The Two-Way
6:05 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Vidal Sassoon, Hairstyling Icon, Dies At Age 84

Credit Ronald Dumont / Getty Images
Clothes designer Mary Quant, one of the leading lights of the British fashion scene in the 1960's, having her hair cut by another fashion icon, hairdresser Vidal Sassoon in 1964.

Vidal Sassoon, who's hair styles and products are used by millions worldwide, has died. He was 84 and died of natural causes.

Sassoon started his career as a shampoo boy in the 1950s. As the AP reports, he became a hair styling icon when he freed women of 1950s hair in favor of a hair cut that needed little styling.

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Animals
5:54 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

'Frankenfish': It's What's For Dinner

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 7:19 pm

More people on the East Coast are acquiring a taste for snakehead, an exotic fish that's moved here from Asia. But the fish are still multiplying and spreading.

Snakehead came to Maryland almost 10 years ago. The so-called "Frankenfish" looks like its namesake and has multiple rows of teeth. Someone released it here — and then there was a documentary and an unbelievably bad movie.

Creating A Market

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It's All Politics
5:37 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Obama Gambles On Gay Marriage

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
President Obama was on a TV monitor at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, a key historic site of the gay-rights movement.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 10:35 pm

The 2012 presidential election was supposed to be about the economy, and even with President Obama's historic decision to make it known Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage, that is still likely to be true.

But the president's decision to announce in an ABC News interview that he personally backs gay marriage could mean that at least one social issue may take a more prominent role in the election-year spotlight.

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Economy
5:24 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Foreclosure Review Is Free, But Few Borrowers Apply

Credit Damian Dovarganes / AP
A foreclosed home in Los Angeles. More than 4 million homeowners nationwide are eligible for an independent review of their foreclosure process, but only a small percentage have applied to the program.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 7:19 pm

It's been more than six months since government regulators and banks first extended an offer to 4.3 million homeowners facing foreclosure: to review, at no cost, the foreclosure process to check for any possible errors or misrepresentations.

Homeowners stand to collect compensation of as much as $100,000 if errors are found. But thus far, only a tiny percentage of those eligible have signed up.

'Not Enough Folks Have Signed Up'

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Election 2012
5:06 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Romney's 1996 Help To Colleague Hits Airwaves Again

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Mitt Romney speaks at a March 3 rally in Dayton, Ohio, where he told the story of the 1996 disappearance of the daughter of a colleague.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 7:19 pm

National Security
4:50 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Bomb Plot: Secrets Didn't Stay Secret For Long

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images
Information about CIA operations often leaks quickly, and analysts say this can complicate future efforts.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 6:13 pm

Once upon a time, CIA operations were secret.

But as the latest bomb plot in Yemen shows, little stays hidden for long these days.

In the post-Sept. 11 world, even the most sensitive intelligence operations quickly become daily fodder as the 24-hour news cycle, the Internet and media-friendly politicians give the story momentum. And it's often senior government officials and the intelligence community who spread the juiciest details.

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The Salt
4:24 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Hospital Food So Fresh, Even The Healthy Come To Dine

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:48 am

Twice a week, local seniors in Warrenton, Virginia, flock to a hip new dinner spot called the Bistro on the Hill for good food, a great view, and musical accompaniment by a retired piano player from a nearby Nordstrom's.

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News
4:02 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Government Job Cuts Threaten Black Middle Class

Credit Andrew Harrier / Bloomberg via Getty Images
An employee loads flat trays onto a truck at the U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center in Merrifield, Va. The USPS, which is projecting a $14.1 billion loss this fiscal year, is discussing restructuring options with potential advisers.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 4:58 pm

The planned downsizing of the U.S. Postal Service, which wants to shed thousands of jobs and reduce hours at post offices, struck Baltimore native Eric Easter at his core.

For him, it will mark the end of an era in which a post office job has meant stability and a path to a better life, as it did for him and his six siblings living in public housing in the 1960s.

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The Two-Way
3:35 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

President Obama: Gay Marriage Should Be Legal

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
President Barack Obama is seen on a monitor in the White House briefing room in Washington, Wednesday. President Barack Obama told an ABC interviewer that he supports gay marriage.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 5:19 pm

In an interview with ABC News, President Obama declared his support for gay marriage. This marks a departure from the president's previous stance, which has repeatedly been described as "evolving."

Here's the money quote from ABC's OTUS blog:

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The Two-Way
3:20 pm
Wed May 9, 2012

Agent, Double Agent Or Mole? Which Was The Underwear Bomb Character?

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 3:45 pm

Many headlines and stories (including some of ours) have been saying that a "double agent" infiltrated al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and foiled a plot to get another underwear bomb aboard a U.S.-bound passenger jet.

But we've been looking at definitions of spy terms and think that based on what we have been told so far, the person at the center of the story wasn't a double agent.

That character was at least an "agent."

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