Newser Story Index from December, 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.
Dow Off 100 as Rate Rally Dies
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 17, 2008 3:27 PM CST
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Stocks turned lower as jubilation over the Fed’s rate cut yesterday died down and concerns about the slumping economy returned today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Losses by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs dragged financials lower. The Dow closed down 99.80 at 8,824.34. The Nasdaq fell 10.58 to close at 1,579.31, and the S&P 500 lost...
Canvassing Upstate, Kennedy Dodges Queries
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 3:24 PM CST
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Caroline Kennedy pulled a Sarah Palin today, the New York Times reports, avoiding questions about her qualifications to take Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. After a listening session with the mayor of upstate Syracuse, aides whisked her into a waiting SUV. “Hopefully I can come back and answer all those questions,” she called out.
How to Avoid World's Worst Travel Diseases
Travel Leisure
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Dec 17, 2008 3:13 PM CST
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Experiencing the local flavor sometimes comes at a cost—violent illness. Travel + Leisure lists ways to avoid the world's most unwelcome travel surprises: Malaria: To avoid this dangerous parasite take prophylaxis before traveling—usually mefloquine or chloroquine; and wear long sleeves and a repellent containing DEET. Giardiasis:...
Big Dig Manslaughter Charge Dropped After $16M Deal
Boston Globe
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Dec 17, 2008 3:02 PM CST
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The legal wrangling around a 2006 Boston tunnel collapse that killed one woman appears to finally be over, the Globe reports. In exchange for a $16 million fine, prosecutors have dropped manslaughter charges against Powers Fasteners, which manufactured a supposedly fast-setting epoxy that failed to support ceiling panels. Powers must also recall...
Did Volcanoes Drive Dinos to Extinction?
San Francisco Chronicle
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Dec 17, 2008 2:51 PM CST
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Colossal, repeated volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago released sulfuric gases that sent the dinosaurs, well, the way of the dinosaurs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of scientists at a Bay Area conference this week is questioning the decades-held theory that a meteor killed off dinosaurs. Crater theory proponents, meanwhile,...
Ill. Court Nixes Motion to Declare Blagojevich Unfit
Chicago Tribune
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Dec 17, 2008 2:40 PM CST
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Illinois’ top court today rejected the state attorney general’s motion to have Rod Blagojevich declared unfit to be governor due to corruption charges against him, the Chicago Tribune reports, even as his lawyer charged that members of a state House committee looking into impeachment wouldn’t give Blagojevich a fair shake. Attorney...
Docs Detail Near-Total Face Transplant
USA Today
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Dec 17, 2008 2:29 PM CST
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Cleveland Clinic officials say the woman who underwent the most comprehensive face transplant yet exhausted conventional options before agreeing to the risky 22-hour procedure in which 80% of her face was replaced with a cadaver’s. The unnamed patient lacked a nose or palate and couldn’t eat or breathe without a special opening to her windpipe....
Madoff Scam Proves Wall St. Incompetence
Washington Post
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Dec 17, 2008 2:20 PM CST
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If the Bernard Madoff scandal teaches us anything, it’s that Wall Street’s masters “aren’t just too clever by half,” writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post , “they’re not clever at all.” They didn’t just get “bamboozled by a con artist,” they also enthusiastically delivered...
Believe It or Not, There's an Art to This
Boston Globe
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Dec 17, 2008 2:08 PM CST
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Fisticuffs may be frowned upon in most pro sports, the Boston Globe reports, but the NHL has a definite, if brutal, code to fighting on the ice that goes back to hockey’s rural Canadian origins. Most fights are mutually agreed upon between players, and brawlers know who not to go after. “It’s the show of respect for each other,”...
Suit Claims In-Flight Booze Led to Domestic Violence
Chicago Tribune
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Dec 17, 2008 2:04 PM CST
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A couple has sued United Airlines for deliberately serving the husband too much wine on a 2006 international flight, triggering a physical fight with his wife upon landing. The case rides on whether US courts find United beholden to the same liabilities as bars, and if they can preside over actions that occurred 40,000 feet above international waters,...
DC Ups Defenses for Inauguration
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 17, 2008 1:57 PM CST
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The Pentagon plans a dramatic expansion of the military presence in Washington to coincide with Barack Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the Los Angeles Times reports. About 4,000 National Guardsmen and 7,500 active-duty troops will augment local police and security forces, while air patrols will be increased. No threats have been reported, but...
Obama Team Clogs Inboxes, Elicits Backlash
Politico
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Dec 17, 2008 1:54 PM CST
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Barack Obama and his various Internet organs are hawking everything from civic engagement and disaster relief to coffee mugs and fleece scarves, causing fatigue among supporters, Politico reports. And while some are just tired of incessant emails from the likes of David Plouffe, watchers are concerned about how the president-elect will use his revolutionary...
Akon Pleads Guilty, Fined for Tossing Fan
TMZ
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Dec 17, 2008 1:47 PM CST
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Singer Akon pleaded guilty today to charges stemming from a 2007 fan-tossing incident, TMZ reports. At a concert last year, the crooner grabbed a teenager and threw him from the stage; his guilty plea for harassment nets him a $350 fine and 65 hours of community service. Akon apologized, and a spokesman said the singer “looks forward to putting...
Black Berates Newser Founder From Jail
Daily Beast
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Dec 17, 2008 1:40 PM CST
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Convicted felon Conrad Black has skipped time in the exercise yard to pen a review from prison of the new biography of his old rival Rupert Murdoch. Black complains that biographer Michael Wolff is at once too deferential and takes "extreme psychological liberties" in The Man Who Owns the News. In reality, Murdoch “is quite pleasant,”...
Mukasey Steps Off Madoff Case
Bloomberg
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Dec 17, 2008 1:26 PM CST
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Attorney General Michael Mukasey is recusing himself from the Bernard Madoff investigation because his son is representing an employee involved with the fraud case, Bloomberg reports. Mukasey also graduated from an Orthodox Jewish school where Madoff’s wife has taught and which placed $6 million in the fraudulent scheme. A spokesman said today...
Obama Adds Centrists Salazar, Vilsack to Cabinet
Washington Post
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Dec 17, 2008 1:07 PM CST
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Barack Obama added Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack to his growing list of Cabinet appointments today, tapping the noted centrists as secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture respectively. “It is time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way,” Obama said, promising again to “make...
Fire Blackwater: State Dept. Panel
Associated Press
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Dec 17, 2008 1:03 PM CST
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The US military should stop using contractors from Blackwater Worldwide, concludes a report by a State Department advisory panel, obtained by the AP. In light of numerous allegations of violent misconduct, Blackwater’s contract to defend American diplomats should not be renewed when it expires next year, the panel recommends. Five Blackwater...
Hillary to Supporters: Lay Off Caroline
New York Daily News
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Dec 17, 2008 12:55 PM CST
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To those Clintonites bashing Caroline Kennedy—the Democratic scion who threw her weight behind Barack Obama in the hard-fought primaries—Hillary Clinton has a message: Pipe down, the New York Daily News reports. Clinton insiders say the soon-to-be secretary of State understands "She's got to be part of the team now. She needs to...
How-to Guides for New Tipplers
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 12:50 PM CST
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The holiday season tends to produce a glut of books on wine, and while all primers leave out the most important part—actual bottles—five new reads get a once-over by Eric Asimov in the New York Times . Andrew Jefford’s Wine Course, by Andrew Jefford: a "poetically inspirational" global tour of the wine world, complete...
Leno Doesn't Know When You Go to Bed
TV by the Numbers
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Dec 17, 2008 12:28 PM CST
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Despite what Jay Leno may think, Americans aren't going to bed earlier, the blog TV by the Numbers reports. Nielsen ratings confirm that more people watch TV at 10pm than later on, but that's nothing new. "What the data shows is a decreasing trend of viewership between 10 and 11pm (not great news for Leno’s new time slot) and increasing...
Old Boys' Networks No More: TV's New Female Stars
Vogue
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Dec 17, 2008 12:14 PM CST
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The world of television news can be a journalistic proving ground during tumultuous times, and three women have bubbled to the top of the white-guy-dominated realm. Vogue takes a look at one veteran and two up-and-comers who have caught the mag's eye: Katie Couric—After months of ridicule and low ratings as the new CBS Evening News...
'Helicopter Ben' Should Shower Us With Cash
Financial Times (UK)
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Dec 17, 2008 11:56 AM CST
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With interest rates functionally zero, Ben Bernanke is soon going to have to resort to the central banker's ultimate weapon: printing cash and showering Americans with money. There's no question that the "helicopter drop" will prevent the dreaded spiral of deflation, writes Martin Wolf in the Financial Times . But the longer-term consequences...
Bernie Madoff, Gentleman of Leisure
Bloomberg
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Dec 17, 2008 11:50 AM CST
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Bernard Madoff maintained a very public life, and, like a perfect con man, no one thought he was capable of the crimes he stands accused of. Two weeks ago he popped into his barber shop for his usual haircut, shave, mani, and pedi. “For me, he was a gentleman,” says the barber. “What he did outside, it was news to me.”...
Dynasty Politics Turning Senate Into House of Lords
Politico
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Dec 17, 2008 11:33 AM CST
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The winning presidential ticket this year was the first since 1976 without a son or grandson of a senator on it. But don’t let that fool you: Royalism is on the rise in American politics, writes Charles Mahtesian for Politico. In the Senate, there are two new Udalls, a seat-warmer is saving Joe Biden’s seat for son Beau, John Salazar may...
Greek Protesters Hang Banners on Acropolis
Associated Press
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Dec 17, 2008 11:29 AM CST
(AP) -
Greek protesters hung two giant banners off the Acropolis today, with slogans calling for mass demonstrations across Europe tomorrow and "resistance," after days of violent protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Athens. A dozen protesters held the pink banners over the walls of the famous citadel, written in large...
More Deja Vu: Betty Currie on Obama Team
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 11:24 AM CST
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Yet another link with the Clinton White House: Betty Currie, the secretary to Bill Clinton who became embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, has rolled up her sleeves and is now manning the phones for John Podesta, the co-chairman of Obama’s transition team and former Clinton chief of staff, the New York Times reports. Currie, 69, came out...
4 Financial Doomsday Scenarios
Politico
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Dec 17, 2008 11:20 AM CST
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James Rickards is far more pessimistic about the economic crisis and its global implications than most of his analyst colleagues, Politico reports. But he’s also well respected by US intelligence and defense services. Here are four of his nightmare scenarios. Terrorism: Al-Qaeda has long sought to disrupt the US economy; the current...
Why Are We Gaga Over Jen?
Huffington Post
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Dec 17, 2008 11:06 AM CST
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Jennifer Aniston is everywhere. “Have you opened a paper or magazine in the last two weeks and not seen her? Did she finance Marley & Me herself?” asks Ken Levine on the Huffington Post. Even without a blockbuster to her name, the former Friend has become a bonafide movie star: “She’s got everything it takes. She’s...
More Families Ditch the 2nd Car
Bloomberg
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Dec 17, 2008 11:03 AM CST
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As more US families give up second vehicles in favor of public transportation, “it’s very likely the fleet will shrink next year,” an industry analyst tells Bloomberg. The number of cars on the road has gone down only nine times in the past century, and another decrease would mean even more bad news for automakers.
Drew Peterson Engaged Again
Chicago Sun-Times
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Dec 17, 2008 11:00 AM CST
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Drew Peterson, whose wife Stacy has been missing since last year, wants to move on to bride No. 5, his lawyer tells the Chicago Sun-Times . “He proposed and she accepted,” Joel Brodsky says, though “I guess he’s got to get divorced.” Peterson doesn’t see the problem. “I was married to Kathleen when I was engaged...
OPEC Slashes a Record 2.2M Barrels
MSNBC
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Dec 17, 2008 10:54 AM CST
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OPEC has approved a cut in output of 2.2 million barrels of crude a day, the largest reduction ever, MSNBC reports. The consortium believes that stabilizing prices now by decreasing supply will guard against a price spike when consumer confidence increases. OPEC’s monthly report predicts that demand will have fallen 700,000 barrels in 2008, and...
Minn. Board Can't Keep Up With New Ballot Challenges
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Dec 17, 2008 10:46 AM CST
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The Minnesota state Canvassing Board began evaluating challenged ballots in the Senate recount yesterday, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. These votes, where one of the campaigns disputed voter intent, are the last major obstacle in the count. But the campaigns say that having seen the standards, they may revive some withdrawn challenges.
Hef: I Almost Choked on Sex Toy
Extra
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Dec 17, 2008 10:32 AM CST
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The most shocking part of Hugh Hefner’s recently released autobiography is “probably an incident that occurred back in the late ‘70s where I almost swallowed a sex toy,” the Playboy founder tells Extra during a tour of his mansion to air Friday. Less shockingly, Hef reveals his favorite part of the Beverly Hills pad: “I...
Madoff Scheme Not Much Worse Than Legal Ones
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 10:30 AM CST
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Wall Street used to be the epicenter of capitalism that the whole world wanted to emulate, but, on a trip to Hong Kong, Thomas Friedman discovers that the American financial establishment has lost its credibility. "We don’t just need a financial bailout," he writes in the New York Times , "we need an ethical bailout."
Coldplay Wants Simon on Tour
Daily Mirror (UK)
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Dec 17, 2008 10:20 AM CST
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Simon Cowell may be doling out his famously harsh feedback—on Coldplay’s current tour, the Mirror reports. “At the end of one song I want him to come on screen and say, ‘That was absolutely terrible!’” frontman Chris Martin said. The band will have to stay together in order for that to happen, though: Martin jokes...
Pirates Step Up Attacks After UN OKs More Force
BBC
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Dec 17, 2008 10:10 AM CST
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Pirates attacked more vessels off the coast of Somalia today despite a UN Security Council decision green-lighting foreign military forces to pursue them on land, reports the BBC. Four ships were attacked, and three—a tugboat, merchant ship, and private yacht—were being held by the pirates. A Chinese ship repulsed attackers until help arrived.
Obama Is Time 's Person of the Year
Time
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Dec 17, 2008 9:59 AM CST
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Barack Obama “hit the American scene like a thunderclap, upended our politics, and shattered decades of conventional wisdom” on his way to the White House, David Von Drehle writes, and those things alone might make him Time ’s person of the year. But already Obama has moved into a new phase, from flashy politician to Mr. Fix It,...
Fed Cut Won't Translate Into Much for Consumers ... Yet
MarketWatch
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Dec 17, 2008 9:53 AM CST
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Consumers hoping for lower interest rates on credit cards, car loans, and mortgages after the Federal Reserve dropped a key interest rate to near 0% yesterday aren’t likely to get a break soon, reports MarketWatch. But loans could be easier to get once the Fed’s other actions—buying up a range of debt—take hold in the first...
Mamma Mia! Drowns Titanic's UK Take
E! Online
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Dec 17, 2008 9:40 AM CST
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The movie version of the fluffy romantic musical Mamma Mia! has become Britain's biggest box office hit of all time, E! Online reports. The Meryl Streep flick, based on the tunes of the '70s Swedish pop group ABBA, earned $107.7 million in 22 weeks in theaters, sailing beyond the 1997 epic Titanic . A studio exec said the movie’s “pure...
A Tough, Public Road Ahead for Kennedy
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 9:27 AM CST
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Caroline Kennedy has thrown her hat in the political ring, and with it her reputation and much-cherished privacy, the New York Times reports. Tabloids have long kept a respectful distance from JFK’s daughter, but now that she’s running, they’ll “relentlessly follow her across the state,” says a former New York Post...
Obama Dials GOP Just to Say Hi
The Hill
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Dec 17, 2008 9:10 AM CST
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As Barack Obama readies a massive agenda, he’s been keeping key Republicans on speed-dial, the Hill reports. Though he seemed more comfortable with big crowds during the campaign, the prez-elect is reaching out to touch Republicans likely to be both adversaries and collaborators alike. “I think this seems to be a significant level of reaching...
Skiers Pulled From Gondolas After Tower Collapses
Vancouver Sun
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Dec 17, 2008 9:03 AM CST
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Twelve people were injured and dozens more were stranded for hours after a gondola support tower collapsed yesterday at a British Columbia ski resort, the Vancouver Sun reports. A rep for the Whistler Blackcomb resort—which is sharing 2010 Winter Olympics duties with Vancouver—said they don't know why the tower separated from its base....
Stocks Sink as Morgan Misses
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 17, 2008 8:52 AM CST
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Stocks retreated this morning, after Morgan Stanley reported a worse-than-expected $2.29 billion loss. Goldman Sachs posted a similar number yesterday, but whereas its stock rose, Morgan’s dropped more than 5%. The Dow likewise shed 107 points at the open, while the Nasdaq and S&P each dropped 1.3%. Also on the decline were Apple, which was...
Middlemen Lose Billions in Madoff Fraud
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 8:41 AM CST
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Last week Walter Noel was a successful hedge fund manager, with houses from Connecticut to the Caribbean and an adulatory photo shoot in Vanity Fair . But overnight, when Bernie Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme was exposed, his $14.1 billion firm, Fairfield Greenwich Group, lost more than half its assets. While the hedge fund capital of Greenwich has expressed...
Rudy Likely to Fill O'Reilly's Radio Gig
New York Post
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Dec 17, 2008 8:34 AM CST
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America’s Mayor may return to the radio waves, according to the New York Post, which reports that Rudy Giuliani is the leading candidate to succeed Bill O’Reilly when he leaves his syndicated show. Giuliani's camp isn't commenting, but Hizzoner has some experience being blunt behind the mike—he mocked a ferret owner as “deranged”...
Crisis-Stricken LA Museum Mulls Merger
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 8:13 AM CST
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The future of LA's troubled Museum of Contemporary Art became somewhat clearer yesterday, as the institution's director began negotiating his resignation and the larger Los Angeles County Museum of Art proposed a merger. Tomorrow the MoCA board will meet to decide the fate of the troubled museum, which has teetered near collapse from shrinking...
Obama Reviews Abortion Rules
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 17, 2008 8:07 AM CST
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Barack Obama’s transition team is hard at work deciding how and when to undo the Bush administration’s abortion policies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bush’s ban on federal stem cell research funding will be among the first to go—a move that has broad bipartisan support—along with Reagan’s “global gag...
Welfare Rolls Rising for First Time Since '90s
Washington Post
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Dec 17, 2008 7:57 AM CST
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Welfare numbers are rising in many states for the first time since public assistance was redefined more than a decade ago, the Washington Post reports. The numbers are still small compared to the days before welfare was retooled to steer people into jobs, but at least a dozen states say welfare rolls have begun climbing, and applications are surging...
Hertz Rolls Out Car-Share Plan
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 7:30 AM CST
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Look out Zipcar—car rental giant Hertz is jumping into the auto-sharing fray with hourly rentals in New York, Paris, and London, reports the New York Times. Hertz Connect customers will pay from $50 to $1,500 annually to subscribe and have access to cars for as little as $8.50 to $10 an hour.
German Politician: Let the Poor Catch Rats
Der Spiegel
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Dec 17, 2008 7:04 AM CST
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One German politician has a solution to help Berlin's poor: let them catch the rats that are plaguing the city. "People who collect bottles could get one euro [$1.40] for every dead rat," he cheerfully explained. But the Dickensian plan, which may be officially introduced today, wasn't widely hailed. "It's inhuman and cynical to send...
