Newser Premium News Archive Index
Newser Stories from March, 2007

Within this archive you´ll find more than 1.5 million premium articles from our content partner, Highbeam Research, dating from as far back as 1984. These pages provide a deep news history of the last three decades along with more current related Newser articles.

Premium news related to Chocolate Christ Show Cancelled
Associated Press | Mar 31, 07 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - A  nude chocolate Christ, sans loincloth, was pulled from a midtown Manhattan gallery yesterday after torrent of complaints from offended Catholics . Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, which orchestrated the protest, said the sculpture, intended for display during Holy Week,  was "one of the worst assaults on Christian...

Premium news related to Former Giuliani Partner Faces Felony Charges
Washington Post | Mar 31, 07 4:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bernie Kerik is about to embarrass his former pal and partner Rudy Giuliani again. Federal prosecutors say they will charge Kerik with with several felonies in connection with the same problems that sank his nomination for secretary of Homeland Security in 2004.

Premium news related to Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months
Associated Press | Mar 31, 07 11:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Australian terror suspect David Hicks will serve just nine months more in detention, the AP reports, despite receiving a seven-year sentence from a military tribunal at Guantánamo yesterday. In an extraordinary plea deal, the rest of the sentence was suspended in exchange for his silence about his treatment during his five years in detention,...

Premium news related to Jesse Backs Barack
Associated Press | Mar 30, 07 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jesse's backing Barack, despite his long friendship with the Clintons, the civil rights veteran told the AP yesterday.  "He's got my vote,"  Jackson said, dismissing suggestions that he might feel obligated to support Hillary. "It's not awkward at all," he said, adding, "I don't owe a debt to any of them."

Premium news related to U.N.'s Worthless If It Can't Get Tough on Iran
Los Angeles Times | Mar 30, 07 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iran's taking hostages, and the the United Nations is merely "gravely concerned"? Two U.N. lawyers, writing in the LA Times, are disgusted. "The international community's failure to show immediate outrage at Iran's action is deafening," say David Rivkin and Lee Casey. "Ancient legal principles governing how states make war...

Premium news related to Brit, K-Fed, Settle Their Split
MTV | Mar 30, 07 12:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Britney Spears and Kevin Federline settled their long-impending divorce  last night, reports MTV, after five hours of hashing it out with their lawyers. The fresh-from rehab pop star and her would-be rapper hubby setttled "all issues of their marriage and child custody" his lawyer said.

Premium news related to They're Lucky They're Not in Guantánamo
Guardian (UK) | Mar 30, 07 11:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iran's British captives may be embarrassed and anxious, but they  appear to be better off than many detainees in American and British hands, observes novelist Ronan Bennett. "They have not been hung from a forklift truck and photographed for the amusement of their captors. They have not had electrodes attached to their genitals or been set...

Premium news related to FDA Panel Passes First Cancer Vaccine
New York Times | Mar 30, 07 11:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A cancer drug that's the first to harness the body's immune system to destroy tumors got a thumbs-up from  the FDA's advisory panel, the New York Times reports. If approved, Provenge, a prostate cancer treatment, would be the first of the "cancer vaccines"—experimental therapies that commandeer a patient's own white blood cells...

Premium news related to Condom-Hating Health Official Steps Down
Boston Globe | Mar 30, 07 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bush's top family planning official resigned unexpectedly yesterday, on the heels of a legal action against him in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports. The lawsuit  initiated by Medicaid  targets Dr. Eric Keroack's private practice in Marblehead. Abortion rights groups protested his appointment five months ago, claiming he opposed birth...

Premium news related to Illegal Immigrants Flee LA
Economist | Mar 30, 07 8:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Illegal immigrants are draining out of the Hispanic neighborhoods of LA and into  Republican suburbs like San Bernadino, which hold the allure of jobs, but little hospitality.  In a detailed study of the demographic shift, the Economist calls them  them the "canaries in the economic coal mine, sensitive to the slightest changes...

Premium news related to NYC Pays Kids To Go to School
New York Times | Mar 30, 07 8:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Forget gold stars: poor New York City kids who attend class regularly or improve grades will get cash rewards. Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells the New York Times the program, which could net a low-income family up to $5,000 a year, is akin to sales bonuses in the private sector.

Premium news related to Justice Dept. Aide Ties Rove to Firings
Washington Post | Mar 30, 07 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales was more deeply involved in the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys  than he has admitted, and Karl Rove had a direct role in the firings, according to dramatic testimony by the attorney general's former chief of staff yeasterday, reports the Washington Post. Kyle Sampson claimed he briefed his boss at least five times on the prosecutor...

Premium news related to British Captives Standoff Stiffens
Los Angeles Times | Mar 30, 07 7:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - London and Tehran and ratcheted up the rhetoric over the 15 British soldiers being held captive in Iran yesterday, the LA Times reports: Britain got the UN Security Council to issue a statement of "grave concern," while Tehran released more video of sailors professing guilt and issued charts and satellite readings to prove UK ships crossed...

Premium news related to Twins Found to Be "Semi-identical"
Time | Mar 30, 07 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new kind of twin has been discovered, neither strictly identical nor fraternal. Now toddlers, the babies look identical but one is anatomically male while the other has ambiguous genitalia. Genetic tests show the children are identical on their mother's side but share only half their father's DNA.

Premium news related to Phelps Wins Fourth Gold, Third Record
Associated Press | Mar 29, 07 5:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal and his third world record at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne today, this time in the 200-meter individual medley. At  1:54.98, Phelps was .86 seconds under than the old record -- also his.

Premium news related to Karl Rove Finds His Inner Eminem
Politico | Mar 29, 07 12:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - White House codger-in-residence Karl Rove debuted his hip-hop alter ego, "MC Rove," at last night's correspondents dinner, the Politico reports. Bush's embattled adviser shouted "I'm MC Rove" at comedian-appointed intervals, pretending gamely to have a sense of humor (and any idea how to win the black vote) as David Gregory and...

Premium news related to Whew! Mills Survives Week One
USA Today | Mar 29, 07 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Disabled Dancing With the Stars contestant and tabloid target Heather Mills (formerly Ms McCartney) says her one leg "turned to jelly" when she realized she was staying for another week on the show. Mills writes about her experience for USA Today , talking up her designated charities (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, anyone?)...

Premium news related to Idol Boots Curly-Haired Christian
People | Mar 29, 07 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Crimped contestant Chris Sligh was voted off this season's American Idol last night, just minutes after Simon Cowell predicted that it would be, "Bye-bye-curly." Sligh was known for being clever, chubby, and Christian—as well as his shock-mop curls. Saved from elimination was improbable teen hearthrob Sanjaya Malakar, memorable for...

Premium news related to Beijing Ban Spurs Organ Shortage
Der Spiegel | Mar 29, 07 11:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - South Korea has a kidney shortage, and the Beijing Olympics are to blame, Der Spiegel reports. China, attempting to clean up its human rights reputation in preparation the 2008 games, has banned organ trafficking and cut down on the state executions that used to create supply. Now countries that used to rely on this most controversial of Chinese exports...

Premium news related to UN Urges Mass Circumcision
Guardian (UK) | Mar 29, 07 11:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mass circumcision should be urged in AIDS-devastated regions to cut infection rates, the UN said yesterday. With trials demonstrating that circumcised men are 60% less likely to contract HIV, such programs could prevent 5.7 million new HIV cases in the next two decades, the Guardian reports.

Premium news related to Modified Corn Could Be Killing The Bees
Salon | Mar 29, 07 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Genetically modified corn is the culprit in the disappearance of honeybees, according to a theory offered by a beekeeping expert, says Salon.  In a German study, the corn itself, which contains built-in pesticides, didn't kill the bees, but it seems to have damaged their intestines, making them vulnerable to parasites.

Premium news related to Iraqis Flee on the "Highway From Hell"
Der Spiegel | Mar 29, 07 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Every day, more than a thousand Iraqis risk their lives on a nightmarish journey from Baghdad to crowded, chaotic border crossings into Syria. Ambushes, murders, roadside bombs and kidnappings are common hazards along the 340-mile road   "Highway From Hell."

Premium news related to Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal
New York Times | Mar 29, 07 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia fired a warning shot at the Bush administration yesterday, calling Iraq “an illegal foreign occupation” and urging Arab leaders to unite to prevent U.S. domination of the region.  The Saudis "are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their allies rather than imposing decisions on them,” Middle...

Premium news related to Bernanke Keeps Interest Rate Steady
Wall Street Journal | Mar 29, 07 8:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - With inflation creeping up, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will keep interest rates steady—at least for now, reports the Wall Street Journal. Soft business investment and weakening housing are becoming serious risks, but the long-term outlook is good, Bernanke told Congress yesterday. "The current stance of monetary policy is likely to foster...

Premium news related to Germans Spy on Scientologists
Der Spiegel | Mar 29, 07 8:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Celeb church-of-choice Scientology is under surveillance from German intelligence officials, alarmed at the recent opening of its new chapel in Berlin, just blocks from the Reichstag. Leaders' phones have been tapped. "This is a dangerous group… that wants to break the will of each of its members. That's why we have to take massive counter-action,”...

Premium news related to Ian Paisley Does the Unthinkable
Philadelphia Inquirer | Mar 28, 07 7:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - "Watching this stooped white-haired man reverse a lifetime's course made one feel that change might be possible in other intractable situations," writes Trudy Rubin of Ian Paisley's meeting with Gerry Adams to agree on power sharing in Northern Ireland. The "other situation" Rubin has in mind is  for the Middle East.

Premium news related to Iran Promises Female Soldier's Release
New York Times | Mar 28, 07 6:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iran promised to release by Friday the female sailor captured along with 15 men in a British patrol boat last week. England stepped up pressure to free  the soldiers by cutting off "bilateral business" and publicizing secret documents which mark its boat nearly two miles from Iranian waters at the time of its capture.

Premium news related to Phelps Shatters Butterfly Record
Associated Press | Mar 28, 07 5:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Phelps set another record at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne today, becoming the first man to break the 1:53 barrier in the 200-meter butterfly, and producing the biggest time drop in the event in 48 years. "I feel like a 12-year-old," the 21-year-old said," being able to drop more than a second off my best time."

Premium news related to Urbina Gets 14 Years
ESPN | Mar 28, 07 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - All-star pitcher Ugueth Urbina, who's been in a Venezuelan jail for a year and a half awaiting trial for attempted murder,  has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years. He was also found guilty of illegal deprivation of liberty and unlawfully taking justice into his own hands in a violent incident involving five workers on his ranch in Venezuela....

Premium news related to San Francisco Bans Plastic Grocery Bags
San Francisco Chronicle | Mar 28, 07 1:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Plastic bags are history in San Francisco's large grocery and drug stores, after the city's board of supervisors adopted the country's first ban on petroleum-based bags yesterday. The ubiquitous bags don't biodegrade, clog recycling machines, clutter landfills, catch in trees and can injure or poison marine life.

Premium news related to Brits Prove Captured Sailors Were in Iraqi Waters
Guardian (UK) | Mar 28, 07 8:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - The 15 British sailors captured by Iran last week were inside Iraqi waters, British evidence released today shows. The craft's GPS system put it 1.7 nautical miles outside Iranian territory, which a British military helicopter confirms. The Iranian government revised its own version of the location Monday, when its original estimate turned out to be...

Premium news related to Bill Would Put Ba'athists Back in Power
Guardian (UK) | Mar 28, 07 8:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ba'athists will be allowed back in government posts if a bill proposed yesterday, aimed at  reconciling dissident Sunnis with the Shiite-dominated government, passes the Iraqi parliament.  The U.S has been pushing for the law to law to woo the former Saddam loyalists —mostly Sunnis— into the political process to quell Sunni insurgency.

Premium news related to Red Meat May Harm Sons' Sperm
BBC | Mar 28, 07 8:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Men whose mothers ate a lot of beef during pregnancy have lower sperm counts, finds a study attempting to track the effect of growth hormones fed to cattle. While the specific chemicals weren't identified, sons of pregnant women who ate beef more than seven times a week were three times as likely to have sperm counts below the fertility threshold.

Premium news related to Tony Snow's Cancer Recurs
Washington Post | Mar 28, 07 7:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - White House press secretary Tony Snow has cancer again, and this time it's spread to his liver. Doctors discovered the recurrence when they removed a  growth from his lower abdomen yesterday. Snow, who's 51, underwent surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer two years ago.

Premium news related to Senate Backs Troop Pullout Timetable
Washington Post | Mar 28, 07 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats in the Senate  pulled off a surprise victory yesterday in their bid to force President Bush to bring troops home from Iraq—deflecting a GOP effort to kill the troop withdrawal plan. The Democrats’ proposal sets a March 2008 deadline for ending the conflict and is folded into a must-pass $122 billion package to fund the war....

Premium news related to Wall Street Tigers Bearish on Stocks
MarketWatch | Mar 28, 07 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tiger 21—the elite investment club whose members have at least $10 million each — is moving away from stocks and into alternatives like hedge funds and private equity instruments. Michael Sonnenfeldt, Tiger 21 founder, reports that assets in stocks are down 10 percent from last year, based on members' growing worries about instability in...

Premium news related to Pakistan Deserves Democracy
New York Times | Mar 27, 07 3:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Pakistani novelist who's seen many benefits from Musharraf's rule concludes that it's time for the embattled leader to go. "By prolonging his rule, the general risks taking Pakistan backward and undermining much of the considerable good that he has been able to achieve," writes Mohsin Hamid. 

Premium news related to Innocent Customers Caught in Terrorist Dragnet
Washington Post | Mar 27, 07 1:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hassans, Muhammeds, and other men with Arabic-sounding names  are being turned away when they try to buy cars, homes, and even exercise equipment. Responding to post-9/11 requirements to screen customers against terrorist lists, companies are turning down buyers with even partial name matches rather than risk stiff fines and prison time.

Premium news related to War Games Should Include Media, Civilians
Los Angeles Times | Mar 27, 07 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Modern warfare calls for modern war games, and that means the players can't be just armies and navies, but also civilians, the media, and the international community. Gary Anderson, the Marines' first director of war gaming, writes that victory in post-Cold War combat is no  longer determined by battlefield fighters, but by the perceptions of...

Premium news related to New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram
Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 27, 07 12:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new type of breast scan promises to pick up the tumors mammograms often miss and to distinguish between benign and malignant masses—without surgery. The technology relies on harmless near-infrared light to illuminate the masses, which glow when exposed to a particular chemical combination.

Premium news related to Sadr City Safest Spot in Baghdad
Washington Post | Mar 27, 07 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Six weeks into the surge the vast Baghdad slum called Sadr City is the safest and best-run part of  the city—but not because of the stepped-up efforts on the part of government forces.  Moqtada al-Sadr is said to be somewhere in Iran, but his representatives run hospitals, school, courts, police, and mosques.

Premium news related to U.K. Nurses Enter Abortion Battleground
Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 27, 07 12:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Specially trained nurses should be allowed to perform early-term surgical abortions without a doctor present, two U.K. medicos are arguing, based on a "wide interpretation" of Britain's 1967 Abortion Act. Though British nurses are currently allowed to carry out drug-induced abortions, they have been barred up to now from running surgical...

Premium news related to Irish Rivals Unite for Self-Rule
Irish Times (Ireland) | Mar 27, 07 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sat down together yesterday and agreed  to a power sharing deal for Northern Ireland that would include their rival parties. A British deadline to disband the national assembly if a pact wasn't forthcoming jump-started the negotiations, after four years of stalled talks.  The coalition government will be formed...

Premium news related to HGH Isn't Worth the Hysteria
Slate | Mar 27, 07 11:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Crusaders against performance enhancing drugs should lighten up about Human Growth Hormone: In the sports version of the war on drugs, anabolic steroids are heroin and HGH is marijuana, writes Daniel Engber. Studies haven't shown any definitive increase in athletic abilities resulting from taking HGH, and they have minimal harmful side effects.

Premium news related to Bush Is Worse Than a Lame Duck
Financial Times (UK) | Mar 27, 07 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The FT catalogs a litany of the obstacles for President Bush achieving anything meaningful in his last 22 months in office. At the core of it all is the Iraq war, which has reduced Bush’s popularity to the point where he has no more political capital to spend.

Premium news related to Stents Show No Lasting Benefit In Heart Study
Los Angeles Times | Mar 27, 07 8:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stents used to open arteries are no more useful than conventional drug treatment for patients who haven't yet had a heart attack, a new study reveals. In more than 2,000 patients over five years, those who had surgery suffered the same number of heart attacks, strokes, and deaths as those received only drugs.

Premium news related to Records Reveal Hawkish Hillary
New Republic | Mar 27, 07 7:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hillary  may be more hawkish than liberal supporters realize, Michael Crowley concludes after a lengthy look at the senator's history . Many assume she supported the Iraq war to look tough and won’t back down to avoid the label of flip-flopper. But long before 9/11, she was scornful of those who support  military action only in easily...

Premium news related to Endangered Species May Get Bush Brush-Off
Salon | Mar 27, 07 7:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Bush administration is quietly rewriting the rules on enforcing the Endangered Species Act, drafting changes that some environmentalists say will fatally weaken protections for threatened wildlife. A 117-page internal proposal obtained by Salon would limit which animals could be effectively protected, cut back on the size of habitats preserved,...

Premium news related to Gitmo Detainee Pleads Guilty
New York Times | Mar 27, 07 6:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - David Hicks became the first person convicted under President Bush's much-maligned military tribunal system after entering a surprise guilty plea  to charges of providing material support to terrorists. The contentious proceedings may prove a new source of controversy, however, as the judge excluded Hicks' stwo civilian lawyers from court and...

Premium news related to Monday Night Football Gets Face Lift
ESPN | Mar 26, 07 11:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Monday Night Football will swap one former NFL quarterback–turned–ESPN analyst for another this season when Ron Jaworski steps in for Joe Theismann. The network is looking to freshen up its hit show—cable's most-watched ever—which recently finished its first season on ESPN after more than three decades on CBS.

Premium news related to Novak: Bush Is Alone On Gonzales
Washington Post | Mar 26, 07 8:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - There is virtually no support on Capitol Hill for the president's wish to save Alberto Gonzales, who is even more disliked than Rumsfeld was, Robert Novak wrote today. "In half a century, I have not seen a president so isolated from his own party in Congress.  Not Jimmy Carter, not even Richard Nixon as he faced impeachment."

Premium news related to IT WAS AN OVERDOSE
CNN | Mar 26, 07 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Anna Nicole overdosed on prescription painkillers and sleeping meds, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Smith reported today, calling the death accidental. There were nine different drugs in her system at the time of her death, including three antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs—methadone, Lexapro and Zoloft.

Premium news related to Techies Click With Obama
Wall Street Journal | Mar 26, 07 12:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Silicon Valley techies are forsaking  Hillary for Barack—and among the defectors are some of Bill's biggest fundraisers. Obama's is grabbing particular notice among the young and newly wealthy, with deep pockets and little political experience. "In the lexicon of high tech, Barack Obama is the next-generation solution," says one...

Premium news related to Klein: War on Terror Has Hurt Israel
Time | Mar 26, 07 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - "As a Jew, I am embarrassed by the role that so many prominent Jews have had in empowering the enemy," Joe Klein writes in a blog from Jerusalem, noting the number of neoconservatives in the Bush  war machine who had close ties to the Israeli government. Klein says the War on Terror they helped craft has  made Israel less secure.

Premium news related to Sunni Baghdad Lies in Ruins as Shiites Rebuild
New York Times | Mar 26, 07 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Baghdad's Sunni neighborhoods are in collapse, lacking food, fuel,  electricity and health care even as their Shiite neighbors have regained basic services, Alissa Rubin reports. In Shiite areas, the Mahdi Army fills in for the government by keeping order and organizing resources, but Sunnis now find themselves under attack both from Shiite forces...

Premium news related to Lexus Reaches for Luxury Cachet
Wall Street Journal | Mar 26, 07 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stodgy luxury standby Lexus is trying to trade up to the hot "prestige luxury" market with a new line of $70,000 and up automobiles.  Along with the new models comes a massive rebranding effort that aims, says a  marketing manager, to get "Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and Lexus all mentioned in the same breath." 

Premium news related to Novelist Gives Away Movie Rights
Salon | Mar 26, 07 11:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jonathan Lethem is giving away the film option and, eventually, all ancillary rights to his new novel, "You Don't Love Me Yet," publicly grappling with issues of intellectual property and copyright law. "What I'm seeking to explore is that incredibly fertile middle ground where people control some rights," he says, "and yet...

Premium news related to Day Care Kids Learn to Act Up
New York Times | Mar 26, 07 10:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Day care centers enlarge kids' vocabularies--and teach them how to act up, too, says a study that’s followed 1,300 children from birth through 6th grade. Although parental guidance and genes were the strongest predictor of behavior, who attended day care as preschoolers were slightly more likely to be disruptive in school—and the more time...

Premium news related to Implant Tricks Brain To Lower Blood Pressure
Los Angeles Times | Mar 26, 07 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A pacemaker-like implant that relies on small electrical shocks may cut the risk of heart attack and stroke in half for patients with drug-resistant hypertension, a new study shows. The device, which sends electrical shocks through the neck's carotid arteries, tricks the brain into thinking blood pressure is even higher than it is—and the body...

Premium news related to Insurers Fighting Claims of Elderly
New York Times | Mar 26, 07 10:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Elderly patients who bought long-term care policies are finding their claims denied by companies calculating that they don’t have the resources or the energy to fight and are likely to die before their cases are settled. An investigation by Charles Duhigg identifies insurance companies that reject coverage for the aged and infirm at a much higher...

Premium news related to Playwright Finds Times Arrogant on Al Gore
Huffington Post | Mar 26, 07 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Al Gore is having an astonishing political second act, leading the charge to save the planet, but the supercilious writers at the New York Times can't resist condescending to him, observes playwright Jon Robin Baitz,  doing a little reverse reviewing in his blog. The Times , he argues, displays its "allergy to earnestness"  in...

Premium news related to Ballooning Terror Database Spawns Errors
Washington Post | Mar 26, 07 9:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US list of suspected terrorists has ballooned to 435,000 names, and upkeep is so poor that once you're on it, it's virtually impossible to get off. The size alone  threatens to overwhelm those responsible for its upkeep, reports Karen DeYoung creating  concerns about secrecy, errors and privacy.

Premium news related to Army Uses Injured to Inflate Manpower
Salon | Mar 26, 07 9:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Army sent  soldiers recovering from injuries—some still on crutches—to a desert training center in California, in an apparent attempt to pad manpower statistics. Witnesses describe tents at Fort Irwin packed with soldiers in no shape to train, or even to walk, but counted by the Pentagon as evidence of US battle-readiness. Some,...

Premium news related to Chic Pups Are Channeling Nic and Leo
Guardian (UK) | Mar 26, 07 9:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Knock-offs of Academy Awards gowns—always a brisk business—now come in even-smaller sizes:  An L.A. company has released a new line of Oscar duds for dogs, from Nicole Kidman's red Balenciaga  to Leonardo DiCaprio's Armani tux. Little Lily's, which has been dressing posh pooches since 2002, has already sold out its "Red Carpet...

Premium news related to Blair Blasts Seizure of British Patrol
Guardian (UK) | Mar 26, 07 8:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tony Blair is furious over Iran's capture of 15 sailors and Marines, but so far, diplomatic efforts have not even yielded where they are being held. “I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us,”   Blair sputtered at a European summit, calling the seizure "unjustified and wrong."

Premium news related to Sloan Reviews the Blackstone IPO Filing
MSNBC | Mar 26, 07 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) -  The IPO filing for the notoriously secretive Blackstone Group wasn't the tell-all Wall Street watchers had hoped for, says Newsweek’s Wall Street editor Allan Sloan, who searched in vain for how big a stake is held by the private equity partnership's  two Mr. Bigs, Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, and how much they and their partners...

Premium news related to Texans Release Carr, Williams
Associated Press | Mar 25, 07 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Houston Texans released their two best-known players today, quarterback David Carr and running back Domanick Williams (formerly Davis), after years of disappointing performances.

Premium news related to Kobe Joins Wilt With Four 50-Pointers
Associated Press | Mar 25, 07 5:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Kobe Bryant’s 50 points Friday night versus the New Orleans Hornets moved the three-time NBA Champion into elite company: Wilt Chamberlain is the only other player to score at least 50 points in at least four consecutive games.

Premium news related to Texans Acquire Schaub for Draft Picks
ESPN | Mar 25, 07 5:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former second-string Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Schaub will earn up to $48 million as starting quarterback for the Houston Texans the next six seasons. The Texans, meanwhile, are looking to shop David Carr, who had been the team's starter. In five years, Carr's QB rating was 75.5, and he threw 65 interceptions to just 59 touchdown passes.

Premium news related to Burping Pill Cools Global Warming
Guardian (UK) | Mar 23, 07 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Who knew that bovine burping was a major source of methane gas and hence global warming? German scientists, that's who, and they've come up with a fist-sized pill to reduce it, along with the 4% of greenhouse gas emissions for which it is responsible.