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Newser Story Index from November, 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.

Mukasey Collapses During Speech
Associated Press | Nov 20, 2008 10:11 PM CST
(AP) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech last night and was rushed to a hospital after briefly losing consciousness. He appears to be doing fine now. "The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert," said a Justice Department spokesman after doctors admitted Mukasey to George Washington University Hospital for the...
Palin's Visit to Turkey Farm Gets Grisly
KARE-11 | Nov 20, 2008 9:40 PM CST
(Newser) - A new Sarah Palin video is causing a buzz on YouTube and in the blogosphere, but it has little to do with presidential politics. Palin visited an Alaska farm to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving, then gave a lengthy interview to a TV news crew, reports NBC affiliate KARE-11. Problem is, a farm worker kept up the turkey slaughter behind her...
Astronauts Wrap Up Second Spacewalk (No Lost Tools)
Associated Press | Nov 20, 2008 8:49 PM CST
(AP) - Spacewalking astronauts performed more repair work on a jammed joint at the International Space Station today, keeping a tight grip on all their tools so nothing would get away this time. The spacewalk—the second of four planned for shuttle Endeavour's visit— went smoothly and fell on the 10th anniversary of the space station.
New Wine Season Begins; Merchants See Slower Sales
Wall Street Journal | Nov 20, 2008 7:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Today is the third Thursday of November, which makes it a holiday of sorts for wine merchants: Beaujolais Day. It's the first day of the year (as dictated by French law) that the first wine of the season—Beaujolais Nouveau, made from Gamay grapes—can be sold worldwide. Wine purists generally dismiss the stuff, but wise marketing has boosted...
Who Gets This Vote? You Decide
Minnesota Public Radio | Nov 20, 2008 7:05 PM CST
(Newser) - With the recount under way in the Minnesota Senate race, both sides are challenging ballots left and right. Minnesota Public Radio presents examples of some of the disputed ballots on its web site—circles not filled in, unclear notes, thumbprints, etc.—and asks viewers to weigh in. (Click on the link.) In the overall recount, meanwhile,...
Scientists Identify Body of Copernicus
Discover | Nov 20, 2008 6:20 PM CST
(Newser) - More than 400 years after Copernicus determined man's place in the universe, scientists returned the favor by pinpointing his grave in an old Polish cathedral. Using DNA from a tooth and a bone, scientists identified a 70-year-old man buried in an unmarked grave as the astronomer who determined that the Earth revolves around the sun, and not vice versa,...
Ignore Market Until February
Wall Street Journal | Nov 20, 2008 5:43 PM CST
(Newser) - The stock market can be a great synthesizer of millions of individual judgment calls about economic growth, government policy, and world events, writes Andy Kessler in the Wall Street Journal . But it’s also subject to end-of-year distortions, especially in down times like these. What's an investor to do? "I'd say stick wax in your ears...
George Steinbrenner Passes Yankees Mantle to Son Hal
New York Daily News | Nov 20, 2008 5:20 PM CST
(Newser) - The George Steinbrenner era is officially over for the Yankees after 35 years. Other clubs today approved his son Hal as the “control person” for the team, the Daily News reports. The announcement makes official what many already knew—that the elder Steinbrenner has passed off responsibility for day-to-day operations to his sons....
Britney Regrets Her Embrace of Fame
Entertainment Weekly | Nov 20, 2008 4:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Britney Spears bares all in a documentary set to air Nov. 30 on MTV, Entertainment Weekly reports. Fans will be interested to know that she ate cheese grits—cooked by her father—before the Video Music Awards, and that she envies Jessica Alba’s relative anonymity. “Do I know my life is weird?” the star asks her interlocutor....
Fannie, Freddie Will Stop Foreclosures Over Holidays
MarketWatch | Nov 20, 2008 4:38 PM CST
(Newser) - Homeowners facing foreclosure got a morsel of good news today: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t give them the boot over the holidays. The companies will suspend foreclosures of occupied houses from Nov. 26-Jan. 9 while they work out a loan-reform plan with lenders, MarketWatch reports. The six-week suspension should keep 16,000 homeowners safe...
Why Terry Gross Is Great
The Atlantic | Nov 20, 2008 4:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Terry Gross is one of the best interviewers in the business, and her recent session with Bill Ayers proves why, writes James Fallows in the Atlantic . The host of NPR’s Fresh Air avoids common modern pitfalls: She’s neither attack dog nor lapdog, and doesn’t try to prove how smart she is. It’s what she does while her guest...
Hey, Mitt, Your Naked Opportunism Is Showing
Boston Globe | Nov 20, 2008 3:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Mitt Romney is speaking sideways when he talks about Detroit these days, Joan Vennochi writes in the Boston Globe . The man who promised he would “not rest until Michigan is back” in the Republican primary is now urging bankruptcy for Detroit automakers. “If the auto industry could reinvent itself as quickly as Mitt Romney,”...
Dow Plummets 400+ Again
MarketWatch | Nov 20, 2008 3:32 PM CST
(Newser) - Stocks continued yesterday’s slide today as Congress dashed hopes for quick aid to the Detroit automakers, MarketWatch reports. Henry Paulson also undermined investor confidence by again changing the terms of TARP. The Dow fell 444.99 points to close at 7,552.29. The Nasdaq shed 70.30, closing at 1,316.12, and the S&P 500 lost 54.14 to settle...
Congress Is Ready to Accept a Single Mom
Los Angeles Times | Nov 20, 2008 3:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Rep. Linda Sanchez worries Washington may frown on her pregnancy because she isn’t married, but Patt Morrison, in the Los Angeles Times , thinks things have changed. “Twenty years ago, it simply wouldn't have been possible—pregnant, single and a member of Congress? Oh, the scandal! But the culture wars have been fought to a truce...
Sports-Talk Shoutfest Has Ruined Politics on TV
Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Nov 20, 2008 3:11 PM CST
(Newser) - ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption , a show in which two sports writers “make fun of each other’s male pattern baldness and argue about sports,” often at high volume, is on many fans’ watch list, including political scientist Christopher A. Cooper. Unfortunately, PTI “has ruined American politics,” Cooper writes...
Congress to Big 3: Ball's in Your Court
Detroit News | Nov 20, 2008 3:05 PM CST
(Newser) - After failing to strike a deal today on a possible bailout for the Big Three automakers, Congressional leaders offered the firms one more chance to push for the $25 billion lifeline they've requested, the Detroit News reports. Lawmakers will wait until December and require concrete plans for the money before proceeding. “The best way to proceed...
DC-Bound Obama Has Even More on His Plate
The Hill | Nov 20, 2008 3:00 PM CST
(Newser) - The list of contentious issues awaiting Barack Obama in Washington includes a local favorite: whether the presidential limo will sport "Taxation Without Representation" license plates. Bill Clinton's ride had the plates, which support DC residents' bid for a Congressional vote, but they were one of the first things to go when President...
For Devotees, Twilight More a Lusty Dawn
CNN | Nov 20, 2008 2:49 PM CST
(Newser) - The hotly anticipated vampire movie Twilight doesn’t open until midnight tonight, but teenage girls have already sunk their teeth into lead actor Robert Pattinson, CNN reports. Pattinson portrays Edward Cullen, hero of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels. He’s “this incredibly seductive creature wanting to bite your neck,”...
Classic Harvard-Yale Tie Gets Documentary Gloss
Boston Globe | Nov 20, 2008 2:39 PM CST
(Newser) - The 40th anniversary of a classic game in the football rivalry between Harvard and Yale has inspired a documentary, Mark Feeney writes in the Boston Globe . The contest is as notable for “its time-capsule aspect” and rising-star participants (future Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones) as for the underdog Crimson's miraculous comeback, which...
Find Your Tipping Point Abroad
Forbes | Nov 20, 2008 2:26 PM CST
(Newser) - Knowing the appropriate level of gratuity can be tricky, and it gets even more difficult abroad, where tipping practices widely vary. Forbes offers some help, noting, for instance, that for a cab ride in South America, rounding up the fare to the next dollar is an acceptable tip, while in Europe or an African city 10% is expected.
Country Music's Pop Push as Off-Key as GOP's Populism
New Republic | Nov 20, 2008 2:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Joe the Plumber is transforming himself into Joe the Country Singer, but he might not want to quit his day job, whatever it was. In the New Republic , David Browne warns that “country is no longer the music of the middle for many Americans.” Instead, Barack Obama's iPod, full of Crow, Coltrane and Jay-Z, may better represent what's going...
Guy Spurns Cash, Wants Kids
New York Daily News | Nov 20, 2008 1:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Guy Ritchie will eschew a fight for the Material Girl's material assets, and instead focus on joint custody of their two sons, the New York Daily News reports, citing a settlement in the works. At issue is where the couple’s children, Rocco and David, will live; Madonna would relocate them to New York. Ritchie could have sued for half of her...
5 Ordered Freed From Gitmo on Feds' Lack of Evidence
New York Times | Nov 20, 2008 1:50 PM CST
(Newser) - A federal judge today ordered the release of five Guantánamo Bay inmates, ruling that the US government’s evidence was not enough to justify their continued detention, the New York Times reports. The men were among the inmates who won a Supreme Court verdict in June that found they indeed had constitutional rights.
Big Three Worse Than Somali Pirates
Bloomberg | Nov 20, 2008 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Detroit’s pleas for a bailout sound an awful lot like blackmail to Bloomberg’s Mark Gilbert. Let GM fail, CEO Rick Wagoner told Congress, and the “level of economic devastation would far exceed” what Detroit is asking for. In other words, give us what we want, or the economy gets it. “Even Somali oil-tanker pirates have...
Someone Get the President- Elect a Cigarette
Washington Post | Nov 20, 2008 1:19 PM CST
(Newser) - America has elected a member of a hated minority as president. That’s right, Barack Obama is a smoker. Oh, sure, he claims to have quit, but Michael Kinsley of the Washington Post isn’t convinced. Obama admitted falling off the wagon in June, yet no reporter has asked him about it since. It’s disgusting and it sets a bad example,...
Stevens Yields the Floor a Last Time
Anchorage Daily News | Nov 20, 2008 1:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Ted Stevens said goodbye to colleagues in the US Senate today, ending a 40-year career after losing his Alaska re-election bid and being convicted on corruption charges, the Anchorage Daily News reports. “I really must pinch myself to fully understand that I’m privileged to speak on the floor of the United States Senate,” Stevens...
Billionaire Passes on Commerce Post
Chicago Tribune | Nov 20, 2008 12:49 PM CST
(Newser) - The hotel heiress Barack Obama was seriously considering as commerce secretary has taken herself out of the running, the Chicago Tribune reports. Penny Pritzker—whose family empire includes Hyatt hotels, casinos, and banks—led Obama's record-breaking fundraising effort, but the vetting process bogged down for “business reasons,”...
Constitution May Sink Hillary's State Chance
Washington Post | Nov 20, 2008 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Should Barack Obama nominate Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, the confirmation process could be the least of her worries, the Washington Post reports. The Constitution prohibits any member of Congress from assuming a federal post whose salary has been increased during the lawmaker’s term; cabinet salaries have risen by about $15,000...
Bob Hope Gets Stamp of Approval
Associated Press | Nov 20, 2008 12:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Bob Hope, one of America’s most beloved entertainers, will grace a US postage stamp next year, the AP reports. The British-born Hope, who died in 2003, found success as a singer, actor, comedian, and entertainer of American troops. He benefits from postal rule change that allows non-presidents to be on stamps 5 years after their death, instead...
Storm Proves Worthy Rival to iPhone
Wall Street Journal | Nov 20, 2008 12:11 PM CST
(Newser) - The BlackBerry Storm hits the US tomorrow, with the iPhone squarely in its sights. The new smartphone is an interesting mix of traditional BlackBerry and the hugely popular Apple gadget, with a few twists, Walt Mossberg writes for the Wall Street Journal. The keyboard is the Storm's calling card: "The entire glass display is one large button,...
Kerry Replaces Biden on Foreign Relations Committee
Boston Globe | Nov 20, 2008 12:00 PM CST
(Newser) - John Kerry will be the next chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Boston Globe reports, replacing Joe Biden when he assumes the vice presidency in January. Kerry plans to use his new post to ramp up anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, aides to the Massachusetts Democrat...
Move Over, Apples: It's a Mandarin a Day Now
Sacramento Bee | Nov 20, 2008 11:44 AM CST
(Newser) - Satsuma mandarin oranges from northern California’s Placer County aren’t in the medicine aisle, but the citrus packs a potent dose of a natural antihistamine that can relieve cold and allergy symptoms, the Sacramento Bee reports. A study found that a glassful of the fruit’s juice has six times as much synephrine as orange juice,...
Defense Lawyers Let Inside Secret Gitmo Camp
Associated Press | Nov 20, 2008 11:34 AM CST
(AP) - Defense lawyers were allowed for the first time into a section of the prison at Guantanamo Bay so restricted that even its location on the US base is secret. The pair of military attorneys for an alleged Sept. 11 plotter went to Camp 7 to gauge the effects of the prison-within-a-prison on a man so unstable he believes his bed shakes.
Beyoncé Wants to Serenade Obama
People | Nov 20, 2008 11:25 AM CST
(Newser) - Beyoncé has her eye on her next big performance: Barack Obama’s inauguration. “Of course I’d love to,” she told People when asked about performing at the event. “Who wouldn’t?” Sasha Fierce will definitely attend the swearing-in, whether performing or not. “I want to be there to witness it,”...
Waxman Unseats Dingell to Chair Key House Committee
The Hill | Nov 20, 2008 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - House Democrats elected Californian Henry Waxman to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee today, the Hill reports. Waxman’s new post will hold considerable influence over how the next administration will effect its legislative agenda; his selection over Michigan’s John Dingell, who has served on the committee for 28 years, is...
Blink-182 Makes Up After Travis' Close Call
E! Online | Nov 20, 2008 11:00 AM CST
(Newser) - The Blink-182 boys are hanging out again, ending a nearly 4-year hiatus after drummer Travis Barker dodged death in a fiery plane crash, E! reports. The trio met up for what vocalist Mark Hoppus calls “positive conversations,” deciding recent events trump the past. As for a reunion, “None of us know,” he writes on his blog....
UK Cops Helped Cover Up Sex Abuse at Orphanage
Guardian (UK) | Nov 20, 2008 10:49 AM CST
(Newser) - UK police helped cover up sexual abuse at an orphanage in Albania run by a Briton, the Guardian reports after investigating the scandal. The shelter’s director, 57-year-old David Brown, was convicted yesterday and sentenced to 20 years in an Albanian jail. British police were tipped off in 2004, but did not pass on the information because Brown...
Slashing Prices Online May Kill Etailers
New York Times | Nov 20, 2008 10:46 AM CST
(Newser) - Online retailers’ response to their first dreary holiday season is a price war so fierce many won’t see the new year. Web shoppers are trained to search for deals, and 75% say they would leave a site that doesn't offer free shipping, the New York Times reports. Fine for Amazon.com, but many small boutiques can’t absorb those costs.
Hillary Leaks Infuriate Obama's Camp
New York Daily News | Nov 20, 2008 10:42 AM CST
(Newser) - The steady stream of leaks about Hillary Clinton’s Cabinet prospects is infuriating Barack Obama’s notoriously tight-lipped organization, the New York Daily News reports. “This isn’t coming from our shop,” said one Obama official, voicing the widely held sentiment that Clintonites have been strategically leaking the...
Rosie: View 'Camaraderie' Fake
Los Angeles Times | Nov 20, 2008 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) - The co-hosts of The View are not friends, Rosie O’Donnell says. “I'm not saying they loathe each other, but the fact of the matter is there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera,” the talkfest's onetime lightning rod says. During an appearance to promote her upcoming NBC variety special, O'Donnell did acknowledge that "arguing...
NYPD Clashes With Justice on Surveillance
New York Times | Nov 20, 2008 10:24 AM CST
(Newser) - The Department of Justice has firmly rejected efforts by the New York Police Department to relax restrictions on eavesdropping, triggering a war of words between the agencies’ heads, the New York Times reports. The NYPD wants broader latitude for electronic surveillance, and less red tape for its requests, but Justice insists that expansion...
Big Choices for Obamas: Chef, Church
New York | Nov 20, 2008 10:06 AM CST
(Newser) - With the incoming first family's private decisions being scrutinized as breathlessly as the president-elect's cabinet picks, you already know about the battle over the puppy, and the private-or-public-school competition. New York reports on three other hotly contested issues: The French-trained chef hired by Laura Bush may be replaced to reflect...
Companies Desperate to Roll Back Pension Support
New York Times | Nov 20, 2008 9:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Wall Street’s meltdown has diminished the value of US pension funds by $250 billion and cash-strapped companies are asking lawmakers to give them relief from rules that require them to make up the losses, reports the New York Times . The rules, designed to strengthen the pension system in the US, were signed into law by President Bush in 2006....
Interviewers Let Palin Off the Hook: Couric
Gawker | Nov 20, 2008 9:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s non-answer to Katie Couric’s question about what periodicals she reads still has the CBS anchor puzzled. Couric visited with David Letterman last night, and he quizzed her about why post-election interviewers haven’t asked the VP wannabe about her non-response, Gawker reports. Meanwhile, Letterman has a theory:...
Next Stab at Health Reform Looks More Promising
Wall Street Journal | Nov 20, 2008 9:33 AM CST
(Newser) - If health care reform passes this time, a major factor will be that its erstwhile enemies are now rooting for it, the Wall Street Journal reports. An industry roadblock killed the Clinton administration’s attempt in the early 1990s, but this time, insurers are playing ball. “You see a range of diverse stakeholders trying to work together...
Joe the Plumber Grabs Book Deal
New York Times | Nov 20, 2008 9:29 AM CST
(Newser) - Before the 2008 election is a month old, Joe the Plumber plans to have a book on the shelves, the New York Times reports. Samuel J. Wurzelbacher has signed a deal with PearlGate Publishing to write “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream,” due in bookstores Dec. 1, with an assist from novelist Thomas Tabback. Of his decision...
8-Year-Old Murder Suspect to Go Home for Turkey Day
CNN | Nov 20, 2008 9:20 AM CST
(Newser) - There’s good news for the 8-year-old boy police believe killed his father and another man. The third-grader, whose shocking video confession made national headlines, will be allowed to leave jail for 48 hours to spend Thanksgiving with his mother, a judge ruled yesterday. Another, perhaps bigger, break: Legal experts tell CNN that said video...
Former French PM Accused In Sarko Scandal
Guardian (UK) | Nov 20, 2008 9:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin will face trial for his role in an alleged smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy, who outmaneuvered him for the presidency. The "Clearstream Affair" scandal dates to 2004, when an anonymous source sent a judge a list of politicians, including Sarkozy, said to be laundering bribes through...
Below 8,000, Dow Continues to Drop
CNN | Nov 20, 2008 9:03 AM CST
(Newser) - Stocks took a slide at the open today, following a disastrous session yesterday that saw the Dow fall below the 8,000 mark. The Dow shed 160 points at the open, accompanied by 21- and 17-point declines in the Nasdaq and S&P. Stocks have fallen nearly 8% this week alone as fears over the auto and financial industries have run wild.  
CEOs Took Billions Off the Table Before Bust
Wall Street Journal | Nov 20, 2008 8:55 AM CST
(Newser) - Investors have lost some $9 trillion since last year’s stock market peak, but at the center of the maelstrom, CEOs of some of the worst-performing companies are sitting pretty. Fifteen financial services and homebuilding CEOs have accumulated more than $100 million each in the past 5 years in cash compensation and stock sales, the Wall Street...
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