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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.

Paper Sorry for Calling Palin a 'Broad'
Politics Daily | Sep 25, 2009 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alaska’s Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has apologized for Wednesday’s front-page headline about Sarah Palin. Above a small picture of the ex-governor, who had spoken at a Hong Kong investors conference, the paper ran the headline, “A Broad in Asia.” The paper’s managing editor says it was a pun, not a typo, Politics Daily...
Red Sox Fan Sprung From Jail—for Game
Boston Herald | Sep 25, 2009 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Red Sox fandom turned out to be a get out of jail free card for one Iowa man. Randy Barker was serving a 20-day jail sentence for violating a protective order, but his lawyer argued that he should be released long enough to attend a Sox game with his dad and brother in Kansas City, calling it one of “the few pleasures the defendant has in life.”...
Chavez Dreamed of Playing in Yankee Stadium
CNN | Sep 25, 2009 8:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hugo Chavez is fond of Americans and their culture even if their last president did try to have him killed, he told Larry King yesterday. The usually pugnacious Venezuelan president said he used to dream of playing baseball in Yankee Stadium and is a big fan of Walt Whitman and actor Charles Bronson. He finds his New York security detail "very...
Papas' Song About Mackenzie Gets New, Creepy Meaning
E! Online | Sep 25, 2009 8:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Now that Mackenzie Phillips has revealed her incestuous relationship with papa John, the songs he wrote about her take on a whole new meaning. Especially “She’s Just 14,” which includes the lyric that gave Phillips the title for her book High on Arrival , E! notes. Suddenly, lines like “There isn’t much she hasn’t...
Obama Demands Inquiry Into Iran Nuke Plant
Associated Press | Sep 25, 2009 7:59 AM CDT
(AP) - President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain demanded today that Iran fully disclose its nuclear ambitions "or be held accountable" to an impatient world community. They threatened new sanctions after the disclosure of a secret Iranian nuclear facility. "Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follows," Obama said...
Krugman: Get Ready for Climate Lies
New York Times | Sep 25, 2009 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - If you liked the health care debate, you’re going to love the upcoming battle over climate change, says Paul Krugman. The House has already passed a decent bill, but the Senate battle will bring out “the usual suspects.” Some will keep insisting that global warming isn’t real. “But that argument is wearing thin—as...
Jacko Tape: Hitler Was a Great Showman
Sun (UK) | Sep 25, 2009 7:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Jackson knew the power to move crowds when he saw it. "Hitler was a genius orator," the star told his rabbi buddy Shmuley Boteach in the course of many hours of taped conversations obtained by the Sun. "To make that many people turn and change and hate, he had to be a showman and he was." Jackson also claimed that he...
McChrystal Surprised by 'Breadth of Violence'
CBS News | Sep 25, 2009 7:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose mission for the last few months has been to size up the situation in Afghanistan and redirect US strategy, says he found the violence to be worse than he expected going in. “I think that in some areas that the breadth of violence, the geographical spread of violence, is a little more than I would have gathered,”...
New Fame Ain't Gonna Last
Rotten Tomatoes | Sep 25, 2009 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fame , the new remake of the classic 1980 musical about students at New York's High School for the Performing Arts, will be entertaining enough for tweeners, say critics, but its sanitized feel and lightweight characters make it a forgettable inferior to the gritty original. "As a demo reel showcasing seven promising young talents, it's...
Dukakis Is Gracious on Senate Snub
Boston Globe | Sep 25, 2009 6:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - For a while it looked as if Michael Dukakis would be headed to the Senate to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, but the former Massachusetts governor says he's fine with being passed over. "Hey, after you've run for the presidency of the United States..." the 1988 candidate told the Boston Globe before trailing off. He has nothing but praise for...
Manson Girl Susan Atkins Dies
Los Angeles Times | Sep 25, 2009 6:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Susan Atkins, one of the women who killed at the behest of Charles Manson, died last night after a battle with brain cancer that had paralyzed her and cost her one leg. She was 61. She died inside the California Institute for Women, where she had been in hospice care. Atkins, who served 38 years of a life sentence for eight murders, including that...
G20 Near Deal to Open Economies to Scrutiny
Wall Street Journal | Sep 25, 2009 6:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - The G20 is on the brink of a deal this morning that will require members to "peer review" one another's economic policies—a substantial shift that will expose the US and China to wider scrutiny from less wealthy countries. The new top table for international negotiation wants less American borrowing, more Chinese consumption, and...
Iran Confirms Secret 2nd Nuclear Lab
New York Times | Sep 25, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iran confirmed today that it has built a second uranium enrichment site in an underground facility hidden from weapons inspectors—a revelation coming just hours before Barack Obama and other Western leaders were prepared to disclose it. The US has been tracking the secret project for years, officials say, but Obama decided to go public,...
Tim Russert's Dad Dies
Mediabistro | Sep 25, 2009 5:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tim Russert’s father Timothy, subject of Tim’s book Big Russ and Me, Father and Son: Lessons in Life , died yesterday. Russert, 85, was also the grandfather of NBC News correspondent Luke Russert, Mediabistro reports. “While he was affectionately known to the world as ‘Big Russ,’ he carried no more important nor meaningful...
Merkel Heads for 2nd Term, With Messy Coalition
Bloomberg | Sep 25, 2009 5:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Germany votes in a federal election in less than 48 hours, but Angela Merkel has better things to do than campaign; she's in Pittsburgh with the rest of the G20. Merkel is assured of a second term, but in Germany's complex system of coalition politics, the bigger question is which other parties will do well. Merkel wants to form a government with the...
Sarkozy Oversteps in Rancorous Trial With Foe
Times (UK) | Sep 25, 2009 5:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy may have crossed the line in the continuing trial of his political foe Dominique de Villepin, the former French prime minister accused of waging a smear campaign against him in 2004. During a TV interview in New York, Sarkozy called Villepin and his co-defendants "the guilty parties"—reinforcing the widely held...
Oldest Feathered Dino Found in China
BBC | Sep 25, 2009 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - A fossilized creature found in northern China puts an end to any controversy over whether birds descended from dinosaurs, say Chinese scientists. The dinosaur, who lived some 10 million years before Archaeopteryx , is the oldest feather species ever discovered. The feathers cover its arms, tail, and also its feet, leading scientists to believe that...
White House Counsel May Quit Over Gitmo Struggles
Washington Post | Sep 25, 2009 4:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration's promise to close Guantanamo Bay within a year is in serious danger of being broken, and White House counsel Greg Craig may be leaving his post because of it, senior officials say. Craig ordered the January deadline after being advised not to by outgoing Bush administration officials and "the entire civil service,"...
Jiggy Beyoncé Baby Goes Viral
New York Daily News | Sep 25, 2009 4:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Oh baby, it's so hard not to move watching Beyoncé tear up the screen in her Single Ladies video—even if you are wearing a diaper. Baby Cory knows. With a couple of squats, a few leg jiggles and a wag of the head he's gone viral with his dance prowess on YouTube. Cory's video was uploaded to YouTube in January, but views have skyrocketed...
Toxic Booze Kills 40 Ugandans
Independent (UK) | Sep 25, 2009 3:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Toxic alcohol has killed at least 40 drinkers in the last month in the the African party capital of Kampala, where all-night bars sell cheap spirits . Among the victims who suffered sudden blindness followed by organ failure was one of the country's best-loved media personalities, lonely-hearts radio host DJ Ronnie, reports the Independent ....
Feds: Zazi Loaded Up on Bomb Makings in Beauty Stores
New York Daily News | Sep 25, 2009 3:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi planned to make home-made bombs using ingredients he bought at stores selling beauty supplies, according to a federal indictment released yesterday. Zazi, charged with conspiracy to create weapons of mass destruction, allegedly stockpiled bottles of hydrogen peroxide and nail polish remover from Denver-area stores, reports...
Nation's Top Museums Free Tomorrow
USA Today | Sep 25, 2009 3:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Admission to over 1,200 museums across America will be free tomorrow as part of the Smithsonian's annual "Museum Day." The event is aimed at promoting culture and removing  "any  economic barrier" keeping people from enjoying museums, a Smithsonian exec tells USA Today . Museum-goers will need a  Museum Day admission...
Massive Ancient Gold Trove Likely Battle Booty
Independent (UK) | Sep 25, 2009 2:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Experts dazzled by a record trove of ancient gold and silver unearthed in an English field believe the hoard of coins, hilts and parts of shields was war booty stripped from fallen soldiers and buried on the run. It was finally unearthed by a man with a metal detector 14 centuries later as he cited an incantation appealing to the "spirits of yesteryear."...
Biden Stunned Stimulus Is Working So Well
The Hill | Sep 25, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - The $787 billion economic stimulus package is working better than expected, Joe Biden said yesterday in a conference call with state governors. “In my wildest dreams, I never thought it would work this well,” Biden said. “Thank you, thank you.” Biden held  the conference—which included every governor in the country...
India Mega Weddings Go Global
Wall Street Journal | Sep 25, 2009 1:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - India's wealthy elite have started taking their famously lavish wedding ceremonies on the road. Luxury hotels in locations like Macau, Thailand, and France compete fiercely to host the giant weddings, which often involve hundreds of guests and support staff flown in for a ceremony and celebrations that can last up to 5 days. One recent Indian wedding...
'Grandson Mao' Rises Through Army Ranks
New York Times | Sep 25, 2009 1:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chairman Mao's grandson and only surviving male heir looks unlikely to ever become China's Great Helmsman, but he is rising through the ranks of the People's Liberation Army. At the age of 39 he's the nation's youngest-ever general. Mao Xinyu has no memories of his famous grandfather, who died in 1976, but he fiercely defends his legacy and maintains...
South Carolina Sacks No. 4 Mississippi
Associated Press | Sep 24, 2009 10:51 PM CDT
(AP) - Mississippi wasn't ready for the top five—or South Carolina's defense. Star passer Jevan Snead was hounded all game and the fourth-ranked Rebels never got in gear, losing at South Carolina 16-10 tonight. The Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) had been 1-31 all-time against top-5 foes, but gave its home fans the biggest win in coach...
Group of 8 Cedes Role in Economy to Group of 20
Associated Press | Sep 24, 2009 9:34 PM CDT
(AP) - An administration official says the Group of 20 nations will become a permanent council on global economic cooperation—broadening the number of countries involved in the role currently filled by the Group of Eight major industrial nations. The G-8 would continue to meet on matters of common importance such as national security, the official said...
Randy Quaid, Wife Arrested for Stiffing Hotel on $10K Tab
People | Sep 24, 2009 9:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Randy Quaid and his wife were arrested late today in west Texas for skipping out on a $10,000 tab at a California resort—and, a source tells TMZ, cops had to use force to subdue both. Felony warrants were issued for the 58-year-old actor and Evi, a former model, in Santa Barbara County, which is pushing for their extradition.
Trouble With Authority Marks Area of Census Taker's Murder
The Boar's Head Tavern | Sep 24, 2009 8:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - The area of Kentucky where a US Census worker was found Sept. 12 hanged and with “fed” scrawled across his chest “has a difficult relationship with government,” a supposedly knowledgeable local blogs for the Boar’s Head Tavern. “I’m not surprised some unstable person hit back,” TommyMertonHead writes....
Allen Quits Piracy Fight ... and Maybe Music, Too
Guardian (UK) | Sep 24, 2009 8:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - After taking heaps of “abuse” for her campaign against music piracy, British pop star Lily Allen today shut down the blog she’d used to explain her side of the fight—only after she’d written that she wasn’t going to renew her recording deal and didn’t plan on another album. “She is not quitting pop music,”...
Mortgage Scammers Prey on Strapped Homeowners
ProPublica | Sep 24, 2009 7:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mortgage brokers who made a mint during the housing boom setting up homeowners in toxic loans are now profiting from a different sort of shady deal. So-called foreclosure rescue firms are proliferating across the US, taking money upfront and promising to negotiate with homeowners’ banks for better interest rates. Instead, they mostly take the...
Justice Ginsburg Hospitalized After Faint Spell at Court
Washington Post | Sep 24, 2009 7:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been battling pancreatic cancer, is in a Washington hospital tonight after feeling ill at work. In a statement, the court said that Ginsburg, 76, felt faint after a routine infusion, and that though subsequent tests and monitoring showed her “in stable health,” she was taken to hospital...
With Coyotes' Future Murky, Gretzky Quits as Coach
Gretzky.com | Sep 24, 2009 7:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - With the team’s future murky, Wayne Gretzky quit today as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, marking the end of a tenure for the “Great One” that was anything but. Since Gretzky, 48, came aboard in 2005, the Coyotes are 143-161-24. He’s a part-owner of the financially troubled team, whose sale to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie...
Flu Plan Directs Docs to Take Sickest Off Life Support
ProPublica | Sep 24, 2009 7:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Authorities planning for a severe flu outbreak are drawing up rules for life-saving ventilators that instruct doctors to take severely ill patients off life support and give the equipment to those with a better chance of survival. The plan, to be used in an outbreak comparable to the pandemic that killed 50 million in 1918, is being drafted with little...
Vagrants Find 'Home' in Tunnels Under Vegas Casinos
Sun (UK) | Sep 24, 2009 6:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Flood tunnels beneath the casinos of Las Vegas seem an unlikely place to call home. But that’s exactly what they are to an estimated 700, including some who’ve built surprisingly elaborate makeshift dwellings in the 350-plus miles under the city. The Sun describes the “home” of couple Steven and Kathryn, who have a double...
MTV Will Show DJ AM's Drug-Intervention Show
Hollywood Reporter | Sep 24, 2009 6:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - MTV intends to air a drug-intervention reality show starring the late Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM. In Gone Too Far , Goldstein plays sober mentor to addicts. Given Goldstein’s recent death from a drug overdose, MTV was concerned the show could be seen as hypocritical or exploitative, but ultimately decided that the unique circumstances...
Volcker: Obama Plan May Lead to More Bailouts
Associated Press | Sep 24, 2009 5:27 PM CDT
(AP) - A top White House economic adviser says the Obama administration's proposed overhaul of financial rules preserves the policy of "too big to fail" and could lead to future bailouts. Former Fed chief Paul Volcker told Congress that by designating some companies as critical to the broader financial system, the plans create an expectation that...
Sullivan: That's Not Weakness, It's Confidence
The Atlantic | Sep 24, 2009 5:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - The "usual suspects" in the neoconservative camp are apoplectic at President Obama's behavior at the UN, writes Andrew Sullivan. After all, he had the nerve to "engage foreign powers as equals rather than as subordinates." Obama's critics, of course, see America as always in the right—even after the Bush-Cheney years and the...
Bikini Baristas Charged With Prostitution
Herald (Everett, Wash.) | Sep 24, 2009 4:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Five bikini baristas at a Washington coffee stand were charged with prostitution today after an undercover police investigation. Police say the women sold extra services from the stand—quick flashes of nudity, licking whipped cream off their co-workers, allowing customers to grope them, etc. That kind of for-pay touching, the Herald reports,...
Chavez: Obama's 'Smell of Hope' Beats Bush's Sulfur
Wall Street Journal | Sep 24, 2009 4:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hugo Chavez paid President Obama a high compliment at the UN today, asserting that he doesn't have the same satanic odor as George Bush. "I don't smell sulfur anymore," the Venezuelan leader told the General Assembly. "It's gone. Now it's the smell of something else—it's the smell of hope." A few years ago, Chavez famously...
Fie on the Office Wedding
Gawker | Sep 24, 2009 3:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - After 5 years of the will-they-or-won't-they dance, Jim and Pam of The Office will tie the knot in the Oct. 8 episode, and the prenuptial PR blitz has sent one blogger around the bend. "We're already sick of these two insufferable lovebirds," enemy of drawn-out romance Brian Moylan writes for Gawker. "Christ, it took them two...
Cabbies Ask for Vomit Penalty
Chicago Tribune | Sep 24, 2009 3:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chicago cab drivers want drunk passengers who vomit in their cars to pay a $50 fine. Drivers today asked the city for the penalty along with an overall rate increase of 22%. Chicago cabbies are among the lowest paid in the country, with wages averaging $4.38 an hour over their 13-hour shifts, the Tribune reports. And that’s assuming no one...
Dow Falls 41 as Home Sales Sink
Wall Street Journal | Sep 24, 2009 3:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks dropped today after the National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales fell 2.7% in August, the first decline after a 4-month winning streak. The drop in the housing market sent materials stocks lower, with Alcoa down 4.6%. Crude oil also fell $3.08 to $66.09 a barrel, its lowest level in 2 months. The Dow dropped 41 points to...
Pittsburgh Cops Fire Pepper Spray at Protesters
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Sep 24, 2009 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Protests in Pittsburgh are getting into full swing as Barack Obama and other world leaders arrive for the G-20 summit. Police fired pepper spray and smoke bombs to break up an unauthorized march of about 500 anarchists heading toward downtown, reports the Post-Gazette . Its live blog of the march says some protesters threw rocks at police, and at...
ACORN Video Sting a Lesson in New Journalism
Slate | Sep 24, 2009 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Andrew Breitbart may have an ideological ax to grind, but so what? The undercover ACORN videos he's posted illustrate a significant strength of 21st-century American journalism, writes Jack Shafer: "It will accept contributions from everybody from amateurs to entertainers (I'm looking at you, Jon Stewart) to gadflies to billionaires to activists...
Seasonal Flu Shot May Boost H1N1 Risk
CTV | Sep 24, 2009 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The WHO has asked researchers around the world if their findings back up a Canadian study that shows people who received seasonal flu vaccines are more likely to contract swine flu. So far, the results haven't been repeated. “None have been able to find anything like that,” the WHO’s head of vaccine research told CTV. “The plausibility...
Chicago Day-Care Home Used for Dogfights
Chicago Tribune | Sep 24, 2009 2:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chicago police raided an Illinois day-care center that apparently doubled as a brutal dogfighting operation. Ten children were being watched at the private home at the time of the raid. A swing set used by the kids was only 10 feet from a bloody garage where a “vicious” pit bull was found, said the county sheriff. Three people were arrested...
Matador Puts Gay Drink Ad on Cape
Associated Press | Sep 24, 2009 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Joselito Ortega is breaking more boundaries than one. The little-known Spanish matador will be advertising his new sponsor on his cape while in the ring, an unheard-of break with tradition. Then there’s the sponsor itself, a club-scene energy drink called (seriously) “Gay Up.” It’s not exactly the kind of thing matadors, the...
In Tough Times, Families Reselling Burial Plots
Wall Street Journal | Sep 24, 2009 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - People struggling with bills and other earthly concerns are unloading burial plots at a fast clip. One Florida cemetery made as many “buybacks” in the first half of this year as in all of 2008, another in Ohio reports a similar spike, and ads are plentiful on funeral property websites across the country. Plots “could pay for utility...
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