Ferrol Sams, Doctor Turned Novelist, Dies at 90

Ferrol Sams, a country doctor who started writing fiction in his late 50s and went on to win critical praise and a devoted readership for his humorous and perceptive novels and stories that drew on his medical practice and his rural Southern roots, died on Tuesday at his home in Lafayette, Ga. He was 90. The cause, said his son Ferrol Sams III, also a doctor, was that he was “slap wore...

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Media Decoder Blog: In Wake of Restructuring, NBC News President Quits

8:30 p.m. | Updated The longest-serving president of any of the three network news divisions, Steve Capus of NBC News, stepped down from his position on Friday, six months after Comcast restructured its news units in a way that diminished his authority.Pat Fili-Krushel, chairwoman of the NBCUniversal News Group, said in a brief telephone interview on Friday that she would “cast a wide net” while searching...

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Economy added 157,000 jobs in January; unemployment rate up to 7.9%

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy added 157,000 new jobs in January and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%, the Labor Department...

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The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 11: 2001-2010

Today's leading-edge technology is headed straight for tomorrow's junk pile, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. Everyone loves the latest and greatest.Sometimes, though, something truly revolutionary cuts through the clutter and fundamentally changes the game. And with that in mind, Wired is looking back over 12 decades to highlight the 12 most innovative people, places and things of their...

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Beyonce admits Inauguration Day pre-recording

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Beyonce answered critics of her Inauguration Day performance the best way she could — with another sterling performance of the national anthem.The difference?On Thursday, it was live: She admitted during her Super Bowl news conference that when she performed for President Barack Obama and the nation, she decided to sing to a prerecorded track because she didn’t have time to practice....

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The New Old Age Blog: Caregiving, Laced With Humor

“My grandmother, she’s not a normal person. She’s like a character when she speaks. Every day she’s playing like she’s an actress.”These are words of love, and they come from Sacha Goldberger, a French photographer who has turned his grandmother, 93-year-old Frederika Goldberger, into a minor European celebrity.In the photos, you can see the qualities grandson and grandmother have in common: a wicked...

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DealBook: Dutch Government Takes Control of SNS Reaal

The Dutch government took control of one of the country’s biggest financial institutions, SNS Reaal, after the troubled company failed to find a private-sector buyer.The Dutch finance minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said the government would spend 3.7 billion euros, or $5 billion, in taxpayer money to clean up the bank, which has struggled for years with unprofitable real estate loans. The government...

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Hagel to stress opposition to a nuclear Iran in Senate testimony

WASHINGTON -- President Obama’s nominee for secretary of Defense, former Sen. Chuck Hagel, will stress at his confirmation hearing...

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Amazon's Future Is Not in Selling Stuff — And That's a Good Thing

During Amazon’s wonkish earnings call this week, Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak revealed a number that offered a surprising glimpse into the company’s ambitious future — a future where Amazon doesn’t sell stuff. At least not directly.In the Q&A with analysts, Szkutak said that a full 39 percent of the “product units” sold on Amazon during the most recent quarter were from third-party...

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Justin Timberlake launches music comeback with Grammy performance

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Justin Timberlake, making his pop music comeback with a new single and album, will perform at next month’s Grammy Awards for the first time in four years, Grammy organizers said on Wednesday.Timberlake, 31, will take the stage at the music industry‘s biggest night in Los Angeles on February 10, ahead of the scheduled March release of his first album since 2006.“The 20/20 Experience”...

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