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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.

How to Use Facebook to Keep Up With the Joneses
New York | Aug 31, 2009 8:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Carefully crafted Facebook status updates are helping NYC's elite stay fabulous. Make like Tinsley Mortimer and keep up with the Joneses by following these five rules, courtesy of New York: Stay intriguingly aloof by name-dropping cautiously. Avoid being too obvious ("Off to dinner with Anna Wintour!") or vague ("Dinner out...
Disney to Buy Marvel for $4B
Associated Press | Aug 31, 2009 8:35 AM CDT
(AP) - The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they...
Insurgents Reverse Afghan Women's Political Gains
Washington Post | Aug 31, 2009 8:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Afghan women streamed to the ballot boxes five years ago, and in some districts female turnout was even higher than male. But the flood of women voters that delighted aid groups dried up this year, reports the Washington Post , and many of the segregated female polling stations had few if any voters. More educated women who had voted before stayed...
Macaulay Could Be Blanket's Dad: Tab
Sun (UK) | Aug 31, 2009 8:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - In what a source acknowledges “is probably the wackiest” Jackson progeny rumor yet, the latest possible bio-dad for Michael’s youngest, Blanket, is Macaulay Culkin, the Sun reports. “This isn’t just chitter-chatter, even Culkin suspects he’s Blanket’s father,” the source continues, adding that the actor—godfather...
Health Care Debate Makes Me Miss Nixon: Krugman
New York Times | Aug 31, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Paul Krugman is a die-hard liberal, but lately, “I find myself missing Richard Nixon,” he writes in the New York Times . He may have been "the worst person other than Dick Cheney ever to control the executive branch," but his health care reform plan was actually stronger than what Democrats want to do now, and reminds Krugman...
Palin to Make First Trip to Asia
Associated Press | Aug 31, 2009 7:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Once pilloried for her lack of foreign policy experience—except for Russia, which she said she could see from Alaska—Sarah Palin will make her first trip to Asia in September. The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a prominent conference of global investment managers, the host announced today....
Garrido's Suburb a Haven for Sex Offenders
Los Angeles Times | Aug 31, 2009 7:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - More than 100 registered sex offenders live in the 94509 zip code where police say Phillip and Nancy Garrido held kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard for 18 years, reports the Los Angeles Times . Largely surrounded by the hard-knock city of Antioch, the small and scruffy unincorporated area is a sex offender haven, say officials. Living is cheap in the semi-rural...
More Americans Think They Can Cover Health Costs: Poll
Reuters | Aug 31, 2009 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - One reason more Americans may not be backing President Obama's health care overhaul: increasing numbers of citizens say they don't need help. A Reuters poll shows that the percentage of Americans who think they can pay for medical treatments rose 12 points since March, with the wealthy feeling more confident than the less well-off. The uninsured are...
US Reaps Profit as Banks Pay Back TARP Funds
New York Times | Aug 31, 2009 7:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - When the government spent some $240 billion last year to help avert financial disaster, the idea of making a profit from the TARP funds invested in teetering banks looked like a long shot. Now, however, profits from eight banks who’ve paid back the cash have totaled some $4 billion, or 15% annualized. Bailouts like those of AIG, Detroit, Fannie...
Commercial Real Estate May Set Off 2nd Crisis
Wall Street Journal | Aug 31, 2009 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Just as the economy starts to recover, a second mortgage disaster may be looming. The commercial real estate sector is tanking, with many properties unable to generate enough cash to make mortgage payments. Lo and behold, those commercial mortgages have been sewn into securities—comparable to the packages of home mortgages that set of the financial...
DJ AM's Death Not Suicide: TMZ
TMZ | Aug 31, 2009 7:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - DJ AM’s death was not a suicide, and it had “absolutely nothing to do with his recent breakup,” law enforcement sources tell TMZ. They say Adam Goldstein developed a dependency on anxiety drugs following last year’s plane crash, which triggered a “recent” relapse into addiction. Based on the evidence, cause of death...
Conan vs. Dave? Nightline 's Beating Them Both
Advertising Age | Aug 31, 2009 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - ABC is trying to remind America that it has a show on at 11:35, too. The network is launching a campaign touting Nightline's ratings, which, since Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show takeover, have averaged 3.459 million viewers a night. That puts it on top of both David Letterman’s Late Show (3.4 million) and the Tonight Show (3.239...
McChrystal: US Is Failing in Afghanistan
BBC | Aug 31, 2009 6:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US military's strategy in Afghanistan is failing, Gen. Stanley McChrystal will tell commanders in Washington today. A copy of the US commander's remarks leaked to the BBC compares the military to a bull charging at a matador—losing strength with each individual cut. McChrystal's report says Afghans are suffering a crisis of confidence,...
In Recession, Homes Become Hair Salons
Wall Street Journal | Aug 31, 2009 6:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hair cutting is quickly becoming a “do-it-yourself” endeavor for the cash-conscious—and the results aren’t so pretty, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hairdressing “may look easy, but it's not,” said the head of a cosmetology group, who notes that mid-range and high-priced salons have taken a hit. Some 72% of 600...
Police Search House Next to Garrido's
Contra Costa Times | Aug 31, 2009 6:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Investigators have added an extra day to their search of the backyard prison where Jaycee Lee Dugard spent 18 years after finding new evidence yesterday that needed further examination, reports the Contra Costa Times . The investigation has also extended to an adjacent home that neighbors say Phillip Garrido cared for while it was vacant.
Aussies Sorry for 10K Kids Shipped for 'Slave Labor'
Independent (UK) | Aug 31, 2009 6:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian prime minister will apologize to generations of British migrants shipped to Australia as children and subjected to abuse, hunger, and slave labor. Between the 1920s and 1960s the UK sent about 10,000 children to provide Australia with "good white stock," but when they arrived they were put to work in state and religious...
Dems Plan Rallies to Counteract Ugly Town Halls
Washington Post | Aug 31, 2009 6:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Obama supporters will try to recapture the energy of his presidential campaign with a two-week health care reform push featuring a bus tour, rallies, and more than 2,000 house parties. Organizing for America, the network of Obama supporters now run by the Democratic National Committee, aims to show lawmakers that the raucous town halls of previous...
New Stroke Drug Could Replace Warfarin
Wall Street Journal | Aug 31, 2009 5:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - In what could be a sea change in the fight against strokes, a new blood-thinning drug could soon replace the 50-year-old warfarin, reports the Wall Street Journal . Boehringer Ingelheim's new drug, Pradaxa, proved to be 34% more effective at reducing the risk of stroke and 15% better at stopping fatal strokes than warfarin in clinical tests. Pradaxa...
Jaycee's Kids Just Learned of Kidnapping
ABC News | Aug 31, 2009 5:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jaycee Dugard's two children fathered by her accused kidnapper only learned days ago that their mom had been abducted, Jaycee's stepdad told ABC News. They're "upset" about Phillip Garrido's arrest because "that's their father," said Carl Probyn. "Jaycee had to explain to them that she had been kidnapped. They didn't even know...
8th Victim Dies in Trailer Park Massacre
ABC News | Aug 31, 2009 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - An eighth victim has died in a massacre in a Georgia trailer park, reports ABC News. Police have arrested a 22-year-old relative of one of the victims who authorities say called in the deaths on Saturday and was found with drugs. But police believe the killer is still on the loose. "There is somebody out there we're looking for," said the...
New Leader Hails Japanese 'Revolution'
Times (UK) | Aug 31, 2009 4:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Japan's incoming prime minister hailed a democratic "revolution" as more complete results confirmed a sweeping victory for the center-left Democratic Party. Yukio Hatoyama will lead a bloc of more than 300 parliamentary members, more than three times its previous representation, after what the Times of London calls the most decisive...
NYC DA Candidate Paints Cheney as 'Criminal'
New York Daily News | Aug 31, 2009 4:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - A candidate for Manhattan district attorney has taken a bold shot at Dick Cheney in a new campaign mailer, portraying the former vice president as a criminal, reports the New York Daily News . The ad features Cheney holding a rifle under the headline: "One candidate for district attorney has spent 30 years taking guns out of the hands of criminals."
DJ AM Talked of Sobriety, Crack Fears
New York Post | Aug 31, 2009 3:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - DJ AM boasted of his 11 years of "sobriety"—freed from crack cocaine, his "drug of choice"—on an interview aired on MTV shortly before he was found dead last week of an apparent overdose. But Adam Goldstein also discussed nearly falling off the wagon as he participated in his MTV reality program on drug addiction called...
2 Firefighters Killed in Calif. Blaze
Los Angeles Times | Aug 31, 2009 3:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two California firefighters drove off a treacherous road to their death as they helped battle a 43,000-acre inferno in the Angeles National Forest, reports the Los Angeles Times. More than 2,800 firefighters, 12 helicopters and eight air tankers have converged on the area where the blaze now threatens some 13,000 homes in Los Angeles County. The...
Jaycee Was Model Worker at Garrido's Print Shop
CNN | Aug 31, 2009 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard worked regularly in her accused abductor's print shop, forging a reputation as a model employee who was known to customers as "Allissa," reports CNN. Polite and professional, Jaycee greeted store visitors, created graphic designs, and emailed customers using a Yahoo account created under Phillip Garrido's name....
Discovery Roars to Space Station Docking
Space.com | Aug 31, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - The space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station in impressive style yesterday, using the space ship's massive main thrusters instead of the six smaller thrusters typically engaged, reports Space.com. A leak in one of the smaller maneuvering thrusters forced astronauts to use the noisy big engines to dock—a first for a...
Hundreds Queue to View Kennedy Grave
Washington Post | Aug 31, 2009 1:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hundreds of people lined up to be among the first visitors yesterday to the grave of Sen. Ted Kennedy, reports the Washington Post . Arlington National Cemetery closed after his funeral Saturday, and there was already a line when it re-opened at 8 yesterday morning. Some fanned themselves as they spoke among themselves while others held aloft umbrellas...
Boy, 9, Leads Cops on High-Speed Car Chase
Indianapolis Star | Aug 31, 2009 1:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - A 9-year-old boy took his parents' car and led police on a 30-minute high-speed car chase—all because he didn't want to leave his friends to go to bed, reports the Indianapolis Star . Upset about his 8 pm curfew, the boy showered and was put to bed before he slipped out of his suburban Indianapolis home with his mother's keys, cell phone and...
Jenna Bush Hager Joins Today as Contributor
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 11:11 PM CDT
(AP) - The Today show's newest hire has extensive White House experience—she's Jenna Hager, the daughter of former President Bush and Laura Bush. The new correspondent will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education, not politics, Today executive producer Jim Bell tells the AP, adding that the unsolicited offer wasn't a quid...
Taliban Cut Off My Nose, Ears for Voting: Farmer
Independent (UK) | Aug 30, 2009 7:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - An Afghan farmer who dared walk to a polling place for the presidential election 10 days ago paid a bitter price, losing his nose and both ears in a Taliban attack, the Independent reports. In the first account by a victim of election retribution, Lal Mohammed, 40, says three militants beat him to the ground, where one sat on his chest and sliced...
Garrido Sought Help for Schizophrenia: Biz Owner
Sacramento Bee | Aug 30, 2009 7:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Phillip Garrido reached out to authorities and acquaintances about his mental health problems but received no help in return, a business owner tells the Sacramento Bee . "He realized he had a problem and tried to reach out and tell the world about it, the authorities about it, but they ignored him," says Cheyvonne Molino, who runs an auto...
'Treacherous' Calif. Blaze Threatens Town
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 7:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - A growing California wildfire that has already scorched 35,000 acres and burned three people is bearing down on a small mountain community, the Los Angeles Times reports. Driven toward Acton, Calif., by wind and triple-digit heat, the blaze is "treacherous," said one fire chief. Firefighters plan “to go defensive, to let the fire...
Colombian Prez Comes Down With Swine Flu
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 6:32 PM CDT
(AP) - President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu and officials are contacting other South American governments whose leaders attended a recent summit along with the Colombia leader, authorities said today. The 57-year-old Uribe began feeling symptoms Friday, the same day as a meeting of South American presidents in Bariloche, Argentina, and he was confirmed...
In Legal Gray Zone, Europeans Harvest Body Parts for US
Der Spiegel | Aug 30, 2009 6:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - A billion-dollar business of shipping body parts from Germany to the US is booming and may be illegal, Der Spiegel reports. The body harvesting is done in the Ukraine, where authorities are investigating allegations that a company has used coercion and fraud to obtain family permission to harvest bodies. The parts are then sent to a German company,...
New Orleans Clinic Gives Jazz Musicians Free Care
NBC News | Aug 30, 2009 5:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - One New Orleans couple is so passionate about jazz that they give musicians free or low-cost health care, NBC News reports. The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic, founded 11 years ago, tries “to prevent death by lifestyle" for low-paid musicians who can’t afford treatment, says one founder. "We do anything we can to make a wellness...
'Pull the Plug on Grandma'? That's GOP Policy
Newsweek | Aug 30, 2009 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chuck Grassley’s warning that Obamacare will “pull the plug on Grandma” has become a rallying cry for the GOP’s anti–health reform efforts. But looking at past policies, it’s the GOP that's out to get grandma, Jacob Weisberg writes in Newsweek . A wide range of Republican policies, from opposing stem cell research...
Calif. Team Wins Little League World Series
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 4:53 PM CDT
(AP) - California came up big late to win the Little League World Series. Bulla Graft's single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Chula Vista rallied to defeat Taoyuan, Taiwan, 6-3 today to take the Little League crown. Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to settle down a California team that fell behind 3-0 early.
America: Why So Furious?
McClatchy Newspapers | Aug 30, 2009 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - With town halls gone mad and anti-Obama protesters toting guns, this is America’s angriest summer in recent memory, McClatchy reports. The fury of voters has deep roots, from a long history of hate groups to anti-Vietnam marches to rage against George W. Bush when he left office—but it’s only intensified under Barack Obama. Town halls...
Famine Fear Returns to Ethiopia
Independent (UK) | Aug 30, 2009 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Almost 25 years after Live Aid aimed to eradicate famine in Ethiopia, the country is facing new threats of malnutrition and mass starvation, the Independent reports. Ethiopia's erratic rains are the main culprit, failing to fall or coming too little too late, while recession-minded donors in wealthy nations are also getting stingy. But "this...
GOP Candidates Hold Own Town Halls
Politico | Aug 30, 2009 3:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Republican candidates across the country are staging their own health care town halls in a bid to upstage Democratic incumbents, Politico reports. With many Democrats declining to host the rowdy events, GOP challengers have seized on town halls as easy tickets to voter connection and press coverage. “By the time this is said and done, my campaign...
Kennedy's Office Had Gone to the Dogs
Politico | Aug 30, 2009 3:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ted Kennedy may have been the Senate's liberal lion, but his office was clearly no place for cats, reports Politico in a look at the three Portuguese water dogs that were fixtures in his Washington digs. The pooches provided a warm, furry presence amid what could be tense negotiations, and with Kennedy's death, his colleagues say, the dogs are yet...
Hollywood's Top Fictional Teachers
Babble | Aug 30, 2009 2:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Never had an inspiring, funny, or even downright godawful teacher? Luckily, Hollywood has them in spades. Babble presents the 40 best fictional teachers: Ms. Norbury, Mean Girls : She taught “the female student body to lay off the sexist insults.” Economics teacher, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off : Ben Stein gave “an...
The Final Destination Makes a Box Office Killing
USA Today | Aug 30, 2009 2:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Supernatural slasher flick The Final Destination slaughtered its competition at the box office this weekend, taking in $28.3 million, USA Today reports. The latest installment of the Final Destination franchise—this time in 3D—knocked Inglourious Basterds ($20 million) to second. Halloween II , the 10th Michael Myers movie, debuted...
Olmert Charged With Corruption
BBC | Aug 30, 2009 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Israel’s attorney general has officially indicted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges, the BBC reports. The 61-page charge, filed in court today, accuses Olmert of "fraud, breach of trust, registering false corporate documents, and concealing fraudulent earnings.” Olmert denies all the charges, which relate to three...
Troops Fume Over Proposed Smoking Ban
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Since the days of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s signature corncob pipe, through the rationing of cigarettes during World War II, smoking has been ingrained part of military culture. But a new proposal to introduce a smoking ban in the armed forces is sparking fierce opposition, with some saying it could cost the military personnel, the AP reports....
Facebook: Defining Religion in 100 Characters
Washington Post | Aug 30, 2009 1:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - It could be a quick question: What's your religion? But Facebook’s request for that information has led many to review and revise their beliefs to fit into a 100-character space, the Washington Post reports. Answers range from Christian, Facebook’s most popular belief system, to a professed belief in a “Flying Spaghetti Monster.”...
Jaycee May Never Recover
Los Angeles Times | Aug 30, 2009 12:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - It will be a struggle for Jaycee Lee Dugard and her two daughters to recover from the years they spent in captivity, writes Karen Kaplan in the LA Times . Psychologists have few comparable cases to draw from, and those that exist are not encouraging. Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch, of Vienna, spent ages 10 to 18 in captivity, and despite early...
Charcoal Is Hot Again —and May Save the Planet
Economist | Aug 30, 2009 12:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mass-production of charcoal is so 18th century—but call it "biochar" and it may help save the planet, the Economist reports. Farmers could burn millions of plants into charcoal each year before the plants die and release stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, scientists say. Then, with the Earth's CO2 emissions cut by up to 20%,...
Ga. Cops Seek Clues in Trailer Park Murder of 7
Associated Press | Aug 30, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Authorities in Georgia are releasing few details about the circumstances of a mass slaying in a mobile home, the AP reports. Seven people were found dead along with two critically injured survivors yesterday on the grounds of a historic plantation. “It’s not a scene that I would want anybody to see,” said the county police chief,...
Let's Start Paying for Water—Or Lose It
Washington Post | Aug 30, 2009 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - You may receive a water bill every month, but you’re not actually paying for water. You’re paying for the cost of service, and this free-rider problem is contributing to the worsening water crisis that threatens to dehydrate the US, author and law professor Robert Glennon argues in the Washington Post . Last year, metro Atlanta—home...
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