Newser Story Index from July, 2007
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
Iran's Jews Snub Israel's Offer of Cash for Emigration
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 13, 2007 5:07 PM CDT
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Iran's Jews collectively rebuffed a $10K-per-person cash offer from Israel seeking their emigration, extended by a group of wealthy expats. "The identity of Iranian Jews is not tradable for any amount of money," says the spokesman for the country's Jews.
Teens Having Safer Sex, Fewer Babies
Associated Press
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Jul 13, 2007 4:55 PM CDT
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High school students are having less sex than kids in the past, and more are using condoms. The teen birth rate is at an all-time low, and the proportion of teens completing high school is up. A new federal report looks at the condition of Americans under 18 and finds a number of bright spots—and areas that need work.
The Computer Virus Turns 25
Salon
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Jul 13, 2007 4:52 PM CDT
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A long time ago (1982), in a galaxy not so far, far away, Rich Skrenta, then a clever 9th grader, invented what may have been the first computer virus—Elk Cloner. It was, by current standards, a benign virus that Skrenta installed on his school computer, so that every time one of his fellow students copied a floppy disk, some doggerel from Skrenta...
Germany Weighs Civil Liberties Against Security
New York Times
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Jul 13, 2007 4:23 PM CDT
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Sensing a growing threat from Islamic terrorists, Germany's top security official is pushing for new measures to monitor suspects and deal with attacks, the Times reports. But the interior minister's moves have ignited a firestorm of controversy in a country overly familiar with authoritarian rule. Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed limited support...
Dems Raise Big Bucks Online
New York Times
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Jul 13, 2007 4:00 PM CDT
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The three leading Democrats in the presidential race have raised more than twice as much money online as the three leading Republicans, the Times reports. For the first 6 months of the year, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards combined to top $28 million, against $14 million for Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney.
Miss New Jersey Survives Racy Photo Furor
New York Post
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Jul 13, 2007 3:22 PM CDT
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Miss New Jersey can keep her tiara, say pageant officials who ruled unanimously that risqué photos of the beauty queen leaked from her Facebook page aren't that bad. The images, which Amy Polumbo revealed on the Today Show yesterday, contained no nudity or underage drinking, but did show Polumbo in some mildly suggestive positions.
Fired TV Anchor Was Conferring With Cops
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 13, 2007 3:11 PM CDT
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Ousted Chicago TV reporter Amy Jacobson may not have been fired just because she appeared in a bikini at the pool party of a man she was covering, the Chicago Tribune reports. Jacobson was feeding cops information, without telling her bosses, about her interviews with Craig Stebic, now under suspicion by police in the disappearance of his wife.
Formula One Ditches Indianapolis
Indianapolis Star
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Jul 13, 2007 3:06 PM CDT
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Formula One racing will not return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year. The final negotiation deadline for sanctioning fees came and went yesterday without an agreement, the Indianapolis Star reports, and both sides announced that they were nowhere near a final contract. The decision leaves the United States without a single F1 race.
Sales of Morning-After Pill Double
Washington Post
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Jul 13, 2007 2:42 PM CDT
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Nearly a year after Plan B became available over the counter, sales of the emergency contraception have doubled, the Washington Post reports. Since the FDA approved nonprescription access to the morning-after pill, sales for 2007 are on track to approach $80 million, the manufacturer says. Proponents laud the trend, but conservative groups continue...
Typhoon Drowns Southern Japan
ABC News (Australia)
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Jul 13, 2007 1:38 PM CDT
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A massive typhoon is pummeling the Japanese island of Okinawa, stirring up 40 foot waves and 150mph winds which are overturning trucks and ripping trees from the ground. Super typhoon Man-yi has injured at least 17 people and cut the electricity to nearly 100,000 homes. "This is one of the biggest typhoons we've experienced in Okinawa," says...
Lebanese Assault on Refugee Camp Intensifies
Associated Press
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Jul 13, 2007 1:34 PM CDT
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Lebanon is denying that its latest round of strikes on a Palestinian refugee camp constitute the final showdown with militants holed up inside, the AP reports. Militants in the densely packed warren of buildings exchanged heavy fire with the army encircling them today and shot nine rockets into nearby villages, orange groves and vineyards.
Fla. Governor Joins Green Revolution
Economist
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Jul 13, 2007 12:12 PM CDT
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Florida governor Charlie Crist is taking the green revolution farther down the road traveled in California, with an executive order setting the nation's toughest emission standards. Highly vulnerable to climate change, the fourth largest state will catalyze legal, business and attitude shifts throughout the country, says the Economist .
Steroids Case Leaker Draws 2½ Years
Associated Press
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Jul 13, 2007 11:38 AM CDT
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A lawyer who allowed reporters access to transcripts of confidential testimony about steroid use in baseball was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday. The penalty is the most serious yet to stem from the government's intensive performance-enhancing drug investigation.
Black Convicted of Fraud
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 13, 2007 11:11 AM CDT
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A federal jury convicted British Lord and former media baron Conrad Black on three counts of fraud and one of obstruction of justice today. Black dodged a racketeering charge, while three associates on trial with him were convicted of multiple fraud counts after 12 days of deliberation.
Blackstone Partners Profit on IPO Taxes
New York Times
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Jul 13, 2007 10:54 AM CDT
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The Blackstone Group's partners have expertly negotiated a labyrinth of loopholes to dodge taxes on $3.7 billion they raised with an IPO last month, the Times reports. The maneuver comes as congress discusses what to tax private equity managers, but analysts say the rate debate misses the point; firms are just too good at dancing through the tax...
Bush Contorts Qaeda Threat, Critics Charge
New York Times
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Jul 13, 2007 10:23 AM CDT
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With George Bush using the words "al Qaeda" more than 30 times in his speech on Iraq yesterday, critics charge that he's persistently distorting links between the global Al Qaeda organization and the Iraqi insurgency. The Al Qaeda faction fighting in Iraq is largely an independent Iraqi phenomenon, the New York Times reports, and its links...
North Korea Seeks Military Talks With US
Voice of America
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Jul 13, 2007 10:11 AM CDT
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On the eve of the arrival of UN observers monitoring the shutdown of its main nuclear plant, North Korea today appealed for direct military talks with the US. But Washington insists that the elimination of Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program takes precedence, the Voice of America reports, and a South Korean expert says he's concerned that the request...
Trucker Implicated in Six Murders
Tennessean
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Jul 13, 2007 9:39 AM CDT
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A 56-year-old father of two has been implicated in the murders of six people along his southern truck route, the AP reports. Bruce Mendenhall was picked up in Nashville yesterday while circling the scene of a killing last month. Police officers noticed that his bright yellow truck matched the description of a vehicle seen the night before a young woman's...
Husband Is Suspect in Disappearance
Associated Press
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Jul 13, 2007 9:20 AM CDT
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Police named a suburban Chicago man a “person of interest” yesterday in the disappearance of his estranged wife, citing his lack of cooperation and their fears of foul play. Craig Stebic, who reported last seeing his wife on April 30, twice refused to let investigators talk to their children and “offered only minimal assistance to...
Trauma Patients Control Memory With Minds
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 13, 2007 9:02 AM CDT
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Suppressing memories may be as simple as deciding not to think about them, scientists say, offering hope to survivors of traumatic events. Researchers say the findings in a report out today could lead to new treatments for PTSD by offering patients a measure of control over their recollection of disturbing experiences, the LA Times reports.
Butterfly Evolves in Blink of Eye
BBC
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Jul 13, 2007 8:20 AM CDT
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One of the fastest evolutionary changes ever observed has been witnessed by scientists studying butterflies in the South Pacific, the BBC reports. Blue Moon butterflies managed to fight off a deadly parasitic bacteria by developing suppressor genes to fight the bacteria in just six years. Hard-hit males rebounded from 1% of the population to 40% in...
Mexico Eyes Carlos Slim's Stupendous Wealth
Time
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Jul 13, 2007 7:55 AM CDT
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With Mexican media baron Carlos Slim now the world's richest man, superseding Bill Gates, Mexican regulators are launching an investigation into whether the virtual monopolies that have made him worth $67 billion in a dizzyingly short time are illegal. Two of his companies—Telemex and Movil—control about 90% of the nation's landlines...
MJ's Other Legacy on the Line
Yahoo
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Jul 13, 2007 7:44 AM CDT
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With the league's lowest salary and a depleted front office, the Bobcats' Michael Jordan has made bold moves this summer, all part of an effort to revive an executive career marked by missteps and rivals' schadenfreude. Charlotte shook off its reputation for stocking up on young, low-earning players to take on a proven scorer and marquee player in...
Iraqis Go on Alert as Mammoth Badgers Stalk City
Yahoo
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Jul 13, 2007 7:02 AM CDT
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Badgers have invaded Basra, Iraq, spurring fears of a man-eating monster on the loose in the port city. Despite Iraqi scientists' assurances that the creatures are not dangerous to humans, locals demonize the oversized carnivores and blame British troops for for unleashing them. The badgers "don't stalk humans and carry them back to their lair,"...
Commutation Order Baffles Libby Judge
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 13, 2007 6:42 AM CDT
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The federal judge who sentenced Scooter Libby to 30 months in prison expressed his frustration with President Bush's commutation order yesterday, pointing out that the administration had championed the sentencing guidelines he followed. Reggie Walton, a Bush appointee with a lock-'em-up reputation, vented in a footnote to an order that Libby to serve...
$600 Coffee 'Processed' by Civets
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 13, 2007 5:49 AM CDT
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Move over, Starbucks. Hyper coffee connoisseurs are coughing up $600 for a pound of the world's priciest coffee, a blend plucked from the droppings of a civet, a small Indonesian mammal that forages for fresh coffee beans. Fans describe the taste of kopi luwak as earthy, with a note of rich, dark chocolate, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Improved Deficit Can't Last
Christian Science Monitor
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Jul 13, 2007 5:24 AM CDT
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The federal deficit is falling: The OMB yesterday predicted a $205 billion deficit for 2007, down from last year and half of what it was at the peak in 2004 . But the fiscal good news is not likely to last, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The OMB also predicts the deficit will rise again in 2008 to $258 billion.
Swiss Neighbors Demand End to Assisted Death
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 13, 2007 5:24 AM CDT
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Neighbors of an organization that has become the center of Switzerland's "assisted suicide tourism" have demanded an end to the deaths in their housing complex, the Guardian reports. Residents complain about the stream of ambulances and bodies that have disturbed their sleep for 9 years as some 700 people have committed suicide with the...
A-Rod to Yanks: We'll Negotiate After Season
ESPN
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Jul 13, 2007 5:00 AM CDT
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Alex Rodriguez told the Yankees yesterday he's not ready to negotiate a contract extension, a day after the Yankees broke from tradition and said they'd be open to talks before the season ends. A-Rod has 3 1/2 seasons left on his record $252 million contract, but can opt out at season's end.
'I'm Not Anti- Gay,' Says Would-Be Surgeon General
Washington Post
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Jul 13, 2007 4:50 AM CDT
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Despite arguing in a paper that homosexual sex is unnatural and a health risk, President Bush's nominee for surgeon general testified yesterday before a senate committee that he is not anti-gay. Kentucky cardiologist James W. Holsinger Jr. admitted his 1991 paper for the United Methodist Church was not scientific and that much of the thinking is outdated.
Fellow Airline Passengers Sue TB Lawyer
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Jul 13, 2007 4:37 AM CDT
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Nine airline passengers are suing the Atlanta lawyer infected with a rare TB strain who flew to Europe for his wedding despite CDC warnings not to travel. The $1.3 million suit filed in Montreal claims Andrew Speaker recklessly exposed them to a deadly disease. The passengers, seven Canadians and two from the Czech Republic, flew from Prague to Montreal...
BBC Grovels Over Royal Tantrum
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 13, 2007 4:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
BBC television has offered a groveling apology to Queen Elizabeth for making it appear she threw a royal tantrum with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, the Guardian reports. Producers edited video clips—implying the Queen stormed out of a photo shoot—to promote a documentary. She was actually hurrying to the shoot. The clip was...
Top Tour de France Rider Hurt in Crash
Sports Illustrated
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Jul 13, 2007 4:34 AM CDT
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The rider considered by many the favorite in this year's Tour de France crashed hard yesterday, dropping him from 12th place to 81st and seriously threatening what could be his last shot at winning. Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov, his knees bloodied, managed to cross the finish line of the113-mile fifth stage of the race and was taken to a hospital...
Judge Orders Parenting Class for Urlacher
Chicago Sun-Times
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Jul 13, 2007 4:24 AM CDT
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After hearing both parties in a heated custody battle, a judge ordered the case suspended until Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher and his wife, former exotic dancer Tyna Robertson, both take parenting classes. Robertson had accused Urlacher of scheduling their son Kennedy's visits at difficult times for her.
Miers May Face Contempt
Washington Post
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Jul 12, 2007 5:37 PM CDT
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In a 7-5 vote, a House panel found that former White House counsel Harriet Miers was out of order when she rebuffed a subpoena calling for her to testify about her involvement in the US attorney firings last year. Miers declined to appear before the Judiciary Committee under orders from President Bush. The panel also found that the President's...
World's Tallest Man Weds, But Wife Doesn't Measure Up
Reuters
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Jul 12, 2007 5:26 PM CDT
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A 7-foot, 9-inch livestock herder from Inner Mongolia has tied the knot with a saleswoman two-thirds his height and almost half his age. Bao Xishun, 56, and Xia Shujuan, 29, had a traditional Mongolian ceremony and extravagant reception, and some 15 businesses looking to get in on the publicity sponsored the lavish festivities, Reuters reports.
Moms Look to Part-Time Work
Washington Post
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Jul 12, 2007 5:23 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Young women with children are more interested in job flexibility than their boomer moms were: 60% of employed moms would like to work part-time, rather than full-time or no job at all—up 12% from a decade ago, a new study shows. But only 24% of those surveyed actually work part-time.
Bikini Anchor Shouldn't Have Been Fired
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 12, 2007 5:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
As disgraced TV anchor Amy Jacobson pled her case in a series of interviews all over Chicago media today, Tribune blogger Eric Zorn made the (unpopular) case that she shouldn't have been fired. Accepting an invitation to a pool party at the home of a man she was covering showed bad judgment. But it's credible that she did it with legitimate intentions,...
House OKs Withdrawal Timetable
Associated Press
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Jul 12, 2007 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The House voted late today to require the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to begin within 120 days as part of legislation that sets an April 1 deadline for complete redeployment. The 223-201 vote, a largely symbolic move given that Senate support isn't sufficient to override a filibuster, went largely along party lines.
Gene Doesn't Alter Cancer Survival Rates
Reuters
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Jul 12, 2007 5:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Women who carry one of the two known breast-cancer-causing genes—BRCA1 and BRCA2—are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease before 50, but they're not more likely to die from it than other breast-cancer patients, a new study concludes. Tracking the 10-year survival rates of women in 22 hospitals in Israel, scientists found no...
Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress
Washington Post
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Jul 12, 2007 4:56 PM CDT
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President Bush used today's interim report on the Iraq war to renew his call for Congress to withhold judgment on the troop surge until a September update, saying the military will "be in a better position to adjust" in 2 months. The report notes positive movement in eight out of 18 areas but gives unsatisfactory marks on eight other benchmarks.
Nintendo Dominates Industry Show
Washington Post
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Jul 12, 2007 4:24 PM CDT
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The video game industry met for its annual E3 trade show this week, and the word is Nintendo's got game. While Sony and Microsoft scramble to restart, beset by slumping sales and expensive hardware woes, the Wii is humming along to acclaim and soaring profit margins. Other companies even pared down their expensive booths at this year's California show.
Retail Reports Catapult Markets
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 12, 2007 3:43 PM CDT
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The Dow soared 283.86 points to 13861.73 today, its largest single-day rally since 2002 and another record close. Traders ignored ongoing bearish rumors from the subprime sector, focusing on better-than-expected June reports from a host of retailers including Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and American Express.
A Strike Against iPods: Lightning
Reuters
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Jul 12, 2007 3:32 PM CDT
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The story of a jogger with Y-shaped burns, a broken jaw, and hearing damage ends in an important moral: Forget your iPod during thunderstorms and try singing in the rain. The metal in earphones—any earphones, not just the chic white buds—can conduct the electric current from a lightning strike, Reuters reports, resulting in a real shock.
Suit Forces AOL to Let Users Log Off
Associated Press
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Jul 12, 2007 3:00 PM CDT
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AOL paid a $3 million settlement to frustrated users ensnared by Byzantine cancellation procedures, and made it easier to cancel accounts, in a bid to avoid wider litigation yesterday. Customers attempting to ditch the service had met unending conversations with reps who were allegedly paid bonuses of up to $3,000 for each cancellation they averted.
Fox Business Sets a Date
The Motley Fool
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Jul 12, 2007 2:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With 30 million potential viewers already lined up, News Corp. will launch its new Fox Business Network on October 15. The cable channel will make its debut whether or not the pending Dow Jones deal is done, the Motley Fool reports, with Neil Cavuto at the helm and the onetime CNBC talking head's ex-employer in its sights.
It's Deja Vu All Over Again
Slate
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Jul 12, 2007 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) -
George Bush’s flirtation with the highest-ever presidential disapproval rating has an athletic parallel in Barry Bonds’ march toward the home-run crown, a phenomenon that puts Slate's Bruce Reed in mind of two other titans in their respective fields: Richard Nixon and Hank Aaron. The president's racing toward the bottom as a daunting record...
SD Carries Out 1st Execution in 60 Years
Sioux Falls Argus Leader
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Jul 12, 2007 12:51 PM CDT
(Newser) -
South Dakota executed a prisoner last night for the first time since 1947. Officials administered a lethal injection to convicted murderer Elijah Page, who had pleaded guilty in 2001 to torturing and killing a 19-year-old acquaintance the year before, the Argus Leader reports. One of his two co-defendants remains on death row; the second received...
Mystery Man Dumps Cash in Bathrooms
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 12, 2007 12:02 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The yen is in the toilet once again. Someone has left over 400 bundles, each containing about $80 worth of the stuff, in men's bathrooms all over Japan. The cash is being discovered in the powder rooms of government offices, along with notes enjoining the lucky gentleman who finds the wad to "do only good deeds."
Motorola Chief Walks On Razr’s Edge
BusinessWeek
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Jul 12, 2007 11:22 AM CDT
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Motorola posted its second consecutive quarterly loss yesterday, amplifying calls for the ouster of CEO Ed Zander. Despite the popularity of the Razr handset, the company has likely ceded its second-place position in the cellphone wars to Samsung, and now analysts are doubting it'll turn a profit this year.
