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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: society

society stories: 8 news summaries
OPINION

 The C-Word Ain't 
 What It Used to Be 

'Superstar of four-letter words' hits Guardian's front page, losing its bite

Aug 31, 09 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rest assured, Dear Reader: As a respectable organization, Newser won’t publish what Kathleen Deveny in Newsweek calls “the rudest, crudest, most taboo term in the English language.” To be blunt, on this issue we must punt, because, on a family website, that dog just won’t hunt—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Vagina Monologues • women • taboo • society • female sexuality

(Newser) - A year after a hit-and-run accident in downtown Hartford, Conn., captured international attention, and just days after the victim died of his injuries, police have made an arrest, the Courant reports. “The defendant appeared to have remained in the area for at least the past year and never made... More »

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crime • Connecticut • hit-and-run • Hartford • society • apathy • morality • Angel Arce Torres

Son 'Manhandled Astor to Change Will': Prosecutor

Anthony Marshall exploited mom's dementia to funnel fortune to him, says prosecutor.

Apr 28, 09 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Brooke Astor's son "dragged" his frail mom from her nurse's arms to a closed-door meeting about her will, which was immediately changed in his favor, according to the prosecutor at the heir's  fraud and grand larceny trial yesterday in New York. Anthony Marshall exploited his vulnerable mother's dementia to... More »

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fraud • crime • New York • Manhattan • theft • will • charity • inheritance • Brooke Astor • Anthony Marshall • grand larceny • society • heir • socialite

I'd Rather Say I'm in Porn: Shunned Wall Streeter

Financial types feel they're unfairly 'vilified' in crisis

Feb 3, 09 9:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Working on Wall Street used to have glamor to it—but now, saying you work at JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs immediately establishes you as “one of them,” the New York Times reports. Wall Streeters are facing a new pariah status, and many believe they’re taking an unfair... More »

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Wall Street • Goldman Sachs • bank • anger • financial sector • financial institutions • bankers • JPMorgan Chase • society • financial crisis • blame

 Psychologists: 
 Victorian Novels 
 Helped Us Evolve 

Victorian literature upheld cooperation, personal sacrifice

Jan 14, 09 6:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Victorian novels didn't just tout moralistic values of 19th-century British society, they helped altruistic genes flourish, a study claims. Evolutionary psychologists say classic characters such as Mr. Darcy and Count Dracula helped instill and promote a sense of right and wrong in society, the Guardian reports, specifically the notion that... More »

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Dracula • culture • English literature • Britain • society • morality • greed • progress • Victorian novel • classics • Pride and Prejudice • Middlemarch • Wuthering Heights

OPINION

Between Home and Work, Public Life Declines

More than ever, we need surprises of 'third spaces': Rodriguez

Dec 1, 08 1:36 PM CST
(Newser) - In the 1980s sociologists introduced the term "third place," neither home nor work, to encompass the bars, restaurants, and other public spaces that allow us to build relationships. Today, with global economic woes besetting even the iconic French cafe culture, our "public living rooms" are... More »

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France • restaurant • bars • cafes • society • social behavior • decline

OPINION

Forget MySpace—Neighbors Should Work on Our Space

One man tries to build community ... through sleepovers

Jun 23, 08 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Feeling a disquieting disconnect, author Peter Lovenheim recounts his attempt to weave a neighborhood—one sleepover at a time. Americans interact with their neighbors less than ever, Lovenheim writes in the New York Times; by some estimates, the decline has been underway since 1950. So Lovenheim decided to get to... More »

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fence • neighbors • civil society • friendship • society

 Hit-and-Run Sparks 
 Soul-Searching 

Police chief blasts city amid violent incidents

Jun 6, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A video of a 78-year-old hit-and-run victim lying paralyzed in the street has residents of Hartford, Conn., wondering what's wrong with their city, their society—and themselves. The police chief blasted Hartford this week after a wave of appalling, headline-grabbing incidents, including the savage beating of the deputy mayor and... More »

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crime • Connecticut • hit-and-run • Hartford • society • apathy • morality

8 Stories


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