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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.

Social Responsibility Costs Calif. Pension Funds Billions
BusinessWeek | Jul 15, 2008 7:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - California's plan to put state pension funds in socially responsible investments means those funds are worth billions less than they would be if they'd been allowed to invest in tobacco companies and emerging markets, BusinessWeek reports. The initiative, launched in 2000, also pushed investment in California real estate—where the funds are...
Boeing Says Dreamliner On Track, Despite Glitches
Seattle Times | Jul 15, 2008 6:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - The inaugural flight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet remains on track for this fall, but mechanical glitches are making the production schedule tighter than the company would like, the Seattle Times reports. Delays, mis-drilled holes, and ill-trained workers have contributed to the thinning cushion Boeing allowed for itself to meet the fall...
Gay Couples Seek Donations, Not Dinnerware
Reuters | Jul 15, 2008 6:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Soon-to-wed gays and lesbians in California are directing well-wishers to hold off on gifts and instead donate money to fight a measure that would nullify their unions, Reuters reports. "The usual notion of a huge reception or acquiring your first microwave is not really happening," says John Duran of Equality California, whose wedding registry...
Manson Follower Won't Go Free
Associated Press | Jul 15, 2008 6:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - A California parole board today refused to grant a compassionate release for Susan Atkins, a follower of Charles Manson who admitted murdering Sharon Tate 40 years ago, the AP reports. Atkins, 60, is dying of brain cancer, and the parole board listened to impassioned pleas from both sides in a 90-minute hearing before unanimously rejecting her release.
House, Senate Override Bush Veto on Medicare
CNN | Jul 15, 2008 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - Congress today overrode President Bush's veto of legislation on Medicare, ensuring that payments to doctors won't be cut by nearly 11%, CNN reports. The House voted 383-41, and the Senate followed 70-26 to override the president for only the fourth time during his presidency. Bush says the legislation doesn't address the program's fundamental problems,...
How Silver Screen Changed Dark Knight
Times (UK) | Jul 15, 2008 5:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - With The Dark Knight set to open in the US at midnight Thursday, Batman will see another reinvention in the series of makeovers that accompanied the character to the silver screen beginning in 1943. The Times of London takes a look: Low-budget Batman (1943) and Batman and Robin (1949) lacked flair and special effects. Tim...
McCain Adopts Obama's Afghanistan Position
Huffington Post | Jul 15, 2008 5:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain suddenly switched both schedule and policy today, transforming a speech about jobs into one on Afghanistan, and echoing Barack Obama's argument for sending in new brigades. Obama has long said more troops are needed in Afghanistan, but McCain has repeatedly contended that NATO should pick up the slack, the Huffington Post reports.
Docs Link Ulcer Drop, Asthma Boom
Reuters | Jul 15, 2008 4:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - A lack of ulcers may be driving the increased incidence of childhood asthma, Reuters reports. In a study of children infected with the H. pylori bacteria, which causes ulcers, those who had the infection were 59% less likely to have asthma than those who didn't. H. pylori infection has been waning for decades, and the connection may explain spiking...
Admit It: Carter Was 100% Right
Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Jul 15, 2008 4:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - “Misunderstood, mocked and maligned” though he was, Jimmy Carter was exactly right about our energy problems and their solutions, Joseph Wheelan writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Way back in 1979, "Carter outlined a program for achieving energy independence." In 2008, "It turns out that Carter was right after...
Baseball's All-Miscreant Team
Radar | Jul 15, 2008 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - With baseball's All-Stars set to take the field at Yankee Stadium, Radar uses the occasion (and the fact that one is the tabloids' current fixation) to name its All-Morally Inept Team: C: Paul Lo Duca, then with the Mets, got the full New York treatment in 2006, when his affair with a 19-year-old became public. Divorce ensued. 1B: Yankees...
Fla. Tomato Growers Seek Millions in Salmonella Relief
Sarasota Herald-Tribune | Jul 15, 2008 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Florida tomato growers are seeking millions from Congress to help pay for a "blatant blunder" by federal agencies in the salmonella investigation that has gravely damaged their sales, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. Conservative estimates put the losses of Florida’s growers at $100 million, with estimates reaching beyond $300...
Equal Pay Is Obama's Women Card
Politico | Jul 15, 2008 4:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama isn't talking about Roe v. Wade much before female audiences these days, Politico reports, focusing rather on a case seen to have undermined women's rights to equal pay. In highlighting Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tires rather than abortion, the Democrat is tapping into economic concerns while steering clear of an issue even pro-choice Americans...
Wire Service's Objectivity Under Scrutiny
Gawker | Jul 15, 2008 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Deep in a House report on the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death is a juicy detail that has the chattering classes in a lather: the text of a 2004 email in which an AP reporter tells Karl Rove to “keep up the fight.” Coming on the heels of a Politico analysis of the wire service's new "accountability journalism" initiative,...
Dow Sinks Below 11K
MarketWatch | Jul 15, 2008 3:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - The markets ended mixed today after a seesaw session. An $8 decline in crude encouraged investors, but concerns about the fate of the mortgage GSEs and regional banks persisted, MarketWatch reports. The Dow ended down 93.39 at 10,961.80, the first time in over 2 years the average has closed below 11,000. The Nasdaq gained 2.84 to close at 2,215.71,...
Two National Polls: Obama Up 9, 8
Boston Globe | Jul 15, 2008 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama leads John McCain nationally in a new Quinnipiac poll, 50% to 41%, with huge advantages among female and young voters. The two split independents with 44% apiece, and McCain led 47%-44% among men and 49%-42% among white voters, the Boston Globe reports. Far more respondents said they were uncomfortable with a president aged 72 than with...
Sudan Swats Away Genocide Charge
BBC | Jul 15, 2008 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sudan aims to obstruct an international tribunal's efforts to hold its leader responsible for genocide, the BBC reports. The International Criminal Court's charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against president Omar al-Bashir are designed to engender tension between tribal groups in Darfur, a senior official said today, denying...
Printers Let Big Brother Connect Privacy Dots
USA Today | Jul 15, 2008 3:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - The growing popularity of laser printers has privacy watchdogs worried, USA Today reports. Many such printers have a feature, designed to foil currency counterfeiters, that puts a signature of microscopic dots on each page. In the US, only the Secret Service can decode the information, but there are concerns the feature could be used to track down...
How Chicago Made Obama a Politician
New Yorker | Jul 15, 2008 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Behind the New Yorker ’s fist-bumping Barack Obama cover, Ryan Lizza chronicles the Democrat’s political education in Chicago, where competing imperatives from the city’s fundraising elite, black urban base, and Daley-down political hierarchy taught him how to massage the system—and learn the kind of political evasion that...
Wanted: Museum Director to Marry Art, Commerce
Newsweek | Jul 15, 2008 2:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - American museums are facing a shift in leadership, Newsweek reports, with 20 of the most prominent fine-art institutions—including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art—in search of directors. A "generational shift" has left institutions seeking specific qualifications:...
An All-Star Ode to the 20¢ Hot Dog
New York Times | Jul 15, 2008 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - The hot dogs fans scarf down during tonight’s All-Star Game will be thoroughly cooked, foil-wrapped affairs. They will come from "spotless, industrial kitchens" and "will cost a small fortune." In other words, they won’t be anything like the franks New York Times contributor Doug Kriegel hawked at Ebbets Field in the...
Next Round's on Cindy After Bud Buyout
Reuters | Jul 15, 2008 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - The $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch means Cindy McCain's stock in the brewing giant is worth between $2.8 million and $5.6 million, Reuters calculates. Though the presidential campaign of her husband, Republican John McCain, didn't say how many shares Cindy owns, it appears she and her dependents have between 40,000 and 80,000 shares—for...
Dog Reunited With Family After 5 Years
New York Post | Jul 15, 2008 2:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Queens family experienced its own version of the Incredible Journey last weekend when it was reunited with a beagle puppy after 5 years—and more than 850 miles, reports the New York Post. No one knows where Rocco's travels took him in the interim , but when he turned up at a Georgia shelter his implanted chip pointed to the Villacis family...
Calif. Mulls Pay-as-You-Drive Insurance to Cut Costs, Miles
Los Angeles Times | Jul 15, 2008 1:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - An alliance of insurance companies and environmentalists are pushing to bring  pay-as-you-drive auto-insurance, available from a handful of companies in other states, to California in a big way, the Los Angeles Times reports. The system, which charges premiums based on mileage, as recorded by a GPS tracking device, gives drivers financial ...
Paramount Loses $450M Funding Deal
Financial Times (UK) | Jul 15, 2008 1:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - A $450-million deal with Deutsche Bank that would have financed up to 30 films for Paramount is off the table, the Financial Times   reports. Perhaps an unlikely casualty of the credit crunch, Paramount walked after a lack of enthusiasm in the market led to terms that were unattractive, persons familiar with the deal said.
Pundits Cringe at 'Irony Deficiency' in Cartoon Flap
Salon | Jul 15, 2008 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Many writers are scratching their heads at the incensed reactions provoked by the New Yorker ’s Obamas-as-terrorists cover. Here’s some rebuttal: Liberals “have come to regard all images or texts that contain negative stereotypes as too politically dangerous to run,” Gary Kamiya writes in Salon. “Not a single...
Aussies May Have Slipped Pope a Cat
Associated Press | Jul 15, 2008 1:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - There’s a new papal mystery swirling around the Outback—is Pope Benedict hanging out with a borrowed kitten? Organizers of the Catholic youth festival say they gave Benedict a gray loaner named Bella to keep the cat-loving pontiff company during his Australian sojurn. But when pressed, a Vatican spokesman told the AP he had no knowledge...
'No Immediate Plans' to Prop Up Freddie/Fannie: Paulson
Bloomberg | Jul 15, 2008 1:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - The US government won't be lending capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the near future, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Senate committee today. "There are no immediate plans to access either the proposed liquidity or the proposed capital backstop,'' Paulson said, and any lending to the mortgage giants would be done "under terms...
Miley Spread Jams VF's Inbox
Women's Wear Daily | Jul 15, 2008 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Readers really responded to Vanity Fair ’s now-infamous Miley Cyrus photo spread—but not in a bad way. The 915 letters were by far a record, but editor Graydon Carter tells Women's Wear Daily he's seen much worse on the outrage scale: “They were much kinder than the letters we got when Christopher Hitchens took on Mother Teresa....
Obama Campaign Insular, Arrogant, Hill Dems Complain
Politico | Jul 15, 2008 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some Congressional Democrats say they're not feeling the love from Barack Obama's campaign, Politico reports, with the candidate inattentive to broader election strategy and his camp uncommunicative on the day-to-day message blitz. "They think they know what’s right and everyone else is wrong on everything,” one senior staffer said...
All-Star Memento Today, Nest Egg Tomorrow
Bloomberg | Jul 15, 2008 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - When it comes to souvenirs, some athletes are as memorabilia-hungry as fans. Albert Pujols has great success stockpiling mementos—for his son, or so he says—but even megastars experience slumps: Tiger Woods won’t sign for Roger Federer. “It is more important for me to talk to them and remember the moment,” says Woods....
Rangel's Fundraising for 'Me' Monument Questioned
Washington Post | Jul 15, 2008 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York Rep. Charles Rangel has raised eyebrows with fundraising efforts for a new center Republicans labeled his “Monument to Me.” After securing a $1.9 congressional earmark, Rangel is soliciting money from firms affected by his House Ways and Means Committee to build the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at New York’s...
Hilton Contracts Baby Fever
New York Post | Jul 15, 2008 12:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paris Hilton is on the wagon and off drugs as she tries to get pregnant, the New York Post reports. Beau Benji Madden is the twin brother of Joel Madden, aka Nicole Richie's baby daddy. "She's jealous of all the attention Nicole Richie has been getting and knows she's fallen off in the tabs lately," says an alleged friend. "A baby...
Green Housing: From Good Idea to Good Business
Fast Company | Jul 15, 2008 11:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company . Half of all greenhouse gas emissions are building-related;...
Vasectomy Is Young Man's Pill
Details | Jul 15, 2008 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Once exclusive to the over-40 crowd, vasectomies are increasingly popular among young men who want condom-free sex and no fears of Daddydom. But there's also a control component, writes Richard Morgan in Details : These men are taking charge of birth control, not leaving it up to the woman. "I don't have to worry about being tricked," says...
Pitt, Jolie Foil Tabloids With Baby Scoop
Associated Press | Jul 15, 2008 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a style befitting a couple of action-movie stars, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt outfoxed the tabloids by allowing a local newspaper to break the story of their twins’ birth, the AP reports. The daily Nice-Matin got a heads-up before the big event, the scoop that the delivery was  moved up “for the mother’s comfort,”...
Keeping Cool Gets Thriftier
Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 2008 11:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - As fuel costs, and eco-guilt, creep upward, Americans are leaving the thermostat high or kicking air conditioning altogether this summer, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some two-thirds of families are reducing air-conditioning use, a poll finds, as power plants raise prices as much 30% to keep up with natural-gas hikes. Meanwhile, people are getting...
Weinsteins Sign 7-Year Deal With Showtime
Variety | Jul 15, 2008 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Showtime and the Weinstein Company have inked an exclusive 7-year movie deal, giving the pay TV network a replacement for the slate of films it lost when Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate decamped in April and teamed up to launch a rival network, Variety reports. Showtime had balked at what it called excessive license fee demands; all the CEO would...
Madonna 'Loves' A-Rod Scandal
New York Post | Jul 15, 2008 11:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Madonna is reveling in the attention she's getting from the Alex Rodriguez scandal and is considering fueling the frenzy by attending today's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, the New York Post reports. "She doesn't care about the press it will get—she loves it,” a friend said.
Lehman Bros. Pondering Privatization
New York Post | Jul 15, 2008 10:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lehman Brothers’ CEO is considering ways for the company to privatize itself, the New York Post reports. The financial-services firm has seen its share price fall 79% this year—including 15% yesterday—and Richard Fuld is hoping to ward off bargain-hunters. "The idea is why sell to someone else at so cheap a price when they...
SAT, ACT Cheats Get Off Easy
Los Angeles Times | Jul 15, 2008 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - College hopefuls caught cheating on their ACT or SAT exams are likely to face few consequences, the Los Angeles Times reports, due to policies under which the administering agencies simply cancel suspicious scores on the college-admission exams. High schools and colleges are kept in the dark about potential wrongdoing, and students are generally...
Canadian Court Sends Deserter Back to US
Associated Press | Jul 15, 2008 10:36 AM CDT
(AP) - Canada's federal court ruled yesterday that an American army deserter can be deported to the US, rejecting his request for a stay to the order. The judge said that Robin Long did not provide clear and convincing evidence that he will suffer irreparable harm if he is returned to the US. Long, 25, fled to Canada in 2005 to avoid serving in Iraq.
Microsoft Aims to Broaden Xbox Appeal
New York Times | Jul 15, 2008 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft hopes to discard the image of its Xbox 360 as a distinctly young, overwhelmingly male form of entertainment and push more casual experiences toward a wider, mainstream audience, the New York Times reports. Microsoft debuted more accessible entertainment fare at the annual E3 convention yesterday, including features to share photos and stream...
MLS Player Retires to Heed Priestly Calling
Associated Press | Jul 15, 2008 10:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chase Hilgenbrinck was a professional soccer player and a devout Catholic until yesterday, when he announced his retirement from the sport. The 26-year-old will head to a Maryland seminary to begin 6 years of training for the priesthood, AP reports. "I still have a great passion for the game," Hilgenbrinck says, but "I felt called to...
Booming China Flexing Its M&A Muscle
New York Times | Jul 15, 2008 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese companies are on a buying binge, snapping up $42 billion worth of foreign assets in the first 6 months of 2008. That's a 500% increase over the previous year, and equal to the combined value of takeovers from 2000 to 2006, reports DealBook in the New York Times. And, where Chinese companies once shied away from hostile takeovers, that appears...
Voters Split on Candidates' Iraq Stances: Poll
Washington Post | Jul 15, 2008 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain have battled each other to a draw when it comes to Iraq, according to a new Washington Post -ABC News poll. Americans are split more or less down the middle on Iraq policy, with 50% supporting Obama’s withdrawal timetable and 49% backing McCain’s open-ended approach. In general, 47% trust McCain to handle Iraq,...
Mortgage Insurers Feel Pinch, Pull Back on Loans
Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 2008 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mortgage insurers facing mounting defaults are tightening their standards, adding another hurdle for potential homebuyers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beleaguered and risk-averse banks are making more mortgage applicants apply for insurance, just as insurers are declaring more parts of the country “declining markets.” making insurance...
Ledger's Dad: Dark Knight 'Very Good'
People | Jul 15, 2008 9:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Heath Ledger’s parents and older sister turned out for last night’s premiere of The Dark Knight but bypassed the red carpet where the cast paid tribute to the late actor and his performance, People reports. Ledger’s dad, Kim, left the theater giving thumbs up and saying the film was “very good.”
GM Will Cut Salaried Jobs, Benefits to Survive Slump
Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 2008 9:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - General Motors will cut salaried jobs, accelerate factory closings, and eliminate health care coverage for many salaried retirees in order to raise $15 billion to survive the industry's deep downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. GM will also suspend dividends, sell some assets, lower capital spending, and cut production of pickup trucks and...
Fossett Search Is on Again
Reno Gazette-Journal | Jul 15, 2008 9:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ten months after Steve Fossett disappeared, a new search for the adventurer's body began yesterday under the guidance of a Canadian geologist and adventure racer who is scouring the Sweetwater Mountains on the Nevada-California border with a team of 10, reports the Reno Gazette-Journal. A competing search party has narrowed possible crash sites to...
DA to Prison Board: Don't Free Ailing Manson Killer
Los Angeles Times | Jul 15, 2008 9:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Los Angeles County district attorney has asked the California parole board to deny Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins' request for compassionate release from prison. Atkins, who was convicted of seven 1969 murders, is terminally ill with brain cancer. The DA noted that Atkins stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, tasted her blood, and used it...
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