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Newser Story Index from February, 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.

Calif. Court Blasts Violent Game Ban
GameSpot | Feb 20, 2009 8:49 PM CST
(Newser) - A federal appeals court ruled today that violent video games can be sold to minors in California, GameSpot reports. Upholding a lower court's decision, the judges struck down a state law that sought to ban the sale of violent games to those under 18. The law violated free speech rights, said the three-judge panel, which dismissed research suggesting...
Joyriding UK Soldier Crashes 2 Tanks
Guardian (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 8:10 PM CST
(Newser) - A few drinks apparently inspired a British soldier to go joyriding and crash two tanks today, the Guardian reports. The unnamed Desert Rat, stationed at the Bergen-Hohne army base in Germany, hopped in an armored vehicle and promptly drove it off the road. Undaunted, he walked back and commandeered another into a tree. German police nabbed the 18-year-old,...
Slumdog Kids Are Oscar-Bound
Associated Press | Feb 20, 2009 7:37 PM CST
(AP) - A world away from the slums where they live, the young stars of Slumdog Millionaire cruised Mumbai in an air-conditioned Toyota today, doing last-minute shopping and getting advice on the unimaginable: air travel. The Slumdog kids had just got the good news—they were going to the Oscars. "I feel very, very, very, very, very, very good,"...
Va. School Picks Drag Queen for Homecoming
Washington Post | Feb 20, 2009 7:06 PM CST
(Newser) - For the first time in years, students at George Mason University in Virginia are at odds over their homecoming queen—because he's a drag queen, the Washington Post reports. Senior Ryan Allen entered the competition as a lark, taking the floor at last weekend's basketball game against Northeastern in zebra-print pants and size 12 pumps. Now...
Reporter's Rant Provokes White House Ire
Wall Street Journal | Feb 20, 2009 6:30 PM CST
(Newser) - The White House struck back at a CNBC reporter today for loudly dissing President Obama's housing proposal on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rick Santelli’s 5-minute tirade, an Internet hit and apparent paean to conservatives, received a cool welcome from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "I’d...
Jindal to Turn Down Stimulus $$$ for Jobless
Politico | Feb 20, 2009 5:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Louisiana will refuse money from the federal stimulus plan aimed at increasing unemployment insurance, Gov. Bobby Jindal said today. The first governor to officially turn down stimulus dollars, Jindal said the expanded coverage could create higher unemployment insurance taxes down the road. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he will also likely forgo...
Grads: Be Glad You're Finally Free of This
Boston Globe | Feb 20, 2009 5:33 PM CST
(Newser) - The best asset an imploded Wall Street is providing this year’s college grads is their freedom, Ellen Goodman writes in the Boston Globe . During the boom, bright students streamed to Wall Street, but those days seem over. Sure, without a phalanx of white-collar recruiters after them, many have no job prospects and remain mired in debt—“It’s...
ESPN, Discovery Rank as Favorite Cable Channels
Multichannel News | Feb 20, 2009 5:09 PM CST
(Newser) - US viewers see ESPN and the Discovery Channel as the most indispensable cable networks, Multichannel News reports. A poll by Solutions Research Group asked 1,200 TV viewers which channels they thought of as “must keep.” The results: The top four spots went to the big networks. In order: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. The rest of the...
RIP Socks: Clintons' Cat Dies
People | Feb 20, 2009 4:48 PM CST
(Newser) - Socks is no more. The First Cat of the Clinton White House died today at the age of 20, People reports. The feline, who had lived with Bill Clinton’s former personal secretary, Betty Curie, since leaving the White House, was put down after a bout with throat cancer. “Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years,”...
White House to Burris: Think It Over
Chicago Tribune | Feb 20, 2009 4:43 PM CST
(Newser) - As the chorus urging Roland Burris to resign grows larger and louder, the White House today stopped just short of joining but sent an unmistakable "veiled threat," writes Frank James in the Chicago Tribune . At this afternoon's press briefing, Robert Gibbs' words were measured yet blunt: "I think it might important for Sen. Burris...
Yanks' Damon Stung by Stanford Scandal
Fox Sports | Feb 20, 2009 4:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Two New York Yankees—Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady— have had their finances frozen by the SEC in connection with the Stanford fraud scandal, Fox Sports reports. Both players kept their money in Stanford banks, and the SEC says they should have access to it in a few days. But “I can't pay bills right now," said Damon, who...
Madoff Bought No Stocks—for 13 Years
Bloomberg | Feb 20, 2009 4:12 PM CST
(Newser) - The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s companies said today the disgraced financier appears not to have purchased any securities for his clients for “perhaps as much as 13 years,” Bloomberg reports. It was “cash in and cash out,” Irving Picard said. "It was all just made up," a lawyer working with Picard said,...
Big-Mouth Amtrak Rider Announces Firm's Layoffs
Above the Law | Feb 20, 2009 3:54 PM CST
(Newser) - A venerable New York law firm is scrambling to do damage control after passengers on an Acela train heard about planned layoffs before the associates targeted for downsizing, Above the Law reports. A Pillsbury Winthrop honcho "was talking so loudly that I think most people in the car were able to hear him," a tipster/law student reported...
Madoff Bust Stokes Anti-Semitism in Palm Beach
ABC News | Feb 20, 2009 3:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s alleged mega-fraud and the large number of Jewish investors he apparently snookered is stoking anti-Semitic feeling in tony Palm Beach, ABC News reports. “It is a terrible thing to say, but some of the WASPs are delighted, they take great pleasure in this,” said an author who has written critically about the socially...
Dow Ends Sorry Week Off 101
MarketWatch | Feb 20, 2009 3:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Stocks lost value again today as talk of nationalizing top US banks spurred investors to sell financials, MarketWatch reports. The Obama administration tried to tamp down the nationalization chatter, but without success. Meanwhile, General Electric and General Motors fell 6% and 16%, respectively. The Dow lost 100.28 to close at 7,365.67. The Nasdaq...
Dodd Backs Nationalizing Banks; White House Doesn't
Bloomberg | Feb 20, 2009 3:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Chris Dodd says the US may have to nationalize the most troubled banks for “a short time” to save the financial system, Bloomberg reports. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee joined Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan in calling for serious consideration of nationalizing flailing institutions such as Bank of America and Citigroup....
In Asia, Clinton's on a Mission to Listen
Washington Post | Feb 20, 2009 3:06 PM CST
(Newser) - On her trip to China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, Hillary Clinton is making the most of long experience and enthusiastic crowds, the Washington Post reports. The secretary of state is on a listening tour, aiming to rehab the country's image. “There is a hunger for the United States to be present again,” she said. "Showing...
Cutbacks Hit Faith-Based Charities as Need Rises
Washington Post | Feb 20, 2009 2:55 PM CST
(Newser) - The recession has hit faith-based charities hard, threatening to cut off vital services for the sick, poor, and elderly, the Washington Post reports. With state and local budgets strapped for cash, contracts and grants for the groups—including the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities—have been slashed or delayed across the country. California,...
Madonna Divorce Details To Go Public
Daily Mirror (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) - The messy details of Madonna’s divorce from Guy Ritchie could be aired in public next month, the Daily Mirror reports. A New York judge will likely approve the child custody deal reached in the UK during open-court proceedings. “She is dreading it,” a pal told the Sun . “Their idea of hell is to have their differences laid...
LAPD Probes Leak of Rihanna Photo
Associated Press | Feb 20, 2009 2:26 PM CST
(Newser) - The photo of Rihanna’s bruised face posted on TMZ.com may be police evidence, the Los Angeles Times reports. The LAPD, which is investigating Chris Brown’s alleged beating of the pop singer, said the photo resembles those taken during official domestic violence investigations, which are strictly confidential. "A violation of this...
A-Rod Buddy Is MLB Pariah
New York Daily News | Feb 20, 2009 2:12 PM CST
(Newser) - A man who was once a close associate of Alex Rodriguez is suspected of trafficking in steroids and has been banned from non-public areas of big-league ballparks since 2001, the New York Daily News reports. Angel Presinal, called "an unsavory character" by one source, has been close to the superstar infielder since his days with the...
Stanford Had a Castle, Fleet of Planes
Bloomberg | Feb 20, 2009 1:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Say this for Sir Allen Stanford: He knew how to live large. The alleged fraudster once lived in his own Florida castle, complete with moat, and owned, among other baubles, $100 million worth of airplanes, Bloomberg reports. Those assets and others are detailed in court documents from a paternity case filed by Louise Sage Stanford, the mother of two...
Must Read a Must-See
Rotten Tomatoes | Feb 20, 2009 1:44 PM CST
(Newser) - If you’re looking for a fright at the movies, skip Friday the 13th and hunker down with Must Read After My Death . Using archived audiotapes and home movies, the documentary chronicles the tumultuous suburban marriage of the filmmaker’s grandparents, who “lived on the unmapped border between Revolutionary Road and clinical madness,”...
Bush's Top Neocon Denies Existence of Neocons
Washington Post | Feb 20, 2009 1:36 PM CST
(Newser) -  In real life, Richard Perle is the neoconservative mastermind who devised the Bush Doctrine and argued vociferously for the Iraq war. But apparently, Perle lives in a different world, writes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post . At a foreign policy forum yesterday, Perle insisted that: He is not a neoconservative. Neoconservatives...
Obama's Nightly Fix: BlackBerry Games
Star | Feb 20, 2009 1:33 PM CST
(Newser) - The president  uses his super-secure BlackBerry to keep in touch with pals back in Chicago. But he's also a closet gamer, Star reports. It seems Obama is a big fan of the game BrickBreaker. "He plays to unwind," an insider says. "Every night before bed, he gives it a few minutes." The prez's top score? "Around 15,000."
Nonprofits Are Going Bust, Too
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 1:26 PM CST
(Newser) - It's not just homeowners and businesses seeking bankruptcy protection in the cooling economic climate: Nonprofit organizations are hurting, too, and some aren't going to survive. With dwindling donations, tight loans, and stagnant state funding, social service charities and arts groups are running up huge debts, reports the New York Times . Under...
Massive Gamma Blast Spotted
Telegraph (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 1:15 PM CST
(Newser) - The strongest-ever gamma ray blast—a burst more powerful than 9,000 exploding stars—has been detected 12.2 billion light years away in deep space, reports the Telegraph. The blast took place in September in the constellation Carina, and produced energy up to 5 billion times that of light. Astronomers believe that gamma ray bursts occur...
Angie, Be a Bad Girl Again
Huffington Post | Feb 20, 2009 1:02 PM CST
(Newser) - Angelina Jolie may have an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but Kim Morgan misses “the crazy-movie-star deliciousness” of her bad-girl days, when she was a “gorgeous Vampira weirdo” playing insane roles and “quite nearly mashing on” her brother in a move that finally made the Oscars interesting again. Luckily,...
Stanford's Dad: 'I Hope He's Not a Crook'
Wall Street Journal | Feb 20, 2009 12:45 PM CST
(Newser) - “I can’t believe these allegations,” says James Stanford. The 81-year-old has recently been subpoenaed by the SEC about the actions of his now-infamous son, R. Allen Stanford, who’s accused of an $8 billion fraud scheme. Stanford sits on the Stanford Financial board but hasn’t been to a meeting in years. He hasn’t...
Credit Crunch Pinches Entire Lending System
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Banks aren’t lending, and to change that the government is propping up not just the banks but also the vast, largely unseen financial system that fuels them, the New York Times reports. Banks rarely keep the loans they make anymore; instead, debt is packaged into securities and sold, generating capital that funds more lending. The market for...
Ill. Gov to Burris: Quit Already
Chicago Tribune | Feb 20, 2009 12:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn today joined the chorus of politicians calling for Roland Burris to resign, urging him to step down "as quickly as possible for the best interests of Illinois," the Chicago Tribune reports. Said Quinn, who gained the office after Rod Blagojevich's ouster for attempting to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat: "This...
Clinton to China: Economy Trumps Human Rights
Telegraph (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 12:16 PM CST
(Newser) - The US still cares about human rights in China, but "those issues can't interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis," Hillary Clinton said today in Beijing. In fact, it's the economic mess that makes strengthening ties with China a priority, the Daily Telegraph reports. "When you...
Madonna, Boy Toy Get Ready for Oscars
OK! | Feb 20, 2009 12:05 PM CST
(Newser) - Madonna's Oscar night outfit will include one top-of-the-line accessory: 22-year-old model Jesus Luz. “Madonna and Jesus have spent all week planning their outfits," a friend told OK! Despite their 28-year age difference, "Madonna and Jesus’ romance is real," the pal added. "Madonna is planning on using the Vanity...
Back-Room Consensus: Require Health Insurance for All
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 11:55 AM CST
(Newser) - A series of unprecedented back-room meetings among the biggest players in health care is close to a consensus: Any new legislation will require that every American have insurance, the New York Times reports. The next part, of course, is trickier: figuring out how to enforce it, how to make it affordable, and whether to put the onus on employers....
At London Restaurant, You Set the Price
Times (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 11:43 AM CST
(Newser) - A London restaurant is letting customers pay what they think their meal was worth, and diners are packing the place, the Times of London reports. In the face of tough times, Little Bay owner Peter Ilic decided to run an experiment, writes Vincent Graff: “Will British reserve, and the fear that we will shame ourselves by paying too little and...
World Economy Cuts Mexican Migration by 50%
Associated Press | Feb 20, 2009 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Who needs a border fence when you have a shaky economy? That seems to be the message of Mexico's latest migration numbers, which show net emigration down by more than half for the year that ended in August 2008, compared with the previous 12 months. And the cause isn't more Mexicans abroad returning home, a government statistician tells the AP.
Katyn Horrific, Excellent
Rotten Tomatoes | Feb 20, 2009 11:15 AM CST
(Newser) - American art houses are finally getting a taste of Katyn, legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film about the World War II-era massacre of the same name, and critics are heaping yet more acclaim on it. AO Scott of the New York Times calls it “solemn and searing,” while Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer says...
Obama to Mayors: Use Stimulus Cash Wisely
Associated Press | Feb 20, 2009 11:01 AM CST
(AP) - President Obama says the $787 billion economic package will help struggling cities, but both Washington and the mayors have a responsibility to spend the money wisely. "We have asked for the unprecedented trust of the American people to deal boldly with the greatest economic crisis we have seen in decades—and the privilege of investing unprecedented...
Recession Hits the Oscars— Sort Of
People | Feb 20, 2009 10:57 AM CST
(Newser) - Even the Oscars are feeling the economic strain, People reports. Sure, there are still dozens of parties planned on the big day, but organizers are pumping up the “greenness” of the soirées and downplaying the extravagance— Vanity Fair  is using decorations from past events. Even those not scaling back are adopting a...
Rent for Kids Too Risque, Blast Parents, Schools
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 10:43 AM CST
(Newser) - The long-running Broadway musical Rent has been edited for the school stage, but the truncated version retains themes of drugs, AIDS, and homosexuality that have some administrators running scared, the New York Times reports. High school productions around the country have met with administrative and parental resistance, forcing organizers to cancel...
Lincoln Center's Concert Hall Dazzles
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) - While cities from LA to Copenhagen have unveiled stunning new concert halls in recent years, New York's Lincoln Center complex "seemed mired in indecision." But Alice Tully Hall, one of the center's smaller spaces, reopens to the public Sunday with a bold new design by the architects Diller Scofidio & Renfro. For New York Times...
Brit Reality Star Prepares to Die on Camera
New York Times | Feb 20, 2009 10:20 AM CST
(Newser) - Ever since she appeared on Big Brother at age 21, Jade Goody has captivated a British public willing to eat up every detail of the working-class reality star's life. Now that the 27-year-old has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the public may have the chance to watch her die, reports the New York Times .
Burris Launched Senate Bid in Fall Call
Chicago Tribune | Feb 20, 2009 10:10 AM CST
(Newser) - Roland Burris’s effort to get into the Senate looks more elaborate every day. John Filan, a former aide to Rod Blagojevich, now says he got a call from Burris some time in the fall, expressing interest in a Senate appointment, the Chicago Tribune reports. Burris reiterated his interest, and asked Filan to “put in a good word for me,”...
Missing, Not Missed: CEOs in Obama Cabinet
Politico | Feb 20, 2009 10:02 AM CST
(Newser) - To the multitude of differences between the Obama administration and its predecessors, add the absence of corporate CEOs from Cabinet meetings. The reason is simple, reports Politico: There aren't any. Recent Wall Street-to-Washington catastrophes such as the Bush Treasury Department aren't the only reason, either. "Obama’s more...
Fired Up Delivers Lukewarm Laughs
Rotten Tomatoes | Feb 20, 2009 9:53 AM CST
(Newser) - The raunchy teen comedy Fired Up delivers a few chuckles but isn't anything to cheer about, say critics. Thirtyish actors Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen play a pair of high school football jocks who go to cheerleading camp to meet babes, but the duo's comic energy is "weighed down by formula," Claudia Puig writes in USA Today....
Times, McCain Lobbyist Spar Over Settlement
Politico | Feb 20, 2009 9:42 AM CST
(Newser) - Vicki Iseman’s lawsuit against the New York Times ended not with money changing hands, or a retraction, but with what Iseman’s lawyer have dubbed a retraction of an "implication"—which allows both parties to declare victory, Politico reports. The paper issued a statement that it never claimed the lobbyist had an affair...
Wrestler 's Steroid Dealer Busted—for Steroids
New York Daily News | Feb 20, 2009 9:30 AM CST
(Newser) - In a case of life imitating art, the actor who plays a steroid dealer in The Wrestler was busted for dealing steroids, the New York Daily News reports. Investigators had Scott Siegel under surveillance for steroid trafficking, and arrested him Wednesday night after a car chase that ended with Siegel smashing into five police cars. Authorities found...
Thais Woo Tourists With New Cocktail
Guardian (UK) | Feb 20, 2009 9:18 AM CST
(Newser) - Thailand's tourism authority is hoping the Siam Sunray will wash away the lingering aftertaste of airport anarchy, the Guardian reports. The newly invented cocktail—made with vodka and traditional Thai ingredients like Kaffir lime and lemongrass—was unveiled yesterday as part of a campaign to bolster a tourism industry battered by the...
Consumer Prices Up 0.3% in January
Associated Press | Feb 20, 2009 9:07 AM CST
(AP) - Consumer prices rose by 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said today, the biggest monthly increase since a 0.7% rise in July. Higher energy costs fueled the climb, and most economists and the government believe the recession will keep prices in check this year. That's because inflation has been flat over the past year, the lowest reading in more...
Clinton Gives Obama High Marks, Blasts Bush
ABC News | Feb 20, 2009 9:00 AM CST
(Newser) - Bill Clinton knows a thing or two about dealing with recalcitrant Republicans, and he has some advice for President Obama: "It takes two to tango." The ex-president tells ABC News he gives Obama an “A” for his performance so far, along with a warning about appearances. “I just want the American people to know that he's...
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