Newser Story Index from July, 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 Rebuts Times Race Story—With Paper's Own Poll
Talking Points Memo
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Jul 16, 2008 1:33 PM CDT
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The Obama campaign has fired back at a front-page New York Times story, which concludes from a poll today that the Dem isn’t healing racial division. The campaign uses stats from the paper's own survey, Talking Points Memo reports. The article “ignores…some straightforward points from their data,” an Obama memo charges. Perhaps...
'Media Titan' Moves in Small (Even Empty) Websites
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 16, 2008 1:29 PM CDT
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Richard Rosenblatt doesn’t work in Silicon Valley and few people, even there, know his name. But in just 2 years his Demand Media has become a huge player, backed by $355 million in private investment, and pulling in nearly $200 million in revenue this year, the Los Angeles Times reports. His big idea is, well, a small one: eat up thousands...
Beetle Bailey Finds New Barracks
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 16, 2008 1:14 PM CDT
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One of the world's biggest collections of cartoon art has found a new home at Ohio State University, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Beetle Bailey" creator Mort Walker amassed more than 200,000 pieces of cartoon art during his 7 decades in the business but had to move his National Cartoon Museum several times and eventually shut it for...
Crist Could Be Key as Veep Pick
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 12:59 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Florida’s importance in the general election can hardly be overstated, and his presumed ability to deliver it for the Republicans is at the heart of the case for popular governor Charlie Crist in the veepstakes, writes Chris Cillizza for the Washington Post . McCain may select a VP with more conservative bona fides, assuming he’ll take...
Pine Beetles Eat Through Western Forests
USA Today
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Jul 16, 2008 12:51 PM CDT
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The biggest infestation of mountain pine beetles in decades is devastating huge tracts of forest in the Western states, USA Today reports; forestry workers say the bugs are killing even more trees than the wildfires ravaging California's forests. The larvae consume the inner bark of trees, usually lodgepole pines, killing the tree—and creating...
Does al-Qaeda Do the Fist-Bump?
Slate
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Jul 16, 2008 12:36 PM CDT
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Terrorists aren’t big on fist-jabbing or bumping—they’re all about kissing and hugging, writes Juliet Lapidos for Slate in the aftermath of the New Yorker's depiction of knuckle-knocking Obamas, a move referred to by Fox News as a “terrorist fist-jab.” Al-Qaeda members, she writes, are likely to enlist a common Middle...
County Wants Stadium Payback if Steelers Are Sold
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Jul 16, 2008 12:29 PM CDT
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If the Pittsburgh Steelers are sold, someone will have to pay for the $281 million in taxpayer money used to build Heinz Field, Allegheny County’s controller told the owners in a letter today. He said even engaging in sales talk may violate the 2000 lease, and demanded the team remain in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
50 Favorite Magazines
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 16, 2008 12:19 PM CDT
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From US Weekly to a quarterly for Godzilla enthusiasts, the Chicago Tribune 's list of 50 favorite magazines both entertain and take readers to new places. The list includes: NME : A rock and roll crystal ball, this UK music mag forecasts tomorrow’s megastars Seed: Science never looked so glossy or sounded so thought-provoking...
Obama to Take Diplomatic Ace to Israel
Time
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Jul 16, 2008 12:13 PM CDT
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In a move that should put voters at ease who are skeptical of his stance on Israel and Iran, Barack Obama has added Dennis Ross to his Middle East entourage, Massimo Calabresi writes in Time . The well-known diplomat was lead Israeli-Palestinian negotiator under Clinton and the first Bush, and his presence on the trip will be “reassuring”...
The World's Greenest Venture Capitalist
Fast Company
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Jul 16, 2008 11:59 AM CDT
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Vinod Khosla isn’t just smarter and richer than the average venture capitalist—he’s greener, too. Khosla has sunk $450 million into what he calls “imprudent science experiments" over the past 4 years, financing 45 enviro-tech startups. “We've funded an incredible number of things that would make no sense at all for...
Study: Breast Self-Exams Don't Improve Cancer Survival
WebMD
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Jul 16, 2008 11:55 AM CDT
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Breast self-examinations, long recommended to women to detect early signs of breast cancer, serve no purpose, according to a review of the latest research. WebMD reports that 10-year studies of 388,500 women in Russia and China showed no improvement in survival rates from the self-exams, but revealed an added risk of unnecessary biopsies.
'FitFlops' Latest Toning Rage
Seattle Times
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Jul 16, 2008 11:48 AM CDT
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FitFlops, the sandals that exercise your leg and derriere muscles as you walk, are this summer’s must-have, Newhouse News Service reports. With celebrity support from Heidi Klum to Jennifer Garner, the fitness flip flop made Oprah’s “summer favorites” list, and has sold a million pairs since launching last year. Chronic back-pain...
Israel Releases 5 Prisoners, 200 Bodies in Hezbollah Deal
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 11:39 AM CDT
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Israel released five Lebanese prisoners and nearly 200 bodies today, the New York Times reports, completing a deal with Hezbollah that netted the Jewish state the bodies of two of its captured soldiers. The most notable prisoner was Samir Kuntar, who had spent more than three decades in Israeli prison for murdering a 4-year-old girl. He was 16 at...
Kidman Kid Pics Not for Sale... Maybe
New York Post
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Jul 16, 2008 11:30 AM CDT
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Nicole Kidman says she would never sell pictures of daughter Sunday Rose—but the price may not have been high enough. An editor at a celebrity glossy tells the New York Post the Aussie Oscar-winner “wanted $3 million and we weren't going to pay that.” A Kidman rep reiterates: "a number of publications called to offer money,...
Dealer Says He Sent Clemens HGH
New York Daily News
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Jul 16, 2008 11:25 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Admitted drug dealer Kirk Radomski has turned over to federal authorities proof that he mailed human growth hormone to Roger Clemens, the New York Daily News reports. Sources claim Radomski has shipping receipts for HGH kits mailed to Clemens’ Texas mansion. The former Yankees and Houston Astros pitcher is under investigation for charges of...
Whedon's 'Horrible' an Online Hit
Associated Press
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Jul 16, 2008 11:19 AM CDT
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Hollywood’s Internet video forays have mostly been failures—remember Quarterlife ?—but none of them starred a dorky singing mad scientist. Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog thankfully features just such a character, and it’s almost too successful for its own good. The first episode had been online...
Sparks Fly as Yahoo, Microsoft Take to Hill
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 16, 2008 11:08 AM CDT
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Congressional hearings on Yahoo's proposed ad deal with Google got a little heated yesterday, with a Microsoft lawyer testifying that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang recently admitted, in a private meeting, that the pact would reduce competition, the Los Angeles Times reports. Yahoo’s general counsel said he recalled no such remarks at the meeting, and...
SJP's Mole AWOL at All-Star Game
Huffington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sarah Jessica Parker's signature chin mole, on full display as recently as 6 weeks ago, was conspicuously absent during an appearance last night at Yankee Stadium, the Huffington Post notes. One Sex and the City reviewer called the big-screen "growth on her face … so distracting you can't concentrate on anything else."
Today's Drilling Rush Looks as Crude as Whale Oil Folly
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 10:37 AM CDT
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On an otherwise deserted patch of Arctic ice stands an abandoned settlement, proof that humans once lived here. Nearby lies a reminder of why they came: dozens of massive whale skulls, still bleeding oil into the ground. Men once flocked to this land for whale oil, Michael Gerson writes in the Washington Post; now our dependence on a different kind...
Obama Machine Knows What You Want
Salon
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Jul 16, 2008 10:21 AM CDT
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Although Barack Obama's campaign might have your email, you probably don’t know how much more data it's got on you, and how effectively it's using it to try to win in November. Salon looks into Obama’s incredible effort to glean powerful demographic information from voters—address, income, grocery store preference, and much, much...
So-Called 'New Powers' Are Acting Spineless
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 10:03 AM CDT
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Critics of unchecked and amoral American power should be wary of prospective new world hegemons—especially China, Russia, and South Africa, Thomas Friedman warns in the New York Times . America's international popularity has plummeted under President Bush, but it's the more popular countries that have been acting unconscionably on the world...
Kids Dump Exercise by Their Teens
HealthDay News
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Jul 16, 2008 9:59 AM CDT
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American children stop getting enough exercise by the time they reach their teens, according to a new study. Researchers tracked more than 1,000 children and discovered that those who averaged three hours of exercise a day at age 9 barely managed 30 minutes of physical activity at 15, reports HealthDay. A lack of exercise is linked to childhood obesity....
SEC Will Limit Short Sales of Finance Stocks
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 16, 2008 9:48 AM CDT
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The SEC will step in to police naked short-selling of 17 financial firms, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agency said it plans to impose short-term, emergency rules on Monday that curtail traders betting on the stocks to drop, worried the short selling is worsening the crisis in the financial sector.
Consumer Prices Surge Most Since '91
Bloomberg
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Jul 16, 2008 9:35 AM CDT
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Consumer prices rose a staggering 1.1% in June, Bloomberg reports. The figure far surpassed analyst estimates, and brings the year-over-year figure to 5%–the biggest surge since 1991. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose a more-than-expected 0.3%. “Inflation has galloped,” one economist said. “It puts the Fed...
Malaysian Opposition Leader Busted for Sodomy
Associated Press
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Jul 16, 2008 9:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Police in Malaysia have arrested the country's opposition leader and are questioning him over accusations of sodomy from a 23-year-old male aide, reports the AP. Anwar Ibrahim, whose party made major inroads against the government in March elections, claims that the charges are baseless. "This is not a criminal case but a political case,"...
Le Burger Sizzles in Paris
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 8:57 AM CDT
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Parisian gourmands might still revile McDonald's, but the lowly hamburger has become a mainstay on some of the best menus in the City of Light. From cafés on the Left Bank to top tables showered with Michelin stars, the quintessential American dish has undergone a French transformation. "The burger has become gastronomic," one chef...
Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 8:53 AM CDT
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Coherent policy from Washington—not a financial bailout—is what mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are most in need of, writes former Fannie chief Franklin Raines in the Washington Post . “They have more than enough capital to meet their cash obligations,” he writes, as well as billions in assets. He accuses the White...
Eyeing US Market, VW Plans Tenn. Plant
Der Spiegel
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Jul 16, 2008 8:42 AM CDT
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Volkswagen will invest around $1.6 billion to build a factory in the US—20 years after the closure of its last plant, Der Spiegel reports. VW hopes to have the plant, located in Chattanooga, Tenn., running by 2011, and operating at a rate of 150,000 cars per year. The company ambitiously hopes to increase US sales to 800,000 by 2018.
Oval Office Handover Opens Critical Security Gap
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 8:28 AM CDT
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January's transition in Oval Office occupants opens up a national security gap for America's enemies to exploit, Jamie Gorelick and Slade Gorton write in the New York Times . The handover from Clinton to Bush was deeply flawed, the 9/11 Commission members note, with "no effective dialog" between the two. To avoid a repeat, the current nominees...
Air China Buys 45 Boeing Jets
Associated Press
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Jul 16, 2008 8:00 AM CDT
(AP) -
Air China plans to buy 45 Boeing 777 and 737 aircraft, reports the AP, a purchase the airline says will increase its capacity by about 35% and help reinforce Beijing's status as a transportation hub. The list price for the planes—one of China's biggest airliner purchases—is $6.3 billion, but the final price is expected to be lower.
Investors Fall Out of Love With Banks
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 7:39 AM CDT
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With the nation's banks under pressure from bad loans, and sources of credit scarce, bank customers aren't panicking, the New York Times notes, but investors are, fleeing an industry much more accustomed to being a Wall Street darling . Bank shares continued their downward spiral yesterday, with the S&P Regional Bank Index down 4% on top...
Barenaked Ladies Singer Busted on Coke Charges
Canadian Press
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Jul 16, 2008 7:23 AM CDT
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Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page has been busted on cocaine charges, the Canadian Press reports. The singer for the Toronto-based band, which recently released a CD for children , Snacktime , was caught with drugs in an apartment in upstate New York, according to authorities. Page, 38, posted $10,000 bail and is due in court later this week. He...
Spitzer 2010 Was Billed for Tryst Hotel
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 6:58 AM CDT
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Eliot Spitzer's filings for his now-defunct 2010 reelection campaign, released yesterday, included two payments to the Mayflower Hotel in Washington—the site of his infamous trysts with call girls, the New York Times reports. Though it's unclear whether Spitzer himself stayed there, and if so on what nights, misuse of public campaign money...
Fish Farms, Retailers Hatch Green Standards
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Supermarkets are tightening the net on farmed seafood products as demand for environmentally-friendly products grows, reports the Washington Post . Aquaculture now supplies more than half of America's rising demand for fish and shrimp and retailers are working with producers and green groups to make sure the farmed products are both safe and sustainable.
Ex-Samsung Boss Convicted in Tax Case
Associated Press
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Jul 16, 2008 6:20 AM CDT
(AP) -
A South Korean court convicted former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee of tax evasion today, but handed the country's iconic business figure a 3-year suspended sentence, leaving him free from prison, reports the AP. The Seoul court found Lee, who resigned in April when the charges were brought, guilty of not paying about $46 million in taxes and fined...
Cruise Ship Art Dealer Faces Class Action
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 6:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Park West Gallery in Southfield, Mich., claims to be "the world's largest art dealer," flogging more works than the major auction houses through its sales on half a dozen cruise lines. But while the onboard auctions promise "good investments," the New York Times reports that Park West is selling works at tremendously inflated...
Zoo Shows Off Baby White Lions
Der Spiegel
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Jul 16, 2008 6:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The world's population of just 200 white lions leaped by seven in a single day when twin lionesses gave birth in June, Der Spiegel reports, and the German safari park where they were born has now unveiled the extremely rare cubs. But while one new mom took to motherhood with zeal, the other showed little interest, forcing zookeepers to hand-raise...
Court: al-Qaeda Suspect Can Challenge Detention
Reuters
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Jul 16, 2008 5:53 AM CDT
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The president has the right to order the detention of enemy combatants, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday—but detainees can challenge that status. The Virginia-based court was hearing the case of an al-Qaeda suspect who's been in a Navy brig for 5 years without trial, Reuters reports, making him the only foreign national currently detained...
UN Approves China to Buy Ivory
Telegraph (UK)
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Jul 16, 2008 5:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
China has been given a green light to begin importing African ivory by a UN body that banned the sale 10 years ago, a decision that has infuriated conservation groups, the Daily Telegraph reports. African states say they need to sell stockpiles of ivory from elephants that are culled or die of natural causes in order to fund conservation efforts....
Hezbollah Returns Bodies of 2 Israeli Soldiers
Reuters
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Jul 16, 2008 4:53 AM CDT
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Hezbollah handed over the corpses of two slain Israeli soldiers in an exchange at the Lebanon-Israel border this morning, Reuters reports. The soldiers' capture sparked the 2006 war that killed 1,200 in Lebanon and 159 Israelis. Once the remains are identified, Israel will free five Lebanese prisoners, including one serving a life sentence for killing...
NATO Hires Coke Exec to Boost its Brand
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 2:03 AM CDT
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NATO: the Real Thing? The alliance is seeking an image makeover in the face of public apathy and has hired a Coca-Cola executive to help, reports the New York Times . Support for NATO has waned in many of its 26 member nations since the end of the Cold War, and defense chiefs believe reconnecting with the public—to persuade taxpayers that NATO...
LA's 'Black Widows' Get Life in Prison for Murders
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 16, 2008 1:43 AM CDT
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Two elderly women who carried out a cold-blooded scheme to murder homeless men have been sentenced to life without parole by a Los Angeles judge. Helen Golay, 77, and 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt—nicknamed the "Black Widows" in the media—lured two vagrants off the street, cared for them for two years, then murdered them for...
Racial Divide Persists Despite Obama: Poll
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2008 12:57 AM CDT
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Barack Obama's often hailed "post-racial" run for the White House is, in fact, unfolding in an America still sharply divided by race, a New York Times /CBS News poll has discovered. The lives of most Americans are as racially segregated as they were 8 years ago, the poll says. Black and white Americans differed on almost every question on...
In Break With Policy, US to Join Iran Nuke Talks
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2008 12:17 AM CDT
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In a break with long-standing policy, a top US envoy will join European Union talks with Iran concerning its nuclear program, reports the Washington Post. Undersecretary of State William Burns will join the EU's foreign policy chief and Iran's nuclear negotiator in Geneva this weekend. Burns will hold out the possibility of direct talks with the...
AL Wins 15-Inning Marathon
Associated Press
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Jul 15, 2008 11:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Michael Young's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 15th gave the American League a 4-3 victory in a marathon All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Justin Morneau slid under the tag with the winning run to end the game after 4 hours and 40 minutes. Neither team had any pitchers left, the AP reports. The NL hasn't won since 1996, and the victory means the...
Mass. Senate Votes to Allow Out-of-State Gays to Wed
Boston Globe
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Jul 15, 2008 10:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A 1913 law that blocks out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts could soon be history. The state Senate has passed a bill that would repeal the law, which former Gov. Mitt Romney used four years ago to stop gay non-residents from marrying in his state, the Boston Globe reports. Supporters of the bill called the law discriminatory and...
Hume to Leave Fox Anchor Role
Washington Post
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Jul 15, 2008 9:06 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Fox News' Brit Hume plans to step down from his role as anchor of the daily Special Report and as Washington managing editor at the end of the year, the Washington Post reports. Hume is near a deal to stay on Fox part-time as a senior political analyst, sources say, much like Tom Brokaw's role with NBC. The former ABC White House correspondent...
Corporate America Tries to Chip Away at Lawyer Bills
Portfolio
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Jul 15, 2008 8:18 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With corporate legal fees skyrocketing to unprecedented heights—the median amount big companies forked over per outside lawyer in 2007 was more than $600,000—firms are moving to exert some measure of control, Portfolio reports. Some of America’s biggest businesses are taking dramatic steps, like trading long-term agreements for...
'Venal' Phil Gramm No Big Loss to McCain Camp
Huffington Post
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Jul 15, 2008 8:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
"Nation of whiners” adviser Phil Gramm was simply an "accident waiting to happen" for the McCain campaign, writes Max Blumenthal in Huffington Post. Blumenthal runs down the “reactionary, venal and destructive” senator’s foibles—which run from enabling Enron to investing in porn. Gramm “left a massive...
Romney Gains Ground in Veepstakes
Reuters
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Jul 15, 2008 7:47 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Mitt Romney’s business acumen, national profile, and fundraising chops have put him among the elite of VP hopefuls, Reuters reports. And while he and John McCain exchanged nasty barbs during the primaries, the mutual resentment seems to have subsided, at least on the surface. "Mitt and Ann Romney and Cindy and I have become good friends,"...
