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Newser Story Index from August, 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.

Edwards Moves Former Mistress to NC: Enquirer
National Enquirer | Aug 19, 2009 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - John Edwards is moving his former mistress and their 18-month-old daughter into his North Carolina neighborhood, the National Enquirer reports. Sources tell the tabloid that the former Democratic presidential candidate is determined to be involved in raising his child with Rielle Hunter. Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, is said to have “exploded...
Michelle Can Be Obama's Best Weapon in Health Debate
The Stimulist | Aug 19, 2009 4:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - The president appears oblivious to the pocket ace he’s holding on health-care reform, Josh Skolnick writes on the Stimulist: Michelle Obama. Here’s why the first lady should be injected into the debate: Experience: At the University of Chicago, "her whole job was explaining medical decisions and health care bureaucracy to...
Lawyer: Emails Prove Big Ben's Innocence
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Aug 19, 2009 3:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ben Roethlisberger’s lawyer released emails and instant messages today from the 31-year-old woman who has accused the Steelers quarterback of sexual assault, claiming they exonerate his client, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In one email time-stamped the day after the alleged assault took place, Andrea McNulty writes that she is going...
MoMa Shines Light on NYC's Punk Revolution
Rolling Stone | Aug 19, 2009 3:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York’s Museum of Modern Art is showcasing the gritty glamour of the city’s 1970s and early ’80s music scene, where punk, New Wave, DIY, and noise rock ruled, Rolling Stone reports. New Yorkers were feeling alienated—the city was bankrupt in 1975; President Ford told it to “drop dead"—but that helped inspire...
Insurer Urges Employees to Protest Health Care Reform
Talking Points Memo | Aug 19, 2009 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s second-biggest health insurance firm, has been encouraging employees to attend events protesting health-care reform, Talking Points Memo reports. In a clear-cut example of “Astroturf”—fake grassroots action—a memo to employees urges them to call an “advocacy specialist” who...
Dow Up 61 After Shaky Day
Wall Street Journal | Aug 19, 2009 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Markets ended higher today after a dismal start, buoyed by an ascendant energy sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. The seesaw comes as no surprise to one strategist: “This market is highly vulnerable to get pushed around right now. That’s a factor of light volume.” The Dow, once down 50, finished up 61.22 at 9,279.16. The S&P...
Pissed Airline Passenger Back on YouTube
Consumerist | Aug 19, 2009 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Dave Carroll, who so memorably commemorated his terrible experience with United Airlines in the YouTube sensation United Breaks Guitars is at it again, Consumerist reports. The singer/songwriter/guitar-rights activist has released a more ambitious video cleverly titled United Breaks Guitars: Song 2 , with a slightly more conciliatory tone. And...
In Warhol's Junk Pile: Cash, Soup ... Nude Jackie O
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Andy Warhol was a prolific collector, but his accumulations defied categorization until 1973, when a colleague suggested he put his finds in boxes. That didn’t help much, the AP reports. “He really didn’t like organization and there would be several boxes going at a time,” says the leader of a curatorial group painstakingly...
Va. Tech Shooter Denied Homicidal Thoughts
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 2:45 PM CDT
(AP) - Recently discovered records show the Virginia Tech gunman denied homicidal thoughts to a school counselor nearly a year and half before the worst mass shootings in modern US history. Seung-Hui Cho denied the thoughts in a session with counselor Sherry Lynch Conrad on Dec. 14, 2005. On April 16, 2007, Cho killed 32 students and faculty members on campus...
Economist Rose Friedman Dead at 98
Chicago Tribune | Aug 19, 2009 2:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rose Friedman, economist and collaborator with husband and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, died yesterday of heart failure, the Chicago Tribune reports. Rose was the co-author of Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose , two foundational texts of the Chicago School of economics. Though birth records from her birthplace in modern-day Ukraine...
Stone Takes on 'Secret History of America'
Hollywood Reporter | Aug 19, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Oliver Stone is nothing if not ambitious. According to the Hollywood Reporter , the director is prepping a 10-part documentary series entitled Secret History of America, which promises to examine important but under-reported events from the past 60 years. Stone, who will provide the narration himself, calls the Showtime project “the deepest...
Shut Up, Dieters: It's Not Working, and You're Boring
SpliceToday | Aug 19, 2009 2:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Enough about your diet already, Chloe Angyal writes on SpliceToday. It’s boring . “There is something about dieting that renders people unable to talk about anything but their diet, even to complete strangers who actually didn't ask and frankly don't care,” Angyal continues, and she knows what it is: “It's a sneaking suspicion...
Top NYC Hotels for Cheaters
New York Daily News | Aug 19, 2009 2:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York has housed many a famous cheater in its fancy hotels—the Daily News lists the top five: Four Seasons: Alex Rodriguez courted prostitutes here while still married to Cynthia, alleges Manhattan madam Kristin Davis. Days Inn: Gov. David Paterson went the budget route at this $150-a-night hotel during his three years of...
Your Lowly Penny Can Actually Buy Something
Los Angeles Times | Aug 19, 2009 1:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Retailers, scrambling to connect with the fragile consumer psyche, have turned to the lowly penny for a boost, offering everything from clothing to crayons for a single cent, the LA Times reports. Nearly taken out of circulation three years ago, the penny may be a lousy coin, but it’s a great gimmick, analysts say. “Buy one, get one free...
13-Year-Old Runs Over, Kills Father
New York Post | Aug 19, 2009 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - A 13-year-old Bronx boy accidentally killed his father last night while trying to park the family’s Porsche SUV, the New York Post reports. The family had just eaten at a restaurant, and waiters heard the boy ask if he could move the car. John Cedeno, 45, stood beside the open passenger-side door, and was pinned against a tree when his son...
S. African Track Star Told to Take Gender Test
BBC | Aug 19, 2009 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The International Association of Athletics Federations has asked South African track star Caster Semenya to undergo gender testing, the BBC reports. The 18-year-old Semenya won the 800-meter final today at the World Championships in Berlin, just weeks after becoming African junior champion by smashing the South African record.
Inability to Stop Dad's Suicide Drove Hero Pilot: Memoir
New York Daily News | Aug 19, 2009 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot hero of January’s Hudson River jet landing, was driven to help others by his father’s suicide, the New York Daily News reports. “One of the reasons I think I’ve placed such a high value on life is that my father took his,” he writes in a memoir. He strives “to not be a bystander,...
Your Guide to the Afghan Election
NPR | Aug 19, 2009 1:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Torn by war and insurgency, Afghanistan votes for its next president tomorrow, choosing from among 37 candidates. NPR profiles the frontrunners: Hamid Karzai. The incumbent, a member of Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, was elected in 2005 amid a swell of international backing. But lately the former activist’s popularity has...
Hungary Fetes 1989 'Picnic' That Led to Fall of Berlin Wall
BBC | Aug 19, 2009 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hungary is celebrating the 20th anniversary today of its “Pan-European Picnic”: the day it opened its border with Austria, providing a pathway for hundreds of East Germans to exit Europe’s communist east. “The Soviet bloc was like an air balloon with over-pressure so it needed only a prick of the needle, and we were holding...
Baby Boomers Still Mad for the Reefer, Man
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 1:08 PM CDT
(AP) - Some Americans haven't let go of one part of the 1960s: getting high on illicit drugs. The percentage of Americans age 50-59 who reported use of illicit drugs within a year nearly doubled from 2002-2007, from 5.1% to 9.4%, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported today.
Jon and I Had Sex While Kids Slept: Kate 2.0
Perez Hilton | Aug 19, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jon Gosselin’s ex-fling Kate Major is still mad about being dumped for Gosselin’s other ex-girlfriend, Hailey Glassman, Perez Hilton reports, and is spilling the beans on their sleazy affair. She shared some highlights with Life and Style : “Jon said he couldn’t be seen having a girlfriend, so he told me to drive to...
DUI Arrests of Women Up 30% in Decade
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 12:42 PM CDT
(AP) - The number of women charged with driving under the influence has increased nearly 30% during the past decade, Transportation Department officials said today, while the number of men fell 7.5% in the same period. The department says the number of impaired women involved in a fatal crash increased in 10 states from 2007 to 2008.
Dealers to Feds: Where's Our Clunker Cash?
Washington Post | Aug 19, 2009 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Cash for Clunkers program certainly isn’t breaking any speed limits, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, which believes the government is sitting on millions of dollars in dealer applications waiting to be reimbursed. “It is ludicrous at this point,” says the group’s president. “The customer is...
World Hates Prejean Cuz She's Hot: Trump
Gawker | Aug 19, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former Miss California Carrie Prejean is only controversial “because she’s so beautiful,” Donald Trump told David Letterman last night. “She said that a man should marry a woman, and it became very controversial for whatever reason, but I always said it was really because of her great beauty.” Letterman’s reply,...
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Linked to 32 Deaths
ABC News | Aug 19, 2009 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine marketed to teen girls, has been linked to 32 deaths and other serious side effects including fainting and blood clots, according to a government report released yesterday. Since 2006, several complications of the vaccine have been reported, ABC News reports, ranging from neurological disorders to less threatening...
9 Most Infamous Celeb Sex Tapes
E! Online | Aug 19, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - The McSteamy nudie vid is just the latest in a long and illustrious line of celebrity sex tapes. E! lists some of the best-known: Rob Lowe : Two of his videotaped trysts leaked in 1988—including one that involved a 16-year-old. Paris Hilton : Her 2003 romp with Rick Salomon essentially made her a household name.
Hijackers Threatened to Scuttle Russian Freighter
Reuters | Aug 19, 2009 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The hijackers of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea planned to destroy it if their ransom demand was not met, Reuters reports. “The crew members have already confirmed that the captors demanded a ransom and threatened to blow up the vessel,” says a Russian defense official. There was no comment on speculation that the ship—found...
7 Bombs Batter Baghdad; 95 Dead, 500 Wounded
New York Times | Aug 19, 2009 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scores of people are dead after seven coordinated bombings rocked Baghdad this morning, targeting both government ministries and poor Shia neighborhoods, the New York Times   reports. Two huge bombs and three smaller blasts, probably from mortars, went off at the entrance to the fortified Green Zone, while other explosions hit the slum area of...
60 Minutes Creator Don Hewitt, 86, Dies
CBS News | Aug 19, 2009 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Don Hewitt, one of the pioneers of TV news, died today at 86 of pancreatic cancer, CBS reports. Hewitt all but invented television news over the course of his more than 60-year career, directing legends Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. He was behind the 1968 launch of 60 Minutes , and directed the first televised presidential debate—something...
Jackson's Body Will Head to Celeb-Stacked LA Mausoleum
New York Post | Aug 19, 2009 11:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Jackson will be entombed in a Los Angeles-area mausoleum that’s the final Neverland of many other celebrities, the New York Post reports. The Holly Terrace section of the Great Mausoleum is reputedly the most secure section of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. The same chamber hosts the remains of Clark Gable, WC Fields, Red Skelton,...
Obama's Health Reform Waffling May Be Savvy
Politics Daily | Aug 19, 2009 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - It may not be timidity that’s keeping Barack Obama from pushing harder for a public health care option. He may instead be employing a time-tested presidential technique: “strategic uncertainty,” writes Jill Lawrence in Politics Daily. Key for Obama is getting strong Senate support for a bill, and “the best way NOT to get”...
Jacko Doc Will Face Manslaughter: Fox Source
Fox News | Aug 19, 2009 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray will be charged with manslaughter in the next two weeks, a law enforcement source tells Fox News. Authorities want to carry out a final search warrant next week, probably at a Los Angeles pharmacy, to build evidence against Murray before they make an arrest. Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, will...
Woman to Pro-Health Reform Jewish Guy: 'Heil Hitler!'
ThinkProgress | Aug 19, 2009 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - In the latest health care-related video to go viral, a woman at a Las Vegas town hall on health care shouted “Heil Hitler!” at an Israeli man as he spoke to a local TV station about Israel’s “fantastic” national health care program, ThinkProgress reports. “Did you hear this? She say to a Jew, ‘Heil Hitler’!”...
Fox May Replace Paula With...Paula
Radar | Aug 19, 2009 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Paula Abdul’s replacement on American Idol is looking more and more like…Paula Abdul. Fox will show focus groups taped footage of guest judges like Victoria Beckman, Mary J. Blige, and Shania Twain to determine exactly how damaging her absence is, Radar reports. “If Paula consistently scores far higher than any other person in...
Disney World Stuntman Killed in Practice
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 10:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Disney World canceled its “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” yesterday, after one of the performers suffered a head injury and died during practice, the AP reports. He’s the third park employee to meet an untimely demise on the job this summer, but Disney says the deaths are unrelated, and OSHA investigators are treating...
UBS to Hand Over Names of 4,450 Clients
Wall Street Journal | Aug 19, 2009 9:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - UBS will hand over the names of 4,450 of its American account holders as part of a tax evasion settlement, the Wall Street Journal reports, and another 5,000 names will be produced under a special IRS amnesty program. UBS won’t pay a monetary fine. Those being turned over may have a chance to fight the disclosure in Swiss court. The compromise...
Calif. Pot Fire a Symptom of Drug Farm Epidemic
Los Angeles Times | Aug 19, 2009 9:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - The La Brea fire that’s scorched 90,000 acres of California is the most visible sign yet of the glut of Mexican-run drug farms lurking in the state’s forests, the LA Times reports. Authorities are all but certain the fire was started by drug traffickers at a large, sophisticated marijuana farm on the side of a mountain, where authorities...
Jon Mulls a New Reality Show
TMZ | Aug 19, 2009 9:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - The good news: TLC might cut ties with Jon Gosselin for violating his contract by frequenting bars, TMZ reports. The bad news: He’s already in talks with another production company to appear in a new reality show, Divorced Dad’s Club , which chronicles the lives of famous divorced fathers. Jon—a bit strapped for cash—is also...
Quietly, Israel Backs Off New Settlements
Los Angeles Times | Aug 19, 2009 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a hawkish tone on settlements since returning to the Israeli premiership, and his cabinet ministers insisted as recently as Monday that "there is no choice but to continue building." But quietly, his government has agreed to Barack Obama's demand to end new construction in the West Bank, maintaining a moratorium...
How Ted Olson Became a Gay Marriage Crusader
New York Times | Aug 19, 2009 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Conservative lawyer Ted Olson fought Bush’s side against Gore, loosened government regulations under Reagan, and helped impeach Bill Clinton. So how did the man liberals love to hate end up on their side of the gay marriage fight? Olson, who filed a lawsuit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage, tells the New York Times...
Reality Show Contestant Sought in Model's Murder
Los Angeles Times | Aug 19, 2009 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - A reality show contestant who once bragged he “left many amazing women in his life primarily because he wanted more women” is a person of interest in the murder of swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fiore, 28, was last seen with boyfriend (or husband, according to TMZ) Ryan Jenkins; her body was found Saturday...
Hurricane Bill Hits Category 4
CNN | Aug 19, 2009 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hurricane Bill grew to a Category 4 storm today with maximum sustained winds approaching 135mph, CNN reports. The storm’s center was some 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands and 1,100 miles southeast of Bermuda at 5am. “It's a little too early to evaluate what kind of direct impact Bill may have,” said an expert, but computers show...
Lousy Retail Sales Will Delay Recovery
Wall Street Journal | Aug 19, 2009 8:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the recession is indeed waning, nobody told consumers. Retailers of every kind reported lousy sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports. Target’s same-store sales fell 6.2%, Home Depot’s dropped 9.1% and Saks’ plummeted a whopping 15.5%. And with unemployment, stagnant wages, and tight credit squeezing...
Face It: the Public Option's a No-Go
Washington Post | Aug 19, 2009 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - The public health care option is simply a “political litmus test” pushed by left-wingers to represent their side of an “ideological war”—and it’s time to give it up, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post . “There is nothing about having one government-owned health insurance company that is likely...
Judge Terminates Ultrasound Abortion Law
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 8:17 AM CDT
(AP) - An Oklahoma judge overturned a state law yesterday that required women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound and a doctor's description of the fetus. Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson said the law violated constitutional requirements that legislative measures deal only with one subject. She did not rule on the validity of the ultrasound...
Jackson 'Self-Harmed' to Get Drugs
Daily Mirror (UK) | Aug 19, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Toward the end of his life Michael Jackson was so desperate for prescription drugs, sources tell investigators he harmed himself in an effort to get more, the Mirror reports. Jackson was reportedly spending nearly $50,000 a month on drugs including Vicodin, Soma, Xanax, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prilosec, and he was beset with side effects from shaking...
Obama to Recast Health Reform as Moral Issue
Wall Street Journal | Aug 19, 2009 7:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama is about to start focusing more on the moral aspects of health care reform, stressing the need to provide secure coverage to all Americans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The shift may reflect the concerns of some supporters that Obama has spent too much time talking about the details of the proposed reform in an attempt to sell...
Dems Look to Move on Health Bill Sans GOP
New York Times | Aug 19, 2009 7:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - With the GOP line against President Obama's health care plan hardening, Dems see little hope of cooperation and are now poised to set out on their own, drawing a final plan solely from within their own party, the New York Times reports. The White House will still face the challenge of wooing conservative Dems, but the bill could move more quickly...
Buffett: Cut Our 'Greenback Emissions'
New York Times | Aug 19, 2009 7:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Just as carbon emissions could have a dire effect on the environment, Warren Buffett thinks “greenback emissions” could wreak havoc on the economy, he writes in the New York Times . The government has spent staggering sums to avoid economic disaster, and that was wise. Now, the economy is “out of the emergency room. But enormous...
Suu Kyi Swimmer Heads Home
Associated Press | Aug 19, 2009 7:17 AM CDT
(AP) - American John Yettaw boarded a flight home today, ending an infamous journey that began three months ago with a secret swim to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi that landed them both in prison. Suu Kyi, who repeatedly asked him to leave, and her two live-in aides, are still in custody. "It's very ugly that the person who caused the problem was released...
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