In a rematch of a 2006 race, former naval officer Eric Massa beat GOP Rep. Randy Kuhl in a western New York district that generally votes Republican.

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"It is a pretty big race, " says Merck Vice President Eric Rubin.

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On February 18, 2009, Eric Holder offered a similarly tonic and provocative commentary on race when he begged us to cease from our cowardice and come out from our racial cocoons to confront the business at hand.

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The issue was highlighted when strips of rubber started flying off Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso less than 40 laps into the race.

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The other firm in the mining race, Planetary Resources, has backing from several billionaire investors, including Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, software executive Charles Simonyi and filmmaker James Cameron.

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