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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.

Uncle Sam Short on Sergeants
Salon | Jul 30, 2008 2:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - The US Army, plagued by a shortage of non-commissioned officers, has lowered the bar for promotion so much that it has produced sergeants who are not ready to lead, Salon reports in an investigation of a military stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In some cases, soldiers have been automatically promoted although their unit commanders...
Diabetic Moms Linked to Birth Defects
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 2:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mothers who have diabetes before they are pregnant are three to four times more likely to have a child with birth defects, the AP reports. A CDC study investigating birth abnormalities found more than 40 types of defects affecting the internal organs and spine that were significantly more common in children of diabetic mothers.
AP Bureau Chief Considered Job With McCain
Politico | Jul 30, 2008 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ron Fournier’s objectivity is being questioned yet again, as Politico reports that the AP’s Washington bureau chief was offered a senior position in the McCain campaign before returning to the wire service in March 2007. Fournier’s political leanings have been a hot topic lately, since a 2004 email surfaced in which the reporter told...
Obama Revealed Little, Provoked Much as a Prof
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama stood out as a University of Chicago law professor in the 1990s: He didn't publish, he turned down tenure, he ran for office, and he collected a coterie of adoring liberal students at a largely conservative school. Yet he provoked them to take sides more than he revealed his own ideas. Looking back, former students see what he was doing—preparing...
McCain's Rip on Obama's Soldier Visit Lacks Facts
Washington Post | Jul 30, 2008 1:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain is standing by his accusation that Barack Obama skipped a military hospital trip in Germany because he couldn't bring the press—even though the facts don't support it, the Washington Post reports. Firsthand accounts agree that Obama never intended to take reporters to the hospital. McCain's charge, running in an attack ad, is "absolutely,...
Fla. Actor Sues Rape Accuser
Tampa Tribune | Jul 30, 2008 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - An actor accused of drugging and raping a woman in his Florida home is now suing his accuser, saying the allegations cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in business deals, the Saratota Herald-Tribune reports. Joseph S Arsenault says he was evicted from his home while in jail last year, and lost $700,000 in business contracts and $100,000 in...
Gay Gallery Owner in Fla. Alleges Police Discrimination
St. Petersburg Times (Russia) | Jul 30, 2008 1:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - The owner of an erotic art gallery in St. Petersburg plans to sue the city following a police raid, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Bill Schramm was arrested last week on charges of unlawfully exposing private parts—his exhibit featured a naked man hanging from the ceiling, running afoul of an ordinance that forbids establishments that serve...
Nat'l Review: Stevens, Get Out
National Review | Jul 30, 2008 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newly indicted Ted Stevens should resign as soon as possible, write the editors of the National Review . The Alaskan senator, who is accused of seven counts of making false statements, legally “deserves the benefit of the doubt—but not from an ethical standpoint,” they note. “The facts that have emerged over the course of the...
Israeli PM to Step Down in 2 Months
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 1:02 PM CDT
(AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced today he will resign in September, throwing his country into political turmoil and raising doubts about progress for US-backed Mideast peace efforts. Olmert's brief address included harsh criticism of police investigations of corruption allegations against him. He said he was choosing the public good over...
Mass. Puts Rent-a-Dog Firms in Doghouse
Newsweek | Jul 30, 2008 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Massachusetts lawmakers have put the kibosh on a lucrative pet rental business, which caters to busy urbanites who want to spend time with dogs without the full-time commitment. The state senate passed a bill yesterday prohibiting the renting or leasing of dogs and cats; like previous bans in Boston and London, the action was prompted by ethical considerations,...
Arrogance Charge Dogs Obama, Fueled by Misquote
Time | Jul 30, 2008 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Washington Post reporter Jonathan Weisman fed the GOP line that Barack Obama is more presumptuous than presidential last night by quoting the candidate telling a gathering of House Dems yesterday, “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.” Weisman quips,“Perhaps he's beginning to believe...
Miley: End Near for 'Hannah'
E! Online | Jul 30, 2008 12:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tween queen Miley Cyrus is ready to part ways with her Disney show and alter ego Hannah Montana . "We’re thinking this is our last season," 15-year-old Cyrus told E! Online. "I just think we did a lot of episodes. We basically did two seasons in one last year. It seems like it's been on, like, longer."
Facebook Pulls Stabbing App Amid UK Knife Deaths
ABC News | Jul 30, 2008 12:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - A surge in knife crime has shaken Britain, ABC News reports. Twelve people—six of them teenagers—were stabbed to death in a single week this month. Public concern has caused Facebook to yank a third-party application where users could send each other "virtual stabs," and Nike has taken its Air Stab shoes off the market.
Hudson Ends Tour de Lance
New York Post | Jul 30, 2008 11:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Constant bickering between Lance Armstrong and Kate Hudson has doomed their three-month summer fling, and the New York Post reports the couple called it quits this weekend at Armstrong’s Livestrong Summit in Ohio. The last straw was a big blowout, a spy tells the newspaper, in which the cyclist stormed off. “They didn’t talk for...
Lone Star Buys Big at Mortgage Fire Sale
Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 2008 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lone Star Fund is looking to profit from the castoffs of the credit meltdown, buying billions of marked-down assets and betting on just some of them to rebound, reports the Wall Street Journal . The Dallas-based private-equity firm run by John Grayken has closed a deal on $6.7 billion in Merrill Lynch mortgage backed assets once valued at $30.6 billion....
Packers Beg Favre to Stay Home
Green Bay Press-Gazette | Jul 30, 2008 11:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Packers President Mark Murphy is flying to Mississippi in a last ditch attempt to convince Brett Favre to stay retired, or at least avoid training camp, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports. “They’re asking him not to come,” a source said. “They don’t want him up there.” If Favre does show up, only unappealing options...
Chinese Teacher Sent to Labor Camp Over Quake Dissent
Guardian (UK) | Jul 30, 2008 11:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Chinese teacher has been sent to a labor camp for a year of "re-education" after he posted online photos of school buildings that collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake, the Guardian reports. The man, who was neither formally charged with a crime nor given a trial, is one of many demanding answers from the Chinese government as to why...
Swayze Filming New Show
Daily Mail (UK) | Jul 30, 2008 11:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Patrick Swayze was back at work for the first time since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the Daily Mail reports. The 55-year-old actor was joined by his wife on the Chicago set of A&E’s The Beast . The actor, who is undergoing chemotherapy, has called himself a “miracle” after being given weeks to live in January.
Fed Extends Emergency Loan Program for Wall Street
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 11:09 AM CDT
(AP) - The Federal Reserve today extended its emergency borrowing program for Wall Street firms through Jan. 30. Originally the program, through which investment houses can tap the central bank for a quick source of cash, was supposed to last until mid-September. Another program, where banks can temporarily swap more risky investments for Treasury securities,...
US, Iraq Inch Closer to Pact
Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 2008 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Bush administration has made serious strides in its efforts to forge a security pact with Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reports. Just a month ago Nouri al-Maliki said talks had hit a “dead end,” but now that Bush has agreed to set up a flexible withdrawal timetable, things are moving much more quickly. Both sides are hopeful that...
Teen to Be Tried as Adult in Family Slaying
Baltimore Sun | Jul 30, 2008 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Baltimore teen accused of killing his parents and siblings will be tried as an adult, the Baltimore Sun reports. Nicholas Browning, 16, claimed he suffered mental and physical abuse by his parents and asked that his case be transferred to juvenile court. The judge denied his request despite testimony from a forensic psychiatrist stating the boy...
Alicia Keys, Jack White Record 007 Theme
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 10:35 AM CDT
(AP) - It's a double-O duet. Alicia Keys and White Stripes frontman Jack White have recorded the theme song for the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, producers said today. White wrote and produced the song, dubbed "Another Way to Die," and also plays drums and provides vocals with 11-time Grammy winner Keys.
China Censors Web for Olympic Journos
BBC | Jul 30, 2008 10:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Journalists covering the Olympic games in Beijing will not be allowed access to websites deemed objectionable by the Chinese government, the BBC reports, in spite of promises from the IOC that Internet access would be unfettered. Blocked sites include pages related to the Falun Gong spiritual group, as well as human rights organizations like Amnesty...
Bush Signs Housing Bill to Provide Mortgage Relief
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 10:11 AM CDT
(AP) - President Bush today signed the massive housing bill intended to provide mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners and stabilize financial markets. The measure, signed without the ususal fanfare, is one he earlier threatened to veto. Regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades, it lets homeowners who cannot afford their...
GOP's Offshore Drilling, Dems' Afghan Surge Both Bad Ideas
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans alike are beating empty campaign slogans, and both need to take a look at their real-world implications, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. Republicans who insist that offshore oil drilling will solve the world's problems sound like "someone back in 1980" pushing for "cheaper IBM Selectric typewriters."...
Ex-Beau Charged in Pregnant Soldier's Murder
CNN | Jul 30, 2008 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - The former boyfriend of a pregnant Fort Bragg soldier has been charged with her murder, reports CNN. Edgar Patino, 27, proposed to fellow soldier Spc. Megan Lynn Touma while the two were stationed in Germany, according to friends. But Touma, 23, broke up with Patino recently when they were transferred to Fort Bragg and she discovered he was already...
Dell Looks to Muscle In on iPod
Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 2008 9:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dell has decided it’s time for a rematch with Apple’s iconic iPod, and the company is planning to introduce a new digital music player and online download service as early at September, the Wall Street Journal reports. Dell failed in its bid to gain a seat at the online music table with a stable of MP3 players it introduced in 2003.
Domain Name Bug Worries Web Providers
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - ISPs worldwide are racing to patch a flaw in the design of the Internet that could allow criminals to steal personal and financial details of Web users by diverting them to fake sites. The flaw resides in the procedures of the Domain Name System, which translates URLs into numerical Internet protocol. The problem underlines the dangers of the Internet's...
Obama: 'Presumptuous' Nominee
Washington Post | Jul 30, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama isn’t the president yet, but no one seems to have broken that news to Barack Obama. The Democrats' presumptive, and increasingly "presumptuous," nominee spent yesterday cavorting about Washington as though he already owned the place, writes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post. Obama met with the Treasury secretary, the...
Mac Attack Ad's Endless Media Coverage? Priceless
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain's tough TV spot, which attacks Barack Obama for backing out of a visit to US troops in Germany because he couldn't bring TV cameras along, has become one of the most widely seen ads of the campaign. That's pretty impressive, considering it only aired as a paid commercial about a dozen times. The negative ad is a PR coup for McCain, writes...
Huge Chunk Snaps Off Largest Arctic Ice Shelf
Globe and Mail | Jul 30, 2008 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - An 8-square-mile chunk of ice has broken off an ancient ice shelf in Canada's Arctic, the Globe & Mail reports. The Ward Hunt Shelf, the biggest in the Arctic, has shrunk over the last century from 3,500 square miles to less than 400 today. Huge cracks have appeared in the ice and more is expected to go before winter.
GM, Ford Join Chrysler in Retreat From Leasing
Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 2008 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ford and GM are joining Chrysler in moving away from auto leasing, the Wall Street Journal reports, signalling the end of an era in which leases allowed many Americans to drive more expensive cars than they could afford to buy. The move is prompted by falling prices for used SUVs and trucks, which has led to steep losses for the automakers when they...
Study: Homeless Numbers Drop
Los Angeles Times | Jul 30, 2008 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - The number of chronically homeless Americans fell by 15% last year, a study has found. The survey is the first to track homelessness over a full year, the Los Angeles Times reports. Homeless advocates argue that the promising numbers may in part be due to different counting methods—and that a flood of foreclosures threaten a new wave of homelessness....
Payback Time for Meanest Man in Congress
Washington Post | Jul 30, 2008 7:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Few tears were shed on Capital Hill when Ted Stevens was indicted yesterday. Alaska’s celebrated senator spent 4 decades bullying Congress, writes Michael Crowley in the Washington Post, rising ever higher in the ranks by making politics personal. “I'm a mean, miserable SOB,” he’d boast, sporting his trademark Incredible Hulk...
Oil, Gas Prices Continue Slide
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 6:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - A dip in the price of energy is providing a welcome respite from an otherwise grim economic picture. Oil, which neared $150 a barrel earlier this month, has dropped $23, or 16%, since July 3; natural gas prices are down 33%. AAA says nationwide gas prices have dropped to $3.94 a gallon, down from $4.11 on July 17, as Americans are driving less. Many...
Skateboarding Welcomes Back Dogtown Lord
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 6:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Legendary skateboarder Jay Adams is slowly getting the wheels back on his life, the New York Times reports. Adams, whose '70s skateboarding career was immortalized in the movie Lords of Dogtown , is in a California halfway house for the final months of a 4-year sentence for his part in a drug ring. He hopes to attend tomorrow's X Games in Los Angeles....
LA Backs Fast Food Moratorium
Associated Press | Jul 30, 2008 6:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Los Angeles city officials have voted to ban fast food restaurants from opening in an impoverished section of the city where 30% of adults are obese, AP reports. The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that places a year-long moratorium on fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles, where the eateries already account for 73% of all dining...
Bush Meets 5 China Dissidents Ahead of Games
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 6:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush welcomed five prominent Chinese dissidents to the White House yesterday, a week before he leaves for the Olympics. The invitation was one of several moves to intensify pressure on Beijing to respect human rights. Earlier in the day, Bush urged the Chinese foreign minister, who was meeting with national security adviser Stephen Hadley,...
Karadzic Delivered to Hague
Reuters | Jul 30, 2008 5:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bosnian war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic was whisked from a Serbian jail and handed over to UN officials today to face trial at The Hague on charges of genocide. He's expected to appear at court today. The former leader of the Bosnian Serbs was escorted by masked officers from the Serbian secret police in a convoy of black jeeps for a flight to...
Transsexual Thai Students Get Own Toilets
BBC | Jul 30, 2008 4:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - A high school in rural Thailand has given its many transgender students their own restroom, the BBC reports. Situated between the boys' and girls' rooms, the room has a half male/half female figure painted on the door. Inside, effeminate teenage boys preen. As many as  20% of the school's male students would rather be girls, the headmaster estimates....
Global Trade Talks Collapse
Wall Street Journal | Jul 30, 2008 4:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - World Trade Organization talks to forge a new global trade pact collapsed yesterday after seven years of negotiations. An EU spokesman called the breakdown a "massive blow to the confidence in the global economy." The talks fell apart as China and India demanded the authortity to impose "safeguard" tariffs if imports of key crops...
Delta Doubles Charge for Second Bag to $100
Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Jul 30, 2008 3:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Delta Air Lines has doubled its fee to check a second bag to $100 on domestic roundtrip flights, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The airline, struggling with sky-high fuel prices, is also hiking fees for heavy baggage and items like surfboards that need special handling. Delta officials said they have no current plans to charge for a first...
Ballooning Priest's Body Found
BBC | Jul 30, 2008 3:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - DNA tests have confirmed that a body found earlier this month off the coast of Brazil is that of a Catholic priest who tried to set a flight record strapped to 1,000 helium balloons. Father Adelir Antonio de Carli, 41, set off  from the Brazilian port of Paranagua in April aiming to raise money for charity. He was swept to his doom by unexpected...
Ron Artest Going to Houston Rockets
Houston Chronicle | Jul 30, 2008 3:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Houston Rockets have made a deal to acquire Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings, reports the Houston Chronicle . The gifted but hot-tempered forward is expected to give the Rockets a big boost toward chances at a title shot.  The Rockets will give up guard Bobby Jackson and one other player, expected to be rookie forward Donte Greene.
'Bigfoot' Reported in Canada
Ottawa Citizen | Jul 30, 2008 2:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - A family out picking berries in northern Ontario claims they caught sight of a creature they believe was the mythical man-like ape "Bigfoot," the Ottawa Citizen reports. The 8-foot tall furry black creature disappeared into the woods when it spotted them, they recounted. The Canadians searched the area and took a plaster cast of a print...
CIA Confronts Pakistan Over Militant Ties
New York Times | Jul 30, 2008 2:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The CIA has confronted Pakistani officials with evidence of links between the nation's spy agency and Islamic insurgents, the New York Times reports. A top CIA official flew to Pakistan for a tense secret meeting earlier this month with information about ties to al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in the border region believed to be responsible for deadly...
GOP Parodies Obama's Facebook Page
Wired | Jul 30, 2008 1:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The GOP is lampooning Barack Obama's popular Facebook page with something it calls Barackbook. The fake Facebook clone features a frowning Obama whose status reads "hoping to settle on an Iraq policy before November," Wired reports. In addition, the imaginary FriendFeed highlights controversial figures associated with the candidate, including...
Lewis Cited for Gun at Airport
Associated Press | Jul 29, 2008 10:20 PM CDT
(AP) - Police confiscated a gun belonging to Jerry Lewis that was in the 82-year-old entertainer's carryon bag as he prepared to fly to Detroit from Las Vegas. Authorities cited Lewis for carrying an unloaded concealed weapon at the Vegas airport. His manager says it's a harmless prop, unable to fire. Cops aren't so sure. If that were true, "it wouldn't...
McCain Mole Not Cancerous
Reuters | Jul 29, 2008 10:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A biopsy performed on a mole removed from John McCain's face shows no sign of skin cancer. The brief cancer scare came after a routine dermatological check-up, Reuters reports. The 72-year-old Senator has had four malignant melanomas—the most serious form of skin cancer—removed since 1993.
LaBeouf Didn't Cause Wreck, Police Say
Associated Press | Jul 29, 2008 9:45 PM CDT
(AP) - Shia LaBeouf still faces misdemeanor DUI charges, but he was not to blame for an early-morning car wreck in Los Angeles, authorities said today. Detectives determined that the other driver, who has not been identified, ran a red light and will be cited. LaBeouf, who underwent hand surgery after the crash, "was not at fault," a sheriff's spokesman...
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