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.
System to Protect Air Travelers Is Broken
Washington Post
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Dec 29, 2009 10:27 AM CST
(Newser) -
The attempted Christmas Day airliner attack reveals deep flaws in the security systems meant to prevent such incidents, Eugene Robinson writes in the Washington Post . We're "under the impression that removing our shoes at the airport and limiting ourselves to those tiny, trial-size containers of toothpaste…are enough," he writes....
Jobless Kids Need Tough Love, not Coddling
Guardian (UK)
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Dec 29, 2009 10:17 AM CST
(Newser) -
Parents who want their adult kids to take job-hunting seriously shouldn't make things too comfortable for them at home, the British government warns. In the UK, the graduate unemployment rate is the highest it's been in 12 years, and a quarter of men 25 to 29 live at home, the Guardian reports. Hence, the new guidelines for parents eager to empty...
Calls Brew for Labeling Sneaky Caffeine
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 29, 2009 10:07 AM CST
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The popularity of ice creams, yogurts, and even jelly beans with high caffeine levels is causing experts to call for labels listing how much a product contains. Manufacturers aren't currently required to disclose caffeine levels, and advocates for stricter labeling say this makes it difficult for people to cut back on caffeine and for pregnant women...
Why Avatar Still Won't Win Best Picture
New York
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Dec 29, 2009 9:33 AM CST
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OK, so Avatar scored soaring reviews and scads of money, blah, blah, blah: That still doesn’t mean James Cameron is going to win another Oscar for best picture. Lane Brown details five reasons why not in New York : Special effects: As in, the special effects are the only rave-worthy thing about the movie. Titanic , at least, had more...
10 Lies Wall St. Told Us in '09
AlterNet
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Dec 29, 2009 9:13 AM CST
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As Wall Street happily trots off into 2009's sunset, same old bad habits in tow, things aren't looking so hot on Main Street—no matter the crocks the bankers sold us, writes Nomi Prins at AlterNet . Here's some of Wall Street's finest whoppers of the year. The economy has improved . "Sure—if you work at Goldman Sachs or had an...
Chicago Schools Lag Gains Claimed by Duncan
Washington Post
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Dec 29, 2009 8:49 AM CST
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In the latest test results, Chicago schools failed to show evidence of the gains claimed by their former superintendent, Arne Duncan, whose success in turning around the struggling system was widely touted when he was nominated for education secretary. Students in Miami, Houston, and New York outscored Chicago in math; other cities reported more improvement,...
Monkey Pees on Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
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Dec 29, 2009 8:27 AM CST
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In a scene that many would probably love seeing on one of her reality shows, Kim Kardashian got peed on by a monkey. She wrote about the experience—it happened while visiting Ashton Kutcher’s production company—on her blog . She thought the monkey was cute (see picture No. 1), “but then he peed on me!!” she writes (see...
San Jose Cops Test Head Cameras
Associated Press
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Dec 29, 2009 8:08 AM CST
(AP) -
Grainy cell phone images are often used against cops accused of using excessive violence, but now cops are shooting a little video of their own with head cameras, the latest technology from stun-gun maker TASER International, the AP reports. "It's like the helmet cam you've seen on X Games," a San Jose police officer says. Eighteen members...
No TSA Chief in Detroit Crisis, Thanks to GOP Senator
McClatchy Newspapers
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Dec 29, 2009 7:29 AM CST
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Democratic leaders and airline industry officials are blaming GOP Sen. Jim DeMint for the fact that the Transportation Security Administration has no chief as it struggles to recover from the terrorist near-miss on Christmas Day. DeMint, chair of an aviation subcommittee, has been blocking the appointment of counterterrorism expert Erroll Southers,...
Charlie Sheen's Wife: He Threatened to Kill Me
New York Daily News
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Dec 29, 2009 7:20 AM CST
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Police released the audio of Brooke Mueller’s 911 call yesterday, in which she says, “I’m scared for my life” after being “threatened” by husband Charlie Sheen. Mueller told the operator “we have people separating us,” but Sheen was “trying to sneak out the back” of the house. And in a police...
S. Korea Pardons Samsung Chief to Lead Olympic Bid
New York Times
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Dec 29, 2009 6:57 AM CST
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South Korea has granted a pardon to a former Samsung chairman found guilty of embezzlement to allow him to lead the country's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. President Lee Myung-bak said he pardoned Lee Kun-hee to allow him to keep his seat on the International Olympic Committee and to help the southern city of PyeongChang's campaign for the Games,...
Peter Orszag Engaged to ABC Reporter
New York Times
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Dec 29, 2009 6:51 AM CST
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President Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag, whom Rahm Emanuel once credited with making “nerdy sexy,” has scored himself a beautiful fiancee in ABC News correspondent Bianna Golodryaga. Orszag met the decade-younger Golodryaga, 31, at May’s White House Correspondents Dinner. They got engaged over lunch in New York yesterday...
Somali Pirates Hijack Tanker and Cargo Ship
New York Times
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Dec 29, 2009 6:49 AM CST
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Somali pirates have seized a Greek cargo ship and a chemical tanker operating under a British flag, the New York Times reports. That puts 2009's Somali hijacking total at 47, with 214 vessels attacked in the Gulf of Aden and along the Somali coast. Twelve ships—carrying 263 people—are still being held for ransom. The tanker, the St...
Ex Gitmo Inmates Linked to Bomb
ABC News
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Dec 29, 2009 6:46 AM CST
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Two former Guantanamo Bay inmates are believed to be behind the plot to blow up the Northwest flight to Detroit, according to officials and Defense Department documents. Muhamad Attik al-Harbi—who now calls himself Muhamad al-Awfi—and Said Ali Shari were sent in 2007 to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation...
Bristol Seeks Full Custody of Tripp
Alaska Dispatch
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Dec 29, 2009 6:34 AM CST
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Bristol Palin has sued for full custody of her out-of-wedlock son, charging that daddy Levi Johnston "is not ready for the demands of parenthood," and that his primary source of income has been a "risqué" photo spread in Playgirl and selling stories about his now year-old son and the Palins. Bristol lost a bid to keep the...
Tiger Scandal Cost Sponsors $12B
University of California, Davis
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Dec 29, 2009 5:42 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Tiger Woods sex scandal has destroyed a whopping $12 billion in stock value along with the golfer's reputation, according to a University of California study. Economic professors crunched stock data for the weeks after the scandal broke and found that shareholder value in the Tiger-linked companies dropped a total of 2.3%.
Iran Seizes Bodies of Dead Protesters
Associated Press
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Dec 29, 2009 4:44 AM CST
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Iranian authorities are holding the bodies of at least five people killed in anti-government protests in an apparent bid to prevent activists from rallying at their funerals. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew is among the dead, and his family is charging that government forces seized his body from a Tehran hospital, AP reports. Government...
Arrogance Will Cost 'Tyrannical' Dems Dearly
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 29, 2009 4:31 AM CST
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Congressional Democrats appear to have confused having the ability to push through any legislation they want with having a mandate to do so, writes Fred Barnes. The Democrats have abandoned bipartisanship and are going ahead with issues like health care reform and cap and trade despite growing public disapproval, Barnes writes in the Wall Street...
Bomber Taunts: 'There Are More Like Me'
ABC News
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Dec 29, 2009 4:25 AM CST
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The extremist accused of trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 has told investigators he is only the first of many. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boasted to the FBI that he trained for a month in Yemen before the bombing attempt and that al-Qaeda has trained others like him who will strike soon, ABC reports.
Cops Bust 'Pot-Bellied' Teddy at Calif. Store
Orange County Register
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Dec 29, 2009 4:19 AM CST
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A large Teddy bear arrived in the mail at a Toy Town store in southern California with a "hard crinkly" stomach and a big grin on his face. The suspicious store owner called cops, who found three, vacuum-sealed bags of maijuana inside Teddy's belly. The package had been mailed to someone in Colorado from California with the toy store marked...
Gosselin Break-In May Have Been Staged: Cops
New York Daily News
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Dec 29, 2009 4:14 AM CST
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Police investigating an alleged break-in at Jon Gosselin's New York City digs say they're considering the possibility that it was staged. The former reality show star's ex-girlfriend Hailey Glassman says she took her belongings out of the apartment last week, but denies slashing up the furnishings and leaving a note calling him a "cheater"...
Bing, Yahoo Bar Web Porn in India
Guardian (UK)
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Dec 29, 2009 3:35 AM CST
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Indian computer users enter "sex" into search engines more than users in any other country, but Internet firms have moved to deliver only sanitized results to the nation. Yahoo's search engine and the Flickr photo-sharing site have switched the entire country's setting to "safe search" only, as has Microsoft's Bing, a Guardian...
Burma Urged to Take US Citizen Out of Solitary
Associated Press
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Dec 29, 2009 3:30 AM CST
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An American citizen jailed without charge in Burma since fall has been put in solitary confinement after ending a 12-day hunger strike this month, embassy officials say. Diplomats have requested that Kyaw Zaw Lwin be returned to a normal prison cell, the AP reports. Kyaw—whose mother and sister have been imprisoned by the junta for political...
AIG Attorney Makes Millions by Quitting Over Pay
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 29, 2009 2:45 AM CST
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Quitting in a snit over government-imposed pay limits has ensured a bumper payday for AIG's top in-house lawyer, insiders say. The bailed out insurance company is preparing to pay Anastasia Kelly several million dollars in a severance package under company terms that allow some execs to quit and collect severance if their pay is cut significantly,...
Riots Erupt After Dozens Killed in Pakistan
New York Times
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Dec 29, 2009 2:19 AM CST
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Rioting Shiite Muslims set fire to buildings and dozens of vehicles in Karachi last night after a suicide attack on a religious procession killed at least 40 people. The attack was the third on the city's Shiite minority in three days, and many believe extremists are trying to spark sectarian conflict to hinder the government's campaign against the...
N. Korea Confirms American Detained
Associated Press
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Dec 29, 2009 1:54 AM CST
(AP) -
North Korean officials have confirmed that a Korean-American activist has been detained for entering the country illegally. Missionary Robert Park, 28, traveled to the communist nation to call attention to the regime's human rights abuses, according to supporters. The Arizona resident slipped across a frozen river into the country from China on Christmas...
China Executes British Drug Smuggler
Guardian (UK)
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Dec 28, 2009 10:33 PM CST
(Newser) -
Despite protests from the British government and human-rights activists worldwide, China today executed by firing squad a Briton convicted of smuggling drugs into the country. Supporters say Akmal Shaikh, 53, had bipolar disorder; the Foreign Office’s complaint centered on concerns China had not taken those issues into account in condemning him...
Argentine Men Are Latin America's First Gay Marrieds
BBC
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Dec 28, 2009 9:47 PM CST
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Rather than wait for Argentina’s top court to rule on their status, two HIV-positive gay men married today in the southern city of Ushuaia, after a special decree from the region’s governor. The nuptials—uniting Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41—are a first for Latin America, the BBC reports, noting that the decree...
Explosives Could've Blown Hole in Jet
ABC News
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Dec 28, 2009 9:10 PM CST
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The explosives Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab carried with him aboard Friday’s flight to Detroit were powerful enough to blow a hole in the side of the plane, sources tell the Washington Post . ABC News has obtained photos of the explosives, which were sewn into Abdulmutallab’s underwear. The package contained 80 grams of PETN; Richard...
Birther Queen Taitz: Take Up Arms vs. Obama
OrlyTaitzEsq
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Dec 28, 2009 8:29 PM CST
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In taking to court her contention that Barack Obama can’t be president because he’s foreign-born, Orly Taitz has been on the receiving end of much judicial scorn, and big fines. But her latest suggestion could land her in hotter water: She writes today that Americans should “bare (sic) arms and organise in militias” against...
Texas Tech Suspends Coach Over Abuse Allegation
ESPN
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Dec 28, 2009 7:39 PM CST
(Newser) -
Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach after allegations from a player that Leach ordered him placed in dark, solitary confinement in the wake of a concussion. A source tells ESPN that after sophomore receiver Adam James—son of Craig, a standout college and pro running back and now an ESPN analyst—was injured Dec. 16, Leach...
Yemen Maybe Not Best Home for Gitmo's Yemeni Inmates
Fox News
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Dec 28, 2009 7:07 PM CST
(Newser) -
With Yemen increasing under scrutiny as a staging ground for terror threats against the US, some analysts think that might not be the best place to send Yemenis the Obama administration wants to get out of the Guantanamo Bay prison. One former US diplomat tells Fox News that Saudi Arabia might be a better alternative, and “more effective than...
SF Pier's Sea Lions Suddenly Vanish
Wired
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Dec 28, 2009 6:34 PM CST
(Newser) -
The sea lions that are among the more authentic attractions on San Francisco’s touristy Pier 39 have suddenly, and inexplicably, disappeared. The beasts showed up at the wooden docks alongside the pier unexpectedly 20 years ago, and in winter as many as 300 would lie around, attracting crowds. But since, in theory, sea lions are migratory, “there...
Tom Waits Wows Film Critics, Ticks Off His Mom
Canadian Press
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Dec 28, 2009 6:07 PM CST
(Newser) -
Tom Waits is 60 years old, but his mom can still get to him. The gravelly-voiced singer plays Satan in Terry Gilliam's latest trippy film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and that isn't going over well with his mother. She's religious, you see. "She's really upset," he says. "Pretty pissed off about the whole thing."
AT&T Resumes Web Sales of iPhones in NYC
CNET
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Dec 28, 2009 5:40 PM CST
(Newser) -
AT&T has lifted its ban on selling New York City residents iPhones online, but the reason for the shutdown remains unclear. Customer service reps at first said New York was not "ready for the iPhone," then offered nebulous explanations about "increased fraudulent activity" in the area. But a statement on AT&T's corporate...
Iran Regime's Days May Be Numbered
CNN
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Dec 28, 2009 5:33 PM CST
(Newser) -
The anti-government protests that started in Tehran this weekend show that the opposition movement still has plenty of fight in it—and could eventually topple the clerical regime. Though the fraudulent election was a full 6 months ago, the protesters, whose efforts reach the world on YouTube, appear uncowed by riot police and Basij strongmen....
Obama Interrupts Golf Game After Injury to Friend's Child
Honolulu Advertiser
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Dec 28, 2009 5:16 PM CST
(Newser) -
President Obama interrupted a round of golf this afternoon, raising concerns because an ambulance was seen at the home where he is vacationing, but all is well with the first family, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. A child vacationing with the Obamas suffered a "run-of-the-mill beach injury," according to a White House spokesman who...
TSA Backs Off Some New In-Flight Restrictions
MSNBC
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Dec 28, 2009 5:09 PM CST
(Newser) -
Two days after implementing stiff restrictions on carry-on items and in-flight entertainment, the TSA relaxed the new rules today, airline sources tell MSNBC . Passengers will be allowed to have blankets on their laps and leave their seats during the final hour of a flight, use electronic devices, and watch TV on flights that offer it.
TMZ's JFK Pic a Hoax
The Smoking Gun
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Dec 28, 2009 4:53 PM CST
(Newser) -
A photo touted by TMZ as a candid snapshot of John Kennedy partying on a boat with topless women has been revealed as a fake. The photo is plenty real—it appears in a 1967 Playboy spread alongside a story entitled "Charter Yacht Party: How to Have a Ball on the Briny with an Able-Bodied Complement of Ship's Belles." TMZ's version...
To Sell Your Mediocre Product, Just Add Sex
Ditchwalk
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Dec 28, 2009 4:42 PM CST
(Newser) -
Everyone knows sex sells—everything from Axe body spray to fast food. But behind the fog of marketing, what does it mean that a fast-food chain, for example, chooses Paris Hilton's gyrating form to sell you burgers? That it has nothing better to go on, writes Mark Barrett. Getting brand recognition for an indistinguishable product in a generic...
Meet the 'Right-Wing Hippie' Who Runs Whole Foods
New Yorker
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Dec 28, 2009 4:00 PM CST
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John Mackey is a libertarian, an adherent of Ayn Rand, a skeptic about climate change, a vegan, and the CEO of Whole Foods. The company does $8 billion in annual sales, but Mackey flies commercial and drives a Civic hybrid. Nick Paumgarten investigates this walking contradiction, described by a business associate as "the guy who, at these sort...
Obama Orders Security Team to Play Offense
Washington Post
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Dec 28, 2009 3:49 PM CST
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Breaking his public silence on the issue, President Obama said today the US "will not rest until we find all who were involved" in the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines plane. He has ordered a comprehensive review of the terrorism watch-list system. "The American people should be assured that we are doing everything possible...
Dow Climbs 27 as Year-End Rally Weakens
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 28, 2009 3:15 PM CST
(Newser) -
Stocks faltered but managed to reclaim most of the day's gains in the final hour of today's session. The day saw light trading volume and news of a bump in retail sales from MasterCard's SpendingPulse unit, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow gained 26.98 points to close at 10,547.08. The Nasdaq added 5.39, closing at 2,291.08. The...
'Overwhelmed' Polanski Thanks Supporters
Guardian (UK)
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Dec 28, 2009 2:45 PM CST
(Newser) -
In his first public comments since he was locked up in September, Roman Polanski has written a letter of thanks to French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and his many “unknown friends” around the world. “I would like every one of them to know how heartening it is when one is locked up in a cell, to hear this murmur of human...
Bizarre Collection Headed to Bush Library
Washington Post
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Dec 28, 2009 2:29 PM CST
(Newser) -
George W. Bush’s $300 million presidential library will be filled with documents, including many classified files. In all, it’ll boast roughly 68 million pages of documents, 175 million e-mails, 3,845,912 photos, and more videos than any previous president's library. But it’ll also have a wide array of “museum objects”—known...
Napolitano Backtracks, Says System Failed
Associated Press
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Dec 28, 2009 2:22 PM CST
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Facing a storm of criticism for saying "the system worked" in the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Janet Napolitano reversed course today. "Our system did not work in this instance," the Homeland Security secretary said. She added, "No one is happy or satisfied with that," and said the department was...
Al-Qaeda Offshoot Takes Responsibility for Northwest Incident
Associated Press
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Dec 28, 2009 1:53 PM CST
(AP) -
A group known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on a US airliner on Christmas Day, saying it was retaliation for a US operation against the group in Yemen. In a statement posted on the Internet, the group said 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab coordinated with members of AQAP, as the...
Next Year, You Might Actually Get a Raise
Fortune Magazine
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Dec 28, 2009 1:27 PM CST
(Newser) -
Unsurprisingly, 2009 was a grim year for many an employee’s wallet, with 85% of big companies doing away with across-the-board merit pay, but 2010 already looks a lot brighter. More than half the companies who froze salaries this year tell Fortune they plan to defrost them next year. Here’s a list of the people most likely to take home...
Health Care Reform Victory, Not Defeat, for Liberals
FiveThirtyEight
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Dec 28, 2009 1:03 PM CST
(Newser) -
Lately the left has been taking its lumps, courtesy of the conventional wisdom that health care reform passed over liberals’ objections. That’s just plain incorrect, writes Tom Schaller for FiveThirtyEight . A lingering narrative holds that liberals can’t govern because the left is so unmanageable. But progressives provided most...
The Year's Worst Commercials
Slate
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Dec 28, 2009 12:32 PM CST
(Newser) -
If Hollywood makes a successor to Mad Men is set in this decade, some ads are going to seem really strange. For example, our prescription medicine spots, which already seem comical, will absolutely dumbfound people of the future, writes Seth Stevenson for Slate . And that’s before we get into the pooping bears. Watch some of the worst ads...
