Newser Story Index from December, 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.
CIA Had File on Detroit Bomber for a Month, Didn't Share
CNN
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Dec 30, 2009 7:56 AM CST
(Newser) -
The "intelligence community" agency that President Obama said fumbled security in the Detroit bomb plot was apparently the CIA, which compiled a report on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after speaking to his father but sat on the file for 5 weeks instead of circulating it to other agencies, reports CNN. The Nigerian's attempt to blow up an...
Unlocked Google Phone Will Set You Back $530: Leak
Gizmodo
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Dec 30, 2009 7:54 AM CST
(Newser) -
Google’s upcoming phone will cost users $530 unlocked and unsubsidized—or $180 with a 2-year T-Mobile contract, Gizmodo reports from leaked documents. The tech firm will sell its new gadget itself, and sources tell TMO News that it will go on sale January 5 at 9am, There’s just one rate plan on T-Mobile: $79.99 a month.
Dems Slam GOP Hypocrisy Over Detroit Terror
Politico
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Dec 30, 2009 7:34 AM CST
(Newser) -
Congressional Republicans hammering President Obama for a "72-hour" delay in responding publicly to the Christmas Day attempted airline bombing seem to be forgetting something: It took President Bush six days to respond to a parallel situation, Politico reports. In December 2001, shoe bomber Richard Reid was foiled by passengers in an attempted...
Child Services Investigates Sheen
Hollywood Life
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Dec 30, 2009 7:26 AM CST
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For those wondering when the Department of Children and Family Services was going to step into the Charlie Sheen mess: It has. Following their Christmas blow-up, the LA branch is investigating Sheen and wife Brooke Mueller, and their 9-month-old twins could be taken from them temporarily. “When Charlie and his family step off the plane in California,...
Letterman Extortionist Conjures 'Tiger Defense'
AOL Music
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Dec 30, 2009 7:07 AM CST
(Newser) -
David Letterman’s accused extortionist came up with a novel way to use the Tiger Woods scandal to his advantage. In court documents filed yesterday, Robert Halderman’s attorney used the “If Tiger Woods’ mistresses can be paid off without going to jail, why can’t I?” defense. After all, he says, “evidence of...
23 Killed in Twin Iraq Bombings
Telegraph (UK)
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Dec 30, 2009 6:19 AM CST
(Newser) -
At least 23 are dead and 30 are wounded in the Iraqi city of Ramadi in twin bombings today that targeted the governor of Anbar province, the Daily Telegraph reports. A car bomb exploded near a security checkpoint by the governor's offices, and 30 minutes later a suicide bomber on foot struck nearby, wounding governor Qassim Mohammed.
Evangelical Ex-Gay Mom Must Give Up Baby
Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
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Dec 30, 2009 5:24 AM CST
(Newser) -
A former lesbian turned evangelical homophobe has apparently disappeared with her daughter after she was ordered to give up the girl to her former female partner. Lisa Miller gave birth to daughter Isabella through artificial insemination 7 years ago after she and former lover Janet Jenkins were joined in a civil union in Vermont. They later broke...
Debate Rages Over 'Strip Search' Airport Scans
New York Times
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Dec 30, 2009 5:15 AM CST
(Newser) -
Next-generation body scanning devices are coming to more American airports, triggering another heated debate over privacy versus security in the wake of the terror attack on a Detroit flight. Experts say the devices, which can detect objects under clothes, could have stopped the attempted Detroit attack. Critics warn that the devices can't detect everything,...
Ft. Hood Shooter's Imam 'Blessed' Bomb Plot
Washington Times
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Dec 30, 2009 5:00 AM CST
(Newser) -
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has told investigators that the radical imam who mentored Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan gave his blessing to the attempted Christmas Day attack, according to a law enforcement source. Anwar al-Awlaki indoctrinated Abdulmutallab and offered him encouragement during his al-Qaeda training in Yemen, the sources tell the Washington...
Where's Our Brave New Technology, Brave New President?
New York Times
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Dec 30, 2009 4:58 AM CST
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The attempted Christmas terror attack leaves Maureen Dowd feeling that we're pathetically behind the curve on security—"patting down grannies and 5-year-olds, confiscating snow globes and lip glosses"—and the president's "listless" response didn't make her feel any safer. Obama once seemed like a leap into the future...
Movie 'Chastity' Sells Better Than Sex
CNN
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Dec 30, 2009 4:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
Filmmakers looking to score a box-office hit should follow the lead of Twilight, Lord of the Rings , and Spider-Man : keep the love scenes chaste. So claims a new study of more than 900 films released between 2001 and 2005, which shows that, contrary to popular belief, nudity and explicit sex scenes don't boost a movie's bottom line.
German Hacker Cracks Cell Phone Code
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 30, 2009 4:36 AM CST
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A German hacker says he and his team have managed to crack the code that has protected most of the world's cell phone conversations for over 20 years. Karsten Nohl told a hackers' conference in Berlin that cracking the encryption code for GSM communications—which secures 80% of cellular communications—raises serious security problems for...
Los Angeles Gangs Make Peace to Boost Profits
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 30, 2009 4:23 AM CST
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After decades of violent conflict, Los Angeles gangs like the Bloods and Crips are joining together across racial divides and neighborhood turf lines—not to end their life of crime, but to make more money from it. Gang violence in Southern California has plummeted in recent years as longtime enemy gangs unite against a common enemy: the stepped-up...
Video Shows Protester Run Over by Iran Cop
CNN
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Dec 30, 2009 4:17 AM CST
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Police vehicles can be seen speeding toward groups of Iranian activists and running at least one of them over in a shocking video believed to have been taken during protests last weekend. A person lies crumpled in the road at the end of the video as activists scream, and it's unclear whether he or she has been killed, CNN reports.
DJ Axed for Dissing Queen's Speech
Telegraph (UK)
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Dec 30, 2009 4:13 AM CST
(Newser) -
A British radio DJ's bosses weren't amused when he cut short the Queen's traditional speech and joked about the guillotine. The owners of Birmingam station BRMB say presenter Tom Binns—who called the speech boring before putting on Wham's Last Christmas —won't be working for any of the media group's stations again, the Telegraph reports....
High School Hockey Player Sinks to Ice, Dies
Boston Herald
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Dec 30, 2009 3:53 AM CST
(Newser) -
A 17-year-old Massachusetts hockey player suddenly collapsed on the ice during a practice huddle and died. Pentucket Regional High School team captain Matthew McCarthy had just finished non-contact skating drills and was listening to his coach when he crumpled to the ice. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared dead. An autopsy is being...
'Best Job' Winner Stung by Lethal Jellyfish
BBC
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Dec 30, 2009 2:12 AM CST
(Newser) -
Contest winner Ben Southall is recovering after his final week in "the world's best job" nearly became his last week alive. The 34-year-old Englishman, who beat thousands of other applicants to land a 6-month $150,000 job as caretaker of a Great Barrier Reef island, was stung by a tiny but potentially lethal jellyfish while jet-skiing this...
Fla. AG Probing 'Unconstitutional' Health Bill
Christian Science Monitor
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Dec 30, 2009 1:46 AM CST
(Newser) -
Florida's Bill McCollum has become the 11th and latest state attorney general to announce an investigation into the constitutionality of health care reform. McCollum, a Republican running for governor next year, says he has grave concerns about the legislation's requirement for all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, reports the Christian...
Afghan Soldier Shoots GI Dead
Reuters
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Dec 30, 2009 1:23 AM CST
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An American soldier has been killed and two Italian servicemen injured by a rogue Afghan soldier who opened fire on foreign troops at a base in Herat. The soldier, who was wounded when troops returned fire, suffers from mental health problems, according to Afghan officials. Italian officials said the shooting, the latest in a series of such incidents,...
No 'Magic Piece of Intelligence' Existed on Abdulmutallab
Politico
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Dec 29, 2009 8:31 PM CST
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With the US intelligence community under fire from President Obama on down about what was known, and when, about would-be airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, one insider is taking exception. “Abdulmutallab’s father didn’t say his son was a terrorist, let alone planning an attack,” an unnamed official tells Politico...
Locavores No Better Than Racists
True/Slant
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Dec 29, 2009 8:12 PM CST
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Proud of yourself for going totally local for your Christmas dinner this year? Did you put on your white hood and go burn a cross afterward? Because the locavore movement is really just a thinly veiled cousin of tribalism and racism,” Ethan Epstein writes of the “profoundly misguided” eat-local cult. Ethics holds that the interest...
Foiled Bomber Turned Radical at UK College
Times (UK)
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Dec 29, 2009 7:28 PM CST
(Newser) -
The suspect in the foiled Christmas airliner bombing found radical Islam while in college in London, becoming president of the school’s Islamic society. Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab helped organize “War on Terror Week,” the Times reports, bringing in human-rights lawyers and former Guantanamo Bay detainees as speakers for...
Ethics Panel Blasts NBC's 'Checkbook Journalism'
Associated Press
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Dec 29, 2009 6:49 PM CST
(AP) -
The Society of Professional Journalists has condemned NBC News for practicing "checkbook journalism" by chartering a jet to bring home from Brazil a US man and his son involved in a bitter custody battle. David Goldman granted an interview to Meredith Vieira of NBC's Today show that aired yesterday. "Paying for access taints the credibility...
Woods Enters Arizona Rehab
X17 Online
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Dec 29, 2009 6:27 PM CST
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Tiger Woods has entered rehab—possibly for sex addiction—at a cushy Arizona facility, pushed by an entourage desperate for him to start repairing his badly damaged image. “He has been there for a few days since his handlers forced him to enter the program,” a source tells X17online . “They feel that if he blames his cheating...
Dumbest TV Biz Mistakes
Hollywood Reporter
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Dec 29, 2009 6:00 PM CST
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It’s been an embarrassing decade for TV networks, as the Hollywood Reporter proves with its list of the aughties’ biggest industry mistakes: Hollywood writers’ strike: It was unnecessary and “mutually destructive”—and for viewers, “has there ever been a longer 14 weeks?” ABC’s rejection...
Now's the Time to Buy a New Home
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 29, 2009 5:35 PM CST
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Today's new stats on housing prices yield one shakable fact amid tons of useless information: If you’re in the market for a house, this could be your moment. “Homes are now cheap,” writes Brett Arends. The combination of a 30% drop in home prices since 2005 and falling mortgage rates means “buying a home now is as cheap as...
US Population Hits 308M
Bloomberg
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Dec 29, 2009 5:11 PM CST
(Newser) -
When the new year rolls around, the US population will be 308,400,408, give or take a Gosselin. The Census Bureau released the projection today, noting a jump of 2.6 million, or about 1%, over last year. The population is growing by 1 person every 14 seconds—that's 1 birth every 8 seconds, 1 death every 12 seconds, and one new immigrant every...
UK Network: Dropped Calls? Blame iPhone
PC World
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Dec 29, 2009 4:40 PM CST
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Slammed for poor signal and dropped calls, AT&T has blamed its troubles in part on the iPhone’s heavy data usage—and now UK provider O2 is also pointing a finger at the gadget, PC World reports. O2 users have been plagued by similar problems, and “where we haven’t met our own high standards then there’s no question,...
Finally, World-Class Wine From Japan
Guardian (UK)
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Dec 29, 2009 4:17 PM CST
(Newser) -
For decades, critics wouldn’t give Japan’s wine industry a second sniff—but a new wine from a local grape could change all that. One firm’s koshu wine has won over taste buds from France to the US, the Guardian reports. The “crisp and pleasant” Cuvée Denis Dubourdieu is “clearly meant to be a wine...
Obama Faults 'Systemic Failure' in US Security
CBS
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Dec 29, 2009 3:53 PM CST
(Newser) -
President Obama today flatly declared that the US security system broke down ahead of Friday's attempted airline bombing. He blamed a "systemic failure" for leading to a "catastrophic breach of security" and promised reviews of both airport screening and the terror watch list. He said he wants preliminary reports by Thursday, reports...
Today's Survivalists: Call Them 'Preppers'
Newsweek
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Dec 29, 2009 3:37 PM CST
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They’re ready for the worst, but they’re not your old-fashioned nutjobs: you won’t likely see "preppers" building bunkers in the woods or expecting the apocalypse. Today’s post-Katrina, recession-era survivalists, their fears heightened by 24-hour news and the Internet, just want to “take some steps to safeguard...
Dow Dips 2 Points, Ends 6-Day Streak
MarketWatch
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Dec 29, 2009 3:14 PM CST
(Newser) -
Declines in energy and tech stocks kept the Dow from posting a seventh straight day of gains. Those declines tempered earlier good news showing a slowdown in the decline of home prices and a rise in consumer confidence, reports MarketWatch . The Dow dropped 2 points to close at 10,545. The Nasdaq lost 3 points, closing at 2,288. The S&P...
Escaped Con Teases Cops on Facebook
Daily Mail (UK)
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Dec 29, 2009 2:56 PM CST
(Newser) -
A prisoner in the UK who flew the coop in September isn’t keeping a low profile—instead, he’s got one on Facebook. Craig “Lazie” Lynch has been posting photos of himself flipping the bird at police as he sends messages to more than a thousand supporters, the Daily Mail reports. “I beat their f---n system and...
2009's Funniest Blogs
The Frisky
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Dec 29, 2009 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) -
This was indeed a banner year for people wanting to waste time at work by looking at silly, random blogs. The Frisky lists 10 favorites that got popular in 2009: Look At This F**king Hipster: If you can’t get enough of neon shirts, emo haircuts, and short-shorts, this site is for you. Autocomplete Me: If you’ve ever been caught...
Reid Will Force Senate Vote on TSA Nominee
Talking Points Memo
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Dec 29, 2009 2:21 PM CST
(Newser) -
Harry Reid plans a parliamentary move of his own to break Jim DeMint's hold on the nominee to run the Transportation Security Administration. When the Senate returns the week of Jan. 19, Reid will hold a vote to end DeMint's filibuster on the nomination of Erroll Southers, reports Talking Points Memo . He'll need 60 votes to succeed.
Facebook the No. 1 Christmas Website
ReadWriteWeb
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Dec 29, 2009 2:00 PM CST
(Newser) -
Facebook got a big present this holiday season: It was the No. 1 US website on Christmas and on Christmas Eve. Facebook, which lagged behind Google in second place last year, trounced that site and rival Yahoo—though the search engines generated more traffic throughout the balance of the year. And social networking pulled off a Christmas miracle,...
Karl Rove, Wife Divorce
Politico
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Dec 29, 2009 1:41 PM CST
(Newser) -
Karl Rove and his wife, Darby, are officially parting ways, reports Politico : the couple “were granted a divorce last week” in Texas, said spokeswoman Dana Perino. Married since 1986, they “came to the decision mutually and amicably, and they maintain a close relationship and a strong friendship,” Perino notes. The pair spent...
Dying MGM Taking Bids
Variety
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Dec 29, 2009 1:31 PM CST
(Newser) -
MGM Studios, once the stuff of Hollywood legend, is on the chopping block: The first bids from potential buyers are expected in the next few weeks, reports Variety . MGM made only one film this year—the poorly-performing Fame —and, possibly even sadder, its future projects include the grim-sounding Hot Tub Time Machine .
Taco Bell Unveils Jaredesque Diet
ABC News
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Dec 29, 2009 1:15 PM CST
(Newser) -
Want to lose weight? Then run for the border, hit Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet menu, and knock off 54 lbs in two years. Or at least that’s what happened to Christine, a Jared Fogle knockoff featured in new Taco Bell ads as a devotee of the chain's Fresco items. Though the spots feature all the disclaimers—her weight loss is “exceptional,”...
Yemen Wants Help Fighting al-Qaeda
BBC
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Dec 29, 2009 12:57 PM CST
(Newser) -
Yemen is confident it can do away with the hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters operating within its borders, but it needs more support from the West. The call from the country’s foreign minister comes as investigators probe the link between the recent terror attempt on Northwest Flight 253 and al-Qaeda...
Hey, Obama: Embrace the Dissidents
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 29, 2009 12:46 PM CST
(Newser) -
How can Barack Obama give voice to the voiceless? With a simple photo op, writes William McGurn in the Wall Street Journal . Dissidents under “nasty” governments in China, Iran, Cuba, and elsewhere—thus far dissed by the White House—are wondering: “‘Where is the president of the United States?’” His...
There's Not More Extremists, Just More Internet
FiveThirtyEight
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Dec 29, 2009 12:34 PM CST
(Newser) -
With all the left- and right-wing "extremism" out there, the media love pushing the narrative that " the country is coming apart at the seams! The center is dying! ” But it’s not true, writes Nate Silver. A glance at long-running polls show Americans identify with the fringes about as much as they did 40 years ago, which...
This Isn't '2001 All Over Again'
Politics Daily
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Dec 29, 2009 12:29 PM CST
(Newser) -
No matter how fear-mongers spin it, Friday’s terror attempt on Northwest Flight 253 “was not 2001 all over again,” Walter Shapiro writes. GOP Rep. Pete King and others can wax "apocalyptic" about what “would have been remembered forevermore as the Christmas Day massacre,” but note that Up in the Air —which...
Tightening Air Security Will Take a Toll
Politico
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Dec 29, 2009 12:11 PM CST
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The White House is talking tough about airline security after Friday's failed bombing, but many options for tightening up the system are either politically untenable, repugnant to travelers, or both. Josh Gerstein takes a look at a few possibilities, and their likelihood of becoming reality, in Politico . Expand the no-fly or stricter-screening...
Holiday Violence: Not Just for Celebs
Salon
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Dec 29, 2009 11:50 AM CST
(Newser) -
Elin Nordegren kicked off this year's holiday season on the wrong foot, reportedly chasing Tiger Woods with a golf club in the wee hours after Thanksgiving. Charlie Sheen piled on, allegedly assaulting his wife on Christmas, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams in Salon , and it's worth noting that the holidays can be a very un-merry time when it comes...
2009's Worst Sex Scenes
The Frisky
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Dec 29, 2009 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) -
Sometimes on-screen sex scenes are just sex…not sexy. The Frisky points to a list on YourTango detailing the 10 worst sex scenes of 2009: The Watchmen: Two superheroes have sex on a spaceship…with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” playing in the background. Enough said. The Ugly Truth: Katherine Heigl’s...
Faster Full-Body Scans Coming to Airports
USA Today
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Dec 29, 2009 11:11 AM CST
(Newser) -
In the wake of last week's attempted attack on a Detroit-bound flight, security companies say they're working on new body-scanning machines that search out threats like plastic explosives in an instant and could replace airport metal detectors. Similar scanners are used today at 19 US airports, but they take a relatively long 30 seconds or so because...
Taylor Swift Splits With Lautner
Us Weekly
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Dec 29, 2009 10:54 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Taylors are no more. Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner have split after three months of casual dating. The 20-year-old country star and 17-year-old New Moon heartthrob just couldn't find "chemistry," an insider tells US Weekly . "It wasn't really developing into anything, and wasn't going to, so they decided they were better as...
Army Wives Get Their Own Training: Burlesque
New York Times
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Dec 29, 2009 10:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
Operation Bombshell is not taking place in some far-off locale, but right here at home, and it’s our troops who are on the receiving end of some pretty heavy firepower: their wives’ burlesque talents. As a friendly neighborhood service, a dancer-turned-Army-wife is schooling her compatriots in some tricks intended to make homecoming that...
The Decade's Top Mistresses
Vanity Fair
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Dec 29, 2009 10:36 AM CST
(Newser) -
Tiger Woods and Silvio Berlusconi had a whole stable of them; The political careers of Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards were wrecked by theirs; David Letterman actually benefited, ratings-wise, from his. With all these juicy stories to choose from, Vanity Fair offers up this list of the top 10 mistresses of the decade.
