Renowned special effects firm is “Star Wars” bonus for Disney

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Star Wars” was the force behind Walt Disney’s $ 4 billion purchase of producer George Lucas’s Lucasfilm entertainment holdings. Not so far, far away is Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, his award-winning special effects shop that will likely save Disney millions of dollars in costs for its big-budget movies.ILM, started by Lucas...

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Experts say psychological effects of Sandy likely to grow

Fairfield, Connecticut (Reuters) – The devastating winds and catastrophic flooding of Superstorm Sandy may have subsided, but psychological distress from the disaster and its patchy recovery is likely to be growing, trauma experts say.Those most vulnerable to long-term emotional fallout from the storm are people who lost loved ones or whose homes were...

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Race for the White House: Join us live

(Reuters) - New Orleans Hornets head coach Monty Williams has been fined $25,000 by the National Basketball Association (NBA) for public criticism of the NBA's concussion policy, the league said on Tuesday. Williams was penalized for comments he made before Saturday's game against the Chicago Bulls when Hornets center Anthony Davis, the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, was sidelined by a mild...

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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces...

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Apple sells three million iPads over first weekend

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Springsteen Sandy telethon raises $23 million, ABC more than $10 million

(Reuters) – Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Mary Blige and dozens of other musicians and celebrities helped raise some $ 23 million for victims of Hurricane Sandy on NBC television, while a Day of Giving on ABC TV networks raised more than $ 10 million.The American Red Cross said the one-hour NBC telethon on Friday, featuring performances by celebrities...

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Newer Docs Might Be Driving Up Health Care Costs

Image courtesy of iStockphoto/prosot-photography Health care spending increases have slowed over the past couple years. Still, we are spending some $ 2.6 trillion–that’s trillion with a “T”–a year on health costs, which is a higher percentage of our GDP than any other developed country. And we don’t seem to be getting that much healthier. So economists...

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Small margin splits dramatically different candidates

WASHINGTON (AP) — Suspense over the too-close-to-call presidential race has partly obscured the fact that Americans on Tuesday will choose between two dramatically different visions of government's proper role in our lives. The philosophical gulf between the two nominees is wide, even if the vote totals may be razor-thin.With record numbers of people on food stamps and other assistance, President...

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