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.
Lab Tech Arrested in Annie Le Slaying
Associated Press
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Sep 17, 2009 8:03 AM CDT
(AP) -
After days of suspicion, police arrested Raymond Clark III today in the killing of 24-year-old Yale University graduate student Annie Le. He was taken into custody at a hotel where he was staying in Cromwell, Conn., about about 25 miles north of New Haven, and his bond is set for $3 million. Le's body was found Sunday stuffed in a basement wall...
Obama Goes En Garde!
Gawker
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Sep 17, 2009 7:49 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Health care reform? Racism brouhaha? Barack Obama took a break from it all—and possibly worked out some frustration—on the White House lawn yesterday during a fencing demonstration, Gawker reports. The president and first lady brandished light sabers during an event promoting Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Check out...
MLB Honchos Drop Ball on Vid Sensation
Mashable
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Sep 17, 2009 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It was a great baseball moment when a stunned Phillies fan watched his 3-year-old daughter toss back a foul ball he had just caught. But Major League Baseball isn't playing ball with the video, Jennifer Van Grove writes at Mashable. MLB has made a copyright claim on the video, making sure all copies except its own are yanked from YouTube and elsewhere....
Supermarkets Slash Prices
Washington Post
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Sep 17, 2009 7:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Americans are getting a big break on the price of food, as the recession drives down the cost of wheat, milk, and other staples, and supermarkets fight feverishly for sales. After a year of dramatic increases, commodities are way down—the price of corn, for instance, is down 56% since July 2008. That may be good news to consumers, but deflation...
Bali Bombing Mastermind Killed in Java Raid
BBC
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Sep 17, 2009 7:06 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Indonesian police say they’ve killed their most-wanted terrorist, Noordin Muhamed Top, and this time, they’re really sure. The last time they declared Noordin dead, after an August raid in Central Java, they later admitted he had actually escaped. But this time they say they’ve done a fingerprint match on the body to ensure it is...
Suicide Attack Hits Italian Convoy in Kabul, Kills 16
Associated Press
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Sep 17, 2009 7:06 AM CDT
(AP) -
A suicide car bomber attacked an Italian military convoy on a road in Afghanistan's capital today, killing six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, the AP reports. The bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into two Italian military vehicles, Italy's defense minister said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying in a text message that...
Bush Cabinet Member in Criminal Inquiry
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 17, 2009 6:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether Gale Norton illegally used her power as secretary of the Interior to obtain three oil contracts for Royal Dutch Shell—which only months later hired her as a legal counsel. The 2006 decision to award Shell leases on oil-rich federal land in Colorado stands to net billions...
Skype Sale in Doubt as Founders Sue eBay
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 17, 2009 6:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The founders of Skype are suing eBay and the investor consortium buying the Internet phone company, accusing them of copyright violation, reports the Wall Street Journal . The suit is only the latest bump in eBay's disastrous ownership of Skype and may complicate the planned $2 billion sale. Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom allege that their new company,...
'Aussie Fritzl' Charged With Raping Daughter for 30 Years
Reuters
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Sep 17, 2009 6:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
An Australian man has been charged with rape and incest after allegedly raping his daughter for more than 30 years and fathering four children with her, Reuters reports. The man was arrested after the victim contacted police and told them she had been kept a prisoner in their home in a country town east of Melbourne. All four children have birth defects...
US to Shelve European Missile Shield
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 17, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Obama administration will scrap Bush-era plans to build a missile defense shield in eastern Europe, sources tell the Wall Street Journal —a move expected to delight Russia, which has strongly opposed the program. Washington is basing its decision on a new, more modest assessment of Iran's long-range missile capabilities. Instead of focusing...
Guinness Heiress Was Randy, Not Drunk, on Plane: Court
Telegraph (UK)
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Sep 17, 2009 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Socialite Clare Irby may have stripped down to her underwear on a flight from India earlier this year but she wasn't drunk, a British jury decided yesterday. Irby, a descendant of the Guinness brewing family, downed glasses of wine, stripped, and let another passenger kiss and fondle her—but she didn't break the law, reports the Telegraph ....
Senate OKs Passenger Guns on Amtrak
New York Times
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Sep 17, 2009 4:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Amtrak passengers would be allowed to carry unloaded guns in locked containers in their checked baggage under a measure passed by the Senate yesterday, reports the New York Times . The rail corporation banned guns from checked baggage after the 9/11 attacks. The measure won the backing of all Senate Republicans and 27 Democrats, despite Amtrak's objection...
Rings Writer Tolkien Trained as WWII Spy
Telegraph (UK)
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Sep 17, 2009 4:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien secretly trained as a British spy in early 1939, the Daily Telegraph reports. Newly released records show that Tolkien—one of his generation's foremost linguists—was given spy training along with 50 other intellectuals and had been picked to join the team trying to crack Nazi codes in the event of...
F&#% a Cluck: NY Fox Anchor Bleeps Big Time
Gawker
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Sep 17, 2009 3:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A veteran New York Fox TV anchor is likely in for a peck of trouble after making an obscene suggestion on air about what the weather forecaster should do to a chicken. "It takes a tough man to make a tender forecast," Ernie Anastos quipped to weatherman Nick Gregory before tacking on his curious recommendation. Anastos, unflappable, continued...
Yemen Right-Wingers Blocked Push to End Child Marriages
CNN
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Sep 17, 2009 3:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Conservative lawmakers in Yemen, where a 12-year-old girl died giving birth to her husband's child last week, shot down an attempt to set the minimum marriage age at 17 earlier this year, CNN reports. The lawmakers kept the bill from reaching the country's president by arguing that it violated Islamic law, which does not stipulate any minimum age for...
Clinton Boosts Newsom in Calif. Gov Race
Christian Science Monitor
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Sep 17, 2009 2:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Bill Clinton's support for Gavin Newsom in the race to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as California governor has put the spotlight on the San Francisco mayor's campaign, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Clinton's support has given Newsom a much-needed boost. But some analysts believe it has more to do with Clinton's enmity towards Newsom's...
DNA Links Lab Tech to Yale Murder
New Haven Register
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Sep 17, 2009 2:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
DNA from the Yale lab tech suspected in the murder of grad student Annie Le has been linked to her death, sources tell the New Haven Register . Raymond Clark, 24, is expected to be arrested today, and is currently under police surveillance at the Connecticut motel where he's staying. The DNA results emerged as investigators were poring over Clark's...
Hello? I'm Calling From Twitter
CNET
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Sep 17, 2009 1:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Twitterers will be able to use the microblogging service to make phone calls beginning today, reports CNET News. A third party system by Jajah will make it possible to call any Twitter account by typing @call@username. The calls, which can be made for free, will be limited to two minutes during the pilot period, but may be expanded if the service proves...
Recession Crushes White-Collar Michigan
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 17, 2009 1:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Tens of thousands of middle-aged white-collar workers have been left jobless and stranded in Michigan by the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto industry veterans laid off by the Big Three are finding themselves competing against against younger people for a smattering of job openings. With property prices down 45% from their 2006 peak,...
Yale Suspect Clark Was Last to See Le Alive
Hartford Courant (Conn.)
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Sep 16, 2009 9:46 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Raymond Clark, the prime suspect in the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le, was the last person to see her alive, records of their computer swipe cards show. A source familiar with the records tells the Hartford Courant that Le used the card to gain access to the same part of the lab that Clark entered a short time later, and Le’s card...
8 Days That Shook the Financial World
New Yorker
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Sep 16, 2009 9:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
James Stewart’s reconstruction of the 8 nail-biting days, a year ago, in which the federal government stepped in to stop the collapse of the world financial system—published in the New Yorker this week, just as Fed chief Ben Bernanke was declaring the recession officially over—makes riveting, tense reading. “I don’t...
Cops Find More Bones at Garrido Home
KCBS-AM
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Sep 16, 2009 9:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
More bones have been found on the property belonging to Phillip Garrido—the man charged with abducting and imprisoning Jaycee Dugard—and on the property next door, California authorities tell KCBS-AM. “We have located what appears to be bones on both properties. We can’t tell at this point if those bones are human or animal,”...
Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, Dead at 72
Associated Press
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Sep 16, 2009 8:27 PM CDT
(AP) -
Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died today after a battle with leukemia, the band's publicist says. She was 72. Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s. The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, onstage and off. Their version of If I Had a Hammer...
Docs Use Tooth to Help Return Woman's Sight
Associated Press
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Sep 16, 2009 8:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Doctors in Miami have used a woman’s tooth to help restore her vision, the Los Angeles Times reports. A disease that destroyed tissue in her left eye left Sharon Thornton unable to undergo a cornea transplant, so surgeons cut a canine tooth and bone out of her upper jaw and used them as an anchor for an artificial cornea. Thornton, 60, now...
Hand-Washing Might Not Help Much Against Flu
Newsweek
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Sep 16, 2009 7:38 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Everyone from Elmo to President Obama is telling people to wash their hands to avoid getting the swine flu, and Disney could make a killing on “Musical Hand Wash Timers” featuring its stable of characters. But Newsweek talks to scientists skeptical of the approach: Hand-washing might be great for colds, but not so much against the flu...
Brown Begins Community Service
MTV
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Sep 16, 2009 7:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Singer Chris Brown today began the community labor that’s part of his sentence for beating girlfriend Rihanna, MTV reports, with the singer posting a photo from the work to his Twitter feed. His 6 months of labor will include picking up trash in his native Virginia; Brown, 20, also faces 5 years on probation and a year of domestic-violence counseling....
Euro Farmers Protest Falling Prices With Huge Milk Dump
AFP
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Sep 16, 2009 6:41 PM CDT
(Newser) -
European farmers today dumped 800,000 gallons of milk in a Belgian field, AFP reports, in a protest against a dramatic dive in prices. The group behind the scene says three French farmers committed suicide in the past week over prices, which have fallen by as much as half as the recession dampens demand. The European Commission has promised a limited...
NCAA President Myles Brand, 67, Dies of Cancer
New York Times
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Sep 16, 2009 6:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Myles Brand, the first academic in 50 years to head the National Collegiate Athletic Association and perhaps best known as the man who, as president of Indiana University, fired legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, died today of pancreatic cancer; he was 67, the New York Times reports. The former philosophy professor spearheaded academic reform,...
The 7 Best Place to Skydive
Vagabondish
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Sep 16, 2009 6:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Skydiving is the ultimate rush, aided by a sensory trick—our brains lose the perception of height, so you can just "enjoy the ride," writes Turner Wright for Vagabondish. But where to jump? Taupo, New Zealand. The skydiving capital of the world, where 30,000 people jump every summer. What better setting than the mountains of...
ACORN Orders Investigation Into Programs
Associated Press
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Sep 16, 2009 5:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
ACORN is ordering an independent investigation into its community service programs after undercover videos exposed questionable behavior by its employees, the AP reports. The group also said it would put its programs on hold while it conducts staff training. A series of videos show ACORN employees instructing a fake prostitute and pimp—the same...
Self-Serve Ads, Goods Work Well for Facebook
Guardian (UK)
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Sep 16, 2009 5:37 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Reports on Facebook’s newly announced profitability have focused on a fixed deal with Microsoft that generates a large chunk of their income. But the site’s homegrown revenue sources—self-serve advertising and virtual gifts—shouldn’t be discounted, writes Bobbie Johnson for the Guardian . The personal information on Facebook...
The Human Condition Is 9.5 Hours, in Japanese...
Very Short List
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Sep 16, 2009 5:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Criterion Collection re-release of Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition does high-definition justice to the WWII film critic David Shipman has called “unequivocally the greatest film ever made,” according to Very Short List. The movie follows a good—and handsome—man through the “innumerable trials in World...
Fib Over Favre Injury Costs Jets, Mangini $125K
Bloomberg
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Sep 16, 2009 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The NFL hit the Jets, GM Mike Tannenbaum, and former coach Eric Mangini with $125,000 in fines for not reporting Brett Favre’s injured arm last season, Bloomberg reports. Favre, now with the Vikings, spilled the beans a week ago that he played hurt the final weeks of the season. The team owes $75,000, and Mangini and Tannenbaum $25,000 each for...
Karzai Working on Deals With Challengers
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 16, 2009 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Afghanistan election has turned into such a mess that President Hamid Karzai is discussing some kind of partnership with at least two of his challengers, the Wall Street Journal reports. His camp and that of top challenger Abdullah Abdullah are talking through third parties, while Karzai also has reached out to fourth-place finisher Ashraf Ghani....
Serena's Tirade: What Would Her Church Think?
Slate
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Sep 16, 2009 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Serena Williams is a Jehovah’s Witness, which causes Slate to wonder: What does her religion think about her foul-mouthed outburst at the US Open? Jehovah’s Witnesses “discourage members from any sort of foul language on the grounds that it's expressly forbidden in the Bible,” writes Juliet Lapidos. But Williams shouldn’t...
Kennedy Successor May Come Soon
Boston Globe
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Sep 16, 2009 4:06 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It's possible that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will be able to name a senator to fill Ted Kennedy's seat sometime next week, the Boston Globe reports. Proponents of the plan say they've now got enough votes, barely, in both state chambers to pull it off. The situation is diciest in the Senate, where Republicans could yet gum up the works...
Silver: Ignore Poll Showing Docs Opposed to Reform
FiveThirtyEight
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Sep 16, 2009 3:46 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A new Investors’ Business Daily poll showing doctors opposed to President Obama’s health care reform is generating some buzz today, but it's so flawed that Nate Silver has only this advice: “Completely ignore” it, he writes on FiveThirtyEight. Here’s why: It's conducted by mail: Hardly anyone does this because...
Takei, Hubby First Gay Couple on Newlywed Game
Queerty
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Sep 16, 2009 3:29 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The new version of the Newlywed Game will feature a gay couple for the first time— Star Trek actor George Takei and his husband Brad Altman, Queerty reports. Takei and Altman just celebrated their first anniversary—they’ve been together for 22 years but didn’t tie the knot until the brief legal window in California last year....
Dow Up 108 to 2009 High
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 16, 2009 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Stocks rallied today, with all three major indices hitting their highest levels of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. GE surged 5.69%, AmEx 3.06%, and BofA 2.80% on good data: Industrial production gained 0.8% in August, and the Labor Department’s consumer-price index rose 0.4%. The Dow closed up 108 points at 9,791, Nasdaq added 30...
Obama Disagrees With Carter on Racism Charge
Washington Post
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Sep 16, 2009 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Sorry, Jimmy Carter: The White House doesn't think hostility toward President Obama is motivated by race, the Washington Post reports. “The president does not believe that the criticism comes based on the color of his skin,” said Robert Gibbs. Carter started a firestorm by asserting just that—the fervent anti-Obama animosity, he...
Abercrombie Sues Beyoncé Over Fierce Fragrance
Women's Wear Daily
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Sep 16, 2009 2:56 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Abercrombie & Fitch has filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé in a tussle over her new fragrance, named for alter ego Sasha Fierce, Women's Wear Daily reports. A&F says it has owned the Fierce trademark since 2003, and that her plan "poses a likelihood of confusion" in the big-bucks market—this year the retailer expects to...
Obama the Anti-Christ? Maybe in New Jersey
Washington Independent
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Sep 16, 2009 2:46 PM CDT
(Newser) -
New Jerseyans are apparently having a difficult time figuring out whether the president is the devil or not, the Washington Independent reports. To be sure, a Public Policy Polling questionnaire has 79% of respondents responding “No” to the question “Do you think Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ?” But that doesn't explain the...
Scientists Cure Red-Green Color Blindness in Monkeys
Times (UK)
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Sep 16, 2009 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Scientists have cured red-green color blindness in monkeys, the Times of London reports. Researchers injected a virus containing L opsin, a gene that regulates the production of the red-sensitive light receptor—known as a “cone”—into the retina of red-green colorblind adult monkeys, according to a study published in Nature...
Yale Suspect Scolded Victim Over Lab Mice
New York Daily News
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Sep 16, 2009 2:23 PM CDT
(Newser) -
If Ray Clark did, as police apparently suspect, kill Annie Le, investigators have an odd theory about his motivation, the New York Daily News reports. In emails that caught their attention, the Yale lab technician scolded Le about her lax handling of mice in the lab. Le apologized, but investigators wonder if resentment over the issue may have turned...
Lost Symbol Sets Record in First Day
New York Times
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Sep 16, 2009 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser) -
To the surprise of exactly no one, Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code follow-up, The Lost Symbol , is a smash hit, selling, between its hardcover and e-book editions, 1 million copies in its first day on the shelves, the New York Times reports. Amazon and Barnes & Noble both say it’s the best first day any adult fiction book has ever seen.
My Hair Is Fake, and That's OK: Meghan
Daily Beast
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Sep 16, 2009 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Inspired by Tyra Banks’ appearance on her talk show sans weave, Meghan McCain comes clean on the Daily Beast: “Yes, I have been wearing different variations of permanent and semi-permanent hair extensions since high school,” she writes. If this revelation doesn’t sound earth-shattering to you, perhaps you have “virgin...
Cuomo Hits 5 BofA Directors With Subpoenas
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 16, 2009 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed five members of Bank of America’s board of directors today in his probe to uncover whether the bank was truthful to shareholders about losses at Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street Journal reports. The New York Attorney General suspects that the board was fully informed of the trouble Merrill was in before a Dec. 5 shareholder...
No One Really Wears This Stuff
Time
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Sep 16, 2009 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) -
For everyone who’s ever looked at runway fashions and wondered, “Would anybody really wear that?” Claire Suddath has the answer: No. New York Fashion Week's over-the-top designs, from clothes befitting a 19th-century French prostitute to “outfits that literally have no armholes” are “a form of wearable artwork,”...
3-Year-Old Creates Viral Buzz With Foul Ball Toss
Fox Philadelphia (WTFX)
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Sep 16, 2009 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A happy Phillies fan made a sensational catch to snag a foul ball at last night’s game against the Nationals. Then he gave the ball to his 3-year-old daughter, and the result is turning into a YouTube sensation: She chucked it back over the railing. “When she first threw it over, you know, I kind of laughed and was like, 'Oh my gosh, there...
Keillor Faces Mortality as 'Nice 67 y.o. Man'
Salon
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Sep 16, 2009 1:18 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Garrison Keillor got “bitten in the butt” by mortality when he suffered a stroke earlier this month, realizing that he is now—as one doctor wrote in her report—a “nice 67 y.o. male,” he writes for Salon. “I never wanted to be a nice 67 y.o. man. I still have some edgy 27 y.o. man inside me.” But more...
