Newser Story Index from December, 2010
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.
These Predictions for 2010 Were Way Off
AOL News
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Dec 24, 2010 1:34 PM CST
(Newser) -
The media gave us plenty of predictions for 2010, and plenty of them simply didn’t come true. AOL News lists some of the most glaring: Job growth will begin again. Newsweek predicted it unemployment would fall “below 9%,” but it was never less than 9.5%. Republicans won’t storm the midterms. The National Review...
Flying Off the Shelves: Bush's Memoir Hits 2M Mark
Daily Mail (UK)
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Dec 24, 2010 12:42 PM CST
(Newser) -
For a guy who's not really known for his grasp of the English language, George W Bush has done a heckuva job hawking his memoir: Decision Points has sold 2 million copies since its release in early November, notes the Daily Mail. Bill Clinton's My Life, in comparison, has sold roughly the same number—in the six years since its publication....
Looking for Love? It's at the iPhone App Store
AOL News
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Dec 24, 2010 12:18 PM CST
(Newser) -
Are you a lonely South Korean with an iPhone and $2 to blow on a twisted facsimile of human intimacy? Then you should definitely run and download “Honey, It’s Me!”—an app that sends users recorded messages from a beautiful imaginary girlfriend named Mina. You’ll get messages like, “Are you still sleeping? Time for...
Swiss Judge: Put CIA Nuclear Spies on Trial
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 11:57 AM CST
(Newser) -
A Swiss judge has recommended that charges be brought against three men who helped the CIA spy on an atomic smuggling ring headed up by Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan. The men, Friedrich Tinner and his sons, Urs and Marco, helped Khan run the network, which supplied the likes of Iran, Libya, and North Korea, but they also passed information to...
20 Things That Have Become Obsolete Since 2000
Huffington Post
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Dec 24, 2010 11:36 AM CST
(Newser) -
Oh, 1999. A time when we used to drive all the way to the video store to rent a VHS tape. Those, along with VCRs, became obsolete this decade, officially dying, quipped the Washington Post, at the youthful age of 29 in 2005. The Huffington Post lists 19 other things that have been forever replaced by new gadgets and gizmos since 2000: Watches:...
DNA Could Reveal Whether John Wilkes Booth Escaped
AOL News
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Dec 24, 2010 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) -
DNA evidence could settle once and for all the truth about what transpired in the days after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The official story is that John Wilkes Booth was killed in a barn days after shooting the president—but his descendants say the dead man was just a lookalike. Now, they’re willing to have Booth’s brother exhumed...
Gwyneth Paltrow: Dating Brad Pitt Was 'Strange'
Huffington Post
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Dec 24, 2010 10:58 AM CST
(Newser) -
Think dating Brad Pitt would be totally dreamy? Gwyneth Paltrow says otherwise. In an E! special, the actress says her high-profile relationships with Pitt and Ben Affleck were a little weird. "It was strange to be part of a public couple." She also reveals her struggle with post-partum depression following son Moses' 2006 birth, notes ...
Want Kate's Ring? That'll Be $3, Please
Yahoo
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Dec 24, 2010 10:58 AM CST
(Newser) -
It’s worth $45,000, but you can get Kate Middleton’s engagement ring for $3 in China. Or at least a really cheap knockoff. Lookalike versions of the ring—a sapphire and diamond affair that was Princess Diana's—are all over China’s top online mall, ranging in price from $3 to $15, AFP reports. Back in Britain, the royal...
Bank Cuts Off Gbagbo From Ivory Coast Funds
Associated Press
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Dec 24, 2010 10:41 AM CST
(AP) -
Laurent Gbagbo's access to state funds is being cut off, stepping up pressure on the man who refuses to concede defeat amid post-election violence that has killed at least 173 people and prompted fears of civil war. The move is expected to complicate Gbagbo's efforts to pay civil servants and soldiers. Allies of his political rival, Alassane Ouattara,...
START Clears Hurdle in Russian Parliament
Associated Press
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Dec 24, 2010 10:23 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Russian parliament voted 350-58 to give its initial blessing to the START deal today, after the first of three required readings of the document. But it put off the other readings, and the final vote, until after a New Year’s vacation that ends Jan. 11, the AP reports. The head of the Duma’s foreign affairs committee says the treaty...
Chicago, Honolulu Battle to Host Obama Library
Politico
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Dec 24, 2010 10:21 AM CST
(Newser) -
President Obama is far more concerned about a second term than his legacy—but two cities are duking it out to host his presidential library, Politico reports. Four groups at the University of Hawaii, in the state where Obama was born, are already hard at work on the matter, hoping to entice officials with a beautiful mountain or ocean setting...
Father Kills Daughter Who Planned to Be Suicide Bomber
Associated Press
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Dec 24, 2010 10:00 AM CST
(Newser) -
An Iraqi man is in custody today, after telling police that he killed his daughter to prevent her from carrying out a suicide attack. Security forces raided the family’s Baqouba home yesterday looking for 19-year-old Shahlaa al-Anbaky, because they suspected she had ties to al-Qaeda, the AP reports. Instead, they detained her father, Najim...
Noah's Ark Park Inches Closer to Getting Taxpayer Funding
Talking Points Memo
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Dec 24, 2010 9:42 AM CST
(Newser) -
“Ark Encounter,” the proposed creationist-themed amusement park where kids will be able to explore a 500-foot model of Noah’s Ark, moved a step closer to getting state funding this week, when the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved up to $37 million in tax incentives. Those incentives, which have been a bit controversial,...
Keep an Eye on Your Presents: Track Santa Online
Telegraph (UK)
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Dec 24, 2010 9:22 AM CST
(Newser) -
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (aka NORAD) is back on the hunt for Santa by way of its Father Christmas Tracker . Developed three years ago, the Father Christmas Tracker site has racked up more than 2 billion hits, as eager kiddies take to the Internet to keep an eye on the progress of their presents. NORAD will track Santa's movements...
White House Begins Staff Overhaul
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 9:03 AM CST
(Newser) -
President Obama is readying a reorganization of his staff, altering his economic team and choosing new defense and press secretaries, among other changes. The aims: an executive branch operating at its full potential, progress with a Republican Congress, and an eye on reelection, the New York Times reports. “This is a bubble,” said...
Militants' Coordinated Attacks Kill 11 Soldiers in Pakistan
Associated Press
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Dec 24, 2010 8:24 AM CST
(AP) -
Some 150 Islamist militants attacked five security posts today in an unusually large and coordinated assault close to the Afghan border, sparking hours of fighting that killed 11 soldiers and wounded 12, officials said; 24 insurgents died. Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants often stage attacks in northwest Pakistan, but the overnight assaults were notable...
Drunk Driver Busted With 15 Sheep in His Mercedes
News24 (South Africa)
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Dec 24, 2010 8:05 AM CST
(Newser) -
What's the more jaw-dropping figure: that a drunk driver's blood alcohol level was 32 times the legal limit, or that said drunk driver was arrested with 15 sheep in his car? Both were true for one man arrested near Queenstown, South Africa, on Wednesday night. He had 15 sheep, allegedly plucked from nearby farms, five boys, and a woman in his Mercedes-Benz...
US Lets Companies Deal With Nations on Terror List
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 7:54 AM CST
(Newser) -
The US has given thousands of corporations the go-ahead to do business with Iran and other nations supposedly blacklisted as “state sponsors of terrorism.” A little-known Treasure office has been issuing licenses—nearly 10,000 to date—under a 2000 law requiring that agricultural and medical humanitarian aid be exempted from...
'Ground Zero' Imam to Tour US to Promote Islamic Center
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 7:54 AM CST
(Newser) -
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf—of the infamous Cordoba House, or “Ground Zero mosque”—has planned a national speaking tour to promote the planned community center and mosque and foster inter-faith dialogue. Wait, you’re thinking, won’t that just reignite the controversy around the project? “Controversy has never been...
Police Search Mumbai for 4 Men Plotting Holiday Attack
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 7:02 AM CST
(Newser) -
Four terrorists have entered India and are planning to attack Mumbai over the holidays, say authorities, who have issued a terror alert for the city. Police last night said they believe the four belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the November 2008 attacks. Today, police set up checkpoints along major roads in the city, put additional men...
Virgin Mary Appeared at Wisc. Chapel: Catholic Bishop
New York Times
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Dec 24, 2010 6:43 AM CST
(Newser) -
About a dozen sites worldwide can boast that they have been validated by the Catholic Church as being sites where the Virgin Mary has appeared—and for the first time, that list includes a US location. A tiny chapel 17 miles northeast of Green Bay, Wisc., called Our Lady of Good Hope joins the likes of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe and France's...
Woman Found Dead at Home of Ex Anheuser-Busch CEO
Associated Press
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Dec 24, 2010 6:13 AM CST
(Newser) -
Another potentially sticky situation involving a dead woman for former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV. Police received a 911 call Sunday afternoon about an "unresponsive person" at his suburban St. Louis home; 27-year-old Adrienne N. Martin was dead by the time they arrived. A St. Louis County forensic administrator said there were no...
Hawaiian Governor's Big Goal: Torpedoing Birther Conspiracy
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 24, 2010 5:55 AM CST
(Newser) -
Neil Abercrombie became governor of Hawaii on Dec. 6, and sitting near the top of his agenda is a goal that's likely to stir up plenty of fresh controversy—deflating the birther movement. The 72-year-old Abercrombie, who knew Barack Obama's parents in the early '60s when they all attended the University of Hawaii, says, "Maybe I'm the only...
Stinky Nativity Tradition: Pooping Catalan Doll
BBC
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Dec 24, 2010 5:49 AM CST
(Newser) -
In Barcelona at Christmastime, you can find plenty of Nativity scenes, with shepherds, magi, baby Jesus, and the like. But you can also find one uniquely Catalan character hidden in the background—or squatting, with his pants down, the caganer, or "the defecator" (though our sources tell us the term is a little more crass than that)....
Civilian Casualties in Afghan War Up 20%: UN
Washington Post
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Dec 24, 2010 5:29 AM CST
(Newser) -
Grim statistics from the UN: In the first 10 months of 2010, the number of civilians killed or wounded in the Afghan war was up 20% over the same period last year. And "before it gets better, it may get worse," said the top UN envoy to the country, who says insurgents will likely stage high-profile attacks in coming months. The UN report...
Britain's Art Collection Threatened by ... Road Salt
Telegraph (UK)
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Dec 24, 2010 5:16 AM CST
(Newser) -
Britain's National Gallery is taking swift action against a corrosive force that threatens to damage masterworks by some of the world's greatest painters—road salt. With London blanketed with unusually heavy snowfall, authorities have spread tons of salt to clear the roads. But that salt, tracked in on the shoes of visitors to the National Gallery,...
Toyota Settles Runaway Lexus Crash for $10M
Associated Press
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Dec 23, 2010 7:13 PM CST
(AP) -
Toyota agreed to pay $10 million to the family of four people killed in a runaway Lexus crash that led to recalls of millions of vehicles, attorneys said today. The automaker had sought to keep the settlement amount confidential, but a judge ruled in favor of arguments by the AP and the Los Angeles Times that the public had a right to know. Toyota...
WWII Pilot Who Forever Repaid Rescuers Dies at 94
Associated Press
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Dec 23, 2010 6:41 PM CST
(Newser) -
Shot down by a Japanese fighter in 1943, a young US pilot landed in the jungle of a Japanese-held island. He survived, barely, for a month before fate and Pacific islanders found him, nursed him back to health in secret, and eventually got him back in American hands. Fred Hargesheimer, who died this morning at 94, never forgot the kindness of his rescuers...
High Tech Paints 3D Image of Ancient Beast of the Deep
BBC
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Dec 23, 2010 5:47 PM CST
(Newser) -
The 50-foot monster was the terror of the Earth's oceans some 150 million years ago, with its giant head packing a crocodile-esque jaw and razor sharp teeth that savaged anything in its way. Or at least that's the picture that's emerging of the pliosaur, as imaging scientists and paleontologists use a powerful CT scanner to paint a 3D image of the...
Drunk Student Tries to Cut Down 30-Foot Christmas Tree
The Smoking Gun
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Dec 23, 2010 4:55 PM CST
(Newser) -
It wouldn't be the holidays without a bit of yuletide-themed idiocy—an Ohio college student faces disorderly conduct charges for allegedly trying to chop down a 30-foot pine tree near a public street, the Smoking Gun reports. Police came upon the 21-year-old about 2am standing next to a massive pine tree with several chop marks in it. When...
'Rent Is Too Damn High' Guy Running for President
Politico
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Dec 23, 2010 4:33 PM CST
(Newser) -
It's on. Jimmy McMillan of the Rent Is Too Damn High fame says he's running for president in 2012, reports Ben Smith at Politico (who says he normally avoids fringe candidates but couldn't resist this one). "Tell Obama I'm coming after his black ass," the former New York gubernatorial candidate told Revolution Radio. McMillan also pointed...
Polar Bears Won't Get 'Endangered' Label
Washington Post
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Dec 23, 2010 4:11 PM CST
(Newser) -
Not everybody's heaping praise on the Obama administration this week: Environmentalists are fuming that the Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to ramp up protection of polar bears by changing their status from "threatened" to "endangered." In response to a court deadline, the agency said yesterday that the bears are indeed at...
Clothing Line Suspends Skinny Model After Complaints
Huffington Post
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Dec 23, 2010 3:40 PM CST
(Newser) -
Revolve Clothing says it won't give an ultra-thin model any more jobs until she gets her weight to a "healthier size," reports Styleite . The move came after a slew of customers on the company website complained about her size. The model appears to be Allie Crandell, who appeared on MTV's The City , where she also got questioned about...
Post-Christmas Snow Could Sock East Coast
Associated Press
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Dec 23, 2010 3:17 PM CST
(AP) -
Fair weather helped make the holiday sojourn a not-so-painful experience in much of the country today, but travelers' good luck might be running out. A storm was expected to bring snow and ice to parts of the heartland tomorrow, a rare white Christmas to Nashville on Saturday, and perhaps sock swaths of the Northeast on Sunday. All that, and gas hit...
Harry Reid May Rewrite Filibuster Rules
Washington Post
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Dec 23, 2010 2:52 PM CST
(Newser) -
Harry Reid is pushing forward with a plan to reform the filibuster procedure in the Senate—and at least make it harder for Republicans to gum up the works with the mere threat of one, reports the Washington Post . Nothing's guaranteed, of course, but all returning Democratic senators are on board with rewriting the rules, notes the National...
Malaysian May Get Jail Time Over Facebook Page
Associated Press
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Dec 23, 2010 2:37 PM CST
(Newser) -
A man in Malaysia has been arrested for mocking a former ruler on Facebook. He allegedly created a fake profile for the late Sultan Iskandar Ismail, with the stated purpose to "expose the treachery of the sultan against his race and religion," reports AP . Authorities tracked down the page's creator through his Internet use. He could face...
Town's Pension Collapse Seen as Warning Across US
New York Times
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Dec 23, 2010 2:16 PM CST
(Newser) -
When an Alabama town’s pension fund ran out, it simply stopped sending money to its retirees—a decision that’s never been made before, pension experts believe. That left retired public workers struggling: Some returned to work, one filed for bankruptcy, and one died with no electricity or running water at home. The New York Times...
Two Bad Santas Rob Supermarket
Reuters
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Dec 23, 2010 1:56 PM CST
(Newser) -
This is not how the Christmas story's supposed to go: Two men in Santa costumes robbed a supermarket in Berlin, reports Reuters . The men showed up with red coats and beards, and, when asked to remove their costumes, produced pistols and demanded all the cash from the register. They got the loot and fled, and weren't even jolly about it. "They...
Ancient Pinkie Reveals Your New Relatives
NPR
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Dec 23, 2010 1:12 PM CST
(Newser) -
A 30,000-year-old finger is pointing the way to a population of humans experts never knew existed. The pinkie bone, discovered in southern Siberia in what's known as the Desinova Cave, contains DNA that scientists used to sequence the entire genome of the young girl it belonged to, NPR reports.
5 Ohio St. Players Suspended for Selling Rings, Jerseys
Columbus Dispatch
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Dec 23, 2010 12:50 PM CST
(Newser) -
And there was much joy in Michigan: Five Ohio State Buckeyes—including star QB Terrelle Pryor—have been suspended by the NCAA for the first five games of next season for selling rings, jerseys, and other goodies to make a buck, reports the Columbus Dispatch . They will, however, be able to play in this year's Sugar Bowl. The school plans...
Chicago Election Board: Rahm Can Run for Mayor
newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
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Dec 23, 2010 12:31 PM CST
(Newser) -
Rahm Emanuel won a big battle in his bid to be Chicago's mayor today, as the city's election commissioners voted to keep him on the February 22nd ballot, the Chicago Tribune reports. Some of Emanuel's opponents tried to make the case he's not a legal resident—given that he'd been pretty busy in DC for the last two years—but the commissioners...
Teacher Arrests Student for Using a Marker
Oklahoman
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Dec 23, 2010 12:11 PM CST
(Newser) -
A little over-reaction, maybe? An Oklahoma City teacher put a student under citizen’s arrest last week—for using a permanent marker. A little-known city law, probably aimed at stopping graffiti, bans people from using such markers on private property without the owner’s consent. The teacher told police the 13-year-old was writing...
It's Nice to Have a President Who Knows What He's Doing
New York Times
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Dec 23, 2010 11:41 AM CST
(Newser) -
Gail Collins is pretty happy with Congress' productive little outburst , and she thinks the reason it happened is obvious: "Thank heavens we got rid of our former president, Barack Obama, who couldn’t even get the trade agreement he went all the way to South Korea to sign," she writes in the New York Times . "Our current president,...
Google's Holiday Doodle Is Most Ambitious Yet
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 23, 2010 11:26 AM CST
(Newser) -
Five artists, 6 months, 250 hours: That’s what went into the new Google doodle that went online today, reports the Wall Street Journal . The goal was to cover holiday celebrations across the planet, and it’s accomplished in 17 interactive panes arranged to make up the logo. It went up this morning and will be there for 2 and a half...
Goodbye, Nostalgia: Fire Stations Scrap Poles
Time
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Dec 23, 2010 11:12 AM CST
(Newser) -
They may be cool, but they’re just not safe: fire departments around the country are getting rid of their classic poles, Time reports. Instead, they’re opting for stairs and slides. “The pole is something we associated with as kids," says a Seattle architect. "But the pole has been one of the biggest sources of firefighter...
Forgive Michael Vick? Good Luck With That
Los Angeles Times
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Dec 23, 2010 10:59 AM CST
(Newser) -
Michael Vick's stated desire to get a dog someday has people seething with predictable intensity, and Meghan Daum doesn't expect it will ever quite go away. "There's just something profoundly upsetting about an animal being hurt," she writes in the Los Angeles Times . Her point isn't to bash Vick or weigh in on the sincerity of his redemption,...
Nevada's Sunny Census Numbers Belie Gloom
New York Times
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Dec 23, 2010 10:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
New Census figures tell the tale of Nevada's explosive growth, but the truer, more recent story is one of bust, reports the New York Times . Nevada's population soared 35% to 2.7 million from 2 million between 2000 and 2010, putting it in the No. 1 slot in terms of states' growth. But the economic crisis hit the state extra-hard in 2007, and today...
Gardasil Gets OK for Use in Preventing Anal Cancer
pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com
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Dec 23, 2010 10:23 AM CST
(Newser) -
As the battle rages over Gardasil and its potentially adverse effects , proponents have a new aspect to tout: The HPV vaccine has now been approved by the FDA for use in preventing anal cancer. CNN notes that roughly 90% of anal cancer is tied to HPV; manufacturer Merck determined that Gardasil was 78% effective in preventing anal cancer among men...
Favre to Sterger: Send Me a Naughty Video
TMZ
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Dec 23, 2010 10:15 AM CST
(Newser) -
Just when you thought the Brett Favre sexting scandal couldn’t get any more disturbing, TMZ comes out with this: The quarterback, in addition to sending Jenn Sterger photos of his penis, also allegedly made a special request of the former New York Jets employee. Specifically, he wanted her to send him a video of herself masturbating, sources...
Let's Stop Lecturing Once-a-Year Churchgoers
Wall Street Journal
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Dec 23, 2010 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Rev. Scott Black Johnston knows his church will be packed tomorrow night with people who attend only once a year at Christmastime. But he's not bemoaning the fact—he's celebrating it, especially in an age where more young people than ever claim no faith. "Instead of wagging our fingers, what we really should do is marvel—at the...
