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.
Obama Will Face Shuttle Dilemma
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 17, 2008 6:37 AM CST
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America's aging space shuttle fleet will pose some tough questions for Barack Obama, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Bush administration has recommended the shuttle be mothballed by 2010. To avoid leaving a potentially crippling 5-year gap in America's manned space flight program, Obama's NASA team will need to decide whether to extend the shuttle’s...
White House Preps Crisis Scenarios for Obama Team
New York Times
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Dec 17, 2008 6:15 AM CST
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The White House has drawn up more than a dozen contingency plans to help Barack Obama if a crisis erupts early in his presidency, the New York Times reports. The briefings go way beyond what other administrations have prepared and deal with potential threats ranging from a North Korean nuclear explosion to a terrorist attack on overseas US facilities...
Brown Announces July Withdrawal in Baghdad
Times (UK)
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Dec 17, 2008 5:47 AM CST
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Baghdad today and announced that all but a handful of British troops will leave Iraq by July 2009. About 4,000 British service members remain in Iraq, mostly around Basra, though at the height of the war 100,000 were deployed. Since the war began 178 British troops have lost their lives,...
Ex SEC Official's Marriage to Madoff Niece Investigated
ABC News
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Dec 17, 2008 5:15 AM CST
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An SEC official dated and later married the niece of confessed fraudster Bernard Madoff, and the agency is investigating the link, reports the Wall Street Journal . Eric Swanson, an SEC director of compliance who left the agency, married Shana Madoff, a compliance lawyer at Madoff's firm, last year, but began dating her in 2006. Madoff bragged...
Bush Shoe Toss Goes Viral
Wired
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Dec 17, 2008 4:29 AM CST
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President Bush's shoe-dodging Iraq press conference has the internet's legions of animators kicking up their heels, Wired reports. Dozens of games—including one called "Sock and Awe"—were rapidly created after the incident, allowing players to be a shoe-ducking president, a shoe-chucking journalist, or a shoe-shooting Secret...
Apple to Quit Macworld Expo
MarketWatch
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Dec 17, 2008 3:58 AM CST
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Apple shocked observers by announcing yesterday that its appearance at next month's Macworld Expo will be its last, Marketwatch reports. CEO Steve Jobs will not be giving a final keynote address at the San Francisco industry gathering where he has traditionally unveiled new products. The company's stock dived 5% following the news amid rumors about...
Happy Birthday, Adolf Whaaat ?
New York Daily News
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Dec 17, 2008 3:32 AM CST
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He's blond, blue-eyed, just 3 years old and his name is Adolf Hitler Campbell. Staff at a ShopRite in his New Jersey hometown were so offended by his name that they refused to create a cake with "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" written on it, reports the New York Daily News. It's unlikely that will be the last time the name causes trouble....
US Judge Busts Muslim Woman for Wearing Hijab
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Dec 17, 2008 3:07 AM CST
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A Muslim woman was briefly jailed by a Georgia judge for refusing to take off her head-covering hijab in court, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The woman was arrested for contempt, and ordered held for 10 days—but was released after several hours. She had been in court with her nephew, who was contesting a traffic violation. The same...
Huge Holes Found in Earth's Magnetic Shield
Space.com
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Dec 17, 2008 2:40 AM CST
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Scientists have discovered two large and unexpected holes in the magnetic field that protects the Earth from solar winds, reports Space.com. The leaks won't pose any risk to health, but increased disruption to satellites and electrical systems can be expected when the cycle of solar storms reaches its next peak four years from now, experts say. The...
Manning Brothers Pair Up to Make Pro Bowl History
Associated Press
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Dec 17, 2008 2:15 AM CST
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The Pro Bowl picks have been announced and they include a pair of record-busting firsts, AP reports. Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts will become the first quarterback-playing brothers to compete in the all-star game. Peyton's Giants teammate, 44-year-old kicker John Carney, will be the oldest Pro Bowl...
OPEC Prepares to Slash Output
Reuters
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Dec 17, 2008 1:46 AM CST
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OPEC ministers are expected to back the biggest reduction in oil production in the history of the cartel when they meet today, Reuters reports. The exporters widely support a cut of 2 million barrels a day. Oil prices neared $43 per barrel yesterday, down over $100 from July. Officals from Saudi Arabia, which heads the cartel, are seeking action expected...
As Money Woes Rise, Drivers Let Insurance Lapse
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 10:14 PM CST
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As the unemployment rate climbs, so, too, does the number of drivers letting their car insurance lapse, the Wall Street Journal reports. One industry group says several hundred thousand drivers dropped their insurance in the last year alone. A study two years ago pegged the percentage of uninsured drivers at 15% nationally, and that figure is sure...
Paterno Signs 3-Year Deal
Associated Press
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Dec 16, 2008 8:19 PM CST
(AP) -
Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a new three-year contract extension to go along with his new hip. The Hall of Famer and winningest coach in major college football history will keep the post he has held for 43 years through 2011. Terms were not made public. Paterno, who turns 82 this weekend, had hip-replacement surgery last month. His No. 6 Nittany...
SEC Chief Says His Staff Ignored Madoff Warnings
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 7:51 PM CST
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SEC chief Christopher Cox blasted his own agency's failure to detect Bernard Madoff's massive investment-fraud scheme, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cox called it "deeply troubling" that SEC investigators had ignored "credible and specific allegations" dating back to at least 1999. He called on the SEC's inspector...
Star Gazing: 9 to Watch in '09
Entertainment Weekly
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Dec 16, 2008 7:35 PM CST
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With next year's big-name film and TV projects (including a new Star Trek and a fresh Tom Hanks movie) featuring some unknowns, Entertainment Weekly lists the rising stars of 2009: Kara DioGuardi , American Idol : The songwriting force behind hits by Pink and Ashlee Simpson will sit at the show's judging table. Chris...
Yale's Endowment Drops 25% to $17B
New Haven Independent
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Dec 16, 2008 7:12 PM CST
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Yale's endowment is performing like those of other major universities: miserably. The Ivy League school said today that its fund had plunged 25%, or $5.9 billion, to $17 billion since July, the New Haven Independent reports. Yale's president warned of a $100 million budget shortfall in the 2009 school year and said belt-tightening would be necessary....
Easter Island Statue Plans Paris Pilgrimage
Independent (UK)
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Dec 16, 2008 6:50 PM CST
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A “moai”—one of the giant statues of elongated heads on Easter Island—will travel to Paris in 2010 on a mission to challenge the “materialistic conscience” of the world, the Independent reports. Representatives of the Pacific island’s government said the statue had made its wish for travel known to them and...
Obama to Pick Iowa Ex-Gov. Vilsack for Agriculture
CNN
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Dec 16, 2008 6:27 PM CST
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Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will be Barack Obama's pick for agriculture secretary, CNN reports. Obama is expected to make the announcement tomorrow. Vilsack himself briefly ran for president before dropping out and campaigning for Hillary Clinton. As a two-term governor, Vilsack backed renewable energy and sought to develop the state's alternative...
Sontag's Early Journals Mesmerize
Slate
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Dec 16, 2008 6:15 PM CST
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The newly released diaries of a young Susan Sontag provide an invaluable glimpse of how the writer-to-be came to be, critics say. “I do not just express myself more openly than I could do to any person," the late Sontag writes of journaling. "I create myself." In Reborn: Journals & Notebooks (1947-1963) , edited by her...
Blago Denied Lottery Post to Jackson's Wife
ABC News
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Dec 16, 2008 5:57 PM CST
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Jesse Jackson Jr. may be "Senate Candidate No. 5" in the Blagojevich scandal, but he's been cooperating with feds investigating the governor since at least last summer, reports ABC7 in Chicago. Jackson told investigators that Blagojevich refused to appoint Jackson's wife as the state's lottery director in 2003 because the congressman wouldn't...
'Texas Girls Are Fun,' Says Not-So-Discreet Pete
E! Online
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Dec 16, 2008 5:45 PM CST
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Pete Wentz is apparently unfamiliar with the phrase "too much information," laments E! Online. The bassist for Fallout Boy went on Howard Stern's show today and gave up all kinds of intimate details about his "amazing sex life" with wife Ashlee Simpson. "Texas girls are fun," he says of Ashlee, before filling in listeners...
Disney Channel Coming to Russian TV
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 5:30 PM CST
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Disney has become the first Western company to crack the potentially lucrative Russian TV market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company and a Russian broadcaster are finalizing plans to introduce Disney programming on 30 stations nationwide. Disney will have a 49% ownership stake in the deal with Russia's Media-One Holdings. The channel will...
Meet Blago's Political Hero
Time Out Chicago
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Dec 16, 2008 5:12 PM CST
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A photo of Richard Nixon with Rod Blagojevich has surfaced in what Time Out Chicago describes as an ironic twist of fate and a reminder that politicians should rely on better role models. “In 1980, most twenty-something men probably pined to bump into one of the Beatles or maybe Bo Derek," writes Jake Malooley. "Blago wanted the autograph...
In-Laws Pose Health Hazard for Japanese Women: Study
New York Times
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Dec 16, 2008 4:59 PM CST
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Japanese women who live with their in-laws face three times the risk of a heart attack than those living only with their husbands, a study finds. “This is the first epidemiological study to show that these traditional living arrangements in Japan are rather harmful for women,” one of the study’s authors tells the New York Times .
20 Years After Spill, Valdez Oil 'Harmless'
New Scientist
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Dec 16, 2008 4:48 PM CST
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Nearly 20 years after the Exxon Valdez spill, what little oil remains in the soiled Prince William Sound is harmless to plant and animal life, scientists agree. The last oil deposits remain deep in the cracks between shoreline rocks, inaccessible to animals and degraded enough to be "biologically insignificant." But what scientists don't...
Oprah Seals Production Deal With HBO
Chicago Sun-Times
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Dec 16, 2008 4:35 PM CST
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Oprah Winfrey has a production deal with HBO, ending a long-lived partnership with ABC, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The exclusive, 3-year arrangement will allow Oprah’s Harpo Films more flexibility than before. “Being on a cable channel like HBO offers us a tremendous amount of creative freedom not seen on network television,”...
'Vati-Con' Agrees to Pay $3.6M
New York Post
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Dec 16, 2008 4:23 PM CST
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Raffaello Follieri, the jailed ex-boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway who used alleged connections to the pope to scam investors, has agreed to return $3.6 million to victims, including two priests and celeb-billionaire Ron Burkle. It’s a small chunk of the $13 million the “Vati-Con” is accused of pilfering, but Follieri is supposedly...
GM Picks Mets Over Yankees for Ad Dollars
Bloomberg
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Dec 16, 2008 4:14 PM CST
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General Motors, citing the poor economic climate and its shortage of cash, has declined to renew its sponsorship of the New York Yankees, Bloomberg reports. The struggling car manufacturer will, however, re-up with the New York Mets. “We still want a presence in New York and we can’t do both,” a GM spokeswoman said. The Yankees contract...
West Should Buy Out Pakistan's Nukes
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 4:05 PM CST
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Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has done nothing to steady its economy or deter terrorism, Bret Stephens notes in the Wall Street Journal —so why not sell it to the West? Pakistan has already lobbied for economic aid; for eliminating “its entire nuclear stockpile and the industrial base that sustains it,” Stephens writes, “the...
Duff: I Never Actually Claimed I Was a Virgin
Fox News
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Dec 16, 2008 3:54 PM CST
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Hilary Duff is growing up, but that doesn’t mean that she’s any less tight-lipped about her personal life, Fox News reports. “I was quoted saying I was a virgin” in 2006, “but I absolutely did not say that,” the starlet tells Maxim . So, she’s not? “That’s nobody’s business but my own.”...
China's Great Firewall Back Up
New York Times
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Dec 16, 2008 3:43 PM CST
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China has quietly reinstated the web censorship lifted during its Olympics image cleanup, the New York Times reports today. As in the past, the tightening comes as growing unemployment raises the government’s fears of social unrest. The government defended its right to censor sites that violate Chinese secession laws, which apparently includes...
Aussies Elude Attempt to Serve Papers Via Facebook
Ars Technica
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Dec 16, 2008 3:34 PM CST
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The Australian debtors who were the object of a judge’s ruling that legal documents could be served via Facebook have remained one step ahead of the law, Ars Technica reports. After verifying the home-loan defaulters’ full names, birthdates, and “friend status” on their profile pages, an innovative attorney sought permission...
Dow Jumps 359 on Rate Cut
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 3:23 PM CST
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Stocks rallied today as investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s sharp federal funds rate cut and other policy measures designed to combat the economic crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow rose 359.61 to close at 8,924.14. The Nasdaq climbed 81.55, closing at 1,589.89, and the S&P 500 gained 44.61 to settle at 913.18.
Kidnap Rise Adds to Afghan Woes Awaiting Obama
Salon
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Dec 16, 2008 3:19 PM CST
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A rash of kidnappings has struck Afghanistan, a symptom of the deteriorating security situation there, writes Masha Hamilton in Salon. Kabul is no longer viewed as a safe haven as the Taliban and criminal gangs seize foreigners and Afghans alike—sometimes for ideological reasons, often just for a ransom payment. It’s a situation sure to...
Dubya: Jeb Would Be 'Awesome' Senator
Real Clear Politics
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Dec 16, 2008 3:07 PM CST
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President Bush gave his little brother a glowing job recommendation, telling RealClearPolitics the former Florida governor would make “an awesome US senator.” Among those who stand to benefit if Jeb Bush runs to replace retiring Republican Mel Martinez in 2010, per Dubya: The GOP, Florida, and the country. Jeb vows to renew classic Republican...
ANC Defectors Launch New South African Party
BBC
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Dec 16, 2008 2:59 PM CST
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A former defense minister is the first head of a new South African political party made up mainly of defectors from the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela, the BBC reports. Called Congress of the People, or COPE, the movement spearheaded by Mosiuoa Lekota formed around dissatisfaction with the ANC’s ouster of President Thabo...
Murder of Most Wanted Host's Son Solved
CNN
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Dec 16, 2008 2:46 PM CST
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The man who kidnapped and beheaded America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh’s son in 1981 has been identified, CNN reports. “Ottis Toole was the abductor and murderer of Adam Walsh,” Florida police said today. Toole, long suspected of the crime, died in prison in 1996. “That journey is over,” Walsh said of the search...
Woods Upset at Caddie for Ripping Mickelson
Times (UK)
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Dec 16, 2008 2:37 PM CST
(Newser) -
Tiger Woods is “disappointed” in longtime caddie Steve Williams for making derogatory comments about rival Phil Mickelson, the Times reports. “It was inappropriate. The matter has been discussed and dealt with,” Woods said in a statement. Williams told a large crowd in his native New Zealand that, among other things, he “wouldn’t...
Pets Are Losing Homes, Too
Boston Globe
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Dec 16, 2008 2:29 PM CST
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Animal shelters are being filled with pets abandoned because of the recession and home foreclosures. In Massachusetts, a rescue league has seen a 45% jump in owners citing money or housing problems when they surrender a cat or dog. Others are just leaving their pets on the streets or in the houses they must vacate, sometimes with a supply of food,...
Cleveland Clinic Performs First US Face Transplant
Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Dec 16, 2008 2:16 PM CST
(Newser) -
Doctors in Cleveland have successfully completed the nation’s first near-total facial transplant on a on a patient disfigured by traumatic injury, the Plain Dealer reports today. The hospital, which said the patient didn’t want to be identified, was the first in the US to approve the controversial procedure, which some consider too risky...
Clint Calls Us 'Generation Pussy'
Esquire
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Dec 16, 2008 2:09 PM CST
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"We live in more of a pussy generation now," Clint Eastwood tells Esquire upon the release of his new film Gran Torino . "Everybody's become used to saying, 'Well, how do we handle it psychologically?' " Eastwood, who grew up having to duke it out with bullies, looks back to a more stoic time: "My father had a couple...
Mumbai Gunmen Aired Slights in Cell Phone Calls
Washington Post
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Dec 16, 2008 1:55 PM CST
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Cell phone calls made by Mumbai gunmen during their attacks last month have shed some light on the motivations behind the slaughter, the Washington Post reports. Two members of Lashkar-e-Taiba who phoned an Indian TV station during the attacks cited the deaths of 1,000 demonstrators—mostly Muslims—in Gujarat in 2002, the 1992 demolition...
Chinese Democracry No Boon for Best Buy
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 16, 2008 1:42 PM CST
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Best Buy paid millions for exclusive sales rights to Guns N’ Roses latest effort, but of 1.3 million copies ordered, only 318,000 have left the shelves, the Wall Street Journal reports. The chain was betting Chinese Democracy would be the record of the year. Instead, it debuted at No. 3 on the charts, with sales falling 78% in its second...
Fed Cuts Rate to 0%-0.25%
Associated Press
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Dec 16, 2008 1:40 PM CST
(AP) -
The Federal Reserve today cut its target for a key interest rate to the lowest level on record and pledged to use "all available tools" to combat a severe financial crisis and prolonged recession. The central bank says it reduced the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to a range of 0% to 0.25%.
Obama on Ed Pick: Gifted Leader (and Great Jump Shot)
The Hill
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Dec 16, 2008 1:29 PM CST
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Barack Obama introduced Arne Duncan as his secretary of education pick today, lauding the Chicago educator's accomplishments in reforming the country's third-largest school district, and noting that he's also a longtime basketball buddy who has a better jump shot than the president-elect. “I didn't pick Arne because he's a great basketball player,”...
Perino Back—With Shiner
Gawker
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Dec 16, 2008 1:19 PM CST
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White House Press Secretary Dana Perino took a hit for her boss during the Iraq shoe fiasco, Gawker reports. The unsung victim came home with collateral damage—a black eye she's dubbed her "shoe-venir." Perino was hit by a microphone pole sent flying by Bush's lead agent as he jumped to rescue the president from the flying boots, MSNBC...
SPITZER: ANOTHER HAPPY ENDING
Financial Times (UK)
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Dec 16, 2008 1:06 PM CST
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If Eliot Spitzer could have picked a place to reenter society, he probably wouldn’t have picked a former Chinatown massage parlor called “Happy Ending,” muses John Gapper of the Financial Times . But that’s where Slate was holding its winter party, and so there the online mag’s newest writer went to socialize. Gapper...
Columbo Star Has Alzheimer's
TMZ
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Dec 16, 2008 1:04 PM CST
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Peter Falk has Alzheimer's disease and no longer recognizes people, says the Columbo star's daughter. Catherine Falk filed court papers seeking conservatorship of her father, reports TMZ, saying he "requires full-time custodial care for his health and safety" and that she fears he "can easily be deceived into transferring away property."...
Shoe-Throwing Journo Beaten, Brother Alleges
BBC
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Dec 16, 2008 1:00 PM CST
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The journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference 2 days ago has been beaten in custody, his brother told the BBC. The brother alleges that Muntadar al-Zaidi, 28, has a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the Iraqi military says the journalist is in good health and denied the claims.
Poll Backs Obama's War Plans
Washington Post
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Dec 16, 2008 12:49 PM CST
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Barack Obama echoes most Americans’ war views, if not those of his national-security team, a Washington Post -ABC News poll finds. Though 27% fewer Americans are pessimistic about efforts in Iraq compared to 2 years ago, 70% say they want troops withdrawn within 16 months, as Obama has promised. Most—67%—say that war is not worth...
