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January 16, 2013 I found liberation on the shelves and my favorite technical bookstore, an adventure that has everything in common with all the other kinds of geekdom, nerdisms and obsession that can — and should — unite us all.

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January 16, 2013 President Obama asked Congress to raise the debt limit to cover past spending commitments, stating, "We are not a deadbeat nation." Jimmy Margulies wonders if the president can stand his ground, while David Fitzsimmons offers a dismal diagnosis.

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January 15, 2013 In a breathtaking video, astronauts talk of the Overview Effect: how their vision of the Earth — and our role in its future — changed once they saw it from space. It's high time we take their views seriously and act as a species to preserve our future.

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January 15, 2013 President Obama continues to roll out his cabinet picks for his second administration. Jeff Darcy wonders whether Jack Lew, nominee for Secretary of the Treasury, is too prepared to follow the President's lead, while Mike Luckovich thinks the president is heading pale-male into his second term.

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January 14, 2013 Just when we were patting ourselves on the back for avoiding the end of the world, the folks at The Edge offer more than 150 reasons to worry this year. Commentator Tania Lombrozo identifies some common areas of concern.

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January 14, 2013 There are many theories about where the expression comes from — among them square-riggers with three masts, the amount of cloth in the queen's bridal train, the Shroud of Turin, and a prodigiously well-endowed Scotsman who gets his kilt caught in a door.

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January 14, 2013 Though former MI5 director Stella Rimington knows better than anyone that Ian Fleming's From Russia With Love is not a realistic portrayal of life in the intelligence services, she still loves this tale of sex and violence. Which is your favorite Bond book? Tell us in the comments.

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January 14, 2013 Vice President Joe Biden has promised to deliver recommendations on limiting gun violence to President Obama this week. Steve Kelley questions whether new laws are necessary, while Clay Bennett sees one unintended result: increased gun sales.

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January 13, 2013 As yet another deadline looms, no one so far has offered a politically viable answer to America's debt problem. Steve Sack faults Republicans for making the situation worse, while Nate Beeler blames President Obama for failing to make things better.

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January 13, 2013 As a young girl reeling from the revolution in Iran in 1979, author Roya Hakakian discovered the great Persian poet Ahmad Shamlou. His poems made her realize the importance of breaking from tradition. Has a poem ever changed your thinking this way? Tell us in the comments.

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January 12, 2013 In Sonia Sotomayor's new memoir, My Beloved World, the associate Supreme Court justice opens up about her childhood in the Bronx. NPR's Nina Totenberg calls it a moving and unexpectedly personal look at the court's first Hispanic justice.

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January 12, 2013 Last year "marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous U.S." Mike Luckovich was feeling the heat last summer, while David Fitzsimmons predicts no change in our response.

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January 11, 2013 Juliann Garey's novel, Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See, is a searing exploration of mental illness. Author Ellen Forney says it's a vivid and accurate depiction of bipolar disorder.

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