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.
Dow Drops 67, Sinks Below 10,000, on IBM, BoA Reports
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 16, 2009 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks fell today as optimism about economic recovery waned in the face of disappointing earnings. Bank of American and General Electric’s financing division both posted quarterly losses. IBM, which reported strong profits but spooked investors with downbeat comments on the readiness of businesses to spend on technology, fell 5.2%, weighing down...
Security Expert: Time for Internet Passports
ZDNet
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Oct 16, 2009 3:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Internet has a big problem, argues one of the big names in online security—anonymity. With that weapon, cybercriminals will always have the advantage. And the best solution is to introduce "Internet passports," Russia's Eugene Kaspersky tells ZDNet in an interview. All countries would have to play along and buy into international...
Photo Doesn't Make Me a Slut: Meghan McCain
Daily Beast
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Oct 16, 2009 2:53 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Meghan McCain can’t believe the “immediate and nasty overreaction” to her post of a “funny and silly” self-portrait. She admits that posting a photo showing off her cleavage “is not the smartest thing I have ever done. But it’s just not worth the drama it caused”—and shows some ugly truths about...
Balloon Mess No Hoax: Sheriff
Associated Press
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Oct 16, 2009 2:38 PM CDT
(AP) -
The Larimer County, Colo., sheriff's office has no indication the Heene family was carrying out a hoax when the parents reported their 6-year-old son was in a helium balloon that floated away from their home and traveled more than 50 miles. "We believe at this time that it was a real event. Certainly people are free to speculate," Larimer...
White House-Fox Spat Now Involves ... Mao
Chicago Tribune
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Oct 16, 2009 2:23 PM CDT
(Newser) -
That was quick. The White House sent communications director Anita Dunn after Fox over the weekend, and now an old video has surfaced—much to the delight of Glenn Beck and others—in which she calls Mao one of her "favorite political philosophers." In a speech to high school students, Dunn draws laughs by lumping in Mao with another...
29-Year-Old SEC Honcho Came From Goldman
Bloomberg
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Oct 16, 2009 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The first person named to the new chief operating officer position in the SEC’s enforcement division is a 29-year-old whiz kid who previously worked at uber-connected Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reports. "Adam’s skill in technology systems, workflow process, and project management will greatly benefit the division," his new boss...
Balloon Boy Is What's Wrong With Cable News
Star-Ledger
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Oct 16, 2009 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The "balloon boy" non-story was just the latest example of how ridiculous cable news has become, writes Alan Sepinwall. With a war raging in Afghanistan, a jobless “recovery,” and a complex ongoing health care debate, the "news" networks spend hours on nothing at all. The problem is in the model: Producers have tons...
The Maid Cleans Up With Critics
Rotten Tomatoes
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Oct 16, 2009 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Sundance darling The Maid, directed by Sebastián Silva, is a Chilean black comedy focusing on a longtime employee’s struggles with her employers and a succession of new maids. Critics say it’s an absorbing character study with an impressive lead performance: “There’s more to Raquel and her world than appearances,...
Tsvangirai Boycotts Unity Government in Zimbabwe
New York Times
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Oct 16, 2009 1:25 PM CDT
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Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s party will boycott Cabinet meetings and cut off communication with president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, theoretically its partner in government. The move accompanies growing anger among members of Tsvangirai’s MDC over Mugabe’s strong-arm tactics and the jailing of a Cabinet minister-designate,...
County Will Fire Sick Employees for Working
Arizona Daily Star
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Oct 16, 2009 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In a desperate attempt to curb the spread of swine flu, Pima County, Ariz., has notified its employees that they could be canned if they come to work sick. Any employee with a fever over 100.4 accompanied by any other flu symptom will be sent packing. “It seems like we are being a bit draconian,” allowed a county official, but “we...
Wal-Mart Takes on Amazon in Book Price War
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 16, 2009 1:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Good news for readers, but maybe not for the publishing industry: Wal-Mart has launched an aggressive price war against Amazon. The retailer is slashing the online price of 10 big-buzz books to $9 each. The company initially cut the price to $10, then lowered it further after Amazon quickly matched the deal. The aim is for Walmart.com to become the...
Step Away From The Stepfather
Rotten Tomatoes
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Oct 16, 2009 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Most critics would rather curl up with some popcorn and watch the original 1987 version of The Stepfather than see the remake again. Most would also like to see all prints of the new release, which casts Dylan Walsh as the murderous title character, burned. Some reactions: One high point: "Amber Heard spends nearly all of her screen...
Taylor Swift: Finally, a Feel-Good Teen Idol
DoubleX
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Oct 16, 2009 12:37 PM CDT
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Nine-year-old girls can get thong underwear at Wal-Mart, and the hypersexualized antics of Miley et al. rule the headlines. So Hans Eisenbeis was understandably concerned when his ultrasheltered 11-year-old took a shine to Taylor Swift. “Is she too grown up for Phoebe?” he writes for DoubleX. “Is Swift teaching my daughter to define...
Air Force Pulls Video After Marines Complain
Military Times
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Oct 16, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
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The Air Force hastily pulled down its latest recruiting video yesterday in response to a complaint from a high-ranking Marine Corps official. In the video, an Air Force instructor boasts that his charges leave basic training “in better shape than most Marines.” Marines spotted it on the Air Force website and began e-mailing it to each other....
Mideast Peace Would Justify Obama's Nobel
Time
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Oct 16, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
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With his Nobel Prize, President Obama has once again been celebrated and rewarded for who he’s not (George W. Bush) and who he might be. Although Obama’s preferred foreign policy MO—patient diplomacy on many fronts—doesn’t “lend itself to high drama,” that's exactly what he needs to actually earn that prize,...
Brothel Goes 'Green' With Bike Discount
Independent (UK)
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Oct 16, 2009 12:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A Berlin brothel that offers a discount to patrons who arrive by bicycle or public transportation is touting itself as the first “green” sex stop. Clients simply present their helmet, bike lock, or bus ticket at the Maison d’Envie, which just happens to be in a district where the Green party won 46% of the vote in the last election,...
Plus-Size Models Hurt Self-Esteem, Too
New York
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Oct 16, 2009 11:46 AM CDT
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Never mind the hoopla surrounding Glamour ’s decision to grace its pages with plus-size models—looking at any model will damage an overweight woman’s self-esteem. Meanwhile, underweight women's self-esteem climbs no matter the size of the model they’re looking at, New York reports, citing a recent study. The researchers’...
To Cut Snowplow Bill, Moscow Monkeys With Weather
Moscow Times
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Oct 16, 2009 11:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Moscow's neighbors are steaming over a cost-cutting proposal by the mayor to make less snow fall in the city—which would mean more precipitation in the surrounding region. Liquid nitrogen, cement particles, and other substances kill clouds in the summer, and Yury Luzhkov wants to control the weather year-round, reports the Moscow Times . “What...
Dems Helped Shape Health Industry Ad Campaign
Politico
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Oct 16, 2009 11:19 AM CDT
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Aides to President Obama and Max Baucus met with a variety of lobbyists for corporate health care companies on April 15, to help form two industry coalitions and launch a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, Politico has learned. Though both sides insist no quid pro quo was laid out, some participants say they felt pressured to join the coalitions created...
US Pays $400 a Gallon for Gas in Afghanistan
The Hill
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Oct 16, 2009 11:06 AM CDT
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As debate over the Afghan war heats up, expect Congress to heavily quote a new statistic from the Pentagon: $400. That’s how much the US pays, on average, for every gallon of fuel put into its planes and combat vehicles in Afghanistan, military officials recently told the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. “It is a number that we...
Hedge Fund Founder Nabbed for Insider Trading
Business Insider
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Oct 16, 2009 11:03 AM CDT
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The founder of a $3 billion hedge fund and two other financial executives have been charged with insider trading, the Business Insider reports. Raj Rajaratnam, whose Galleon Group focuses on high tech stocks, was charged with conspiracy and fraud related to trades of Hilton and Google stock, among others. Execs from Intel Capital and McKinsey have...
Lingerie Football: Beyond Demeaning
DoubleX
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Oct 16, 2009 10:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Critics of the Lingerie Football League were vindicated when the highlight of the very first game was a quarterback getting her bra ripped off. “No doubt about it—the Lingerie Football League is demeaning to women, demeaning to football, and even demeaning to lingerie,” writes Greg Beato for DoubleX. But don’t write it off just...
GOPers Run 'Witch Hunt' for Muslim Spies
Salon
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Oct 16, 2009 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Four House Republicans are using a document reprinted in a fringe book on a supposed conspiracy to “Islamize America” to call for an investigation into Muslim “spies” in Congress—spies in the form of interns in congressional offices, that is. How “repugnant” and crazy, writes Glenn Greenwald for Salon. The...
NYC to Ban All Cabbie Phone Calls
New York Post
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Oct 16, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
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New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is cracking down on its drivers, proposing tough new rules today that ban the use of any electronic communication devices while on the job, hands-free included. "Every driver will be prohibited from even wearing a Bluetooth device on their ears and after three strikes will be out of our industry...
Beck Could Be 'Major' Factor in 2010 Vote
The Atlantic
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Oct 16, 2009 10:08 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Don't look now, but Glenn Beck could turn out to be a big factor in the 2010 elections, writes Marc Ambinder. Beck is cooking up some kind of voter mobilization project, which is a "tricky proposition" given that "conservative talk radio audiences—and Fox News viewers—tend to be registered voters and tend to have a pretty...
TLC Sues Jon for Yakking
TMZ
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Oct 16, 2009 9:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Thought Jon and Kate Gosselin would go away just because their show is ending? Oh no. TLC is suing Jon for breach of contract—specifically, for accepting money to appear on other shows. The suit also claims Gosselin’s reason for blocking Jon and Kate from filming had nothing to do with his kids’ well-being, and everything to do...
Judge Bans Talk of Anna Nicole's Lesbian Tryst
New York Daily News
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Oct 16, 2009 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Anyone hoping for steamy testimony of Anna Nicole Smith’s alleged lesbian affair with her shrink will be disappointed: The judge in Howard K. Stern’s hearing squelched that topic yesterday, saying, “I’m not going to turn this into some circus sideshow,” the New York Daily News reports. Prosecutors insisted the “evidence...
Wild Things Great ... for Adults
Rotten Tomatoes
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Oct 16, 2009 9:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are takes a 10-sentence children’s book and turns it into a full-length movie that’s not really for kids at all. But most critics liked it anyway. Here’s what they’re saying: “Parents and tykes expecting the next Shrek will be sorely disappointed if not a little freaked...
Holiday Fares Headed for Stratosphere
New York Times
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Oct 16, 2009 9:12 AM CDT
(Newser) -
If you haven’t booked your holiday airfare yet, stop reading this and do it. Unlike last year, when airlines dropped prices at the last minute to fill unusually empty planes, prices this fall are on a decidedly upward trajectory, the New York Times reports. Last week, overall Thanksgiving fares rose 6%, with the most popular itinerary—departing...
Obama's Foreign Policy Amateurish and Naive
Washington Post
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Oct 16, 2009 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama's Nobel prompted Charles Krauthammer to review the administration's foreign policy moves to date, and from Iran to Russia to China, he finds nothing but failure. "It is amateurishness, wrapped in naivete, inside credulity," he complains. "In short, the very stuff of Nobels." Obama gets credit for planting seeds,...
FDA Ignored Data on Risky MRI Dye
ProPublica
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Oct 16, 2009 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
In May 2006, Danish medical regulators came to GE with troubling findings. Twenty-five patients with weak kidneys had developed NSF, a rare and sometimes fatal disease, after undergoing MRIs, and all 25 had been injected with GE’s Omniscan dye. Since then, the GE dye, along with other so-called “contrast agents” has been tied to many...
Balloon Boy Throws Up on Today, GMA , as Dad Denies Hoax
MSNBC
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Oct 16, 2009 8:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Heene family made the morning show rounds today, denying that the “Balloon Boy” saga and search for assumed-missing son Falcon was a publicity stunt. “I went through such a rollercoaster of emotions yesterday, to have people say that, I think is extremely pathetic,” dad Richard told Good Morning America . Falcon, who suffers...
Leveling With Voters Could Revive GOP
New York Times
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Oct 16, 2009 8:22 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The economy might be in shambles, but Republicans are offering no alternative plan to ward off mounting American debt—insisting on yet more tax cuts and refusing to cut into bloated Medicare. David Brooks suggests they take a lesson from their British cousins, the Tories, who are poised to win next year's election on an austere platform of public...
Struggling Gap Heads for China
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 16, 2009 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
With its US business stagnating, Gap is hoping to find a few some new customers—1.3 billion of them. The largest American apparel company is opening its first store in China next year, alongside a new push in international online sales, reports the Wall Street Journal. After booming in the 1990s, Gap suffered heavy losses due to lackluster...
Critics Can't Abide Citizen
Rotten Tomatoes
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Oct 16, 2009 8:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Movie critics are nearly unanimous in their disgust with Law Abiding Citizen , a grisly revenge drama that's as much a moral failure as a cinematic one. The film is "an exercise in illogic and Death Wish cribbing," writes Peter Travers of Rolling Stone , featuring gratuitous gore and an "eye-rollingly stupid" climax....
Bank of America Loses $2.2B as Loans Sour
Associated Press
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Oct 16, 2009 8:02 AM CDT
(AP) -
Bank of America Corp. lost more $2.24 billion in the third quarter, the company announced today, as loan losses kept rising. Those losses amounted to nearly $10 billion, providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans, bringing its total reserves...
Pay Czar Blocks Salary for Ken Lewis
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 16, 2009 7:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama's pay czar has landed his biggest punch yet: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will forgo any pay this year and return $1 million he's already accepted. But don't start up a collection just yet: The reason Kenneth Feinberg made the request is because Lewis will receive about $70 million in retirement benefits when he steps down in...
Afghan Election Now Headed for Runoff
Washington Post
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Oct 16, 2009 7:16 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Hamid Karzai's share of the vote in Afghanistan's presidential election has reportedly fallen to about 47% after an investigation into fraudulent ballots—meaning that he will face Abdullah Abdullah in a runoff if the result is finalized today. One Afghan official called the development "stunning," and a Karzai ally conceded...
Was Balloon Boy Stunt a Hoax?
Sydney Morning Herald
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Oct 16, 2009 6:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
An apparent "slip" by Falcon Heene has fueled frenzied internet speculation that yesterday's balloon hoohah was a publicity stunt orchestrated by his family. When his dad asked him during a CNN interview with the family why the 6-year-old didn't come out of the attic when people were calling his name, Falcon responded: "You guys said...
GOP Pol Ripped Over 'Redneck Rap'
Associated Press
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Oct 16, 2009 6:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Kansas lawmaker Bill Otto brushed off accusations of racism after his "Redneck Rap" video was pulled from YouTube yesterday. The Republican sported a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat" in the video, in which he slams President Obama's policies and then repeats the hat's slogan, adding, "A little greasy, but hey."...
Obama Blasted for Letting GOP Hold Up Judges
Washington Post
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Oct 16, 2009 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) -
At this point in their first terms, Bill Clinton had had nine federal judges confirmed and George W Bush eight—but Barack Obama has got only three judges through, despite sending 23 names to the Democratic-controlled Senate. Part of the problem is Republican obstructionists who've threatened filibusters and used parliamentary techniques to hold...
Baby in Stroller Survives Train Collision
CBC (Canada)
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Oct 16, 2009 5:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Step aside, balloon boy. Today's endangered child in the news involves a baby in a stroller who somehow escapes with only minor injuries after rolling in front of a train. The video from Australia is quickly going viral. It shows the baby's mom losing track for a second as the stroller rolls down a platform toward the tracks. The train pushed the stroller...
4 American Troops Killed in Afghan Blast
Associated Press
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Oct 16, 2009 5:14 AM CDT
(AP) -
Four American service members were killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan yesterday. Two were killed instantly in the blast and two others suffered fatal injuries in the same explosion. Details of the attack, including its location, haven't been released. The deaths bring to 25 the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan this month.
New Pakistan Blast Kills 11
BBC
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Oct 16, 2009 4:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The string of deadly bombings in Pakistan continued today as 11 people died in a blast at a police station in Peshawar, the capital of the dangerous North West Frontier Province near the Afghan border. Two of the victims were children. The Taliban are being blamed for two weeks of unrelenting bloodshed in the northwest and in cities like Lahore which...
Jurors Used Bible to Decide Death Sentence
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 16, 2009 4:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Death-row foes are complaining that a Texas jury ordered to consider only evidence presented in court consulted the Old Testament before condemning a man to death. Jurors examined highlighted passages in Bibles passed around the jury room to help them decide the fate of Khristian Oliver. The con killed a man by shooting him in the face and beating...
Beck Weeps for 'Simpler America'
Huffington Post
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Oct 16, 2009 4:21 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Glenn Beck had a weepy "Kodak moment" when he shared old commercials with viewers yesterday and recalled a "simpler" America when "we used to be united." One of the oldie ads he played—a day after fellow right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh was bounced from a Rams buyers' group amid charges of racism—featured...
KISS Drummer Beats Breast Cancer
CNN
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Oct 16, 2009 4:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Peter Criss has been declared cancer-free and he feels like the luckiest Catman alive. Criss, a founding member of KISS, received treatment for a tumor in his breast before it could spread and got the all-clear with his latest mammogram. The 63-year-old survivor is now doing his best to raise awareness of male breast cancer during National Breast Cancer...
Set Your DVR: Tyra Airs First Televised Colonic
dlisted
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Oct 16, 2009 4:18 AM CDT
(Newser) -
You might want to start writing your thank-you notes to Tyra Banks now. The talk show host is doing what can only be classified as a public service by airing the first televised colonic on her show today, Dlisted reports. Not exactly sure what a colonic is? Well, let Tyra herself educate you, as she did so poetically in a promo for this afternoon’s...
Wasserstein's Death Triggers $188M Payout
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 16, 2009 4:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It'll take more than just death to stop legendary Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein making money. The Lazard chief's death on Wednesday triggered the vesting of $188 million in stock options, swelling a fortune recently estimated at $2.2 billion and cementing his status as one of the highest-paid bankers in history. Wasserstein was ranked...
US Pilot Missing After F-16s Collide
Associated Press
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Oct 16, 2009 4:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Coast Guard is searching off the coast of South Carolina for the pilot of an F-16 involved in a collision with another fighter jet last night during a training exercise. The other pilot involved managed to safely return to Shaw Air Force Base and is being examined by doctors. Pilots from the base have been conducting nighttime exercises this week...
