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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.

Watson, 59, Leads Young Rivals Before Final Day
Golf.com | Jul 18, 2009 4:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - A teary Tom Watson moved one hole closer to history today at the British Open, using two late birdies to take a one-stroke lead over younger upstarts Matthew Goggin of Australia and Ross Fisher of England, Golf.com reports. “It’s a surprise,” Watson said. The 59-year-old American, hoping to win a record sixth Open championship in...
Suspect Arrested in Tenn. Quintuple Murder
Elk Valley Times | Jul 18, 2009 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Police in southern Tennessee arrested a suspect today after at least five bodies were discovered near the Alabama county line, the Elk Valley Times reports. Forensic crime teams are investigating at two Fayetteville, Tenn., houses where the bodies were discovered, the AP reports. Gunfire appeared to fell all five. Police are also seeking links...
Goodall: Environment Near 'Point of No Return'
Los Angeles Times | Jul 18, 2009 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - The LA Times catches up with chimp guru Jane Goodall, who argues in a new book that that the world is nearly "at the point of no return" on the environment, but that political will can turn things around. Interview excerpts: On the environment: "When I began there was no need to worry. All the terrible things we started...
France May Ease Century-Old Ban on Sunday Shopping
CNN | Jul 18, 2009 3:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - France's Senate next week is expected to overturn a century-old law prohibiting most businesses in the country from opening on Sundays, CNN reports. The 1906 measure was intended to ensure a day of rest for the populace, and parties on the left and the right have been vocal in their opposition. That forced President Sarkozy to water it down a bit to...
Astronauts Begin Installing Space Veranda
Associated Press | Jul 18, 2009 2:55 PM CDT
(AP) - Two astronauts ventured out on the first spacewalk of shuttle Endeavour's space station visit today to help install a porch on Japan's expansive lab. Veteran spaceman David Wolf and rookie Timothy Kopra got straight to work as they floated out the hatch, 220 miles above the Earth. But their voices could hardly be understood at times because of loud...
New Pirate Bay Goes Legal With Fee-Payback Plan
Associated Press | Jul 18, 2009 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Under new ownership, the beleaguered file-sharing powerhouse Pirate Bay is going legit through an innovative payment model, the AP reports. The new system will involve user fees, but users can work those off—or even earn a profit—in part by sharing their computers' storage capacity with the Pirate Bay network. Details will firm up when...
Calif. Budget Crisis Cripples UC System
Time | Jul 18, 2009 1:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - California's budget crisis has taken an $813 million toll on its famed UC system, Time reports. The University of California's 10 campuses are attempting to deal with the 20% budget cut by instituting mandatory furloughs for 80% of staff, drastically cutting or even freezing new hires, and increasing tuition by 10%. Even a budget solution in the...
Dems' 'Monopoly' Helps GOP Hopefuls Raise Cash
Washington Post | Jul 18, 2009 1:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the 2010 election nears, GOP senatorial candidates are seeing a bump in campaign donations, the Washington Post reports. FEC filings show that in Florida, for instance, Charlie Crist pulled in $4.3 million in the second quarter, almost 4 times as much as his leading Democratic rival. Roy Blunt also did well in Missouri, citing the Democrats' "monopoly"...
Employer Bails Out Madoff-Hit Employees
Boston Globe | Jul 18, 2009 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Massachusetts businessman has ponied up $5 million of his own money to replace his employees’ retirement savings, which were wiped out by the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the Boston Globe reports. Robert I. Lappin, who made his money in vacuum cleaners, knows their pain because he, too, took a big hit. His own personal...
Atheist Campers Learn Archery, Swimming, Skepticism
Economist | Jul 18, 2009 12:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Atheist parents have it rough: They can't exactly pack the kids off to Bible camp for the summer. That’s changing, thanks in part to establishments like Camp Quest, a humanist-staffed getaway that promotes skepticism. Counselors teach the scientific method and deliver lectures about famous free thinkers. Kids are told invisible unicorns...
NASA's $19M Mission: Simulating Messy Moon Dust
Wall Street Journal | Jul 18, 2009 11:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - With NASA hoping to set up a lunar outpost by 2020, an unlikely nuisance has become a hot commodity: moon dust. With only 227 pounds of the equipment-clogging stuff available for tests, NASA is pouring $19 million into faking it, the Wall Street Journal reports. "So many people need moon dirt, and there's just not enough to go around,”...
Federal Judge Ends Oversight of LAPD
Los Angeles Times | Jul 18, 2009 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A judge has ended eight years of federal oversight imposed on the LAPD after a massive corruption scandal, the Los Angeles Times reports. The judge said the police force had reformed substantially under a “consent decree” that saw tough independent audits and more thorough investigations into abuse allegations. "The LAPD still has...
Cronkite: A Cool Drummer, Too
Boing Boing | Jul 18, 2009 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Yeah, he was the most trusted man in America and all that, but Boing Boing points out a different reason we're going to miss Walter Cronkite: The man had rhythm. "True fact, Walter Cronkite was a hot drummer," the site quotes John Perry Barlow, the Grateful Dead lyricist, as tweeting. "Once saw him play with Mickey Hart, Mike Gordon,...
Why Do Vampires Turn Us On?
Newsweek | Jul 18, 2009 10:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Vampires have always been sexy, from Bram Stoker’s original smooth operator to Brad Pitt in Interview With a Vampire . But why have True Blood and Twilight sunk their fangs so thoroughly into today’s erotic zeitgeist? For starters, they're modern-day Romeos for angsty Juliets, Newsweek reports, a hypersexualized update on the feared...
Boyle: 'I Don't Want It to End'
Access Hollywood | Jul 18, 2009 10:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - In her first formal interview since losing Britain’s Got Talent , Susan Boyle tells the Today show she never wants to lose her unlikely star status, Access Hollywood reports. “Being plucked from obscurity, it’s like a long journey, really,” Boyle says to Meredith Viera in a segment that will air on July 22. “You don’t...
Mastermind of Bali Attacks Suspected in Jakarta Blasts
BBC | Jul 18, 2009 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Indonesian officials are fairly certain the wanted terrorist who masterminded the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings is also responsible for yesterday's attacks in Jakarta, the BBC reports. There are “strong indications” that Noordin Mohamed Top—a financier for al Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiah who is thought to have started a...
Silver: Don't Forget Wyden's Health Plan
FiveThirtyEight | Jul 18, 2009 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - When a bipartisan group of six senators sent a letter to Harry Reid yesterday asking him to slow down on health care reform, one name stood out to Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com: Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon. At first glance, the liberal-ish senator doesn't seem to fit with the other five. What gives? Wyden is pushing his own health care plan—Silver...
Feds Plan to Build Team of Terror Interrogation Pros
Wall Street Journal | Jul 18, 2009 9:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration is working on plans to create a team of interrogation experts drawn from different agencies, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . The unit would take the job of debriefing "high-value" terror suspects away from the CIA, the sources say, and would be tasked with creating new, noncoercive interrogation methods based...
Hogwarts Is Rife With Homosexual Tension
Gawker | Jul 18, 2009 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - No fancy divining necessary: Anyone with decent gaydar can see that new Harry Potter movie is awash in homoeroticism, Natasha Vargas-Cooper writes on Gawker. Hogwarts is seething with hormones in the Half-Blood Prince , she notes, but with the idea of "loose lady wizards" a no-no, most of the flirtation and innuendo stays between the boys....
Drug Smugglers Head to Sea on .... Surfboards?
New York Times | Jul 18, 2009 8:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Improved security along the US-Mexico border has pushed enterprising smugglers to the sea in any manner of craft, the New York Times reports. Authorities have been catching twice as many illegal immigrants as usual—and seized 7 times the typical quantity of drugs—in recent months from boats and beaches, where smugglers sprint past startled...
Cronkite 'Spoke for the Nation'
Washington Post | Jul 18, 2009 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The tributes are pouring in for Walter Cronkite: Howard Kurtz, Washington Post : His "passing, in the end, is the passing of an era, an era of black-and-white television, of mass audiences, of a slower time when the country waited for the headlines at 6:30 in the evening. No anchor—no journalist—will ever wield that authority...
Battle Heats Up Over Green Building Codes
New York Times | Jul 18, 2009 7:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Authorities are trying to hammer together tighter nationwide building codes to save energy and combat climate change, the New York Times reports. Experts say requiring buildings to be more efficient will do more to save energy than any other single policy move, but codes remain weak to nonexistent across half the country. Campaigners warn that inefficient...
UK Slammed for Dumping Toxic Waste in Developing World
Times (UK) | Jul 18, 2009 7:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Britain is accused of flouting international law by dumping toxic industrial and medical waste in Brazil and Ghana, the Times of London reports. Brazilian authorities were outraged to find over 1,000 tons of hazardous waste in 90 shipping containers labeled as holding recyclable plastic. "It is disgraceful that this cargo was shipped from England,"...
Amazon Goes Orwellian on Kindle
Ars Technica | Jul 18, 2009 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Amazon turned into Big Brother this week after mistakenly selling pirated copies of George Orwell's 1 984 and Animal Farm to Kindle users, Ars Technica reports. The company, without warning, remotely deleted the books from customers' devices after discovering the publisher didn't have the rights to sell them. Customers who lost books mid-read...
World's Oldest Man Dies at 113
BBC | Jul 18, 2009 6:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Britain's oldest surviving veteran of World War I has died aged 113, the BBC reports. Henry Allingham, who became the world's oldest man after the death of a Japanese 113-year-old last month, passed away peacefully at a care home for veterans. Politicians and veterans' groups paid tribute to Allingham, who was highly active in keeping memories...
US Commanders Chafe at Iraq's Tight New Restrictions
Washington Post | Jul 18, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Iraq government has tightly restricted the movements and activities of American troops remaining in cities, and some commanders blame the restrictions for a rise in attacks, the Washington Post . The day after Iraqis celebrated the pullback of US troops to outside cities, Iraq ordered the US military to cease all joint patrols in Baghdad,...
Celebs: What I'd Have Said on the Moon
Esquire | Jul 18, 2009 5:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - With Monday marking the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, Esquire digs up celebs’ takes on what they’d have said if it had been them instead of Neil “One Giant Leap” Armstrong: Muhammad Ali: Bring me back a challenger, ‘cause I’ve defeated everyone here on earth. Truman Capote: If I were...
Clinton Urges India to Tackle Climate Change, Terrorism
Associated Press | Jul 18, 2009 5:41 AM CDT
(AP) - Hillary Clinton opened a visit to India today by urging the country not to repeat American mistakes in contributing to global pollution, the AP reports. "We acknowledge now, with President Obama, that we have made mistakes in the United States, and we, along with other developed countries, have contributed most significantly to the problem that...
White House Foreclosure Plan a $50B Bust
Politico | Jul 18, 2009 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration's plan to help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure has so far been a major failure, Politico reports. It's reached just 160,000 of the 3 to 4 million homeowners it was supposed to protect, and another 2 million homes are expected to be foreclosed upon before the year is out. The White House blames mortgage servicers for...
Best Sports Movie Pep Talks
AskMen.com | Jul 18, 2009 5:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - World got you down? Let one of these coaches buck you up: AskMen picks the best sports movie inspirational talks. The top five: Kurt Russell, Miracle : “If we played ‘em 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game.” Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday : “You find out life's this game of inches. So is football....
Calif. Strawberries May Turn Toxic
Gourmet | Jul 17, 2009 8:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - California appears close to producing strawberries that induce side-effects such as neurological damage and fetal loss, Gourmet reports. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is under industry pressure to approve a fumigant called methyl iodide, which rids soil of all living organisms without hurting the ozone layer. But a group of 50 scientists call it a “highly...
Jack Vance, Unsung Giant of US Fiction
New York Times | Jul 17, 2009 8:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - An American literary giant has been crafting violent, poetic, psychologically complex novels for decades. Trouble is, his characters inhabit rocket ships and battle lizard creatures. "Jack Vance is the most painful case of all the writers I love who I feel don’t get the credit they deserve," says writer Michael Chabon. He's not...
Iconic Newsman Walter Cronkite Dead at 92
CBS News | Jul 17, 2009 7:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman who revolutionized television news for a generation, died today at age 92, CBS News reports. He had suffered a long illness and was at home in New York with his family. Cronkite helmed the CBS Evening News throughout the 1960s and '70s, guiding America through the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and President...
Marseilles Cops Probe Madonna Stage Collapse
Times (UK) | Jul 17, 2009 7:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Police in Marseilles have launched a manslaughter investigation into the Madonna stage collapse that killed two and injured ten others, the Times of London reports. Police plan to question dozens of witnesses, analyze videotape, and read over commercial contracts. The company that built the stage—and constructed a Madonna stage that collapsed...
Hybrid Owners Have More Accidents, Get More Tickets
The Car Connection | Jul 17, 2009 6:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Owners of hybrid vehicles tend to drive more, have higher repair bills, and get more tickets than their gas-guzzling counterparts, the Car Connection reports. A study of the behavior of 360,000 motorists found insurers pay 17% more for comprehensive coverage of hybrid owners compared to owners of conventional models. Toyota Prius owners specifically...
Prince Charles Milks Rocker for Royal Nibbles
Times (UK) | Jul 17, 2009 6:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Prince Charles is turning to an unusual source to supply cheese for the royal table, the Times of London reports: Alex James, bassist for rock band Blur. James has won awards for cheese he’s made on his farm outside London. “It will be the poshest fucking cheese in the world,” he says, “but it’s only going to cost £3,”...
Tour de France Riders Nicked by Pellet Shots
BBC | Jul 17, 2009 5:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two Tour de France cyclists were slightly injured during the race’s 13th stage today in an apparent pellet-gun attack, the BBC reports. Spain’s Oscar Freire took a pellet in the leg, while New Zealander Julian Dean was shot in the arm. Both Freire, standing 93rd, and Dean, 121st, are expected to continue riding tomorrow, their respective...
House Will Probe Possible CIA Lies
The Hill | Jul 17, 2009 5:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House Intelligence Committee will investigate whether the CIA lied to Congress and violated the National Security Act, the Hill reports. The probe stems from claims by new CIA chief Leon Panetta and Rep. Nancy Pelosi that the agency regularly misled Congress.
Obama Cracks Whip, Cites Progress on Health Reform
Boston Globe | Jul 17, 2009 4:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama today praised “unprecedented progress” in Congress on health-care reform, the Boston Globe reports. In a hastily scheduled appearance meant to galvanize support amid some signs this week of Democratic dissent, Obama said he remained “absolutely convinced” a bill would be passed this year. “The last few...
Girls Bond, Boys Compete: Brain Study
Time | Jul 17, 2009 4:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ever wonder why girls are so fixated on swapping friendship bracelets? They may just be wired that way, according to a new study. Using MRIs to look inside tweens' and teens' brains, researchers found that one-on-one interactions got girls’ synapses firing, Time reports. Boys focused less on other individuals than they did on groups and competition—a...
Jackson, Dupri Call It Quits
Us Weekly | Jul 17, 2009 4:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - When Janet Jackson’s longtime boyfriend didn’t show up for Michael Jackson’s memorial last week a source said it was because Jermaine Dupri “doesn’t attend funerals.” In fact, Us reports, it was because Jackson and Dupri have split after 7 years. “His friends are telling people it’s over,” an...
Online Dating's Problem: Too Many Matches, Not Too Few
MIT Technology Review | Jul 17, 2009 3:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Online dating sites are so packed with possible matches that they cause “cognitive overload” in seekers, leading to unconsidered choices, the MIT Technology Review reports. The lovelorn may say they want a wider variety of candidates, but they spend less time evaluating them, new research shows. “More search options lead to less...
Palin Plans 'Less PC' Tweets
Associated Press | Jul 17, 2009 3:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sarah Palin plans to unburden herself on Twitter more freely after she leaves office next week, the AP reports. “Elected is replaceable; Ak WILL progress! + side benefits10 dys til less politically correct twitters fly frm my fingertps outside State site,” she Tweeted today. And, she promises, “I’ll stay in touch w/whomever...
Marital Woes Strike Ensign's Ex-Housemate
Talking Points Memo | Jul 17, 2009 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Add Chip Pickering to the list of Republicans with fidelity issues: The former congressman’s estranged wife is suing his mistress for alienation of affection—in essence, destroying the Pickerings' marriage, TPM Muckracker reports. Oddly enough, Pickering lived in a Capitol Hill home that operates as a sort of boarding house for conservative...
Dow Ends Solid Week Up 32
Wall Street Journal | Jul 17, 2009 3:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks were generally flat today as investors stepped back from a 4-day rally. IBM boosted the Dow, rising 4.3% after reporting strong quarterly profits, the Wall Street Journal reports. GE and Bank of America both trended lower after reporting declining earnings. Housing data showed home construction rose in June, contrary to forecasts. The Dow...
Despite Cameo, Ron Paul Plans to Skip Brüno
The Hill | Jul 17, 2009 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ron Paul is more likely to be out biking this weekend than watching Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno , though the congressman and 2008 presidential candidate has a cameo. “Doesn’t exactly reflect my best moments,” the Texas Republican, 73, told the Hill . Paul appears in a scene in which Cohen, posing as an Austrian fashion...
'Strategic Patience' Will Neuter Al Qaeda
New Yorker | Jul 17, 2009 2:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Al Qaeda is weak militarily and “has been rejected by a great majority of Muslims,” Steve Coll writes in the New Yorker , but the terrorist organization and its affiliates can still create a “shock” like today's bombings in Jakarta. Despite the group's apparent inability to pull off a major attack like Sept. 11, “bombings...
Tiger Misses Cut; Watson Keeps Lead
Associated Press | Jul 17, 2009 2:46 PM CDT
(AP) - Tiger Woods missed the British Open cut after shooting a 4-over 74 in today's second round, marking only the second time he has failed to advance in a major since turning pro; the first was the 2006 US Open, which took place soon after the death of his father. But two double bogeys on the back side sank him today, even after he birdied two of the last...
Senate Votes to Expand Hate Crime Laws to Gays
The Hill | Jul 17, 2009 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate has voted to extend hate crime protections to include those attacked because of their gender or sexual orientation, mirroring a similar measure already passed in the House, the Hill reports. Five Republicans, including Olympia Snowe and Dick Lugar, joined all the Democrats present in supporting the bill. Other Republicans opposed the law;...
If Economists Fail, Don't Blame Economics
Economist | Jul 17, 2009 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Economists have made some disastrous calls recently, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on economics, opines an editorial in the Economist . True, too few economists predicted the financial crisis, but the current backlash, which assumes that the dismal science is basically useless, has gone too far. “Economics is less a slavish...
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