The food-stamp economy
On the last day of every month, shoppers at Walmart load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. Is this the new normal in America? Full Article
Columnist Bob Novak reported to have brain tumor
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Political columnist Robert Novak has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is being treated in a Massachusetts hospital, the newspaper which syndicates his column said on Monday.
"I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period," the 77-year-old writer said in the Chicago Sun-Times.
It said the diagnosis was made on Sunday after he fell ill at a family gathering in Massachusetts and he was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston for treatment.
In July 2003 Novak caused a stir when he blew the cover of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame, whose husband Joseph Wilson had criticized the Iraq war.
An investigation into who leaked Plame's name later resulted in Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, being convicted of lying and obstructing the probe.
Last week Novak hit a pedestrian on a Washington street with his car but did not stop immediately and later said he was unaware he had hit the man.
(Reporting by Michael Conlon; editing by Andrew Stern)
