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.
Ares Test Rocket Blasts Off
CNN
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Oct 28, 2009 10:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
NASA’s Ares I-X test rocket finally blasted off this morning, after several delays and a storm-foiled first attempt. The $445 million rocket is the first of its kind, and NASA hopes it’ll eventually replace the space shuttle and take astronauts to the moon. Originally it was supposed to lift off at 8 am, but engineers had to check for damage...
Tell-All Unravels Brangelina Fairytale
Us Weekly
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Oct 28, 2009 10:14 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Ian Halperin is at it again. The investigative journalist who has released sordid books about Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and Celine Dion, among others, is adding Hollywood's power couple to the list. Brangelina Exposed , out Dec. 1, will reveal the reality behind the "glamorous fairytale" the public has been manipulated into believing—as...
Suit Wants Pharmacies to Bust Drug Abusers
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 28, 2009 10:05 AM CDT
(Newser) -
When a driver, high on painkillers, ran her car into two guys fixing a flat tire on the side of the highway, killing one of them, the victims' families filed a lawsuit—against the pharmacies that sold the painkillers. That case, pending before the Nevada Supreme Court, will be the first to address whether pharmacies, which now have access to...
Miley Cyrus: 2009's Worst Celebrity Influence
Just So You Know
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Oct 28, 2009 9:58 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Even her fellow teens and tweens are sick of Miley Cyrus' slanty-eyed pictures and pole dancing hijinks. The Disney starlet was voted Worst Celeb Influence of 2009, winning out over drunk-driving Shia LaBeouf, racy-photo-posing Vanessa Hudgens, Taylor-Swift-interrupting Kanye West, and the self-explanatory Britney Spears. Cyrus got an impressive 42%...
Soros to Spend $50M to Reinvent Economics
Financial Times (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
George Soros has decided to spend $50 million to launch a new think tank charged with reinventing the field of economics, which the Hungarian-American billionaire calls "a dogma whose time has passed." The Institute of New Economic Thinking, whose board members include luminaries such as Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs, will analyze the...
Clinton Backs Pakistan as Bomb Toll Hits 90
Associated Press
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Oct 28, 2009 9:34 AM CDT
(AP) -
Offering sympathy for victims of today's terrorist bombing, Hillary Clinton praised Pakistan's offensive against extremists and pledged US support at a critical point in the country's history. "Pakistan is in the midst of a struggle against tenacious and brutal extremist groups who kill innocent people and terrorize communities," the secretary...
Pop: Lilo Could Be Dead in Year
Daily Mail (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 9:22 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Michael Lohan just refuses to budge from the D-list spotlight. His latest bout of look-at-me-I'm-Lindsay's-dad verbal diarrhea, courtesy of the Daily Mail : Lindsay could be "dead in a year," he tells Grazia . "I fear the worst. Look at Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger—who was a close friend of hers. It could be a year,...
Aussie Swimmers Warned of 20-Foot Shark
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Australian authorities are warning people to stay out of the water around Stradbroke Island near Brisbane unless they want to risk meeting a great white shark big enough to bite another great white nearly in half. Experts who examined the remains of the other shark believe its rival must be around 20 feet long, judging from the huge size of the bites....
Ford Looks to Sell Volvo to China
Bloomberg
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Oct 28, 2009 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Ford put its Volvo unit up for sale last December, and it's narrowed the possible buyers to just one bidder: a Chinese consortium led by Geely, the country's largest private automaker. Geely first approached Ford about the purchase in summer 2008 and is prepared to pay about $2 billion, less than a third of the price Ford paid a decade ago. The company...
Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma
New York Times
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Oct 28, 2009 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Economists are none too impressed with Barack Obama's proposal to send each senior a cool $250, and David Leonhardt can see why. The over-65 set has weathered the recession better than anyone—many of them purchased real estate well before the housing bubble burst, and few work in the most-battered industries, like construction—which makes...
Soccer Stars Told to Quit Spitting
Guardian (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
British health officials are scolding Premier League footballers for spitting on the pitch. With swine flu outbreaks already confirmed at Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, the HPA fears players' rampant habit of spitting could spread the disease. “It's unhygienic and unhealthy,” says an HPA spokesman. “Footballers, like the rest...
Gosselin Renews Nursing License
Radar
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Oct 28, 2009 8:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Just in case this whole "being famous for reproducing" thing doesn't work out, Kate Gosselin is keeping her options open: The Jon and Kate Plus 8 star, rumored future talk show host, and aspiring actress went back to her roots and renewed her nursing license, Radar reports. For a mere $45, her back-up career will remain a possibility...
Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches
Politico
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Oct 28, 2009 8:14 AM CDT
(Newser) -
To get the 60 votes he needs just to bring his health care bill to the floor of the Senate, Harry Reid is going to have to rein in some of his caucus' members. Politico surveys the majority leader's biggest challenges. Joe Lieberman, Conn. The independent said yesterday he'll join a GOP filibuster if the bill's not changed. He's no fan of either...
Swayze Widow: I'll See Him Again
People
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Oct 28, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Just six weeks after losing her husband, Lisa Niemi spoke publicly for the first time about Patrick Swayze's death at yesterday's Women's Conference in California. "I am so grateful for what I had and my connection to him, and part of me believes that I will see him again," she said, "and I'm just going to have to go on until then."...
Bomb Kills 80 as Clinton Arrives in Pakistan
Associated Press
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Oct 28, 2009 7:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
At least 80 people were killed today when a bomb ripped through a busy market in Peshawar, hours after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the country to show American support for its campaign against Islamist militants. Clinton, on her first official visit to the country as secretary of state, was three hours away in Islamabad at the time...
Obama Emerges From White (Frat) House
New York Times
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Oct 28, 2009 7:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Turns out Tom Friedman played golf with President Obama last month—and fellow New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd isn't ashamed to admit she felt "a twinge of envy." Dowd's happy that Obama finally invited a woman to join him on the links this weekend, after catching heat over all-male basketball games and the "frat-house...
This Is It Proves King of Pop Still Rocked
Hollywood Reporter
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Oct 28, 2009 7:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Michael Jackson didn't live long enough to take the final bow he had planned in London, but critics agree This Is It is a fitting swan song, proof that the King of Pop really did have a comeback in him: " This Is It is quite extraordinary. If there was any doubt that Michael was in control of the shows or his decisions, those fears are allayed...
Geithner to Bankers: Crackdown Is 'War'
Reuters
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Oct 28, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Tim Geithner had tough words for Wall Street bankers yesterday, telling the financial industry's annual conference that they had no credibility to protest new regulation. The Treasury secretary said government had a responsibility to crack down on dangerous practices on the Street and design new laws allowing seizures of institutions deemed too big...
City-Focused Afghan Plan Winning Support
New York Times
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Oct 28, 2009 6:36 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A plan one official describes as "McChrystal for the city, Biden for the country," is emerging as the administration continues to hammer out its Afghan strategy. The plan would concentrate US forces in population centers, while maintaining pressure on insurgents elsewhere with drone strikes and targeted attacks from special forces. The debate...
Chicago Men Busted in Danish Terror Plot
New York Times
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Oct 28, 2009 6:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two Chicago men have been charged with conspiring to attack the Danish newspaper that enraged many Muslims by printing cartoons of Mohammed in 2005. Suspect Daniel Coleman Headley, a US citizen who grew up in Pakistan, has "very extensive contacts with leading militant extremists in Pakistan," an official said, and traveled to Denmark twice...
Swine Flu-Wary Telecommuters Could Floor Internet
Washington Post
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Oct 28, 2009 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Telecommuters hunkering down at home because of swine flu could overwhelm Internet networks in the coming weeks, a federal watchdog reports. The report earlier this week found that no guidelines are in place to deal with any surge in demand caused by a spike in workers telecommuting and students going online to access games and videos, the Washington...
UN Staffers Among Dozen Killed in Kabul Attacks
Reuters
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Oct 28, 2009 5:11 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Six United Nations staffers and six others were killed today when militants armed with automatic weapons, grenades, and suicide vests stormed two guest houses in downtown Kabul where international workers were sleeping. One of the dead was American. The nationalities of the others was not immediately known. Rockets hit another hotel in the capital...
Cops Bust Phillies Fan in Sex-for-Tix Bid
New York Daily News
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Oct 28, 2009 4:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Phillies fan willing to go the extra mile for World Series tickets is facing misdemeanor prostitution charges after a police sting operation. A pair of undercover cops responded to the woman's Craigslist ad describing herself as a "gorgeous tall buxom blond" desperate for tickets, reports the New York Daily News . The cops say the 43-year-old...
Mobile Firm's Meteor Stunt Backfires
CNN
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Oct 28, 2009 4:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Swedish mobile phone company has dug itself into a crater with a marketing stunt involving a fake meteorite. Tele2 dug a hole in a meadow in Latvia and placed burning chemicals in the bottom to simulate a meteor strike, making headlines worldwide and fooling emergency services into cordoning off the scene while they checked for radiation. Unamused...
Sex Offender Held in UK Facebook Murder
Sun (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 4:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
British police are holding a convicted sex offender after he confessed to murdering a 17-year-old girl he met on Facebook, posing as a fellow teenager. The 32-year-old blurted out "I've killed a girl" after being picked up for a car insurance violation. He then led police to a field where they found her body. He allegedly used gaffer's tape...
Lifer Seeks Better Life on Death Row
Associated Press
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Oct 28, 2009 3:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Living on death row looks like a better deal than dying as a lifer, convicted killer Billy Joe Johnson told a California jury yesterday. "You get out of your confined cell a little more," said Johnson, whose trial has moved to the penalty phase after he was found guilty of killing a fellow member of a white supremacist gang. Johnson, 46,...
Gentlemen Prefer Zombies
CNN
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Oct 28, 2009 3:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Give a guy a good, old-fashioned zombie any day over a vampire. "Dudes don't dig bloodsuckers because vampires pretty much look like girls," writes John DeVore in The Frisky . "We prefer zombies, because we love chainsaws, flamethrowers, and samurai swords." But primarily, guys realize their "genetic imperative is to defend...
Calif. Holds Hearings on Legalizing Pot
New York Times
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Oct 28, 2009 3:21 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The push to legalize—and, especially appealing at the moment, tax—marijuana is picking up momentum in California, with legislators holding hearings today on what would be the first such law in the nation. Organizers are currently collecting signatures to put three separate pot legalization initiatives on the ballot next year, and at least...
In Pakistan Battle Zone, Few Back Army
Washington Post
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Oct 28, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Pakistan is stepping up its US-supported offensive against the Taliban in the country's lawless northwest, but military victories may be fleeting in the face of a greater challenge: winning the support of local people. In the border region near Afghanistan, the Washington Post finds that refugees fear reprisals by the Taliban if they speak out,...
Nazi Hitman Goes on Trial
Associated Press
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Oct 28, 2009 2:59 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Dutch Nazi collaborator who killed his countrymen in reprisals for anti-German actions has gone on trial in Germany. Heinrich Boere, 88, has admitted gunning down three civilians as part of a Waffen SS death squad. He fled to Germany after the war and dodged extradition attempts for years. Prosecutors took a renewed interest in the case after Boere...
Fossil Hunter Finds Giant Sea Monster
Independent (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 2:36 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A sea monster big enough to have munched on T. Rex has been found by an amateur fossil collector scouring Britain's south coast. The collector gathered chunks of the prehistoric beast's 8-foot-long skull as they fell from a cliff face over several years. Paleontologists believe the pliosaur skull is the largest and most complete ever discovered.
Somali Women Whipped for Wearing Bras
Independent (UK)
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Oct 28, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Muslim Shabaab religious enforcers in battered Somalia are finding time to whip Muslim women for wearing bras. They're being punished because the underwear accentuates breasts and in some cases gives a "fraudulent" impression to possible suitors, reports the Independent . "Al Shabaab now orders us to shake our breasts," one woman...
Pay Czar Cuts Bonuses, But Boosts Salaries
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 28, 2009 1:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Base pay will increase for the majority of top execs in the finance and auto firms supervised by federal pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Salaries are being bumped up—by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases—as bonuses and other perks are slashed. Despite the salary hikes, all 136 execs at the seven firms overseen by Feinberg will end...
Arnold Hides Vulgar Message to Legislators in Veto
Wired
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Oct 27, 2009 9:38 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Though all political vetoes send some message, a recent one by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to carry two—with the less-obvious one quite the kiss-off to the Democrat-controlled legislature. In the message accompanying Schwarzenegger’s veto of a financing measure, the San Francisco Bay Guardian found that, in reading down...
Karzai's Brother on CIA Payroll: Insiders
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 8:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been on the CIA’s payroll for much of the past 8 years, a time during which he’s boosted his personal power in a large area of southern Afghanistan—and been linked to the opium trade. Ahmed Wali Karzai denies the claim, made by current and former US officials to the New York Times...
In Memoir, Agassi Admits Using Crystal Meth
People
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Oct 27, 2009 8:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In a forthcoming memoir, tennis star Andre Agassi admits that he used crystal meth during his career, and even lied about it to avoid penalty for a positive drug test. “I can’t speak to addiction, but a lot of people would say that if you’re using anything as an escape, you have a problem,” he tells People , which carries an...
Dodgers Owners Headed for Ugly Divorce
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 27, 2009 7:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
This could get messier than the Los Angeles Dodgers’ playoff elimination against Philadelphia: Jamie McCourt, wife of Los Angeles owner Frank McCourt filed for divorce today, charging that they are in fact co-owners, and that Frank had no right to fire her last week as the team’s chief executive. Court papers also describe “a systematic...
Runway Is Homophobic
True/Slant
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Oct 27, 2009 6:56 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The sixth season of Project Runway has given a lot of airtime to a developing romance between two telegenic and heterosexual blondes, Logan Neitzel and Carol Hannah. In lavishing attention on their dull flirt-fest, the show is showing an ugly homophobic streak: Last season, the producers completely whitewashed a deeply touching romance between two...
Afghan Surge Gains Favor; Public Sours on DC
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 27, 2009 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
New poll numbers out today hold good news and bad for the Obama administration. Support is rising for a troop surge in Afghanistan, the NBC/ Wall Street Journal survey finds, and nearly half now favor a public option in the health-care reform measures now under consideration. The bad news: 58% said the economy is still in the tank, a 6% increase from...
Why Women Blog Less Than Men
Melissa Clouthier
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Oct 27, 2009 5:47 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Women dominate social media—they use Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace much more than men. But not blogging: 67% of bloggers are male, one survey shows. Why? Because "the Internet still feels like the Wild West," writes Melissa Clouthier, where differences of opinion can quickly escalate into personal attacks. With all the "nutjobs"...
Iran Wants to Change Uranium Deal
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 5:26 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Iran continues to waffle on the details of the deal under consideration to ship its enriched uranium to Russia. Now it's saying that if it does agree to the deal—a formal response is due Friday—it won't send all of its uranium at once. Instead, it will send shipments to Russia in installments, a condition that would make the agreement largely...
Blackmailer Read Letterman All Wrong
New York
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Oct 27, 2009 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) -
When Robert Halderman asked David Letterman for $2 million, he probably assumed the notoriously private Letterman would pay him off to avoid public embarrassment. But "all Dave cares about is his career," a source tells New York in a lengthy look at the host and the scandal. "Dave is like, 'No one fucks with me. You fuck with me, you...
FAA Revokes Northwest Pilots' Licenses
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Oct 27, 2009 4:41 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The distracted pilots of Northwest Airlines Flight 188 are no longer pilots: the FAA today announced it has revoked the licenses of Timothy Cheney, 53, and Richard Cole, 54, for the incident last week in which the pair overshot their destination airport by 150 miles. The pilots, who attributed the gaffe to being on their laptops, have 10 days to appeal....
Clove Cigarettes Banned: Enter Clove 'Small Cigars'
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 27, 2009 4:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
For one California importer of smokes, an awful lot has come to rest on the precise definition of a cigar. After a ban on clove cigarettes went into effect last month, Kretek International slyly began importing Djarum-brand clove “small cigars." They're quite similar to Djarum’s clove cigarettes, though they come in a box of 12—not...
Cops: Teens Studied Stars, Then Robbed Their Homes
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 27, 2009 3:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Four teenage girls have been arrested for allegedly breaking into a slew of celebrity homes, sometimes more than once, and making off with glamorous souvenirs. Police say the girls would study the stars, picking out clothes and jewelry they wanted to make off with, and figuring out when they’d be away from home. Then they’d break in, grab...
Dow Up 14; Nasdaq Drops 26
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 27, 2009 3:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks were mixed today, with the Dow boosted by IBM after the firm announced a stock-buyback plan amid weakness elsewhere in tech and in consumer discretionary stocks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow rose 14 points to close at 9,882. The Nasdaq lost 26 points to 2,116. The S&P 500 fell 4 points to 1,063.
November Baseball's a Farce
Fanhouse
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Oct 27, 2009 3:06 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Isn’t the Fall Classic supposed to happen in the fall? Not this year. The World Series begins tomorrow night and, in case Bud Selig hasn’t noticed, it’s “never seemed more irrelevant,” writes Jay Mariotti. It’s simply too late in the year for baseball. “I can hear my body clock ticking, knowing Game 3 will...
Palin's Book Retainer: $1.25M
Anchorage Daily News
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Oct 27, 2009 2:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Harper Collins paid $1.25 million to Sarah Palin as a retainer for her upcoming memoir. Given the early buzz on pre-orders, she'll likely pull in more once Going Rogue goes on sale next month. Financial disclosure reports from her final 7 months as governor also note that Palin took out a home loan from Wells Fargo for, in her words: “legal...
Where Bush Was Bashed, Obama Gets Free Pass
Politico
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Oct 27, 2009 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Supporters of George Bush are miffed about the passes the media has given President Obama for trespasses the former president would likely have been excoriated for. “We have a joke about it. We’re going to start a website: IfBushHadDoneThat.com,” former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie tells Politico. Some examples of perceived media bias:
Lieberman Threatens Filibuster Over Public Option
Talking Points Memo
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Oct 27, 2009 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Joe Lieberman doesn't want a public option, and he warned today that he would join a Republican filibuster to try to prevent one from becoming law. The statement by the Democrat-turned-independent is bad news for Harry Reid's prospects of getting 60 votes in the Senate. Lieberman said he told Reid "that if the bill remains what it is now, I will...
