Newser Story Index from October, 2009
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.
Pay Czar Slashes Top Salaries at 7 Bailed-Out Firms
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 3:53 PM CDT
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President Obama’s pay czar will cut compensation for the 25 highest-paid employees at seven companies that took large amounts of government aid. The 175 executives will face salary reductions of 90%, but with other compensation elements added in, the total reductions average 50%. Ken Feinberg also will require the seven bailed-out firms to change...
Rattner: Why I Fired GM's Wagoner
Fortune Magazine
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Oct 21, 2009 3:33 PM CDT
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Barack Obama's former car czar says he had no choice but to fire GM's Rick Wagoner. "Everyone knew Detroit's reputation for insular, slow-moving cultures," Steven Rattner writes in an essay for Fortune . "Even by that low standard, I was shocked by the stunningly poor management that we found, particularly at GM, where we encountered,...
Gaultier Designing Collection for Target
Women's Wear Daily
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Oct 21, 2009 3:19 PM CDT
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Lovers of cheap chic, rejoice: Jean Paul Gaultier is designing a collection for Target that will hit stores March 7, reports Women’s Wear Daily . Gaultier is third in the chain’s Designer Collaborations series, following Alexander McQueen (collection inspiration: Leila Moss) and Anna Sui (collection inspiration: Gossip Girl ). This line...
Dow Falls 92, Ends Below 10,000
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 3:06 PM CDT
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Stocks tanked today in the final hour of trading after renowned analyst Dick Bove downgraded Wells Fargo to “sell.” The bank had posted $3.2 billion in third-quarter net income, but it also reported rising loan delinquencies. Home Depot, Merck, and Boeing all saw losses as the broader market pulled back. The Dow fell 92 points to close...
Airport Guard Arrested Over Obama Threats
Associated Press
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Oct 21, 2009 2:54 PM CDT
(AP) -
A private security guard at Newark Liberty International Airport has been arrested on charges of threatening President Obama before the president was to fly there. A Continental Airlines employee reported overhearing John Brek make threatening comments at an airport coffee cart yesterday afternoon. The 55-year-old security guard was arrested several...
Winehouse's New Boobs 'Are Great,' Dad Reports
People
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Oct 21, 2009 2:44 PM CDT
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It seems Joe Simpson isn’t the only celebrity dad who’ll talk openly about his daughter’s, uh, assets: Mitch Winehouse told a British talk show that daughter Amy’s “boobs are great” following a recent breast-enhancement surgery. "I shouldn't have said that should I? She looks absolutely fantastic," Mitch...
Dems: Let's Just Call 'Public Option' Medicare
The Hill
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Oct 21, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
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Some House Democrats think the public option would sound better if they renamed it “Medicare,” or maybe “Medicare Part E,” as in “Medicare for Everyone.” They think that rebranding could bridge the gap between liberals and centrists who oppose the plan. “People don’t know what a public option is,”...
Women Getting Shorter, Heavier
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 21, 2009 2:18 PM CDT
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Humans are still changing, and the female winners of the evolutionary crapshoot will be shorter and heavier down the line. A new study that tracked the motherly productivity of the slim-and-tall set alongside their squatter peers concludes that a lower center of gravity will win out in the end, and it offers a surprising prediction: By 2409, women...
Barbie Braces for Doll Wars
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 2:02 PM CDT
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Barbie remains the best-selling doll in the world, but she's in a dogfight. Mattel is banking on a new iteration—complete with 12 movable joints—called “Fashionista Barbie” to combat incursions from the likes of Spin Master's “Liv” dolls, and MGA’s “Moxie Girlz.” The Wall Street Journal checks...
Couples Who Share Chores Have More Sex
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 1:42 PM CDT
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More housework equals more sex, a new study shows, though watchers are split on why that is. Two answers quickly spring up: For one, active folks tend to pour their energy into all pursuits. “This group of go-getters seem to make sex a priority,” a researchers tells the Wall Street Journal . And then there’s the mushier reason:...
Rogue Anti-Palin Book Coming
Entertainment Weekly
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Oct 21, 2009 1:20 PM CDT
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Look out, Sarah Palin fans. If you’re not careful when you run out to buy Going Rogue: An American Life , the ex-governor’s memoir, you might accidentally grab Going Rouge: Sarah Palin, An American Nightmare . A Palin-bashing essay collection from the editors of The Nation has pilfered the name, cover design, and even release date (Nov....
Google Moves In on Online Music
TechCrunch
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Oct 21, 2009 1:13 PM CDT
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Google is getting into the online music business. TechCrunch has learned that the search giant will partner with iLike and LaLa to integrate clips into its search engine. An announcement is planned for October 28. Both companies allow streaming on first access, a 30-second clip thereafter, and the option to buy the song, which will be replicated in...
Why the Public Option's Still Alive
FiveThirtyEight
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Oct 21, 2009 12:57 PM CDT
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Reports of the public option’s demise look to have been exaggerated. Nate Silver breaks down what revived it at FiveThirtyEight.com: “The tireless, and occasionally tiresome,” advocacy from liberal bloggers and interest groups. The CBO thinks it will save money. The shift of focus from the Gang of Six (Bingaman,...
ESPN Analyst Has to Go Public After Affair Sours
New York Post
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Oct 21, 2009 12:45 PM CDT
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Another nasty public affair comes to light: ESPN analyst Steve Phillips, 46, had to go to the cops for protection after he broke it off with a 22-year-old production assistant at the network. The jilted woman responded with harassing letters and phone calls to the family and may have friended Phillips' son on Facebook through a pseudonym, the New...
You Betcha: Palin Won't Run
FiveThirtyEight
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Oct 21, 2009 12:38 PM CDT
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Tom Schaller is so sure that Sarah Palin won’t run in 2012, and wouldn’t be nominated if she did, that he’s made a bet on it with fellow FiveThirtyEight.com writer Nate Silver. Schaller’s argument, in a nutshell, is that short of winning the presidency or at least the nomination, Palin has little to gain—and she probably...
Dems, GOP Fight Over Medicare Rates
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
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A new health care-related bill is in the spotlight on Capitol Hill, as senators battle over a Democratic proposal to freeze Medicare rates for doctors at the current rate for 10 years—overriding a 21% cut scheduled for January. Democrats say the bill, which is backed by lobbyists from the AMA and AARP, will ensure doctors keep seeing seniors.
Tailgating: The New Picnic
NPR
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Oct 21, 2009 12:17 PM CDT
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The good old-fashioned picnic—a blanket, a thermos, the countryside—is a thing of the past. Its replacement: Tailgating, “jammed together, on asphalt, amid exhaust fumes and exhausting vulgarities,” writes Frank Deford for NPR. This new American tradition “crosses all ethnic, racial, and religious lines. You just have...
Maybe Sports Betting Can Save Newspapers
New York Times
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Oct 21, 2009 12:01 PM CDT
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With newspapers sinking deeper into trouble by the day, Maureen Dowd explores the idea of saving the day with a little vice. Specifically, allowing papers to rake in money by setting up online sports betting on their websites. Dowd herself isn't pushing it, but she has fun kicking it around in her New York Times column. “People are spending...
Need a Chicken Poncho? Hit Regretsy
New York
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Oct 21, 2009 11:55 AM CDT
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If you have a chicken in need of a trusty poncho, or should you find yourself dying for a 16-inch reusable menstrual pad, good news: You can buy either—or both—of those items on Etsy, the site where artists sell handmade items. If you aren’t looking for a chicken poncho but just need a way to kill some time, check out Regretsy instead—the...
Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest
Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
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Oct 21, 2009 11:35 AM CDT
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Stun gun maker Taser has issued an advisory to police departments suggesting cops not aim at a suspect’s chest because it poses an "extremely low" chance of triggering an "adverse cardiac event." The company insists its product is safe, but if something goes wrong, "it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer,...
It's Time to Stop Hating Creed
Slate
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Oct 21, 2009 11:29 AM CDT
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Creed is back—the once ubiquitous (and “ubiquitously loathed”) rock group is releasing a new album later this month and going on tour. But “if your impulse on hearing that it has reunited is to groan, stifle it long enough to locate a copy of Creed's 2004 Greatest Hits collection,” writes Jonah Weiner for Slate. “It's...
Obama, Dems Are Free Market Crusaders
Washington Post
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Oct 21, 2009 11:01 AM CDT
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The champions of the free market are on the march, but it's not who you think. It’s the Democrats who want to put health insurance on open exchanges where consumers can easily compare them, with a public option to inject competition into an “oligopolistic market,” points out Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post . The leading opponent...
John, Jen Back Together: Tab
OK!
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Oct 21, 2009 10:52 AM CDT
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Jennifer Aniston’s desire for a baby and/or a boyfriend always sells magazines—so why not both? OK! reports the unlucky-in-love Aniston is back together with ex John Mayer after months of hooking up—although the story also claims she snagged Mayer again by playing hard to get. As if that’s not enough great news right there,...
Lone AP Reporter Logs 300 Executions
New York Times
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Oct 21, 2009 10:22 AM CDT
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The fever pitch of executions in Texas since the 1980s has made the taking of a life at Huntsville’s prison almost de rigueur. Newsrooms that used to send a reporter every time an inmate was put to death now rely on the AP—and one AP writer in particular: Michael Graczyk. Texas says he has witnessed more deaths than any prison official;...
Pakistan Closes All Schools After Bombings
BBC
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Oct 21, 2009 10:10 AM CDT
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Pakistan closed all of its schools today, following the twin suicide attacks on the International Islamic University in Islamabad yesterday. Four were killed and another 18 wounded, and the Taliban has promised more bombings if Pakistan doesn’t halt its military offensive in South Waziristan’s tribal areas. Pakistan’s interior minister...
Heene's Motivation: 2012 Apocalypse
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 21, 2009 9:49 AM CDT
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Richard Heene’s totally sensible motivation for his balloon hoax: He “believes the world is going to end in 2012," explained a lawyer for one of Heene’s researchers, who police recently interviewed. "Because of that he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can...
Limbaugh Compares NYT Reporter to 'Jihad Guys'
Guardian (UK)
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Oct 21, 2009 9:43 AM CDT
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Rush Limbaugh really outdid himself yesterday, comparing New York Times environmental reporter Andy Revkin to a terrorist and urging him to commit suicide. Well, that’s not entirely fair. Actually, Limbaugh compared all “militant environmentalists” to “the jihad guys,” who, in Limbaugh’s telling, “convince...
Polanski May Take His Chances in US
New York Times
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Oct 21, 2009 9:36 AM CDT
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Roman Polanski, denied bail or house arrest in Switzerland, may try his luck in the United States after 31 years. “If this process drags on, it is not completely impossible that Roman Polanski could choose to go finally to explain himself in the United States where the arguments in his favor exist,” one of the filmmaker’s lawyers...
Mass. Man Busted on Terror Charges
Boston Globe
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Oct 21, 2009 9:25 AM CDT
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Federal authorities arrested a 27-year-old man just outside of Boston today, saying he planned to attack a shopping mall with automatic weapons. The man, Tariq Mehanna, had been out on bail following an arrest last year for allegedly lying about the whereabouts of a man trained by al-Qaeda to fight the Somali government. He’s facing charges of...
LiLo to Dad: Stop Lying!
Us Weekly
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Oct 21, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
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Lindsay Lohan has had it with her father is still riding her coattails to fame, most recently by threatening to stage an intervention and/or seek a conservatorship over her. “I'm so hurt that someone who calls himself my father needs to use the press to communicate with me,” Lohan tells Us. “It's so sad that he needs to stay in...
'Search Engine for Fun' Delivers Mixed Results
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 8:56 AM CDT
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A search engine for stuff to do is a great concept but Goby has plenty of kinks that still need to be worked out before it can be the go-to site for people with time to kill, writes Katherine Boehret. Users type in the "What, Where and When" of things they'd like to do or see and the site delivers hundreds of options gleaned from trawling...
Kate Answers Your Burning Questions
People
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Oct 21, 2009 8:40 AM CDT
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Move over, Meredith Vieira: TLC is giving its viewers the chance to ask Kate Gosselin whatever burning question they have about the reality TV mom and her brood, and they've submitted nearly 9,000 inquiries for Monday’s one-hour special, People reports. Sadly, the questions seem to be more “Will you ever get married again?” and...
Coal Harms the Planet —and Owns the Senate
Globe and Mail
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Oct 21, 2009 8:32 AM CDT
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As the world turns to Copenhagen this December, the US, which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, may once again fail to sign up to save the world from serious climate change. Ideology plays a part, Jeffrey Sachs notes, as many Republican senators are "intent on derailing any Obama initiative." But the bigger problem is economic: No fewer...
Jaycee: 'A Real Innocence in Her Eyes'
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 21, 2009 8:22 AM CDT
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Hello! magazine offers another glimpse at kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard as an adult, riding horseback and posing with mother Terry Probyn. Sources close to the family say Dugard is bonding with her mother and 19-year-old half-sister, and that Dugard’s two “smart, playful” daughters—who were always told she was their sister—now...
Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan
Washington Post
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Oct 21, 2009 8:17 AM CDT
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When it comes to the Afghan war, Barack Obama is between a rock and a hard place politically. Only 45% of the public approves of his handling of it, down 10 percentage points from last month, according to a new Washington Post -ABC News poll, and a whopping 63% don’t think he has a clear strategy. But voters are deeply divided over what Obama...
Prejean: Suit a 'Smear Campaign'
Radar
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Oct 21, 2009 8:08 AM CDT
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Thanks to the Miss California pageant’s lawsuit to reclaim the cash it spent on her boob job, Carrie Prejean is still talking. Through her lawyer, at least: He tells Radar the lawsuit is just the latest in an “ongoing smear campaign” and that the pageant is inventing “scurrilous accusations,” ending with the inevitable...
UN to Sack Half of Afghan Election Officials
BBC
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Oct 21, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
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The United Nations learned "quite a painful lesson" from the widespread fraud in Afghanistan's August election, and aims to rout out corrupt voting supervisors next time around, Ban Ki-Moon said yesterday. The UN secretary-general said more than half of the election officials should be removed before next month's runoff election "to...
Iran OKs Nuke Deal, Will Give Up Uranium
Associated Press
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Oct 21, 2009 7:43 AM CDT
(AP) -
Iran has agreed to a draft deal on its nuclear program, the UN's nuclear watchdog announced today. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran, the US, Russia, and France had agreed to the deal but gave no details. According to diplomats, however, the agreement would see the country ship out most of its enriched uranium to Russia, stripping...
Dubya's New Gig: Motivational Guru
Talking Points Memo
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Oct 21, 2009 7:41 AM CDT
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It sure ain't the G8: George W. Bush, nine months retired, is headlining a motivational speaking "mega show" in Fort Worth next week, which promises "more inspirational firepower than a stick of dynamite!" As the event's screaming website reveals, the former president is appearing alongside Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani, as...
Karzai Took Major Arm-Twisting to OK Runoff
New York Times
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Oct 21, 2009 7:24 AM CDT
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Hamid Karzai's concession yesterday that an election runoff was necessary may have brought Afghanistan back from political paralysis, but another ballot is no sure solution. The potential for fraud—more than a quarter of first round ballots were thrown out—has not abated, the New York Times notes. Today Abdullah Abdullah said he's prepared...
Beck: Progressives Are Like Slave Owners
Gawker
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Oct 21, 2009 7:11 AM CDT
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Glenn Beck’s latest metaphor: Progressives are like slave owners. He came up with this one last night while bemoaning the thousands of people in Detroit who lined up to apply for, as he called it, “free government money that we don’t know where it came from,” Gawker reports. He led off his report by explaining that progressives,...
Pelosi Fighting for Stronger Public Option
Politico
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Oct 21, 2009 7:07 AM CDT
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Nancy Pelosi is on a mission to pass the strongest public option on the table in the House—a plan that would pay doctors the same rates as Medicare—and she's close to having enough votes, she told fellow Dems last night. The plan would cost just $871 billion, according to preliminary estimates, putting it under President Obama’s $900...
Legalizing Pot May Be Women's Work
Washington Post
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Oct 21, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
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Good for AG Eric Holder for announcing that the Justice Department will let medical marijuana laws stand, writes Kathleen Parker—at last, the 14 states that give cannabis to the chronically ill won't face further raids by the feds. But it's not enough: 44% of Americans favor full legalization, and these days, writes the Washington Post...
Another NYC Anchor Swears On-Air
New York Daily News
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Oct 21, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
After one anchor's angry F-bomb and another's strange chicken-copulation metaphor, a third New York local newscaster accidentally slipped in some off-color language last night. WABC anchor Bill Ritter referred to Bernie Kerik, ex-head of the NYPD and briefly nominated to run the Homeland Security Department, as "former New York City...
Goldman Exec: Pay Inequality Is Good for All
Bloomberg
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Oct 21, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
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Believe it or not, lavish Goldman Sachs bonuses are good news for everybody, a company official told a discussion panel yesterday. The out-of-whack pay inequality will give the economy a kick in the pants, insisted the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. "We have to tolerate the inequality to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity...
Atheist Ads to Hit NYC Subways
CNN
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Oct 21, 2009 5:36 AM CDT
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Eight atheist organizations are the creators of a unique month-long ad campaign beginning next week in Manhattan subways that will challenge the belief in God. "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" the ads will ask on posters featuring blue sky and clouds. Because the city's subways host 5 million riders a day, the Big Apple...
White Wine Hurts the Choppers
BBC
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Oct 21, 2009 5:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
White wine is a lot worse for teeth than red, according to German researchers who studied human teeth soaked in various kinds of wine. The acid content of white wines like Reisling destroys enamel much faster than reds like Rioja, say the researchers. They recommend white wine fans drink while munching on cheese, which supplies calcium to counteract...
Paranoid 'Pseudocons' Hijacking Right
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 21, 2009 4:47 AM CDT
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The paranoid fringe of the American right has become mainstream to an extent unthinkable even when the John Birch Society was at its peak, writes Thomas Frank. Historian Richard Hofstadter's landmark 1965 The Paranoid Style in American Politics seems more relevant than ever, Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal. The difference now is that ...
Berlusconi Sexist Dig Sparks Fury
BBC
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Oct 21, 2009 4:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Silvio Berlusconi may soon have a lot more than corruption charges to worry about. Italian women—who stayed largely silent during his recent sex scandals—are joining a rising feminist backlash against the Italian leader after he made sexist remarks to a female politician on live TV. "You are more beautiful than intelligent," he...
Guardian Axes American Website After 2 Years
Guardian (UK)
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Oct 21, 2009 4:15 AM CDT
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Guardian News and Media, which lost $60.3 million last year, is shutting its US-centered website Guardian America after two years. The site will now redirect to the Guardian newspaper's American coverage. Guardian America's head will instead focus on international expansion for guardian.co.uk. "We took it down because it was confusing and few...
