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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.

Hotel Bristols Abound World Over, but Nobody's Sure Why
Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 2008 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - From Panama to Paris to Poland, there are more than 200 hotels in the world called Bristol, and nobody's quite sure why, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some trace the name back to the traveling 17th-century Earl of Bristol, but a native of Bristol, England—itself bereft of a Hotel Bristol—has been probing the question for years without...
Innocence, Bravado Are a Dangerous Mix
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Sep 27, 2008 12:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain's choice of running mate invokes the one of our country's oldest and most seductive myths, the virtue of American innocence, Anthony Robinson writes in the Seattle P-I . Innocent of Old World wiles, Americans are thought to have "a combination of virtue, tenacity and practical knowledge that will allow them to prevail where others...
Malaria Fight Gets $3B Booster Shot
Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 2008 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - The global fight against malaria will get an unprecedented $3 billion push from a global alliance of nonprofits, financial institutions, and governments, the Wall Street Journal reports, with a focus on prolonging the effort beyond initial successes. The Global Malaria Action Plan aims for multibillion-dollar yearly funding through 2020, and hopes...
Market to Congress: Time's Up
New York Times | Sep 27, 2008 11:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Henry Paulson’s bailout plan isn’t perfect, writes Joe Nocera in the New York Times , but we have to enact it anyway because time has run out. “With every passing day, Congress is fiddling while Rome is burning,” says Nocera, just last week a bailout opponent. Lawmakers need an agreement Monday, he predicts, to avoid a Wall...
Battered Wachovia Shops for Buyers
Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 2008 11:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Wachovia is in a new round of talks with potential buyers, reports the Wall Street Journal, courting Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Spain’s Banco Santander to help guard it from the financial market crisis. While the bank says it’s not in immediate danger, shares at Wachovia, which holds a $120 billion mortgage portfolio, dropped 27% yesterday...
Pundits Rate Near-Tie Debate
Washington Post | Sep 27, 2008 11:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - One consensus is emerging about last night’s debate: It was close. Here’s how the pundits are calling the squeaker: “Barack Obama was running for prime minister” last night, while McCain was running for president, writes David Ignatius in the Washington Post. But neither was compelling, and neither responded well to...
Alitalia Gets Reprieve as Pilots Back Takeover Deal
Bloomberg | Sep 27, 2008 10:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alitalia, the bankrupt Italian air carrier on the brink of collapse, got a reprieve today when its pilots agreed to a government-backed takeover bid by a team of business executives, Bloomberg reports. Pilots’ unions joined ground staff in approving the plan, which calls for 3,000 job cuts and longer hours for the same pay. Flight attendants’...
Paul Newman Dead at 83
Associated Press | Sep 27, 2008 9:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning actor who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as Hud , Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money, has died after a long battle with cancer, the AP reports. He was 83. In May, Newman had dropped plans to direct a fall production of Of Mice and Men...
Lehman CEO's Art Collection Goes Up for Sale
Bloomberg | Sep 27, 2008 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - A $20-million collection of abstract expressionist drawings belonging to Lehman boss Richard Fuld and his wife is to be sold by Christie's, Bloomberg reports. Fuld's net worth has taken a whack with the collapse of Lehman stock; the sale, which includes 3 de Koonings, was anounced 4 days after the company declared bankruptcy. Kathy Fuld is a well-known...
Syria Car Bomb Kills 17
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 27, 2008 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - A car bomb on the road to Syria’s main airport killed at least 17 passers-by and injured 14 others, the Daily Telegraph reports. The car, at an intersection in the country’s capital, Damascus, had held 440 lbs of explosives; the target of the bomb, which exploded near a security checkpoint, the airport, and a temple popular among Shia...
In Love With the Pet-Sitter? You Dog!
MSNBC | Sep 27, 2008 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - It can lead to tearful separations, but cheating is natural—for quadrupeds, that is. It really is them, not you, a veterinarian tells MSNBC. Pets may gravitate toward a new owner for any number of reasons. “Hallie was my dog, but I always sensed her unhappiness at having to share my attention with other dogs,” says one owner. “With...
Disney's New Princess Could Grab Miley's Crown
Entertainment Weekly | Sep 27, 2008 8:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new star is rising through the Disney ranks and teen entertainment watchers think she could go all the way to the top, Entertainment Weekly reports. At 16, Demi Lovato already has a decade of showbiz experience under her belt and the Camp Rock star looks set to go take off with a debut album out soon and her own show airing next year.
New Compromise Close on Bailout Bill
Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 2008 7:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Washington is nearing a new compromise on a Wall Street bailout plan, the Wall Street Journal reports, this one aiming to reel in House Republicans who rebelled Thursday against the bill that had been hammered out by congressional negotiators. The new plan would incorporate the group's alternative model—using an insurance pool rather than tax...
UCLA Bags $100K Prize With Record-Breaking Prime Number
Los Angeles Times | Sep 27, 2008 7:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - A team of UCLA mathematicians has won one of  the math world's most coveted prizes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Their discovery of a 13-million-digit prime number—only the 46th such number ever found—scores them a $100,000 reward from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The organization is also offering $150,000 to anybody who...
Chinese Astronaut Takes Spacewalk
Associated Press | Sep 27, 2008 6:52 AM CDT
(AP) - A Chinese astronaut took the nation's first spacewalk today, floating outside the orbiter module's hatch for about 13 minutes. "Greetings to all the people of the nation and all the people of the world," he declared in a live broadcast on state TV, waving a Chinese flag.
Polls: Obama Wins Debate Pundits: No Game Changers
Talking Points Memo | Sep 27, 2008 6:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pundits saw a close debate last night, with both candidates holding their own, but early polling pointed to a win for Barack Obama. John McCain, often on the offensive, seemed to have the edge, but “there were no real game changers,” Greg Sargent writes on Talking Points Memo . A quick CNN poll found 51% of viewers believed Obama had performed...
Resurgent Russia Vows to Beef Up Military
New York Times | Sep 27, 2008 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Russia signed a $1 billion military loan deal with Venezuela yesterday while pledging to upgrade its own military, the New York Times reports. The country plans to ratchet its defense budget back up to Cold War levels next year and intends to have new warships built by 2020. President Dmitry Medvedev said the Georgia conflict exposed serious weaknesses,...
German Gamer Admits to Brutal Murder
Guardian (UK) | Sep 27, 2008 6:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - A German man has confessed to stabbing to death a Brit he met through an online war game, the Guardian reports. The 20-year-old victim ran a forum for fans of the game. Detectives had initially believed that the slaying stemmed from an online feud but it later emerged that the German had become obsessed with the victim's girlfriend.
Reusable Bags: A Tricky Shade of Green
Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 2008 5:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Reusable shopping bags are this year's “it” giveaway, but they may not be as green as their feel-good slogans—like “Save the world” and "I used to be a plastic bag"—claim. The problem is that old habits die hard—many people simply forget to reuse them, the Wall Street Journal reports. And that's...
Dude, Bummer: Discontent Swells Over Big Boards
Christian Science Monitor | Sep 27, 2008 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - As if surfers don't already have enough problems, novices are swarming their beaches to bogart the waves. Or that's what they'll tell you if you ask about the growing trend of stand-up paddle-boarding, or SUP. Quicker—and much bigger—than a longboard, the paddle board is like "a Mack Truck" afloat, one surfer tells the Christian...
Wall St., Wars, Iran Spark Prez Debate
Washington Post | Sep 26, 2008 8:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama kicked off the first presidential debate by blaming the Wall Street crisis on a  "failed" Republican policy of deregulation, the Washington Post reports. John McCain put blame on corporate greed and vowed to punish guilty executives. "Excess is rewarded," he said at the debate in Oxford, Miss. Facing questions...
Archbishop Blasts Plan to Sterilize Poor
Times-Picayune (New Orleans) | Sep 26, 2008 8:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Archbishop of New Orleans slammed a Louisiana lawmaker yesterday for a plan to sterilize the poor, the Times-Picayune reports. Archbishop Alfred Hughes called it "an egregious affront to those targeted and blatantly anti-life." State Rep. John Labruzzo floated the idea this week to fight poverty by paying men and women $1,000 each to...
Bailout Won't Boost Deficit
Wall Street Journal | Sep 26, 2008 7:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - The $700 billion bailout plan won’t have a big immediate impact on the US budget deficit, Phil Izzo explains in the Wall Street Journal , because the government would be buying assets that have an estimated value. That value will be knocked off the purchase cost. “The program does still have to be funded, and that likely means debt issuance...
Kennedy Suffers 'Mild Seizure'
Cape Cod Times | Sep 26, 2008 6:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Edward Kennedy was rushed to a hospital yesterday with a "mild seizure," his office said. But he returned to his Hyannis Port compound to watch the presidential debate after about 3 hours of treatment. A change in medication prompted the seizure, doctors said. The senator was diagnosed with a lethal form of brain tumor after suffering...
'Out of Her League' Palin Must Drop Out
National Review | Sep 26, 2008 6:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Her “cringe reflex exhausted,” Kathleen Parker calls for Sarah Palin to drop out of the presidential campaign in a National Review column. “Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League,”...
Execs Were Paid $3B to Lay Credit Crisis Foundation
Bloomberg | Sep 26, 2008 5:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - More than $3 billion was paid to the chief executives of the five biggest financial firms on Wall Street in the run-up to the credit crisis, Bloomberg reports. While supervising bad mortgage-related credit bets that eventually brought the financial system to its knees, Merrill Lynch’s Stanley O’Neal took in $172 million in 2003-07, while...
Diss Letterman at Your Peril
Gawker | Sep 26, 2008 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain is playing with fire if he thinks he can stand up David Letterman and get away with it. "The middle-of-the-road personalities who've dominated network television since its inception do retain one singular power," Gawker Media head honcho Nick Denton, writing for his flagship blog, warns the wayward candidate. "When they finally...
House Republicans Return to Bailout Negotiations
Washington Post | Sep 26, 2008 5:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - After a dramatic exit yesterday, House Republicans returned to talks today on the Wall Street bailout plan, the Washington Post reports. The White House expressed confidence and hoped aloud for a resolution by Monday. Yesterday’s White House meeting, with both candidates, was seen as a misstep. “The insertion of presidential politics...
Fear of Lefty Obama Gets Bill Behind Mac
Pajamas Media | Sep 26, 2008 4:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - If Bill Clinton seems to be sabotaging Barack Obama's campaign, it may not only be for Hillary's presumed 2012 run, but because he prefers John McCain, Roger Simon writes in Pajamas Media. Since "showing up" Obama with his convention speech, Clinton has been "lavishing praise" on McCain and defending his desire to delay tonight’s...
Narcissism Shows Through Online: Study
LiveScience | Sep 26, 2008 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - If you’re a narcissist, even the relative anonymity of the Internet can’t hide your true colors, LiveScience reports. A new study shows Facebook pages are an accurate predictor of personality, with narcissists having on average more friends and posts, and more considered photos of themselves. Authors gave some 130 Facebook users personality...
A Debate Drinking Game
Radar | Sep 26, 2008 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - With tonight's presidential debate a go, and happily coinciding with TGIF festivities, Neel Shah rolls out Radar ’s debate drinking game. Some highlights: Take a sip when: John McCain calls himself a maverick; Barack Obama rolls his eyes as McCain calls himself a maverick; McCain calls viewers his friends; Obama calls viewers his brothers....
Palin's Parents Pitched in Post-9/11—Trapping Rats
Associated Press | Sep 26, 2008 4:00 PM CDT
(AP) - More than 6 years before Sarah Palin visited ground zero as the Republican VP nominee, her parents were there as part of the response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—trapping rats. Chuck and Sally Heath have been part-time Department of Agriculture wildlife specialists for 15 years, trapping or killing animals in Alaska. In January 2002, they...
Up Day Still Means Down Week
MarketWatch | Sep 26, 2008 3:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks lost value for most of today’s session as progress slowed on the Wall Street bailout plan, but turned sharply higher in the last few trading hours, MarketWatch reports. Despite mixed gains today, all indices saw losses during a tumultuous week. The Dow gained 121.07 to 11,143.13. The Nasdaq lost 3.23, closing at 2,183.34, while the S&P...
Docs Tout Safer, Non-Embryonic Stem Cells
Boston Globe | Sep 26, 2008 3:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a safer way to turn adult cells into stem cells, the Boston Globe reports. The cells, similar to those harvested from embryos, are called induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells; Japanese researchers introduced the method 2 years ago. But the Japanese used retroviruses, which can cause cancer; the new research uses a different...
Newt 'Having a Ball' Bashing Bailout
Newsweek | Sep 26, 2008 3:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newt Gingrich is back, and once again, he’s giving grief to a president named Bush. Gingrich rose to prominence, you’ll recall, by raking the elder Bush over the coals over an oil tax proposal. Now, after a few years in the wilderness, he’s loudly calling for a conservative insurrection against Bush II’s bailout plan, and, in...
Nissan's New Safety System Uses Bee Logic
PC World | Sep 26, 2008 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nissan is set to unveil new collision-avoidance technology modeled on the behavior of bees, PC World reports, with a small robot car to demonstrate the system in Japan next week. The automakers’ engineers have developed laser range-finders that mimic the insects’ ability to adjust their path and avoid collisions by utilizing their 300-degree...
Ways Palin Can Sound Less Like a Robot
Slate | Sep 26, 2008 2:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Now that we've seen Sarah Palin interviewed on TV three times, it's clear she could use a little media coaching, Christopher Beam writes for Slate. To figure out how Palin can break out of her "constant low hum of mediocrity," Beam gets tips from media pros. Some highlights: Give details. Don't say the economy requires "a multifaceted...
JPMorgan Chief Had Long Drooled Over WaMu
Seattle Times | Sep 26, 2008 2:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - The failure of Washington Mutual was an opportunity for JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who long held a desire to buy the bank, the Seattle Times reports, and saw its large West Coast presence as particularly attractive. Now Dimon, who incorporated Bear Stearns earlier this year, has used the credit crisis to build the largest bank in the US.
'Borat' Crashes Fashion Show
ANSA (Italy) | Sep 26, 2008 2:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sacha Baron Cohen caused a scene at a Milan fashion show today when he got up on the catwalk and danced violently before being hauled off, ANSA reports. Cohen—stalking the Italian city’s fashion week as he works on a film in which he plays gay fashion reporter Bruno—was turned over to police but released later without charge.
Goldman Sachs Is DC's Top Sugar Daddy
ABC News | Sep 26, 2008 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Goldman Sachs has given Washington plenty of reasons to help it out—43 million reasons, to be precise. Goldman bankers have been the nation’s biggest campaign contributors this year, and have poured more than $43 million into lobbying and campaign war chests since 1989, ABC News reports. “They are almost in a class by themselves,”...
Oh, No: They Could Tie
Wall Street Journal | Sep 26, 2008 2:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s not inconceivable that the 2008 election could end in an electoral tie. OK, granted, the odds are roughly 99-1, but that 1% chance is enough to send politics geeks flocking to sites such as FiveThirtyEight.com, which conduct complex electoral simulations based on the latest polling, the Wall Street Journal reports. “If we had a tie,...
Young Jews Lobby Vital Fla. Voters: Nana and Bubbeh
Dallas Morning News | Sep 26, 2008 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - The 2008 election is so important that some Jewish kids may actually visit their grandparents voluntarily. That's the theory behind “The Great Schlep,” an initiative urging young Jews to fly to Florida over Columbus Day weekend and lobby their relatives for Barack Obama. The sponsor is a pro-Obama Jewish group, but more important, it has...
Nothing Divine in Lee's Miracle
Rotten Tomatoes | Sep 26, 2008 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Miracle at St. Anna strives to be inspiring and powerful and epic, but Spike Lee's latest isn’t any of those things, critics say. “Mostly it's just unfocused, sprawling and badly in need of editing,” writes Claudia Puig of USA Today. Full of odd tonal shifts, stereotyped characters, and clichéd dialogue, Miracle is “muddled...
'What We Need Are a Few Public Hangings'
National Review | Sep 26, 2008 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - The masses are agitated, and so is Congress. How dare Henry Paulson ask for so much money to bail out those greedy Wall Street evil-doers? The truth, writes Charles Krauthammer, is that Paulson is a lame duck doing his best to save the economy, and that the crisis was mostly caused by well-intentioned subprime lending. But heck, “if some really...
Revealing Radcliffe Carries Equus
New York Times | Sep 26, 2008 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Daniel Radcliffe takes on a “mothball-preserved, off-the-rack part” as a teenage stable boy who blinds horses in the Broadway debut of Equus , and “wears it like a tailor’s delight,” writes Ben Brantley of the New York Times . Radcliffe’s “beautifully understated” acting and his “luminously intense...
Lawmakers Seek $6.6B in Earmarks
USA Today | Sep 26, 2008 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite campaign rhetoric against earmarks, a hefty $6.6 billion will be set aside for lawmakers’ pet projects in a $630 billion spending bill nearing approval, USA Today reports. The amount is down 11% from last year. Of note: Though both presidential candidates didn't request any earmarks this year, Joe Biden requested 18 for a total of $51.5...
'Foxy Knoxy' Faces Old Flame
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 26, 2008 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Amanda Knox saw her one-time boyfriend in an Italian court today for the first time since they were arrested on suspicion of killing her British roommate, reports the Telegraph . The pair can’t write each other, but Raffaelo Sollecito sent the 21-year-old American flowers on her July birthday. They met at the trial for Rudy Guede, the third...
Flash! Here's What's New in Photo Gear
Wired | Sep 26, 2008 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - The biggest photography-gear expo on the globe, Photokina, got under way this week in Germany as manufacturers rolled out everything from state-of-the-art lenses to geotagging devices. Wired takes a look: Fuji’s FinePix Real 3D System incorporates dual lenses that capture separate images, then meshes them into a single 3-D file.
Buffett Gains Big Say on Nuclear Power
Wall Street Journal | Sep 26, 2008 12:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Warren Buffett’s $4.7 billion agreement to rescue Constellation Energy Group this week netted the billionaire investor more than just a utility. Buffett now will have a big say in the future of nuclear power in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. He has long been skeptical of the industry, arguing that the plants are too expensive to build....
Swallow the Anger and Pass a Bailout: Pearlstein
Washington Post | Sep 26, 2008 12:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - It's time to suck it up and pass a Wall Street bailout, Steven Pearlstein writes in a blunt piece in the Washington Post . "You're angry. I'm angry," he writes, about having to rescue a bunch of irresponsible high-fliers who put the financial system at risk. But the reality is, "You can try to prevent a financial meltdown or you can...
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