Afternoon News Bytes: Feb. 14, 2012

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Four Ways To Slice Obama’s 2013 Budget Proposal (INFOGRAPHIC)
Explore every nook and cranny of President Obama's federal budget proposal.
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Related Reading

• Time for Confession—and Action
  by Bill McKibben
• NASA's Earthbound Solutions
  by Ed Spivey Jr.
• Turning Up the Heat
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• 'Bring Our War Dollars Home'
  by Candice Quinn
• Keystone XL: The Dirty Facts
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK): Britain Being Overtaken By 'Militant Secularists', Says Baroness Warsi
British society is under threat from the rising tide of “militant secularization” reminiscent of “totalitarian regimes”, a Cabinet minister will warn on Tuesday.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS/ABC NEWS: Clinton: Poverty Helping Fuel Violence In Nigeria
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton warned Monday that the rampant poverty that plagues oil-rich Nigeria — felt most acutely in its Muslim north — is fueling the religious violence now tearing at the nation.
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MOTHER JONES: How Much Do We Spend On The Nonworking Poor?
The Republican primary field has recently decided to revive the Welfare Queen trope, perhaps in hopes that a bit of that old Reagan magic will rub off on them.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES: Making Good Citizenship Fun (OPINION)
Governments typically use two tools to encourage citizens to engage in civic behavior like paying their taxes, driving safely or recycling their garbage: exhortation and fines. These efforts are often ineffective. So it might be a good time to expand the government’s repertory to include positive reinforcement. Rewarding good behavior can work.
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THE DAILY BEAST: Has the President Lost His Obama Generation? College Students Crowd CPAC
With the president’s promises of change unfulfilled, nearly 50 percent of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year were college students—and in a recent poll, millennials endorsed the economic philosophies of conservatism.
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THE HILL: GOP Revives Pipeline Push In Highway Bill
House and Senate Republicans are using battles over high-profile transportation bills this week to demand construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
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THE ATLANTIC: 5 Lessons From The Rise Of The BRICs
In 2001, Jim O'Neill, the chairman of Goldman Sachs asset management, famously predicted the four fastest-growing emerging markets for the decade. We know that foursome by the acronym BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Over 600,000 Messages Against Keystone XL Flood The Senate
This has been an amazing 24 hours, the third in a trio of events that took Keystone XL from an obscure pipeline project to the country's central environmental issue.
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