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.
Wall Street's Falling Stars Burn Hollywood
Time
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Sep 18, 2008 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
When Steven Spielberg is feeling a budget pinch, you know the financial crisis is bad. His hunt for financing on a new studio deal gets tougher with each day of bad news from Wall Street, Time reports. With credit as tough to come by in Hollywood as everywhere else, many studios are “making a conscious decision to slow it down,” one exec...
Fla. Protesters Attack Caylee Anthony's Grandparents
Orlando Sentinel
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Sep 18, 2008 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Florida police are looking for the protesters who provoked a violent confrontation last night outside the house of George and Cindy Anthony, grandparents to missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Protesters who suspect the Anthonys' daughter Casey in Caylee’s disappearance threw pennies at the house’s door and...
Toughest Hurdle Is Trust: Edwards
Detroit Free Press
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Sep 18, 2008 1:29 PM CDT
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Elizabeth Edwards is reentering the public eye with her attention fixed firmly on her three children and her health care advocacy, the Detroit Free Press reports, but can’t avoid questions about husband John’s extramarital affair. “There's a lot of adjustment to make,” she said in her first extended interview since the former...
Cheer Up! Total Financial Market Meltdown Isn't All Bad
Bloomberg
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Sep 18, 2008 1:15 PM CDT
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For a dedicated silver-lining hunter like Michael Lewis, there are plenty of upsides to the total collapse of the US financial system. “A lot of attractive office space seems to be opening up in midtown Manhattan, for instance,” he writes in Bloomberg. Here are five other reasons to celebrate: We get to see what’s inside...
McCain's Lies Cross the Line
Time
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Sep 18, 2008 12:59 PM CDT
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Politicians often stretch the truth, but John McCain has taken things to a new level, writes Joe Klein in Time. Journalists usually play softball when criticizing candidates’ falsehoods, but now even the restrained New York Times editorial board is calling McCain a liar. McCain’s campaign has been a “ceaseless assault” on...
Cat Killing Was Self-Defense: Ex-Ballplayer
New York Daily News
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Sep 18, 2008 12:46 PM CDT
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Joseph Petcka doesn’t deny he beat his girlfriend’s cat to death, but he says it was self-defense, the New York Daily News reports. The ex-Mets prospect and bit-part actor (one episode of Sex and the City ) says the 7-pound tabby tried to bite him. Prosecutors say Petcka screamed, “You love that cat more than me!” before...
Meet Vintners of Sideways Fame
Gourmet
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Sep 18, 2008 12:34 PM CDT
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If you’ve seen the movie Sideways , you likely remember the Hitching Post II: the Santa Barbara County restaurant where Paul Giamatti nervously meets his future love. But even the most dedicated oenophile may not know that Hitching Post owner Frank Ostini and colleague Gray Hartley have been making wine nearly 30 years, Gourmet reports, after...
McCain Disses Spain's PM, One Way or Another
Time
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Sep 18, 2008 12:25 PM CDT
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John McCain seemed to say Spain’s prime minister is an enemy of the US during an interview with a Spanish-language radio station this week, Time reports. Asked whether, if elected, he would meet with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, McCain answered, “I will establish closer relationships with our friends, and I will stand up...
Minneapolis Greets New Bridge
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Sep 18, 2008 12:09 PM CDT
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Festive honks awoke Minneapolis today as first responders to last year's bridge collapse led a procession over its newly-minted replacement. Drivers waved and passengers snapped photos as they rode over the 10-lane interstate at a creeping 10mph. Traffic was backed up for a mile after the bridge opened at 5am this morning, the Minneapolis Star Tribune...
Former Boston Mayor Collapses During Speech
Boston Globe
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Sep 18, 2008 12:05 PM CDT
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Former Boston mayor Ray Flynn, who’s been fighting skin cancer, collapsed during a speech last night and remains hospitalized, the Globe reports. He is in fair condition. “He hasn’t been feeling well in a long time,” his son said, adding that Flynn, 69, is also grieving the death last month of a younger brother. “He’s...
R. Kelly Swears Off Illegal Girls ... But 19? Heck, Yeah!
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 11:58 AM CDT
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In his first interview since beating child pornography charges in June, R&B star R. Kelly said, “I don't like anyone illegal.” But when asked if he liked teenage girls, the AP reports Kelly, 40, told BET: “When you say teenage … how old are we talkin' … 19? I have some 19-year-old friends.”
Dig Unearths 10th-Century Viking Shield
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 11:55 AM CDT
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Archaeologists say they have found a remarkably intact Viking shield that is at least 1,000 years old, the AP reports. The 10th-century artifact, the first such find in Denmark, was buried in moist soil "ideal to preserve the wood," says an excavator. The 32-inch wooden shield was discovered during a dig near Viking-era castles 60 miles west...
Ignored Campaign Press Corps Gets Lonely
Politico
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Sep 18, 2008 11:52 AM CDT
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Technology and stricter press discipline have shut out campaign reporters, whose narratives traditionally formed Americans’ impressions of the candidates, Politico reports. John McCain hasn’t spoken to the press corps aboard Straight Talk Air in 5 weeks, and Barack Obama will only chat with on-the-plane reporters off the record—yet...
SATC Author Plans Carrie Prequel
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 11:30 AM CDT
(AP) -
Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell is writing a pair of teen novels, The Carrie Diaries , that "takes readers back to Carrie Bradshaw's formative years in high school, giving an inside look at Carrie's friendships, romances, and how she realized her dream of becoming a writer," publisher HarperCollins announced yesterday.
Financial Flip Reveals Yet Another McCain
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 11:18 AM CDT
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John McCain tried on yet another new personality Tuesday, ranting about “abuses on Wall Street” and promising to “put an end to the greed” with new regulations. Yes, he was suddenly an angry populist, not the guy who’d favored deregulation his entire career, Gail Collins observes in the New York Times , adding, “really,...
LiLo Launches Branding Company
Women's Wear Daily
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Sep 18, 2008 11:16 AM CDT
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In yet another attempt at reinvention, 22-year-old Lindsay Lohan has launched a brand development company that will hawk her merchandising ideas, Women’s Wear Daily reports. Expensive leggings are en route to boutiques this fall, but the company, called 6126, also plans to develop a cheaper spandex line, natural self-tanners, and other moderately...
Police-Officer Hit Men for Mob Heading for Jail
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 11:00 AM CDT
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A pair of retired New York City detectives who led double lives as mob hit men, helping commit at least 8 murders, had their convictions for racketeering conspiracy reinstated by a federal appeals court yesterday. A judge had initially reversed the convictions, despite "overwhelming evidence" of "the most despicable crimes of violence...
Even Money Market Funds Are Risky
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 10:49 AM CDT
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As one safe haven after another disappears—from money market funds to stock investments—financial advisers are telling consumers to take a more active role in their planning, reports the New York Times . But first, do your homework and understand what you’re investing in, experts say.
Congress Watches Uneasily as Fed, Treasury Move Boldly
Washington Post
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Sep 18, 2008 10:47 AM CDT
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Like sports fans second-guessing officials’ calls, lawmakers are watching uneasily from the sidelines as Treasury and Federal Reserve officials pledge billions of taxpayer dollars to fight Wall Street’s meltdown, the Washington Post reports. And, while many in both parties have been convinced the moves were appropriate, they’re...
Bush: I'm Working on Economy
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 10:35 AM CDT
(AP) -
President Bush said today that he shares Americans' concerns about the turmoil in the financial markets, and promised that the government will act aggressively. "The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets," he said. Bush canceled his fundraisers for the day to focus on what is...
Motown Great Norman Whitfield Dies
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 18, 2008 10:24 AM CDT
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Norman Whitfield, the visionary producer who helped shape the Motown era, has died at 67 from diabetes complications, the Los Angeles Times reports . Whitfield produced most of the Temptations’ recordings, and co-wrote dozens of Motown standouts, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” It was Whitfield...
Hey Dummy, Think Before You Post That Pic
PC World
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Sep 18, 2008 10:18 AM CDT
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A picture may have been worth a thousand words before Facebook and YouTube came along, but in the Internet age the price can be much steeper for going public with one’s—er—privates. PC World presents 12 online photos that cost their owners dearly: “A defense attorney’s worse nightmare”: Two weeks after causing...
Goodbye Cheap Money, Hello Recession
Washington Post
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Sep 18, 2008 10:06 AM CDT
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On paper, the losses from the credit crisis are probably "the greatest destruction of financial wealth that the world has ever seen," writes Steven Pearlstein. But the trillions that have disappeared aren't the biggest casualty of the last year. Rather, says the Washington Post columnist, we are undergoing a fundamental recalibration about...
Microsoft Yanks Crazy Seinfeld Ads
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 9:56 AM CDT
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Microsoft has axed the cryptic Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates ads that left some viewers "scratching their heads," Michelle Quinn writes in the Los Angeles Times . Though a Microsoft spokesman claims it was the plan all along to stop here, the blogosphere is abuzz about Microsoft's "strained effort" to seem "cool and in touch...
Auto Giants Press Congress for $25B Loan
Detroit Free Press
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Sep 18, 2008 9:43 AM CDT
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The CEOs of US auto giants seem to have convinced some in Congress they, too, need billions in federal loans, the Detroit Free Press reports, though it’s uncertain if they’ll get the $25 billion they’re asking for. High oil and commodity prices and tightened credit threaten jobs in an already ailing industry, the heads of General...
Yankee Fans Run Home With Stadium Steals
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 9:17 AM CDT
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The final few games at Yankee Stadium promise to be a battle of wits between sticky-fingered fans and New York's finest, AP reports. The House That Ruth Built shuts forever soon and at least a dozen fans have been busted trying to take a piece of it home. Seats have been unscrewed and one fan managed to smuggle out a toilet seat. The Yanks move into...
Obama Hopes to Find Southern Comfort in Va.
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 9:07 AM CDT
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Barack Obama is seeking to become the first Democrat to win Virginia since LBJ in 1964. He's got a good shot, writes the New York Times : demographic changes favor his party, and Virginia has now elected two Democratic governors and a senator. But John McCain has the support of several key constituencies, and the critical race is neck-and-neck.
Stocks Jump at Bell on Central Bank Cash
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 18, 2008 9:05 AM CDT
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Stocks surged at the opening bell this morning, as traders registered approval of the central banks’ move to inject $360 billion into global money markets. The Dow jumped 118 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq rose 1.6% and 2% respectively. “These joint interventions are welcomed by the market, showing the Fed is trying to solve the logjam,”...
Riot Police Move In on Parisian Gang War
Guardian (UK)
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Sep 18, 2008 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
French riot police have been deployed to contain a gang war in the northeast of Paris, as fighting between youths from two rival housing projects has left several bystanders dead, reports the Guardian . Unlike earlier violence in France, this battle is taking place not in suburban ghettos but in the capital, where locals complain that they're being...
Israel's 'Mrs Clean' Has Quite a Mess to Tackle
Jerusalem Post (Israel)
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Sep 18, 2008 8:39 AM CDT
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When she cast her ballot yesterday, Tzipi Livni took a page from Barack Obama and told the Israeli media that party members should "bring about change by voting for what you believe in." Now, writes an analyst in the Jerusalem Post , Israel's prime minister-designate has a tough job: not only to bring peace to the Middle East, but to reform...
DEA Nabs 175 Mexican Drug Cartel Suspects
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 18, 2008 8:31 AM CDT
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US officials arrested 175 suspected Mexican drug traffickers this week in raids in a dozen states, the LA Times reports. Prosecutors believe the suspects are part of the violent Gulf cartel, considered to be a driving force in Mexico’s escalating drug wars. The raids were part of a 15-month DEA investigation that has netted 507 arrests and...
Obama Back on Top in 2 National Polls
CBS News
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Sep 18, 2008 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
John McCain’s post-convention bounce seems to be fading a bit, as Barack Obama reclaims the lead in several polls. A new CBS/ New York Times poll shows the Democrat up 48%-43% as independents have swung back his way. Also benefiting Obama are concerns about Sarah Palin, whose favorable ratings have fallen off as voters worry about her readiness....
7 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq Copter Crash
Associated Press
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Sep 18, 2008 8:04 AM CDT
(AP) -
Seven US soldiers were killed in southern Iraq today when their helicopter crashed, the AP reports. "At this time we are uncertain of the cause, but hostile fire has been ruled out," a military spokesman said. The crash occurred shortly after midnight in a desert under British military control, as a four-helicopter convoy was heading from...
Yemen Arrests 30 in Embassy Attack
Reuters
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Sep 18, 2008 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Yemeni police today rounded up 30 people, all suspected of links to al-Qaeda, in response to yesterday's attack on the US embassy that killed 16. The US has pledged to send agents to help local authorities "investigate whether the suspects are linked" to the attack, a security source tells Reuters.
Pitt Donates $100K to Fight for Gay Marriage
E! Online
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Sep 18, 2008 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Brad Pitt has become the biggest celebrity ally in the fight to uphold California’s gay marriage law, with a $100,000 donation toward the cause. The law allowing gays to marry could be repealed in November, when Californians vote on the fiercely contested Proposition 8. Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie have vowed not to marry until all Americans...
Crisis 'Going to Last a Lot Longer'
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 18, 2008 7:19 AM CDT
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The “worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” is spiraling downward and we may not have hit bottom yet, reports the Wall Street Journal in a look at how the subprime contagion has spread beyond its banking hosts, infiltrating sectors previously thought to be immune. “I think it’s going to last a lot longer than perhaps...
WaMu Gets OK to Raise Capital as It Seeks Sale
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 18, 2008 7:00 AM CDT
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Washington Mutual is attempting to raise capital or sell itself, the Wall Street Journal reports, and it got a big boost in that effort yesterday from TPG. The private equity firm, which sunk $7 billion into WaMu in April, waived a clause that would have effectively prevented the thrift from issuing new stock. WaMu has instructed its adviser, Goldman...
Study Backs Virtual Colonoscopy
USA Today
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Sep 18, 2008 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A new study has found a virtual colonoscopy to be almost as effective as a conventional invasive procedure in detecting colon cancer, USA Today reports. Virtual colonoscopies, using scans and computer imaging, discovered 90% of the cancers located by regular colonoscopies, in which a scope is physically passed through the colon, according to the...
Poll: Obama, McCain Tied in 5 Key States
CNN
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Sep 18, 2008 6:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The race for the White House is in a dead heat in some vital swing states, according to a new CNN poll. The poll found John McCain and Barack Obama effectively tied in Florida and Ohio while in North Carolina, Indiana, and Wisconsin—where both contenders are pouring resources—neither candidate has a clear advantage. Obama, meanwhile, has...
World Markets Mixed: 'Fasten Your Seatbelts'
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 5:34 AM CDT
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A huge cash injection into global money markets by central banks and the buyout of British lender HBOS by Lloyds-TSB eased some investor worries and pushed European stocks slightly higher today, reports the New York Times . But concerns about the ongoing crisis in the US continued to batter Asian stocks and prompted Russian exchanges to suspend trading...
NY Teen Killed in Yemen Attack: Family
Newsday
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Sep 18, 2008 4:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A newlywed American teen was among the victims of the US embassy attack in Yemen yesterday, Newsday reports. Susan Elbaneh,18, had gone to Yemen last month to marry and was at the embassy to fill out paperwork for her husband, according to her family. Her brother is in Yemeni custody for plotting terror attacks, but her family stressed that Susan...
Central Banks Throw $360B Lifeline
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 4:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Fed has joined forces with central banks in Europe, Japan and Canada to pump more dollars into the global financial system in a bid to fend off economic catastrophe, Bloomberg reports. The funds—$180 billion from the Federal Reserve and nearly as much from the other banks—are being made available for auction to global money markets...
Yemeni Attackers Aimed to Slaughter US Diplomats
Time
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Sep 18, 2008 4:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Islamic militants who attacked the US embassy in Yemen yesterday planned to massacre all the Americans in the compound, a security source tells Time . The attackers intended to pass a checkpoint disguised as guards and then blow up the gate with a vehicle, clearing the way for a second carload to enter and kill US workers inside.
Ike Pounded Fragile Ecosystems
Dallas Morning News
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Sep 18, 2008 3:43 AM CDT
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Hurricane Ike caused massive damage to fragile coastal ecosystems already clobbered by development, the Dallas Morning News reports. Damage to wetlands vital to a vast range of life could take a generation to heal, scientists warn. As with Hurricane Katrina, human development had already destroyed marshes and other natural defenses, making the storm...
Bailouts Blast Fed Into Uncharted Territory
New York Times
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Sep 18, 2008 3:18 AM CDT
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The Fed's mammoth bailout of financial firms is unprecedented in the history of the central bank, which now must play new and contradictory roles, the New York Times reports. The Fed has often been called the nation's lender of last resort—but the acquisition of AIG and holding of Bear Stears securities now also make it the investor of last...
Hurricanes Smoke Cuban Cigar Biz
Miami Herald
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Sep 18, 2008 2:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Back-to-back blows from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike have the Cuban tobacco industry reeling, reports the Miami Herald . Hurricane Ike alone destroyed half of this year's tobacco plants, more than 3,000 tobacco-drying barns and nearly 9,000 homes for workers. The destruction occurred just days after Gustav had already wreaked havoc on a similar scale....
Uganda Threatens Ban on Miniskirts
BBC
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Sep 18, 2008 2:29 AM CDT
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The Uganda government is considering a ban on miniskirts because the sight of a shapely thigh is causing traffic accidents, according to officials. The minister for ethics and integrity is pushing to make wearing a short skirt an act of public indecency. Other vices he has targeted include sub-standard service, homosexuality, infidelity—and...
Gates Tops Rich List With $57B
Forbes
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Sep 18, 2008 2:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Microsoft founder Bill Gates leads the latest Forbes list of America's richest people with a fortune estimated to be $57 billion. It's the 15th year in a row that the visionary behind the computer revolution has topped the ratings. But the rich are not getting richer, Forbes reveals. Several fortunes have dwindled significantly. But don't squirt...
Raunchy Trailers Coming to Theater Near You
Slate
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Sep 17, 2008 9:23 PM CDT
(Newser) -
If you weren’t sure what to expect from Zack and Miri Make a Porno , the movie’s R-rated preview makes it quite explicit, Josh Levin notes in Slate—and it’s just the latest of a growing number of films to market itself with such so-called red-band trailers. Thirty age-restricted previews have been approved already this year,...
Advertisers Go for the Nose
Salon
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Sep 17, 2008 8:51 PM CDT
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If you think scented advertising begins and ends with old-school scratch-and-sniff ads, brace yourself, and your nose, for a coming assault. It's sort of a double-whammy in the advertising world, Salon reports: Marketers are learning more every day about how smells hold sway over our emotions, and chemists can synthesize just about anything. "Scent...
