Americans

"American Idol" finalist Joshua Ledet won't be belting it out on this season's final showdown. The booming 20-year-old vocal powerhouse from Westlake, La., was revealed Thursday to have received the fewest viewer votes on the Fox talent contest, leaving bluesy 21-year-old crooner Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga., and sassy 16-year-old budding diva Jessica Sanchez of San Diego to compete for the show's record deal grand prize on next week's finale....

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran and an American-led naval coalition each said Thursday they responded to a distress call by a US-flagged cargo ship that came under fire from gunmen in the Gulf of Oman a day earlier. Armed guards aboard the 488-foot Maersk Texas thwarted the attack northeast of the Emirati port of Fujairah, Danish shipper AP Moller-Maersk said. The attack happened not far from the tense waters of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for a fifth of the world's oil. The company, based in Copenhagen, said armed attackers in multiple pirate skiffs raced straight toward...

After years of suffering from chronically inflamed and infected sinuses, I finally decided I'd had enough. I chose to do what 500,000 other Americans do every year - have sinus surgery. It wasn't an easy decision. I had to balance my need for a fix against my fear of surgery and research that raised questions about the procedure. I was miserable. My sinuses, those supposedly hollow spaces around the nose, had become clogged by scar tissue and the build-up of thickened mucus from decades of infections and inflammation.

From the moment he first stepped in front of the judges and unleashed a folksy take on Michael Jackson's "Thriller," guitar-playing crooner Phillip Phillips seemed preordained to win "American Idol," and not just because he's another white guy with a guitar, the all-too-familiar profile of the previous four "Idol" champions. "I'm just lucky," the former pawn shop worker said Wednesday night in his backstage dressing room after his win. It was more than just luck that helped Phillips easily overcome 16-year-old mini-diva Jessica Sanchez to become the Fox talent competition's 11th...

Polls show that frustration with Washington has never been higher — and who could argue? Most Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. Most lawmakers openly concede that nothing will get done before the November elections. The leaders of both parties are already trading threats over the possibility of a national debt default next year. Barack Obama got elected by promising to change the tone in Washington, but clearly he's failed, as George W. Bush did before him. That should be a clue that the partisan animosity consuming the political system doesn't originate in the White House.

Is fiction good for us? We spend huge chunks of our lives immersed in novels, films, TV shows, and other forms of fiction. Some see this as a positive thing, arguing that made-up stories cultivate our mental and moral development. But others have argued that fiction is mentally and ethically corrosive. It's an ancient question: Does fiction build the morality of individuals and societies, or does it break it down? This controversy has been flaring up — sometimes literally, in the form of book burnings — ever since Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic.

NEWTON - Dan Kennedy will graduate from Boston College on Monday, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the recipient of the school's most prestigious prize, the Edward H. Finnegan Award. Winners of the Finnegan, given to the student who best exemplifies the BC motto, "ever to excel," tend to go big - top grad schools, Wall Street, overseas fellowships. Kennedy is planning to give away his computer, recycle his Blackberry, and move to a modest communal house in St. Paul, Minn.

WASHINGTON -- Nearly one in five Americans speaks a language other than English at home, the Census Bureau says, an increase of nearly 50 percent during the past decade. Most speak Spanish, followed by Chinese, with Russian rising fast. Some 47 million Americans 5 and older used a language other than English in 2000, the bureau said. That translates into the nearly one in five, compared with roughly one in seven 10 years ago. In Massachusetts, 18.7 percent of the state's nearly 6 million people 5 and older, speak a foreign language at home -- less than 1 percent...

Understanding the American consumer society--how we shop, what advertising does to us, why certain stores and products stick and others don't--has become an obsession of economists, marketers, even psychologists. What we consume offers insights into not only the wider culture, but also our own personal values and motives. In today's society, data abound to answer such questions. But there's another way to explore American consumerism: by going through the trash. Americans' buying habits have deep roots, and when it comes to telling the longer story of American consumption, archeology...

WASHINGTON -- Americans are spending everything they're making and more, pushing the national savings rate to the lowest point since the Great Depression. Soaring home prices apparently have convinced people they don't have to worry about saving, a belief that could be seriously tested as 78 million baby boomers begin to retire. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that Americans' personal savings fell into negative territory at minus 0.5 percent last year. That means that people not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or...

Providence is nationally renowned for its superior Italian cuisine, with Federal Hill a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. As it turns out, the burgers aren't so bad either. Using data from its annual "America's Favorite Cities" reader survey issue, Travel and Leisure Magazine found that voters called Providence America's best burger city. Providence also finished No. 2 for overall dining in the survey. Writes Katrina Brown Hunt: "Try the New England Grass-Fed Burger at Local 121 , or swing by Harry's Bar and Burger for 100-percent-Hereford...

Steven Tyler 's bandmates in Aerosmith may have been critical when their frontman joined "American Idol" as a judge in 2010 (remember when Joe Perry said that he didn't want Aerosmith's name involved with the show?), but they've obviously changed their tune. The whole band was in Los Angeles on Wednesday night to perform during the big "Idol" finale, during which contestant Phillip Phillips was named the night's big winner. Aerosmith played "Walk This Way" during the big show, as well as their new single, "Legendary Child.

(Courtesy Asian American Civic Association) Michael Tow, president of the New Boston Financial and member of the Asian Community Development Corporation board of directors; Mary Chin, president of the ACDC board; Monalisa Smith, vice president of Citizens Bank Massachusetts; and Jerry Sargent, president of Citizens Bank Massachusetts pose at the reception. Smith was among the 2012 AACA Community Service Award recipients. By Boston.com The Asian American Civic Association recently hosted its 45th annual gala, raising $225,000 to help the agency...

Six Massachusetts girls' lacrosse players have been named to the Under Armour All-American team. Eighty-eight of the nation's top seniors, boys and girls, have been selected for the sport's highest honor and will play in the seventh annual Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic June 30 at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, MD. Madison Acton (Lincoln-Sudbury, committed to Duke), Bryn Boucher (Thayer Academy, Maryland), Kelsey Duryea (Governor's Academy, Duke)

Among the stock activity stories for Monday, May 21, from AP Business News: — Shares of Avon Products Inc. fell after an analyst said the beauty company will have to step up spending to fix the business as he downgraded the stock. The report comes after smaller beauty rival Coty Inc. dropped its $10.7 billion takeover bid for Avon last week. — Shares of American Eagle Outfitters Inc. climbed after the teen retailer announced plans to exit its children's business and detailed the departure of Chief Financial Officer Joan Hilson.

After attacking Mitt Romney and Bain Capital last week for their dealings with a Missouri steel company, the Obama campaign today is turning to the tale of a closed Indiana office supply company that then-Senator Edward M. Kennedy used to repel Romney in their 1994 race. The saga of SCM Office Supplies Inc. in Marion, Ind., was used by Kennedy in television ads and campaign trail appearances by SCM workers to undercut Romney as he mounted the most serious reelection challenge of Kennedy's career.

WITH OUR music teacher, Mrs. Feigenbaum, at the piano playing the melody - the Toreador's Song from the opera "Carmen" - and the lyrics handed out to us on mimeographed pages, my fourth-grade classmates and I practiced one of the songs we were learning for our school's Thanksgiving assembly: Thanksgiving Day comes once each year Our president proclaims it far and near. Thankful for the bounty of our land, The harvest that makes this nation grand, Bestowed us from above, God bless this land, This precious land we love.

SAN FRANCISCO - One putt changed everything except the lead yesterday in the Presidents Cup. The Americans were poised to seize control in the opening session of foursomes at Harding Park, already assured of the lead and on the verge of winning the final match for a two-point advantage. Justin Leonard had a 3-foot birdie putt to win - a putt he first thought had been conceded - and was stunned when the putt caught the right edge of the cup and spun away. The match was halved, and the Americans had to settle for a 3 1/2-2 1/2 advantage.