Newser Story Index from July, 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.
Eclipse Dazzles Asia
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 10:09 PM CDT
(AP) -
The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century is providing a sensation in parts of India, China, and throughout Asia. In some areas, the eclipse has lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds. To see photos—it's just a partial eclipse in many regions—click on Slideshow, at left.
Matthews: GOP Catering to 'Crazies' on Obama's Birth
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 21, 2009 9:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Obama-is-not-a-citizen chorus seems to be getting louder of late, thanks in part to a viral video of a woman berating a GOP congressman who defends the president. The theme continued tonight on MSNBC, where Chris Matthews clashed with one of the Republican sponsors of a bill requiring that presidential candidates prove their citizenship, notes...
Halperin: 7 Reasons Not to Bet Against Health Reform
Time
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Jul 21, 2009 9:00 PM CDT
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President Obama's push for health care reform is hitting heavy turbulence, but Mark Halperin of Time lays out 7 reasons not to bet against him: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and all the committee chairs "are still on board." Get a bill to conference committee, and the press will stop "obsessing over every setback" and...
Keep Computers Out of Class, Prof Argues
Chronicle of Higher Education
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Jul 21, 2009 8:32 PM CDT
(Newser) -
An SMU dean has a message for his fellow college professors: Ditch the PowerPoint. Jose A. Bowen isn't anti-technology, explains the Chronicle of Higher Education , he just thinks too many instructors rely on it as a crutch. He's challenging others to "teach naked," without computers in the classroom, that is. Instead, give students podcasts...
Gates' Real Offense? 'Speaking Truth to Power'
Boston Globe
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Jul 21, 2009 7:44 PM CDT
(Newser) -
So much for our post-racial society, writes Carol Rose in the Boston Globe . If we needed any evidence that "racism is alive and well," look no further than the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Harvard professor was charged with disorderly conduct not because police mistook him for a burglar but because he had the nerve to accuse police...
Secret Service Extends Protection for Cheney
CNN
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Jul 21, 2009 7:06 PM CDT
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Former vice presidents lose their Secret Service protection 6 months after leaving office, but Dick Cheney is no ordinary former vice president. In a first, his protection will be extended for an indefinite period, CNN reports. Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano signed off on the move, which was reportedly requested by Cheney. It's not due...
No Takers for Watergate at Auction
Washington Post
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Jul 21, 2009 6:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
An auction today of the storied Watergate Hotel drew more than 150 spectators, media attention from around the world, and not a single bidder willing to pony up the necessary $25 million, reports the Washington Post . The German bank that foreclosed on the property took back the 12-story hotel and will now try to shop it around to private buyers....
Six Good American Gins
The Atlantic
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Jul 21, 2009 6:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Gin has always been the province of the British, but some American distilleries hold their own. Clay Risen takes a look at US bottles worth tasting in the Atlantic . Seagram's Extra Dry: Yeah, it's a mass-market gin, but it's "easily the most drinkable as a straight sip, with a floral taste up front, then licorice and pine."...
State Report Faults Palin on Legal Defense Fund
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 5:41 PM CDT
(AP) -
An independent investigator says Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts. The report, by an investigator for the state Personnel Board, says Palin is receiving improper gifts through the Alaska Fund Trust, which was set up by supporters. The report says there is probable cause to believe that...
Apple Earnings Up 15% on iPhone, Mac Success
MarketWatch
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Jul 21, 2009 5:18 PM CDT
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Apple reported a strong quarterly profit, beating analysts’ expectations by selling 5.2 million iPhones and 2.6 million Mac computers, MarketWatch reports. The firm reported earning $1.23 billion on revenue of $8.34 billion in the quarter ending June 26. Sales of iPhones were the highlight, as the company moved 626% more handsets than the year-ago...
Clinton Voices Concern Over Burma-N. Korea Arms Links
New York Times
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Jul 21, 2009 4:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Hillary Clinton is concerned about possible military cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea, the New York Times reports. In Thailand on the eve of the ASEAN conference, the secretary of state told her hosts that their country would be particularly vulnerable to a pernicious relationship between the two dictatorships. Clinton hopes to shore up...
Angry Gates to Make Film on Racial Profiling
Washington Post
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Jul 21, 2009 4:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
After his up-close and personal look at the criminal justice system, Henry Louis Gates Jr. intends to tackle the issue of racial profiling in a documentary for PBS, the Harvard scholar tells the Washington Post . "It had never crossed my mind but it has now," says Gates, who was arrested when a neighbor thought he was breaking into his own...
McCain, GOP Settle With Jackson Browne
Billboard
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Jul 21, 2009 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The GOP has settled with Jackson Browne for using the left-leaning singer’s “Running on Empty” in campaign ads for John McCain in the 2008 election, Billboard reports. As part of the agreement—whose cash value is unknown—the GOP pledged to “respect and uphold the rights of artists and to obtain permissions and/or...
Database Takes Scholars to Medieval Battlefields
BBC
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Jul 21, 2009 4:07 PM CDT
(Newser) -
British researchers have posted records of some 250,000 medieval soldiers in a searchable online database, the BBC reports. Now, interested parties can easily learn about the lives of fighters in the Hundred Years’ War, including salary, health, and knighthood information—for free. The “remarkable” records, says one researcher,...
Doctors Urged to Induce Labor Less Often
Houston Chronicle
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Jul 21, 2009 3:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
New guidelines out today urge US doctors not to induce labor earlier than 39 weeks into a pregnancy unless there are compelling medical reasons, the Houston Chronicle reports. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued its first statement on induced labor since 1999, with the lead author calling it an “epidemic.” Inductions...
Kilimanjaro, Grand Canyon Among '7 Wonders' Finalists
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 3:25 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Twenty-eight finalists made the cut today for the “New 7 Wonders of Nature” poll, including the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the AP reports. Organizers expect 1 billion people to vote online or by phone before the winners are announced in 2011. Other wonders up for the honor include Mount Kilimanjaro, Germany’s...
Tech Falls, But Dow Up 68
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 21, 2009 3:11 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks closed with modest gains today as the tech and financial sectors, drivers of the recent rally, lost some steam, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nonetheless, the Dow was boosted by a 7.7% rise by Caterpillar, which reported a smaller-than-expected profit decline and raised its full-year earnings forecast. Apple and Yahoo both fell about 1%...
UK Art Honcho: We Need More Fakes
Reuters
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Jul 21, 2009 2:53 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The head of London’s National Gallery wishes “we had more fakes,” he tells Reuters. “It’s worth having some in a collection. Not having them on display for what they pretend to be, but for what they are,” Nicholas Penny explains ahead of a 2010 show exploring imitations. In the Gallery’s actual collection,...
Broke? Try Paying Like Our Ancestors, With Shells, Beans
Mental Floss
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Jul 21, 2009 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Sure, the global economy might collapse spectacularly and send us all back to a barter system. But that’s inefficient, Greg Sabin writes on Mental Floss, and “almost all civilizations have come up with currencies.” A sampling of what might be in your wallet next week: Shells: "From China to Africa to the Americas,"...
Biden Gushes Over Ukraine's 'Beautiful Women'
New York Post
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Jul 21, 2009 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Joe Biden’s visit with the Ukrainian president today in Kiev yielded an addition to the vice president’s foot-in-mouth file, the New York Post reports. “I cannot believe that a Frenchman visiting Kiev went back home and told his colleagues he discovered something and didn’t say he discovered the most beautiful women in the...
Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House
Salon
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Jul 21, 2009 2:20 PM CDT
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The C Street House, the Capitol Hill religious enclave that Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and Chip Pickering have in common, is more than a residence that happened to shelter three lawmakers involved in recent sex scandals, writes Jeff Sharlet in Salon. "If sexual license was all the Family offered the C Street men, that would merely be seedy and...
Hadron Collider Hits New Snags
ZDNet
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Jul 21, 2009 2:10 PM CDT
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The Large Hadron Collider has hit more delays, ZDNet reports, with experiments using the machine unlikely to restart until at least mid-November due to the discovery of two vacuum leaks. The agency overseeing the 17-mile atom-smasher buried under the French-Swiss border may take the unorthodox step of running its “Big Bang” simulation experiments...
West Coast, Alaska Could Be Due for Monster Tsunami
LiveScience
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Jul 21, 2009 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Alaska and the US West Coast could be pounded by a tsunami far more powerful than researchers had previously thought, LiveScience reports. Analysis of soil samples shows evidence of two earthquakes in the past 2,000 years capable of producing waves that dwarf a 1964 tsunami one researcher calls “the most devastating seismic sea wave to impact...
After Watchmen , Bring On Next 'Unfilmables'
Wired
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Jul 21, 2009 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Alan Moore’s Watchmen was supposed to be unfilmable. But with the director’s cut hitting stores today, that pretty obviously wasn’t the case. Scott Thill lists some supposedly unfilmable geek bibles for Wired : Sandman: “It’s not film-shaped,” says creator Neil Gaiman. “What I got was, ‘Does...
Climate Change Shrinks Fish in Europe
Der Spiegel
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Jul 21, 2009 1:32 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Europe’s fish are physically shrinking as water temperatures climb, according to a German study that examined everything from fish to plankton to bacteria, der Spiegel reports. Researchers don’t believe over-fishing or other factors can explain away the findings, either. “Our study provides strong evidence that temperature actually...
10 Most Addictive Shows Ever
Telegraph (UK)
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Jul 21, 2009 1:19 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Jack Bauer doesn't even have to torture you to keep you glued to your couch, reports the Daily Telegraph, scoring nearly a fifth of the votes for most addictive show in a survey of some 3000 couch potatoes. “Although crime doesn't pay, as our list reveals, it most certainly pulls in the viewers,” says a LOVEFiLM exec. The list: ...
Chicago's Tab for Protecting Obama's Home: $2.2M
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 21, 2009 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Chicago police have spent at least $2.2 million watching over Barack Obama’s home since his November election, city documents reveal. The federal government will reimburse the $1.5 million racked up from November until the January inauguration, but the city is on its own for the $650,000 it's spent since, the Chicago Tribune reports. The...
Dozens Arrested at New Tehran Protest
Reuters
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Jul 21, 2009 1:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Dozens of Iranians were arrested today when riot police violently dispersed a protest in Tehran, Reuters reports. Hundreds chanted slogans like “Ahmadinejad—resign, resign,” and “Death to dictators,” witnesses said, before police, some in plainclothes, descended on the demonstration, beating and detaining the protesters....
Docs Turn to 'Gag Orders' to Choke Bad Web Reviews
Washington Post
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Jul 21, 2009 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) -
An explosion of online forums for the discussion and rating of physicians has doctors fighting back, the Washington Post reports. Afraid of negative—perhaps spurious—reviews on the Web, some MDs are denying care unless a patient signs a non-disclosure agreement. Though opponents call the agreements “illegal, unenforceable, and silly,”...
Plastic Wine Bottles Eco-Friendly, but Drink It Fast
Reuters
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Jul 21, 2009 12:44 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Some are looking to recycled plastic bottles as the future of wine packaging—but though they are more eco-friendly, such bottles are less wine-friendly, Reuters reports. They’re “fine for wine you plan to use under 12 months, but not for wines that are designed to improve in the bottle,” says the managing director of plastic...
Backyard Burials Alive and Well
New York Times
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Jul 21, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A growing number of families are deciding against funeral homes and cemeteries, the New York Times reports. Many have decided to care for their dead at home, which they say gives them more dignity—and saves money in the process. “It’s organic and informal, and it’s on our terms,” said one advocate. “It’s...
Charges Against Harvard Prof Dropped
NBC News
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Jul 21, 2009 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Charges against Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr have been dropped after he was arrested at his home for “loud and tumultuous behavior,” NBC News reports. The city of Cambridge, Mass., and its police said they had “recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed,”...
Bonds' Wife Takes Him Back
TMZ
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Jul 21, 2009 12:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Barry Bonds has one less legal problem to worry about, TMZ reports: Once-estranged wife Liz Watson has filed to dismiss the legal separation papers she filed last month. The pair has been married since 1988, with one daughter. Watson filed the documents June 5, citing irreconcilable differences.
Senate Grounds F-22 Money
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 12:06 PM CDT
(AP) -
The Senate has sided with the Obama administration in agreeing to cut off new spending for the F-22 jet fighter program. The 58-40 vote today removes $1.75 billion set aside in a defense policy bill to build seven more F-22 Raptors, adding to the 187 stealth fighters already in the pipeline.
Who We Trust Post-Cronkite
Washington Post
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Jul 21, 2009 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
After the passing of Walter Cronkite, the Washington Post wondered who could compare to his level of trustworthiness. Below are a few of the responses they got from a variety of sources: Anderson Cooper, “because he always has that slight bit of cynicism when it’s deserved,” says filmmaker John Waters, who cites war and...
Tyler Perry Sends Swim Club Kids to Disney Instead
CNN
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Jul 21, 2009 11:50 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The 65 children who were denied entrance to a Philadelphia swim club are going to Disney World instead, thanks to Tyler Perry. The playwright “wanted to do something nice for them and let them know that for every negative experience, there are people out there who want them to succeed regardless of the color of their skin,” his publicist...
Lynch on Prowl for American Dreams
Daily Beast
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Jul 21, 2009 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
All of David Lynch's work, writes Lee Siegel on the Daily Beast, seems to take as its starting point Norman Mailer's observation that the essence of America is the smell of gasoline and cheap perfume. For his latest project, the director of “bare-knuckle surrealist films” takes a 20,000 mile road trip to interview 121 Americans with hardscrabble...
NY 'Madoff Law' Would Force Rich Inmates to Pay for Jail
Reuters
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Jul 21, 2009 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
New York lawmakers are considering a “Madoff” bill that would force convicts with deep pockets to pay the costs of their own imprisonment, Reuters reports. “Far too often, taxpayers are stuck with the bill for criminals who have extensive personal wealth waiting for them,” one assemblyman said as convicted financier Bernard...
Maddow's Pitch Equips Iraqi Baseball Team
McClatchy Newspapers
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Jul 21, 2009 11:13 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Iraqi national baseball team will finally look the part thanks to Rachel Maddow, McClatchy Newspapers report. After seeing a story on the team, which had been making do with one borrowed softball bat, some second-hand gloves, and no uniforms, the MSNBC host vowed to help. After she ran a segment on the team, offers of help poured in.
Obama on The Jeans: 'I'm a Little Frumpy'
Politico
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Jul 21, 2009 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama will go to bat for his health care plan, but he won’t defend his pants. Asked on NBC’s Today Show about the “dad jeans” he wore at last week’s All-Star Game, Obama punted. “I’m a little frumpy,” he confided. “I hate to shop. Those jeans are comfortable. For those of you who want...
GOP Delays Sotomayor Vote
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
(AP) -
The Senate Judiciary Committee today put off its vote on Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination for one week, to July 28, after Republicans asked for a delay. Chairman Patrick Leahy says he is disappointed the Republicans held up the committee's action, but predicts Sotomayor will join the Supreme Court in time for an earlier-than-usual first meeting...
Obama Picks Up Steam in Congress Over F-22 Funds
Politico
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Jul 21, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
In a shift, the White House looks likely to win over Congress in its bid to cut $1.7 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter jet, Politico reports. Congress had looked set to support the measure last week, but the administration is pressing hard with Defense Secretary Robert Gates leading the charge. And Democrats don’t want to undercut Obama...
Mercury Prize Noms Mix Rock, Rap, Jazz
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 21, 2009 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Scruffy rockers Kasabian and indie darling Florence and the Machine lead this year's nominations for the Mercury Prize, Britain's most prestigious musical award. The $33,000 gong, previously won by PJ Harvey and the Arctic Monkeys, is famous for its eclectic shortlist. True to form, this year's nominees include a largely unknown female rapper...
Docs Weigh Longer Chemo in Cancer Battle
New York Times
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Jul 21, 2009 10:11 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Instead of waiting for cancer to return, some doctors are keeping up patients’ chemotherapy even when the threat has lessened, the New York Times reports. With maintenance therapy, some in the medical and drug industries say, it may be possible to treat cancer as a chronic disease, with tumors kept under control longer. But others say it’s...
Obama's Poll Numbers Dive
Politico
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Jul 21, 2009 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The public is rapidly losing faith in President Obama, new polls show. His overall approval rating is below 60%—a USA Today /Gallup poll gives him 55%, putting him 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents after six months in office. A Public Trust Monitor/Politico survey finds 54% trust Obama, down from 66% in March. Only 42% trust the...
We Need More Armstrongs, Fewer Jackos
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 21, 2009 9:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It’s unfortunate that American celebrity typically comes in the form of “uninteresting, detestable, loud, or unaccomplished people” like Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton, writes Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal . What society needs is more heroes like the Apollo astronauts—celebrities with “the right stuff,”...
Palin's Twitter Gems Take Forever, Still Incoherent
Gawker
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Jul 21, 2009 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sarah Palin’s original thoughts take a while to produce. Five of yesterday's Twitter posts—caught in a screen grab and posted by Gawker—“are all conjoined, all part of the same dipshit-y thought, which was another one of her maniacal rants about the endless stream of ethics complaints logged against her,” and took a total...
Malia, Sasha Melt Over Parents' Wax Doubles
Associated Press
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Jul 21, 2009 9:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The first daughters melted in giggles at the sight of wax doubles of their parents in Washington's Madame Tussauds museum yesterday, the AP reports. Malia and Sasha had their photos taken with the doppelgangers before moving on to see figures of Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Lopez. Museum officials say the girls waited in line to see the...
Social Security Suffers as Execs' Pay Soars
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 21, 2009 9:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Executives and other employees earning top dollar pull in more than a third of all US pay, the Wall Street Journal finds—and the ceiling on compensation subject to payroll taxes hasn’t risen enough accordingly, meaning the government isn’t bringing in what’s needed to plug ever-growing holes in the Social Security trust fund....
Judge: CIA Used Fraud to Get Wiretap Case Dismissed
McClatchy Newspapers
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Jul 21, 2009 9:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
US District Judge Royce Lamberth released hundreds of secret filings yesterday, saying the CIA falsely claimed that state secrets were involved in a 15-year-old wiretapping lawsuit, McClatchy reports. The agency allowed the judge to continue believing that an agent involved in the case was undercover, when in reality that cover had been lifted two...
