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.
'Brit Fritzl' Gets Life for Raping Daughters 30 Years
Guardian (UK)
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Nov 26, 2008 3:50 AM CST
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A British father has been sentenced to 25 life terms for raping his two daughters over nearly 30 years and impregnating them 19 times, reports the Guardian. Nine of the pregnancies resulted in children, all with genetic abnormalities, and two died at birth. Other pregnancies miscarried or were terminated. The man, who has been called the "British...
Thai Gen. Demands Elections After Explosions
BBC
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Nov 26, 2008 3:20 AM CST
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Following a second explosion at a Bangkok airport seized by protesters, Thailand's top general today demanded that parliament be dissolved and new elections held. Gen Anupong Paochinda denied the move amounted to a coup, and insisted the government was still in control. He also ordered protesters to leave Bangkok's international airport. The location...
Obama : Execs 'Tone Deaf' to Economic Dirge
ABC News
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Nov 26, 2008 2:42 AM CST
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Auto executives taking private jets to bailout talks is a symptom of a much larger problem, President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview today on ABC's Good Morning America . The "tone deaf" move revealed that industry leaders—and highly paid CEOs in general—are out of touch with the toll the economy is taking on Americans,...
Brooke Burke Wins Dancing With Stars
People
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Nov 26, 2008 2:11 AM CST
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Brooke Burke and her partner Derek Hough have been crowned the champions of this year's Dancing With the Stars , People reports. The pair scored a perfect 30 for their final dance and came out first in the viewers' votes. Burke, who beat Warren Sapp and Lance Bass to the mirror-ball trophy, is the third female contestant to be Dancing champ.
China's Heavy Industries Steel for Crash
New York Times
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Nov 26, 2008 1:44 AM CST
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The global slowdown is rapidly shutting down China's heavy industries, the New York Times reports. Just months after the government warned that the red-hot economy could lead to runaway inflation, the nation's steel, cement and construction industries now find themselves with a huge excess of capacity—and workers. Growth is expected to slip...
Barbara Bush Hospitalized
CNN
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Nov 25, 2008 11:43 PM CST
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Barbara Bush has been hospitalized in Houston after complaining of stomach pains, reports CNN. A spokesman for the Bush family said the former first lady, 83, is doing fine, and all tests have so far come back negative. Bush, who suffers from a thyroid condition, is expected to be released in time to spend Thanksgiving with her family.
Obama's Agenda Tilts Left—If He Can Pay for It
FiveThirtyEight
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Nov 25, 2008 8:17 PM CST
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Will Obama be a progressive president or more of a centrist? Stop looking at Cabinet picks, suggests Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, and look instead to the president-elect's website. Silver went through Obama's policies and charted them on the political spectrum. The result tilts strongly left on domestic policy, less so on economic policy, and...
Music Milestone: Digital Outsells CDs at Atlantic
New York Times
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Nov 25, 2008 7:41 PM CST
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Atlantic Records has become the first major label to pass a high-tech milestone: More than half of its music sales are now from digital products such as iTunes downloads and ring tones for cell phones. Sales of CDs have been declining across the board in recent years, so it was just a matter of time, reports the New York Times .
Melamine Traces Found in US Infant Formula
Associated Press
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Nov 25, 2008 6:40 PM CST
(AP) -
Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling US infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe. A top official said the levels detected are so low that it would be a "dangerous overreaction" for parents to stop using formula. An outbreak in China has killed at least three infants...
Cancer Cases, Deaths Drop
USA Today
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Nov 25, 2008 6:02 PM CST
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Cancer researchers reported a good-news milestone today: Both the number of new cases and the number of cancer deaths are declining for the first time, USA Today reports. Scientists gave most of the credit to a drop in the number of smokers. “By preventing smoking, you can give someone 10 or 15 years,” one of the study’s authors...
Alleged Abuse Victims Can Sue the Vatican
Wall Street Journal
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Nov 25, 2008 5:32 PM CST
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Alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests can move ahead with a lawsuit against the Vatican, the Wall Street Journal reports. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled that the Vatican can be held liable for negligence in the thousands of such cases reported in the US. A Vatican spokesman said it will probably not appeal to the Supreme...
Missing Tool Bag Spotted in Space
Space.com
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Nov 25, 2008 4:42 PM CST
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Look, in the sky: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's … the tool bag that floated away during a spacewalk last week. A few backyard astronomers have spotted the shiny bag that drifted away from an astronaut outside the International Space Station. The $100,000 toolkit will be visible through binoculars by the end of next week in the evening skies...
House Panel To Investigate Spitzer Probe
New York Times
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Nov 25, 2008 4:23 PM CST
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The House Financial Services Committee is poised to open an inquiry into the investigation that led to Eliot Spitzer’s resignation, the New York Times reports, with Democratic members wondering aloud if the federal probe could have been a politically motivated hit job. The former New York governor was not charged in the prostitution scandal,...
The Pitfalls of De-Friending
Mashable
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Nov 25, 2008 4:14 PM CST
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De-friending is an unfortunate reality for social networks. It happens for many reasons, but is always awkward. Here are some de-friending stories from Mashable (names have been changed to protect the embarrassed): Social opportunists: Andrew got a friend request from Jane, who he didn’t know but was friends with many of his friends. Turns...
Obama, Biden Will Huddle With Governors on Economy
Wall Street Journal
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Nov 25, 2008 4:00 PM CST
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Barack Obama and Joe Biden will discuss measures to help the ailing economy with America’s governors next Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports, with a two-hour, bipartisan working session in Philadelphia. GOP governors are “looking forward” to hearing Obama’s ideas, but will definitely bring plans of their own, the director...
Reports: Gates Will Remain at Pentagon
ABC News
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Nov 25, 2008 3:49 PM CST
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Robert Gates will remain in his post as defense secretary at least through the first year of Barack Obama’s administration, reports ABC News. “It’s a done deal,” an anonymous source told the network today. Obama will reportedly unveil his choice of Gates shortly after Thanksgiving, along with a national-security team that includes...
Obama Should Seek Detente With Medvedev: Buchanan
American Conservative
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Nov 25, 2008 3:46 PM CST
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President Dmitry Medvedev is signaling that Russia and the US could have a less contentious relationship under Barack Obama, and Obama should heed the call, Pat Buchanan writes in the American Conservative . “Russia does not want the Cold War II that the departing neocons wish to leave on his plate,” Buchanan writes of Obama, and two recent...
No More Mr. Nice Huck
New Yorker
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Nov 25, 2008 3:40 PM CST
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The post-election, book-peddling Mike Huckabee is folksy and affable as ever, but he's no longer pulling his punches when it comes to his party's run at the presidency: If he’d been the nominee, the election “would’ve been very different,” Huckabee tells Lauren Collins in the New Yorker . “I would’ve campaigned...
Bronx Mowgli? New Dad Wentz Explains Son's Handle
E! Online
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Nov 25, 2008 3:29 PM CST
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Pete Wentz is a little cagey about the name of his son with wife Ashlee Simpson, but it’s not too hard to figure out, E! reports. For Bronx Mowgli’s first name, “we’d been throwing it back and forth a while ago,” Wentz said. And Mowgli? “ The Jungle Book is something me and Ashlee bonded over,” he continued.
Slim Gain Is Dow's 3rd in Row
Wall Street Journal
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Nov 25, 2008 3:16 PM CST
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Stocks were mixed today, as enthusiasm over the Fed’s plan to get banks lending was tempered by a downward revision to third-quarter GDP and a drop in a home-price index, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow rose 36.47—its third consecutive up session—to 8,479.86. The Nasdaq fell 7.29 to settle at 1,464.73, while the S&P...
Broadway Giant Gerald Schoenfeld Dies at 84
New York Times
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Nov 25, 2008 3:12 PM CST
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Gerald Schoenfeld, American’s most influential theater owner, died today at 84. The New York native ran the powerful Shubert Organization for 36 years, heading 17 Broadway theaters, doling out millions, and co-producing Cats , Amadeus , and Les Miserables . Though his cherubic face put observers in mind of a teddy bear, Schoenfeld’s...
Heartbreak Has Kanye Singing
Rolling Stone
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Nov 25, 2008 3:04 PM CST
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Kanye West’s latest, 808s and Heartbreak , finds the rapper changing his tune, singing instead of rapping and mourning instead of boasting—and the result is “bold, fascinating, foolhardy, occasionally unlistenable,” writes Jody Rosen in Rolling Stone . While its '80s drum tracks are a “pleasant shock,” West has...
Aubry Will Lead French Socialist Party After Vote
BBC
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Nov 25, 2008 2:54 PM CST
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Martine Aubry has edged out rival Ségolène Royal to become the leader of France’s Socialist Party, the BBC reports. A recount of last week’s vote, requested by Royal, actually widened Aubry’s winning margin. Royal, the party’s presidential candidate last year, said she would not accept confirmation of the vote...
Obama Splits Press Into Cubs and Sox
Chicago Tribune
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Nov 25, 2008 2:45 PM CST
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Barack Obama shows no signs of forgetting his Chicago roots since winning the election: He divided the news media into “Cubs” and “Sox” sections for his news conferences yesterday and today, the Chicago Tribune reports. Assignments seemed to be random, much to the chagrin of Steve Thomma, a McClatchy reporter and longtime...
GOP Hopeful Belonged to Whites-Only Country Club
Talking Points Memo
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Nov 25, 2008 2:36 PM CST
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One of the candidates for chairman of the Republican National Committee belonged for more than a decade to a whites-only country club, Greg Sargent notes on Talking Points Memo. Katon Dawson, chairman of South Carolina’s Republican Party, resigned from the club in September as he was preparing to run for the national leadership, saying he’d...
Palin Will Stump in Ga. Runoff
Politico
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Nov 25, 2008 2:24 PM CST
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Sarah Palin will lend her star power to Saxby Chambliss in his Senate runoff battle against Democrat Jim Martin, Politico reports. Palin will appear with Chambliss at rallies across Georgia the day before the Dec. 2 runoff, capping a GOP full-court press that has seen Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain drop by to try to keep Chambliss’...
Judge Nixes Fla. Ban on Gay Adoption
Miami Herald
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Nov 25, 2008 2:13 PM CST
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A Miami circuit judge sparked a constitutional showdown by ruling today against Florida’s 30-year-old ban on gay adoption, rebutting claims that homosexuals suffer more from mental illness and substance abuse. The attorney general’s office plans to appeal the decision, which allows a Miami man to adopt two foster kids he and his partner...
Sewage Soaks Baghdad Slum
Bloomberg
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Nov 25, 2008 2:03 PM CST
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Residents of the Sadr City slum of Baghdad have come to accept raw sewage, bubbling to the surface from broken pipes, as a part of daily life, Bloomberg reports. And Sadr City is hardly an oddity—despite 6 years and billions of American dollars, much of Iraq still lacks reliable electricity and running water.
NJ's Menendez Will Head Key Dem Committee
The Hill
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Nov 25, 2008 1:45 PM CST
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Robert Menendez will replace Charles Schumer atop the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Hill reports today, giving the committee its first Hispanic leader. New Jersey’s Menendez has a tough act to follow in New York’s Schumer, who helped Democrats pick up six seats to take the majority in 2006, then seven more this year.
MySpace Suicide Case Goes to Jury
Wired
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Nov 25, 2008 1:34 PM CST
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Lori Drew’s fate is in the hands of a California jury as the case of the “MySpace bully” goes into deliberations, Wired reports. After forceful closing arguments yesterday, the jury will decide whether the mother committed computer fraud by creating a false online identity used to bully a neighborhood teen into suicide in 2006....
Holloway Suspect: I Sold Her
Radio Free Netherlands
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Nov 25, 2008 1:25 PM CST
(Newser) -
After claiming—then denying—he dumped Natalee Holloway’s body in the Caribbean, Joran van der Sloot confessed to Fox News he watched her being hauled away on a vessel after selling the drunk teen in 2005 to a Venezuelan man seeking “a blonde girl.” The interview, which aired yesterday, went sour, and van der Sloot later...
Scorched SoCal Hills Ripe for Mudslides
Los Angeles Times
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Nov 25, 2008 1:11 PM CST
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A Southern California recently ravaged by wildfires will now have to contend with its heaviest rainfall in 9 months—and the possibility of destructive mudslides, the Los Angeles Times reports. The denuded hills of Yorba Linda and Montecito are prime spots for mud flows, having lost vegetation that stabilizes the soil. Today’s storm in...
Vick Draws Suspended Sentence
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Nov 25, 2008 12:59 PM CST
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Michael Vick pleaded guilty to state dog-fighting charges today in an agreement that could let him out of jail and back in the NFL sooner, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Vick—already serving a 23-month federal sentence in Kansas—agreed to a 3-year suspended prison term in the Virginia case, making him eligible for an early...
Obama Names Budget Director, Vows Reform
Associated Press
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Nov 25, 2008 12:49 PM CST
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Even as he pushes a massive stimulus package, Barack Obama will trim back other parts of the federal budget, the president-elect promised today. “We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness,” he said. “We simply cannot afford it.” To that end, he named as...
Chávez Welcomes Russian Navy
Associated Press
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Nov 25, 2008 12:45 PM CST
(AP) -
Russian warships arrived in Venezuela today, a show of strength aimed at the US as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. Venezuelan sailors fired off cannons in a 21-gun salute as the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko docked in La Guaira, near Caracas. Russian sailors dressed in black-and-white uniforms lined up along the bow.
Teen Critical After Jumping From Moving SUV on Dare
Chicago Sun-Times
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Nov 25, 2008 12:36 PM CST
(Newser) -
An Illinois grand jury is investigating a scavenger hunt that left a 17-year-old in critical condition after he jumped from a Dodge Durango moving at 25mph. As many as 200 teenagers were apparently competing for cash by performing stunts and videotaping them last Friday. Erik Nava's team was winning the game, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, which...
Slump May Doom Clean Energy Initiatives
New York Times
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Nov 25, 2008 12:25 PM CST
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Just as global warming initiatives were gaining serious momentum around the world, the financial crisis looks like it's undermining both the political will and the math that support them, the New York Times reports. With gas prices plummeting, US automakers may be scaling back investment in new technology. In Europe, "industry is saying we can’t...
Big Players Reel in Charity Spending
Wall Street Journal
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Nov 25, 2008 12:14 PM CST
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Charities used to getting much of their money from major corporations and private foundations are feeling the economic downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bill Gates’ foundation plans to give fewer grants next year, and other large donors are honoring existing pledges but refusing to make new ones. “You can’t give what you...
Protests Ground Bangkok Flights
Telegraph (UK)
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Nov 25, 2008 12:02 PM CST
(Newser) -
Anti-government protesters have stormed the terminals of Bangkok's main airport, forcing all flights to be canceled or diverted, in an attempt to stop the prime minister from returning home from an international summit, the Telegraph reports. Police—instructed not to use force—say they could do little to stop the thousands of monarchist...
AIG CEO Cuts His Pay to $1
New York Post
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Nov 25, 2008 12:00 PM CST
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As Congress continues to bail out corporate America, CEOs are canceling bonuses and cutting pay for their top executives—but no one has come close to AIG top executive Edward Liddy, reports the New York Post . The CEO, who took over the troubled insurance company in September, will take home a $1 salary next year and may not see a bonus until...
Makers of Whizzinator Plead Guilty
BBC
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Nov 25, 2008 11:47 AM CST
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The intrepid entrepreneurs behind the Whizzinator have pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy in US federal court, the BBC reports. George Wills and Robert Catalano sold the prosthetic penis, which helps customers pass drug tests by storing and heating fake urine samples, online for 3 years. They could face up to 8 years in prison and a $500,000...
Ford Tops Safe Car List
Associated Press
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Nov 25, 2008 11:36 AM CST
(AP) -
The insurance industry named dozens of new cars and trucks, led by Ford and its Volvo subsidiary, to its annual list of the safest vehicles today. Ford and Volvo saw 16 of their 2009 vehicles make the list; Honda followed with 13. Some 72 vehicles received the top safety pick designation, more than double the number that received it in 2008, helped...
Rangel Saved Loophole that Aided $1M Donor
New York Times
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Nov 25, 2008 11:27 AM CST
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As questions swirl over the methods Charles Rangel used to raise funds for a school in his name, a New York Times investigation finds that the New York representative and chair of the House Ways and Means committee fought to save a tax loophole that benefited one of the school's donors. The loophole enabled Nabors Industries, an oil-drilling firm...
Jackman's Sexiest Role: Garbage Man
E! Online
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Nov 25, 2008 11:16 AM CST
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Hugh Jackman’s wife knows the secret to his sexiness, which netted him People ’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title—he does household chores, E! reports. “Previously, my wife said the sexiest thing about me was that I took the garbage out,” Jackman said. Did the actor get any congratulations in his household? Nope:...
Bailed-Out Banks Won't Bail on Sports Sponsorships
ABC News
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Nov 25, 2008 11:06 AM CST
(Newser) -
Citibank is getting billions from taxpayers and cutting thousands of jobs, but it's not canning its 20-year, $400 million deal to dub the New York Mets’ new stadium “Citi Field.” Such big advertising deals are coming under the microscope—and have critics crying foul, ABC News reports. “This type of spending is indefensible...
Gleeful Brown Is Acting Like a Drunk Dowager
Telegraph (UK)
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Nov 25, 2008 10:56 AM CST
(Newser) -
Gordon Brown, "known as a gloomy old nail-biting misery-guts," has turned into the life of the party ever since the economic downturn hit Britain, writes Boris Johnson in the Telegraph . Deeming that the swooning market and plummeting home prices demand action, he's gleefully launched measures that will incur a deficit that's 8% of GDP...
4-Star General Confesses to Post-Traumatic Stress
USA Today
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Nov 25, 2008 10:45 AM CST
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The trauma associated with combat is a hushed topic among troops returned from Iraq—but a four-star general’s fight off the battlefield could help usher in a new attitude, USA Today reports. After witnessing the scene of a suicide bomb in an American mess hall at a base near Mosul, Carter Ham came home a different man, his wife said....
Cruise Cool With Paparazzi Snapping Suri
Grazia
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Nov 25, 2008 10:34 AM CST
(Newser) -
Tom Cruise doesn’t mind the paparazzi snapping away at hot-tot daughter Suri—in fact, he thinks some of the shots are “incredible.” “It’s certainly different these days with the media, but people have been very good to us and do give us space, so I am not going to be critical,” he told Grazi a in an interview....
New Congress' Key Fights Could Be Dem-on-Dem
Politico
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Nov 25, 2008 10:22 AM CST
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The Democrats have amassed so much power in Congress their internal conflicts may matter more than their fights with the GOP. In Politico, Martin Kady II takes a look at some likely intra-party fault lines: Californians against rust-belters on the environment: “The Midwestern Democrats—Sherrod Brown, Evan Bayh, and the Michigan senators—are...
Thrift Helped Get Us Into This Mess
Washington Post
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Nov 25, 2008 10:09 AM CST
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Three factors are playing into the financial crisis, and it's time to recognize the culprit that accompanies the burst housing bubble and banking meltdown, Robert J. Samuelson writes in the Washington Post . The wealth effect—"the tendency of people to adjust their spending as their wealth changes"—is reversing, with Americans...
