Threads from October, 2007

Reality TV
Oct 31, 07 4:12 PM CDT
It's crass, it's exploitative, and it's here to stay. Who needs privacy when you can have fame, anyway?

The Iowa Caucuses
Oct 31, 07 4:01 PM CDT
Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: January's Iowa caucuses are pretty much the first step on the road to presidential nomination

Plastic Surgery
Oct 31, 07 3:38 PM CDT
With vaginal 'rejuvination' now on the rise it's official: There's no body part that's safe from the knife

College Basketball
Oct 31, 07 3:16 PM CDT
More than 330 teams will compete in the 2007-08 season to make the NCAA Tournament "March Madness" field of 64

College Football
Oct 31, 07 3:09 PM CDT
Major conference football is major business in the chase for the Bowl Championship Series bowls, but hundreds of smaller programs seek national titles in the NCAA's other divisions

Rupert Murdoch
Oct 31, 07 2:37 PM CDT
The controlling shareholder/chairman/managing director of News Corp is a powerful media tycoon, made even more formidable by his purchase of the Wall Street Journal

Michael Mukasey
Oct 31, 07 2:03 PM CDT
Bush's pick for the next Attorney General isn't as controversial as Ted Olson, but still faces plenty of hurdles before reaching confirmation

Drug Companies
Oct 31, 07 1:59 PM CDT
"Expensive medicines are always good: if not for the patient, at least for the druggist" -Russian proverb

Painkillers
Oct 31, 07 1:07 PM CDT
Despite the risk of addiction, painkiller use has doubled in recent years, some say owing to an aging population

Airbus
Oct 31, 07 9:06 AM CDT
Sharing the skies with rival Boeing, Airbus produces about half the world's airliners...and flew significantly forward with its October 2007 release of the "superjumbo" A380

Hurricane Season 2007
Oct 31, 07 8:48 AM CDT
With climate change making hurricanes a more potent threat, it's only a matter of when and where they will strike

Nobel Laureates
Oct 30, 07 3:23 PM CDT
"It wasn't until the Nobel Prize that they really thawed out. They couldn't understand my books, but they could understand $30,000." -William Faulkner

Oprah Winfrey
Oct 30, 07 3:01 PM CDT
She's conquered television, triumphed in magazines, and moved millions of books. Now she's testing her influence in the political arena, with a major push for Barack Obama.

The Hunt for Osama
Oct 30, 07 2:55 PM CDT
Saddam Hussein is dead, Afghanistan and Iraq ravaged by sectarian violence, but teror mastermind Osama bin Laden is still nowhere to be found

Blackwater USA
Oct 30, 07 2:50 PM CDT
Private security firm Blackwater is facing a firestorm of criticism for excessive use of force following a Baghdad shootout on September 16 that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead

Private Equity
Oct 30, 07 2:37 PM CDT
Taking public companies private was the hot new paradigm in mergers and acquisitions, until the credit crisis walloped the markets, and a lot of hot deals suddenly cooled

NFL
Oct 29, 07 1:40 PM CDT
With more and more headlines focused on the players' actions off the field, the NFL and new commish Roger Goodell are set on cleaning up the sport.

Iran
Oct 29, 07 12:50 PM CDT
With Iran coming ever closer to nuclear capability, the need for diplomacy - and the saber rattling on all sides - intensifies

Turks & Kurds
Oct 29, 07 9:08 AM CDT
To the Turks, they're "Mountain Turks," but the Kurds view themselves as a distinctive ethnic group with only geographic ties to the country in which they live. Their decades-long struggle for an independent Kurdistan on Turkey's eastern border has at times turned deadly, claiming 30,000 lives in the early 1980s. Though the groups have taken steps toward conciliation in recent years, the recent disruption caused by the Iraq War has created a de facto Kurdistan in northern Iraq, once again igniting the hopes of Kurds—and the fears of Turks.

NBA
Oct 26, 07 1:06 PM CDT
In a state of flux, the NBA is negotiating the chasm between the old, plodding, individual-based style of play and a new, international, high-octane game

O Canada
Oct 26, 07 12:39 PM CDT
Life in the Great White North is both eerily similar to that in the US and uniquely different

NHL
Oct 26, 07 12:04 PM CDT
Canada's favorite game was won by an American team again in 2007, with the stalwart Ducks breaking Ottawan hearts

Halloween
Oct 26, 07 11:44 AM CDT
From round-ups of haunted hotels and the scariest spots around the world (Romania's Bran Castle makes the list) to debates over too-sexy costumes, get the rundown on all things orange and black here.

Religion on the Web
Oct 26, 07 11:43 AM CDT
It's not just liberals surfing the net these days; from GodTube to Conservapedia.com, religious conservatives are jumping in with websites catering to the faithful

Pharma Misbehaving
Oct 26, 07 5:44 AM CDT
It didn't end with Vioxx...from the 'misbranding' of OxyCotin to the controversy over Avandia, prescription drugs continue to trawl the helpful and harmful line

The Obesity Epidemic
Oct 26, 07 5:29 AM CDT
Will America ever get off of the couch and into shape?

2007 Baseball Playoffs
Oct 26, 07 5:19 AM CDT
This year's roster of eight teams was a mix of regular participants (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels), historic franchises trying to overcome years of heartbreak (Cubs, Indians, Phillies), and two young upstart squads (Diamondbacks, Rockies)

Travel
Oct 25, 07 2:03 PM CDT
Oh, the places you'll go...with the help of these budget-saving and bank-busting vacation tips

OJ Simpson
Oct 25, 07 1:53 PM CDT
The Hall of Fame football star, actor, and TV pitchman beat the rap on murder, but may not be so fortunate when it comes to kidnapping

Alzheimer's Disease
Oct 25, 07 1:26 PM CDT
Ronald Reagan's killer affects nearly 24 million people worldwide. Are we getting any closer to a cure?

Parenting
Oct 25, 07 12:58 PM CDT
Where's Dr. Spock when you need him? From debates over the safety of cold medicine to birthday bashes that don't bust your wallet, parenting presents plenty of tricky territory to navigate

Gaming Revolution
Oct 25, 07 12:35 PM CDT
Forget the 16-bit monsters of your childhood: With Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sony's Playstation, video games are all grown up - and worth billions

Sen. Larry Craig
Oct 25, 07 12:25 PM CDT
Idaho's senior senator pleads guilty in bathroom-stall sex sting. But he'll serve out his term - and appeal the ruling that he can't withdraw that guilty plea

So You Like Lists?
Oct 25, 07 12:22 PM CDT
Newser's favorite lists, from the 10 sneakiest taxes to the best DC hotels...for hookers

2007 World Series
Oct 25, 07 12:11 PM CDT
The upstart Colorado Rockies, in their first World Series, face the Boston Red Sox, who no one thinks of as cursed anymore

The Markets
Oct 25, 07 11:55 AM CDT
Record highs meet crashing lows: Our weekday wraps keep tabs on the markets' movement

Mr. Softy
Oct 25, 07 11:38 AM CDT
It created the de facto official operating system for all personal computers and made its powerful suite of business applications, Office, into the dominant tool for business computing worldwide. But the company once thought to be an unstoppable monopolist has failed to make a smooth transition to the Internet and has seen its market leadership challenged by Google. Even Apple, once all but waylaid by Microsoft, has come back to beat it in online music and video and consumer devices. Can the house of Gates recover—especially as Bill himself transitions to a supporting role?

Supreme Court
Oct 25, 07 9:26 AM CDT
"Justice is not to be taken by storm. She is to be wooed by slow advances." -Benjamin Cardozo, Supreme Court Justice (1932-8)

Facebook Nation
Oct 25, 07 4:23 AM CDT
'You cannot be friends with yourself.' - facebook.com

Bear Stearns
Oct 24, 07 4:23 PM CDT
One of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world struggles amid the US credit crunch

Telecom
Oct 24, 07 4:22 PM CDT
With the domination of the Internet and the prevalence of wireless communication, communication may be advancing, but it's not always simpler

Media on Media
Oct 24, 07 3:26 PM CDT
News on the news

Nicolas Sarkozy
Oct 24, 07 2:39 PM CDT
For Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative son of a Hungarian immigrant, winning the 2007 French presidential elections was a double coup in a country where both xenophobia and the left seem ascendant. After coming from behind to rout Socialist Ségolène Royal, Sarkozy took office in May, promising a tough stance on crime, immigrants, and unemployment.

Turkey
Oct 24, 07 1:45 PM CDT
"The Turkish Nation consists of the valiant descendants of a people that has lived independently and has considered independence the sole condition of existence. This nation has never lived without freedom, cannot and never will." Kemal Ataturk

Kobe Bryant
Oct 24, 07 12:51 PM CDT
The NBA's leading scorer the last two seasons is a Laker ... for now

Tank Johnson
Oct 24, 07 12:28 PM CDT
Released from the Bears following yet another brush with the law, the Cowboys roll the dice on Tank.

Baseball
Oct 24, 07 11:09 AM CDT
America's pastoral sport.

Awards Shows
Oct 24, 07 10:38 AM CDT
"Every time an Oscar is given out, and agent gets his wings." -Kathy Bates

US Military
Oct 23, 07 7:18 PM CDT
With stubborn, costly conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, our armed forces are facing unprecedented pressures

New Orleans Hornets
Oct 23, 07 2:39 PM CDT
The Hornets fully commit to post-Katrina New Orleans after a dalliance with Oklahoma City while the Crescent City recovered