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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.

Jon Asks to Stall Divorce
In Touch | Sep 30, 2009 9:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Despite the fact that he’s been squiring various 20-somethings around town for the past three months, Jon Gosselin wants a 90-day delay in his divorce from wife Kate. “I regret my conduct since Kate and I separated,” he tells In Touch. “I used poor judgment in publicly socializing with other women so soon.” Gosselin...
Gore Vidal: Hillary Would've Been the Better Prez
Times (UK) | Sep 30, 2009 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Gore Vidal is 83 and uses a wheelchair now, but the legendary American writer hasn't lost any of his strong opinions—not least on Barack Obama, who is doing "dreadfully" and has "fucked up" health reform. Vidal supported Obama after originally backing Hillary Clinton, but now thinks she'd be the better president: "Hillary...
EU Report: Georgia Started War
Wall Street Journal | Sep 30, 2009 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Georgia was responsible for triggering last summer’s war with Russia, a European Union investigation has concluded. But Russia was far from blameless, laying the foundation for the war and breaking international law by invading. The report, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal , also accuses Russian-backed South Ossetian militias of...
Senate Finance Panel Agrees at Last—to Fund Abstinence Ed
Associated Press | Sep 30, 2009 8:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - On the same day it voted to kill Democrats' hopes for a health bill with a public option, the Senate Finance Committee showed the love to abstinence. Committee Republicans displayed a little nostalgia for the Bush administration, voting to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Obama has pushed to...
Cities That Could Beat Chicago
Wall Street Journal | Sep 30, 2009 7:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack and Michelle Obama arrive in Denmark tomorrow, hoping to win the 2016 Olympics for their hometown. The Windy City has an impressive bid, proposing events in the city's parks and a lakefront Olympic Village. But three other cities are lobbying hard, and any could get the Games come Friday. Madrid : Spain has valuable experience from the Barcelona...
Lecture Circuit to Palin: Thanks, But No Thanks
New York Post | Sep 30, 2009 7:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - The lecture circuit isn’t sold on Sarah Palin. Though the ex-governor signed on with the prestigious Washington Speakers Bureau, which is hawking her services to the tune of $100,000 a speech, lecture buyers “are paralyzed with fear about booking her,” an industry insider tells the New York Post , “basically because they think...
First Lady to Garden on Sesame Street
Us Weekly | Sep 30, 2009 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - What do Michelle Obama, Cameron Diaz, Eva Longoria Parker, Ricky Gervais, and Kobe Bryant have in common? All of them will appear on this season of Sesame Street , its 40th anniversary. The first lady will flex her green thumb and talk about gardening and eating healthy on the show’s Nov. 10 premiere, Us reports.
Safire Was No 'Nattering Nabob of Negativism': Dowd
New York Times | Sep 30, 2009 7:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bill Safire, to use the phrase he coined, was anything but a "nattering nabob of negativity," writes his New York Times "colleague in columny" Maureen Dowd. The former Nixon speechwriter—who once told Dowd he had been frozen out by the Times ' liberal writers until he saved a drowning child at a party—was always...
US Speeds Up Iraq Withdrawal
Associated Press | Sep 30, 2009 7:10 AM CDT
(AP) - The United States is speeding up its military withdrawal from Iraq, sending 4,000 more troops home next month, top commander Ray Odierno will announce today. That'll bring the total number of troops in the country down to 120,000 by the end of October. "We have already begun deliberately drawing down our forces—without sacrificing security,"...
As Failures Mount, FDIC Asks Banks to Prepay
Reuters | Sep 30, 2009 7:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - The FDIC is set to ask banks to prepay three years of fees to replenish its coffers after a wave of bank failures, estimated to cost as much as $100 billion. Banks would be asked to prepay $45 billion of their quarterly assessments, but they wouldn't have to report the hit to their bottom line until the fees would normally be paid. The FDIC projects...
Tsunami Toll Reaches 100, Obama Sends Disaster Aid
BBC | Sep 30, 2009 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The death toll from the tsunami triggered by last night's 8.3-magnitude earthquake near Samoa has risen to more than 100, with fatalities reported across a number of islands. Barack Obama declared American Samoa a disaster area and has pledged "swift and aggressive" aid to the territory, where at least 25 people are dead. "There's not...
Dems' Silent Fear: What if Reid Loses in 2010?
Politico | Sep 30, 2009 6:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Reid hasn't kept a very high profile as Senate majority leader but the vital role he's been playing will become obvious if he is unseated in next year's elections, say Democratic insiders. Even the Nevada senator's critics admit that he's stopped liberal and moderate Democrats from feuding, and many worry that the chamber will become even more...
US Cops Nab International Chameleon Conman
BBC | Sep 30, 2009 6:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Colombian fraudster wanted in seven countries has been arrested after entering the US from Canada on a phony passport. Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt, known to have at least 10 aliases, made his living scamming luxury hotels, often pretending to be a guest who had forgotten the combination to his safe before making off with the safe's contents.
Whitman Skipped Voting Due to 'Family Demands'
Associated Press | Sep 30, 2009 5:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Wanna-be California governor and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman says she skipped voting for 28 years because of her family and her hubby's work. "I was focused on raising a family, on my husband's career, and we moved many, many times," she told reporters. "It is no excuse. My voting record, my registration record, is unacceptable."...
US Poverty Rate Hits 11-Year High
Los Angeles Times | Sep 30, 2009 5:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - The share of Americans living in poverty soared to 13.2% last year, its highest level since 1997, according to new census data. Median household income also fell, to $50,303 from $52,163 the previous year. Latinos have suffered the most from the recession. Their median income dropped by 5.6%, while that of non-Latinos fell only 2.6%.
iPhone App Tracks Sex Offenders
CNN | Sep 30, 2009 5:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Concerned parents—or vigilantes—with an iPhone can download a new set of applications that track crime, list fugitives, or even pinpoint the locations of freed sex offenders. Using public records, developers have built programs like Offender Locator, which uses the phone's GPS to identify homes of nearby felons, complete with photographs....
'Tighty-Whities' Get Ready to Turn 75
Associated Press | Sep 30, 2009 4:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - "Tighty whities" are turning 75 soon and Jockey International has launched a media blitz to rocket their briefs into the spotlight. The men's underwear, created after an exec was inspired by a postcard from France showing a man's bikini-style swimsuit, made its debut in Chicago in January 1935—a day that probably also saw the first...
Whoopi Calls Polanski Case 'Not Rape-Rape,' Triggers Uproar
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 30, 2009 4:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Whoopi Goldberg's comment that Roman Polanski's sex with a 13-year-old girl wasn't really "rape-rape" has added fuel to the growing conflagration between the film director's Hollywood supporters and angry feminists. "I know it wasn't rape-rape. I think it was something else, but I don't believe it was rape-rape," Goldberg...
Genius, Madness Linked to Gene
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 30, 2009 3:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The reason why many creative people like Vincent Van Gogh show self-destructive tendencies is in the genes, researchers have discovered. Scientists in a new study found that volunteers identified as the most creative also had the highest levels of a gene variant associated with psychosis and depression, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Oktoberfest Hikes Security After al-Qaeda Warnings
Der Spiegel | Sep 30, 2009 3:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The world's biggest beer festival now resembles a beer fortress after al-Qaeda videos hinted that the Munich Oktoberfest would be a target. Armed policemen now guard all the entrances to the festival, and fighter jets are patrolling overhead. People have been warned not to bring in large bags, and the lederhosen and dirndl-clad beer lovers are subject...
1st Clown in Space Blasts Off
BBC | Sep 30, 2009 2:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Canadian billionaire Guy LaLiberte became the 7th paying tourist—and the first clown—in space when he blasted off early today to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft. LaLiberte, founder of Cirque de Soliel, says he plans to crack jokes and tickle the other astronauts' feet as well as help raise awareness of the world's...
Bomb Explodes in Home of NY Teen Columbine 'Fan'
New York Post | Sep 30, 2009 2:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Long Island teenager who apparently idolized the Columbine killers has been hospitalized after a pipe bomb he was making blew up. The boy, 17, had photos of the students responsible for the Coumbine massacre in his bedroom. He's in stable condition and will likely face charges, reports the New York Post . The teen made the bomb with gunpowder from...
$20M Diamond Found
BBC | Sep 30, 2009 1:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A giant diamond experts believe ranks among the top 20 gems ever found has been unearthed at a South African mine. The egg-sized, 500-carat sparkler was found at the same mine where the biggest diamond in history, the Cullinan, was found in the 19th century. The diamond is being analyzed and is expected to be worth over $20 million when it's cut and...
Resurgent Militants Could Ignite India-Pakistan War
New York Times | Sep 30, 2009 1:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Pakistan-based terror network that organized the slaughter of 163 people in Mumbai last year is still thriving, and security officials on both sides of the border fear it's only a matter of time before operatives attack India again. Lashkar-e-Taiba enjoys broad support within Pakistan, its top leadership remains intact despite a wave of arrests...
'Most Unlikely' HPV Shot Killed UK Teen
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 29, 2009 9:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - The British teen who died after being vaccinated against human papillomavirus had “a serious underlying medical condition,” health officials said today, and it is “most unlikely” that the shot, intended to prevent cervical cancer, killed 14-year-old Natalie Morton. An official at Morton’s school is skeptical. “I...
Death Penalty for Virginity- Faking Kit: Egypt Scholar
BBC | Sep 29, 2009 9:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - An Egyptian scholar wants the death penalty for anyone importing a device that helps women fake virginity—claiming it violates Islamic law by spreading perversion in society. The gadget releases a liquid that looks like blood, allowing a new bride to make it appear her hymen has been ruptured. The China-made device sells in Syria for about $15,...
Trade Group Can't Take Acronym Snickering
The Onion (A.V. Club) | Sep 29, 2009 8:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - WTF? No longer, a trade group has decided, changing its name to avoid further snickering about its acronym. The Wisconsin Tourism Federation—established in 1979, when the world was less likely to use shorthand to say “What the fuck?”—is now the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin. As Mike King writes in the Onion ’s Madison...
On Terror Case, Rare Silence From Obama
The Atlantic | Sep 29, 2009 7:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - The absence of a statement from the Obama administration on the arrest of terror suspect Najibullah Zazi is quite a contrast from a president Americans have gotten used to seeing just about every time they turn on the TV—and from the treatment such incidents received during the Bush administration, when, Marc Ambinder points out, threats were...
Lamar Odom: Stunt? What Stunt?
People | Sep 29, 2009 6:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Blushing groom Lamar Odom turned up at Lakers media day today and revealed his unfamiliarity with the customs of reality TV. "Anybody that was there will tell you that it was a beautiful event and it was real," the hoop star said of his wedding to Khloé Kardashian, which has widely been reported to be nonbinding. "It's crazy how...
Post-Quake Tsunami Kills 34 in Samoa
Reuters | Sep 29, 2009 6:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - An 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck the area around American Samoa today, generating a tsunami that killed as many as 34 in the US territory and adjacent Samoa, an independent state. The waves at Pago Pago were 5.1 feet above normal—smaller than originally feared— but tsunami warnings went up briefly throughout the South Pacific, with...
Toyota Will Recall 3.8M Vehicles in Floor Mat Danger
Automotive News | Sep 29, 2009 6:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Toyota will issue a recall next week on 3.8 million vehicles—including many popular Camry, Prius and Lexus models—over fears that accelerator pedals can become stuck under floor mats even after drivers take their feet off. In the meantime, a company rep tells Automotive News, owners should remove the mats on the driver’s side. For...
Court Dismisses Dan Rather's Suit vs. CBS
Broadcasting & Cable | Sep 29, 2009 6:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS is all but over after an appellate court in New York dismissed his case today. Rather's lawyer vowed to appeal the ruling in the breach of contract suit. Rather initiated the suit following his ouster as Evening News anchor in the wake of a discredited 60 Minutes II report about George W. Bush's...
College Bans Hookups When Roomie's Around
Boston Herald | Sep 29, 2009 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Massachusetts college has a message for oversexed undergrads: Get a room—just not with your roommate in it. Students whose roomies became indiscreet in the heat of passion "expressed concerns that they were experiencing uncomfortable situations," explains a Tufts University rep. The resulting policy bluntly advises: "You...
Think Tank Taps Bachmann as 'Miss November'
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Sep 29, 2009 5:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - A conservative think tank's calendar of "Great American Conservative Women" features a relative newbie: Michele Bachmann. The Minnesota lawmaker, who was elected to Congress in 2006, appears in the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute's calendar as "Miss November." The calendar also features Carrie Prejean, Michelle Malkin, and Ann...
Worst Celebrity Hotel Guests
ABC News | Sep 29, 2009 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Randy and Evi Quaid certainly aren’t the first celebrities to prove themselves awful hotel guests. In perhaps the understatement of the year, Concierge.com editor Peter Frank tells ABC, “Some of these celebrities do not know how to behave in a civilized manner.” Some of the worst offenders: Amy Winehouse: Leaves quite a mess...
Photo of Nude Tween Brooke Shields Stokes Controversy
Telegraph (UK) | Sep 29, 2009 4:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - A nude photo of 10-year-old Brooke Shields set to appear in an exhibition at the Tate Modern is drawing criticism from child-safety advocates. The photo, by Richard Prince, shows a heavily made-up Shields standing in a bathtub looking into the camera. Prince has said the work, Spiritual America, comments on Shields as an “abstract entity.”...
DeLay Tangos a Little Too Hard on Dancing
Wall Street Journal | Sep 29, 2009 4:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former House majority leader Tom DeLay showed off a dignified tango last night on Dancing With the Stars , performing the dance faithfully, if a bit robotically—until the end, when he dipped partner Cheryl Burke, stumbled, and almost dropped her. Though he scored an 18, tying for last with Kathy Ireland, Delay seems determined, the Wall Street...
USC Star Recovering After Surgery on Crushed Throat
Associated Press | Sep 29, 2009 4:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - USC tailback Stafon Johnson is in critical but stable condition and communicating nonverbally after surgery to repair a horrific weightlifting injury. Teammates say Johnson was bench-pressing yesterday and accidentally dropped the bar on his throat. After 7-plus hours of surgery, during which doctors realigned Johnson’s larynx, the athlete is...
Iran Allows Swiss Envoys Visit With Detained Hikers
BBC | Sep 29, 2009 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iran has changed its policy on three detained US hikers, allowing Swiss diplomats—who represent American interests in Iran—to visit them. Officials have been denied access to the three Americans since they were detained in July after crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Tehran’s reversal may be an attempt to smooth...
CNN's iPhone App Is a Winner
Wired | Sep 29, 2009 3:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - CNN’s iPhone app is well-designed and intuitive, with enough features to more than justify its $2 price tag. The app makes good use of the iPhone interface, offering different scrolling navigations for stories depending on the handset’s orientation, writes Eliot Van Buskirk for Wired. But perhaps the most interesting feature is the way...
Imprisoned Ponzi Schemer: It Happens to the Best of Us
Vanity Fair | Sep 29, 2009 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Before he left house arrest in his posh New York apartment to start serving a 20-year sentence, Ponzi schemer Marc Dreier attempted to explain his bizarre actions. Dreier sold bogus debt to expand his law firm, impersonating execs from other companies to do so. His criminal enterprise, he tells Vanity Fair , was based on desire for a beachfront...
Dow Falls 34 Ahead of Jobs Data
Wall Street Journal | Sep 29, 2009 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks fell today as traders lost some of yesterday’s confidence ahead of looming job reports. ADP will release its September survey tomorrow, with weekly data due Thursday and the government’s nonfarm payrolls report coming Friday. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, which analysts had been expecting to rise, ...
Public Option Fails in Finance Committee
New York Times | Sep 29, 2009 3:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee voted down both proposed versions of the public option this afternoon, setting up a showdown between conservative Democrats—who sided with Republicans in opposing the creation of a government plan to compete with private insurers—and their liberal colleagues. Jay Rockefeller's amendment failed, 15-8, shortly...
CDC Must Stop Advocating Circumcision
Spiked | Sep 29, 2009 2:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Virtually everyone in the Western world seems to agree that female circumcision is horrible. It greatly reduces sexual pleasure, violates individual autonomy, and provides no discernible health benefits. Well, all that is true of male circumcision, too, writes Ethan Epstein, yet the CDC is considering a plan to “promote routine circumcision”...
Secret Service Closes In on Obama Death Poll Creator
CNET | Sep 29, 2009 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - The developer whose software was used to create the “Should Obama be Killed?” Facebook poll has talked to the Secret Service. “The conversation with the SS was fine,” Jesse Farmer wrote on Twitter, but “If the goal was to resolve the issue + inform the SS, the way it went down was suboptimal.” Farmer appears to be...
Steele: Let Michelle Make Olympics Pitch
CNN | Sep 29, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama shouldn’t bother going to Denmark to argue for Chicago's Olympic bid, Michael Steele says; that’s what Michelle’s for. “The first lady would have been and should have been the lead there,” the RNC chair said today. “Let her go and sell Chicago.” He said the intention behind the trip was “noble,”...
Parents Lie to Kids All the Time: Study
LiveScience | Sep 29, 2009 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Parents lie to their children, even while telling them that lying is wrong, so often it surprised researchers, a new study reveals. Presented with a list of seven hypothetical lies—such as “the police will come if you don't stop crying now” or “you did a good job at cleaning up your room”—nearly 80% of parents...
Harkin: I've Got Votes to Pass Public Option
The Hill | Sep 29, 2009 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Tom Harkin sees no good reason Democrats can’t pass a health care bill that includes a public option. “I have polled senators, and the vast majority of Democrats—maybe approaching 50—support a public option,” the newly minted Health, Education, Labor and Pensions chairman said today. “So why shouldn’t...
Quaids' Wild Ride a Tale of Drugs, Paranoia
Daily Beast | Sep 29, 2009 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - The arrest of Randy and Evi Quaid in Texas for stiffing a California hotel is only the latest twist in a bizarre tale of unpaid bills and paranoid fantasies. A private investigator hired by the Quaids—she’s out $17,000—tells Diane Dimond the actor and his wife owe tens of thousands on hotel rooms and rental cars, and they may be dangerously...
Bubbly Really Is All About the Bubbles
BBC | Sep 29, 2009 1:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - It turns out the bubbles are indeed the most important part of “the bubbly.” According to a new study, most of a champagne’s flavor comes from its bubbles, which contain up to 30 times more flavorful chemicals than the rest of the drink. It’s a watershed finding, wine experts tell the BBC, and it proves that glasses like flutes,...
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