State unemployment rate falls to 9.8% even as employers shed jobs

California's unemployment rate hit single-digits in November for the first time in almost four years, thanks in part to a holiday...

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33 New Species of Trapdoor Spider Discovered

Male Aptostichus barackobamai. Image: Jason Bond.The discovery of 33 new species of sneaky trapdoor spiders boosts the total number described in one genus from seven species to 40.Trapdoor spiders, which belong to the same suborder as tarantulas, are pretty bad-ass. Instead of weaving webs, they build subterranean silk-lined burrows — and cap the burrow with a trapdoor. Then, hunkered down...

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BMG Scores Rights to Nirvana, Tears for Fears Songs

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – BMG has acquired the worldwide rights to several music catalogues, a deal that will give it songs from artists including Kurt Cobain, Tears for Fears, The Human League, Iggy Pop, and Take That.The company announced Friday that it will purchase the rights for the Virgin Music Publishing Companies, Famous UK Music Publishing and selected current songwriters from Sony/ATV and...

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The New Old Age Blog: The Ex-Wives Club

Weather permitting, Kappy Lundy and Barbara Thompson are heading out to Vancouver, Wash., on Saturday night to have a holiday dinner with the parents of their daughter’s husband.Yes, these women both mothered the same children — now grown and with children of their own. Ms. Lundy is their biological parent; Ms. Thompson is the stepmother who married their father after he and Ms. Lundy divorced.But...

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DealBook: Former SAC Trader Is Indicted

A former SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager was indicted on Friday on securities fraud and conspiracy charges in a case that federal prosecutors have called the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever uncovered.A federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted the former portfolio manager, Mathew Martoma, a month after the government arrested on him charges that he used inside tips about a clinical...

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Boehner rejects Democrats' push for immediate vote on gun bill

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John A. Boehner rejected calls from Democrats to schedule a vote on new gun restrictions before...

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Boeing Uses Potatoes to Improve Inflight Wi-Fi

If you need to test Wi-Fi signals on an airplane, Boeing has discovered potatoes are a secret to success.More and more airliners are equipped with Wi-Fi, but as anybody who has tried using it can tell you, not every seat gets the same experience. One passenger can have four bars showing, while the guy wedged into the seat next to him has one, or none. Boeing has an...

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Putin offers French tax row actor Depardieu a Russian passport

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin offered French actor Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport on Thursday, saying he would welcome the 63-year-old celebrity who is embroiled in a bitter tax row with France‘s socialist government.Weighing into a dispute over a hike in taxes, Putin heaped praise on Depardieu, making the offer of citizenship in response to a question during his annual televised...

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The Consumer: Grapefruit and Drugs Often Don't Mix

The patient didn’t overdose on medication. She overdosed on grapefruit juice.The 42-year-old was barely responding when her husband brought her to the emergency room. Her heart rate was slowing, and her blood pressure was falling. Doctors had to insert a breathing tube, and then a pacemaker, to revive her.They were mystified: The patient’s husband said she suffered from migraines and was taking a...

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RIM Posts Smaller Than Expected Loss as Subscriber Base Slips

(Reuters) - Research In Motion reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, but recorded the first-ever drop in its subscriber base barely a month before the crucial launch of the new BB10 smartphone line. Excluding one-time items related to restructuring and other issues, the struggling BlackBerry maker reported a loss of $114 million or 22 cents a share. Analysts,...

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