30 News

'Space taxis' move one step closer to reality

By: Deborah Netburn

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011, 5:22 PM

Now that NASA's space shuttle fleet has been retired, the space agency is looking to commercially built "space taxis" to help astronauts commute to the International Space Station and other destinations in low Earth orbit.

Los Angeles Times

Starbucks Sued for Spy Cam in Bathroom

By: Candace Smith

Published: Tue Sept. 20, 2011

A Norfolk, Va., man has sued Starbucks after his 5-year-old daughter found a "spy cam" in one of its bathrooms in Washington, D.C., making this at least the third such incident this year for the coffee chain.

ABC News

Sacramento march protests sex trafficking

By: Andy Furillo

Published: Mon Sep. 19, 2011, 12:00 AM

Of course, sex slavery is big business in Cambodia, and it's been well documented that desperate foreigners sometimes are forced to sell their flesh for somebody else's profit in the United States.

The Sacramento Bee

Disney to build ‘Avatar’ attraction in theme parks, starting with Animal Kingdom in Florida

By: Associated Press

Published: Mon Sep. 20, 2011

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it has agreed on an exclusive deal to build attractions based on James Cameron’s “Avatar” at its theme parks, starting with Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla.

Washington Post

Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users

By Mariano Castillo

Published: Thu Sep. 15, 2011 9:37 AM

Social media users who denounce drug cartel activities along the Mexican border received a brutal warning this week: Two mangled bodies hanging like cuts of meat from a pedestrian bridge.

CNN

Making (Unlimited) Hydrogen From Salt Water And Wastewater

By: Nidhi Subbaraman

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011

Hydrogen is a clean fuel, but making it usually takes fossil fuels, until now: A new discovery allows hungry bacteria to eat dirty water to make the fuel.

Fast Company

Predicting Sex Life After Prostate Cancer

By: Tara Parker-Pope

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011, 4:06 PM

Treatments for prostate cancer take a significant toll on male potency, leaving a surprisingly high percentage of men unable to have a normal sex life, new research shows.

New York Times

Kershaw wins 20th as Dodgers best Giants

By: Sports Network

Published: Wed Sep. 21, 2011

If the Giants miss out on the postseason, they have Clayton Kershaw to blame, as they fell to the Dodgers' ace, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game series.

Los Angeles Times

2 pending CA bills would outlaw sale, distribution of designer drugs

By: Suzanne Phan

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011, 11:35 PM

More teens and young adults are turning to "bath salts" and "incense", synthetic drugs, to get a high.

ABC News10

Typhoon Roke Makes Landfall in Japan After Three Killed

By: Stuart Biggs and Chisaki Watanabe

Published: Wed Sep. 21, 2011, 4:31 AM

Typhoon Roke made landfall in central Japan, causing floods, flight and train cancellations and cutting power supply to almost 36,000 homes.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Reaction to Midtown Attack on Gay Couple

By: Rowena Shaddox

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011

Sacramento resident Jon Green, was surprised to find out that people are still doing “the whole gay bashing thing.”

FOX 40

'Two and a Half Men' ratings huge! Ashton Kutcher debut delivers series high

By: James Hibberd

Published: Tue Sep. 20, 2011, 11:16 AM

The ninth season premiere, starring Ashton Kutcher taking over for Charlie Sheen, delivered 27.7 million viewers Monday night — that’s in the ballpark of an American Idol premiere.

Entertainment Weekly

Malaysian PM woos young voters with 'cool' campaign

Published: Wed Sep 21, 2011, 7:00 AM

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is attempting to win over young voters with a campaign designed to make him look cool.

The Telegraph

The New Yorker

California's poverty rate highest in more than a decade

By Phillip Reese

Published: Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

Last Modified: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 12:10 am

California's poor now outnumber the populations of 33 states and 90 nations – and counting.

Sacramento Bee

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show

By Lisa Girion, Scott Glover and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times

September 17, 2011, 2:55 p.m.

Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found.

LA Times

Los Angeles ponders extending yellow-light times

By Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

September 19, 2011

In the wake of Los Angeles' decision to kill its controversial red-light camera traffic enforcement program, new City Hall attention is being focused on the potential safety benefits of extending the length of yellow lights and other signal times at busy intersections.

LA Times

Guinness World Records: SoCal resident has state's longest tongue

September 16, 2011 | 9:20 am

You may not know this, Southern California, but there is greatness among us.

The latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records boasts a number of record-breaking feats by Southern Californians.

LA Times

CSUS offers free Holocaust exhibit

Published: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 7:47 am

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

Last Modified: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 9:10 am

An exhibit said to offer new insights into the Holocaust will be on display beginning Tuesday at Sacramento State.

The Sacramento Bee

Back-seat Driver: What's California's law on center lanes?

By Tony Bizjak

tbizjak@sacbee.com

Published: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 12:45 am | Page 1B

Last Modified: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 6:49 am

Welcome back to "Hey Wait! Is That Legal?" where our experts tell it like it is, and everyone drives safely away, a winner!

The Sacramento Bee

You can't reinvent the burger; you can remake it


Published: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 3:00 am

By CHRISTINA REXRODE

AP Business Writer

Last Modified: Monday, Sep. 19, 2011 - 12:58 pm

NEW YORK -- When Wendy's decided to remake its 42-year-old hamburger, the chain agonized over every detail. A pickle chemist was consulted. Customers were quizzed on their lettuce knowledge. And executives went on a cross-country burger-eating tour.


The Sacramento Bee


In Yemeni Capital, Security Forces Attack Protest Encampment

By LAURA KASINOF

Published: March 12, 2011

SANA, Yemen — Fighting escalated between antigovernment protesters and security forces on Saturday, and four people were reported killed, even as President Ali Abdullah Saleh promised the White House that he would not use violence against the demonstrators.

NY Times

China Warns U.S. Against Selling F-16s to Taiwan

By ANDREW JACOBS

Published: February 25, 2010

BEIJING — A top Chinese military official reaffirmed China’s resolve to punish the United States over its decision to sell weapons to Taiwan and suggested on Thursday that there would be even greater consequences should Washington fulfill a longstanding request by Taiwan for advanced fighter jets.

NY Times

Reno air crash toll at 10; two more victims named

By Don Thompson and Scott Sonner

Associated Press

RENO, Nev. -- The names of two more victims in the nation's deadliest air racing disaster have been released.

Associated Press

Hockey mom accused of having sex with son's underage teammates

September 19, 2011 | 1:18 pm

An Orange County mother of three is accused of having sex with teenage members of her son's youth hockey team.

LA Times

On Campus, It’s One Big Commercial

By NATASHA SINGER

Published: September 10, 2011

IT’S move-in day here at the University of North Carolina, and Leila Ismail, stuffed animals in tow, is feeling some freshman angst.

NY Times

Twitter posts: Free speech or stalking?

By Somini Sengupta

New York Times

Published: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 6A

Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011 - 11:21 am

Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter.


The Sacramento Bee


Its Official: Mayor Johnson running for a second term

By Ryan Lellis

September 14, 2011

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced today that he is running for a second term, saying "Sacramento has come a long way, but it still has not met its potential as a city."



The Sacramento Bee

Google Wallet opens for business, Visa gets on Board

September 19, 2011 | 4:06 pm

Google Inc. is taking another step toward make the credit card obsolete, firing up its digital payment service that will enable people to make purchases simply by waving their smartphones at the cash register.

LA Times

Juicy Journalism

An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

A year ago, when chemotheraphy stopped working against his leukenia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and though he had nothing to lose.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html?ref=health
ny times
September 12, 2011

TGIThursday

Bankruptcy among college grads grows

By Aaron Smith

Published: September 13, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Bankruptcy has gotten more educated over the past five years, as financial distress spread to more of the population with college degrees, according to study results released Tuesday.

CNN Money

Turntable.fm lands $7 million for 24/7 streaming music club

By: Laurie Segall

Published: September 13, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney) -- Turntable.fm, one of the tech scene's most-buzzed about startups, has opened its online music venue to the public.

CNN News

Audience at tea party debate cheers leaving uninsured to die

By Rachel Rose Hartman

Published: September 13, 2011

If you're uninsured and on the brink of death, that's apparently a laughing matter to some audience members at last night's tea party Republican presidential debate.

Yahoo News

Sacramento State professor accused is sex harassment case quits

By Laurel Rosenhall

Published: September. 14, 2011

A Sacramento State professor accused of sexually harassing four students and

three professors has dropped his lawsuit against the university and resigned.

Sacramento Bee

Cars don't waste fuel. Drivers waste fuel

By Keith Barry

Published: September 12, 2011

(WIRED) -- Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Center for

Environmental Research and Technology (CERT) are developing a new way of boosting fuel

efficiency by as much as 30% without changing a car's powertrain at all.

CNN News

Scientists Hint at Why Laughter Feels So Good

By James Gormon

Published: September 13, 2011

Laughter is regularly promoted as a source of health and well being,

but it has been hard to pin down exactly why laughing until it hurts

feels so good.

NY Times

In Study, Fatherhood Leads to Drop in Testosterone

By Pam Belluck

Published Monday, September 12, 2011

This is probably not the news most fathers want to hear. Testosterone, that most male of hormones, takes a dive after a man becomes a parent. And the more he gets involved in caring for his children — changing diapers, jiggling the boy or girl on his knee, reading “Goodnight Moon” for the umpteenth time — the lower his testosterone drops.

NY Times

An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

By Denise Grady, NY Times

Published: Monday, September 12, 2011

PHILADELPHIA — A year ago, when chemotherapy stopped working against his leukemia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and thought he had nothing to lose.

NY Times

Rising sea levels could take economic toll on California beaches

By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times

Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A state-commissioned study by San Francisco State says erosion and storm damage by the advancing ocean over the next century could cut into tourism and tax revenue.

LA Times

No more cigarettes for smoking Malaysian orangutan

By Sean Yoong

Published Monday, September 12, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A captive orangutan often spotted smoking cigarettes given to her by zoo visitors is being forced to kick the habit, a Malaysian wildlife official said Monday.

AP News

Whattup Wednesdays!

Eel removed from man's bladder after entering penis during beauty spa
Mark Pangallo –
13th September, 2011
An erratic eel wriggled its way up a man's penis and into his bladder following an accident during an unorthodox beauty spa in China.

Metro

Inside Kabul: Telegraph report on US embassy attack
Ben Farmer-
13th September, 2011
Insurgents fired rockets and assault rifles in the direction of the US Embassy, Nato headquarters and other official buildings as gunfire and explosions rocked the heart of the Afghan capital.

The Telegraph

Forever 21 insults women with 'Allergic to Algebra' T-shirt
Amy graff-
September 12, 2011
Two weeks ago the feminist blogosphere was in an uproar over a JC Penney's T-shirt reading "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother does it for me."

SF Gate

Motorcyclist: Life saved by heroes who lifted car
Jennifer Dobner-
September 12, 2011
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) — The university math students heard the crash, saw the smoke and knew they had to act quickly. A motorcyclist had just collided with a car and was pinned beneath the flaming, twisted metal wreckage.

Yahoo News!

Facebook Fraud: Beware Malicious Friends
Kathy Kristof-
September 11, 2011
Con artists are lurking in the shadows of your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and eHarmony accounts, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, the oldest international investor protection association.

Yahoo Finance

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday

'Super-Earth,' 1 of 50 Newfound Alien Planets, Could Potentially Support Life
By Denise Chow
Published: Monday, September 12th, 2011

More than 50 new alien planets — including one so-called super-Earth that could potentially support life — have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
Yahoo News

Brain waves make a fast brake
By Laura Sanders
Published: Saturday, September 10th, 2011

Drivers could stop cars just by thinking about it. In a fast-moving car, the brain can hit the brakes faster than the foot. By relying on brain waves that signal the intent to jam on the brakes, a new technology could shave critical milliseconds off the reaction time, researchers report online July 28 in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

Science News


Amazon cuts deal on California sales taxes
By Anthony York and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Published: Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Legislative leaders agree to let the online retailer delay collecting taxes for a year, while it would drop its battle to overturn the state law. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said if he will support the plan.Legislative leaders agree to let the online retailer delay collecting taxes for a year, while it would drop its battle to overturn the state law. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said if he will support the plan.

LA Times


Four blocks of K Street on path to return of automobiles
By Tony Bizjak
Published: Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Forty years after the city kicked cars off K Street, crews are busy this week paving the way for their return.The $3 million, four-block street remake downtown started two weeks ago and is expected to be done by mid-November. Officials said the goal is to get more eyes and energy on the street to improve business.

Sacramento Bee

Interactive: See how long it will take California college graduates to break even on their education
By Phillip Reese
Published: Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

Largely because of tuition increases, the cost of a CSU or UC education has risen much quicker than inflation during the past decade, adding years to the amount of time it will take graduates to recoup their financial investment. Even so, college is still a sound venture. With the exception of drama and social work majors, UC and CSU graduates in every discipline will, on average, recoup their college costs within 20 years, according to a Bee analysis of census data. The amount of time it takes to pay off the investment, however, varies greatly by chosen discipline.

Sacramento Bee

No more mail? What would Ben Franklin think?
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
Published: Saturday, September 10th, 2011

Imagine a nation without the Postal Service.No more birthday cards and bills or magazines and catalogs filling the mailbox. It's a worst-case scenario being painted for an organization that lost $8.5 billion in 2010 and seems headed deeper into the red this year.

Sacramento Bee


The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s
By Laura Pappano
Published: Friday, July 22, 2011

William Klein’s story may sound familiar to his fellow graduates. After earning his bachelor’s in history from the College at Brockport, he found himself living in his parents’ Buffalo home, working the same $7.25-an-hour waiter job he had in high school.

NY Times


Job Growth Grinds to a Halt
By Sudeep Reddy
Published: Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

The U.S. economy slammed into a wall in August, failing to add any jobs for the first time in nearly a year and ratcheting up pressure on President Barack Obama to find a way to kick-start the sputtering recovery.

Wall Street Journal


Ready ... Aim ... Fire
By Clifford Oto
Published: Monday, September 12th, 2011

When taking a picture, consider: Focus, Aperture, Shutter and Think. Think F.A.S.T. My daughter is taking a black-and-white photography course in high school this year, so I broke out an old film camera and lenses for her to use. I even found a few rolls of black-and-white film, too.

Record Net


The Trouble With Homework
By Annie Murphy Paul
Published: Saturday, September 10, 2011

When you think of America’s students, do you picture overworked, stressed-out children bent under backpacks stuffed with textbooks and worksheets? Or do you call to mind glassy-eyed, empty-headed teenagers sitting before computer screens, consumed by video games and social networking sites, even as their counterparts in China prepare to ace yet another round of academic exams?

NY Times


Many Iraqis Have Second Thoughts as U.S. Exit Nears
By Michael S. Schmidt
Published: Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sheik Kamal Maamouri, the leader of one of the largest Shiite-dominated tribes in Iraq, used to call the United States troops here occupiers, demanding that they withdraw because he said they killed and imprisoned innocent members of his tribe.

NY Times

Blast Hits NATO Outpost in Afghanistan
By Ray Rivera and Sangar Rahmi
Published: Sunday, September 11, 2011

A cargo truck packed with explosives struck a NATO outpost south of the capital late Saturday, killing at least 5 people and wounding dozens more, including 77 members of coalition troops, NATO and Afghan officials said Sunday.

NY Times