If you're one of the growing number of people who work for yourself or can't get health insurance through your job, now you've got another option. The Freelancers Union, a New York-based organization for self-employed workers, contractors, part-timers, and others who don't have an employer providing them with benefits, rolled out health insurance policies in 30 states this week. But there's a catch: These plans don't offer the same protections or benefits as the group plans many workers get through their employers. You may be turned down by the insurer for medical reasons, and even if you're approved your coverage may be more limited than you'd get elsewhere.
In the end, there was no loud burst, or even a sharp pop. Instead, the springtime aftermath of the nation's housing bubble is sounding "more like a whoopee cushion," says June Fletcher, author of House Poor: How to Buy and Sell Your Home Come Bubble or Bust. "The air is coming out of the market, but slowly."
AP - A patched-up Atlantis blasted off with seven astronauts Friday on the first space shuttle flight of 2007, putting NASA back on track after a run of bad luck and scandal that included a damaging hailstorm and a lurid love triangle.
AP - President Bush signaled Friday the United States will press ahead with a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe despite Russia's heated objections. Poland's president expressed support for installing interceptor rockets in his country.
AP - She was taken handcuffed and crying from her home. She was escorted into court disheveled, without makeup, hair askew and face red with tears. Crying out for her mother when she was ordered back to jail, Paris Hilton's cool, glamorous image evaporated Friday as she gave the impression of a little girl lost in a merciless legal system.
The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off into the Florida sky Friday evening, carrying seven astronauts headed for the international space station. The 11-day mission was delayed by a damaging hailstorm and overshadowed by a lurid love triangle. A couple of foam chunks came off the shuttle during launch, but officials said they posed no threat.
U.S. forces have begun arming nationalist guerrillas and former Saddam Hussein loyalists -- and coordinating tactics -- in a marriage of convenience against al Qaeda radicals in one of Iraq's most violent provinces, senior U.S. commanders tell CNN.
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