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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: America

America stories: 60 news summaries

1 - 20 of 60 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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OPINION

 Columbus 
 the Crusader's 
 Legacy Endures 

Americans forget religious fervor drove the 1492 expedition

Oct 12, 09 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - This Columbus Day, James Carroll invites us to reconsider the man and his motivations. Pop culture has secularized Columbus, concentrating on his mission in search of gold, spices, and trade routes. That ignores his central motivation: expanding the dominion of Christianity. An “old Crusader” ambition motivated Columbus, Carroll writes... More »

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Spain • India • America • Muslim • racism • Columbus Day • Christopher Columbus

pop culture

 'Cupcakists' Find 
 Happiness in 
 a Simple Pastry 

Cultural movement extols the virtues of butter and frosting

Sep 28, 09 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Johnny Cupcakes operates stores that sell cupcake-themed merchandise—shirts and stickers bearing a skull-and-crossbones logo with a cupcake instead of a skull—but not cupcakes. Johnny Cupcakes sells the idea of cupcakes, a symbol of an uncomplicated, untouchable childhood pleasure, safe from the stresses of adult life, writes Jennie Yabroff.... More »

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America • culture • recession • cupcakes • Johnny Cupcakes

(Newser) - The US is expected to push for more British troops to help fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, a move certain to be unpopular with the British public, reports the Guardian. NATO Gen. Stanley McChrystal will likely recommend to President Obama that the current total of 150,000 Afghan troops should... More »

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Afghanistan • NATO • Taliban • America • British troops • US • Britain • Afghan Army • President Obama • troops

(Newser) - Ben Stein loves Wal-Mart—just don’t put one smack-dab in the middle of a historic Civil War battlefield in Orange, Va. The 1864 Battle of the Wilderness was a turning point in the conflict, Stein writes in the American Spectator, and the “battlefield is incredibly important environmentally and... More »

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United States • America • Virginia • development • Civil War • Ben Stein • Wal-Mart • national park • Ulysses Grant • Battle of the Wilderness • Robert E. Lee

 Queen Livid at 
 French Snub 
 for Obama 
 D-Day Fete 

Sarkozy wants to focus on 'main event' of US prez visit

May 27, 09 4:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth is furious at not being invited by the French for D-Day ceremonies next week that will include President Obama, reports the Daily Mail. The French never had any intention of inviting members of the British royal family to the 65th anniversary commemoration in Normandy in order to allow... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Queen Elizabeth • France • America • World War II • US • Britain • British royals • D-Day • Normandy • American soldiers

Holder: We're Still a 'Nation
of Cowards' on Race

Americans don't discuss racist past enough: attorney general

Feb 18, 09 3:42 PM CST
(Newser) - We may have elected our first black president, but America remains "a nation of cowards" on race, Eric Holder said today in a speech honoring Black History Month. "Average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial," said the attorney general. He vowed... More »

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race • African Americans • America • racism • Black History Month • Eric Holder • President Obama

 Website Knows Why You're Fat 


Feb 11, 09 1:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Subtle hints from the media about America’s growing obesity problem—shots of pudgy citizens, from the head down—just aren’t cutting it, Time reports. Enter “This is why you’re fat,” a website that displays in shocking detail the indulgent worst of American eating. An... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • Internet • fat • America • website • healthy eating • overweight

OPINION

 While We're At It, 
 Give Marriage a Bailout 

Recession, laws making it more expensive, so make nuptials easier

Feb 3, 09 3:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Between the recession and various legal knots, it’s no wonder so many Americans are eschewing marriage, Mark Penn writes in the Wall Street Journal. Either go with the bailout flow and revamp tax codes and the like to make marriage easier and less financially constrictive, or use similar tactics... More »

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marriage • America • tax relief • Mark Penn • cohabitation • domestic partnership • trend • financial crisis

 Lab Is Top US Dog, 
 18 Years and Counting   

Yorkshire terrier is second; bulldog now at No. 8 and gaining fast

Jan 21, 09 4:25 PM CST
(Newser) - The Obamas’ pup could change things, but for now the playful Labrador retriever remains America’s most popular purebred, the American Kennel Club calculates. It's the Lab’s 18th consecutive year as king; the Yorkshire terrier and German shepherd are second and third, Reuters reports. Bulldogs moved up two spots,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • America • culture • German shepherd • bulldog • Labrador Retriever • dog • trend • President Obama • purebred • Yorkshire terrier

OPINION

Gaza Attack a 'Catastrophe': Boutros-Ghali

Assault will strengthen religious extremists, former UN Sec-Gen says

Jan 6, 09 2:43 PM CST
(Newser) - The assault on Gaza is a terrible mistake for Israel, Boutros Boutros-Ghali tells Der Spiegel in an interview in which he is deeply pessimistic about the prospects for peace. “The war in Gaza strengthens the position of radical Islamists in the entire Arab world,” the former UN secretary-general... More »

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Barack Obama • Israel • Middle East • Hamas • rocket attacks • America • violence • peace

(Newser) - British and Australian actors are flocking to the US in search of work and finding great success in roles that challenge their mimicry skills, the Chicago Tribune reports. Whether it’s Hugh Laurie on House, Anna Friel on Pushing Daisies, or Simon Baker on The Mentalist, the thespians have found... More »

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television • NBC • England • America • Britain • acting • Pushing Daisies • Hugh Laurie • Anna Friel • Simon Baker • House • The Mentalist • Marc Hirschfeld

OPINION

 Noonan: 
 Don't Panic, 
 We're Still America 

From Madoff to Detroit, people feel it's all collapsing, and they're wrong

Dec 19, 08 9:46 AM CST
(Newser) - From Bernard Madoff to Rod Blagojevich, Americans have lost faith in the people running things. “It’s the age of the empty suit,” one of Peggy Noonan’s friends mused recently. Our institutions have proven impotent and absent, and now “people feel all trends lead downward from... More »

MORE ABOUT:
America • Peggy Noonan • patriotism • hope • Bernard Madoff

(Newser) - The bicentennial of Lincoln's birth will be celebrated Feb. 12, so expect endless tributes to the president beloved by ordinary citizens and historians alike. Unless, of course, you're south of the Mason-Dixon line, where anti-Lincoln views "aren't particularly radical," writes Alex Beam of the Boston Globe. Lincoln is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Boston • America • history • Abraham Lincoln • Civil War • South • Dixie

US Health Care Bleeds $1T, But Can Be Saved

Preventative model could save taxpayers billions

Nov 29, 08 5:35 PM CST
(Newser) - What America needs is another preemptive strike, executives say—in the world of health care. As Barack Obama gears up to reform the industry, several health care leaders say that up to half of the nation's $2.3 trillion health budget is wasted. In a broad consensus, they call for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health care costs • health care industry • America • health care reform • President Obama

US Dominance 'Fading Fast'
as Global Upheaval Looms


Report predicts increasingly unstable world future as wealth and power shift

Nov 21, 08 2:15 AM CST
(Newser) - US intelligence agencies believe the next 20 years will be the twilight of America's global dominance, the Times of London reports. A report from the National Intelligence Council paints a bleak future of an increasingly unstable world in which new powers and alliances emerge as competition for dwindling resources heats... More »

MORE ABOUT:
America • US intelligence • global economy • USA • intelligence agencies

Fisticuffs Over Security Deal End Session of Iraqi Parliament

Sadr ally allegedly shoves speaker

Nov 19, 08 3:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Discussion of the security deal between the US and Iraq deteriorated into a shouting match between members of the Iraqi parliament today, the New York Times reports. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the measure next week, but could not get through a reading of the agreement today before an... More »

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Iraq • Iraqi Parliament • United States • America • Iraq parliament • Iraq security • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

As Football Scores in Mexico, Its Players Hope NFL Notices

League claims 20M fans south of border, but path to pro ranks is a tough one

Nov 7, 08 1:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Mexico isn’t known for loving football—the pigskin kind—but the sport is gaining popularity there, the Los Angeles Times reports. The NFL estimates it has 20 million Mexican fans, and with the game catching on at the high school and college level, players are pushing for more attention... More »

MORE ABOUT:
NCAA • NFL • Mexico • NCAA football • football • America • Monterrey Tech

OPINION

New 'Real' America Sheds Swagger for Idealism: Klein

Klein: Vote for Obama is "ratification" of new national identity

Nov 5, 08 11:49 AM CST
(Newser) - Hey, John McCain—welcome to the new Real America. Joe Klein writes in Time that Barack Obama’s victory isn’t just a changing of the guard, but fundamentally redefines how we think of the country. We’ve been living in Ronald Reagan’s America for years, writes Klein, nostalgic... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • America • Election 2008

OPINION

Mock Her at Your Peril:
Palin Speaks Real American

Accent 'dissed' by elites is same tune favored by humble, common-sense majority

Oct 30, 08 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - The discomfort Sarah Palin causes in liberals, and even many conservatives, stems from a fundamental disconnect between the educated elite and real America, Michael Novak writes in the National Review. Solid, humble citizens hear a familiar ring to Palin’s oft-mocked accent: “The same guts. The same common sense.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • Michelle Obama • America • values • National Review • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • frontier • Michael Novak

OPINION

 Reports of US 
 Decline Greatly 
 Exaggerated 

Crises of confidence, finance haven't dimmed great-power status

Oct 30, 08 11:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Don’t believe the “faddish declinism” of naysayers arguing that America’s best days are behind her, Robert Kagan writes in the Washington Post. Francis Fukuyama and his ilk praise Barack Obama’s “realism” in facing the “post-American world,” but in reality, Obama’s rhetoric remains... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • America • US image • Francis Fukuyama • financial crisis

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