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.
Col. Sanders Impersonator Punks UN
National Post (Canada)
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Oct 27, 2009 2:03 PM CDT
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A Colonel Sanders lookalike got a diplomat’s welcome at the United Nations, somehow tricking the security guards into letting him in, UN officials sheepishly admitted. Once inside, the KFC mascot met with UN General Assembly President Ali Treki of Libya, even getting his picture snapped shaking hands beneath the assembly’s giant logo. “I...
Meet Michelle's 'Body Woman'
Newsweek
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Oct 27, 2009 1:40 PM CDT
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Kristen Jarvis has had tough jobs. She joined Barack Obama’s office in 2004, when he was a newly minted senator. But that was nothing compared to last year’s presidential campaign, when she was given a different charge: Michelle Obama. As her "body woman," Jarvis did everything from watch her boss pace before her clutch DNC speech...
Bartering Turns Into $10B Recession-Buster
Time
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Oct 27, 2009 1:19 PM CDT
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The global recession has made bartering hot, but don’t go thinking it’s all a backrub for a plumbing fix. Big money—though no cash—is changing hands through the world’s largest barter service, Bartercard. The worldwide service’s transactions are valued at $2 billion this year, up 20% over last year. That makes it...
Karadzic Caught Discussing Genocide on Wiretap
Times (UK)
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Oct 27, 2009 1:09 PM CDT
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Radovan Karadzic was caught on tape ordering the slaughter at Zepa and Srebenica, prosecutors revealed today at the war crimes trial of the former Bosnian Serb leader. “It will be a black cauldron,” Karadzic says on the tape, “where 300,000 Muslims will die.” But prosecutor Alan Tieger was forced to make his accusations before...
Microsoft Yanks Seth MacFarlane Sponsorship
Variety
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Oct 27, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
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Apparently, Microsoft just can’t handle a good Holocaust joke. After attending a taping of Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show , the software giant has pulled its support, saying the content “was not a fit with the Windows brand.” The show, a variety act from Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein ( Family...
Conservatives to GOP: Get Out of Our Way
National Review
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Oct 27, 2009 12:46 PM CDT
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The conservatives' newest rising star has no qualms about his congressional race turning into a referendum on the GOP. "The establishment Republicans are beginning to panic," writes Doug Hoffman. They're worried that a victory by a true conservative like himself will hurt the party's political strength. But Hoffman—a novice who has...
At Last, Rockers Shut Up and Sing
Huffington Post
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Oct 27, 2009 12:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Bono—he of the eons-long concert diatribes about everything from Burma to the whales—has done the unthinkable. "Bono has started editing himself," Virginia M. Moncrieff realized during U2's Rose Bowl concert. And it's about time: Though Moncrieff admires their causes, she has reached the age where the nicest thing rock stars can...
Fox Ratings Soar After Obama Tiff
Business Insider
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Oct 27, 2009 12:07 PM CDT
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Maybe Roger Ailes is on Barack Obama’s Christmas list. His administration sure seems to have given Fox News a gift anyway; in the two weeks since Anita Dunn publicly slammed the network, its ratings are up 9% overall, and 14% among the all-important 25-to-54 demographic. Shepard Smith’s show may have had its best month of the year. And...
The Mommy Industry Is Killing Moms
Salon
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Oct 27, 2009 12:00 PM CDT
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Thanks to offhand comments from her son ("You're a mean mom!") and underhanded comments from other parents ("Your son's very competitive!"), Karen Houppert wakes up at 2:30am every day, wrestling with self-doubt. The newest parenting trend—family coaches to perfect your child-raising skills—joins the already $2.1 trillion...
Kathy Griffin: I'm Having Levi's Baby
Hulu
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Oct 27, 2009 11:50 AM CDT
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Kathy Griffin was on the Tonight Show yesterday to promote her new book Official Book Club Selection— or, rather, to discuss her "Brangelina situation" with Levi Johnston, as she described it to Conan O'Brien. "I am in a serious, committed relationship with Levi Johnston, and I resent that you're suggesting that it might be...
More Sex, and More Anxieties, Too
New York
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Oct 27, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
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Technology has made finding sexual partners easy, but the digital mating dance is fraught with many new sources of anxiety, from too many opportunities to too much information. New York magazine has combed over two years of its popular “Sex Diaries” to create a guide to the plugged-in New Yorker’s sexual insecurities. Among them:...
B+ for Obama Foreign Policy, F for Not Owning It
Salon
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Oct 27, 2009 11:17 AM CDT
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Despite the howls of protest over President Obama's Nobel Prize and the administration’s "dithering" on
Afghanistan , the fact is that the new president’s foreign endeavors deserve good marks, says Juan Cole. Cole gives Obama an A for his Iranian statesmanship, a B for pulling...
Keep Anti-Gays in Closet: Colbert
Huffington Post
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Oct 27, 2009 10:57 AM CDT
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Stephen Colbert had a fine time last night espousing the rights of that “persecuted minority”—anti-gay-marriage activists. You see, the group that gathered signatures for a referendum against Washington state’s recently signed domestic partnership legislation is refusing to disclose the names of the signers, the Huffington...
Libs to Obama: Fight for the Public Option
Politico
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Oct 27, 2009 10:48 AM CDT
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As Harry Reid labors to push through a health reform bill with a public option, albeit an opt-out one, liberals are getting more and more antsy for President Obama to step up and lead this effort. They complain that he’s being too passive in the debate, annoyed that as late as last week, in Obama’s sitdown with Senate Democrats, he was...
NASA Scrubs Rocket's Test Flight
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 10:40 AM CDT
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NASA's newest rocket will remain on the launch pad today because of clouds and high winds. Officials are deciding whether to try again tomorrow morning. Launch controllers tried repeatedly to get the Ares I-X rocket flying and got to within two-and-a-half minutes before calling it off. Minor problems stalled the countdown earlier in the morning.
Dopamine: Produces the Rush, Not the Pleasure
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 10:23 AM CDT
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Dopamine has become the decade’s “it” neurotransmitter, just as serotonin was in the ‘90s. But the popular image of dopamine as the brain chemical in charge of making us feel good, and hooking us on craving that feeling, a “Bacchus in the brain,” is misleading and incomplete, writes Natalie Angier of the New York...
DeLay Boogies From Dancing to Millionaire
New York Post
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Oct 27, 2009 10:20 AM CDT
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As if seeing Tom DeLay shake his butt on Dancing With the Stars wasn't hard enough on America, the former House Majority Leader will continue his budding reality show career on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire . DeLay will appear as the "expert" lifeline, following in the footsteps of Wolf Blitzer and Soledad O'Brien, the New York Post ...
Oct. Deadliest Afghan Month as 8 US Troops Die
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 10:05 AM CDT
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Eight American troops have been killed today in multiple bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, making October the deadliest month for American troops there since the war began in 2001. The 8 deaths occurred in "multiple, complex" bomb attacks in the south, according to the US military.
Obama Tags $3.4B for Smart Energy Grid
Politico
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Oct 27, 2009 10:04 AM CDT
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President Obama will roll out a plan to use $3.4 billion in stimulus funds to modernize the nation’s electrical grid today. The “smart grid” spending will go to private contractors, utilities, and municipal governments in grants of between $400,000 and $2 million. The administration expects $4.7 billion in private investment to match...
Ex-Staffer: Letterman Environment 'Demeaning'
Vanity Fair
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Oct 27, 2009 9:50 AM CDT
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Nell Scovell walked away from her dream job on Late Night with David Letterman thanks to the "hostile work environment" created by high-level male staffers having sex with their female employees. She writes about her experience in Vanity Fair —not to name names, but to point out the underlying problem with all the major late night...
NBA Age Limits Are a Scam
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 9:25 AM CDT
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The NBA’s minimum draft age of 19, with one year of college—and a new proposal to make it 20—is nothing but a cynical ploy by pro basketball and the NCAA that “hasn’t helped players in any way,” Buzz Bissinger writes. Players can easily sail through a year of college without accruing any educational benefits whatsoever....
Freakonomics Guys Freak Out Climate Acolytes
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 27, 2009 9:20 AM CDT
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Wouldn't it be great to make global warming disappear with a helium balloon, a few miles of garden hose, and a stream of sulfur dioxide? “Maybe, but not if you’re Al Gore or one of his little helpers,” writes Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal . Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner argue for just this geoengineering approach in...
Home Prices Climb in August
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
(AP) -
US home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data released today showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities climbed 1% from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5. While prices are down 11.4% from August a year ago, the annual declines have slowed...
Rosie: I Almost Dated Angelina
The Howard Stern Show
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Oct 27, 2009 8:56 AM CDT
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Rosie O'Donnell finally discussed her relationship problems on yesterday's The Howard Stern Show , but let's just skip right to the best part of the interview: Rosie's almost-date with Angelina Jolie. "She gave me her phone number," O'Donnell says. "There was a tentative plan to have dinner that never came through. I was a little afraid...
Pirates Hijack Yacht, Kidnap UK Couple
Times (UK)
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Oct 27, 2009 8:35 AM CDT
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A British couple whose yacht went missing in the Indian Ocean four days ago is being held by Somali pirates. The couple was captured during a round-the-world trip while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania; five international warships were searching hundreds of miles off the African coast for the pair. A pirate told the Times of London that they...
Levi: Getting Naked Is What I Do
Us Weekly
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Oct 27, 2009 8:18 AM CDT
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God help him, Levi Johnston just cannot shut up about getting naked. Manager Tank Jones tells Us Levi's Playgirl shoot will definitely include full-frontal views—yesterday's report gave only a 90% chance! Joy!—and adds that the shoot will be "tasteful" because, of course, "this is art." Levi himself helpfully chimes...
Ousted AIG CEO Builds AIG 2— With AIG Talent
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 7:47 AM CDT
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Hank Greenberg built AIG into a $1 trillion behemoth that needed the biggest bailout in history—but quietly, the former CEO has begun a new insurance company, CV Starr, that is poaching some of AIG's leading talent. He just got an unintended assist from the Treasury: Tough new pay rules at AIG have sent employees fleeing to Greenberg, further...
Ex-Marine: Afghan War Not Worth Fighting
Washington Post
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Oct 27, 2009 7:35 AM CDT
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When Matthew Hoh resigned in protest last month, it sent a small tremor through the Pentagon and White House. Hoh, an ex-marine, was the US’ top civilian in Zabul province, until he reached the conclusion that the war wasn’t worth fighting. “My resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing the war,” he wrote in his letter,...
Bush a Winner as Motivational Speaker
Dallas Morning News
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Oct 27, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
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George W. Bush commanded a 15,000-strong crowd at a motivational megashow in Dallas last night, flanked by signs reading "Achieve!" and "Motivate!" but not by the pyrotechnics that greeted other speakers—Secret Service said no. Bush told stories of both "great and not so great" days in office, saying setbacks only...
Kate: I Don't Want to Be Alone ... or Married
Us Weekly
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Oct 27, 2009 7:27 AM CDT
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On last night's very special episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 , Kate Gosselin answered viewer questions ranging from her Halloween-wig-inspiring hairdo to what her kids might be when they grow up. E! and Us hit the highlights: On how fame will help her kids: "They're not suffering from this. I'm raising kids who are going to scrutinize people...
Chrysler Adds Fiats, Dumps Dodge, Jeep Models
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 27, 2009 6:54 AM CDT
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Now four months out of bankruptcy, Chrysler is set to unveil a new business plan that relies heavily on models from Fiat, its Italian partner, and abandons many American cars. The company will reintroduce the luxury Alfa Romeo to the US and also bring in a Mexican-built Fiat 500, the tiny vehicle ubiquitous in Europe. Several Dodge and Jeep models...
Scientology Guilty of Fraud, Rules French Court
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 6:40 AM CDT
(AP) -
A Paris court has convicted the Church of Scientology's French branch of fraud and fined it $600,000, but stopped short of the ban on the group that was sought by prosecutors. Church leaders were found guilty of pressuring members into paying large sums of money for questionable financial gain. The court handed them suspended sentences of between 10...
Al-Qaeda Claims Baghdad Bombing
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 6:09 AM CDT
(AP) -
Al-Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility for this weekend's twin suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people, including 24 children trapped in a bus leaving a day care center. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted on the Internet last night that its "martyrs targeted...
Do-Nothing Bystanders Watched, Filmed Calif. Rape
CNN
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Oct 27, 2009 5:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two arrests have been made in a homecoming night rape of a 15-year-old high school student that was witnessed by as many as 15 do-nothing bystanders. Some may have even participated in the two-hour attack in a San Francisco suburb while others apparently filmed the assault with cell phones, according to police. No one called police or helped the victim....
How Reid Rescued the Public Option
Huffington Post
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Oct 27, 2009 5:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The public health insurance plan was brought back from the brink of oblivion thanks to Harry Reid's swift adoption of an "opt-out" plan brought to his attention just three weeks ago. In backroom negotiations with members of the Democratic caucus, the majority leader found that the federal approach bridged the gap between conservative and...
Enter Tapman: Metallica Debuts iPhone App
Associated Press
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Oct 27, 2009 5:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Metallica aims to turn a generation of finger-tappers into headbangers with a new iPhone application. Tap Tap Revenge: Metallica , a variant of the top-selling Tap Tap Revenge game, lets players tap their screens in time to hits like Enter Sandman . The game, priced at $4.99, is expected to make it into the top 10 music apps at the iStore but the...
Get a Clue, Washington: You Can't Do Everything
New York Times
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Oct 27, 2009 5:10 AM CDT
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Clamping down on arrogant, risk-taking execs with an overconfident attempt to overhaul private sector pay structures shows that the arrogance has migrated to the Obama administration, writes David Brooks. The government is trying to micro-manage compensation packages at a wide variety of firms when pay regulation should be done, humbly, by addressing...
Brit Cop Fights for Life After Gay Hate Attack
Independent (UK)
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Oct 27, 2009 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A rookie British police officer is fighting for his life in a Liverpool hospital after being attacked by a gang of teens for being gay. The 22-year-old man was set upon by a dozen attackers after leaving a gay bar with his partner and their friends. He suffered multiple skull fractures after being repeatedly punched and kicked. Police have arrested...
Younger, Smarter Wife = Bliss
BBC
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Oct 27, 2009 4:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Researchers have discovered the secret of a happy marriage—at least for the husband: a younger, smarter wife. Such marriages are likely to last, particularly when neither spouse has been previously divorced. Marriages involving women at least five years younger than a husband and with a higher educational level fared the best in the European...
Gay Marriage to Gambling: Key Ballot Initiatives
The Atlantic
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Oct 27, 2009 4:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Voters in six states will head to the polls next Tuesday to decide ballot initiatives on everything from medical marijuana to livestock care. The Atlantic lists some of the most interesting, and the most likely to reverberate across state lines. Question 1, Maine. Maine voters are being given the chance to veto legislation allowing same-sex...
Amnesty: Israel Is Denying Palestinians Water
BBC
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Oct 27, 2009 3:58 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Israel is guzzling the region's water supply to keep its farmland lush and its lawns green while many Palestinians struggle to get the bare minimum for life, according to an Amnesty International report. The report accuses Israel of using its "total control" over water supplies to discriminate against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,...
Pets' Carbon Pawprint Cause for Alarm
Independent (UK)
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Oct 27, 2009 3:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Forget the gas guzzler—it's Fluffy and Fido who are delivering a carbon blow to the global environment. That's the odd warning from a pair of New Zealand professors who claim the carbon pawprint of a large dog delivers twice the impact of a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 6,000 miles a year. A cat is more akin to driving a Volkswagen Golf, while a...
Jets Star Charged With Assault
New York Post
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Oct 27, 2009 3:02 AM CDT
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Jets receiver Braylon Edwards could be catching a sentence of up to 6 months in jail for an alleged assault outside a Cleveland nightclub. Edwards, who may also face suspension from the NFL, is accused of punching a friend of NBA star LeBron James in the incident earlier this month, just two days before the Cleveland Browns traded him to the Jets....
Vigilante Video Divides Mexico
Los Angeles Times
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Oct 27, 2009 2:40 AM CDT
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A video of five teenage boys being beaten by vigilantes and forced to French-kiss each other has sparked a debate on crime and justice in Mexico. Officials and human rights organizations have reacted with outrage to the abuse of the alleged thieves, but many ordinary Mexicans fed up with soaring crime have voiced approval, the Los Angeles Times reports....
Brits Hold Up Hacker's Extradition
BBC
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Oct 27, 2009 2:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
American authorities keen to get their hands on a man accused of the biggest military hack in history are going to have to wait. British authorities have "stopped the clock" on the extradition of Gary McKinnon while lawyers examine new medical evidence, say officials. McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, is accused of...
Go Green: Move to NY
Yale Environment 360
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Oct 27, 2009 2:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Vermont has been hailed as the greenest place in America but its residents need to look to Manhattan for some real low-impact living, argues David Owen. Vermonters might feel green with all that countryside around, but they lack the public transport and low energy use that makes New York City the greenest place in the US, Owen writes at Yale Environment...
Rivals No More, Facebook and MySpace Talk Content
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 26, 2009 10:07 PM CDT
(Newser) -
High-ranking executives at both Facebook and MySpace confirm that the companies are in talks over some sort of content partnership—a development that isn’t a big surprise to at least one observer. Formerly intense competitors in the social-networking sphere, Caroline McCarthy writes, now “Facebook’s the one providing the platform...
Even Dems Say Grayson's Nuts
Politico
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Oct 26, 2009 9:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Rep. Alan Grayson has irked Republicans over the past month or so with his sharp tongue—saying the GOP health plan was for Americans to “die quickly,” then, last week, comparing Dick Cheney to a vampire—but even fellow Dems are up in arms after an interview surfaced in which Grayson calls a lobbyist-turned-Fed-adviser “a...
Kanye Cameo Likely During Swift's SNL Gig
Perez Hilton
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Oct 26, 2009 8:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Just when the Kanye West-Taylor Swift meme was starting to ebb a bit, there’s this from the rumor mill: West, awards-show interrupter, will make a cameo when Swift, awards-show interruptee, hosts Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7. Quoth gossip maven Perez Hilton: “Sources tell us this is very likely to happen!” (Italics, exclamation...
ESPN Axes Phillips' Galpal, Too
New York Post
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Oct 26, 2009 7:34 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A day after ESPN fired baseball analyst Steve Phillips in the wake of his affair with a production assistant, the channel has cut Brooke Hundley loose, too. And that’s not all, Phillips agent tells the New York Post : Phillips, 46, is seeking treatment for sex addiction, and it’s not the first time. He sought help in 1998 after multiple...
