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Newser Story Index from September, 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.

'Drunk' Hasselhoff Rushed to Hospital
TMZ | Sep 21, 2009 2:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - An apparently drunken David Hasselhoff was rushed to a California hospital by ambulance last night after his worried daughter called her mom, reports TMZ. Haley Hasselhoff, 17, was staying with her dad at his Encino home. Her mom, Pamela Bach, arranged for paramedics to collect the inebriated actor. The former star of Baywatch and Knight Rider ...
Dems Slam Bank Overdraft Fees
Washington Post | Sep 21, 2009 2:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Washington Democrats are using words like "criminal" and "rip-off" in a round of complaints about banking overdraft fees, reports the Washington Post . US banks are poised to rake in some $38.5 billion from overdraft fees this year, usually without a warning to customers that they're about to draw too much money out of an account....
Hormone Therapy Nearly Doubles Lung Cancer Risks
Los Angeles Times | Sep 21, 2009 2:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hormone replacement therapy nearly doubles women's risk of death from lung cancer, new research has discovered. The hormone therapy as women hit menopause was once nearly standard treatment. But the latest news—combined with other findings that the therapy increases risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke—will likely relegate HRT...
Cops Hunt Man After Wife, 5 Kids Found Slain
CNN | Sep 21, 2009 1:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Police are hunting a man whose wife and five children were found slain in their Florida home, reports CNN. The bodies of Guerline Damas, 32, and kids aged 11 months to 9 years were discovered by police after they were contacted by relatives. Investigators believe Mesac Damas, 33, may have fled to Haiti. His car was found at Miami International Airport....
Paralyzed Rats Run in Breakthrough Experiment
AFP | Sep 21, 2009 1:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have made paralyzed rats run again by using a new technique that could one day have wheelchair-bound people walking, reports AFP. Rats, whose spinal cords had been severed, ran when scientists applied electrical charges and drugs. "In some cases they actually walked with more consistent locomotive patterns than non-injured animals,"...
Mad Men, 30 Rock Clean Up
Associated Press | Sep 20, 2009 10:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Emmy Awards ended with a spell of deja vu as Mad Men won its second consecutive best drama trophy and 30 Rock captured its third straight best comedy award tonight in Los Angeles. Glenn Close of Damages and Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad, last year's winners for lead roles in dramas, also repeated, and The Amazing Race took home its seventh...
Cops Catch Insane Killer Who Fled Field Trip in Wash.
Spokesman Review | Sep 20, 2009 7:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - A schizophrenic killer who ducked out of a mental hospital field trip has been caught in south-central Washington, the Spokesman-Review reports. Phillip A. Paul, 47, slipped away at the Spokane County Interstate Fair on Thursday and triggered a police manhunt. A sherriff's deputy caught him today trying to hitch a ride in the Goldendale, Wash., area,...
Bears Shock Steelers, 17-14
Chicago Tribune | Sep 20, 2009 7:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Chicago Bears stunned the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers today with a last-minute, 44-yard field goal, the Chicago Tribune reports, and won 17-14. In other NFL action: The New York Jets kept New England out of their end zone in a taut, 16-9 win over the Patriots, ESPN reports.
Bomb-Making Notes Found on Shuttle Pilot: FBI
Denver Post | Sep 20, 2009 7:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - An airport shuttle driver arrested last night kept notes on bomb-making as well as a scale and batteries, items that can be used in explosives, authorities said today. Najibullah Zazi, 24, also allegedly confessed to taking explosives training with al-Qaeda in Pakistan. The FBI arrested him, his father, and an informant on the non-terrorism charge...
Experts See Professional Jealousy in Yale Killing
ABC News | Sep 20, 2009 6:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ray Clark could have strangled Annie Le because she was moving on to a satisfying career while he had to clean mouse cages in a lab, criminologists tell ABC News. If Clark is guilty, he may have suffered from what experts call "relative deprivation"—a mindset created "when you are measuring your own self worth against others...
Israel Not Planning to Bomb Iran: Russian Prez
Jerusalem Post (Israel) | Sep 20, 2009 6:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Russia's president says Israeli officials have promised him they are not planning to strike Iran to destroy its uranium enrichment program, the Jerusalem Post reports. In a transcript of a CNN interview released today, President Dmitry Medvedev says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the assurance on a secret visit to Moscow this...
Houses of Worship Adapt to Swine Flu
CBS News | Sep 20, 2009 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - Places of worship across the country are adjusting holy rituals to head off swine flu, CBS News reports. On the Jewish New Year, one Massachusetts synagogue is skipping handshakes and promoting the use of hand sanitizer—and, in a substantial break from tradition, allowing worshipers to not kiss the Torah. “I said, well if you have a problem...
Et tu, Barack? Teachers Lose Another Ally
McClatchy Newspapers | Sep 20, 2009 5:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Teachers union members are fuming over President Obama's desire to stay the course and evaluate educators based on student test scores, McClatchy reports. Obama is even threatening to withhold California stimulus money unless the state enshrines the student-teacher performance link into law. "It takes more than the ability to fill in bubbles to...
Autoerotic Asphyxiation No Choking Matter
Details | Sep 20, 2009 5:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Autoerotic asphyxiation may seem like a fringe pursuit, but it kills hundreds of American men every year, Ian Daly writes in Details . Dubbed AeA, it involves partially choking oneself during orgasm to cut off oxygen and unleash a flood of pleasure-inducing chemicals in the brain. Once considered the fatal fetish of celebrities like David Carradine...
Don't Let the Recession Rule Out Retirement
Newsweek | Sep 20, 2009 4:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Retirement savers have been facing grim truths, like the fact that a 50% portfolio loss requires 100% in earnings to recover. But middle-of-the-road investors could recover in as little as 2 years if they make contributions, receive a company match, and see fair long-term portfolio returns, writes Linda Stern in Newsweek . Still, much depends on a...
Venice Struggles to Stay Afloat
NPR | Sep 20, 2009 4:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not only is Venice sinking, but the $6-billion floodgates designed to protect it may not do the job, NPR reports. Critics say that the 78 half-built mobile gates, designed to block off seawater when it rises, may fail to fend off sea levels heightened by climate change. And even if they do, they could upset the fragile ecosystem between the sea and...
US Still Wrong About Nukes: Iran's Leader
Associated Press | Sep 20, 2009 3:46 PM CDT
(AP) - Iran's supreme leader said today that US officials know they are wrongly accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. In Iran's first official reaction to the US decision to scrap a European missile intercept system to defend against threats from Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed President Barack Obama's administration is following the same...
Paterson to Detractors: I'm Running
Associated Press | Sep 20, 2009 3:29 PM CDT
(AP) - Gov. David Paterson isn't scrapping his plans to run for the office he inherited 18 months ago, despite growing pressure from Washington and intervention by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has contacted the governor and the White House over his concern. "My plans for 2010 are to run for governor of the state of New York," Paterson said today. "I...
Harris, Other New Faces Rule Emmys Tonight
People | Sep 20, 2009 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fresh faces are all the rage at tonight’s Emmys, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting and a host of first-time nominees up for top awards, People reports. Family Guy is the first cartoon to be nominated for best comedy series in nearly 50 years, and Jeremy Piven’s snub for a best supporting actor nod has widened the playing field to new...
Meatballs Eats Up Box Office
Variety | Sep 20, 2009 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs satisfied hungry audiences this weekend, slurping down $30.1 million at the box office, Variety reports. Steven Soderbergh dramedy The Informant! debuted in a distant second with $10.5 million, just ahead of Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself ($10.1 million). Jennifer Aniston’s Love Happens...
What Jay-Z and Glenn Beck Have in Common
New York Times | Sep 20, 2009 2:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - After listening to hours of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin on the radio while driving the Nebraska countryside, a peculiar thought occurred to David Segal: conservative talk-show hosts are surprisingly similar to gangsta rappers, he writes for the New York Times . Consider the parallels: Huge egos. Both groups praise themselves...
Damon's Next Step: Directing
Boston Globe | Sep 20, 2009 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twelve years after the breakthrough Good Will Hunting , Matt Damon has become one of Hollywood’s hottest names—and now he plans on cooling off, the Boston Globe reports. “You shoot all day, have dinner and work on a screenplay until midnight and then get up at five and start all over again,” the 38-year-old father says. “I...
Foolishness, Not Evil Genius, Drove 'Rove-o-Lution'
Washington Post | Sep 20, 2009 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Liberals like to think of Karl Rove as a malevolent demigod, using his powers to obstruct the greater good. But, former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer writes in the Washington Post , the legacy of “Bush’s Brain” is far more mundane: “It is a story not of grand strategy or evil genius but of human foolishness and the love of...
Egypt Kills All Pigs— But Pigs Eat All Trash
New York Times | Sep 20, 2009 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - When the Egyptian government decided to kill all of Cairo’s pigs last spring in a pre-emptive measure to combat swine flu, they apparently forgot that the pigs performed a vital function in a city with poor public services: eating trash, the New York Times reports. The zabaleen, Cairo’s Christian minority, used to collect trash door-to-door,...
Rapper Who Posted Murder Lyrics Busted in 4 Killings
Richmond Times-Dispatch | Sep 20, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - An aspiring California "horrorcore" rapper who posted songs about killing on his MySpace page is being held as a suspect in the murder of four people, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch . Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, 20, was arrested as he awaited a flight back home from Virginia, where the bodies were discovered in the home of a...
Obama's New Missile Plan Offers Better Defense: Gates
New York Times | Sep 20, 2009 11:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration is upgrading missile defense plans in Europe, not abandoning them, writes Robert Gates, the author of the Bush-era plans recently scrapped, in a New York Times op-ed. The previous plan would not have installed the proposed 10 long-range interceptors in Central Europe until at least 2017, while the first phase of the new plan...
Best HS Flicks Since John Hughes' Heyday
Chicago Tribune | Sep 20, 2009 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hard as it is to believe, John Hughes made his last high school-centric film in 1987. Luckily, the 22 years since haven't lacked for flicks that chronicle some part of those awkward, wonderful 4 years. Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune lists the 10 movies that do it best : Dazed and Confused: Reflects what high school memories...
Sorry, Jimmy: Race Ain't the Only Card in the Deck
New York Times | Sep 20, 2009 10:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jimmy Carter and other Obama defenders playing the race card must remember that it’s just one in a deck that’s driving the I’ve-had-it-up-to-here rhetoric of Joe Wilson and Glenn Beck, Frank Rich writes in the New York Times . “There is a national conversation we must have right now—the one about what, in addition to...
UK Petting Zoos Skittish After E. Coli Outbreak
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 20, 2009 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - British officials are considering cracking down on petting zoos after 10 children were hospitalized with E. coli contracted from touching animals, reports the Telegraph . Parents were urged yesterday to "think very hard"  about taking young children to petting zoos. Four petting zoos have been shut following the E. coli outbreak that...
Borrowers Ditch Banks, Turn to Peer Loans
Washington Post | Sep 20, 2009 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - As the banking pendulum swings from reckless lending to impossible-to-get credit, people are increasingly turning away from institutions and toward each other for loans, reports the Washington Post . The shaky stock market has made the peer-to-peer market ideal for investors, while borrowers happily trade credit card debt for interest rates as low...
Obama 'Skeptical' About More Troops in Afghanistan
Politico | Sep 20, 2009 9:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - If it’s Sunday, it’s President Obama, who took to five Sunday talk shows today (including Univision, but excluding Fox) to promote his agenda. Among the highlights: Obama warned US commanders on This Week he’s “skeptical” that more US troops in Afghanistan will make a difference. On State of the Union ,...
US Soldier Killed in Iraq Blackhawk Crash
Associated Press | Sep 20, 2009 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - An American solider was killed and 12 others were wounded last night when a Blackhawk helicopter crashed at a US base in Iraq, the AP reports. The cause of the crash is unknown and is now under investigation. Air crashes have become less common in Iraq, Reuters says, since the US has less aircraft crossing the country. Yesterday’s death brings...
UK Stylist Quits Over 'Average Size' Runway Models
Guardian (UK) | Sep 20, 2009 8:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - A London stylist quit in a snit after a fashion designer chose three "average size" models for his runway show, reports the Guardian . Mark Fast, known for his body-hugging mini-dresses, used three models sizes 8 and 10 to show off his collection yesterday. The move followed a warning by the director of a psychiatric eating disorders association...
German Doc Probed in Poison Death of 2 in Therapy
Associated Press | Sep 20, 2009 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - A German doctor was being investigated today for possible homicide after two patients in his therapy group died of poisoning, reports AP. Twelve others were rushed to a local hospital after one called emergency services. One is in a coma. The doctor has admitted giving his patients various drugs and substances during the therapy session, according...
Facebook Queen Palin Grabs Headlines, Ducks Press
Politico | Sep 20, 2009 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - By remaining at the forefront of various political arguments while avoiding interviews and traditional politicking, Sarah Palin has boldly mastered a new political trick, reports Politico. The former Alaskan governor has relied almost solely on social networking new media, such as Facebook, to spread her message about "death panels" and other...
South Africa: Ax Lying Semenya Official
BBC | Sep 20, 2009 7:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - South African government officials are calling for the firing of an athletic director who admitted lying about gender tests before Caster Semenya entered her controversial World Championship race last month. "His lies were to Ms. Semenya's detriment," said a statement from the nation's sports minister, reports the BBC. Leonard Chuene "has...
CIA Sending More Spies to Afghanistan
Los Angeles Times | Sep 20, 2009 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The CIA is upping its deployment of personnel in Afghanistan to combat a widespread resurgence of Taliban forces, reports the Los Angeles Times . The new spies, analysts, and paramilitary operatives will team up with special forces squads as part of an intelligence surge likely to rival the agency's numbers in Iraq and Vietnam during the height of...
Women Rising Up Angry Over Berlusconi Sleaze
Guardian (UK) | Sep 20, 2009 6:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - A feminist backlash is gaining huge momentum in Italy in the wake of Prime Minister's Silvio Berlusconi's "Summer of Sleaze," reports the Guardian . Women were especially incensed when Belusconi's lawyer said recently the randy leader would never pay for sex because he is merely an "end user" of women, explained a professor. "The...
Hollywood's Funniest Fat Men
Super Tremendous | Sep 20, 2009 5:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - It jiggles. It droops. It covers naughty parts. Let's face it, fat is funny, especially when a guy knows how to work it. Super Tremendous lists the funniest fat men: Jason Alexander : His George Costanza character on Seinfeld revealed the tragic life of "a short, stocky, slow-witted bald man."
Fox Producer Caught Stoking Protest Crowd
Huffington Post | Sep 20, 2009 5:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - The claim by Fox News that it covered the 9/12 protest in Washington like no other media turned out to be true. A behind-the-scenes video clearly shows a Fox News producer raising her arms as the camera rolled to increase cheers and chants from the supposedly-spontaneous crowd, reports the Huffington Post. Producer Heidi Noonan whips up the crowd behind...
Prez to Paterson: Get Out of NY Gov Race
New York Times | Sep 20, 2009 4:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama has told New York Gov. David Paterson not to run in next year's gubernatorial election, reports the New York Times . Obama's fear is that the unpopular Democrat could give otherwise listless Republicans incentive to storm the polls, sources say. That would be doubly true if former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani runs, they warn....
Feds Arrest Denver Terror Suspect
Denver Post | Sep 19, 2009 11:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Denver shuttle bus driver who may or may not be a terrorist with al-Qaeda links has been taken into custody by federal authorities, the Denver Post reports. Najibullah Zazi and his father were arrested late tonight, but the charges weren't immediately known. The FBI had questioned Zazi on three consecutive days—apparently in connection...
Obama Meets With Abbas, Netanyahu Next Week
Associated Press | Sep 19, 2009 10:34 PM CDT
(AP) - President Obama will host a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations on Mideast peace. The three-way meeting, which will be on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly forum, will take place immediately after Obama...
Huckabee Wins Conservative Straw Poll
Politico | Sep 19, 2009 8:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mike Huckabee easily won a presidential straw poll today at a conference for social conservatives, Politico reports. The former Arkansas governor garnered 28% of 597 votes at the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC. Tying for second, each with about 12% of the vote, were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, House...
Gizmos' Energy Draw Alarms Experts
New York Times | Sep 19, 2009 7:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - All around the house, electronic gadgets are blinking, buzzing, computing—and drawing on an immense amount of energy, the New York Times reports. Worldwide, they take up 15% of household power, and will likely consume three times as much by 2029, making it harder to combat global warming. Two hundred and thirty nuclear plants would be needed...
Russia Says It Won't Deploy Missiles Near Poland
Associated Press | Sep 19, 2009 7:11 PM CDT
(AP) - Russia said today it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Washington has dumped a planned missile shield in Eastern Europe. It also harshly criticized Iran's president for new comments denying the Holocaust. Neither move, however, represented ceding any significant ground. A plan to place Iskander missiles close to the Polish border...
Huskies Shock USC, 16-13
Seattle Times | Sep 19, 2009 6:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Washington Huskies stunned No. 3 USC today 16-13, winning with a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds left, the Seattle Times reports. In other action: Vols coach Lane Kiffin may watch his mouth from now on. The No.1 Florida Gators beat Tennessee 23-13 with tight defense and 76 yards rushing by quarterback Tim Tebow, ESPN reports....
The FCC Is Still After Janet? Ridiculous
Bitch Magazine | Sep 19, 2009 6:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Back in President Bush's America, the FCC assault on Janet Jackson's nipple-ringed revelation made an odd sort of sense, Michelle Dean writes in Bitch . After all, "the inmates were running the asylum" and sanity was "unrepresented in government." But now that President Obama is in office, and "crazy people" get...
Scandinavia Battles Genital Mutilation
GlobalPost | Sep 19, 2009 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scandinavian countries are hitting perpetrators of genital mutilation with heavy fines and prison sentences, even when the act is committed in other countries, Global Post reports. African and Middle Eastern immigrants who take their daughters abroad for genital mutilations—which are considered normal and even necessary in some cultures—are...
Leonard Cohen Collapses in Spain
CBC (Canada) | Sep 19, 2009 5:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Leonard Cohen collapsed onstage in Spain last night and was rushed to a hospital with stomach pain, the CBC reports. The 75-year-old singer, who fainted while singing "Bird on the Wire," suffered from stomach cramps and vomiting before losing consciousness. Cohen was released this morning and said he wants to wrap up his Spanish leg...
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