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.
Unrepentant Teen Cops to Baking Cat to Death
New York Daily News
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Jul 16, 2009 8:44 AM CDT
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A 17-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to baking her former roommate's cat to death in a 500° oven and will serve a year in jail, reports the New York Daily News . The girl and a younger accomplice trashed the woman's Bronx apartment, stole DVDs and food, and fled, leaving the cat to die. After the plea, Cheyenne Cherry stuck out her tongue at...
You're At the Beach, Now Cover Up!
The Smart Set
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Jul 16, 2009 8:23 AM CDT
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Being at the beach is no excuse for unseemly dress, writes Paula Marantz Cohen in the Smart Set, who found herself looking at '09's swimsuit designs and wishing for some outfits from '10—1910, that is. Not wanting to show off vast areas of flesh usually covered up isn't just female vanity, Cohen writes. It's "not about looking fat but about...
Harry Potter Is Neutering America
Esquire
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Jul 16, 2009 8:06 AM CDT
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Remember the old teen sex comedies, where hormones ruled and no one talked about their feelings? Hollywood doesn't, ST VanAirsdale writes in Esquire . Today's sexless blockbusters—think the Harry Potter flicks and Twilight —reflect how "our PG-13 imperative has scrubbed mass culture of its libido." The new leading men's "heroic...
8th Bust Made in Murder of Fla. Pair; Cartel Link Surfaces
Pensacola News Journal
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Jul 16, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
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An eighth arrest was made yesterday in the killing of a Florida couple with 16 kids, the Pensacola News Journal reports. Pamela Long Wiggins, 47, has been charged as an accessory to the crime. She has been linked to two other suspects—she rents an apartment to the man described as the "organizer" of the military-style assault—but...
Beat the Crowds to Ghana
Forbes
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Jul 16, 2009 7:44 AM CDT
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President Obama's visit has put Ghana in the spotlight and anybody planning to follow in his footsteps should aim to visit while it's still off the beaten track, travel consultants tell Forbes . The West African country surrounded by volatile neighbors has long been considered a peaceful "diamond in the rough." People in the travel biz say...
Yoo: Wiretaps Were Legal and Necessary
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 16, 2009 7:24 AM CDT
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Last week the inspectors general of the Justice Department, CIA, and other agencies suggested the Bush administration violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, singling out lawyer John Yoo for memos justifying warrantless wiretapping. Yoo defends himself today in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, writing that FISA was "an obsolete...
Obama Steams as Baucus Holds Up Health Bill
Politico
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Jul 16, 2009 7:16 AM CDT
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The health care reform bill is now in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee and chairman Max Baucus won't be rushed, Politico reports. The Montana Democrat, under pressure from the White House to get a deal done, has been locked in talks to build bipartisan consensus for financing the health care overhaul, while the window in which President Obama...
JPMorgan Profit Jumps 36%, Defying Expectations
Bloomberg
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Jul 16, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
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JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank to repay TARP money, posted second-quarter earnings of $2.7 billion—smashing analysts' predictions with a 36% increase in profit. The bank became America's second-largest after hoovering up Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, and like Goldman Sachs it has used a boom in investment banking to offset lagging...
Foxy Knoxy's Family Hurting Her Case
Newsweek
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Jul 16, 2009 6:45 AM CDT
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If Amanda Knox gets off for the murder of Meredith Kercher, it'll be despite her family—who have caused an uproar in Italy for appearing on the cover of a women's magazine. As Newsweek reports, one photo features Knox's two sisters, Deanna, 20, and Ashley, 14, posing in short shorts in front of the house Kercher died in. Observers blame Knox's...
Chechen Activist Murdered; Prez Eyed
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 16, 2009 6:18 AM CDT
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A human rights activist whose probes into abuse by authorities were a constant irritation to authorities has been kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya, the Wall Street Journal reports. Natalya Estemirova was found shot dead along a roadside hours after witnesses saw her being bundled into a car. Chechnya's president, pro-Russia strongman Ramzan Kadyrov,...
Convict Hubby Divorces Winehouse
Daily Mail (UK)
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Jul 16, 2009 6:01 AM CDT
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Troubled diva Amy Winehouse and her even more troubled husband officially divorced today after months of not speaking, reports the Daily Mail . It's believed that Blake Fielder-Civil cited adultery when filing for divorce, which he began while serving time for assault, and will seek part of her $15 million fortune. He is expecting a child with a woman...
Loyal but Tough, Clinton Returns to Fore
New York Times
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Jul 16, 2009 5:43 AM CDT
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Yesterday Hillary Clinton delivered an ambitious, muscular speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, in which she warned Iran of further sanctions while defending Barack Obama's policy of multifront diplomacy with rogue states. After months in the shadows, writes New York Times reporter Mark Landler, the secretary of State wanted to make a splash....
Swine Flu Soars in England
Guardian (UK)
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Jul 16, 2009 5:20 AM CDT
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Diagnosed cases of swine flu have jumped sixfold in some parts of England over the last week, the Guardian reports. Suspected cases have risen almost 50% across the country. The pandemic has killed 16 people in the UK so far. British doctors say they are being overwhelmed by patients demanding the antiviral drug Tamiflu, and they complain that...
Evangelical Leader 'Married' 8-Year-old Girl: Ex-Wife
Associated Press
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Jul 16, 2009 4:52 AM CDT
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An emotional ex-wife of an Arkansas evangelical sect leader testified yesterday that he forced underage girls to "marry" and have sex with him, reports the Telegraph . The woman, who said she herself was forced into her marriage at the age of 15, said she began having serious doubts about her situation when Tony Alamo, now 74, took...
Teen ' Fight Club Bomber' Busted in NY
New York Daily News
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Jul 16, 2009 4:27 AM CDT
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A Fight Club -obsessed teen has been arrested for the bombing of a Manhattan Starbucks, the New York Daily News reports. Kyle Shaw, 17, modeled himself on the Tyler Durden character in the movie and sought to copy the film's "Project Mayhem" attacks on corporate America, according to police. Shaw—who evidently forget that the first...
Crocs Scramble to Stay Afloat
MSNBC
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Jul 16, 2009 4:03 AM CDT
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The company that makes the once-ubiquitous, quirky Croc shoes is about to go belly up, experts fear. The Colorado firm lost $18.5 million last year, has a warehouse full of unwanted shoes and just weeks to pay off its debt. Blame it on the economy and fickle consumers. "The company's toast," said a manager of an investment fund. "They're...
N. Korea Biopic May Signal Kim's Final Act
Bloomberg
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Jul 16, 2009 3:37 AM CDT
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North Korea has started making a documentary honoring Kim Jong-il's life, leading many to suspect that the leader's final chapter is looming, Bloomberg reports. The leader, 67, is thought to have suffered a stroke last year and recent reports say he is now battling terminal pancreatic cancer. Analysts believe Kim, who considers himself a film expert,...
Pepsi Video of Jackson in Flames Released
CNN
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Jul 16, 2009 3:09 AM CDT
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A horrifying video of Michael Jackson's hair going up in flames during an infamous Pepsi commercial snafu in 1984 has been released by Us magazine. Pyrotechnics that misfired ignited Jackson's hair as he danced during filming for the TV ad. Apparently unaware of what had happened the singer continues to dance on the video, flames shooting from his...
Bankruptcy Looms as Feds Refuse to Bail Out CIT Group
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2009 2:47 AM CDT
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The Obama administration has rejected CIT Group's pleas for a bailout, and the troubled commercial lender is likely to file for bankruptcy as early as today, reports the Washington Post . CIT—which has already received $2.3 billion in TARP funds—provides financing to close to a million small- and medium-sized businesses, thousands...
Google Maps Celebs' Fave Haunts
Mashable
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Jul 16, 2009 2:21 AM CDT
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A new addition to Google Maps offers users a guide the haunts of the famous and kind-of-famous, Mashable reports. Some 200 globetrotting celebrities and experts were recruited to reveal their favorite spots in Favorite Places, which pinpoints everything from celebrity chef Alice Waters' choice of neighborhood restaurant to Al Gore's favorite observatory....
Gates Refuses to Ban Smoking in War Zones
CNN
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Jul 16, 2009 1:49 AM CDT
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American troops in war zones won't have to battle the enemy while suffering nicotine withdrawal, CNN reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is willing to consider some of the recommendations in a Pentagon-commissioned report calling for a totally tobacco-free military, but he has no intention of ordering stressed-out troops in combat zones to go without...
Buzz: Forget Moon, Let's Go to Mars
Washington Post
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Jul 16, 2009 1:26 AM CDT
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America should boldly turn its space program toward colonizing Mars instead of trying to retrace the dusty footprints that he and Neil Armstrong made on the Moon 40 years ago, Buzz Aldrin writes in the Washington Post on the anniversary of Apollo 11's launch. NASA's attempt to resume lunar exploration will end up like its predecessor, "a dead...
These Hearings Are All About the Next Nominee
New York Times
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Jul 15, 2009 9:52 PM CDT
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Three days, no bombshells: Sonia Sotomayor is a done deal for the Supreme Court. The humdrum proceedings still have value, however, write Peter Baker and Charlie Savage in the New York Times . It's all about the next nominee, and that could be a much bigger fight. If nothing else, Republicans want to make it harder for President Obama to pick a "full-throated"...
Potter Pulls in Record $22.2M
Variety
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Jul 15, 2009 8:52 PM CDT
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Young readers of Harry Potter are all grown up now and able to attend late showings: The Half-Blood Prince set a box office record for a midnight opening by pulling in $22.2 million, reports Variety . The haul is bigger than expected and beats the record of $18 million set last year by the Dark Knight . The sixth installment in the Potter series...
Debris Hits Endeavour On Liftoff
Houston Chronicle
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Jul 15, 2009 8:23 PM CDT
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When Endeavour lifted off today, onboard cameras captured pieces of debris falling off the exterior fuel tank and striking the shuttle, the Houston Chronicle reports. NASA officials say it's probably no big deal, and the crew will examine the orbiter with external cameras tomorrow. "That's a normal process for us," said one NASA official....
Meghan McCain: Joe the Plumber 'Is a Dumbass'
Out
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Jul 15, 2009 7:38 PM CDT
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Meghan McCain talks to Out.com about her campaign for gay marriage and her role as pseudo-spokeswoman for a new generation of Republicans, and one line is sure to catch a lot of attention: "Joe the Plumber—you can quote me—is a dumbass," she says of the man who gained fame during her dad's campaign and once said he wouldn't want...
Weird Stuff for Sale on Amazon
Random Good Stuff
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Jul 15, 2009 7:05 PM CDT
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Amazon.com long ago expanded beyond books and now offers appliances, musical instruments, and as Random Good Stuff points out, some decidedly odd items: The world’s largest book. At 5 by 7 feet, the photographic book Bhutan includes lifesize portraits of its subjects. It's a steal at $30,000. Wedding chapel. Not a model or joke....
Website Uses Slain Couple's Photo, Fake Testimonial
Boing Boing
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Jul 15, 2009 6:37 PM CDT
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Classy: An Ohio company put up a photo of a smiling couple along with a testimonial in which they rave about how much money they're making through the business. Problem is, the two people pictured are Ben and Catherine Mullany, British honeymooners murdered in Antigua last July, notes BoingBoing. "We have made $1,080 alone with your MyDishBiz...
Wal-Mart Plans Eco-Rating Labels
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 15, 2009 6:15 PM CDT
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Wal-Mart plans to begin asking suppliers to provide info on the environmental impact of their operations so the store can put so-called green rating labels on its products, the Wall Street Journal reports.The first cards probably won't appear for a few years, but given Wal-Mart's clout as the world's biggest retailer, the move could have a profound...
Hacker Sends Confidential Twitter Files to Blogs
InformationWeek
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Jul 15, 2009 5:53 PM CDT
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A hacker who gained access to a Twitter administrative account two months ago has been sending confidential files to bloggers, InformationWeek reports. Most of the documents sent to blogs such as TechCrunch have been only mildly embarrassing internal correspondence, but some contain security passwords. The hacker, who goes by “Hacker Croll,”...
Sanford Takes Another Quick Trip—With His Wife
Greenville (SC) News
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Jul 15, 2009 5:32 PM CDT
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Mark Sanford is canceling state business to take another abrupt trip, but this time his wife is going along, the Greenville News reports. The South Carolina governor will be gone with wife Jenny the rest of the week, forcing the postponement of several meetings. His staff is in contact with him—not the case on his infamous and adulterous trip...
Shuttle Endeavour Blasts Off
Associated Press
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Jul 15, 2009 5:11 PM CDT
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Space shuttle Endeavour and seven astronauts are on their way to the international space station after more than a month's delay. The shuttle blasted off about 6pm, hauling up a veranda for Japan's space station lab. It was NASA's sixth attempt to launch Endeavour after a series of gas leaks and thunderstorms. The launch fell on the eve of the 40th...
Carla Bruni to Sing at Mandela's Birthday
AFP
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Jul 15, 2009 4:43 PM CDT
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Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will sing this weekend at Nelson Mandela’s birthday party, her first public performance since becoming the first lady of France, reports AFP. The former South African leader will celebrate his 91st birthday Saturday at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, and Bruni won't be the only big name: Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin...
Mousavi Will Attend Public Services Friday
Associated Press
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Jul 15, 2009 4:15 PM CDT
(AP) -
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed not to let the blood of protesters killed in postelection crackdown go in vain as he met with the family of a young man shot to death during the turmoil, a reformist Web site reported today. He also announced that he will attend Tehran's main Friday prayer services this week for the first time, a...
2009's Best Music So Far
MTV
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Jul 15, 2009 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Now that 2009 is more than halfway over, James Montgomery runs down the best albums of the year—so far—on MTV: Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion : The No. 1 pick is “the only thing I can remember that has actually lived up to the hype, if not exceeded it.” Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix :...
Gore's Climate Crusade Misguided, Wasteful
Esquire
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Jul 15, 2009 3:40 PM CDT
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Global warming is real, but Al Gore’s crusade to curb carbon emissions is misguided and will squander money that could be applied cheaply and efficiently to those problems now , Danish statistician Bjørn Lomborg writes in Esquire . “Here’s the truth: There are better, more cost-effective ways to fight global warming,”...
Man's Debit Card Charged $23 Quadrillion—for Smokes
WMUR (NH)
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Jul 15, 2009 3:25 PM CDT
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Josh Muszynski was just trying to buy cigarettes. But when he swiped his debit card, the New Hampshire man incurred a charge for $23,148,855,308,184,500—plus a $15 overdraft fee added by Bank of America, WMUR-TV reports. “I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card,” Muszynski said. “It was very concerning.”...
Tech Rally Sends Dow Up 257
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 15, 2009 3:13 PM CDT
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The tech sector drove a substantial market rally today led by rosy projections from chipmaker Intel, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other technology stocks followed Intel—up 7.5%—as investors predicted a resurgence of the consumer electronics market. Good news from the Fed and the credit industry also helped fuel the surge. The Dow...
Sotomayor's Inspiration? Perry Mason
Associated Press
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Jul 15, 2009 2:56 PM CDT
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Sonia Sotomayor’s zeal for the law comes from the tube, the Los Angeles Times reports. The former prosecutor credits for her conversion a Perry Mason episode where the titular defense attorney “proved his client innocent and got the actual murderer to confess,” the Supreme Court nominee told senators today. “Perry said to...
Palin's Haul From Small Donors Echoes Obama: Silver
FiveThirtyEight
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Jul 15, 2009 2:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The nearly $1 million raised by Sarah Palin’s political action committee this year is not in itself all that impressive, writes Nate Silver for FiveThirtyEight.com. After all, her figures are dwarfed by Republican players with significantly less star power. But Palin’s fundraising numbers reveal a true strength: A full 60% of her total...
Pez Sues Calif. Museum Over Outsized Dispenser
San Jose Mercury News
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Jul 15, 2009 2:34 PM CDT
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Pez is suing a California store and museum over an 8-foot-tall dispenser custom-made for the establishment—and thus not sanctioned by the Austrian candy-maker, the San Jose Mercury News reports. “From a branding perspective, I think Pez should embrace the Dosses and the museum, instead of trying to attack them,” says the lawyer...
Recession Will Cost More Jobs, End 'Before Long': Fed
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 15, 2009 2:21 PM CDT
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The Federal Reserve is confident the general economy is turning around but still pessimistic on the jobs part, the Wall Street Journal reports. In June meeting minutes issued today, those gathered agreed that data since April “indicated that the economic contraction was slowing and that the decline in activity could cease before long.”...
A Hundred Celebs, One Hotel Room
Telegraph (UK)
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Jul 15, 2009 2:18 PM CDT
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During a four-month period in 2006 and 2007, 100 celebrities checked into Room 23 of Beverly Hills’ Peninsula Hotel. The result is photographer Deborah Anderson’s Room 23 , a coffee-table book to raise money for a human-rights charity. “We wanted to portray anything and everything, from Minnie Driver reading a script, topless, in...
S. African World Cup Laborers End Strike
AFP
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Jul 15, 2009 2:09 PM CDT
(Newser) -
South African construction workers tasked with building facilities for the 2010 World Cup today called off their week-long strike after 15 hours, clearing a major obstacle in the country’s preparations to host to the world’s most watched sports competition, AFP reports. Construction firms agreed to give the roughly 70,000 laborers a 12%...
Stimulus Cash Isn't Making It to Hard-Hit Minorities
Salon
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Jul 15, 2009 1:58 PM CDT
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With unemployment at 14.7% among African Americans and 12.2% among Hispanics, the recession is hitting minority communities particularly hard. But as is often the case with so-called “colorblind” spending, stimulus funds, intended to be equal-opportunity, aren’t making it to these groups. The government must “start targeting...
Parents Save, Send Kids to 'Camp Granny'
Associated Press
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Jul 15, 2009 1:45 PM CDT
(AP) -
The lingering recession is forcing cash-strapped parents to cancel camp for the kids—instead, they're being packed off to their grandparents'. The arrangement shifts the child-care burden to grandparents, many of whom enjoy the extra time with their grandchildren. Mom and dad save money and get some time to themselves, while the grandkids get...
Fact-Challenged Facebook Book Not Making Many Friends
Reuters
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Jul 15, 2009 1:32 PM CDT
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Not everybody is friending a book detailing the birth of Facebook, Reuters reports. BusinessWeek calls Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires a “tawdry mismash,” amounting to “a fictionalized account of the founding.” The book is full of over-the-top scenes—like one in which Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg...
With New CD and Makeover, Houston Has Liftoff
Daily Mail (UK)
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Jul 15, 2009 1:26 PM CDT
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Whitney Houston “tumbled but she didn’t crumble,” music legend Clive Davis said last night at a London listening party for the diva’s latest. I Look To You is the first album in 7 years for the 45-year-old, reports the Mail . The crowd gave Houston—seemingly over past troubles including rehab and divorce—a standing...
Backyard Chickens Ruffle Neighbors' Feathers
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 15, 2009 1:17 PM CDT
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Backyard chickens have polarized the city council of Salem, Ore., as residents argue over whether to legalize keeping the birds in home coops, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s one of several such disputes around the US, with some extolling the virtues of a source of free eggs and fertilizer for backyard gardening—especially during...
Turlington Models a More Charitable Path
Vogue
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Jul 15, 2009 1:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Christy Turlington still considers modeling her work—“It’s the only thing that pays me; everything else is school or volunteerism,” the Columbia masters candidate, often described as one of the world’s most beautiful people, tells Vogue . “My face is a dime a dozen in many parts of the world.” Specifically,...
