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.
Domestic Violence Cited in Courtney Love Case
E! Online
|
Dec 24, 2009 3:47 AM CST
(Newser) -
Courtney Love’s rants against daughter Frances Bean Cobain may not have been restricted to Facebook: New court documents seem to hint at domestic violence. Cobain’s paternal grandmother and aunt filed a motion to seal all records of the custody proceedings from the public—including “allegations of domestic violence,” ...
Thieves Snatch Lobsters From LA Aquarium
Los Angeles Times
|
Dec 24, 2009 3:25 AM CST
(Newser) -
Two 30-pound halibut and 20 lobsters from an educational aquarium in Los Angeles are missing and presumed lunch. Officials at SEA Lab, which is visited by 20,000 schoolchildren a year, say thieves broke in and raided the tanks over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reports. They suspect the crooks sold their haul at markets, where the halibut...
France Moves to Ban Burkas
Christian Science Monitor
|
Dec 24, 2009 3:03 AM CST
(Newser) -
Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party has introduced a bill to outlaw the wearing of full-length Islamic veils in public places. Burkas and all-covering niqabs will be banned under the bill, which would fine women who fully cover their face in public, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
Backwards Lip Sync Vid a YouTube Hit
Associated Press
|
Dec 24, 2009 2:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
A wacky lip sync video at a Washington high school has become a YouTube hit. The video, filmed at Shorewood High School, at first looks like a straight-forward—though impressive—student music creation involving most of the school. But the crowds around the various singers seem to be performing strange feats of magic as paper airplanes,...
Santa Robs Nashville Bank
Independent (UK)
|
Dec 24, 2009 2:12 AM CST
(Newser) -
Nashville police are seeking a bad Santa who robbed a local bank and fled with a red sack full of cash. The man, dressed in a Santa suit and sunglasses, "took his little red sack and pulled out a gun and told everyone to be still," one witness said. "He was actually jovial, which was scary. He explained that he was robbing the bank because...
Health Care Victory is Sweet But Stinks
Washington Post
|
Dec 24, 2009 1:45 AM CST
(Newser) -
Getting a health care reform bill through the Senate is a historic victory for the Democrats but it's one you have to hold your nose to appreciate, writes David S. Broder. This should have been a proud moment for the Senate, but it instead degenerated into "a travesty of low-grade political theater" full of partisan anger and backroom deals,...
Kerry Mulls Iran Visit
Wall Street Journal
|
Dec 24, 2009 1:21 AM CST
(Newser) -
John Kerry is weighing plans to become the highest-ranking American emissary to visit Iran in over 30 years. White House officials won't oppose the visit, aimed at brokering an agreement on Iran's nuclear program. "This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would—and should—undertake," said...
Hey, Fetus People, Leave Irish Coach Alone
Reproductive Health Reality Check
|
Dec 23, 2009 11:33 PM CST
(Newser) -
Unrest in the University of Notre Dame community over the pro-choice views of new football coach Brian Kelly tees up Amanda Marcotte for a screed against what she calls the “Fetus People.” Where sportswriters ask what abortion has to do with college football, the Fetus People “haven’t met many issues they can’t make...
Suspect, 3 Hostages Leave Va. Post Office
Associated Press
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:32 PM CST
(Newser) -
The suspect in today’s hostage situation at a western Virginia post office looks to have surrendered to authorities, leaving the Wytheville building along with three of his apparent captives. The hostages came out with hands raised, WSLS-TV reports, followed by a man in a wheelchair, whom police with shields approached, along with an armored...
Own Ill Health Doesn't Keep Byrd From Voting on Reform
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:00 PM CST
(Newser) -
His own battles with ill health haven’t kept Democrat Robert Byrd from making it to the Senate for key milestones on the long road to the health-care reform vote scheduled for tomorrow morning. The 92-year-old—wheelchair-bound and with a live-in nurse after a recent hospital stay—has only added to his legend in the process, colleagues...
Pa. Dem Chris Carney Rejects GOP Overtures
Politico
|
Dec 23, 2009 9:14 PM CST
(Newser) -
Despite a Republican full-court press that included a call from Sen. John McCain, Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Carney won’t jump ship from the Democratic Party, he tells Roll Call . The GOP has gotten “nibbles” from Carney, a source told Politico earlier, leading to the call from McCain, a fellow Navy veteran who carried Carney’s...
Radio's Top Songs By Genre
The Onion (A.V. Club)
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:16 PM CST
(Newser) -
Feel like you heard Tim McGraw’s Something Like That about half a million times in the past decade? Well, the ratings folks at Nielsen will back you up on that, with their list of commercial radio’s most-played songs of the decade: Country: Something Like That , Tim McGraw, 487,343 plays Top 40: Yeah , Usher featuring Ludacris...
How to Make $96K as a Travel Blogger
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 5:54 PM CST
(Newser) -
Matt Kepnes is a 28-year-old Bostonian who's turned his passion for travel into a blogging gig that earns him up to $8,000 a month. He explains how in a New York Times interview. (Good publicity helps: His site, NomadicMatt.com , is down temporarily because of a traffic surge from the interview.) Some highlights: Who pays him: "It’s...
Florida, Nevada Shed People; Texas Gains
Washington Post
|
Dec 23, 2009 5:15 PM CST
(Newser) -
The recession has turned migration patterns on their heads in the last year. So-called magnet states in the West and South aren't so magnetic anymore, with Florida and Nevada starkly illustrating the trend. Earlier this decade, they both topped the growth charts, but now see more people on the way out than on the way in. Florida “was a growth...
Love It or Hate It, Tinsel Thrives at Cheap-O Xmas
Wall Street Journal
|
Dec 23, 2009 4:56 PM CST
(Newser) -
Decorating Christmas trees with tinsel is a divisive practice, but one thing proponents and detractors can agree on is its economy, a factor that appears to be the deciding one in this holiday season of scarcity. At the only
major US maker of the shiny plastic strips, sales are up 40% over last year....
Madoff Sent to Prison's Medical Wing
Bloomberg
|
Dec 23, 2009 4:19 PM CST
(Newser) -
Bernard Madoff has been transferred to the medical facility at the federal prison in North Carolina where he has been serving his 150-year sentence since July. A spokeswoman tells Bloomberg the Ponzi schemer was transferred on Dec. 18, but would not say why. Neither a federal prisons official nor Madoff’s lawyer would comment on his condition.
Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote
Associated Press
|
Dec 23, 2009 4:14 PM CST
(AP) -
Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle today, setting up a final vote at 7am tomorrow to pass the legislation. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster, with all 58 Democrats and two independents hanging together against unanimous Republican opposition. Tomorrow's vote got...
Sarandon, Robbins Call It Quits
People
|
Dec 23, 2009 4:12 PM CST
(Newser) -
Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon have split up after 23 years. The liberal luminaries never married, but they have two sons, ages 17 and 20. The two “have announced that they separated over the summer,” a Sarandon rep tells People . Past that, “no further comments will be made.” The two met while filming the baseball flick...
Teen Sailor Can Stay With Dad
Associated Press
|
Dec 23, 2009 3:39 PM CST
(AP) -
A Dutch court ruled today that 14-year-old sailor Laura Dekker can remain in her father's custody after she ran away from home and traveled alone to the Caribbean. The ruling clears the way once again for Dekker to pursue her goal of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world. "At this moment there is no reason to remove her from...
Vatican Praises The Simpsons' Take on God
Catholic News Service
|
Dec 23, 2009 3:25 PM CST
(Newser) -
The Vatican's newspaper sees right through Homer Simpson’s superficial ambivalence about—or even ignorance of—God to a soul that finds its “ultimate refuge in” the supreme deity. In a study of that great theological repository, The Simpsons , the editors of L'Osservatore Romano praise its portrayal of “modern...
Dow Edges Up 2 Points Despite Housing Data
MarketWatch
|
Dec 23, 2009 3:10 PM CST
(Newser) -
An afternoon surge in commodities prices helped the markets overcome a worse-than-expected report on sales of new homes, reports MarketWatch . The Dow gained 2 points to close at 10,466. The Nasdaq rose 17 points to 2,270. The S&P 500 rose 3 points to 1,121.
Credit Reform May Drain $9B in Holiday Sales
Bloomberg
|
Dec 23, 2009 2:46 PM CST
(Newser) -
The impending enactment of new credit card law is poised to rob retailers of $9 billion in holiday sales compared to last year. The law, designed to protect consumers from rates being raised on the sly and sneaky fees, already has led to lower credit limits and more rejected applications than usual. “Diminished availability of credit equals diminished...
Obama Plans Jobs Push Amid Health Care Delays
Politico
|
Dec 23, 2009 2:35 PM CST
(Newser) -
Barack Obama wants to switch gears and focus on jobs, energy, and deficit reduction, but he’s being hamstrung by a health care debate that he expects to stretch into February. Obama’s been told that disputes, particularly over abortion, will delay the eventual health care deal between the House and Senate, administration insiders tell ...
America's Greediest People
Too Much
|
Dec 23, 2009 2:12 PM CST
(Newser) -
These days, it’s easy to fill up a “greediest Americans” list. Just ask TooMuch.org , a site devoted entirely to “excess and inequality.” “We could fill an entire top 10 just with bankers from Goldman Sachs,” it boasts. The list: Larry Ellison: The really galling part isn’t the fortune he spent...
How Republicans Won the Economy Argument
New Republic
|
Dec 23, 2009 1:53 PM CST
(Newser) -
Republicans have won the political argument over the economy with a "nifty" two-step strategy, writes Jonathan Chait. First, blame President Obama for unemployment by focusing on the simple—make that simplistic—fact that more people are out of work now than when he took office. Second, beat him up even more as a whiner when he...
Onetime Gitmo Detainee Now a Top al-Jazeera Reporter
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 1:39 PM CST
(Newser) -
Sami al-Hajj was a cameraman when US forces captured him in 2001, but now, a year after his release from Guantanamo Bay, he’s mostly seen in front of a camera, as al-Jazeera’s special reporter on human rights. “I wanted to talk for seven years, to make up for the seven years of silence,” he tells the New York Times . Hajj hasn’t...
White House Telling Me to Zip It: Stupak
CNS News
|
Dec 23, 2009 1:25 PM CST
(Newser) -
The White House would really rather Bart Stupak keep his opinions about the abortion funding “compromise” in the Senate health care bill to himself, but the staunch rep isn’t playing ball. “They think I shouldn’t be expressing my views on this bill until they get a chance to try to sell me the language,” Stupak tells...
John McCain's Primary Race Gets Ugly ...
Huffington Post
|
Dec 23, 2009 12:51 PM CST
(Newser) -
The primary battle between John McCain and JD Hayworth is getting nasty, even though the two aren’t even technically opponents yet. Hayworth, a former congressman, conservative talk show host and noted tea partier, hasn’t yet filed to run against McCain, and says he still may decide against it, but McCain’s already resorted to push...
US Doesn't Need More Doctors
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 12:37 PM CST
(Newser) -
Teaching hospitals want to increase the number of medical residencies financed by the federal government by 15,000 from the current 100,000. Seems to makes sense: More doctors makes for a healthier nation, right? Wrong, write Shannon Brownlee and David Goodman. In fact, it would only make the nation's health care worse by "perpetuating a system...
Winehouse Charged in New Assault
Daily Mail (UK)
|
Dec 23, 2009 12:21 PM CST
(Newser) -
Amy Winehouse made quite a scene at the theater this past weekend and has been charged with assault as a result. \Winehouse attended a stage production of Cinderella , which was fine until police say she started shouting things like “He's f---ing behind you” and “F--- Cinders, Prince Charming, marry me” at the stage. The charming...
Blue Dogs Top Dems' Most Valuable List
FiveThirtyEight
|
Dec 23, 2009 12:08 PM CST
(Newser) -
How worthless for Democrats was turncoat Rep. Parker Griffiths? To find out, Nate Silver created a formula for determining the Democrats’ MVP for the year in the House. Choosing 10 key votes, he counted how often each rep votes with the party, then adjusted the tally based on how conservative their district was. As a result, many of the most...
Bin Laden Kids Under House Arrest in Tehran
Asharq Al-Awsat
|
Dec 23, 2009 11:52 AM CST
(Newser) -
A 17-year-old daughter of Osama bin Laden has escaped from house arrest in
Iran and is being assisted by the Saudi embassy there. Statements by a Saudi diplomat and bin Laden’s son, Omar, to Saudi paper Asharq Al-Awsat appear to clear up what has long been a murky situation with regard...
Balloon Dad Heene Gets 90 Days
ABC
|
Dec 23, 2009 11:49 AM CST
(Newser) -
Richard Heene, the mastermind behind the Balloon Boy stunt, will be cooking up his schemes behind bars for 90 days after being sentenced today. After his sentence—a mixture of hard time and work release—is complete, he’ll serve four years of probation, ABC News reports. The lowest blow? During that time, the judge says, “Mr....
Avatar Success Sparks 3D Rush in Tinseltown
The Wrap
|
Dec 23, 2009 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) -
The unexpected-by-some success of Avatar ’s 3D iteration has sparked a flurry in Hollywood, with big names screaming for the chance to make their audiences wear funny glasses. Sharon Waxman has it on good authority that Ridley Scott wants his upcoming Robin Hood flick released in 3D, and that the studio that owns James Cameron’s own Terminator...
Jolie: Not Hot on Fidelity
Telegraph (UK)
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:52 AM CST
(Newser) -
OK, so she's not making out with her brother or wearing vials of blood around her neck these days, but Angelina Jolie thinks monogamy ain't all it's cracked up to be. "I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. It's worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterwards," the mom of six tells Das Neue, as...
That Menu Is Playing With Your Mind, Wallet
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) -
In the recession, restaurants casual and white tablecloth alike are desperately updating one of their secret moneymakers: the menu. Numerous studies have concluded that customers spend more when items have sumptuous descriptions, a relative’s name is included, or, most importantly, the $ sign is banished entirely. Whether you can conscience it...
French Students Protest for Right to Dress Sexy
Independent (UK)
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:16 AM CST
(Newser) -
Teenagers across France are launching titillating protests, fighting for their right to dress naughtily in school. The protests began at a school in Essonne, where 300 of the school’s 2,100 pupils came to school in miniskirts or Bermuda shorts. Soon after, some 200 students took to the streets in Gironde, protesting their school’s dress...
Pakistani Taliban Commander: We're Surging, Too
Associated Press
|
Dec 23, 2009 10:06 AM CST
(AP) -
A top Pakistani Taliban commander says he sent thousands of fighters to neighboring Afghanistan to rebuff incoming US troops, a claim that comes as a Pakistani army offensive is believed to have pushed many of his men to flee their main redoubt. Waliur Rehman told the AP in an exclusive interview Monday night that the Pakistani Taliban remain committed...
I Saw China Wreck the Copenhagen Talks
Guardian (UK)
|
Dec 23, 2009 9:51 AM CST
(Newser) -
Barack Obama is getting the blame for the limp Copenhagen deal, but Mark Lynas knows it was China that really scuttled it—because he watched it happen. Sitting in on the closed-door meetings, the Guardian writer “saw Obama fighting desperately to salvage a deal, and the Chinese delegate saying ‘no,’ over and over again.”...
Firefox Heads for Cell Phones
BBC
|
Dec 23, 2009 9:39 AM CST
(Newser) -
The release of Firefox's Fennec browser for mobiles is imminent after more than a year of development. Mozilla exec Jay Sullivan says the browser is being put through final testing and will likely be available for download before the end of the year. Fennec —which synchronizes mobiles with the desktop version of Firefox—will be available...
BlackBerry Email Restored After 8-Hour Outage
Associated Press
|
Dec 23, 2009 9:15 AM CST
(AP) -
BlackBerry email service in North America was restored this morning following its second outage in less than a week. Research In Motion said the root cause of the 8-hour lapse is still under review, but a flaw in two recently released versions of its BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging software appears to be the culprit. RIM has also provided a...
Worst Parents of 2009
New York Daily News
|
Dec 23, 2009 9:11 AM CST
(Newser) -
2009 will always be the year we first met Octomom, Jon and Kate’s divorce played out in the tabloids, and David Hasselhoff ruined Thanksgiving. And those aren’t the only bad parents of the year—the New York Daily News remembers the worst: Richard and Mayumi Heene: Convinced the world son Falcon was trapped in a runaway balloon—and...
Politics Played Major Role in Bailout Choices
Univeristy of Michigan
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:53 AM CST
(Newser) -
Banks with ties to lawmakers were a lot likelier to get bailout cash than their less well-connected counterparts, according to a University of Michigan study unlikely to surprise bailout critics. Researchers crunching data on the 700 institutions that received TARP funds found that those with connections to members of congressional committees or...
Model Lara Stone: 'People Still Call Me Fat'
Vogue
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
At 5’10” and a size 4, Lara Stone isn’t exactly poster girl for the obesity epidemic, yet that’s exactly what some call her, thanks to her position as one of the largest—er, curviest—supermodels out there. “What they say is ‘curvy,’ but you know they mean 'fat,' ” Stone tells Vogue . After...
How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both
New York Times
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:32 AM CST
(Newser) -
The House will need to make a lot of last-minute sacrifices when combining its health care bill with the Senate’s, but if legislators play their cards right, the final bill could be a stronger beast. The Senate must stand by its strong cost control mechanisms, writes David Leonhardt of the New York Times . The “Cadillac tax,” the...
Sasha, Malia Dish on White House Christmas
People
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:29 AM CST
(Newser) -
The first family—minus the president, but plus the first dog—talked about their first White House Christmas yesterday, but Michelle Obama wouldn’t spill any secrets on what’s waiting for Barack under the tree. Malia told patients at the Children’s National Medical Center about the 26 trees decorating her new home, but...
Top Chinese Dissident Goes on Trial
Times (UK)
|
Dec 23, 2009 8:21 AM CST
(Newser) -
Liu Xiaobo, one of the Chinese government’s top critics, went on trial today in Beijing, for, unsurprisingly, criticizing the government. Charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” Liu pleaded not guilty, but the trial lasted just two hours, the Times reports. The verdict, and sentence, are scheduled to be handed down...
Palin Bans Bloggers From Book Signing
Anchorage Daily News
|
Dec 23, 2009 7:47 AM CST
(Newser) -
Dying to attend one of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue book signings? Better make sure you’re not on the banned list first. It includes four names so far, one of whom hasn’t been identified. The first three: Jesse Gryphen: An Alaska kindergarten teacher who posted Palin divorce rumors on his blog, refusing to take them down even...
AIG Execs Ignore Vow to Return Bonuses
Washington Post
|
Dec 23, 2009 7:30 AM CST
(Newser) -
Execs at the AIG division responsible for the company's downfall have decided they deserve those hefty bonuses after all. Top earners at the bailed-out company promised to return $45 million in bonuses by the end of this year amid public outrage at the payments, but only some $19 million has been returned, the Washington Post reports.
Bachmann Farm Reaped $252K in Gov't Subsidies
Truthdig
|
Dec 23, 2009 7:18 AM CST
(Newser) -
Rep. Michelle Bachmann is one of the Capitol's most vocal opponents of socialized medicine—but she's happy to take government handouts for socialized dairy and corn, writes Yasha Levine. Records show that the Minnesota Republican's family farm raked in almost $252,000 in agricultural subsidies between 1995 and 2006, Levine writes at Truthdig...
