The Republican presidential candidates spent the past week honing their Southern accents and talking awkwardly about their love of grits. With their Southern swing behind them, they will return to the industrial heartland for a potentially pivotal primary Tuesday in Illinois. Read full article > >

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Illinois primary could help Romney stake his claim

When Jason Clark did not make any of the Big East preseason all-conference teams in October, the Georgetown senior promised to use the snub as a source of motivation. He spent the past four months making good on that vow, and on Sunday was recognized for his effort when he was named to the Big East’s all-conference first team . Twenty-four hours later, the guard received the conference’s sportsmanship award. Read full article > >

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Big East tournament: Georgetown’s Jason Clark motivated by preseason snubs

“It’s just like planning a dinner,” Adm. Grace Hopper, a computer science pioneer, explained to “Cosmopolitan” readers in a 1967 story. “You have to plan ahead and schedule everything so it’s ready when you need it.” Pot roast or computer programming — both, Cosmo told its readers, could be women’s work. I first came across a mention of that article earlier this summer, when I was working in recruiting at a software company. I had just spent the past year trying to get more undergraduate women to apply for our summer internship program. I kept seeing reports that the number of women majoring in computer science was growing. It was about 25 percent at certain elite institutions, such as Harvard, MIT and Carnegie Mellon. (Little to no increase has been observed at other universities.) That seemed like good news for people in my field — the business of getting a diverse and talented group of people to design software. But it wasn’t exactly a triumphant rise. It’s just a slow climb back to where things used to be. Read full article > >

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When computer programming was ‘women’s work’

Maureen Drennan doesn’t grow marijuana herself. No does she smoke it. But she has spent the past few years photographing a picturesque little pot farm in California

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Lens Blog: On a California Farm Where Marijuana Grows

When Odd Future performs at Washington’s Rock & Roll Hotel on Wednesday, the young L.A. hip-hop collective will rap about murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, torture and necrophilia. It’ll also rap about absentee fathers, puppy love crushes and how none of its absurdly violent boasts is actually true. It’s the most hyped pop act of 2011, and the most complex: a handful of bratty, sometimes-brilliant rappers, singers and producers who have spent the past year enchanting bloggers while building a feverishly devout­­ fan base. Their vulgar lyrics grabbed the pop world’s attention, and their reckless charisma has managed to keep it. Read full article > >

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Odd Future rap group draws fans with online savvy, critics with violent lyrics

BENGHAZI, Libya — Khalifa Hiftar spent the past 24 years in the United States but returned abruptly to Libya last month to join the rebels fighting to topple Moammar Gaddafi. Now, as the newly installed field commander of the fledgling force, this ­67-year-old is trying to make fast improvements to fighters who need more training, more weapons and, he says, more support from the United States.

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Rebel military commander wants to be America’s man on the ground in Libya

GOP lawmakers have spent the past few days declaring their unwillingness to compromise on just about anything, but is it all just talk? In private, they’re very close to a deal with President Obama that would temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts for…

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Obama, Republicans Plot Tax Cuts