Good Riddance

Stories

19 Stories

June 2009
- Africa Well Rid of Thieves Like Gabon's Bongo
  
  Time | Jun 11, 09 11:43 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Gabon is officially in mourning for Omar Bongo, who was, until his death Monday, the world’s longest-serving president in the world. But unofficially, “it’s worth remembering that Bongo was precisely the kind of leader Gabon, and Africa, could have done without,” Alex Perry writes for Time . The tiny, oil-rich country should have been an African Kuwait. Instead, Bongo funded “his own fantastically opulent lifestyle.” More »
May 2008
- SUV Credit Crunch Rolls Over Ford
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 30, 08 10:18 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ford's plans to get back in the black are being forced off the road by woes at its lending arm, the Wall Street Journal reports. The auto giant made a lot of cut-rate loans on trucks and SUVs in recent years and has been unable to recoup losses on bad loans through repossessions because of the plummeting resale value of bigger vehicles. More »
- London Mayor Bans Subway Boozing
  
  USA Today | May 29, 08 6:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - One of the first acts of the newly elected mayor of London was to ban drinking alcohol on London's Tube subway system and buses , USA Today reports. The ban, which was a campaign pledge by Boris Johnson, will take effect Sunday. Public drinking has been commonplace in Britain for decades. More »
- SUVs Plunge in Value as Drivers Turn to Smaller Cars
  
  CNN | May 24, 08 8:21 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - SUVs are falling out of fashion fast as gas prices go through the roof, CNN reports. As drivers downsize to more fuel-efficient vehicles, gas-guzzlers are filling up used-car lots—but there aren't many buyers. The biggest SUVs—like the Cadillac Escalade, Ford Expedition, and Chevy Suburban—are dropping in value by the thousands, a dealer reports. More »
- Harding Skates Back Into Spotlight
  
  Newsweek | May 23, 08 5:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - What read like a closed book in 1994 is falling open in a Tonya Harding tell-all, reports Newsweek in an interview with the fallen figure skater. The Tonya Tapes argues that Harding wasn't just uninvolved in Nancy Kerrigan's knee-whacking—she planned to rat out her ex-husband to the FBI until he intervened, backed by two enforcers and a gun. More »
- Ocean Sharks Face Extinction
  
  BBC | May 22, 08 1:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ocean sharks are threatened with extinction, with 11 species designated “high-risk” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and five more also in danger. Sharks are dwindling from intentional fishing, which targets them for their meat and fins, and “bycatch” fishing that lands them in nets meant for tuna and swordfish. The group is calling for global catch limits, the BBC reports. More »
- Woman Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case
  
  Associated Press | May 15, 08 3:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Missouri woman has been indicted in the case of a teenage girl who killed herself after receiving cruel messages on MySpace, the AP reports. The woman, Lori Drew, is charged with pretending to be a teenage boy on the site and having a helper taunt the 13-year-old victim. Drew faces up to 20 years in prison on counts of conspiracy and accessing protected computers. More »
- A Last Vanishing Act for Robert Vesco, Fugitive
  
  New York Times | May 3, 08
  
  Robert L. Vesco, the fugitive financier who spent most of his life eluding American justice, might even have managed to die on the sly.Robert L. Vesco in 1974. He fled the United States in 1971 to avoid legal problems, and after a long odyssey avoiding American justice, friends say he died in November from lMr. Vesco, who was sentenced to a long prison term in Cuba in 1996 and was wanted in the United States for crimes ranging from securities fraud and drug trafficking to political bribery, died more than five months ago, on Nov. 23, from lung cancer, say people close to him. If so, it was never...
March 2008
- Spitzer Resigns, Effective Monday
  
  CNN | Mar 12, 08 10:42 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Eliot Spitzer, with his wife again at his side, announced his resignation in a short press conference this morning. The New York governor apologized for his "private" misconduct, again without making direct reference to the prostitution scandal that has ended his political career. "I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me," he said. “I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work.” More »
January 2008
- Indonesia's Suharto Dies at Age 86
  
  Reuters | Jan 27, 08 2:45 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Former Indonesian president Suharto, a US Cold War ally whose legacy of economic development was marred by charges of human rights abuses and corruption, died today of organ failure at 86, Reuters reports. Suharto ruled for 32 years until being forced out in 1998; his deteriorating health prevented him from ever going to trial even though accusers allege he had perhaps 1 million opponents killed and had embezzled billions. More »
December 2007
- Lott Cashes in Chips
  
  Associated Press | Dec 19, 07 4:48 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Minority whip Trent Lott retired from the Senate last night, five years before his term’s end. He revealed his departure 16 minutes before the chamber’s 12:05 a.m. closing. The 35-year Congressional career ended with “characteristic flair,” the AP reports—Lott quoting his high school motto from the Senate floor: “The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fail.” More »
- Kerrigan Plotter Dies at Age 40
  
  Associated Press | Dec 16, 07 3:31 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A plotter in the 1994 attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan died this week of natural causes at age 40, the AP reports. Brian Sean Griffith, ex-bodyguard to figure-skating Olympic hopeful Tonya Harding, confessed to helping organize the attack on Kerrigan days after it happened. Griffith served 14 months and later changed his name from Shawn Eckhardt to start a new life. More »
November 2007
- Oral Roberts University Prez Steps Down
  
  Associated Press | Nov 23, 07 11:43 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The president of Oral Roberts University resigned today amidst allegations of misusing school funds, the AP reports. Richard Roberts, son of founder Oral, faces a lawsuit claiming he spent university money on a life of luxury—including a $39,000 shopping spree and $29,000 trip to the Bahamas. Roberts has denied the accusations, and said today that he loved the university "with all my heart." More »
- Rhodesian PM Ian Smith Dies at 88
  
  Guardian (UK) | Nov 20, 07 9:47 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Ian Smith, the Rhodesian leader who unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 and defended white rule for 15 tumultuous years, died today at 88. Seen as a symbol of African colonial-era racism, Smith was unrepentant during his lifetime, arguing that what is now Zimbabwe suffered more under the tenure of current President Robert Mugabe, the Guardian reports. More »
August 2007
- Hotelier Helmsley Dead at 87
  
  New York Daily News | Aug 20, 07 1:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Leona Helsmley, the notoriously tyrannical real-estate baroness dubbed New York’s “Queen of Mean,” died of heart failure today at 87. The Brooklyn native took the reins of her husband Harry's real-estate empire in the 70s, and soon her name was synonymous with both luxe hotels and the churlish, hard-nosed style of public figuredom she helped forge. More »
June 2007
- Libby Draws 30 Months, $250K Fine
  
  New York Times | Jun 5, 07 12:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The vice president's ex-chief of staff will spend 30 months in prison and pay a $250,000 fine for lying to federal investigators about his role in blowing a CIA agent's cover. Judge Reggie Walton cited "overwhelming evidence" of Scooter Libby's guilt in sentencing him today on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. More »
May 2007
- Televangelist Falwell Dead at 73
  
  CNN | May 15, 07 1:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and mixed evangelism with conservative social criticism, died today after collapsing in his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He was 73. A lightning rod for controversy, Falwell once called AIDS "the wrath of a just God against homosexuals" and claimed that God is a Republican. More »
November 2006
- Rumsfeld Resigns
  
  New York Times | Nov 9, 06
  
  Faced with the collapse of his Republican majority in Congress, President Bush responded swiftly on Wednesday by announcing the departure of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and vowing to work with Democrats “to find common ground” on the war in Iraq and domestic issues.
August 1974
- Ford: "Our Nightmare Is Over" (Nixon resignation)
  
  Time | Aug 19, 74
  
  My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a Government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.