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Newser Story Index from August, 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.

Wounded Vets Assaulted by Mold—Again
USA Today | Aug 18, 2008 11:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a replay of the scandalous conditions uncovered at Walter Reed Medical Center last year, an Oklahoma barracks that houses wounded soldiers has become infested with mold, soldiers stationed there told USA Today. Twenty soldiers stepped forward, saying they’d been ordered not to discuss conditions at Fort Sill, which they say are deteriorating...
Amateur 'Fusioneers' Explore Energy Future
Wall Street Journal | Aug 18, 2008 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Frank Sanns has an unusual hobby: He’s trying to prove nuclear fusion is a viable energy source. At the center of his search is a working, homemade nuclear reactor. “I’m a dreamer,” the Pittsburgh native tells the Wall Street Journal . Sanns is part of an exclusive cadre called the “Neutron Club”—in which...
Unreleased Kafka Materials May See Light
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Franz Kafka, who died in 1924, is in the news because of the actions of his disobedient literary executor. Max Brod, who fled Prague in 1939, left a valuable collection of the Czech existentialist's papers with his secretary. She died last year at 101, and her daughters may be keeping the materials in a Tel Aviv apartment overrun with cats, the New...
Cancer-Stricken Swayze Busted With Butt
Sun (UK) | Aug 18, 2008 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Despite fighting pancreatic cancer, actor Patrick Swayze is still smoking, the Sun reports. The Dirty Dancing star, who turns 56 today, was spotted lighting up between scenes of his upcoming A&E crime drama The Beast , the tabloid reports. The self-described “miracle man” was reportedly given weeks to live when first diagnosed...
Retailers Struggle With Ruling That OK'd Price-Fixing
Wall Street Journal | Aug 18, 2008 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Supreme Court ruling that last year allowed manufacturers to set minimum sale prices for their goods is giving retailers fits, the Wall Street Journal reports. Manufacturers, barred from the practice for nearly a century, are being allowed to punish retailers who discount their products by cutting off supplies. Some retailers are fighting back...
Convention's Focus: All-American Obama
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 10:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Introducing a candidate to voters is a task in every campaign, but no presidential nominee has ever faced the challenge confronting Barack Obama. Next week's Democratic convention will feature an orchestrated roll-out of the Obama story on the candidate's own terms, the New York Times reports. Michelle Obama will headline the opening day, and a biographical...
Phelps' Quest for the Gold Is Just Beginning
Wall Street Journal | Aug 18, 2008 10:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Even before Michael Phelps dove into the pool in pursuit of his eighth gold medal, another epic task had begun: Turning the swimming star into a marketing icon . By the time he’d collected his final piece of gold—along with a $1 million bonus from Speedo—the 23-year-old was well on his way to an Olympic-sized payday, reports the...
McCain Cries Foul Over NBC Coverage
ABC News | Aug 18, 2008 10:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - The McCain camp has fired off a stern letter to NBC objecting to coverage of the weekend's Rick Warren forum, after Andrea Mitchell reported speculation the Republican might have had access to the questions he was asked ahead of time. Commentators wondered if the "cone of silence" designed to keep McCain from hearing questions during Warren's...
Georgians in Moscow Face Violence
Bloomberg | Aug 18, 2008 10:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - As Russia maintains its military presence in Georgia, ethnic Georgians living in Moscow have reported growing harassment and violence. The Russian capital is home to 54,000 Georgians, and since the conflict began, they have been subjected to robberies, beatings, and intimidation, Bloomberg reports. Police are stopping Georgians on the street for identity...
Mayer on the Breakup: Bad Chemistry
People | Aug 18, 2008 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - John Mayer says he and Jennifer Aniston ended their romance mutually so not to “waste” each other’s time, People reports. "People have different chemistry. I ended a relationship to be alone, because I don't want to waste somebody's time if something's not right," said an emotional Mayer. "There's no lying, there's...
Obama Scores $7.8M in San Francisco Blitz
Associated Press | Aug 18, 2008 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama raised $7.8 million at a series of San Francisco fundraisers last night, the Los Angeles Times reports, reportedly a record single day's take for the candidate. Obama spoke before three separate groups in the same hotel, including one ballroom filled with 350 VIPs paying a reported $28,500 per couple.
Booming Brazil Nabs A-List Ad Campaigns
Bloomberg | Aug 18, 2008 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - If you want proof that the Brazilian economy is on fire, look no further than the TV ads. While Sarah Jessica Parker professes her love for a Sao Paulo mall, Richard Gere promotes hair care products in dubious Portuguese. What's made the influx of American stars possible, writes Bloomberg, is Brazil's booming currency—the real has been the biggest...
Laid-Back Bush Enrages Neocon Base
Washington Post | Aug 18, 2008 9:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - The administration’s slow response to the Russia-Georgia conflict has conservatives fuming, with onetime true believers openly questioning President Bush's commitment to the foreign policy of the first 7 years of his term. And they're not keeping their dissatisfaction quiet, reports the Washington Post . The latest blast from a once-unexpected...
Farms Fuel Boom in US Exports
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Worldwide demand for grain and a weak US dollar helped drive exports up 7.1% in the first half of the year, providing a respite from the barrage of negative economic news. But experts warn the commodity-driven rise could be brief, reports the New York Times. Export surges of agricultural products “tend to go away pretty quickly,” said...
Aussie Mayor Begs Ugly Girls to Move to Town
Townsville Bulletin | Aug 18, 2008 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - An Australian mayor thinks he has a solution for the crisis facing his town: More ugly girls. Men outnumber women 5-to-1 in Mount Isa, so John Molony is begging women, particularly desperate ones, to migrate there. “Often those who are beauty-disadvantaged are uphappy with their lot,” he said. “Some… need to proceed to Mount...
China Seizes US Missionaries' Bibles
Associated Press | Aug 18, 2008 8:36 AM CDT
(AP) - Four American Christians whose Bibles were confiscated by authorities are refusing to leave a Chinese airport until the books are returned. The Vision Beyond Borders group had planned to distribute 315 Chinese-language Bibles during the Olympics, but religious proselytizing is banned in China, reports AP. Bibles in China are legally printed at just...
Playing Both Ends Against Middle Doomed Musharraf
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 8:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - In the wake of 9/11, Pervez Musharraf transformed himself into America’s most steadfast ally in the war against terrorism. Or so it appeared. In truth, Pakistan never cut its ties with the Taliban, which grew under his watch, writes the New York Times’ Jane Perlez. For years, the administration sent billions in aid anyway, but by the...
How Phelps Saved the Games
ESPN | Aug 18, 2008 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the Chinese invented organized sports 6,000 years ago, writes Pat Forde on ESPN.com, then how appropriate that Michael Phelps came to Beijing to prove he was “the apotheosis of the athlete.” And America knows it. In a year when the Olympics had become “passe,” tens of millions of enthusiastic Americans rooted for Phelps in...
Biden Offers Foreign Policy Heft, Baggage to Obama Ticket
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Several of Barack Obama's potential running mates hit the Sunday talk show circuit yesterday. But Joseph Biden was in Tbilisi at the personal invitation of the Georgian president to discuss the ongoing military crisis. For the New York Times , Biden's weekend trip highlights the clout of the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—but...
Hurdler Drops Out, Stunning China
Washington Post | Aug 18, 2008 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, whose rock-star status had made him his nation's favorite Olympic storyline, dropped out of his first race today after just two painful steps, the Washington Post reports. Liu had recovered from a hamstring injury since pulling out of a May 31 meet in New York, but an Achilles tendon injury reemerged last week, and his...
Promising to Leave, Russia Amps Up Forces in Georgia
Times (UK) | Aug 18, 2008 6:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Despite promises from the Kremlin and ultimatums from the American and French presidents, Russia is stalling on its promise to withdraw from Georgia, reports the Guardian . The Russian military has moved ballistic missile launchers into South Ossetia, and its troops remain entrenched near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. But ahead of an emergency NATO...
Fay Slams Cuba, Floridians Flee
Reuters | Aug 18, 2008 6:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tropical Storm Fay slammed into Cuba's southwest coast with 50 mph winds today as Florida residents and tourists continued to jam roadways to get out of the path of what's expected to become a hurricane as early as tomorrow, reports Reuters and the Miami Herald . Fay could drop as much as 8 inches of rain as it churns northward toward the Florida...
1918 Flu Survivors Still Have Killer Antibodies
Reuters | Aug 18, 2008 5:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The flu pandemic that killed up to 100 million people in 1918 left survivors with a strong set of antibodies—strong enough to still be viable today, Reuters reports. Mice given survivor antibodies managed to fight off the deadly flu when they were infected with the virus extracted from exhumed victims.
What Killed Babe Ruth?
Sporting News | Aug 18, 2008 5:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - America thought Babe Ruth succumbed to throat cancer, caused at least in part by his smoking and drinking. But now a dentist who spent a year researching the circumstances surrounding the baseball legend's death tells the Sporting News that a different kind of cancer felled the slugger—and what's more, he died a self-sacrificing humanitarian....
Bronze Medalists Happier Than Silver Winners
Washington Post | Aug 18, 2008 4:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Newly minted gold medalists are ecstatic, second-place finishers slightly less so, and bronze winners the least happy—or so conventional wisdom would have it. But psychologists find that bronze medalists are usually happier than those who finish with silver, the Washington Post reports. Why does this Olympic paradox play out so regularly?
Colleges Face Suicide Crisis
USA Today | Aug 18, 2008 4:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - More than half the students at 70 US colleges have contemplated suicide, a startling new study has found. Surveys revealed that 55% once thought of taking their own lives, 18% seriously considered it and 8% actually tried, reports USA Today . Broken romances, school-related problems, and emotional and physical pain were most often cited as the reasons....
Obama Rips McCain on 'Disaster' Economics
Reno Gazette-Journal | Aug 18, 2008 3:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama yesterday blasted John McCain’s attacks on his economic policies by slamming the GOP record as a "disaster," reports the Reno Gazette-Journal . McCain “claimed my economic plan would lead to economic disaster,” Obama said. “I’ve got news for John McCain. My plan is not going to bring economic disaster....
Musharraf : I Will Resign
New York Times | Aug 18, 2008 3:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced today in a televised address that he's resigning, reports the New York Times . He said charges that he violated the country's constitution were false, but he will step down for the sake of Pakistan. “Whether I win or lose the impeachment, the nation will lose,” he said. It was unclear...
More Bad News for Newspaper Readership
Editor & Publisher | Aug 18, 2008 2:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - American newspaper readership is continuing to fall, according to a new study. Only 46% of Americans read a newspaper regularly, down from 52% in 2006, according to the Pew Research Center. Online readership growth has failed to make up the difference, growing from 9% to 13% over the past 2 years, reports Editor & Publisher .
Shawn Grabs Third Silver
Los Angeles Times | Aug 18, 2008 2:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - US gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin were edged out of a gold medal yesterday in the floor exercise competition by Romania's Sandra Izbasa—but Johnson took the silver and Liukin the bronze. It was the third silver for Johnson who has one last chance for Olympic gold tomorrow on the balance beam, reports the Los Angeles Times .
Open Wireless Networks 'Invitation to Trouble'
San Francisco Chronicle | Aug 18, 2008 2:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Failing to protect personal wireless service with a tough password and encryption can open the door to disaster. That's the warning from "wardriver" security gurus who cruise the streets looking for unguarded service to highlight the problem, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Wardriving was also used by an international ring of hackers...
Hundreds Plucked From Grand Canyon Flood
Arizona Republic (Phoenix) | Aug 17, 2008 10:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hundreds of tourists, along with members of the Havasupai Native American tribe, were rescued from the Grand Canyon today after a dam broke causing serious flooding. About 300 people were rescued by helicopter over a 10-hour period after the Redlands Dam, south of the village of Supai, and 220 miles northwest of Phoenix, was breached, the Arizona...
Feel Good Again About Your Pricey House
Los Angeles Times | Aug 17, 2008 7:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bought an expensive house right before the subprime crash? Fret not, writes Chris Ayres in the Los Angeles Times . With 5% inflation, lower interest rates, and a mortgage tax deduction, buyers of pricey houses will be smiling in 10 years. "If you're a boom-time buyer who can still pay the mortgage, you have more than you think to feel happy about,"...
Britain to Test Car Satellite Toll
Telegraph (UK) | Aug 17, 2008 7:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Britain plans to test a toll system that tracks drivers by satellite and charges them by the mile, the Daily Telegraph reports. Dubbed "spy in the sky," the controversial plan was floated by the Labour government and was considered dead under PM Gordon Brown. "It seems that Labour's unpopular plans for a national road pricing...
Russia-Georgia Rules Sunday Talk Shows
Politico | Aug 17, 2008 7:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Russia-Georgia conflict dominated discussion on Sunday morning talk shows today, Politico reports. "People are beginning to wonder whether Russia can be trusted," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press . She also stated on Fox News Sunday and Face the Nation that Russia would face "consequences"...
Thunder Rolls at Box Office
Variety | Aug 17, 2008 6:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hollywood spoof Tropic Thunder bombarded the box office this weekend by banking $26 million in top spot, Variety reports. Batman flick The Dark Knight fell to second but raked in $16.8 million and became the second-highest grossing domestic pic ever. Filling out the top five were Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Mirrors , and Pineapple Express...
Windmills Pay the Rent but Spark Rage in NY
Associated Press | Aug 17, 2008 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Wind turbines are cropping up in rural New York state and threatening to pull communities apart, the AP reports. The state's largest wind energy project is worth $400 million and powers 100,000 homes; farmers get paid up to $6,600 per turbine per year to offset the sight and sound of massive spinning blades. But some families and neighbors are at odds...
Georgia Is the Victim, So Blame Russia
Weekly Standard | Aug 17, 2008 5:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Why blame Georgia for Russia's invasion when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is clearly at fault? Putin has been seething ever since pro-Western Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in Georgia 3 years ago, writes Matthew Continetti in The Weekly Standard . "Putin has been pressuring Georgia for years," writes Continetti, shelling Georgia...
Staying Sharp While Aging: It Has a Price
Washington Post | Aug 17, 2008 5:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fighting the aging process is more about hard work than anti-wrinkle cream and hair dye, Jonah Lehrer writes in the Washington Post . The issue for most of us is not to dance like Madonna or swim like US Olympian Dara Torres; it's to remember names and places and find the car keys. And that requires exercise—for the brain. "The brain is...
PBS Unleashes Martha for Vocab Help
Boston Globe | Aug 17, 2008 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - What if the family dog ate alphabet soup by mistake? Susan Meddaugh answered her 7-year-old son’s question by writing a book, Martha Speaks , which has now become a PBS show about the talking dog. PBS hopes it will teach challenging vocab—"diminish," "concoct," and "courageous" are on the list—by integrating...
Pakistani Salon Hires Fire, Acid Attack Victims
Associated Press | Aug 17, 2008 4:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pakistani women disfigured by acid and fire attacks have found a second life—as beauticians, the AP reports. The head of a well-known Pakistani salon chain discovered 5 years ago how commonly women are maimed by crazed or spurned lovers. With the aid of an Italian surgical nonprofit, she has helped many heal and put them to work.
Phelps' Quest Perfectly American
USA Today | Aug 17, 2008 4:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Phelps’ quest for eight gold medals was a perfect sports story for America: we like our athletes to either dominate or come from behind at the last minute, and Phelps delivered on both counts. He was both “the juggernaut and the ninth-inning home run with two outs and two strikes,” writes Mike Lopresti in USA Today —and...
At 20, al-Qaeda Is in Decline
Washington Post | Aug 17, 2008 3:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two decades after its founding, al-Qaeda's golden years are over, argues Peter Bergen in the Washington Post. Osama bin Laden's plan has largely backfired: 9/11 neither resulted in US withdrawal from the Middle East, or in the defeat of "impious" Middle Eastern regimes. But while al-Qaeda discredited itself in Iraq and jihadists are less...
Musharraf Will Quit Tomorrow, Flee: Mag
Newsweek | Aug 17, 2008 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pakistan President Musharraf will likely resign tomorrow, a former Musharraf aide told Newsweek, and flee to Saudi Arabia for three months of exile. Pakistan's top military commanders are aware of the news, but Musharraf's camp officially denies the story. "Your source is a liar. The information you have is absolutely untrue," a spokesman...
Russia 'Already Paid a Price' for Georgia Invasion: Rice
Politico | Aug 17, 2008 3:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice says Russia has “already paid a price” for its invasion of Georgia, because its “reputation as a potential partner in international institutions—diplomatic, political, security, economic—is frankly in tatters.” Returning from a trip to Georgia, Rice made a string of Sunday talk show appearances,...
Sacred History Resonates in Kathmandu
Vanity Fair | Aug 17, 2008 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Decades of restoration have kept up the medieval splendor of a region long hidden from the world: Kathmandu Valley. Started by Germany in the 1960s and later spearheaded by a Harvard professor, the repairs have maintained many of the area's stupas and pagodas, Lucinda Lambton writes for Vanity Fair— but one must visit to see how the architecture...
In China and Russia, a 'Springtime for Autocrats'
New York Times | Aug 17, 2008 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - The autocratic world powers that were crumbling in the late 1980s may yet have their day, and sooner than we think, writes executive editor Bill Keller in the New York Times . As China keeps its stranglehold on free speech despite promises to the IOC, and Russia tests how far it can push the West in Georgia, "It is at least a season: Springtime...
Hurricane-Proof Your Vacation
Forbes | Aug 17, 2008 2:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - The government’s storm-watching body upped this year’s hurricane forecast to include 14 to 18 named storms, which could spell trouble for travelers. Forbes offers tips to stem potential financial losses and prevent your Caribbean vacation from going south. Know your risks: The National Hurricane Center offers a month-by-month historical...
Napa Valley Girl Makes Splash in French Wine Marketing
Gourmet | Aug 17, 2008 2:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - France’s wine business is stuck in the doldrums, as American wines (and their aggressive marketing campaigns) explode onto the scene. But one Napa Valley girl is working to change that, by introducing stodgy French vintners to the modern concept of marketing. “A lot of what I do is psychological,” Jaime Araujo tells Gourmet . “Changing...
Seals Plunge for Climate Data
Popular Mechanics | Aug 17, 2008 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Giant seals living in the chilly waters of Antarctica are helping researchers gather important data on climate change, reports Popular Mechanics . The elephant seals, tagged with hat-like sensors, make frequent dives deep into the Southern Ocean and surface with valuable details about water temperature and salinity. The dense waters of Antarctica...
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