Newser Story Index from October, 2008
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.
Things Get Nasty in Splitsville
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 19, 2008 10:59 AM CDT
(Newser) -
With the ink barely dry on their $60 million divorce settlement, Madonna and Guy Ritchie appear desperate for the world to know just how much they hate each other. Madge tells the Telegraph that Ritchie demoralized her with verbal abuse, saying she looks “like a granny” on stage. Ritchie, meanwhile, describes his ex to the Daily Mail...
Iraq Calls for Changes in US Pullout Pact
Reuters
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Oct 19, 2008 10:16 AM CDT
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Parties in Iraq’s ruling Shiite coalition are seeking to alter what was supposed to be a final agreement with the US concerning when American troops would leave, Reuters reports. The draft says US forces must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 unless the Iraqi government wants them to stay. Iraq’s foreign minister had said both nations considered...
Powell Endorses Obama
Associated Press
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Oct 19, 2008 9:33 AM CDT
(AP) -
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, describing the Dem as a "transformational figure." Powell says both Obama and John McCain are qualified to be commander in chief. But, in an interview today on NBC's Meet the Press , he said Obama is better suited to handle the nation's economic problems,...
Who Are You Calling a Socialist?
Politico
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Oct 19, 2008 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Values and socialism dominated the sharp rhetoric on the campaign trail yesterday, as the presidential candidates exchanged fire over Barack Obama’s plan for middle-class tax cuts, Politico reports. At rallies in North Carolina and Virginia, two traditionally red states where Obama has made inroads, John McCain accused him of planning to “convert...
Obama Shatters Records With $150M Sept.
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 19, 2008 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama scored $150 million in September, he said today, a monthly record that brings his fundraising total to another record topping $600 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The previous monthly record was Obama’s $66 million in August. Those figures give the Democrat a big leg up in TV advertising in battleground and typically...
In Financial Crisis, Europe Leads the Way (for a Change)
New York Times
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Oct 19, 2008 8:08 AM CDT
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The US has long considered Europe to be the economic equivalent of a doddering old uncle, but this week it was oldster leading whippersnapper America by the hand through the most serious crisis since the Depression. Europe, seeing the need for a sturdier fix than the mortgage-bailout Band-aid Washington proposed, led the charge by investing in its...
Joe Six-Packs Drink to Palin
New York Times
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Oct 19, 2008 7:04 AM CDT
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Sarah Palin may have been picked in part to appeal to women, but her rallies are dominated by enthusiastic dudes, the New York Times reports. The vocal guys in the Joe Six-Pack crowd—bikers, high schoolers, bearded veterans—admire her for being “real” and “like us,” they say. And some, like the self-identified...
Men Tend to Bail on Election Day
Newsweek
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Oct 19, 2008 6:27 AM CDT
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The percentage of men who vote has been falling for 40 years, and will likely continue to drop this year, Newsweek reports. Total voter turnout has been dropping since a record high in 1964, but men appear particularly hamstrung by gender-specific factors. More go to prison, fewer attend college, and the male work week has expanded 80% since 1980,...
Guy Snags $60M Settlement
Sun (UK)
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Oct 19, 2008 5:58 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Madge and Guy have already divvied up their loot, and Guy will walk away with $60 million in cash and real estate, the Sun reports. Ritchie adds the couple’s 1,200-acre British country estate and a posh London pub to his $43 million fortune, while Madonna hangs on to her homes in New York and Los Angeles—as well as the lion’s share...
Kidnapped Boy Found in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Oct 19, 2008 5:25 AM CDT
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A 6-year-old Nevada boy kidnapped by men believed linked to a Mexican drug cartel has been found in “extremely good condition” walking on a Las Vegas street. Some 100 detectives had been working 12-hour shifts to find Cole Puffinburger, who was abducted from his Las Vegas home Wednesday by men claiming to be police, reports the Las Vegas...
'Caribou Barbie' Debuts on SNL
USA Today
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Oct 19, 2008 4:50 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The real Sarah Palin made her much anticipated debut on Saturday Nigh Live last night, gamely sparring with cast members who still skewered the candidate and show producer Lorne Michaels, reports USA Today . In the opening skit Tina Fey delivers Palin’s “first press conference” (she’s yet to hold one)—which an “off-stage”...
Gutsy Red Sox Force Game 7
Associated Press
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Oct 19, 2008 4:28 AM CDT
(AP) -
The Boston Red Sox, playing like the defending champs they are, came out swinging and beat Tampa Bay 4-2 last night to force a seventh game in an American League championship series that the Rays had all but wrapped up two days ago. "We went out there and played like it was our last game,” said Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. “It...
Alaskan Blacks Call Palin Insensitive
Associated Press
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Oct 18, 2008 8:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Black leaders in Alaska say it's no surprise to see Sarah Palin sparking debate over race on the campaign trail, the AP reports. "She has no sensitivity to minorities," said a black Baptist minister who has urged her to hire more people of color. Another likened her supporters to "a Ku Klux Klan rally." Her disinterest in rehiring...
Sure, I'm Offended— I'm Human!
Slate
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Oct 18, 2008 7:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
From Larry David to John McCain, we’re all getting a little touchy these days, writes Emily Yoffe in Slate: “People are like tuning forks, ready to vibrate with indignation.” While economists argue humans are rational, “it seems we live in a culture devoted to retribution on behalf of the thin-skinned,” writes Yoffe, who...
Bankers to Reap $70B Despite Crash
Guardian (UK)
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Oct 18, 2008 7:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Wall Street’s top banks are set to pay their financial workers more than $70 billion in salary and bonuses this year—a tenth of the $700 billion in taxpayer money committed to the bailout—despite the huge drops in share price and cash shortages they are experiencing, the Guardian reports. Morgan Stanley, for example, will dole out...
Obama's Plumber Calls Joe Out
New York Post
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Oct 18, 2008 6:41 PM CDT
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Joe Wurzelbacher may be the most famous plumber this side of Super Mario Brothers, but Troy Dunn doesn't think much of him. “Joe the Plumber isn’t even a licensed plumber,” says Dunn, the 44-year-old licensed journeyman who fixes Barack Obama’s toilets. “He's taking our work. McCain talks about the middle class, and then...
Subprime Crime Wave Floods FBI Casebook
New York Times
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Oct 18, 2008 6:20 PM CDT
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A short-staffed FBI is laboring to keep up with white collar crime linked to the nation's financial crisis, the New York Times reports. FBI officials predicted millions of dollars' in mortgage fraud years ago, but the Justice Department wanted agents focused on counter-terror. When the FBI warned of a fraud "epidemic" in...
Teen Mistress Accuses Cook of Taping Sex
New York Post
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Oct 18, 2008 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Christie Brinkley may not be the only beauty battling Peter Cook in court. Diana Bianchi, Cook’s teenaged mistress when she worked at his New York office, is accusing him of videotaping their trysts without her knowledge. Bianchi’s lawyer says she may file a criminal complaint against the disgraced architect for second-degree unlawful surveillance,...
Why Powell Is Expected to Back Obama
New York Daily News
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Oct 18, 2008 5:28 PM CDT
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Colin Powell will make his presidential preference clear on Meet the Press tomorrow, the New York Daily News reports, detailing some of the reasons the former secretary of state is expected to defect from his party's candidate. "McCain has too many neocons working for him," says one Republican close to Powell. The general is also...
Drenched in Watercooler Moments, SNL Is Hot Again
Chicago Tribune
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Oct 18, 2008 5:00 PM CDT
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The fall TV ratings are in, and while Heroes needs saving and House is collapsing, Saturday Night Live has emerged as the biggest hit of the season, Maureen Ryan writes in the Chicago Tribune . Unlike other shows, SNL ’s live ratings have jumped nearly 50% in its 34th season. “It’s the hottest it’s been since the early...
Prosecutor Accuses Knox of Satanic Murder
Associated Press
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Oct 18, 2008 4:40 PM CDT
(AP) -
Italian prosecutors today accused an Amanda Knox of fatally stabbing her British house mate in a Satanic rite and asked a court to put an alleged African accomplice in prison for life, defense lawyers said. Knox, a 21-year-old American, proclaimed her innocence at the closed-door hearing in the Umbrian university town of Perugia and accused police...
McCain to NYT : Don't Mess With the Missus
Chicago Sun-Times
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Oct 18, 2008 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The McCain campaign and the New York Times are at it again after the paper published a partly unflattering profile of Cindy McCain today, Lynn Sweet reports for the Chicago Sun-Times . Mrs. McCain’s lawyer fired off an angry letter at the Times , asking why it drudged up old stories on Cindy's drug use and charitable life. "You have...
Princes Go Off-Road For Charity
BBC
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Oct 18, 2008 3:53 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Dapper duo Prince Harry and Prince William are setting off on a South African off-road motorbike ride to benefit charity, the BBC reports. The 1,000-mile trek is expected to raise about $450,000 for three charities, including Harry’s Sentebale, which focuses on children with AIDS in Lesotho. The princes made no promises about their off-road skill,...
Palin Can't Keep Beluga Off Endangered List
New York Times
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Oct 18, 2008 3:29 PM CDT
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The beluga whales living in Alaska’s Cook Inlet were declared an endangered species yesterday over Sarah Palin’s vehement objections, the New York Times reports. The beluga population was cut almost in half during the late '90s, and hasn’t recovered despite a wave of new protections. But Palin campaigned hard against declaring them...
State Databases Drop Thousands of Voters
Washington Post
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Oct 18, 2008 3:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Thousands of Americans nationwide are facing reams of red tape after new state registration systems booted them from voter rolls, the Washington Post reports. Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected a challenge of 200,000 Ohio voters whose data conflicted with state records, but states such as Montana, Colorado, and Wisconsin also face conflicts. It's...
Sox Fans Curse Themselves for Missing Comeback
Boston Globe
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Oct 18, 2008 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Red Sox nation is secretly grieving. Sure, the Sox pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks ever on Thursday, but precious few were actually watching. Many among the Fenway Faithful didn’t exactly live up to their name, the Boston Globe reports. “It was 7-0,” laments one fan who left the park early. “I feel this incredible...
Bush to Host Economic Summit
MSNBC
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Oct 18, 2008 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) -
President Bush will soon announce his plan to host a global summit on the financial crisis, MSNBC reports, to be held in the near future. “The president wants participation and ideas from both developed and developing nations,” one official said on condition of anonymity. Bush will meet with Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President...
McCain Had a '60s Radical Friend of His Own
Time
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Oct 18, 2008 1:48 PM CDT
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John McCain has been busily exploiting and distorting Barack Obama’s passing relationship with '60s radical Bill Ayers, but McCain himself had a much closer relationship with another '60s radical, David Ifshin, writes Joe Klein of Time . Ifshin was an anti-Vietnam radical whom many people accused of treason after he flew to Hanoi and denounced...
Ellen Gives $100K to Stop Prop 8
Access Hollywood
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Oct 18, 2008 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
After being pilloried by gay rights activists, Ellen DeGeneres reportedly gave $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 coalition, which supports gay marriage in California, Access Hollywood notes. Along with the money, DeGeneres released a video on her website pleading with voters to not support the proposition, which would define marriage as between a man and...
GOP Senator Blasts McCain Robo Calls
Associated Press
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Oct 18, 2008 12:59 PM CDT
(AP) -
GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, facing a tough re-election fight, urged John McCain yesterday to stop making automated calls into her state that link Democratic nominee Barack Obama to one-time Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers. "These kind of tactics have no place in Maine politics," said Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley. "Sen. Collins...
Economy Trumps Race Even for Some Racists
Politico
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Oct 18, 2008 12:31 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It looks like the economic crisis has gained Barack Obama a surprising number of supporters among those who might be considered racists, Politico reports. Even before the events of the past few weeks bolstered the Dem's numbers, a poll showed that a quarter of respondents who expressed negative views of African-Americans would still vote for the senator....
Time Is Ripe to Pass Cash to Heirs
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 18, 2008 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Sinking stocks offer a window of opportunity when it comes to passing your money on to heirs without incurring huge taxes, Anne Tergesen writes in the Wall Street Journal . Transferring struggling assets to the next generation can mean a big payoff for the heirs when conditions improve—without the estate tax getting in the way. Meanwhile, current...
'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 18, 2008 11:50 AM CDT
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If those who ignore history repeat it, Alan Greenspan must have slept through a few Constitutional history classes . In promoting the risky derivatives market, the former Federal Reserve chairman was depending on individuals' restraint and care for the greater good. But Americans just aren't that altruistic, as the Founding Fathers figured out, Eric...
Al-Qaeda's Top Web Sites Disappear
Washington Post
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Oct 18, 2008 11:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
All but one of al-Qaeda’s main message boards have disappeared, the Washington Post reports, and militants seem unable to get them back online. All five major al-Qaeda portals went down September 10, putting the kibosh on the group’s much-hyped Sept. 11 anniversary video. Only one of the sites has returned; on it, jihadis are fretting...
Cindy McCain Seeks Return to City That Shunned Her
New York Times
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Oct 18, 2008 11:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Cindy McCain is giving her all to get her husband into the White House despite the tough time the capital has given her in the past, the New York Times reports. When she moved there early in her marriage, the young political wife found herself ostracized by cliquey congressional wives outraged that McCain had dumped the popular Carol McCain for a...
Al-Sadr Decries US Pact at Rally
Associated Press
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Oct 18, 2008 10:51 AM CDT
(AP) -
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today called on Iraq's parliament to reject a US-Iraqi security pact as tens of thousands of his followers rallied in Baghdad against the deal. "The Iraqi government has abandoned its duty before God and its people," Sadr said through a spokesman. "I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed...
Simmons Bangs Drum for Black Entrepreneurs
Economist
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Oct 18, 2008 10:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
For the "Godfather of Hip-Hop," success on the streets is like winning in business: It's "all about believing in your vision," Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons tells the Economist . Now the music-mogul-turned-financier is trying to inspire go-getters with a new bestseller, Do You! —which he calls “the same...
IMF Chief Probed Over Affair
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 18, 2008 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
In a shakeup amid the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund is investigating whether its managing director abused his position in an affair with a subordinate, the Wall Street Journal reports. Backed by US and Russian representatives, Egypt’s rep to the IMF called for the probe into the relationship between Dominique Strauss-Kahn...
Pumpkins Want 20th Anniversary to Be a Smash
Rolling Stone
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Oct 18, 2008 9:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The re-formed Smashing Pumpkins start their 20th-anniversary tour next month, shrugging off the blasé reception that met their 2006 tour. Frontman Billy Corgan—who admits the group's breakup in 2000 was "a total mistake"—tells Rolling Stone that fans who attend multiple shows in some cities will be rewarded...
LA Times Endorses Obama
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 18, 2008 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Los Angeles Times today endorsed Barack Obama for president “without hesitation,” citing his combination of “grace under pressure” and “passion to inspire the best within us.” His campaign was at first lit by the newness of his personal narrative, but “as the presidential race draws to its conclusion,...
Schools Accused of Abusing Time-Out Rooms
Associated Press
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Oct 18, 2008 8:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The practice of locking misbehaving children in school "time-out rooms" is troubling a growing number of parents and educators, the AP reports. The rooms—often tiny converted storage spaces—are meant to give kids a place to calm down, but experts say they are being used instead to discipline children with behavior disorders...
Russian Role in CIA Agent's Murder Probed
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 18, 2008 8:41 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The first shot of a new cold war with Russia may have been fired into a CIA station chief's head in 1993, the Wall Street Journal reports. A vodka-swilling villager was swiftly jailed for the killing of Freddie Woodruff, the top US spy in newly independent Georgia, but that man, rotting in a Tbilisi jail today, says he was framed, and key witnesses...
Voters Say They Were Tricked Into Joining GOP
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 18, 2008 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) -
California voters who signed what they thought were petitions were surprised when they ended up registered Republicans, they told the Los Angeles Times . The Times called some of the hundreds of people newly re-registered as Republicans by GOP contractor Young Political Majors, and found that 37 of 46, or over 80%, felt they were tricked into joining...
Obama Set to Smash Spending Records
New York Times
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Oct 18, 2008 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama is outspending John McCain 4-to-1 on advertising nationwide and is on course to break George Bush's 2004 spending record within days, reports the New York Times . Obama has stepped up his spending since the start of October and is blitzing network TV, cable TV, and even video games with campaign ads, both negative and positive.
Bankrupt Mervyn's Goes Belly Up
Inside Bay Area (Oakland)
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Oct 18, 2008 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Mervyn's will be closing all of its 149 stores before the end of the year and holding huge going-out-of business sales, the Bay Area's Daily Review reports. The California-based department store chain filed for bankruptcy in July and had been fruitlessly scrambling for a sale or a deal with landlords and creditors that would keep it alive. More than...
TV Makes Us Dream in Color
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 18, 2008 5:50 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The advent of color TV may have injected color into generations of dreams, the Daily Telegraph reports. A study finds that people who grew up watching black-and-white TV often dream in monochrome—as people are believed to have done before the dawn of television—while those who grew up with color images very rarely dream in black-and-white.
Jury Stuck on Britney's State
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 18, 2008 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The jury in Britney Spear's traffic trial couldn't reach a verdict yesterday and has retired for the weekend to ponder whether the LA resident counts as a California girl, the Los Angeles Times reports. Spears' lawyer argues the singer, charged with driving without a valid California license, doesn't need one as her true home is Louisiana and she...
Best Members of Congress
Esquire
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Oct 18, 2008 4:22 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It's easy, and usually fun, to bash members of Congress. But what about those who deserve praise? Esquire picks some favorites, starting with Rep. Henry Waxman of California; the Democrat has long been the sole member not only criticizing the Bush team's missteps but actually investigating them. Then there's principled Republican Mike Pence of Indiana,...
NYC GOP Congressman Guilty of DWI
New York Times
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Oct 18, 2008 4:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Vito Fossella could be facing 5 days behind bars after being found guilty of drunken driving, the New York Times reports. A hearing in December will determine whether the New York City congressman's blood-alcohol level was high enough to warrant jail time. The May arrest ended Fossella's political career after it emerged he was on his way to visit...
Worst Members of Congress
Esquire
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Oct 18, 2008 3:33 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The competition for the worst member of Congress title was more like a marathon, Esquire reports; a wide field of people worked over long periods of time to stake their places in this list. Below, the worst of the worst: Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn: Since being defeated in 2006 (and reelected as an independent) this ex-Democrat and “small...
