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.
Female Journalists Own This Election
Salon
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Oct 30, 2008 12:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
This has been a banner election cycle for women, thanks to the Clinton and Palin candidacies and the heavy play given to "traditional 'women’s issues'" like health care. Maybe that’s why glass shards are falling from the ceiling around TV newsrooms, writes Rebecca Traister in Salon. “Anchor chairs were crawling with women,”...
Alaskans Give Stevens Hero's Welcome
Anchorage Daily News
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Oct 30, 2008 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sen. Ted Stevens returned home to Alaska to jump-start his reelection campaign yesterday, proclaiming his innocence and asking for the votes of 500 supporters at a rally. “Like most people, I'm not perfect,” said the 84-year-old Republican, who plans to appeal his conviction on federal corruption charges, the Anchorage Daily News reports....
Pogue Loves the New MacBook, But...
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
There’s much to love about the new MacBook, writes David Pogue in the New York Times . The laptop is “a thing of beauty,” with a fabulous trackpad-cum-clicker, an easy way to switch out the battery or even hard drive and a smaller environmental footprint. But there’s also something to mourn: the loss of the FireWire jack.
Restored Jailhouses Rock as Trendy Hotel Destinations
Portfolio
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Oct 30, 2008 11:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Taking aim at travelers who want more than just Wi-Fi or a pool, hoteliers are converting former prisons, schools, factories, and other odd sites into luxury hotels, Portfolio reports. Younger guests who travel for leisure are demanding distinctive experiences, and the unusual locations help hotels market their rooms in a way Conrad Hilton never...
'Til Voters Do Us Part: What Happens to Gay Marrieds if Ban Passes?
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 30, 2008 11:14 AM CDT
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If California’s gay marriage ban passes, “legal chaos” will ensue for those who tied the knot since it became legal to do so in June, lawyers warn. With no court precedents, experts are left guessing whether those marriages would remain valid, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ultimately, the decision would lie with the state’s...
Reports of US Decline Greatly Exaggerated
Washington Post
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Oct 30, 2008 11:05 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Don’t believe the “faddish declinism” of naysayers arguing that America’s best days are behind her, Robert Kagan writes in the Washington Post . Francis Fukuyama and his ilk praise Barack Obama’s “realism” in facing the “post-American world,” but in reality, Obama’s rhetoric remains perfectly...
Madge Asks Ritchie to Settle in Weepy Late-Night Call
Daily Mail (UK)
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Oct 30, 2008 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Under pressure from Kabbalah bosses, Madonna called soon-to-be-ex Guy Ritchie late Tuesday in an emotional plea to settle their divorce amicably, after which she sobbed to her staff, the Daily Mail reports. Insiders, who described the call as a “sign of desperation” on Madonna’s part, said she tried to remind him of the “good...
Obama 'Auntie' Lives in Boston Public Housing
Boston Globe
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Oct 30, 2008 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Across town from Barack Obama’s Ivy League alma mater, his “Auntie Zeituni” has been living in a public-housing apartment decorated with photos of the Democrat. Zeituni Onyango—a tall, feisty woman Obama writes about meeting in Kenya—works for a stipend as a resident health advocate but made $260 in campaign donations,...
Computer Shopping? No Need to Go for Broke
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 30, 2008 10:36 AM CDT
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Economic conditions being what they are, you might not have a ton of dough to spend on a new computer. So in his annual PC buyer’s guide, Wall Street Journal tech expert Walter Mossberg adopts a budget-focused mindset. His advice: The current Mac OS, Leopard, is much better than Windows, but Macs don’t come cheap. Look for a computer...
Mixed Reviews for the 'O Show'
National Review
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Oct 30, 2008 10:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama's half-hour TV pitch scored with writers on the left—though one found it embarrassing to admit to being seduced by an infomercial—while those on the right were turned off: Saying it was hardly the "gauzy, feel-good commercial," McCain labeled it in advance, John Nichols of the Nation found it an effective...
Writer Stabbed Estranged Wife 222 Times
Palm Beach Post
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Oct 30, 2008 10:15 AM CDT
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On Oct. 22, one day after last blogging about the election for the Huffington Post, writer Carol Anne Burger fatally stabbed her estranged gay spouse 222 times with a screwdriver, the Palm Beach Post reports; Burger committed suicide 2 days later. Burger and Jessica Kalish, a software executive, had been married in Massachusetts in 2005, the Sun-Sentinel...
Brangelina Hires 6 Nannies
New York Daily News
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Oct 30, 2008 10:04 AM CDT
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During their 3-month stay in Germany, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have employed six nannies—one for each child—and have 20 Volkswagens at their disposal, Life & Style reports. The clan has relocated to a Berlin-area chateau while Pitt films his latest movie. On a recent trip to New Orleans, the couple had to call for backup when...
Green Economy Will Be Obama's First Big Challenge
Time
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Oct 30, 2008 9:53 AM CDT
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What’s on the front burner for a hypothetical Obama administration? Most of Washington seems to be jockeying for spots in the Cabinet, but Joe Klein of Time points out that Barack Obama (or John McCain) will be the first president since FDR to inherit neither peace nor prosperity. Obama’s top priority, “a government-propelled transition...
Think 1% Is Low? He Could Go to Zero
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 9:45 AM CDT
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Yesterday Ben Bernanke cut the federal funds rate to an ectomorphic 1%—but the Fed might not be done yet. More and more analysts are predicting that the central bank will have to cut rates all the way to zero if it wants to get the economy moving again. But don't get too excited, writes the New York Times : A 0% funds rate would apply only to...
Drudge Loses Juice as Media Swing Left
Financial Times (UK)
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Oct 30, 2008 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Ashley Todd hoax was as good a symbol as any of the decline of the Drudge Report, writes John Gapper in the Financial Times . Liberal blogs, cable TV, and, indeed, newspapers themselves have invaded and occupied Matt Drudge’s sensationalist niche. Tough competition and falling circulation are “pushing newspapers back to a scrappier,...
Meet Stefani's Baby—Virtually
Nodoubt.com
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Oct 30, 2008 9:27 AM CDT
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Foiling the paparazzi, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale have posted a snapshot of their 2-month-old second son on Stefani's band's website. "We wanted to share with you the first photo of Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale," said the post on Nodoubt.com. "Gwen, Gavin, Kingston and Zuma are all doing well and enjoying being a party of four."...
Voting Could Get Ugly, Warn Watchdogs
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 30, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
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With record-shattering turnout anticipated, voter-rights groups predict contentious voting in battleground states, where Republicans are accused of disenfranchising new voters—who are overwhelmingly Democrat. In Florida, a “no match, no vote” standard denies ballots to people whose registration info clashes with government records,...
Dow Surges Despite GDP Dip
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 30, 2008 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks jumped at the opening bell, as international rallies helped offset a shrinking US economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gross domestic product shrank at a seasonally adjusted 0.3% annual rate from July to September; the not-as-bad-as-feared figure sent the Dow up 201 points at the open before dipping back downward. The S&P and Nasdaq...
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Super PoshBecks!
Access Hollywood
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Oct 30, 2008 8:56 AM CDT
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The creator of the Fantastic Four has his eye on famous twosome David and Victoria Beckham to be his next cartoon crimefighters, Access Hollywood reports. Former Marvel Comics kingpin Stan Lee, already working to put Paris Hilton and Ringo Starr into two dimensions, says "the great looking, talented and colorful" pair would be a perfect...
Sarko Loses Bid to Block Voodoo Doll
BBC
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Oct 30, 2008 8:35 AM CDT
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A French judge apparently finds Nicolas Sarkozy voodoo dolls funnier than the president does. The court threw out Sarkozy's Iawsuit against the maker of the dolls, the BBC reports, deciding it hadn't breached limits of "free expression and the right to humor." Sales of the presidential pincushion, which comes emblazoned with some of Sarkozy's...
Spending Dive Sends GDP Down
Bloomberg
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Oct 30, 2008 8:28 AM CDT
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The US economy shrank less than expected in the third quarter but still suffered the biggest contraction since the 2001 recession, reports Bloomberg. The gross domestic product fell 0.3%, led by the first fall off of consumer spending in two decades. The figure, out from the Commerce Department this morning, beat the forecast 0.5% annual rate but nevertheless...
Exxon Mobil Shatters Own Record With $14B Profit
Associated Press
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Oct 30, 2008 8:25 AM CDT
(AP) -
Exxon Mobil breezed by its own record for the biggest quarterly profit for a US corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter. Bolstered by this summer's record crude prices, net income jumped nearly 58%, or $2.86 a share, for the world's largest publicly traded oil company. Exxon set the previous record for US corporate profit in the quarter...
Don't Let the Polls Dictate Your Vote: Rove
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 30, 2008 8:14 AM CDT
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With the explosion of polls in this presidential election—almost as many national polls this month as there were during all of 2004—there's a real risk that polls themselves will drive behavior in the voting booth, Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal, urging voters not to let the numbers affect their choice. "It is much easier...
Lower-Income Buyers Snatch Up iPhones
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 30, 2008 8:00 AM CDT
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Lower-income households are snatching up iPhones at a faster rate than their more financially flush counterparts, reports the Wall Street Journal , potentially attracted by its multiple uses—and single fee. By relying on the “Swiss-Army knife kind of device” to make phone calls, listen to music, and access the Internet, consumers...
Is McCain Closing the Gap? Not Fast Enough: Silver
FiveThirtyEight
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Oct 30, 2008 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
John McCain isn’t moving up on Barack Obama in the polls—at least not fast enough to be significant, writes statistics guru Nate Silver at his blog FiveThirtyEight.com. The Republican appears to be about six or seven points back. While he’s picked up maybe a point in the last week, he has to gain six more in five days to close the...
Edwards Split Reported
New York Post
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Oct 30, 2008 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Three days after Elizabeth Edwards made a health-care reform speech in DC without her wedding ring on, a source tells the New York Post that her cheating hubby, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, is no longer living with his cancer-stricken wife and that the couple has separated. Elizabeth's reps didn't return requests for comment....
Two Distinct Americas Emerge on Campaign Trail
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Vastly different crowds appear at the rallies of the candidates who started their campaigns calling for bipartisan unity, a roving New York Times reporter finds. Republican rallygoers shout to a country-pop soundtrack; the Democratic faithful dance to folk and Motown. Flag pins, pompoms, and patriotic songs define GOP gatherings, while Dems favor...
American Airports: Shiny, New, and Empty
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 7:00 AM CDT
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In the boom years of the last decade, cities across America broke ground on major airport expansions, from additional runways to new terminals. Now those projects are being completed—just as air travel has slowed and hundreds of planes are being grounded. Flights may be less congested, writes the New York Times , but travelers are paying for...
Rate Cut Sparks Global Market Rally
Guardian (UK)
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Oct 30, 2008 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
World markets rode the back of yesterday’s Fed rate cut to huge gains as investors began looking for bargains and flooded the exchanges with cash, reports the Guardian . Hong Kong was up 12.8%, Seoul rose 11.95%, and Tokyo saw a jump of 9.6%, its fourth largest one-day gain ever. European markets opened higher as well.
Blasts Kill at Least 48 in India
Associated Press
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Oct 30, 2008 6:40 AM CDT
(AP) -
A series of coordinated blasts tore through India's volatile northeast today, killing at least 48 people, wounding more than 300 and setting police on a frantic search for any unexploded bombs, officials said.The largest bomb exploded near the office of the Assam state's top official, leaving bodies and mangled cars and motorcycles strewn across the...
Infomercial Smartly Put Feelings Before Facts
Washington Post
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Oct 30, 2008 6:27 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama made few concrete proposals in his multi-million-dollar TV spot last night, but the infomercial wasn't about policy, writes Tom Shales; it was about "sensibility." For the Washington Post columnist, Obama's long-form advertisement succeeded as a soft-focus, optimistic simulation "of how it would feel to live in an...
West Wing Writers Get Election Déjà Vu
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 6:14 AM CDT
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A minority Democratic candidate battling an older Republican maverick in an election overshadowed by national crisis sounds pretty familiar to the makers of The West Wing— who wrote that script 4 years ago. As the 2008 race enters the home stretch, the parallels between it and The West Wing's final two seasons have left the writers amazed,...
Banks to Use Half Their Bailout Bucks to Pay Dividends
Washington Post
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Oct 30, 2008 5:59 AM CDT
(Newser) -
At least half the $163 billion banks are getting from the Treasury Department to shore up balance sheets and spur lending will be paid to shareholders as dividends over the next 3 years, reports the Washington Post . That’s raised the ire of members of Congress and some economists, who say if banks have enough cash to pay dividends, they shouldn’t...
Clock Switch May Be Good for Ticker
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 30, 2008 5:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Does turning clocks back in the autumn and forward in spring affect the risk of heart attack? New research suggests it may. Scientists found a 5% drop in heart attacks the day after clocks are changed in the fall, but discovered a 5% increase when clocks are moved ahead in spring, reports the Los Angeles Times. Researchers theorize that the extra...
$3.2B Opium Stash May Be Taliban's Secret Weapon
Time
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Oct 30, 2008 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A huge pile of missing opium has international law enforcement agencies worried, Time reports. The UN estimates up to 8,000 tons of opium—enough to supply every addict in the world for two years—have disappeared between Afghanistan's poppy fields and the world market in recent years. Experts fear the Taliban is building a mammoth...
Fritzl Bricked Up Own Mother for 21 Years
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 30, 2008 4:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Austrian who fathered seven children with the sex-slave daughter he kept locked in a dungeon has confessed to imprisoning his own mother in a bricked-up room for 21 years. Josef Fritzl, 73, locked his mother in a room and bricked over the only window "so that she never again saw the light of day," he told a psychologist, according to...
Palin Plans to Stick Around if GOP Loses
ABC News
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Oct 30, 2008 4:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sarah Palin thinks the American people will pick the GOP ticket on Tuesday but she's not planning to disappear from the national stage, win or lose. "I'm not doing this for naught," the candidate told an ABC interviewer. She vowed she wouldn't "give up and wave a white flag of surrender" against "some of the political...
Injured Oden Out Up to 4 Weeks
Oregonian (Portland)
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Oct 30, 2008 3:36 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Greg Oden's NBA debut last night lasted just 13 minutes, the Oregonian reports. The Trail Blazers center and top 2007 draft pick—who sat out all last season with a knee injury—injured his foot in the first quarter of the team's 96-76 loss to the Lakers. Oden, still without a single point to his name in the NBA, is expected to be...
Critics Rip Gender Gap in Health Insurance Charges
New York Times
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Oct 30, 2008 3:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Health advocates and some politicians are crying foul over the huge price difference between men's and women's health insurance, the New York Times reports. Healthy young women are regularly charged up to 50% more than their male counterparts, even when maternity care is excluded. The practice is prohibited under job-based insurance plans, but is...
Lava Spotted on Mercury
National Geographic
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Oct 30, 2008 2:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A spacecraft studying the planet Mercury has discovered evidence of enormous volcanic eruptions. The scale of the volcanic activity has astonished scientists, according to the National Geographic News . Images from the Messenger spacecraft reveal 3,600 cubic miles of solid lava inside a single crater—enough to drown the entire Baltimore/Washington...
Obama: 'We've Got a Good Shot at This Thing'
Chicago Tribune
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Oct 30, 2008 2:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama wrapped up his night of blitzing TV with an upbeat appearance on the Daily Show , the Chicago Tribune writes. "I think we've got a good shot at this thing," he told Jon Stewart last night, downplaying the chances of his race costing him the election. Pundits "have been saying that for a while but we’re still...
Cops Find Gun Linked to Hudson Murders
Chicago Tribune
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Oct 30, 2008 1:49 AM CDT
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A .45 caliber handgun, which could be the murder weapon used to kill Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, has been found by police, reports the Chicago Tribune. The gun was discovered in an alley close to the spot where the body of 7-year-old Julian King was discovered in the back of a Chevy Suburban.
Bill Clinton Joins Obama in Florida for Late Push
Boston Globe
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Oct 29, 2008 11:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama engaged in a mutual admiration fest tonight, their first joint appearance since their relationship soured during the primaries, the Boston Globe reports. "This man should be our president," Clinton told a Florida crowd at the end of a spirited endorsement. Obama then joined him on stage, saying, "In case...
Phillies Win World Series
TBO Blogs
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Oct 29, 2008 9:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Philadelphia Phillies edged Tampa Bay 4-3 tonight to capture the team's first World Series pennant since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home Eric Bruntlett in the bottom of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie and provide the winning run, the Tampa Bay Tribune reports. The two teams had to resume the game in the sixth inning tonight after it was halted...
Congolese Exodus Begins as Rebels Reach Key City
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2008 8:45 PM CDT
(AP) -
The strategic Congolese city of Goma descended into chaos today, raising the likelihood of a bloody regional war. Government soldiers commandeered cars, taxis, and motorbikes in a retreat from advancing rebels, joining tens of thousands of terrified refugees struggling to stay ahead of the violence. Tutsi rebels said they had reached the outskirts...
Obama Makes His Pitch in Prime Time
MSNBC
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Oct 29, 2008 7:58 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama took to the primetime airwaves tonight with a 30-minute infomercial summing up his case for the presidency. The pitch, which cost more than $3 million and aired on seven broadcast and cable networks, blended images of the candidate, his family, and ordinary Americans, MSNBC reports. "I will not be a perfect president," Obama...
Joe the Country Singer? Record Deal In the Works
Politico
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Oct 29, 2008 7:32 PM CDT
(Newser) -
We already knew he could fix a toilet and stir up a presidential race. Now, Joe the Plumber may be dazzling us with a country album on Inauguration Day, Politico reports. It seems the artist formally known as Joe Wurzelbacher has teamed up with a Nashville PR firm and is being pursued by a major label.
Golfer Daly Passes Out in Hooters
News-Record (Greensboro, NC)
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Oct 29, 2008 7:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
John Daly, the bad boy of golf, had a very bad weekend. Winston-Salem police say he passed out drunk in a Hooters restaurant, then refused to go to the hospital. As a result, cops made him spend the night in jail to sober up, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Daly, who has battled alcholism for years and has been twice suspended by the PGA, wasn't...
Obama Abandons Principle by Hedging on Gay Marriage
AlterNet
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Oct 29, 2008 6:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama and Democrats in general are "pretty squishy" on the issue of gay marriage, and that's a disgrace, writes Joshua Holland at AlterNet.org. The reticence to embrace full marriage rights for all is a betrayal of the "very important progressive ideal that the law should apply to all people equally," argues Holland....
CEO: Starbucks Perking Up
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2008 6:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Starbucks' CEO says the company is percolating again and may have hit bottom in the quarter that ended in September, the Wall Street Journal reports. The chain again saw declining sales, says Howard Schultz, but he also noted a “slight improvement” in October. Starbucks has been shutting stores, and it plans to add loyalty cards to keep...
