Like many writers, I worry about the decline of reading in an era of digital devices that whittle away our attention span.

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Meanwhile, Republicans are continuing to whittle away at the law's impact and are hoping that Obamacare's failure could become a rallying cry.

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Non-commercials continued to whittle away at their net-long position, which now is 19, 473 contracts, having cut gross longs and added gross shorts.

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Managed-money accounts continue to whittle away at their net long gold position.

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So I learned at an early age to bring a long book to help whittle away the hours spent lying on the sand.

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Its small electronic-distribution system has allowed upstarts like the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, an electronic energy-trading network, to whittle away at Nymex's market dominance in the sector.

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But Arison has some debt to whittle away at.

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According to Ms Queisser, the report shows that there is only limited scope to whittle away future pensions: the way forward is to raise the age at which they start to be paid.

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Its small electronic-distribution system has allowed upstarts like the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (nyse: ICE - news - people ), an electronic energy-trading network, to whittle away at Nymex's market dominance in the sector.

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First, they like Italy's emergency 30bn euro package of tax increases, spending cuts and pension reforms - which raises hopes that the government of technocrats under Mario Monti may start to whittle away the Italian public sector's massive debt burden.

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Although the amount of time Americans whittle away online is rising (up three hours per week in 2011), social media usage has dipped for the first time, down 10 percent in 2012 from 2011, with Generation X and baby boomers leading the decrease, the report says.

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