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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.

Internet Hits 1 Trillion Sites
PC World | Jul 26, 2008 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - The internet now hosts a staggering 1 trillion unique web sites, according to Google researchers. The million million sites—over 150 for everybody on the planet—are growing by billions of pages a day, PC World reports. Google doesn't index all those pages, but plots them on  a complex graph. A theoretical human researcher trying to...
Struggling College Students Turn to Food Banks
Associated Press | Jul 26, 2008 6:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - With some groceries costing 30% more this year, food banks have surprising new customers: college students. About 150 visit a Seattle food pantry each week, up 25% from last year, while a Denver college food program has seen its numbers double. "With things the way they are, a lot of students can't afford to eat," said a student who started...
Feds Seize 2 Failed Banks
Reuters | Jul 26, 2008 6:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The housing bust and credit crunch have toppled two more banks, Reuters reports. Federal regulators have taken over First National Bank of Nevada and California's First Heritage Bank and sold them to Mutual Bank of Omaha. The undercapitalized institutions were the sixth and seventh to go under in the US this year, and banking regulators warn more are...
A Kennedy Finds Her Political Calling
Wall Street Journal | Jul 26, 2008 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama's campaign has spurred John F. Kennedy's only surviving child to step into the political spotlight, and not just as window dressing, the Wall Street Journal reports. As co-chair of the candidate's vice-presidential search committee, she is a serious vetter, and she's becoming a major draw on the campaign trail. Friends say her old shyness...
Military Blocks Iraq Casualty Photos
New York Times | Jul 26, 2008 5:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Over 4,000 US troops have died in Iraq but only a handful of photographs of dead Americans have reached the media, the New York Times reports. Military regulations do not forbid taking photographs of casualties, but access to death sites is often denied. Photographers who do publish grim images often find their access to military units swiftly terminated....
FCC Approves Satellite Radio Merger
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 8:21 PM CDT
(AP) - Federal regulators formally approved the merger of the United States' only two satellite radio operators today, ending a 16-month-long drama closely watched by Washington and Wall Street. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s $3.3 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will mean 18 million-plus subscribers will be able to receive programming...
Republicans in Tight Senate Races to Skip St. Paul
National Journal | Jul 25, 2008 7:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Most Republicans in tough Senate races this fall are ducking the GOP convention or have failed to confirm, the National Journal reports. Of those nine candidates in 12 targeted races, none are blaming President Bush's low ratings or John McCain's strained relationship with conservatives. Senators like Ted Stevens and Susan Collins say they must focus...
Spears, Federline Settle Custody Case
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 7:01 PM CDT
(AP) - Britney Spears and Kevin Federline finalized their child-custody settlement today, including a $5,000-per-month increase in child support for the pop singer's ex-husband. An attorney for Federline delivered the terms of two separate agreements to Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon, who gave his approval late this afternoon.
Michelle Wins Bakeoff, But Who Cares?
Gourmet | Jul 25, 2008 6:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - In an age when pretty much nobody bakes anything, Laura Shapiro wonders in Gourmet , why do Americans still expect would-be First Ladies to whip out cookie recipes for the public’s pleasure? Shapiro looks at the recipes submitted by Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama for a Yankee contest—and gives Obama’s homey apple cobbler the decisive...
Under Armour Masters Product Placement
Baltimore Sun | Jul 25, 2008 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - There was a time when Baltimore sportswear maker Under Armour had to pay for advertising. No more, the Sun reports: its distinctive opposing-U shape has become ubiquitous in film and TV, prominently displayed in productions from Any Given Sunday to The Wire . During the first 3 months of 2008, Under Armour made no fewer than 3,000 appearances...
Brzezinski Down on Idea of Afghan 'Surge'
Huffington Post | Jul 25, 2008 5:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - The presidential candidates seem to agree that Afghanistan needs a troop surge, but Zbigniew Brzezinski doesn’t. Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, now a Barack Obama backer, says he's concerned that the US is “literally running the risk of unintentionally doing what the Russians did,” and being perceived as an invading...
Mac: Maliki's 'Pretty Good Timetable' Beats Obama's
Talking Points Memo | Jul 25, 2008 5:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - In an interview with CNN today, John McCain called Nouri al-Maliki’s troop withdrawal plan a “pretty good timetable”—leading Josh Marshall, on Talking Points Memo, to call foul. So “Barack Obama's 16 month timetable is a catastrophe,” Marshall says, the difference being that the Iraqi prime minister’s “is...
US Jalapeños Are A-OK: FDA
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 4:45 PM CDT
(AP) - Only jalapeño peppers grown in Mexico seem to be implicated in the nationwide salmonella outbreak, the FDA said today in clearing the US crop. Consumers should avoid raw Mexican jalapenos, the serrano peppers often confused with them, and dishes made with them such as fresh salsa, the agency said. But how consumers would know where they from...
5-Year-Old Ditches Day Care for Hooters
WFAA | Jul 25, 2008 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Texas day-care provider has some explaining to do after losing track of a 5-year-old boy who took off on his own and walked half a mile to the local Hooters, WFAA of Dallas reports. The child asked to use the bathroom and skipped out through an emergency exit shortly before his father arrived to pick him up.
Governator Signs Calif. Trans Fat Ban
Los Angeles Times | Jul 25, 2008 4:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - California became the first state to ban trans fats from restaurant and bakery cooking today, the Los Angeles Times reports. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill passed last week by the legislature, saying it would help Californians’ health. Some restaurateurs, such as Wolfgang Puck—who had already phased the oils out due to customer...
Love Affair Between Press, Obama Is On the Rocks
New Republic | Jul 25, 2008 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Might the much ballyhooed love affair between the press and Barack Obama be coming to an end? Republicans watching coverage of his Europe trip would scoff, but Gabriel Sherman writes in the New Republic of a growing resentment between reporters on the trail and a campaign staff seen as more and more arrogant, secretive, and willing to freeze out...
Stones Exit EMI, Jump to Universal
Times (UK) | Jul 25, 2008 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - After the latest skirmish between EMI’s new owner and the recording label’s bands, the Rolling Stones have fled for Universal—in a $15 million deal that includes rights to all Stones releases since 1971. Mick Jagger & Co. knocked EMI on the way out the door, the Times of London reports, saying in a statement, “Universal...
Bush Hand: Maliki Nod 'Incredibly Damaging' to Mac
Politico | Jul 25, 2008 3:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush’s former communications director is decidedly off GOP message in a new interview, Politico reports, with Dan Bartlett, now in the private sector, saying, “Time will tell, but the al-Maliki comments about a timetable is very close to a game-changing event. That was incredibly damaging [to McCain], because it neutralized one...
On Mixed News, Modest Gains
MarketWatch | Jul 25, 2008 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Dow and S&P 500 seesawed to minor gains today amid mixed economic reports, MarketWatch reports. The Dow rose 21.41 to 11,370.69, the S&P 500 5.22 to 1,257.76. Bolstered by the relative insulation from the economic slump enjoyed by tech stocks , the Nasdaq gained 30.42 to close at 2,310.53.
A Possible Cure for BlackBerry Thumbs
Laptop Magazine | Jul 25, 2008 3:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - If your thumbs ache after hours of texting and gaming, a new gadget may be able to whip your digits back into shape. The Xtensor "exercise device" helps geeks strengthen their wrists and hands or rehabilitate injuries, reports Laptop Magazine , but reviewer Joanna Stern acknowledges that she hasn't had the $39.95 device long enough to report...
Be Bold, Baltimore: We Need a Downtown Arena
Baltimore Sun | Jul 25, 2008 3:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Baltimore is big enough—and its future bright enough—to build a new sports arena downtown, and all those "nattering negativists" who think otherwise need to get out of their basements more, writes Dan Rodricks in the Baltimore Sun . Plans to tear down First Mariner Arena and put up a new facility for hockey and basketball should...
Paper Runs Obama's Western Wall Prayer
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The prayer Barack Obama put in Jerusalem’s Western Wall yesterday was removed by a Jewish seminary student and published in a local newspaper, the AP reports. It read, “Lord—Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument...
Global Warming Didn't Cause New England Tornadoes
Boston Herald | Jul 25, 2008 2:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two tornadoes have ripped through New England in the last few days, killing a New Hampshire woman and doing serious property damage. But don’t blame global warming for the uncharacteristically violent climate: local climatologists tell the Boston Herald equally extreme weather struck the region in the ‘30s and ‘60s, resulting from...
Obama and Sarkozy Rendezvous in Paris
AFP | Jul 25, 2008 2:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama received an enthusiastic Paris reception today from President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said, “The French have been following him with passion”—and that the Democrat’s “adventure … rings true in the hearts in minds” of his country. The two men discussed cooperation on climate change, Iran and Afghanistan,...
Victim in Novak Hit-and-Run 'Doing Fine'
Washington Post | Jul 25, 2008 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - The pedestrian struck by Robert Novak's Corvette this week says that other than a dislocated shoulder, he’s “doing fine,” the Washington Post reports. In fact, Don Liljenquist seems more star-struck than car-struck: "Bob Novak is the one that hit me?" the homeless 86-year-old said in a radio interview. "He's a famous...
Obama's Antiwar Stance: That Was Then, This Is Now
Politico | Jul 25, 2008 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - There's no reason to assume that Barack Obama would have voted against the war if he’d been in the Senate in 2002, James Kirchick writes for Politico. As a state senator, Obama was aligned with his liberal constituency in opposing the Iraq invasion; as a thoroughly briefed US senator with access to high-level intel, he might very well have been...
US Olympians Under 'Lockdown'
San Jose Mercury News | Jul 25, 2008 2:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - The US Olympic Committee is keeping a tight grip on its athletes headed to Beijing. Ninety percent of Olympians are being "processed" through California's San Jose State University, and the USOC has requested that they not leave campus or talk to outsiders, an experience some athletes are describing as "lockdown," reports the Mercury...
Bush Expands Zimbabwe Sanctions
New York Times | Jul 25, 2008 2:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush is expanding US sanctions against Zimbabwe, the New York Times reports, two weeks after Russia and China vetoed his call for UN action. “No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences,” Bush said today.
Agricultural Economist Has Growing Concerns
New York Times | Jul 25, 2008 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Is there any way to justify US farm subsidies? Agricultural economist Daniel Sumner has a blunt answer: “No.” In an in-depth interview with the New York Times , Sumner takes on a broad range of agricultural topics, explaining the trouble with organic food (it’s too expensive), the problems with local food (it’s often inefficient)...
How Jindal Traded Vishnu for Jesus
Wall Street Journal | Jul 25, 2008 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - When political observers talk about Bobby Jindal’s vice presidential credentials, they often mention that his devout Christian faith might sway the base. It’s a curious advantage for the Hindu-raised son of Punjabi immigrants, but Jindal’s conversion was the sincere product of a deep spiritual quest, the Wall Street Journal reports....
A Believer in Hands-Off Now a Defender of Hands-On
Los Angeles Times | Jul 25, 2008 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is in the midst of a reluctant about-face of his economic principles. The Los Angeles Times looks at how Paulson—a former chief executive at Goldman Sachs with a long history of faith in laissez-faire capitalism—has had to become the point man for the Bush administration's decidedly hands-on approach...
NJ Assemblyman Under Investigation for Child Porn
Star-Ledger | Jul 25, 2008 12:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - New Jersey Assemblyman Neil Cohen faces allegations of storing child pornography on his office computer, the Star-Ledger reports. Two of his fellow Democratic lawmakers turned him into authorites after being alerted by a staffer. Cohen, 57, has served 17 years in the Assembly, currently as deputy speaker, and has sponsored bills against child porn...
Without Doping, Where's the Fun?
Los Angeles Times | Jul 25, 2008 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Doping in sports makes some fans uncomfortable, but it keeps others on the edges of their seats, writes Joel Stein in the LA Times . Case in point: This year's largely shenanigans-free Tour de France has been an exercise in boredom. “Before you argue that your favorite sport has to get tough about drugs,” Stein writes, brace yourself for...
Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits
Der Spiegel | Jul 25, 2008 12:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama’s speech in Germany is drawing the full complement of responses in Europe, from glowing to scowling. Here are a few: He’s “an idealist in the true spirit of the American success story,” writes Gerhard Spohl in Der Spiege l, and aspires to be "something akin to the president of the world.” While...
RFK Jr. Takes Green Dream to Reality TV
New York Daily News | Jul 25, 2008 12:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - The most prominent American political dynasty is branching out into reality TV. Environmentalist Bobby Kennedy Jr. and wife Mary are developing a 13-part series that will document the building of their dream green home, the New York Daily News reports. This Old House star Bob Vila will supervise construction of the solar-powered manse in Westchester,...
Last Lecturer Randy Pausch Dies of Cancer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Jul 25, 2008 12:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose "last lecture" became an international phenomenon, succumbed in his long battle with cancer today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pausch, 47, was a noted computer scientist before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but it was his final, inspirational address—now read...
I Want to Believe Requires True Faith
Rotten Tomatoes | Jul 25, 2008 11:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - X-Files: I Want to Believe is strictly for serious fans of Mulder and Scully on the small screen, the critics say. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny's plunge back into the paranormal "gives devoted fans plenty of small moments to swoon over,"  Brian Lowry writes in Variety , "but the appeal should be limited beyond those...
Economy May Be McCain's Achilles Heel
Politico | Jul 25, 2008 11:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Americans are so worried about the economy they’re returning to a pre-9/11 mindset in which pocketbook issues trump national security—and that doesn’t bode well for John McCain, Politico reports. His predicament is beginning to look oddly like the reelection campaigns of George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter: Some 71% of voters disapprove...
From Reality TV to Broadway
ABC News | Jul 25, 2008 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - In just a year, Bailey Hanks has gone from sorority girl to reality TV star to Broadway star. The 20-year-old preacher’s daughter from South Carolina beat out nine other hopefuls on MTV’s Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods and made her stage debut on Wednesday, ABC News reports.
Say Goodbye to the Reagan Revolution
Wall Street Journal | Jul 25, 2008 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Reagan Revolution, which ushered in a quarter century of deregulation, looks as if it's taken a stake in the heart, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed is offering tens of billions in emergency loans to failing banks, the SEC wants more power to regulate financial institutions, and the Treasury arranged JPMorgan’s purchase of Bear...
Guards Bust Paparazzi at Jolie-Pitt Chateau
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 11:06 AM CDT
(AP) - It sounds like a scene from Fight Club . French police say camouflaged paparazzi infiltrated Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's estate and then got into a scuffle with the security staff. Both photographers and guards were taken in for questioning and filed legal complaints accusing the other of battery and causing injury.
Take Me Out to the Brawl Game
Dayton Daily News | Jul 25, 2008 10:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Baseball brawls don’t get much nastier than last night’s dustup between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs. The box score: One player with a broken leg, a fan hospitalized after getting beaned by a ball, 15 players and both managers ejected, and the not-so-small matter of Peoria starter Julio Castillo facing felony assault charges, the...
Could Batman Be Bush?
Wall Street Journal | Jul 25, 2008 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - They actually have a lot in common, the beleaguered president and the superhero currently smashing box office records, writes Andrew Klavan in the Wall Street Journal .  In The Dark Knight , Batman, like Bush, is "vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand." He's also willing to "push the...
Harold and Kumar Will Roll Again in Third Movie
Variety | Jul 25, 2008 10:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - They've gone to White Castle, escaped from Guantanamo Bay, and they're still smoking. Harold and Kumar will be returning for a third movie, with John Cho and Kal Penn expected to again play the stoned pair, reports Variety . The writing team behind the first two hits will be back, but they haven't let any storyline hints filter out.
Publisher Sues Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 10:11 AM CDT
(AP) - Simon & Schuster Inc. sued rappers Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim yesterday, saying they were paid advances for books they never delivered. The publishing house wants Brown to return a $75,000 advance she received in 2005 for an autobiography called Broken Silence and wants Lil' Kim to return the $40,000 advance they doled out in 2003 for a proposed...
Obama's Empty Rhetoric Starting to Wear Thin
New York Times | Jul 25, 2008 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Say this for Barack Obama: He’s optimistic. Yesterday in Berlin he promised to “remake the world,” envisioned a “new dawn in the Middle East” and mentioned walls tumbling down no fewer than 11 times. It was trademark Obama rhetoric, writes David Brooks of the New York Times : soaring and empty. Obama spoke as though the...
Global Leaders Slam Israel's West Bank Expansion Plan
Washington Post | Jul 25, 2008 9:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Israeli plans to build a new West Bank settlement—one that was shelved after strenuous objections from the US in 2006—were revived yesterday, sparking an international outcry, the Washington Post reports. “They're burying the Annapolis process,” said a Palestinian negotiator, referring to agreements made at the Bush-led summit...
My Beagle Ate My Paycheck
Wall Street Journal | Jul 25, 2008 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - At first, $150 for a beagle puppy and $20 a week for food sounded like a good deal, but it didn't take long to realize dogs are "deceptively expensive," Neal Templin writes in the Wall Street Journal . Vet bills soon added up to thousands after a mystery illness and a car bump—enough to feed the pooch for several lifetimes.
Campaign Costly for Secret Service
Associated Press | Jul 25, 2008 9:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Secret Service has asked for an additional $9.5 million to cover the costs of protecting candidates during this year's campaign—already the longest and costliest in agency history, AP reports. The department had budgeted $107 million, up from $73 million in 2004, but between the marathon primary season, candidates making trips abroad, and...
China's Newest Fitness Trend: Pole Dancing
New York Times | Jul 25, 2008 8:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - The latest fitness craze among women in China is pole dancing, and it has nothing to do with strippers, reports the New York Times . Drawn for the exercise, camaraderie, and confidence boost, women are flocking to a growing number of gyms and dance classes offering it. Even without the seedy strip-club connections, however, the trend is raising eyebrows....
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