Environment

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ASSOCIATED PRESS A Wateree River Correctional Institution farming program inmate in 2008 monitors milk cows in Rembert, S.C. The state prison will soon be home to South Carolina's largest dairy under one roof, as a $7 million expansion quadruples the herd at a prison farm.

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Mr. Morales knows how to properly harvest peyote, which grows wild near the border with Mexico. His customers are among tens of thousands of Native American Church members who use peyote in religious ceremonies.

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This undated photo released in London Wednesday Nov. 9, 2010, by The Zoological Society of London, shows the blistered skin of a blue whale. The whale, photographed in the Gulf of California, is one of several marine mammals studied by scientists who fear that the thinning ozone layer is causing them severe skin damage. (AP Photo/Diane Gendron- HO-Zoological Society of London)

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A wooden plague given to actress Betty White is seen during a ceremony where she was named an Honorary Forest Ranger by the US Forest Service, at the Kennedy Center in Washington Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. White has stated in numerous interviews that her first ambition as a young girl was "to become a forest ranger, but they didn't allow women to do that back then". (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

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Frank Knight, 102, of Yarmouth, Maine, took care of a 217-year-old elm tree, called Herbie (background), for about 50 years. The diseased tree, cut down in January, has been made into works of art including a guitar. (Associated Press)

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Beazer Homes is building single-family homes on quarter-acre to half-acre sites at Village Green in Leesburg, Va. The homes have 2,528 to 3,346 finished square feet, with base prices from $389,990 to $460,990.

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The one- and two-bedroom homes have 9-foot ceilings, oversized bedrooms, walk-in closets and open living areas.

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Centex Homes is building 200 stacked town-home-style condominium homes at Buckingham Station in Germantown, Md. The homes have 1,267 to 1,783 finished square feet, with base prices from $272,990 to $339,530.

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Gen. James F. Amos, the new commandant of the Marine Corps, fears the impact on unit cohesion and combat effectiveness of repealing "don't ask, don't tell." (Associated Press)

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Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, urges Republicans "to stop pork-barrel spending." (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Iranian workers work in a part of the electricity generating plant of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran on Oct. 26, 2010. (Associated Press/Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour)

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A man suffering cholera symptoms is pushed in a wheelbarrow to St. Catherine hospital, run by Doctors Without Borders, in the Cite Soleil slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday Nov. 19, 2010. Thousands of people have been hospitalized for cholera across Haiti with symptoms including serious diarrhea, vomiting and fever and at least 1,100 have died. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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A stretch of garden wall ringing an ancient house in Pompeii which gave way after days of torrential rain, is cordon-off in Pompeii, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. Pompeii officials said an inspection found that a 40-foot (12-meter)-long section of wall forming part of the perimeter of a garden area near the House of the Moralist gave way in several points. They said the extreme sogginess of the soil brought down the wall in an area that hasn't been excavated near the house. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)

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Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV has introduced a bill that would block the agency from regulating greenhouse gases for two years. (Associated Press)

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FILE - In this May 22, 2010 file photo, Julien Hug, a former contestant on the ABC series "The Bachelorette" is shown at a Habitat for Humanity event in Pacoima, Ca. KGTV in San Diego says 35-year-old Julien Hug's father Bertrand Hug confirmed Julien's body was found Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, in the remote Pinyon Pines area about 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Tammie Arroyo, file)

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Buckingham Commons Associates LLC is building 38 town homes at Buckingham Commons, located within walking distance of shops, restaurants and nightlife in Ballston. The homes have 1,472 to 2,034 finished square feet, with base prices from $625,000 to $725,000.

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Richmond American Homes is building 59 single-family homes on quarter-acre sites at Bryans Crossing in Bryans Road. The homes have 1,992 to 2,674 finished square feet, with base prices from $299,990 to $339,990.

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Farmers work on a field as Mount Merapi erupts in Cangkringan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. Indonesia's most volatile volcano, one of 22 being closely watched following an increase in activity, unleashed its most powerful eruption in a deadly week Monday, spewing searing clouds of gas and debris thousands of feet (meters) into the air. There were no immediate reports of new casualties. (AP Photo/A.K. Hendratmo)

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Police officers drag a beaten up man who allegedly tried to loot from houses abandoned by their owners who fled to avoid the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. Indonesia's most volatile volcano unleashed its most powerful eruption in a deadly week Monday, spewing searing clouds of gas and debris thousands of feet (meters) into the air. There were no immediate reports of new casualties. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)