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.
5 Guesses for Apple's Party
PC World
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Sep 1, 2009 11:27 AM CDT
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With rumors swirling around next week's invite-only Apple event, PC World ventures five guesses about what the mystery bash has in store. It's too early for a debut of the much-anticipated Apple tablet, and September is the season of new iPods, making the best bet: An iPod touch with a video camera —supported by prototype photos seen...
Montana May Be 1st to Make Suicide a Right
New York Times
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Sep 1, 2009 11:15 AM CDT
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The Montana Supreme Court tomorrow will take up the issue of—and likely affirm the right to—assisted suicide, the New York Times reports. The case is being brought on behalf of Robert Baxter, who died last year from leukemia after fighting for the right to end his own life. “He yearned for death,” his daughter says. Montana’s...
Twins: Creepy Jenkins Kept Hitting On Us
Radar
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Sep 1, 2009 10:59 AM CDT
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Ryan Jenkins tried to pick up twin sisters months after marrying Jasmine Fiore and was still obsessively text messaging them just weeks before Fiore’s murder and his suicide, Radar reports. The two-time reality show contestant told the Canadian bikini models he was in an open relationship and invited them to his hotel room during their Las Vegas...
Pelosi Willing to Deal to Win Back House Dems
Politico
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Sep 1, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
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House Democrats got whipped on health care over the August recess, and party leaders now have to win back some of their own shaky members, reports Politico. The push starts at a caucus meeting in the Capitol basement next week as Nancy Pelosi and other top leaders will try to make the case that a vote for reform isn't political suicide. One key point:...
Ben & Jerry's Salutes Gay Marriage With 'Hubby Hubby'
Boston Herald
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Sep 1, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
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What better way to celebrate gay marriage than free ice cream? Ben & Jerry’s is doing just that in its home state of Vermont, where “Chubby Hubby” will be temporarily renamed “Hubby Hubby” and handed out for free today, the Boston Herald reports. The move has its inevitable opponents, with one activist calling it...
Glamour Goes Plus-Size, Nude Again
New York Post
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Sep 1, 2009 10:19 AM CDT
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Inspired by the outpouring of enthusiasm (and press, no doubt) over the appearance of plus-size model Lizzi Miller—pooch and all—in its September issue, Glamour will feature a bevy of nude plus-size models in a November spread, insiders tell the New York Post . Miller will be back, joined by Kate Dillon and five other models, who were...
Levi Johnston's New Gig: Vanity Fair Writer
MSNBC
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Sep 1, 2009 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Aspiring actor, Kathy Griffin arm candy, potential tell-all author… is there anything Levi Johnston doesn’t have in his sights since breaking it off with Bristol Palin? The babydaddy’s latest project is an upcoming Vanity Fair article coming out tomorrow. The magazine teases “Me and Sarah Palin, by Levi Johnston” on...
Kate: Aliens Must Have Abducted Jon
Examiner
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Sep 1, 2009 9:58 AM CDT
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Soon-to-be-ex-hubby Jon has been acting so strange that Kate Gosselin feels there's only one way to explain his behavior: He was abducted by aliens. In a People interview, Kate says she still hopes Jon will snap back to his old self one day and phone her to say, "OK, that was really weird; aliens overtook me, but now I'm back," the Examiner...
Afghan Report Pressures Prez for More Troops
New York Times
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Sep 1, 2009 9:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
As he heads to Camp David tomorrow, with General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan under his arm, President Obama faces a political minefield. The grim report lays the groundwork for deploying more troops to Afghanistan, the New York Times reports, adding pressure on the president, who must navigate between increasing...
Health Reform 'Gang of Six' at Death's Door
Washington Post
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Sep 1, 2009 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The bipartisan “Gang of Six” lawmakers working on health care reform looks like history, Ezra Klein reports in the Washington Post . Yesterday, the White House slammed one of the group’s members, Sen. Mike Enzi, after he trashed the Democratic plan for "making the economy sicker without saving you any money," and accused...
DJ AM Spent Last Day on Crack, Pills
New York Post
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Sep 1, 2009 9:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
DJ AM lit up a crack pipe in front of his recovery sponsor the day before his death, the New York Post reports in an ongoing effort to piece together his final moments. Friends told investigators Adam Goldstein’s manager and sponsor flew from the West Coast to NYC Thursday after weeks of worry over his erratic behavior and missed appointments,...
Love Boosts Creativity, Lust Improves Logic: Study
Miller-McCune
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Sep 1, 2009 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The lovestruck enjoy a surge in creative powers while those who are merely randy are sharper logicians, a new study finds. Dutch researchers asked students to imagine either a romantic walk with a loved one or a one-night stand with a casual acquaintance before giving them a set of problems involving either creative thinking or logic, Miller-McCune...
Fueled by Fringe, GOP in a Tight Spot
Reuters
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Sep 1, 2009 9:17 AM CDT
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Raucous town-hall protesters are energizing a Republican party damaged in the 2006 and 2008 elections—but they’re also opening the party to accusations that it’s being run by the fringe, Reuters reports. While some demonstrators oppose any sort of reform, many Americans actually want some form of change. If Democrats can label the...
Spitzer Eying Return to Politics: Insiders
New York Post
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Sep 1, 2009 9:06 AM CDT
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Eliot Spitzer is tossing around the possibility of a comeback bid, mulling a run for New York state office next year, insiders tell the New York Post . The ex-governor is said to be eying the state comptroller's job or Kirsten Gillibrand’s Senate seat. But it’s all informal at this point: He hasn’t held “active discussions...
Paris Keeps Cut Hair to Dodge DNA Testing
Daily Mail (UK)
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Sep 1, 2009 8:47 AM CDT
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The hair snipped from Paris Jackson's head last week won't be falling into the hands of the genetic paparazzi. The Las Vegas salon that cut the 11-year-old's hair carefully swept up, bagged, and handed over every last strand, apparently to stop potential thieves from running a DNA test on the locks to determine who Paris's biological father is, the...
Cut-Rate Hyundai Gets Major Mileage Out of Downturn
Washington Post
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Sep 1, 2009 8:35 AM CDT
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As the recession batters most automakers, onetime industry laughingstock Hyundai is riding high. The South Korean company just had its best retail month ever, the Washington Post reports. Its share of the US market rose from 3.6% to 4.6%, and it passed Ford to become fourth in global sales. Perceived, like McDonald's and Wal-Mart, as a value-priced...
He Who Drinks More Gets More Exercise
Reuters
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Sep 1, 2009 8:34 AM CDT
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Though it doesn't explain the persistence of beer guts, moderate and heavy drinkers tend to exercise more than those who keep their booze consumption to a minimum, a new study suggests. Using government health data, researchers found that heavy drinkers—defined as men who tallied some 76 drinks a month, 46 for women—exercised, on average,...
Can the Catty Remarks on Clinton's Weight
SpliceToday
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Sep 1, 2009 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Remarks like Tina Brown's recent crack on MSNBC that Hillary Clinton "needs to get back in the gym," are dragging public debate down to a high-school level, Chloe Angyal writes at SpliceToday. Nobody's looking too hard at the waistline of male politicians or diplomats, Angyal notes, but journalists—especially female ones—can't...
3 Busted in Cambodian Kid Sex Face US Trial
CNN
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Sep 1, 2009 8:19 AM CDT
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Three Americans arrested in Cambodia for sexually exploiting boys and girls as young as 10 are being returned to the US for trial, CNN reports. They were snagged by a joint program by the Justice Department and immigration authorities, known as Operation Twister Traveler, designed to combat sex tourism. The men, who have all been convicted...
New Sony Vaio PCs Will Include Google Web Browser
Financial Times (UK)
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Sep 1, 2009 8:02 AM CDT
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Google Chrome, languishing in the browser wars, will get a substantial boost thanks to a deal with Sony—which is shipping new Vaio PCs with Chrome pre-installed. Google is also talking to other computer manufacturers, the FT reports, as it attempts to weaken the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which commands 68% of the field....
No Rush to Altar as Vermont Starts Marrying Gays
Associated Press
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Sep 1, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
After 17 years together, a couple from upstate New York married at 12:01 this morning—the first same-sex couple to wed in Vermont. Today the Green Mountain State, which gave the US civil unions, becomes the fifth state and fourth in New England to allow gays and lesbians to marry. But as the AP reports, there hasn't been a major rush to...
Bank of America Ready to Repay $20B in Bailout Cash
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 1, 2009 7:59 AM CDT
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Bank of America may become the latest institution to pay back a portion of its bailout money, with an eye toward escaping Washington's scrutiny of its pay packages. BofA isn't ready to pay back $45 billion in first-round TARP funds, the Wall Street Journal reports, but wants to start with $20 billion tacked on in January to help push through...
Iran Admits Protester Was Beaten to Death
CNN
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Sep 1, 2009 7:09 AM CDT
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A man arrested in the upheaval following Iran's presidential election was beaten to death in jail, Iranian media reported yesterday—offering the first official acknowledgment that a detained protester died after the disputed vote. Officials had originally said the man died of an illness, but a coroner's report said he suffered "repeated...
Poland Marks 70th Anniversary of WWII's Start
BBC
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Sep 1, 2009 6:58 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Polish leaders gathered at dawn today at the fort the Nazis attacked to begin World War II exactly 70 years ago, the BBC reports. A German battleship attacked Westerplatte on September 1, 1939, as German troops launched a blitzkreig attack on three fronts. The invasion triggered declarations of war from Britain and France and within a month, Poland...
Travel Back to Normal in Koreas
CNN
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Sep 1, 2009 6:52 AM CDT
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Travel between North and South Korea returned to normal today, eight months after Pyongyang clamped down on imports from the South. It's the latest sign of warming ties between the two Koreas, following a recent deal on reuniting separating families and the fight high-level diplomatic talks in two years. Negotiations last month between North Korea...
Holder to Crank Up Civil Rights Enforcement
New York Times
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Sep 1, 2009 6:27 AM CDT
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The Obama administration plans to revitalize the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and beef up efforts against racial discrimination, the New York Times reports. Attorney General Eric Holder has been working to redirect the focus to tackling discrimination in high-impact areas like housing, voting rights, employment, and bank lending, where...
EBay to Unload Skype for $2B
New York Times
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Sep 1, 2009 5:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
EBay is selling Skype, the audiovisual chat service it calamitously bought in 2005, to a group of private investors, sources tell the New York Times . Although the price is unknown, eBay recently said it wanted about $2 billion for the the company, which is expected to pull in $600 million in revenues this year. The auction site paid more than $3.1...
Experts Doubt Gory Crash Video Will Trim Teen Texting
New York Times
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Sep 1, 2009 4:53 AM CDT
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A horrifying car crash video graphically highlighting the gory dangers of texting behind the wheel has been viewed some 4 million times online. But experts doubt that it will significantly change teen driver behavior, reports the New York Times. The video-gone-viral has been the buzz of schools since it was produced by Welsh officials following teen...
Cops Seek Garrido Link to 3 Missing Girls
Independent (UK)
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Sep 1, 2009 4:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Investigators are hunting for clues linking kidnap-rapist Phillip Garrido to the unsolved disappearances of three young girls near his home, reports the Independent . The three, ranging in age from 4 to 13, were all snatched off the street in broad daylight—just as Jaycee Dugard was at the age of 11—within an hour of Garrido's home. The...
Toyota Accused of Hiding Evidence on Rollover Deaths
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 1, 2009 3:56 AM CDT
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A former top lawyer for Toyota says the company concealed evidence relating to hundreds of rollover accidents that caused death and injury, the Los Angeles Times reports. The attorney, who says he was forced to resign from the firm in 2007, has filed a lawsuit alleging that engineering data that proved its SUV roofs were substandard was destroyed,...
Paris Piss Brigade Targets Urine Sauvage
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 1, 2009 3:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Paris task force charged with enforcing good behavior is finding human urine tougher to get off the streets than poodle poop, the Wall Street Journal reports. Members of the elite Brigade des Incivilités— Bad Behavior Brigade—can ticket offenders for everything from littering to handing out fliers, but they say public urination...
World's First Cloned Wolf Dies
Korea Times
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Sep 1, 2009 3:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
One of of the world's first two cloned wolves has died due to unknown causes, reports the Korea Times . Snuwolf, 4, was found dead at South Korea's national zoo. Her identical sister, Snuwolffy, remains healthy. "Snuwolf had been in good condition," said Prof. Shin Nam-sik, a leader of the team that cloned the pair. "Wild animals...
Garrido Turned Me Into Zombie: Victim
CNN
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Sep 1, 2009 2:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
News that Philip Garrido had struck again horrified the woman he kidnapped and raped in 1976, CNN reports. "I started screaming 'Oh my god, it's him,'" Katie Callaway Hall told Larry King. Hall says she was permanently traumatized when Garrido attacked her as she was handcuffed naked in a warehouse. "I thought I was dead. He changed...
Time to Quit Afghanistan
Washington Post
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Sep 1, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
America needs to abandon its idea of nation-building in Afghanistan before the lives of yet more troops are squandered trying to establish an effective central government in a country that has never had one, George F. Will warns in the Washington Post . Even with America's troop-intensive efforts, experts say Kabul only controls a third of the country,...
Designer Sentenced to 59 Years for Sex Crimes
Associated Press
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Sep 1, 2009 1:46 AM CDT
(AP) -
A fashion designer has been sentenced to 59 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting aspiring models he lured to Los Angeles, AP reports. Anand Jon Alexander, 35, was convicted of 14 crimes, including forcible rape. His victims ranged in age from 14 to 21. Alexander, who has been featured on America's Next Top Model , often found women online....
Axed Miss Calif. Sues Pageant
CNN
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Sep 1, 2009 1:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Dethroned beauty queen Carrie Prejean has filed a lawsuit against the officials who stripped her of the Miss California title, CNN reports. Prejean—who sparked an uproar when she declared her opposition to same-sex marriage at the Miss USA pageant earlier this year—alleges that she suffered from libel and religious discrimination from pageant...
