The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)

The Economic Crunch / the Great Depression - No Comparison -- Today's Money Troubles 'Not Even Close' to 1929 Collapse

There was then ... and there is now. Then, around 75 years ago in Tipton County, times were tough - do without, share a bed with your siblings, work all day in the fields and the woods, make your own soap, get one toy for Christmas .

Budget Axe Hits Juvenile Services -- Advocates Fear Rise in Crime, Incarceration

COLUMBIA, S.C. - State budget cuts are forcing some of the nation's youngest criminals out of counseling programs and group homes and into juvenile prisons in what critics contend is a shortsighted move that will eventually lead to more crime and higher costs. Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia are among states that have slashed juvenile justice spending - in some cases more than 20 percent - because of slumping tax collections. Youth advocates say they expect the recession will...

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In Today's Newspaper

Wife, Rice rally 'round Bush Defending his legacy: First lady Laura Bush: "I think history will judge and we'll see later." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done." A10

Video Shows Student Deaths -- 14 Young Afghans Killed in Explosion

KABUL, Afghanistan - A single-file line of school children walked past a military checkpoint Sunday as a bomb-loaded truck veered toward them and exploded, ending the lives of 14 young Afghans in a heartbreaking flash captured by a U.S. military security camera. The video shows an SUV slowly weaving through sand bag barriers at a military checkpoint just as a line of school children, most wearing white caps, comes into view. They walk along a pathway between the street and a wall, several of ...

Axelrod: Economy Won't Deter Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON - A top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that the country's slowing economy won't keep the new administration from fulfilling its plans for a middle-class tax cut. "We feel it's important that middle-class people get some relief now," Obama adviser David Axelrod said.

Briefly

Kuwait City Kuwait nixes Dow oil deal

Surgery Reverses Diabetes in Teens -- Benefits Shown of Weight Loss

NEW YORK - Obesity surgery can reverse diabetes in teens, just as it does in adults, according to a small study. All but one of the 11 extremely obese teens studied saw their diabetes disappear within a year after weight-loss surgery, the researchers reported. The 11th patient still had diabetes, but needed much less insulin and stopped taking diabetes pills.

Bangladesh / Seven-Year Itch

Suicide Bomb Targets Pro-Gaza Rally in Iraq

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City on Sunday while an Iraqi died when a bicycle-riding suicide bomber blew himself up amid a mass rally against Israel's airstrikes on Gaza. The two attacks were demonstrations of the violence that still flares up in Iraq as the government prepares to take responsibility for security from the U.S. military in a few days.

Wife, Rice Say History Will Judge Bush Kindly -- Both Women Blast President's Critics

WASHINGTON - The two most influential women in President George W. Bush's White House - first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - are strongly defending the president's legacy against critics who are calling his administration one of the worst in history. "I know it's not, and so I don't really feel like I need to respond to people that view it that way," Mrs. Bush said in an interview that aired Sunday. "I think history will judge and we'll see later."

Names in the News

Singer-songwriter-producer Delaney Bramlett , who penned such classic rock songs as "Let it Rain" and worked with musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton , has died. He was 69 and died Saturday at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles as a result of complications from gallbladder surgery, his wife, Susan Lanier- Bramlett , said. Bramlett was a native of Pontotoc, Miss. Ann Savage , who earned a cult following as a femme fatale in such 1940s pulp-fiction movies as "Detour," has d...

Out of the Ordinary / Indicted Governor Says Farewell On Facebook

Pakistan Suicide Blast Kills 34 -- Marriott Reopens 3 Months After Truck Bombing

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A suicide bomber pretending to need help with his car killed 34 people in northwest Pakistan on Sunday while the target of another recent attack, the Marriott in Islamabad, partially reopened three months after a brazen truck bombing at the luxury hotel left 54 dead. The Marriott building was badly damaged by the September blast - blamed on a Pakistani militant group accused of killing U.S journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 - but renovations, a security overhaul and the add...

Deaths of Police Down This Year -- Attributed to Better Training, Equipment

WASHINGTON - Fewer police officers died in the line of duty in 2008 compared to last year, reflecting better training and tactics, two law enforcement support groups reported Sunday. The findings reversed the trend for 2007 when there was a spike in police deaths, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and another group, Concerns of Police Survivors.