghai on Tuesday, slashing and stabbing officers inside and killing at least five, authorities and local media said. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau said in a news release that a 28-year-old man with the surname Yang set a fire outside the building's gate and then rushed inside and began attacking officers. Five officers died after being taken to a hospital, while four other police officers and a security guard were hurt, the statement said. Some suffered stab wounds to the chest while others...

Scientists have filmed an electron in motion for the first time, using a new technique that will allow researchers to study the tiny particle's movements directly. Previously it was impossible to photograph electrons because of their extreme speediness, so scientists had to rely on more indirect methods. These methods could only measure the effect of an electron's movement, whereas the new technique can capture the entire event. Extremely short flashes of light are necessary to capture an electron in motion. A technology developed within the last few years can generate short pulses of intense laser light, called attosecond pulses, to...

It wasn't a typical wedding. For one thing, the groom was in handcuffs. Kevin Felder and Misty Johnson exchanged vows Thursday, Valentine's Day, just minutes after he was sentenced to five to 18 years in prison for second-degree robbery. "It's a decision between the two of us. I am sorry for what I did, and I want to be a better man when I come home," said Felder, who wore an orange prison uniform. Judge James Mazzone performed the wedding after sentencing him.

If you aren't watching ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition right now, turn it on. For those outside EST, it might not be on right now. When it does come on, watch it.It is about a single father of 4 kids who lost his leg in Iraq. He's a Marine. Be careful of blurry televisions throughout!

Maureen Dowd flew on Air Force One with President Bush and survived. The notorious Bush-bashing New York Times columnist fell ill during a recent trip to Israel and was cared for by White House doctor Richard J. Tubb, the Washington Post reports.A press aide arranged for Dowd, who sufferred from what sounds like dysentery, to see Tubb at the "over-the-top $3 billion luxury hotel" where Bush stayed in Bahrain. Dowd then skipped the press charter to the United Arab Emirates and hitched a ride on Air Force One, "where she visited the doctor once again in his [onboard] office near...

A 5-year-old Arkansas County boy killed a black bear Sunday weighing more than 400 pounds. Tre Merritt, a descendant of Davy Crockett, was hunting with his grandfather Mike Merritt when a black bear happened upon their stand. "His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three." Mike Merritt was in the stand at the time but said Tre did it all by himself. "He came in about 40 to...

Vick given a 23 month sentence. Plus 3 years of probation. Breaking.

Hey all!I have a real quick question that someone should answer in about 5 posts. My mom bought a Toshiba lap top. We have wireless cable internet. The lap top automatically connects to the wireless network but the internet will not come up!I do a diagnostic and the laptop shows my wireless network but there is evidently an issue with the IP address. As in the lap top doesn’t have the IP address. Do I have to restart the wireless network? Please help me! Thanks.PS-Not to start a war, but this kind of thing is why I'm switching to MAC...

I've been trying to avoid posting a vanity but I just cannot find the answer to my questions.If someone has an idea to improve an existing product, how would they begin the process of patenting/trademarking the product?I have called local patent lawyers and cannot get in the front door. I have looked at the gov't website and cannot make heads or tails of the process. I'd rather pay a couple hundred bucks to professionals to do it.But if anyone can gimme a hand with getting started, I'd be very appreciative.Do I need technical drawings? Stuff like that... FReepers are the...