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This is from the AP, I made the map myself. Yay! Discuss among yourselves.

The class of 2006 Adrian Wooldridge | WASHINGTON, DC Why American universities will lead the world Americans are in a perpetual state of angst about the future of their educational system. How can they remain the world’s strongest economy if American schoolchildren are soundly beaten by their Hungarian peers in international tests? How can they avoid social breakdown if 40% of children in many inner-city schools fail to graduate? Yet here is a gold-plated prediction for 2006: in one vital area of educational achievement—higher education—America will continue to leave the rest of the world in the dust. American universities will...

The dollar hit an 18-month high against the euro and a 27-month high versus the yen on Friday, helped by expectations of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve. The outlook for yield differentials was the driver for currencies this week. US interest rates are set to continue upwards. Although a move toward higher interest rates in the eurozone is expected, the timing of the first move now appears less certain. Meanwhile, the end of ultra-loose monetary policy in Japan was perceived to be a long way off. US rates were increased by a quarter point to 4 per cent...

Mining Industry Scrounging for Labor Even Without Shale Boom The Associated Press Published: Oct 2, 2005 EDITOR'S NOTE - With the energy industry considering a new oil shale boom, the U.S. mining industry is already short on workers. The Associated Press examines the shortage in detail. By ERIN GARTNER Associated Press Writer RIFLE, Colo. (AP) - Brian Barclay makes a 275-mile commute across Colorado every week to work near this dusty little town, drawn by a natural gas boom that has added trucks, cranes and hundreds of people to the rocky landscape. Asked why he travels so far for work,...

Paltrow sticking around| Right-wing bugle boy Matt Drudge trumpeted the supposed exile of another Hollywood liberal recently with the headline: "Paltrow: I Don't Want to Live in America." Trouble is, Gwyneth tells us she's not leaving. The Oscar-winner got conservative hearts beating when she was quoted in Canada's Globe and Mail as saying, "(Last year), I just had a baby and thought, 'I don't want to live there.' Bush's anti-environment, pro-war policies are a (disgrace)." Paltrow and her husband, British rocker Chris Martin, have a home in London. But, the other night at a Cinema Society screening of "Proof," the...

America Still Beckons By Joel Kotkin The American dream may be a musty old relic in the minds of some American elites, but for Annique Lambe—who arrived in the U.S. 12 years ago from Ireland—it is alive and well. Now a schoolteacher in Manhattan, she marvels at the energy and opportunity that she and other friends who are also recent immigrants from Europe have found on these shores. “New York is a huge place where something is always happening,” she says in a soft Irish lilt. “Now I am a part of it, living among the big towers and the...

Can You Believe in God and Evolution? Four experts with very different views weigh in on the underlying question. By COMPILED BY DAVID VAN BIEMA >FRANCIS COLLINS Director, National Human Genome Research Institute I see no conflict in what the Bible tells me about God and what science tells me about nature. Like St. Augustine in A.D. 400, I do not find the wording of Genesis 1 and 2 to suggest a scientific textbook but a powerful and poetic description of God's intentions in creating the universe. The mechanism of creation is left unspecified. If God, who is all powerful...

Secret plan to quit Iraq EXCLUSIVE By Simon Walters, Mail on Sunday 08:48am 10th July 2005 Cost reduction: Mr Reid says cutting UK troop numbers to 3,000 by the middle of next year will save £500 million a year Britain And America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq - despite warnings of the grave consequences for the region, The Mail on Sunday has learned. A secret paper written by Defence Secretary John Reid for Tony Blair reveals that many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months,...

U.S.: Rebels Suffered Sharp Blow In Baghdad Number Of Car Bombings In Iraqi Capital Have Dropped Sharply Jul 8, 2005 10:50 am US/Eastern BAGHDAD (AP) U.S. and Iraqi forces have “mostly eliminated” the ability of insurgents to conduct sustained, high-intensity attacks in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in the Iraqi capital said Friday. Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. said in a video-teleconference interview from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon that offensive operations by U.S. and Iraqi troops in recent weeks had sharply reduced the number of insurgent bombings. But he cautioned that it was too early to conclude...

U.S. Budget Deficit Tumbles, Congressional Analysts Say By Andrew Taylor Associated Press Writer Published: Jul 7, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - Higher-than-expected tax receipts and the steadily growing economy have combined to produce an improved picture for the federal budget deficit, congressional analysts say. The deficit for the current budget year, which runs through Sept. 30, should be "significantly less than $350 billion, perhaps below $325 billion," according to the Congressional Budget Office. The agency produces nonpartisan estimates for Congress and will put out a full update Aug. 15. Thursday's new figures come as the White House is to release its...

Census lists fastest-growing cities Thursday, June 30, 2005; Posted: 10:18 a.m. EDT (14:18 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consider a move to Gilbert, Arizona, if you're looking to trade in that two-bedroom home for four bedrooms and a pool in the back yard. (snip) "People come here because there are good jobs, it's pretty affordable and it offers lots for the families, too," she said. (snip) The numbers show new residents flocking to midsize cities in Florida, Arizona, Nevada and California. Hurt by skyrocketing housing prices, people are leaving San Francisco, Boston and other large cities in droves. San Francisco and...

The Latest Press Release The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index Rises in June June 28, 2005 The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in May, improved further in June. The Index now stands at 105.8 (1985=100), up from 103.1 in May. The Present Situation Index increased to 120.7 from 117.8. The Expectations Index rose to 95.8 from 93.4 last month. The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS NFO. TNS NFO is one of the TNS group of companies (LSE: TNN)....

JUN. 25 3:48 A.M. ET Japan's government debt for the fiscal year ended March stood at a record high 781 trillion yen ($7,165 billion; euro5,930 billion), according to the Finance Ministry figures. The latest figure was an increase of 78.4 trillion yen ($720 billion; euro596 billion), or 11.2 percent, from a year before, the ministry said in a statement released Friday. The amount of the national debt is equal to about 6.12 million yen ($56,100; euro46,400) per capita bases. Advertisement The ministry attributed the increase in the national debt to lack of tax revenues amid slow economic recovery. It also...

Russia's population decline is accelerating, according to the country's official statistics agency. According to their calculations, the decline is equivalent to 100 people dying in Russia every hour.

Howard Dean's comments about Republicans have received a lot of attention recently, as well they should. But something the Democratic National Committee chairman said on NBC's "Meet the Press" last month, though barely reported, demands an immediate retraction. On May 22, Mr. Dean said, "You know that abortions have gone up 25 percent since George Bush was president?" Host Tim Russert let the unsubstantiated assertion go unchallenged, so we'll save everyone the suspense. Abortions actually have decreased during Mr. Bush's presidency...

Far from media focus: steady democratic progress in Iraq By A. Heather Coyne from the June 07, 2005 edition BAGHDAD – Recent international reporting on Iraq has focused on the wave of violence and the spike in insurgent activity. Yet only a few weeks ago, press reports were trumpeting a lull in attacks as the end of the insurgency. The political process in Iraq - as covered by the few reports that do not focus exclusively on the number of bombs and shootings - appears similarly erratic: elation over the elections rapidly deteriorated into cynicism and despair over parliamentary wrangling....

Missouri State Trooper Shot Nine Times During Traffic Stop The Associated Press Published: May 30, 2005 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A man who recently was fired from his job at an elementary school is accused of shooting a state highway patrol trooper nine times after a traffic stop. Trooper Brandon Brashear, 27, of Grain Valley, remained hospitalized Monday in critical but stable condition. Authorities said Brashear was shot by the suspect early Saturday as the trooper got out of his car. The suspect then chased him into the highway median, continuing to shoot him with a 9 mm assault...

FARM SCENE: Dairymen From Other Countries Mull Relocating to the Dakotas By Curt Woodward Associated Press Writer Published: Apr 6, 2005 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Evert Hekman was looking for wide-open spaces, less government regulation and more affordable land and equipment when he decided to launch his own dairy. He couldn't find it at home in the Netherlands, so Hekman started looking in the next best place - North Dakota and South Dakota. "In my country, it's full," Hekman said Tuesday. "Really full." Supporters of a new law that allows non-U.S. citizens to own North Dakota dairies hope to see...

Programs Eliminated or Cut in the 2006 Bush Budget The Associated Press Published: Feb 12, 2005 The 154 programs that President Bush wants to eliminate or cut in his 2006 budget proposal. Bush would terminate 99 programs and make major spending reductions in 55. Separately, the administration listed eight major reforms Bush proposed that also would produce spending cuts. Of the terminations, Bush has recommended 59 of them before. Twenty-seven of the 55 programs targeted for spending reductions have been previously submitted to Congress. TERMINATED: Agriculture Department AMS Biotechnology Program Forest Service Economic Action Program High Cost Energy Grants NRCS...

Nov. 24, 2004, 10:00PM An adopted daughter gives thanks to America A child of refugees counts her many blessings By ANH V. SAWYER I wish you could have been with me this morning. It was snowing, not heavily, but enough flurries to prevent many of my international friends from coming to our monthly International Wives Club. Most of them came from the other side of the world where the coldest temperature hovers above 60 degrees. ---- It was a struggle to put these words on paper, because deep down I am afraid of retaliation. I think the most wonderful gift...