Newser Story Index from May, 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.
Iceland Most Peaceful Nation
Reuters
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May 20, 2008 6:44 PM CDT
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Iceland is the world's most peaceful nation, says a new ranking of 140 countries, Reuters reports. Other findings of the Global Peace Index: The US ranked 97th, below Libya, Cuba, Chile, and Belarus. Iraq finished last, edging out Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Israel.
Gay Marriage Gives Pause to Calif. Faithful
Los Angeles Times
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May 20, 2008 6:32 PM CDT
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Across California, congregations of all faiths are adjusting to last week's ruling allowing same-sex marriages—even as they attempt to reconcile state laws with those of their religions, the Los Angeles Times reports. Many churches and synagogues are working to fit the ruling into their offerings; others see a direct conflict with their teachings.
Clinton Romps in Kentucky
Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)
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May 20, 2008 6:08 PM CDT
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Hillary Clinton cruised to a lopsided victory in today's Kentucky primary, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Clinton won 65% to 30%, a margin of victory she called an "overwhelming vote of confidence." Despite the huge win, Barack Obama picked up enough support to clinch a majority of pledged delegates in the Democratic race.
Morning Sickness May Help Protect Embryos
LiveScience
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May 20, 2008 5:59 PM CDT
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Far from being a mere nuisance, morning sickness may actively protect embryos, LiveScience reports. Doctors have long recognized the association of morning sickness and a healthy pregnancy, but new research suggests the condition evolved to protect embryos from dangerous environmental factors.
For Ariz. Candidate, Signs Point to Mess
Ahwatukee Foothills News (Phoenix)
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May 20, 2008 5:50 PM CDT
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Mischief-makers just can't seem to get enough of "Vote Schmuck" campaign signs—to the great consternation of Frank Schmuck, Republican candidate for the Arizona legislature. The signs are being stolen almost as quickly as supporters can put them up, the Ahwatukee Foothills News reports. "Did someone think it was a joke?"...
$10M Bond Allows Guru to Leave US
Austin American-Statesman
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May 20, 2008 5:40 PM CDT
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A Hindu guru charged with groping two underage girls will be permitted to leave the country, despite 20 counts of indecency, after a follower put up $10 million to guarantee his return. Given how much money's involved, the arrangement to allow Prakashanand Saraswati—known as Swami Ji—passage to India is unprecedented, legal experts told...
Virtual Disney Closing its Doors
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2008 5:30 PM CDT
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Diehard fans are outraged at plans to shut down a virtual version of Disneyland tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal reports. Players of Virtual Magic Kingdom, a free online game Disney started to celebrate the theme park’s 50th anniversary in 2005, are protesting throughout the blogosphere; some 20,000 have signed an online petition opposing...
Satellite Tech Plays Larger Role for Emergency Crews
USA Today
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May 20, 2008 5:19 PM CDT
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Emergency workers are increasingly turning to global-positioning and vehicle-tracking systems to find their way to victims and dispatch crews more efficiently, USA Today reports. "Clearly, we're in a business where seconds count," an Arizona fire official said. "If you're using GPS or automatic vehicle locator, it's a tremendous life...
Praising Kennedy, Byrd Breaks Down
Politico
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May 20, 2008 5:05 PM CDT
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Robert Byrd echoed their Senate colleagues' good wishes for Ted Kennedy as he spoke on the floor of the chamber this afternoon, then broke down as he delivered a tribute to his ailing friend, Politico reports. "Ted, Ted, my dear friend, I love you, and I miss you," the longest-serving Senator, 90, said from his wheelchair.
Teens Not That Into 'Technical Virginity'
Washington Post
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May 20, 2008 4:54 PM CDT
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Teens rarely have oral sex as a way of putting off intercourse, making the idea of "technical virginity" is more or less a myth, according to a new study. "There's a popular perception that teens are engaging in serial oral sex as a strategy to avoid vaginal intercourse. Our research suggests that's a misperception," one researcher...
Eat Your Veggies; Here's How
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 4:42 PM CDT
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Chomping on a raw carrot may give you the keen eyesight of a cartoon rabbit, but boiling the vegetable first is a better way to release its nutrients, scientists say. The New York Times looks at a variety of cooking methods and finds the goodness of the good stuff on your dinner plate may depend on the approach the chef takes.
How the Left Wing Brought Me Down
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2008 4:30 PM CDT
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Controversial civil-rights lawyer Hans von Spakovsky, who last week withdrew from consideration for appointment to the Federal Election Commission, pens a post-mortem of his own candidacy in the Wall Street Journa l. Asserting that “character assassination … has become the norm” for conservatives in confirmation battles, von Spakovsky...
Netflix Streams Movies Direct to TV
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 4:17 PM CDT
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Netflix today began marketing a $99 set-top box that lets subscribers play any of 10,000 movies and TV shows on their televisions, free. The device, made by start-up Roku, is cheaper and better than competitors like Apple TV, some analysts told the New York Times . Still, it faces obstacles including limited programming and competition from cable...
McCain Blasts Obama for Saying He'd Talk to Cuba
Chicago Tribune
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May 20, 2008 4:04 PM CDT
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John McCain told Miami’s Cuban community today that Barack Obama would “give hope” to the Havana regime by sitting down with Raul Castro without preconditions, prompting a response from Bill Richardson that McCain was “afraid to talk to bad guys.” Speaking on Cuban Independence Day, the Republican kept up the argument...
How Bad Is It, Doc?
CNN
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May 20, 2008 3:52 PM CDT
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While doctors know that Sen. Ted Kennedy has the most common form of brain cancer, the positioning, type and size of the tumor will determine the degree of danger and side effects from surgery, CNN reports. Kennedy’s glioma is in the left parietal lobe, which is involved in speaking and understanding speech as well as motor control for the body's...
Teen Calls Scientology a 'Cult,' Faces Charges
Guardian (UK)
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May 20, 2008 3:40 PM CDT
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A 15-year-old is facing charges for holding a sign calling Scientology a "cult" during a peaceful protest. A London policewoman asked the teen to remove the sign; when he refused, she handed him a court summons, the Guardian reports. Free speech and anti-cult groups are furious, particularly in light of recent gifts from the Church of Scientology...
Oil, Inflation Wallop Stocks
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2008 3:27 PM CDT
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The Dow plunged nearly 200 points today as markets were swamped by soaring oil prices and inflation fears. "All the long-term indicators we look at are sending a bearish message," an investment researcher told the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended down 199.48 to 12,828.68, the Nasdaq down 23.83 to 2,492.26, and the S&P down 13.23 to...
Chronic Disease Top Cause of Death Worldwide
Reuters
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May 20, 2008 3:22 PM CDT
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Chronic ailments such as heart disease have become the top causes of death around the world, Reuters reports. Infectious disease, such as tuberculosis and AIDS, has traditionally been the planet's number-one killer. But new World Health Organization stats show noncommunicable conditions, many of which are associated with a Western lifestyle, are killing...
Let's Stick This Pin on the Constitution
CNN
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May 20, 2008 3:13 PM CDT
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If flag pins are so very important, it ought to be illegal not to wear one, Roland Martin writes on CNN. The obvious root of all our nation’s problems stops with Amendment 28: Elected officials must wear flag lapel pins. Heck, why stop at pins? Shouldn’t the candidates be wearing red-white-and-blue socks, Uncle Sam hats and star-spangled...
West's Right Wingers Are Banking Left
Der Spiegel
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May 20, 2008 3:12 PM CDT
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There’s a distinct leftward tilt rippling across the western world, Gabor Steingart observes in Der Spiegel . From John McCain to England’s David Cameron to Germany’s Angela Merkel, conservative leaders are softening up and drifting toward the middle. To see why, one needs only look at three of the world’s marquee cities: Baghdad,...
India's IT Hub Challenging Politics as Usual
Reuters
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May 20, 2008 3:01 PM CDT
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For years, Bangalore—India’s answer to Silicon Valley—has endured traffic jams, power blackouts and a chaotic airport that businesses blame on politicians who’ve ignored the city’s IT elites to court rural voters. Now, Reuters reports, an updated constituency map giving urban voters more clout has hope high for change...
Fellow Pols Shaken by Kennedy Diagnosis
The Hill
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May 20, 2008 2:49 PM CDT
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Ted Kennedy's Senate colleagues reacted to news that the lawmaker has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor with "stunned silence," Ben Nelson of Nebraska tells the Hill. "I am having a hard time remembering a day in my 34 years here when I felt this badly," said a visibly shaken Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Dear Yanks: Time to Snap Out of Oil Coma
Times (UK)
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May 20, 2008 2:37 PM CDT
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Romancing the Saudis and railing against speculators won’t accomplish anything, Gerard Baker tells American pols in the Guardian : A second industrial revolution is driving oil prices up and there’s no turning back. Stop the populism— the "economically illiterate idea for a gas tax holiday," for instance—and the saber-rattling,...
Fire Lashes Berlin Philharmonic
Der Spiegel
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May 20, 2008 2:25 PM CDT
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A fire broke out at the Berlin Philharmonic today, bringing more than 100 firefighters to the concert hall, Der Spiegel reports. No one was injured in the blaze, with musicians fleeing with their instruments; a lunchtime concert had to be evacuated. "We don’t believe anyone is in danger, as the fire appears to be contained in the roof,"...
The Scourge of Morning After
New Yorker
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May 20, 2008 2:13 PM CDT
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Hangovers have afflicted the recently drunk since the Stone Age, yet a dependable remedy remains elusive. A hangover takes hold just as the body succeeds in eliminating the alcohol from the blood stream, Joan Acocella notes in the New Yorker . It results from a pileup of insults the system sustains in getting the job done, she explains, deconstructing...
'Big Dig' Seeks More Manson Bodies
Los Angeles Times
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May 20, 2008 2:06 PM CDT
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Investigators with high-tech equipment and shovels will be spending the next few days combing the Manson Family's desert hide-out for bodies, the Los Angeles Times reports. Rumors that murder victims are buried at the isolated ranch have persisted for decades. Police called in scientists after corpse-sniffing dogs became agitated at ranch locations....
The Nation's Best High Schools
Newsweek
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May 20, 2008 2:00 PM CDT
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Rather than GPAs or graduation rates, new research suggests, participation in AP and IB programs is the best indicator of academic success in college, even if the student does not do well in the advanced classes. In light of that, Newsweek presents the nation’s 100 best public high schools, measured by dividing the number of AP tests students...
FBI Stalled in Addressing Prisoner Abuse
Washington Post
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May 20, 2008 1:56 PM CDT
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FBI agents dragged their feet in reporting torture inflicted on prisoners by Defense contractors and CIA employees, an an internal FBI report shows, but agents themselves generally did not participate in torture. FBI brass, however, was scolded for not providing more guidance or “pressing harder” to curb other agencies’ actions, the...
Kennedy's Prognosis Unclear
Boston Globe
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May 20, 2008 1:37 PM CDT
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The prognosis and treatment for Edward Kennedy are uncertain, doctors say. The 76-year-old senator was diagnosed today with brain tumor known as a malignant glioma—the same diagnosis some 9,000 Americans receive each year. The average survival time ranges from 1 to about 5 years, reports the Boston Globe .
US Money Discriminates Against Blind, Court Rules
Washington Post
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May 20, 2008 1:30 PM CDT
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A federal appellate court agreed today with a lower court’s ruling that the US must change its paper money to accommodate the blind, who are unable to tell the current, single-size bills apart, the Washington Post reports. The court ruled that the bills violate the Federal Rehabilitation Act, rejecting Treasury's argument that the blind could...
Watchdogs Say Hollywood Going to Pot
Christian Science Monitor
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May 20, 2008 1:26 PM CDT
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Production of cannabis-centric films is hitting a high, reports the Christian Science Monitor . Once pigeonholed with Cheech and Chong and low-budget cult films such as The Big Lebowski , movies that feature pot-smoking characters now tend toward mainstream frat-house humor. This summer alone will see four marijuana-tinged releases, including the...
New Yorkers See a Saltier Bloomberg
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 1:19 PM CDT
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In his 6 years in office, Michael Bloomberg has enjoyed a reputation as the cool, collected CEO of the Big Apple. But as setbacks have mounted and his presidential ambitions have been shelved, another side is showing: the temperamental, sometimes explosive antagonist. Bloomberg's mood is "the worst I've ever seen it," one top pol told the...
Politicians, Give Hitler a Rest
Slate
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May 20, 2008 1:16 PM CDT
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Politicians just can’t stop invoking Hitler to make their points, complains Anne Applebaum on Slate. President Bush did it last week, saying negotiating with “terrorists and radicals” was tantamount to 1930s Nazi appeasement. It was a ridiculous statement, “giving tactical choices a phony moral grounding.” But that’s...
McCain Veers Right on Supreme Court
New Yorker
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May 20, 2008 1:10 PM CDT
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If you aren’t a conservative activist, John McCain didn’t have you in mind when he recently laid out his position on judicial appointments: The speech was “a dog whistle for the right,” Jeffrey Toobin writes in the New Yorker , in a piece that decodes references meant to assure that he’d continue—“and perhaps...
Hard to Swallow: 8 Taboo Delicacies
Newsweek
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May 20, 2008 12:57 PM CDT
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The return of foie gras to Chicago's menus inspires Newsweek to list dishes still considered too dicey to serve: Maggot cheese: Injected with larvae that pose health risks Puffer fish: Incorrectly prepared fugu can be fatal
Google Launches Online Health Records Service
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 12:51 PM CDT
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Google has launched google.com/health, the latest in a field of online personal health services that allow consumers to send records to doctors and clinics and to schedule their care. Early tests indicate that patients are excited to use the portal—and unconcerned about putting personal information in the hands of a large tech company, the New...
Moscow Subway Is a K9 Kingdom
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2008 12:47 PM CDT
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It's not only humans who get around the Russian capital by subway these days. Stray dogs are now a common sight on the Moscow metro, and, as the Wall Street Journal reports, their lives are pretty cushy. Muscovites are accustomed to seeing them lounging in stations, waiting for someone to toss a scrap, boarding trains, and curling up on an empty...
So Long Katie; Don't Let the Door Hit You
New Yorker
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May 20, 2008 12:41 PM CDT
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Katie Couric’s unhappy tenure as CBS Evening News anchor will soon end, and not a moment too soon for Nancy Franklin of the New Yorker. Couric seemed likely to succeed at the start, but she wound up ditching the qualities people liked in her and becoming a teleprompter-reading automaton. But above all, she lacked what declining network news...
5 Things to Watch for in Kentucky Tonight...
Politico
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May 20, 2008 12:36 PM CDT
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If Hillary Clinton pulls off another landslide in today's Kentucky primary, she can make a stronger case to superdelegates that she's more "electable" than Barack Obama. With this in mind, here are five things to watch, via Politico : Montgomery County: The small district accurately predicted the statewide margin in the past two...
...And 5 in Oregon
Politico
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May 20, 2008 12:36 PM CDT
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Oregon voters' sympathy for "the cool, cerebral type" bodes well for Obama in today's primary, according to the folks at Politico , who bring us five things to watch for in the Beaver State: How quick will it be called?—Oregon is three hours behind the eastern seaboard, but the mail-in votes can be quickly counted electronically....
Kennedy Has Malignant Brain Tumor
CNN
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May 20, 2008 12:19 PM CDT
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Sen. Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, CNN reports. The 76-year-old senator has a glioma, the most common brain cancer in adults. Kennedy will spend at least 2 more days at the Boston hospital where he's been undergoing extensive tests since suffering two seizures Saturday at his Cape Cod home.
Spitzer Scandal Hits Small Screen Tomorrow
New York Post
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May 20, 2008 11:56 AM CDT
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If disgraced New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was ever a Law & Order fan, he probably isn't anymore. Tomorrow’s ripped-from-the-headlines season finale on NBC tells a fictionalized version of the sensational sex scandal that doomed Spitzer’s political career, the New York Post reports. Actor Tom Everett Scott guest-stars as a charming...
Space Shuttle Discovery Makes a Date
Orlando Sentinel
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May 20, 2008 11:51 AM CDT
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The investigation into last month's scary landing by a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is still going on, but another Soyuz at the International Space Station is off the hook, so NASA has cleared the Discovery shuttle for launch on May 31, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The shuttle is expected to attach a huge Japanese lab to the ISS.
White House Blasts NBC Over Interview Edit
The Hill
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May 20, 2008 11:36 AM CDT
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The White House went after NBC yesterday, accusing the network of doctoring a recent interview with President Bush, the Hill reports. Asked if comments about Iran were directed at Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Bush declined to answer directly, but White House counselor Ed Gillespie says the interview was purposely edited to make it appear as...
New Game Plays Off Miley's Midriff
TMZ
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May 20, 2008 11:28 AM CDT
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Thinking of becoming a paparazzo? AddictingGames.com hosts an animated paparazzi game called Miley Naughty Pics, where the object of the game is to catch Miley Cyrus in varying degrees of undress, TMZ reports. You get “money” based on how much flesh you “snap” of the moving animated 15-year-old, and you lose if dad Billy Ray...
Ex-Gov: Rove Probe 'Will Make Watergate Look Like Child's Play'
Anniston Star
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May 20, 2008 11:17 AM CDT
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Don Siegelman is out of jail and fighting to clear his name, but the case is a lot bigger than just him, the former Democratic governor of Alabama tells the Anniston Star . Siegelman says his prosecution on corruption charges was orchestrated by Karl Rove as a way to keep Dems out of office, and appeals to Congress to keep digging until the truth...
Quake Efforts Break Barriers in China
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 11:09 AM CDT
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The Chinese people have responded to last week's Sichuan earthquake with an unprecedented outpouring of volunteer work and donations—outside the scope, and control, of the Chinese government, the New York Times reports. China’s regime doesn’t trust public activism, and has long restricted private charity groups. But the quake crisis...
World Bank Nixes Loan to Burmese Junta
Telegraph (UK)
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May 20, 2008 10:54 AM CDT
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As Burma looks for loans to cover an estimated for $10 billion worth of damage from Cyclone Nargis, the World Bank won't be among the lenders, the Telegraph reports. The junta has been in debt to the bank for more than a decade, and the bank is legally barred from making another loan, says its managing director.
Cannes Goes to the Dogs
Times (UK)
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May 20, 2008 10:47 AM CDT
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Dogs will paw the red carpet at Cannes this week as the "Palm Dog" ceremony returns to the festival, the Times of London reports. Critics determine the winner of the 56-year-old award (8 in human years) for the top canine performer in the competing films. The victor receives a stylish brass-studded black leather collar—and top-dog...
Cutting Lobby Ties Is 'Messy Business'
New York Times
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May 20, 2008 10:44 AM CDT
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John McCain is at war with his own staff to save his image as a crusader against special interests, the New York Times reports. Five aides have been sent packing, and new rules promulgated to rout out any further conflicts. But with many staffers who made their living as lobbyists, from McCain's campaign manager on down, there could be more.
