Newser Story Index from May, 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.
Parker Takes Hammer to Steele
Washington Post
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May 20, 2009 12:20 PM CDT
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Almost every demographic is quitting the GOP—despite a chairman who aims to win over everyone, including “one-armed midgets,” writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post . “The emerging consensus is that [Michael] Steele, though he means well, has the wrong personality for the job,” she notes. In a party torn between...
Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist
Reuters
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May 20, 2009 12:17 PM CDT
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Was the young Bob Dylan a plagiarist? A piece that Christie’s auction house has been touting as Dylan’s first known poem turns out to be the lyrics to a country song by the late Hank Snow, Reuters reports. A 16-year-old Dylan submitted the pilfered verses, which tell the sad tale of an ill-fated dog, to his Jewish camp’s newsletter.
GOP: Dems Buddying Up to Big Business
Politico
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May 20, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
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Senate Republicans are turning the tables on Democrats as the GOP battles a bill to fight climate change, Politico reports. A strategy memo says Republicans should paint the opposition as the party of big business, suggesting Dems are cozying up to “Wall Street traders,” “polluters,” and other corporate interests. “Business...
Senate Blocks Funds for Gitmo Closure
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 11:55 AM CDT
(AP) -
In a major rebuke to President Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly today to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The 90-6 Senate vote, paired with a similar House action last week, was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the...
Kate Fired 8 (X5) Staffers in 3 Months: Nurse
Us Weekly
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May 20, 2009 11:50 AM CDT
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Kate Gosselin of Jon & Kate Plus 8 must have set some sort of record when she fired 40 nurses and nurse’s aides in three months. Former Gosselin sextuplets nurse Angela Krall disclosed that tidbit, and more, to Us , adding that one was fired after daring to wash her hands in the kitchen: “Kate flipped. She thought it was cross-contamination.”
National Zoo Panda Not Pregnant
Washington Post
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May 20, 2009 11:40 AM CDT
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Giant panda Mei Xiang, whose first cub became an international superstar, is not pregnant, National Zoo officials said today. The panda, who was artificially inseminated in January, experienced her third false pregnancy in as many years, the Washington Post reports. Four-year-old Tai Shan, Mei Xiang's only cub to survive infancy, is scheduled to...
World's Richest People Held Secret Meeting
Irish Central
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May 20, 2009 11:28 AM CDT
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Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and David Rockefeller Jr recently convened a top-secret meeting of many of the world’s wealthiest people to discuss the financial crisis, according to an Irish Central report confirmed by ABC News. A total media blackout prevailed during the get-together, which took place May 5 at Rockefeller University in New York....
Fans High on Eminem's 1st Sober Show
MTV
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May 20, 2009 11:25 AM CDT
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Some 2000 lucky Eminem fans got to see a rarity last night: a mini-concert in which the rapper was sober, MTV reports. “This might actually be one of the best shows I’ve ever done, ‘cause when I get offstage, I’m actually going to remember it,” Eminem told the audience at the 35-minute set in his hometown of Detroit.
Krauthammer: Right's Thorn in Obama's Side
Politico
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May 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT
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In 2006, Charles Krauthammer urged Barack Obama to run for president, guaranteeing he’d lose. That didn’t exactly work out, but Obama’s rise has been good for the Washington Post columnist, who has become the central anti-Obama voice, writes Ben Smith in Politico. His writing drips with a clarity and confidence the fractured right...
Pornhab Star to Dr Drew: Sorry!
TMZ
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May 20, 2009 11:13 AM CDT
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Dr Drew got skewered in Celebrity Pornhab with Dr Screw , starring his old Celebrity Rehab patient Mary Carey. But he’s not mad—just disappointed. Carey tells TMZ she “loves Dr Drew and wasn’t trying to make fun of him or mock him.” The film sparked a back-and-forth between the two on Twitter, during which Dr Drew encouraged...
As Economy Tanks, Women Flock to Clinics
Los Angeles Times
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May 20, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
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In this tough economy, requests for long-term contraceptives and abortions have spiked at family planning clinics, reports the Los Angeles Times . Planned Parenthood of LA County has seen its caseload jump 15% in just a year, and requests for IUDs nearly doubled in the first quarter compared to a year ago. A recent Gallup poll showed a correlation...
Soda Tax Makes Good Sense
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 10:49 AM CDT
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The soda tax is a great idea, and its probable death at the hands of lobbyists serves to highlight all the problems with our tax system, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times . The current system doesn’t raise enough money, and it’s “complex in all the wrong ways,” a vast labyrinth of deductions, subsidies, and extra...
'Serial Cat Killings' Shock Miami Suburbs
Miami Herald
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May 20, 2009 10:43 AM CDT
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Cats in the suburbs of Miami are turning up on lawns murdered and mutilated, the Herald reports. Some 20 animals have been victims of what the Humane Society has termed “serial cat killings” in two neighborhoods. "We take a very dim view of this,'' said a rep for the Miami-Dade police, who are investigating. “We find it very...
Omar's iDon Takes Reggaeton Back to the Future
Slate
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May 20, 2009 10:32 AM CDT
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Reggaeton superstar Don Omar blends dancehall with Blade Runner on new album iDon , Jody Rosen writes for Slate. The Puerto Rican’s journey into “dystopian cyberfantasy” features plenty of “cybernetic mumbo-jumbo, foreboding synth chords, and techno twitches,” Rosen writes, backtracked by some more familiar big booming...
SAT Prep Classes Exaggerate Improvement, Study Finds
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 10:27 AM CDT
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Many test-prep companies make impressive-sounding guarantees about students’ SAT performance, but an independent study finds that the courses offer little real improvement. Part of the problem may be tutors’ use of too-hard mock tests to judge students’ baseline performance, producing a false inflation that’s used to justify...
Wanna Have Sex? Picture 'Screaming Baby': Bristol
People
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May 20, 2009 10:20 AM CDT
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Bristol Palin thinks the best advertisement for abstinence is “a screaming newborn baby,” she tells People in a look at the life of a teenage mom. “If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex,” says Bristol, who graduated high school last week, but worked two part-time jobs, wrote papers with said...
Homemade Ginger Ale Adds Fizz to Standby
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 10:05 AM CDT
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If you’re still sipping ginger ale from a can, you must be sadly misinformed about the latest drink trend. The cool thing now is ginger ale from scratch, informs the New York Times , and bars and restaurants are catching on. Why put in the extra effort of steeping ginger with lemon and sugar, then adding seltzer? It’s more delicious, for...
IMAX Dismisses Gripes About Screen Size
Hollywood Reporter
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May 20, 2009 9:57 AM CDT
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IMAX execs are shrugging off a recent burst of complaints that most of its screens aren't as huge as customers expect, according to the Hollywood Reporter . After a Parks and Recreation actor twittered indignantly that the screen in the theater where he saw the IMAX version of Star Trek was nearly standard size, the company is doing damage...
German Tempers Heat Up Over Cold War Tourist Traps
Independent (UK)
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May 20, 2009 9:51 AM CDT
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The Disneyfication of Cold War landmarks in Berlin has irked people with bad memories of East Germany, the Independent reports. Critics, including former Allied officers and those who suffered under oppressive rule, argue that the atmosphere around places like Checkpoint Charlie—where actors in military uniforms hustle tourists for coins and...
Kimmel Rips ABC to Shreds
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 9:44 AM CDT
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Jimmy Kimmel took the stage yesterday at a network presentation for advertisers, and promptly bit the hands that feed him—ripping into ABC, its advertisers, and even Jay Leno, writes Dave Itzkoff in the New York Times reports. “All of ABC’s late-night comedy talent is assembled here on one stage,” he said after stepping on....
Rumsfeld Denies He Put Bible in Briefings
The Atlantic
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May 20, 2009 9:36 AM CDT
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Donald Rumsfeld didn't decorate the president’s World Intelligence Update cover slides with biblical quotes, a spokesman says, and GQ reporter Robert Draper should've known better than to use anonymous sources "with an axe to grind." The slides, the spokesman says in an email to Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic , were prepared...
Promoters Won't Pony Up for Paris to Party
New York Post
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May 20, 2009 9:33 AM CDT
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Partying in Cannes last weekend left Paris Hilton feeling, well, worthless. The socialite’s reps asked event coordinators to ante up $100,000 per appearance, but “no one bit,” one promoter told the New York Post . “They aren’t about to pay her. It’s not 2002.” Hilton may have gotten some cash from one club,...
Parents of Daughters Lean Left: Study
FiveThirtyEight
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May 20, 2009 9:08 AM CDT
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A new study shows that parents with daughters are more likely to align themselves with left-wing parties, FiveThirtyEight.com reports. Building on earlier research that showed that parents of daughters leaned left on gender issues, sociologists surveyed a nationally representative random sampling of men and women, mostly from Great Britain. The pair...
Vick Sprung From Prison
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
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Michael Vick has left a Kansas prison and is on his way back to Virginia, where he'll be confined to his home for 2 months, one of the suspended NFL star's lawyers says. Vick left the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth overnight, ostensibly for a home he owns in Hampton. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, serving a 23-month sentence for financing...
Opera Sounds Good, But How Does It Smell?
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 8:57 AM CDT
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A new opera premiering at the Guggenheim Museum in New York later this month will be a feast for the ears, the eyes—and the nose. Green Aria , a 30-minute "scent opera" years in the making, pairs music with 23 distinct odors blasted at the audience via individual microphone-like emitters. "Perfumery should be the same kind...
Stocks, Oil Head Higher
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 8:44 AM CDT
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Stocks headed higher at today's open as rallying commodity prices gave traders hope about the economy. The Dow rose 65 points, while the Nasdaq rose 0.8% and the S&P 1%. Oil prices topped $60 a barrel, sending Exxon and Chevron slightly higher. Bank of America, meanwhile, rose 6% after a $13.5 billion stock sale that generated half the capital...
Obese People Have More Flu Complications
Washington Post
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May 20, 2009 8:42 AM CDT
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Scientists at the CDC have noticed a new trend in cases of swine flu: "We were surprised by the frequency of obesity among the severe cases that we've been tracking," says an epidemiologist, adding that it might be cause to make obese people a priority for a vaccine, if it becomes available. Other pre-existing conditions, such as heart...
SJP Fears for Surrogate's Safety
Access Hollywood
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May 20, 2009 8:37 AM CDT
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Sarah Jessica Parker slammed the paparazzi for the “unsavory things” they’ve done to her twins’ surrogate mom. “She’s had her phone hacked, her personal computer information hacked, she’s had threats against her and true harassment,” Parker told Access Hollywood in an interview that aired yesterday...
MGM Mirage Doubles Down on Global Market
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 8:32 AM CDT
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With the hospitality business gasping for air and its own core business in trouble, MGM Mirage is going global in hopes of building its brand well beyond Las Vegas. Having sealed eight deals with hotel developers and in talks with 10 more, the company will introduce the Bellagio and MGM Grand brands to Asia and the Middle East, the Wall...
Gingrich Slams Pelosi on Daily Show
Gawker
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May 20, 2009 8:24 AM CDT
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Newt Gingrich “essentially” called for Nancy Pelosi’s resignation as House speaker last night in a chat with Jon Stewart, Gawker reports. "She either should prove her allegation” that the CIA regularly misleads Congress, or “I think she's done a huge disservice,” the former speaker said on The Daily Show. ...
GOP Must Get Revenge in High Court Hearings
Washington Post
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May 20, 2009 8:10 AM CDT
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When Democrats waged an ideological war on the Supreme Court nominations of conservatives John Roberts and Samuel Alito, they set a dangerous precedent that should boomerang on whoever President Obama selects, says the Bush official in charge of those confirmations. Previously, the Senate graciously ushered through anyone with sufficient intellect,...
Second Slumdog Kid's Home Torn Down
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 8:06 AM CDT
(AP) -
The shanty home of another Slumdog Millionaire child star was torn down by Mumbai authorities today as they demolished part of a city slum where she lived. The stepmother of 9-year-old Rubina Ali, who portrayed a young Latika, the Oscar-winning film's heroine, said her husband was beaten by police who were supervising the demolition. She said he...
Shrinks Single Out Next PTSD: Bitterness
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
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Some psychiatrists believe embitterment is so common and so destructive that it should be classed as a mental illness, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sufferers are described as people who have worked hard at something like a job or relationship, only to be transformed into angry, pessimistic, brooding individuals consumed by thoughts of revenge when...
Swimsuits Banned, Records Questioned
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 7:39 AM CDT
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After more than 100 records were broken in the past year and a half, the international swimming federation has put 348 high-tech swimsuits under the microscope—banning 10 of them and requiring modifications to another 136, the New York Times reports. The suits can increase buoyancy, squeeze the body into position, and cut drag, said a coach....
Bitter Parker: 'I Was Goaded Into Nude Weeds Scene'
More
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May 20, 2009 7:29 AM CDT
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Annoyed Weeds star Mary Louise Parker was "goaded" into a nude bathtub scene in the Showtime series about a pot-selling mom, she tells More . "I don't think I needed to be naked," she said. "I fought with the director about it, and now I am bitter. I wish I hadn't done that." A producer for Weeds , which begins its...
Investors Storm Housing Market
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 7:18 AM CDT
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Investors are snatching up cheap houses, hoping to turn a profit when the market picks up, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some are foraging far and wide for potential purchases; others are locals who know the ins and outs of the area market. Investors often make all-cash offers, helping them beat out would-be homeowners looking for new digs.
MLK's Kids Bicker Over Spielberg Biopic
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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May 20, 2009 7:03 AM CDT
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The sale of the movie rights to Martin Luther King Jr.'s life has revived the feud among his three surviving children, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Martin Luther King III and Bernice King say their brother Dexter—chief executive of the King estate—only informed them of the plans for a biopic to be directed by Steven Spielberg...
Iran Claims to Launch Long-Range Missile
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 6:43 AM CDT
(AP) -
Iran test-fired a new advanced missile today with a range of about 1,200 miles, far enough to strike Israel and southeastern Europe, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims. The reported launch comes two days after Barack Obama said he would seek deeper international sanctions against Iran if it shunned US attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program, reports...
Bribed Lawyer Lied to Protect Berlusconi
Times (UK)
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May 20, 2009 6:41 AM CDT
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Silvio Berlusconi is facing calls to resign as Italy's prime minister, reports the Times of London, after an Italian court found his lawyer guilty of accepting a bribe to protect him from corruption charges. In a 400-page verdict released yesterday, the judges said that attorney David Mills—the estranged husband of a British government minister—lied...
US Journo Exposed UK Expense Scandal
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 6:27 AM CDT
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The scandal shaking Britain's Parliament to its core was set in motion by a simple request from a freelance American writer, the New York Times reports. Heather Brooke submitted a query about politicians' expenses under Britain's Freedom of Information Act after it came into effect, only to meet years of stonewalling before lawmakers agreed to release...
Calif. Voters Torpedo Budget Crisis Measures
San Francisco Chronicle
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May 20, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Californian voters soundly rejected five ballot measures that would keep the hard-hit state economically solvent until the end of the year, on a turnout of little more than 10%. The vote against extended tax increases and capped spending is a sharp rebuke to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators who put together the last-minute budget deal,...
Spooky Universal Pattern Captivates Math Experts
New York Times
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May 20, 2009 5:53 AM CDT
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A fascinating mathematical similarity between infrastructure requirements of cities and the nutritional needs of different-sized animals has energized a field of study that is enthralling academics. Researchers have discovered that any measure of a city's infrastructure—from number of gas stations to miles of roadway—grows only in proportion...
Dems Go to Bat for Pelosi as Accusations Fly
Washington Post
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May 20, 2009 5:41 AM CDT
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Republicans have all but slapped a bulls-eye on Nancy Pelosi over what she knew about CIA interrogation practices, but as the Washington Post reports, House Democrats have rallied behind the speaker. In a sign of the considerable unity of the party caucus, several leading Democrats said yesterday that they believe the CIA misled Pelosi,...
Burma Will Allow Diplomats to Visit Suu Kyi
CNN
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May 20, 2009 5:17 AM CDT
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Burma's ruling junta will take the unusual step of allowing diplomats to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader currently on trial, reports CNN. Officials from Russia, Singapore, and Thailand are expected to meet Suu Kyi later today. On the third day of the trial, the government allowed Burmese reporters into the courtroom for the first...
BofA Raises $13.5B With Share Sale
MarketWatch
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May 20, 2009 4:55 AM CDT
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Bank of America has sold shares to fill $13.5 billion of the $34 billion capital hole the Fed's "stress test" uncovered in the bank's balance sheet, Marketwatch reports. The bank—taking advantage of a 40% jump in its share price over the last month—issued 1.25 billion shares at an average price of $10.77 as part of its "at-the-market"...
Scientists Locate Brain's Sentimental Center
Reuters
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May 20, 2009 4:45 AM CDT
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It turns out sex and sentimentality are linked after all, reports Reuters. Scientists have pinpointed areas of the brain that determine an individual's warm and fuzzy feelings—which they say are the same regions that control sex and some food urges. Researchers hope the findings may help explain brain evolution and give insights into social psychiatric...
Banks Use Worker Life Insurance to Pay Exec Bonuses
Wall Street Journal
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May 20, 2009 4:31 AM CDT
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Former employees of the big banks often end up handing the bosses a final reward when the workers die, the Wall Street Journal reports. The banks have taken out life insurance policies on hundreds of thousands of workers, and the tax-free death benefits are used to finance executive compensation and reduce the drag that interest on deferred pay has...
Neo-Nazi Crime Jumps in Germany
Der Spiegel
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May 20, 2009 3:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Crimes by the radical right jumped 16% last year in Germany, where officials are warning about a surge in activity by "anarchist neo-Nazis" who incite violence at demonstrations, reports Der Spiegel. The "neo-Nazi part of the spectrum" is also "gaining greater influence" within the far-right NDP party, warned the nation's...
Dolla's Shooting 'Sparked by Strip Club Brawl'
Associated Press
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May 20, 2009 2:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Dolla's shooting in a Los Angeles mall yesterday may have been the result of a fight at a strip club in the rapper's hometown of Atlanta the week before, police sources tell the Los Angeles Times . Accused killer Aubrey Louis Berry, an events promoter, had a row with the 21-year-old rapper at a club frequented by the hip-hop community.
US Army Burned Bibles in Afghanistan
CNN
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May 20, 2009 2:13 AM CDT
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The US military burned bibles sent to Afghanistan by an American church, reports CNN. Officials feared the bibles, sent last year, would cause problems if they were used in a campaign to convert Muslims to Christianity. The unsolicited bibles were printed in the two most popular Afghani languages. Ironically, Taliban supporters burned bibles in an...
