Newser Story Index from March, 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.
30K Post Questions for Obama's Web 'Fireside Chat'
CNN
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Mar 26, 2009 6:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama launches his online “fireside chat” today at 11:30am EST, answering questions from among the tens of thousands posted directly to the White House website, CNN reports. Some 70,000 questions had been posted by early this morning, the AP reports. More than a million votes have been cast as to which questions the president...
UK Fails to Sell Its Top Bonds
Telegraph (UK)
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Mar 26, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Britain's central bank yesterday failed to complete its auction of government bonds for the first time in over a decade, reports the Telegraph . The auction of 40-year gilts fell short a day after the Bank of England governor warned that the country could not afford a second fiscal stimulus, as proposed by Gordon Brown. But doomsayers were proved...
New York to Roll Back Strict '70s Drug Laws
New York Times
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Mar 26, 2009 5:40 AM CDT
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New York's governor and legislative leaders have agreed to repeal some of the nation's most draconian drug laws, the New York Times reports. The move to dismantle strict mandatory sentencing guidelines set down in 1973 means judges will have the option of sending many first-time nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of jail.
Tent Cities Sprout Across US
New York Times
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Mar 26, 2009 5:08 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Cities across the country are struggling to deal with mushrooming shantytowns, reports the New York Time s . In a chilling echo of the Great Depression, tent cities are springing up on vacant lots in smaller cities, while homeless encampments in larger cities are burgeoning as more and more people lose their jobs and homes.
Teen Date Stabbed Newsman 50 Times: Cops
New York Daily News
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Mar 26, 2009 4:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A disturbed teenager stabbed an ABC radio newsman 50 times during $60 sex arranged through the boy's satanic MySpace web page, reports the New York Daily News . George Weber was found dead in his bed earlier this week after the knife-obsessed hustler attacked him, the 16-year-old confessed to police. The teen was nabbed by cops after a subway conductor...
Bloomberg: We Will Pass Gay Marriage Bill
New York Daily News
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Mar 26, 2009 4:14 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A New York state law allowing gay marriage is inevitable, but it's unclear when it will pass, said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who vowed to throw his support behind such a bill. The Democrats who run the State Senate have not yet been able to round up enough votes for any such measure so the support of New York's Republican mayor may prove...
Scammed Law Student Wins Freeze of Madoff Bro Funds
Reuters
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Mar 26, 2009 3:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Brooklyn law student who lost a $500,000 inheritance in the Bernard Madoff scam has won a court order freezing the assets of the swindler's brother, reports Reuters. Peter Madoff was in charge the student's trust, which he invested in Madoff's s scheme. Peter Madoff was an executive officer of the investment company but has not been charged with...
French Workers Free Hostage Boss
BBC
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Mar 26, 2009 3:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Striking French factory workers have freed their boss after barricading him in his office south of Paris for nearly a day, the BBC reports. The manager of the 3M plant, who was released only after he agreed to renegotiate compensation packages for laid-off workers, said conditions "were not so bad" during his captivity, and he was glad the...
Octuplet Mom Loves Fame More Than Babies: Nurses
New York Daily News
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Mar 26, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Octuplet mom Nadya Suleman is more interested in media attention than in her babies, charged a spokeswoman for the free nursing staff axed this week by the multiple mom. "There's only a few hours beyond the time when the cameras were rolling that she actually came into the nursery when she was there to care for her babies—and that's wrong,"...
North Dakota Braces for Record Floods
ABC News
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Mar 26, 2009 2:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
North Dakota officials issued a plea for thousands more sandbaggers this morning as residents scrambled to prepare for record flooding expected this weekend, reports ABC News. Volunteers in Fargo are battling a blizzard to raise a wall of sandbags along the Red River, predicted to crest at a new high of 42 feet by early Saturday. Evacuation plans...
Shawn Johnson Stalker Busted at Dancing Lot
People
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Mar 26, 2009 2:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A man obsessed with Shawn Johnson has been arrested after jumping a fence in a bid to get on the set of Dancing With the Stars , People reports. Two loaded guns, duct tape, love letters and memorabilia featuring the 17-year-old Olympic gymnast were found in the man's car after he was stopped by security guards who found him roaming studio grounds....
Wii Becomes Fastest-Selling Console Ever
BBC
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Mar 26, 2009 1:42 AM CDT
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The Nintendo Wii has passed the 50 million milestone to beat out Playstation 2 as the fastest-selling game console, the BBC reports. The massive sales were beyond expectations, Nintendo boss Saturo Iwata said yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. He credited Wii's success to gaming's solid move into the mainstream.
Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight
Washington Post
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Mar 26, 2009 12:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post . In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which requires congressional...
Pilot Killed in Crash of F-22 Fighter Jet
Associated Press
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Mar 25, 2009 9:47 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The pilot aboard an F-22 fighter jet that crashed near Edwards Air Force Base this morning was killed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The F-22 Raptor went down during a test mission, and it wasn't immediately clear if the 49-year-old pilot ejected; no word yet on the cause of the accident. President Obama is to decide by next month whether to buy...
Steele on Limbaugh Flap: 'It's All Strategic'
Talking Points Memo
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Mar 25, 2009 9:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
RNC chief Michael Steele had been quiet for a while, but he brought that to an abrupt halt today with an interview on CNN. Steele did not rule out a future run for president—if it's part of God's plan for him—and suggested that his recent run-in with Rush Limbaugh was no gaffe but part of a grand strategy on his part, reports Talking Points...
Cantor Skips Obama for Britney Concert
Wonkette
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Mar 25, 2009 8:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The political blogosphere is having some fun tonight with the fact that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor attended the Britney Spears concert last night instead of dutifully tuning in to President Obama's press conference. Cantor's office confirmed to Wonkette that he took in the show, adding that he did so with Democrats as part of a "bipartisan"...
Taliban Gets Pakistani Aid for Afghan Fight
New York Times
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Mar 25, 2009 8:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It's no great secret that Pakistan's spy agency has long lent a helping hand to the Taliban, but the scale of that aid appears to be larger and more diverse than thought, the New York Times reports. The secretive ISI provides money, supplies, and help with strategic planning to the militants fighting in Afghanistan against US-led troops. ISI agents...
AIG Bonus Recipients in Europe Cry Blackmail
Reuters
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Mar 25, 2009 7:21 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Some AIG executives in Europe think the demands that they return their bonuses are tantamount to "blackmail," Reuters reports. In fact, a compliance officer for Banque AIG unit in London asked UK authorities to determine whether the demands for repayment constitute extortion. He encouraged others in an email to hold off repaying until...
Obama Meets With Dems to Push Budget
Politico
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Mar 25, 2009 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama visited Capitol Hill today for a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats to push for his budget plan. As Senate and House panels began debating their own versions, Obama urged Democrats to retain his budget's core principles on health care, energy, education, and deficit reduction. He also asked them to fight back against Republican...
Discovery Heads for Home
Space.com
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Mar 25, 2009 6:02 PM CDT
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The space shuttle Discovery and its seven-astronaut crew undocked from the International Space Station today after an eight-day mission, Space.com reports. Before heading toward earth, the shuttle flew around the station to get the first photos of its handiwork—the installation of a final set of solar panels that brought the station to full power....
Scientists Track Meteor to Earth for First Time
Wired
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Mar 25, 2009 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Scientists have accomplished a first by tracking an asteroid from space into Earth's atmosphere and down to a Sudanese desert, Wired reports. A team of searchers found about 280 small chunks of the meteor, all of a type never before collected. "This is like the first step toward a Rosetta Stone for classifying asteroids," says the co-author...
Housekeeper Sues Kobe Over Dog Poop
Orange County Register
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Mar 25, 2009 5:47 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A former housekeeper for Kobe Bryant is suing the NBA star and his wife for wrongful termination, the Orange County Register reports, alleging that Vanessa Bryant “badgered, harassed, and humiliated” her and, as punishment for a laundry mistake, made her pick up dog droppings with bare hands. Maria Jimenez, fired last March, is seeking...
China Uses 'the Pill' to Stop Gerbil Overpopulation
BBC
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Mar 25, 2009 4:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Chinese officials have resorted to contraceptive pills to control the exploding gerbil population threatening a fragile desert ecosystem, the BBC reports. The government is placing feed pellets mixed with the medication by the gerbils’ burrows, which damage the roots of what plants survive there. Authorities have tried measures to boost gerbil...
Solitary Confinement: Looks a Lot Like Torture
New Yorker
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Mar 25, 2009 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Rhesus monkeys raised in isolation are anti-social, catatonic, and profoundly disturbed even after they are introduced to their peers. The same is true of humans kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time, whether as hostages or prisoners, writes Atul Gawande in the New Yorker . As months roll on, captives feel their minds slipping...
Armstrong Embraces His Pain
Washington Post
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Mar 25, 2009 4:26 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Lance Armstrong underwent surgery today to repair his shattered collarbone, and Sally Jenkins, in the Washington Post , says he seems almost happy to be “reunited with his old friend”—pain. “Most people’s natural reaction is to avoid pain, to anesthetize it, dull it, or kill it. But Armstrong frankly welcomes it. His...
N. Korea Readies Missile for Launch
Reuters
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Mar 25, 2009 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
As the date of a promised “satellite launch” nears, North Korea has placed a long-range ballistic missile on the launch pad used for earlier test firings, Reuters reports. South Korea, Japan, and the US plan to seek UN sanctions if the nuclear power goes forward with what analysts believe will really be the test of a three-stage rocket...
'Miss Cleo': TV Psychic to Lesbian Activist
Miami Herald
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Mar 25, 2009 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Remember Miss Cleo? Her thick Caribbean accent is familiar to many late-night TV watchers, from pitches for the Psychic Readers Network. The Miami Herald finds that since the lawsuit that took down Youree Dell Cleomili Harris’ former employer, she’s come out as a lesbian, voice-acted in a video game, released a spoken-word CD, and now...
Colbert + Stewart = Cronkite: 30% of Young Viewers
Huffington Post
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Mar 25, 2009 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Nearly 39% of under-40 Americans say satirical shows like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are keeping viewers politically informed, and 21% believe they influence public opinion, a poll finds. But the verdict is split on whether such shows’ success indicates that comedic delivery is replacing traditional news: 30% of those ages 18 to...
NFL Commish Pitches Longer Regular Season
Associated Press
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Mar 25, 2009 3:17 PM CDT
(Newser) -
If you think the NFL preseason is too long, you have good company: Roger Goodell does, too. And unlike you, the NFL commissioner can do something about it. Goodell wants to extend the regular season from 16 games to 17 or 18 and shorten the exhibition season, the AP reports. The players union and the league’s TV partners would have to sign off,...
Dow Wavers, Finishes Up 90
Wall Street Journal
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Mar 25, 2009 3:07 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks wavered today, with the indices posting gains but off session highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. A rise in durable-goods orders stoked an early rally, but enthusiasm was tempered by weak demand for US Treasuries in an auction. The Dow dipped into losses in the afternoon, but closed up 89.60 at 7,749.81. The Nasdaq gained 12.43 to 1,528.95,...
Clinton in Mexico: US Demand Fuels Drug Wars
New York Times
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Mar 25, 2009 2:57 PM CDT
(Newser) -
America’s “insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade,” Hillary Clinton said in Mexico today, striking an unusually blunt tone in addressing the US role in that country’s disastrous drug-related violence. “Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals...
Indian Women Fight Extremism With Underwear
Times (UK)
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Mar 25, 2009 2:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A group of Indian women is fighting back against Hindu fundamentalism with an unlikely weapon: pink underwear, the Times of London reports. The “Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women,” a protest group, has encouraged women to send their pink underwear to the leader of the Sri Ram Sena, a fundamentalist group known for beatings...
Fighter Jet Down in Calif. Desert
Associated Press
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Mar 25, 2009 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) -
An Air Force F-22 fighter jet has crashed in the California desert near Edwards Air Force Base, the Los Angeles Times reports. The $140 million aircraft was on a training mission when it crashed this morning, and the fate of the pilot is unknown. The F-22, a supersonic stealth jet, is a new model, and the Air Force plans to buy 183 of them, the AP...
20 Years Later, Young MC Still Busts a Move
Rolling Stone
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Mar 25, 2009 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It’s been 20 years since self-described “1 Hit Wonder” Young MC released Bust a Move , but the rapper is happy the song has held up as well as it has, he tells Rolling Stone. People aren’t “going to get a babysitter to go to a club and hear about you shooting people and raping women,” he says. “They’ll...
Pilot Error Likely in Buffalo Crash
USA Today
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Mar 25, 2009 2:17 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Pilot error, not icing, appears to have caused the Continental Airlines crash in Buffalo that killed 50 people Feb. 12, an investigation report released today states. When a warning device alerted pilots they were flying too slowly, they pulled the plane’s nose up—rather than down, as pilots are trained to do—and disrupted airflow...
'Wait Until She's Sober': Pentagon Rep on Sex Crimes
New York Daily News
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Mar 25, 2009 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A House member is incensed that a Pentagon official, reporting a 25% increase in combat-zone sexual assault against women, said servicemen should “wait until she's sober,” the New York Daily News reports. “This woman is not in the right line of work,” Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, says of Dr. Kaye Whitley. Whitley said the...
Done With Marriage, Jen Mulls Being Single Mom
OK!
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Mar 25, 2009 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With John Mayer gone, Jennifer Aniston has sworn off marriage and any hope of finding a replacement for ex-hubby Brad Pitt. “She now realizes that Brad’s shoes are impossible to fill,” an insider dishes to OK! But the 40-year-old actress isn’t giving up all her dreams. “Jen wants to be a mom,” the source adds,...
Blacks Still Unequal in US: Report
CNN
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Mar 25, 2009 1:36 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Though a black family occupies the White House, inequality between African-Americans and whites persists in the US, a study by the Urban League says. Blacks are twice as likely to be jobless, three times more likely to be poor, six times more likely to have spent time in prison. A composite “equality index” puts the socio-economic status...
Peanut Scare, Economy Slam Girl Scout Cookie Sales
Boston Herald
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Mar 25, 2009 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Thanks to the economy, the peanut scare, and ugly winter weather, Girl Scout cookie sales are down 20% nationwide this year, the Boston Herald reports. Key programs are in danger of being cut, but the spirit of the young troopers is undimmed. “Not a lot of people on my street have breaks” at work, one youngster said. “I figure they...
Redoubt Eruption Burns Jindal
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
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Mar 25, 2009 1:21 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Mount Redoubt erupted in Alaska, but Bobby Jindal is feeling the heat in Louisiana, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Democrats are raking the governor over the coals for scoffing at “something called volcano monitoring” as an example of wasteful spending in his televised speech last month. “It’s not a laugh line and...
Vandals Target Former RBS Boss, Vow Further Action
Scottish Daily Record
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Mar 25, 2009 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
After the Edinburgh home of the former boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland was vandalized last night, an unknown group is warning of further attacks on financial figures, the Scottish Daily Record reports. Sir Fred Goodwin has been the focus of controversy since he took early retirement—complete with a $1 million annual pension—as the...
I Want Misguided Obama Policies to Fail: Thompson
CNN
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Mar 25, 2009 1:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Former presidential hopeful Fred Thompson today joined the chorus of Republicans rooting for President Obama’s recession spending to flop. “I want his policies that I believe take us in the wrong direction to fail,” he told CNN, warning that higher inflation and interest rates loom. “I’ll do everything I can to make him...
'Doomsday' in NYC: $2.50 Subway Fare OK'd
New York Daily News
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Mar 25, 2009 12:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Starting May 31, New Yorkers will have to pony up $2.50 to ride the bus or subway—even as the city’s public-transit system sees cutbacks in routes and schedules, the Daily News reports. Today’s vote by the Metropolitan Transit Authority to enact its so-called “doomsday budget” was necessary, officials said, because the...
Your Toddler's Listening, Really
LiveScience
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Mar 25, 2009 12:46 PM CDT
(Newser) -
If your toddler seems to be ignoring everything you tell them to do, take heart: They’re just squirreling that advice away for later, researchers tell LiveScience. “The good news is what we’re saying to our kids doesn’t go in one ear and out the other, like people might have thought,” said one. “It also doesn’t...
LA Parents May Have to Pay for Graffiti Cleanup
Los Angeles Times
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Mar 25, 2009 12:36 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Here’s a reason to rein in unruly teens: Los Angeles parents may soon be financially liable for their kids’ vandalism. Officials want to allow residents to turn graffiti cleanup over to the city, which would then allow it to sue the perpetrators, and their parents, to recoup some of the $7 million spent annually on the epidemic, the Times...
Italian Going 168mph Gets 4 Tickets in 1 Hour
ANSA (Italy)
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Mar 25, 2009 12:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
What's Italian for "leadfoot"? A Milanese man going 168mph was busted on four separate highway cameras in less than hour, ANSA reports. He was driving for his employer, whose lawyers argue that he should be responsible for just one infraction. They said they also plan to cite a court ruling that says signs identifying cameras must be...
Obama to Announce New Cuba Travel Rules in Spring
Florida Keys Keynoter
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Mar 25, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama will travel to Key West this spring to announce the softening of travel restrictions to Cuba, the Washington Times reports. New rules will tweak the decades-long embargo to allow more US citizens to visit. Currently, only individuals such as journalists or researchers with specific business can travel to the island. The administration...
Recession a Long-Term Bummer for SoCal, Dude
Washington Post
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Mar 25, 2009 12:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The recession hit Southern California earlier and harder than almost any other part of the country—and it’s likely to linger a lot longer too, Steve Pearlstein writes in the Washington Post . The area played a “central role in the Bubble Economy,” and now, being the “capital of conspicuous consumption” is a bad...
Post Office Begs for Congress' Help
Associated Press
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Mar 25, 2009 12:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Postal Service can’t pay all of this year’s bills, the postmaster general warned Congress today as he proposed shedding $6 billion in costs and Saturday service. He clarified that the agency—which doesn’t get taxpayer subsidies—wants Washington’s help, not a bailout. Due to declining mail volume, this year’s...
His Dad's Death, Not Plath's, Spurred Hughes Suicide
Times (UK)
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Mar 25, 2009 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Nicholas Hughes’ depression and eventual suicide were caused by the loss of his father in 1998, the Times reports. The younger Hughes and his father shared a special bond, and when Ted Hughes died, renowned fish biologist Nicholas “lost the relationship that mattered most to him,” a friend said of Hughes, whose mother, poet Sylvia...
