Newser Story Index from September, 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.
US Texts Now Outnumber Calls
CNET
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Sep 23, 2008 7:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Americans now send more text messages than they make phone calls—a major change in communication habits that is being driven by teenagers, CNET reports. Cell phone users sent and received 357 text messages in the second quarter of 2008, compared with making and receiving 204 phone calls. Teens between the ages of 13 and 17 send an average of...
Wrangle Over $700B Bailout Heats Up
New York Times
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Sep 23, 2008 6:58 AM CDT
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Congress and the Bush administration are edging closer to an agreement on a bailout for financial firms—but several major sticking points remain, the New York Times reports. Progress has been made on oversight for the $700-billion fund, but lawmakers are pushing for taxpayers to get an equity stake in firms they bail out, and the White House...
Iconic Munch Could Fetch $35M
Independent (UK)
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Sep 23, 2008 6:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A masterpiece by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch that has spent 70 years in private hands will be sold on the open market, reveals the Independent , where it's expected to fetch $35 million. Vampire , painted in 1894, is the last privately owned work from a 20-canvas series that also includes The Scream . The painting has been on long-term loan to...
Fed Loosens Reins on Private Funds Buying Into Banks
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 23, 2008 5:51 AM CDT
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The Fed has loosened the rules that curtailed private investments in banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move may inject more cash into the financial system—if private equity chooses to invest—but will raise fears of profit-hungry investors snapping up stakes in banks to make quick cash with risky loans.
Blaine Dives Into Hanging Stunt
New York Daily News
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Sep 23, 2008 5:19 AM CDT
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Performance art magician David Blaine dove head first into his latest public show in New York yesterday, hanging upside-down over Central Park. The Brooklyn-born show off plans to hang for 60 hours, despite a doctor's warning that the increased blood pressure in his head could cause blindness, and even death in the event of a stroke or bleeding in...
Stocks Drop in Europe, Asia Amid Recession Fears
Bloomberg
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Sep 23, 2008 4:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks were down in Europe and Asia today amid fears of a global recession despite the massive government bailout being arranged in the US. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dipped for a second day, falling 1.8% in early trading, Bloomberg reports. Barclays fell 3.6% and Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd.dipped 4.5%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped...
Harry Potter Portal Is Possible: Experts
Nature
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Sep 23, 2008 4:24 AM CDT
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Harry Potter's invisibility cloak might be a real stretch, but scientists are now closer to making hidden portals like the one in an apparently solid wall that Harry uses to reach the train to Hogwarts, Nature reports. Objects made with so-called metamaterials—electrical devices that react oddly to light—can appear bigger than they are...
Kinky Lawyer Gets 15-to-Life in Horrific Dog Maul Death
San Francisco Chronicle
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Sep 23, 2008 3:57 AM CDT
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The owner of a dog who fatally mauled a neighbor as she watched has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murder, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . Lawyer Marjorie Knoller lost control of her vicious 140-pound dog, who attacked neighbor Diane Whipple in 2001 in the hallway of their San Francisco apartment building. Knoller "left...
McCain Camp Slams 'Biased' NY Times
Washington Post
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Sep 23, 2008 3:38 AM CDT
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The McCain camp launched another attack on the media yesterday, this time blasting the New York Times as "biased" for its report linking the campaign to lobbyists for Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae. A spokesman called the Times a "pro-Obama advocacy organization" after the paper revealed that campaign manager Rick Davis received...
Iran Prez: Pentagon Triggered Wall Street Mess
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 23, 2008 3:14 AM CDT
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American intervention abroad is the root cause of today's financial crisis, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the Los Angeles Times yesterday. "The US government has made a series of mistakes," he said. "The imposition on the US economy of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world are heavy costs. The world...
Sick Crime Scribe Rushed From OJ Trial
CNN
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Sep 23, 2008 2:53 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Vanity Fair crime writer Dominick Dunne was rushed to the hospital yesterday from the Las Vegas courtroom where OJ Simpson is on trial for armed robbery, reports CNN. Paramedics were called when the 82-year-old writer, who suffers from bladder cancer, told a colleague: "I am in a lot of pain." Dunne traveled to Las Vegas to cover the trial...
Time to Punish Someone for Economic Disaster
New York Times
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Sep 23, 2008 2:25 AM CDT
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Economists mostly agree that the financial situation is so dire that a bailout is needed, but many are skeptical about the one proposed. One of the biggest problems is the lack of punitive measures against the reckless, fat-salaried financial bosses who created the mess in the first place, experts tell the New York Times .
NBA Ref Starts Prison Term for Gambling
USA Today
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Sep 23, 2008 1:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The NBA referee who admitted gambling on basketball begins his 15-month federal prison sentence today, reports USA Today . The conviction of referee Tim Donaghy, 41, has rocked the NBA, even though officials determined he didn't bet on the specific games he worked. An NBA-sponsored investigation into gambling and referees is under way. ...
Quicker Therapy Just as Good for Breast Cancer
Reuters
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Sep 22, 2008 9:00 PM CDT
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Intensive, short-term radiation therapy battles breast cancer as well as the usual longer treatment, Canadian researchers said today. Their study of 1,200 women showed that after 12 years, 1 to 3 weeks of daily treatment kept cancer at bay slightly better than 5 to 7 weeks of the more common therapy, Reuters reports.
You 'Can't Afford Not to Own Gold'
TheStreet
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Sep 22, 2008 8:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Investors simply "must own gold" in financially shaky times like these, Jim Cramer said on his Mad Money TV show today—after gold spiked 16% in the last week and topped $900 an ounce. Cramer called gold a safe haven regardless of whether Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout plan works, Scott Rutt reports on TheStreet.com.
Americans Blame GOP for Economy by 2-to-1
CNN
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Sep 22, 2008 8:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Voters blame the GOP over Democrats for the Wall Street crisis by a 2-to-1 margin that may be boosting Barack Obama's overall numbers, a new poll says. Nearly half of Americans pinned blame on Republicans while only about a quarter held Democrats responsible. And Obama held a 10-point lead among voters looking for a president who can handle the economy,...
Hillary Didn't Really Want VP Slot: Bill
ABC News
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Sep 22, 2008 6:48 PM CDT
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Even as rumors continue to bounce around the Internet that Hillary Clinton could end up on the Democratic ticket, she never wanted to—and would only have accepted the VP slot out of a sense of duty, Bill Clinton said on The View today. “Not really, she didn’t,” Bill said when asked by Barbara Walters of his wife’s inclinations,...
How You Know It's a Crisis: Oprah Is Bailer-Out-in-Chief
Culture11
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Sep 22, 2008 6:17 PM CDT
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How the Wall Street meltdown will affect our day-to-day existence, per Culture11: Nation's emergency lender: Oprah. Living in sin now OK; sharing a sleeping bag in tent city is new social scourge. Cloning approved to allow for mass creation of Alan Greenspans. Hipsters downgrade their booze from PBR to ethanol.
Stevens Corruption Trial Begins
KTUU
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Sep 22, 2008 5:45 PM CDT
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Jury selection began today in the corruption trial of Ted Stevens, the first US senator in over 20 years to face a criminal trial, reports WTUU of Anchorage. The list of 200-plus possible witnesses at the Alaska Republican's trial, in federal court in Washington, DC, includes Colin Powell as well as Democrats Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, and Patrick...
Despite Rumors, Miley 'Fully Committed to Hannah '
People
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Sep 22, 2008 5:18 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Tweens can rest easy: Miley Cyrus says she remains devoted to alter ego Hannah Montana and her TV series. Gossip sites buzzed this weekend with reports that Miley and dad/co-star Billy Ray Cyrus had caused scenes on set and talked openly about leaving, but Disney reps dismissed the reports as empty rumors. Miley is “really upset by the gossip,”...
1958 Classic Still Rings True
The Atlantic
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Sep 22, 2008 4:58 PM CDT
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Pigskin was served up differently 50 years ago, and Atlantic scribe Marc Bowden learned just how differently by watching the 1958 New York Giants-Baltimore Colts classic with current Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid. “You can’t even do that today," Reid said of the Colts' first play. “You have to have some guys on the...
Metallica Tops List of Rock Hall Nominees
Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Sep 22, 2008 4:40 PM CDT
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The nominees for next year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction were announced today, with rockers Metallica and rappers Run-DMC nominated for the first time, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after their first recording is released; just five acts are admitted each year. A rundown of some of...
Panhandlers More Often Pros Than Cons
City Journal
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Sep 22, 2008 4:21 PM CDT
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Panhandling has turned professional, with determined and resourceful "spangers"—spare-change artists—overwhelming street corners throughout the country, some pulling in as much as $40,000 a year, Steven Malanga writes in City Journal . Beggars can even turn to the web for shakedown tips. If that seems like an unlikely destination,...
In Berkeley, Foodie Heaven Comes With Side of Fisticuffs
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 22, 2008 4:07 PM CDT
(Newser) -
No risk, no reward, right? That’s the mentality of those who brave critical, even violent, fellow shoppers and draconian rules to browse the famed produce section at Berkeley Bowl, the most popular grocery store in the colorful California college town. Cart fender-benders are frequent as shoppers bolt down packed aisles, and line-cutters have...
New Season Turns Heroes Into Victims
New York Times
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Sep 22, 2008 3:52 PM CDT
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Beginning their third season tonight, the scrappy band of young world-savers of NBC’s Heroes is just in time, Alessandra Stanley writes in the New York Times . The dangers they have to face, from a sinister conglomerate started by their parents to deadly viruses, make a convenient parallel to the complaints of Generation Y, who feel that they've...
Wall St. Disarray Leaves Mess for Nonprofits
Boston Globe
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Sep 22, 2008 3:39 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The victims of the Wall Street tsunami aren't all investment bankers and McMansion brokers. Kids with diabetes, residents of low-income housing, and fans of classical music are among those who could take a hit as nonprofits that depend on philanthropy from financial services firms absorb the fallout, the Boston Globe reports. Says the executive director...
Bailout, Oil Send Dow Down 372
MarketWatch
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Sep 22, 2008 3:26 PM CDT
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Stocks plummeted today as uncertainty over the cost and long-term impact of the Wall Street bailout plan spread and oil surged, MarketWatch reports. Treasuries and the dollar fell as traders worried the bailout’s cost could affect the government’s status as a borrower. The Dow closed down 372.75, at 11,015.69. The Nasdaq lost 94.92, closing...
SEC Chair Cox Fiddled as US Markets Burned
Bloomberg
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Sep 22, 2008 3:22 PM CDT
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With US markets in upheaval, the head of the watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission was preoccupied with a new technology for corporate filing, Bloomberg reports. Christopher Cox’s inaction has provoked bipartisan criticism: McCain adviser Carly Fiorina said he has been “asleep at the switch,” while Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd...
Knut's Surrogate Dad Dead at 44
Der Spiegel
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Sep 22, 2008 3:09 PM CDT
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Thomas Dörflein, the Berlin zookeeper who raised polar bear Knut after his mother rejected him, was found dead in his apartment today, Der Spiegel reports. He was 44. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play; Dörflein had been very sick. The keeper’s contact with Knut was cut off almost a year ago when the cub became too...
Let's Not Rush Into a 'Financial War of Choice'
Washington Post
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Sep 22, 2008 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In an instant, the Treasury’s bailout plan has gone “from invisibility to inevitability,” but it’s a dangerous scheme marketed under false pretenses, writes Sebastian Mallaby in the Washington Post . Whatever the administration says, this isn’t like the 1989 savings-and-loan cleanup, which set up an entity to sell off...
No Skirting the Issue: Politics Now Women's Game
Independent (UK)
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Sep 22, 2008 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) -
This election is all about women—and Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton can't take all the credit, Sarah Hughes writes in the Independent . The candidates are the most visible, but female commentators, comedians, and protesters have set the tone and are asking the difficult questions. "The good ol' boys are still there, hollering," says...
To Win Debates, Go for Snap Over Substance
Guardian (UK)
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Sep 22, 2008 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Better theater, not better substance, wins modern presidential debates, writes Michael Tomasky in the Guardian. Pundits will ordain a winner during the spin war that follows each clash—this year's first encounter is Friday—and “the candidate who wins the battle of the clips will be the 72-hour winner.” So the hopefuls must...
Oil Surges Record $25/Barrel
Associated Press
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Sep 22, 2008 2:23 PM CDT
(AP) -
Oil prices rocketed up more than $25 a barrel today, recording the biggest one-day price jump ever as anxiety over the government's $700 billion bailout plan, a weak dollar, and an expiring crude contract ignited a dramatic rally. Light, sweet crude for October delivery jumped as much as $25.45 to $130 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before...
Italy's National Airline Could Shut Down Within Week
ANSA (Italy)
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Sep 22, 2008 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Italy’s aviation authority is poised to ground Alitalia permanently if the bankrupt national carrier doesn’t present a credible reorganization plan by Thursday, ANSA reports. The airline is laden with debt and flying under a provisional license, one the aviation authority will revoke if it doesn’t get an acceptable proposal.
Missing: 5-Year-Old; 20 Inches Long, Big Nose
Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
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Sep 22, 2008 2:07 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Tae the anteater is on the run—again. Dozens of humans are searching for the 5-year-old, a resident of Tokyo's Sunshine International Aquarium who engineered a jailbreak Saturday by opening a sliding door, the Asahi Shimbun reports. Tae previously enjoyed a taste of freedom in 2005, when she skipped out of the aquarium for a day.
Tight Budgets Pinch Health Care Spending
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 22, 2008 1:54 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Yet another casualty of the recession could wind up being an irreplaceable one: Americans' health. Consumers are increasingly skipping doctor visits and skimping on prescription meds, the Wall Street Journal reports. "It's hard to get people to follow up when they're having to decide between the gas bill, the electric bill or deciding to come...
Lincoln Penny Gets a Redesign
CNN
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Sep 22, 2008 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The US Mint today unveiled four new designs that will adorn the back of the Lincoln penny next year to commemorate the bicentennial of Honest Abe’s birth, CNNMoney reports. The classic portrait of the 16th president will remain on the heads side. The reverse will depict scenes from Lincoln’s life, from his humble beginnings to service as...
Conservative Pundits Rail Against Bailout
National Review
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Sep 22, 2008 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Bush administration’s $700 billion financial bailout plan seems destined to make it through Congress, but even conservative pundits are bashing the desperate move: If a Democratic administration were proposing this plan, a Republican Congress would shoot it down, writes Newt Gingrich in the National Review. "Congress was designed...
'R' Word in Play in Pa.—and It's Not 'Recession'
Philadelphia Daily News
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Sep 22, 2008 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Joe Biden must have been shocked when he met Carolyn Bauer in a Philadelphia diner. Bauer told Biden she’d never vote for his running mate. “It’d be disgusting to get a man named Barack Obama as president,” she said. “No way!” Racism is a real factor in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Daily News reports, and though...
As Foreclosures Rise, Fraud Cases Balloon
MSNBC
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Sep 22, 2008 1:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Running parallel with spiking foreclosure rates, so-called “foreclosure rescue scams” have reached epic proportions, and many state and local agencies aren't equipped to fight back, MSNBC reports. Companies that promise to help floundering property owners keep their homes and avoid the stigma of foreclosure are instead milking them for...
Kim's Death Unlikely to Breed Chaos
International Herald Tribune
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Sep 22, 2008 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With Kim Jong Il conspicuously out of the public eye in recent months, some speculate that his death could shatter the North Korean government and precipitate humanitarian and possibly military crises. But the reality of succession, Philip Bowring writes in the International Herald Tribune , is likely to be far more orderly, and to unfold much more...
India's Effort to Boost Biofuel Encounters Growing Pains
Economist
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Sep 22, 2008 12:36 PM CDT
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Just months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land. But the biofuel crops take years longer to yield...
Line Between Public, Private Lost on Small-Town Palins
Washington Post
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Sep 22, 2008 12:23 PM CDT
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Todd and Sarah Palin’s small-town roots, and the everyone-knows-everyone nature of politics in Alaska, have led to some blurring of the lines between public and private in Todd Palin’s role in his wife’s administration, the Washington Post reports. After one supporter complained, Gov. Palin swiftly called him. “In Alaska,...
Salary Gender Gap May Be All in Your Head
Washington Post
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Sep 22, 2008 12:09 PM CDT
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Not only is the gender gap in pay persistent, it affects men as well as women. Men with traditional views on a woman's place in the world earn, on average, $12,000 more per year than men who believe in egalitarian business practices, the Washington Post reports. Traditionally minded women make the least of all, according to a new study.
Quindlen: Time to Get Serious, America
Newsweek
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Sep 22, 2008 11:56 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Voters must cut through the fog of spin and take their votes seriously, writes Anna Quindlen in Newsweek . Amid bickering over whose lipstick is on what pig, “Nothing being said has much to do with the future of this country.” A vote, Quindlen urges, is a promise to “look past cheap slogans and lazy alliances to try to find a way...
Hedge Funds in Panic on Volatility, Short-Selling Ban
New York Times
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Sep 22, 2008 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Hedge funds have been caught flatfooted as the stock market’s volatility and a ban on short selling has made it more difficult to predict swings, the New York Times reports. Many funds, which generally have flourished amid market turbulence, are reporting their worst year ever, fueling speculation that some of the highest rollers might not...
Egypt Hunts for Kidnapped Tourists
Associated Press
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Sep 22, 2008 11:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A group including 11 European tourists kidnapped Friday in Egypt has been taken across the southern border into neighboring Sudan, officials told the Associated Press today. The kidnappers have demanded as much as $15 million for the release of the German, Italian, and Romanian tourists and their Egyptian guides; Egypt's army is searching for the group.
Russian Warships Head to Venezuela for 'Training'
AFP
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Sep 22, 2008 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Russian warships left this morning for coordinated training exercises with the Venezuelan navy, the AFP reports. The group, consisting of a nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, anti-submarine ship, and supporting craft, were seen firing artillery on the open ocean in tests. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said the deployment was a “warning”...
Memoir: I Taught Dupre the Biz
New York Post
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Sep 22, 2008 11:14 AM CDT
(Newser) -
New York's self-proclaimed No. 1 escort recounts how she introduced Eliot Spitzer’s $4,300-an-hour call girl to the drug-fueled world of prostitution in an upcoming book, The Price . Natalie McLennan reveals, in an excerpt in the New York Post, how within months Ashley Dupre transformed from a “little lamb” hotel clerk to a hard-partying,...
After Meltdown, 'Safe Will Be the New Sexy': Cramer
New York
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Sep 22, 2008 11:06 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A new era has arrived on Wall Street, with the big investment firms falling, James Cramer writes in New York , and traditional banks with large deposit bases looking like the smartest option all along. “We’ll see a more chaste culture emerge from all of this, on Wall Street, and perhaps beyond,” he writes. “Caution will be...
