Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

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.

Top Scientist: Global Warming Worse Than We Thought
BBC | Feb 14, 2009 9:38 PM CST
(Newser) - You know all those dire warnings about global warming? They're actually too optimistic, says a top scientist in the field. The climate is going to heat up much faster than anticipated over the next century, with more environmental damage as a result, said Chris Field of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The main culprit is a sharp increase...
GM Talks Die, Chrysler's Stall as Deadline Looms
Reuters | Feb 14, 2009 8:03 PM CST
(Newser) - The UAW broke off crucial talks with GM today, only 3 days before the beleaguered company is scheduled to submit restructuring plans to Washington, Reuters reports. At issue were retiree healthcare costs that executives want to replace partly with shares in a recapitalized GM. "It doesn't seem like the stakeholders are really prepared to...
Rihanna in Barbados, Has 'Bruising': Dad
People | Feb 14, 2009 7:28 PM CST
(Newser) - Rihanna's father says she has suffered "some bruising" but is recovering well in Barbados, People reports. "At some point, she will speak out," said Ronald Fenty, 55. "I hope she will stand up for women all over the world." Fenty wouldn't tell her to leave boyfriend Chris Brown, who allegedly attacked her last weekend,...
Author Leaks NIU Gunman's Secret Past
CNN | Feb 14, 2009 7:00 PM CST
(Newser) - The student whose killing spree took five lives and injured 18 at Northern Illinois University had a history of mental illness and revered figures like Adolf Hitler and Ted Bundy, CNN reports on the first anniversary of the attacks. Steven Kazmierczak even wore a tattoo depicting Jigsaw, the Saw films' sadistic narrator, and had a history of...
Ecstasy Lands Brazilian Elite in Jail
New York Times | Feb 14, 2009 6:26 PM CST
(Newser) - Brazil’s battle against the rising use of Ecstasy has shifted from the slums to the upscale suburbs, the New York Times reports. Now university-educated “playboys” are targets of drug enforcement officials out to stop dealing in the pulsing rave scene. Last week, federal police officers arrested and charged 55 people, many from...
Flight 3407 Landed Flat, Didn't Dive: NTSB
Buffalo News | Feb 14, 2009 6:01 PM CST
(Newser) - Defying eyewitness accounts, investigators said today that Continental Flight 3407 landed flat, not nose-first, the Buffalo News reports. The plane's parts are lying "where they should be if an airplane was laying flat," said National Transportation Safety member Steven Chealander. The turboprop was also pointing away from its intended...
Phoenix On 'Internal Exploration' Tour
ABC News | Feb 14, 2009 5:37 PM CST
(Newser) - Bizarre behavior aside, Joaquin Phoenix does have ambitions for his new career in rhyming, as he revealed in an interview with ABC News. “I want it to be big,” he said of his debut album, which is in the works. “Not big like popular. I want it to really try and be, for me, the culmination of my life thus far.” Don’t worry,...
Ex-Roomie Saw Scratch on Knox's Neck
Telegraph (UK) | Feb 14, 2009 5:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Amanda Knox wore a mysterious mark on her neck only hours after her roommate’s fatal stabbing, a witness testified today at Knox's murder trial. “I noticed it because it was known that Meredith had been killed by a wound to her neck,” said former roommate Laura Mezzetti, who suggested that victim Meredith Kercher wounded Knox before...
Let's Face It: Michelle 'Is Not Exceptional'
Washington Post | Feb 14, 2009 4:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Before Michelle Obama’s acolytes start enshrining her portrait next to Mother Teresa's and Mahatma Gandhi's, Robin Givhan hazards a word of sacrilege: “Obama is extraordinary, but she is not exceptional.” The Washington Post columnist chastises the first lady’s virulent defenders, who are “intent on keeping the path...
Designer Loses It When Dupre Crashes Show
Women's Wear Daily | Feb 14, 2009 4:27 PM CST
(Newser) - A horrified fashion designer dumped his publicist after Ashley Dupre got into his New York show last night, Women's Wear Daily reports. Yigal Azrouël was "shocked" to see Eliot Spitzer's ex-call girl sitting in the front row. "You have to understand, I'm putting so much effort into what I do that this is emotionally hard," he...
For Chavez, the End Is Near
Washington Post | Feb 14, 2009 4:04 PM CST
(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has a slight lead in tomorrow’s referendum that would allow him to extend his rule in Venezuela, but the realities of the country’s economy make the issue “mostly irrelevant,” Edward Schumacher-Matos writes in the Washington Post . No matter the outcome, his days are numbered. The steep drop in the value of oil,...
Crisis Hits New Zimbabwean Government
Times (UK) | Feb 14, 2009 3:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Just 3 days old, Zimbabwe’s unity government is already in crisis, the Times of London reports. Robert Mugabe’s agents arrested a top deputy to new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and charged him with treason, unleashing fierce protests and more Western skepticism about the government’s prospects. Hours earlier, an optimistic Tsvangirai...
Jeb Sees GOP as Reform Party
Wall Street Journal | Feb 14, 2009 3:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Jeb Bush cringes at the idea of running for office again, but that doesn’t mean he lacks bold vision for the Republican Party, writes Fred Barnes in the Wall Street Journal . Bush thinks the GOP should morph into a reform party, starting with the states. “A real effort to play offense outside of Washington in advancing a reform agenda”...
Stop Shopping, Spend $$$ on Good Times: Study
Los Angeles Times | Feb 14, 2009 3:02 PM CST
(Newser) - Can you buy happiness? Maybe, but don't try buying it at the mall, according to a new study, which concludes that spending money on experiences—like a vacation or a night out—will make you happier than spending it on shoes. Researchers say that’s likely because experiences tend to be social, and yield positive memories as a kind of...
Vital Portraits Are Sad Coda to Plane Crash
New York Times | Feb 14, 2009 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) - It was just last month that a plane crash was a cause for celebration, as relieved Americans hailed the miracle landing on the Hudson. But now, after Thursday’s fatal crash in a quiet New York hamlet, the portraits of 50 vibrant, varied lives snatched away on a cold, foggy night are surfacing, Ray Rivera writes in the New York Times.
Blago Asked Burris for $10K in Cash
Chicago Sun-Times | Feb 14, 2009 2:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's camp asked Roland Burris for money before nominating him to take Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Burris revealed the request, for up to $10,000 in campaign contributions, in an affidavit dated Feb. 5—3 weeks after he was sworn in. Burris didn't mention the request during Blagojevich's impeachment...
Farrah Sues Over '70s Poster
TMZ | Feb 14, 2009 2:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Farrah Fawcett is suing for a minimum of $100,000 in a rights dispute over her legendary 1970s swimsuit photo, TMZ reports. The actress says two companies have been using the image—which once adorned bedroom walls the world over—without her permission and asserts that she owns all the rights. The suit names Bio-Graphics, Pie International,...
Texting on Dates? Just Hang Up
Associated Press | Feb 14, 2009 1:44 PM CST
(Newser) - Texting may be a ubiquitous form of communication, but you might want to put away that handset when you’re sitting across from a first date, writes Martha Irvine for the AP. "Oh, the fun of pretending to be interested in what someone else is typing to someone you don't know,” said one miffed dinner partner, who likely won’t call...
Stop Levitating, Start Governing: Kristol
Weekly Standard | Feb 14, 2009 1:35 PM CST
(Newser) - One of William Kristol’s favorite highlights of the new stimulus is the $8 billion reserved for a high-speed levitating train connecting Disneyland and Las Vegas. It wasn’t in the House bill and got just $2 billion in the Senate’s version, so they “compromised” on $8 billion. And where was Obama amid this grand compromise?...
Single? Where Not to Go Today
Travel Leisure | Feb 14, 2009 1:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Valentine’s Day can be exhausting—for singles looking to avoid nauseating sightings of canoodling lovers. Travel and Leisure magazine offers tips on how to sidestep Cupid: Ditch New England B&Bs for “groovy southwestern spas known for their (cough, cough) group activities.” Candlelit restaurants are “a...
Aaron: Let Bonds Keep Record
Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Feb 14, 2009 12:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Maybe you think Bud Selig ought to void Barry Bonds’ chemically-bolstered home run record, but Hank Aaron does not. “I just don’t see how you really can do a thing like that,” the former, and just maybe future, home-run king told Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It belongs to Barry. No matter how we...
Western Tourists Return to Iraq (With Armed Guards)
Telegraph (UK) | Feb 14, 2009 12:19 PM CST
(Newser) - A group of tourists is heading to Iraq next month for a whirlwind tour of a dozen sites including Baghdad, Babylon, and Basra, the Daily Telegraph reports. It’s the first time Westerners have dared vacation in the country since 2003, and the Surrey-based Hinterland Travel organizing the tour isn’t taking any chances. The travelers will...
Glaxo to Cut Drug Prices in Developing World
Guardian (UK) | Feb 14, 2009 11:25 AM CST
(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline’s new boss has proposed a radical rethinking of big pharma in developing countries: He plans to cut prices, offer portions of profits to hospitals, and loosen his firm’s grip on patents that keep prices up, the Guardian reports. “I think it's absolutely the kind of thing large global companies need to be demonstrating,...
Indian Women Fight Back With Pink Panties
Radio Free Netherlands | Feb 14, 2009 11:10 AM CST
(Newser) - An extremist group opposed to young couples in India celebrating Valentine's Day is being deluged by pink panties, reports Radio Netherlands. The protest—organized after members of Sri Ram Sena attacked women drinking in pubs and vowed similar action today—seems light on the surface but actually is a sign of the deep religious, political,...
Bernanke's Childhood Home Foreclosed On
Wall Street Journal | Feb 14, 2009 10:47 AM CST
(Newser) - “This is where it all happened,” says the new owner of a modest ranch house in Dillon, SC. This is the house Ben Bernanke grew up in, and though his family sold it long ago, it’s a tad ironic that it was just bought in a foreclosure sale. A wave of plant closings have pushed Dillon’s unemployment up near 14.2%, the Wall Street...
Suspected US Strike Kills 30 in Pakistan
Los Angeles Times | Feb 14, 2009 10:33 AM CST
(Newser) - An airstrike in Pakistan’s troubled South Waziristan region, likely orchestrated by the US, has killed about 30 people, the Los Angeles Times reports. The dead are thought to be al-Qaeda or Taliban militants; the attack destroyed the compound of an associate of the Taliban leader suspected in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It's the deadliest...
Clinton Tells N. Korea to Scrap Nukes for Peace Deal
CNN | Feb 14, 2009 10:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Before heading to Asia tomorrow on her first trip as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton sent a clear message to North Korea: Scrap the nukes, drop the war talk, and reap the benefits of better relations with the US, CNN reports. Pyongyang's nuclear program is “the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia,” said Clinton. But...
Obama: I'll Move Fast on Stimulus
Reuters | Feb 14, 2009 10:02 AM CST
(Newser) - President Obama pledged quick action on the stimulus package after it passed the Senate last night, calling it “a major milestone on our road to recovery,” Reuters reports. “I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work,” Obama said in his...
Buffalo Survivor Recounts 'Miracle' Escape From Home
WBEN-AM (Buffalo) | Feb 14, 2009 9:48 AM CST
(Newser) - The plane slammed directly into their Buffalo home, but somehow Karen Wielinski and her daughter survived. “I heard a noise—planes do go over our house, but this just sounded very different,” Wielinski, 53, told WBEN radio. “The next thing I knew, the ceiling was on me.” She managed to crawl out, as did 22-year-old Jill,...
Spidey's Franco Earns Hasty Pudding Honors
Boston Globe | Feb 14, 2009 9:04 AM CST
(Newser) - This year's Hasty Pudding Man of the Year: Spider-Man villain and Milk co-star James Franco. He wore a blonde wig, purple heels, and a gold-spangled pineapple-shaped bra to collect his award from the Harvard theatrical troupe last night, the Boston Globe reports. Franco accepted his pudding pot in good cheer, despite some ribbing for Wicker...
Twitter Snags $35M in Venture Capital
Bloomberg | Feb 14, 2009 8:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Venture capital partners have poured another $35 million into Twitter, reports Bloomberg. The microblogging site said it still has money in the bank from its last round of financing, but the offer was too good to turn down. Twitter—which has grown ninefold in the last year but still lacks a revenue model—plans to use the cash to hire more...
Stimulus Slashes Bank Bonuses
Wall Street Journal | Feb 14, 2009 7:56 AM CST
(Newser) - A late addition to the stimulus package puts tougher restrictions on executive pay at bailed-out financial institutions, reports the Wall Street Journal . The rules go further than the Obama administration proposed, affect more employees, and could seriously crimp the culture of gargantuan bonuses. The big one: Bonuses can't exceed one-third...
GM: Give Us More Money or We'll Go Bankrupt
Wall Street Journal | Feb 14, 2009 7:17 AM CST
(Newser) - General Motors will put Congress between a rock and a hard place when it presents its turnaround plan next week, reports the Wall Street Journal . Insiders say the automaker will ask for at least another $5 billion in loans on top of the $13.4 billion already received to keep it going beyond the first quarter, and will tell lawmakers its only other...
6 Digital Ways to Leave Your Lover
NPR | Feb 14, 2009 6:44 AM CST
(Newser) - If couples are having fewer public fights nowadays, it might be because they're busy liveblogging their entire breakup on Twitter, NPR reports. Beyond dumping the dude in 140 characters, here are six other ultra-modern ways to become uncoupled: Watch "The Break-Up Poem" on LiveVideo.com for tips on how to say "It's over"...
'Obama Effect' Gives Black Models a Boost
New York Times | Feb 14, 2009 6:06 AM CST
(Newser) - The figurative—and sometimes real—"Whites Only" signs in the fashion world are starting to come down in the wake of Barack Obama's election win, male models tell the New York Times . Fashion shows in the US and Europe are starting to more closely resemble the real world's diversity, the models say, and scouts are beginning to...
Mexicans Kiss Off Smooching Ban
Los Angeles Times | Feb 14, 2009 5:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Outraged Mexicans joined forces—and lips—to kiss away a city's efforts to ban public smooching, the Los Angeles Times reports. Guanajuato's law drew national ridicule and protesters soon started kissing en masse in front of city hall. Newspaper columnists and politicians lined up to defend the kiss as a treasured national institution....
Witness Says She Saw Bonds Being Injected
San Francisco Chronicle | Feb 14, 2009 4:56 AM CST
(Newser) - Prosecutors say they have a witness who saw Barry Bonds being injected by his trainer, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Kathy Hoskins, a personal assistant and friend of Bonds' since childhood, is expected to be a key witness at the slugger's perjury trial along with former Giants teammate Bobby Estalella, who says Bonds confessed to him that...
Satellites Eye Climate Change
Economist | Feb 14, 2009 3:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Japan and the US are using satellites to study global warming, the Economist reports. Last month Japan launched Ibuki—meaning breath—a satellite that will gather data from 56,000 points around the globe. America’s equivalent, the Orbital Carbon Observatory, will launch at the end of the month. Researchers hope to use data collected...
GOP Lawmakers Hail Hated Stimulus
McClatchy Newspapers | Feb 14, 2009 3:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Republican lawmakers aren't letting the fact they opposed the stimulus bill stop them from bragging now that it's passed, McClatchy Newspapers reports. A press release from Alaska Rep. Don Young boasted that he had won a victory for the state's small business owners in the bill's final version, but the lawmaker later blasted the bill as a "vehicle...
Lay Off, Cupid: Men Need Their Own Holiday
Christian Science Monitor | Feb 14, 2009 2:24 AM CST
(Newser) - If men had time to catch their collective breath after racing around town to find the right Valentine’s Day gift they would realize they’re getting the short end of Cupid’s arrow, Chuck Cohen rants in the Christian Science Monitor . “The truth is there are more guy-giving than guy-receiving days in the year,” Cohen declares....
Senate Passes Stimulus; Obama's Pen Is Next
Associated Press | Feb 13, 2009 10:06 PM CST
(AP) - In a major victory for President Barack Obama, Democrats muscled a huge, $787 billion stimulus bill through Congress late today in hopes of combating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the AP reports. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous. The Senate approved the measure 60-38 with three GOP moderates providing crucial...
'Rockefeller' Will Plead Insanity
Boston Globe | Feb 13, 2009 8:26 PM CST
(Newser) - Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, known as "Clark Rockefeller" to his alleged victims, will say temporary insanity inspired him to abduct his daughter last summer, the Boston Globe reports. In a court filing today, his lawyer said the accused conman was afflicted with a "mental disease or defect" during the 6-day kidnapping....
Absentee Ballot Ruling Hurts Coleman's Chances
TPM | Feb 13, 2009 7:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Minnesota judges handed Norm Coleman a setback today in his his bid for a Senate race recount against Al Franken, Talking Points Memo reports. In the preliminary ruling, the three-judge panel said 12 of 19 categories of rejected absentee ballots should not be tallied. "The facts do not show a wholesale disenfranchisement of absentee voters," they...
Nature Makes Us Smarter, So City Folk Are...
Newsweek | Feb 13, 2009 7:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Watching bears eat spiders on TV is fun, but do nature shows help restore our lost link with the natural world? Studies show that screen images of the great outdoors help workers relax and think clearly; an actual window onto leafy environs helps them destress even faster. "But what exactly is being restored by such immediate connection with...
Brown's Dad Says Singer Is 'Remorseful, Reflecting'
People | Feb 13, 2009 6:24 PM CST
(Newser) - Chris Brown's father came to the defense of his son today, saying the singer is "very remorseful," People reports. "He's reflecting on this situation... and he wants to make sure" that Rihanna is "okay," said Clinton Brown, 44, a corrections officer who lives near Tappahannock, Va. He said Chris is at home,...
ET Seekers Win Big Boost
Wall Street Journal | Feb 13, 2009 5:58 PM CST
(Newser) - The truth is out there, and now there’s funding to find it: Everyone from Bill Gates to Cameron Diaz is embracing the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), a movement transitioning from X-Files territory to the mainstream, the Wall Street Journal says. One astronomer left last week's prestigious TED conference with over $1...
Top Nail Grower Loses Claim to Fame in Wreck
Salt Lake Tribune | Feb 13, 2009 5:30 PM CST
(Newser) - The holder of the Guinness World Record for longest fingernails lost her honor in a traffic accident, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Lee Redmond of Utah, who started growing the nails in 1979 and reached a total length of 28 feet and 4.5 inches, suffered the loss of her prized appendages when she was ejected from a car in which she was a passenger....
Tweet Happens: Twitter Style Guide in the Works
New York Times | Feb 13, 2009 5:13 PM CST
(Newser) - A style guide for Twitter will hit iTunes by the end of the month, the New York Times reports. The e-book, 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form , will lay out key style points from the Twitter canon, supported with examples of notable Twitterers. Also covered are things one should not Twitter: posts on bodily functions or written in...
Controversial US Drones Based in Pakistan: Feinstein
Los Angeles Times | Feb 13, 2009 4:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Dianne Feinstein said today that Predator drones used to carry out attacks in Pakistan originate there, not in Afghanistan as had been widely assumed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation, which is likely to cause trouble for the Pakistani government, came during testimony by spy chief Dennis Blair. A rep for Feinstein said the information...
Buffalo Crash Likely Caused by Ice: NTSB
MSNBC | Feb 13, 2009 4:41 PM CST
(Newser) - The Continental turboprop plane that crashed last night near Buffalo, killing 50, was likely brought down by icing, MSNBC reports. The NTSB, which has recovered the cockpit voice recorder, said the crew talked about “significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and wings” before crashing into a suburban neighborhood. Other planes in the...
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne