The New York-Based Conference Board reports that its consumer confidence index stands at 54.1, up from a revised 47.4 reading in July.

VOA: standard.2009.08.25

And the fact that you can just go up and engage in a conversation about what they're reading, that really reinforces the community."

VOA: standard.2010.05.12

we are human beings,'". Khalaf says that before working on this book, she never thought much about the death penalty, but she was deeply touched by reading the stories of men who often grew up in broken homes and who,as one inmate says, "became lost souls as children."

VOA: standard.2009.10.21