The government safety net was created to keep Americans from abject poverty, but the poorest households no longer receive a majority of government benefits.

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Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It

See the share of Americans’ income that comes from government benefit programs.

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<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/multimedia/icons/map_icon.gif" width="12" height="12"…

More civilian contractors working for American companies than American soldiers died in Afghanistan last year for the first time, and some survivors are left uncompensated.

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Afghan War Risks Are Shifting to Contractors

Nearly 20 years ago, former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder announced that he wanted to create a museum that would tell the story of slavery in the United States. He had the vision, the clout, the charm to make it seem attainable, and he had already made history: the grandson of slaves, he was the nation’s first elected African American governor . Read full article > >

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Two decades later, donors wondering what happened to plans for slavery museum

The parallels between Mitt Romney and his father, George — both businessmen, both Republican governors of blue states, both presidential candidates — make for tantalizing psychological comparisons. ¶ Is the younger Romney less concerned about economic fairness than was his late father, who helped create Michigan’s first income tax and famously returned a big bonus when he was chief executive of American Motors? Does Mitt’s cautious style reflect the bitter experience of George, whose 1968 presidential run collapsed after he used the term “brainwashing” to explain his early support for the Vietnam War? ¶ Such speculation can certainly be entertaining for political junkies hoping to glimpse the soul of a would-be president. However, the contrast between father and son reveals less about Mitt Romney’s state of mind than it does about America’s. If Mitt has a tin ear for the concerns of the needy, if he goes along with, rather than resists, the rightward turn of his party , he is simply mirroring the disturbing transformations of American business and politics in recent decades. In his public and private careers, the younger Romney has emulated the retreat of corporate elites and the Republican Party from the model of economic partnership and cross-party compromise that the elder Romney exemplified. ¶ At a moment when America needs both business innovation and effective oversight, vigorous growth as well as economic fairness , we would be better off with George, rather than Mitt, in the White House. Read full article > >

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Romney is the right man for America. George Romney, that is.

Voters of America, President Obama has made you a mix. The president shared a Spotify playlist on his Facebook page Thursday: 29 tunes that he’ll be pumping on the campaign trail between now and Nov. 6. There are songs from artists you’d expect ( Bruce Springsteen ), artists you wouldn’t ( Ricky Martin ) and artists that are actually from Canada ( Arcade Fire .) Read full article > >

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On Spotify, Obama’s campaign playlist is a mixed bag

What do Rick Santorum and Clint Eastwood have in common? Sorry, Rick, you haven’t made it yet as an Eastwood-style make-my-day cultural icon. But in different ways, Santorum and Eastwood have demonstrated the limits of both an entirely negative slant on politics and a pessimistic take on America’s future. Read full article > >

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Clint, Rick and the limits of pessimism

Three different stage versions of the American classic novel The Great Gatsby are set to take place later this year, it is announced.

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Three Gatsby stage plays planned

Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American Harvard graduate, couldn’t find a role in the league. Then he scored 53 points in two games for the Knicks.

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Jeremy Lin Has Burst From N.B.A. Novelty Act to Knicks Star

The study found that arrests of Muslim Americans in plots or violent attacks have dropped sharply since 2009.

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Radical Muslim Americans Pose Little Threat, Study Says

The CIA is expected to maintain a large clandestine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the departure of conventional U.S. troops as part of a plan by the Obama administration to rely on a combination of spies and Special Operations forces to protect U.S. interests in the two longtime war zones, U.S. officials said. Read full article > >

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CIA digs in as Americans withdraw from Iraq, Afghanistan

CAIRO — Julie Hughes, a veteran pro-democracy worker, was crushed when she missed out on Egypt’s revolt last year . In a Facebook posting at the time, she said, “It’s like having your next door neighbor throw an incredibly joyous party and you don’t get an invitation.” Read full article > >

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Egypt’s plan to charge 19 Americans highlights tense relationship with activists

US space agency officials let their European counterparts know that it is now highly unlikely that America will participate in joint missions to the Red Planet in 2016 and 2018.

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Mars co-operation near collapse

SAO PAULO, Brazil — It just made sense to be in South America’s economic heart, Jonathan Rosenthal reasoned, no matter that he had been working on Wall Street with some of the investment world’s most heady firms. Read full article > >

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Expats lured by Brazil’s booming economy

LAS VEGAS — Mitt Romney answered his last question from a voter three weeks ago, and just about every day since then, he has swept through towns across America like a whistling train conductor proclaiming, “All aboard.” Read full article > >

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On campaign trail, Romney skips questions in taking up mantle of likely GOP nominee