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    Amanda Dobbins

    Amanda Dobbins

    Contributor

  • Young Workers Struggle With Declining Entry-Level Wages, Benefits...

    This Labor Day, the 45 million young people in the nation's work force face a choppy job market in which entry-level wages have often trailed inflation, making it hard for many to cope with high housing costs and rising college debt loads. Entry-level wages for college and high school graduates fell by more than 4 percent from 2001 to 2005, after factoring in inflation, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Economic Policy Institute. In addition, the percentage of college graduates receiving health and pension benefits in their entry-level jobs has dropped sharply.

  • Landis Agrees To Skip 2007 Tour De France After Doping Scandal

    The American cyclist Floyd Landis agreed today not to defend his controversial 2006 victory in the Tour de France. In return, France's anti-doping agency said it would postpone a decision on whether to suspend him from racing for two years after he was accused of using an illegal steroid to help him win the tour.

  • Tour De France Winner Landis Tests Positive In Follow-Up Doping Tests

    Follow-up tests on backup urine samples by Tour de France champion Floyd Landis found traces of synthetic testosterone, the French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Monday. The tests on seven "B" samples clearly showed traces of the banned substance, the paper said on its Web site. Landis had insisted the follow-up tests weren't necessary because the primary "A" samples tested negative for banned substances during the Tour.

  • Landis Denies Drug Use: "It Wouldn't Serve Any Purpose For Me To Cheat...Because I Wouldn't Be Proud Of It"

    Though he's convinced his reputation is ruined, Floyd Landis still had to give it his best shot. He took to the witness stand at his arbitration hearing Saturday for his much-awaited testimony and found 50 different ways to say he didn't cheat. "It's a matter of who I am," last year's Tour de France champion testified.

  • Panel Rules Landis Must Forfeit Tour De France Title

    Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned. The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007. If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offense.

  • Edwards To Bike In Iowa Race With Lance Armstrong

    Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Sunday he plans to get in on a well-known Iowa bike race, cycling this week with seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Edwards will join Armstrong and thousands of other cyclists in Hampton on Wednesday -- the fourth day of the weeklong, 472-mile Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

  • Angelina Jolie And New Son On Cover Of People

    Angelina Jolie is bringing her new son home. The actress and 3-year-old Pax Thien Jolie, whom she adopted last week from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, left Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport in a private jet on Wednesday, bound for home - and, for Pax, a new life - in the U.S.

  • Feds Probing Senate Donations To Lieberman From Indicted Garbage Exec

    Contributions from associates and friends of now-indicted garbage executive James Galante to the 2004 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman have sparked the interest of federal investigators. Lieberman's bid for the White House took in at least $14,000 from Galante, his associates and their relatives in the fall of 2003, according to a Courant review of campaign records.

  • Edwards Feuding With Mock Candidate Colbert In South Carolina

    Stephen Colbert launched his native son candidacy for president in South Carolina today -- and drew comparisons with Christ while earning the wrath of another native, former Sen. John Edwards. Columbia, S.C., Mayor Bob Coble presented the "Comedy Central" hero a key to the city, declared him South Carolina's "favorite son" and officially proclaimed it Stephen Colbert day. Some in the crowd held signs with images of Colbert and Jesus that read, "Colbert.

  • Leo And Clooney Making Film About 2004 Dean Campaign

    Howard Dean didn't make it to the White House, but could some form of him make it to the big screen? According to the Hollywood Reporter, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are in discussions to join forces for a movie loosely based on the former governor's meteoric rise and fall in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries.

  • OJ Makes List Of California's Worst Tax Scofflaws

    Tapping into the fear of public humiliation to get Californians to pay up on delinquent state income taxes, the state has released a list of California's 224 worst scofflaws, including celebrities Dionne Warwick, O.J. Simpson and comedian Sinbad. The list was originally 250 people. But just the threat of their names going on a public website convinced 26 of the biggest tax scofflaws to agree to settle their bills, bringing in about $300,000 in payments so far, according to State Controller John Chiang.

  • McCain: Romney Is Not The "Only Real Republican" In The Race

    Senator John McCain, joining the skirmish among the leading Republican candidates for president over who best represents of the party, laced into former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney today for what he said was his past record of support for both liberal ideas and liberal candidates. "When he ran against Ted Kennedy, he said he didn't want to return to the days of Reagan-Bush.

  • Universal Music Preparing To Challenge iTunes

    Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on Apple's iTunes Music Store. Now, Morris is going on the offensive.

  • Blackwater Founder: We Are Not Mercenaries

    Oct. Erik Prince made it clear he doesn't like talking to the press. But the Blackwater founder also tells NEWSWEEK's Mark Hosenball he doesn't want "what we do" to be "completely misrepresented."

  • Thompson Pockets $12 Million in Acting Fees Over Last Year

    Thompson, a former Tennessee senator who is perhaps best known for his role in NBC crime drama "Law & Order," earned as much as $12.1 million since Jan. 1, 2006, from his various entertainment-related gigs, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission. The report, which is mandatory for presidential candidates, lists only wide value ranges for income, assets and debts. Read entire article here

  • Marine Corps Wants To Withdraw From Iraq

    The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials. The idea by the Marine Corps commandant would effectively leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army while giving the Marines a prominent new role in Afghanistan, under overall NATO command.

  • Black Women Voters Torn Between Obama and Clinton

    In the beauty parlors that are the social hubs for black women in the Carolinas, loyalties are being tested as voters here contemplate the first Democratic primary in the South. Clara Vereen, who has been working here in rural eastern South Carolina as a hairstylist for more than 40 of her 61 years, reflects the ambivalence of many black women as she considers both Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

  • Video Shows Bono Censored For Torture Comments

    On September 27th, here in Philadelphia, the Liberty Medal for 2007 was awarded to Bono and his organization DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), for their work in fighting AIDS and poverty in Africa. Each year, the National Constitution Center awards the Liberty Medal to a person or persons for outstanding work in advancing the cause of liberty around the world. While Bono's entire acceptance speech was quite good, I was particularly moved when he spoke out against the use of torture.

  • Michelle Obama In Car Accident

    While campaigning for her husband in Iowa Tuesday, the van driving Michelle Obama crashed with a motorcycle, totaling the campaign van and hospitalizing the motorcyclist. "The motorcyclist was transported to a nearby hospital, and Barack and Michelle's thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time, " Obama Iowa spokesman Tommy Vietor says.

  • Madonna To Sever Warner Bros Ties For New $120 Million Deal

    Madonna intends to sign a $120 million recording and touring deal with live entertainment promoter Live Nation Inc. and leave her longtime record label at Warner Music Group Corp., a person familiar with the contract negotiations said Wednesday. The pop superstar's management informed Warner last week that she would accept Live Nation's offer after the record company refused to match the deal, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the matter.