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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.

In Switch, Palin Flames Out as Hillary Soars
New York Times | Jul 29, 2009 7:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sarah Palin's resignation speech on Sunday showed how far she's fallen, writes Maureen Dowd: "Once a blazingly confident media darling," the now-former Alaska governor has become a ranting, whiny "Nixon with hair extensions." It's a marked contrast from Hillary Clinton, who on the same day gave an hourlong interview to...
Microsoft, Yahoo Finally Strike Search Deal
MSNBC | Jul 29, 2009 7:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft and Yahoo finally officially tied the knot today, with a 10-year deal to integrate their search and advertising businesses, MSNBC reports. It appears Microsoft won't pay Yahoo up front, which is probably a blow to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who promised she'd only join Microsoft for a "boatload of money." Instead they'll share ad revenue,...
Powell: Gates, Cops Both at Fault
Huffington Post | Jul 29, 2009 7:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Speaking to Larry King about Henry Louis Gates’ arrest, Colin Powell said he’d faced racial profiling “many times,” and suggested both the professor and the police were at fault in the incident, the Huffington Post reports. Gates “should have reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big a deal,”...
Lou Dobbs Calls Maddow a 'Tea- Bagging Queen'
Huffington Post | Jul 29, 2009 6:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lou Dobbs is being cruelly oppressed. He says the left is trying to “silence” him for demanding that Barack Obama produce a birth certificate. “My god, you’re talking about the third rail of American journalism, baby!” he said on his radio show yesterday. Among these scary lefties? “Tea-bagging queen Rachel Maddow,”...
Kurd-Arab Conflict Now Biggest Threat to Iraq
Associated Press | Jul 29, 2009 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tension between Arabs and Kurds, rather than the usual friction between Sunnis and Shia, has become the greatest threat to Iraqi security, says the top US general in the country. The oil-rich Kurdish region has become "the No. 1 driver of instability," Ray Odierno told reporters yesterday, and "many insurgent groups are trying to...
Brown Gets a Boost From Viral Wedding Video
Billboard | Jul 29, 2009 6:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The hit YouTube video of a wedding party boogieing down the aisle has given Chris Brown a much-needed boost in record sales, not to mention publicity for something besides domestic violence, Billboard reports. The singer's Forever, the couple's song of choice, is now in the iTunes top 10 despite having been released last year. The BlogPulse tracker ...
S. African Mount Up for Auction, Villagers Irate
Independent (UK) | Jul 29, 2009 6:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Villagers at the foot of a South African mountain are incensed over plans to sell the land above them at a private auction, the Independent reports. The thousands of impoverished villagers live in cramped conditions and say the property, near Cape Town, should belong to the public. Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey are believed to be among the potential...
Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December
Wall Street Journal | Jul 29, 2009 5:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Jerusalem recently to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran, but according to John Bolton, "relations between the US and Israel are more strained now than at any time since the 1956 Suez Canal crisis." Israel understands what the Obama administration does not—the Iranians are churning ahead with...
Seuss' Lorax Slated to Be 3D Movie
Variety | Jul 29, 2009 5:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dr Suess' green-themed story The Lorax is becoming the first of his works to get the 3D treatment, Variety reports. Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment plan to release the animated picture in 2012, on what would have been the author's 108th birthday. His 1971 book told the story of a greedy businessman who strips a forest of its trees...
Terror Suspect Led Typical Suburban Life
Washington Post | Jul 29, 2009 5:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - The arrest of construction worker Daniel Boyd and his sons for conspiring to support terrorists came as a complete shock to their neighbors in North Carolina, who describe the 39-year-old father as a friendly gardener and fisherman. But Boyd has followed an uncommon path. After converting to Islam in the 1980s, he traveled to Afghanistan to fight the...
Dutch Abortion Ship Hits Rough Waters
Independent (UK) | Jul 29, 2009 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - A change in the law is threatening to scuttle a Dutch ship's mission to provide abortions to women throughout the world, reports the Independent . Dr. Rebecca Gomperts has delivered "abortion pills" that cause miscarriages to women in nations where abortion is illegal. She has skirted local laws by docking outside territorial waters and...
Blue Dogs Stand Firm as Dems Get Panicky
Politico | Jul 29, 2009 4:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Democratic leadership is scrambling to make progress on health care reform before Congress breaks for its August recess, but last night's marathon negotiations failed to break the stalemate—and may even have increased the number of issues up for debate.  "We're making progress," Nancy Pelosi said as she left the Capitol. But...
Bold Gem Heist Gang Is Toast of Serbia
Los Angeles Times | Jul 29, 2009 4:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - A 200-strong gang of global jewel thieves has become the bane of Interpol and heroes to many in their native Serbia, the Los Angeles Times reports. The "Pink Panthers" live among the many refugees from the Balkan wars scattered around the world. They are blamed for at least 100 heists worldwide over the last decade from Paris to Dubai,...
'Abstinence' State Senator Quits After Intern Affair
Associated Press | Jul 29, 2009 3:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pro-abstinence Tennessee State Sen. Paul Stanley has stepped down in the wake of revelations that he had an affair with his 22-year-old intern, reports AP. The 47-year-old married father of two admitted the affair to investigators after his intern's boyfriend allegedly attempted to blackmail Stanley for $10,000. "Due to recent events, I have decided...
Swimmer Makes Ass of Himself
Telegraph (UK) | Jul 29, 2009 3:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Champion US swimmer Ricky Berens got that sinking feeling when his high-tech suit split down the back an instant before he sailed into the water for his leg of a relay at the FINA Swimming World Championship in Rome. The result was a flash of muscly derrière transmitted on TV stations around the globe.
Fetus Cut From Murdered Woman's Body
CNN | Jul 29, 2009 2:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - An 8-month-old fetus was cut from the body of a woman murdered and stuffed in a closet in her Massachusetts apartment, CNN reports. Darlene Haynes, 23, was found wrapped in bedding. A close friend last heard from her days ago when she texted that she was having drinks with an acquaintance at her apartment. Her baby may have survived the attack but...
Shrinks Fume Over Wiki's 'Rorschach Cheat Sheet'
New York Times | Jul 29, 2009 2:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Psychologists are seeing red in a row over Rorschach's famous inkblots, the New York Times reports. The original series of 10 inkblot images, whose interpretations are used to gain insight into a viewer's mind, have been posted on Wikipedia along with the most common responses. Psychologists fear that some people may use the site as a "cheat...
US, Canada Team Up to Explore Uncharted Arctic
Globe and Mail | Jul 29, 2009 1:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's continental shelf. The research is likely to lay a...
Tanning Beds Branded a Top Cancer Risk
Newsday | Jul 29, 2009 1:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tanning beds have been upgraded from a probable carcinogen to a definite cause of cancer by World Health Organization experts, Newsday reports. The scientists analyzed over 20 studies and promptly moved the beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into their top category of cancer risks. They concluded that using tanning beds before age 30...
Buehrle Sets MLB Record, Retires 45 Straight
Associated Press | Jul 28, 2009 9:49 PM CDT
(AP) - Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle has set a major league record by retiring 45 straight batters. Coming off a perfect game in his last start against Tampa Bay, Buehrle retired the first 17 Minnesota Twins batters he faced tonight to break the record of 41 set by San Francisco's Jim Barr in 1972 and tied by Chicago reliever Bobby Jenks in 2007. Buehrle's...
Radio Gig May Be In Palin's Future
Inside Radio | Jul 28, 2009 9:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Let the Palin watch begin. Nobody's quite sure where the former governor will turn up, but a report in Inside Radio is generating interest tonight because it says Palin's people are "quietly testing the waters to see how much interest radio syndicators have for her." The report, which doesn't name sources, says Palin herself isn't fully sold...
Madoff: I Can't Believe They Didn't Catch Me
ABC News | Jul 28, 2009 8:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Prison life appears to be agreeing with Bernie Madoff. A lawyer who represents victims met with Madoff today and said he appears fit. "He looked pretty good and seems to be working out," said attorney Joseph Cotchett. "He looked a lot better than he has in some months since I've seen photographs of him." In the four-hour-plus interview,...
Suu Kyi Expects Guilty Verdict Friday
Times (UK) | Jul 28, 2009 7:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Aung San Suu Kyi learns Friday whether she will be found guilty of violating her house arrest, and the Burmese dissident expects the worst. “I’m afraid the verdict will be painfully obvious," she told diplomats in court today as her trial wrapped up. A conviction—she is accused of giving shelter to an American who swam to her...
Favre: I'm Staying Retired
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minn.) | Jul 28, 2009 6:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - No comeback this time for Brett Favre. After a long flirtation with the Minnesota Vikings, Favre has told the team that he won't be signing and will instead stick to retirement, the Pioneer Press reports. "It's the hardest decision I've ever made," Favre told ESPN. "I didn't feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable."...
National Review Calls Birther Claims 'Foolishness'
National Review | Jul 28, 2009 6:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - The editors of the National Review want nothing to do with this "foolishness" over President Obama's citizenship. Though "a few misguided souls among the Right have indulged it," the idea that Obama isn't a citizen is mere "myth." The birth certificate he's produced is legit, and "there is no secondary document...
3 Teens Caught With Half-Ton of Pot on Boat
San Diego Union-Tribune | Jul 28, 2009 5:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Three US teenagers returned from Mexico from what they claimed was a fishing trip with quite a catch: more than half a ton of marijuana stuffed beneath the deck of their boat. The three—two males ages 18 and 19 and a 19-year-old female—were arrested when they docked their 22-foot boat in San Diego, the Union-Tribune reports. A drug-sniffing...
Resurgent Ford Has High Hopes for Taurus
MSNBC | Jul 28, 2009 5:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ford is hoping to use the imminent launch of the 2010 Taurus to cement its newly dominant position among Detroit’s Big Three, MSNBC reports. Ford’s position as the only major US automaker not receiving government aid has been translating into small but significant gains in market share as consumers feel disinclined to buy autos from the...
Disease Threatens Florida Oranges
Scientific American | Jul 28, 2009 5:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Florida’s orange growers face a powerful adversary in a disease know by its shorthand of HLB that causes citrus trees to “green”—produce only sour, misshapen fruit, Scientific American reports. With every county in the state affected, the citrus industry has dedicated $10 million this year alone to research on how to fight...
5 Jobs in Social Networking
CNN | Jul 28, 2009 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook addiction interfering with your work? Perhaps you should get a job where an intimate understanding of social networking is a prerequisite. Rachel Zupek runs down five possibilities for CNN. Recruiter: The social networks are swarming with qualified candidates, "and it's about time recruiters joined them." They can "find...
Female UN Worker in Sudan Wears Pants, Faces Flogging
Washington Post | Jul 28, 2009 4:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - A local woman working for the United Nations in Sudan has been charged with wearing “clothing causing harassment to the public sentiments” and could be flogged 40 times tomorrow for the crime, the Washington Post reports. Lubna Ahmed Hussein and 12 other women were rounded up earlier this month at a Khartoum café for wearing pants....
Plan Could Divine Missing Watergate Minutes, CSI-Style
Mother Jones | Jul 28, 2009 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Watergate hobbyist has a plan to discover what was discussed during the 18½ minutes erased from a taped conversation between President Nixon and his chief of staff after the break-in. Phil Mellinger doesn’t want to examine the tape itself; that's been done without success. He says the answer lies on sheets of legal yellow paper used...
Even in Recession, NYC Best for Singles
Forbes | Jul 28, 2009 3:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York may be expensive and unemployed, but high marks for “coolness” and online dating participation have it atop this year’s Forbes list of best cities for singles. As the economy stifles ambition, the dating number has become more significant. “When things are tough, core needs are most important,” a sociologist...
Beck: Obama Is a 'Racist'
Politico | Jul 28, 2009 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Glenn Beck today called President Obama “a racist,” Politico reports. The Fox News commentator accused the president of having a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture” during a discussion of the Skip Gates scandal on a Fox show. When his interlocutor pointed out that Obama is surrounded by whites in his administration,...
Dow Retreats 12 on Weak Data
Wall Street Journal | Jul 28, 2009 3:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks closed slightly lower today as falling crude prices and shares of energy firms weighed on the broader market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Exxon and Chevron both fell around 1% off a decline of $1.15 in crude oil prices, which stand at $67.32 a barrel. A new report also said consumer confidence dipped again. The Dow fell 12 points to close...
Landlord Sues Tenant Over Derogatory Tweet
Chicago Tribune | Jul 28, 2009 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter enthusiasts may want to watch what they write—a Chicago landlord has sued a tenant for libel after she posted a Tweet complaining about her apartment, the Tribune reports. “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay,” Amanda Bonnen posted in May. Now Horizon is asking for...
Upset by Andrews Vid, Ladies? Stop Watching Sports
US News & World Report | Jul 28, 2009 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Erin Andrews video scandal is just another sick symptom of “male sports culture,” Bonnie Erbe writes in US News & World Report , but the fairer sex does have recourse. “If women didn’t attend NFL games or NBA games, or even watch them on TV to help drive up ratings, they would be doing more to stop men from behaving...
In Recession, Homeowners Nail Contractors
Time | Jul 28, 2009 2:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hiring a contractor to remodel a kitchen or resurface a floor once meant a lot of hassle and some serious cash. But the recession has changed all that: Contractors these days are ready and willing to work on the cheap, Time reports. Projects are smaller, and spending on remodeling is expected to keep falling through autumn, analysts say.
Awash-in-Red USPS 'High-Risk': Fed Watchdog
The Hill | Jul 28, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Government Accountability Office has put the struggling US Postal Service on its list of “high-risk” federal programs, the Hill reports. The federal watchdog says the USPS will lose $7 billion this year, and that even the end of the recession will not return business that has migrated to other services and email. The GAO deems the...
German Hands Phelps Rare Loss; Breaks Record, Too
Associated Press | Jul 28, 2009 2:16 PM CDT
(AP) - Germany's Paul Biedermann handed Michael Phelps his first major individual loss in 4 years—and snatched away his world record, too—with a stunning win in the 200-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships today in Rome. Virtually unknown outside his country before this meet, Biedermann has now erased Ian Thorpe from the record...
Jailed Financier Stanford Wants Cell With Better A/C
New York Post | Jul 28, 2009 2:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Accused financier R. Allen Stanford is demanding he be moved from his current jail to a nicer facility in Houston, on grounds that his current cell is not comfortable enough, the New York Post reports. Stanford, charged with swindling investors out of $7 billion, complained through his lawyer that the Joe Corely Detention facility lacks air conditioning...
Dumbest Arguments Against Health Reform
American Prospect | Jul 28, 2009 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - “The opponents of reform are getting serious now,” Paul Waldman writes of the health care debate for the American Prospect , “and they've turned the volume on their megaphones of mendacity up to 11.” Herewith, some of the most cringe-inducing arguments against: It's not broken: Progressives dismiss this out of hand,...
Tucson Tops 'Simple Life' List
USA Today | Jul 28, 2009 1:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Of all the cities and towns in America, Tucson, Ariz., offers the simplest and most rewarding living, U SA Today reports. The AARP studied demographic information and a city’s stress index—a measure of suicide, crime, and divorce rates—to pick places a retiree might relax easily, and cheaply. The desert city, population 541,000,...
Mexican Pot Lords See Green in Strapped Calif. Parks
San Francisco Chronicle | Jul 28, 2009 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mexican drug traffickers are having a banner year growing pot in California’s plentiful—and, due to the state budget crisis, woefully understaffed—parkland, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Authorities think California might see a record-breaking, multi-billion dollar crop. “Our whole state is overrun,” said a spokeswoman...
Hollywood's Lost Its Grasp on 'Quirky'
NPR | Jul 28, 2009 1:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hollywood loves to make movies about allegedly quirky people—think 500 Days of Summer —but most characters are so similar they don’t seem quirky at all, writes Linda Holmes for NPR. “It may be that at this point, the quirkiest person in a Hollywood movie would be someone who wore clothes from The Gap and listened to Dave Matthews.”...
Best YouTube Wedding Dances
E! Online | Jul 28, 2009 1:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jill and Kevin Heinz made a splash when their wedding-entrance dance video went viral—but they weren’t the first couple to surprise guests with their groove. E! runs down some of the most popular YouTube wedding dance clips: Thriller: Brian and Sandy Lundmark managed to impress the King of Pop himself, landing on his list of favorite...
Rolls-Royce Unveils Budget Limo
Time | Jul 28, 2009 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rolls-Royce has good news for cash-strapped millionaires: They won’t have to condescend to buy a Bentley, Time reports. The automaker, known for its gigantic limousines, is about to release the Ghost, a short, sleek four-door sedan priced at a mere $245,000. That’s a sight lower than the $380,000 the company’s flagship Phantom sells...
Facebook Crosses Line on Privacy ... Again
MSNBC | Jul 28, 2009 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Imagine Peter Smith’s surprise when an ad for “hot singles” on Facebook featured a picture of … his wife. The site blames that flap on a third-party company violating policy, but the incident underscores Facebook’s notoriously unclear privacy settings, writes Bob Sullivan for MSNBC: “A hard-to-spot toggle switch...
DEA Raids Jacko Doc's Vegas Home, Office
Fox News | Jul 28, 2009 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - DEA agents and police raided the Las Vegas home and office of Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray this morning after a raid last week on his Houston office, Fox News reports. Murray is a suspect in the manslaughter investigation of Jackson's death; the warrant served last week called for “property or items constituting evidence … that...
Shatner Covers Palin's Farewell Poem ... Er, Speech
Mediaite | Jul 28, 2009 12:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s farewell speech may have sounded like random meandering gibberish, but it was actually random meandering performance poetry, Conan O’Brien explained last night on NBC's Tonight Show . To celebrate her obvious gifts, he enlisted William Shatner for a Beat-style reading—and yes, it's as amazing as you suspect. See the...
Jealous Wife Scalds Hubby's Privates
New York Post | Jul 28, 2009 12:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - A New York woman went a little bit Lorena Bobbitt on her husband yesterday, allegedly pouring scalding water over his genitals as revenge for suspected cheating, the Post reports. “By the time I woke up, the skin was falling off,” says Emmanuel Ojofeitimi, who was treated for burns from his knees to his abdomen, and elsewhere. His wife,...
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