Headlines: May 2004 - The Morning News

Headlines for Friday, May 28, 2004

New York’s currently: grim but hot

Insurgents in Najaf attack U.S. forces, despite partial (farm league) truce between troops and Sadr’s militia.

Nigerian drug chief battles counterfeit drug makers, including some of her country’s wealthiest businessmen.

Nearly 1,000 dead in Caribbean floods, more rain predicted for Haiti and Dominican Republic.

There is a gigantic salvage operation, stripping anything of perceived value out of the country. Scraps of Iraqi infrastructure trucked to Jordan.

Scotland Yard grabs steel-hooked loudmouth al Masri, accused of trying to build an al Qaeda training farm in Oregon.

Amount of potential nukes material secured in two years after Sept. 11 was less than amount secured in two years prior to the attacks. Very not good.

If any Iraqi is “brokering” relations with Iran, I hope it’s Chalabi. Christopher Hitchens makes defense for Captain Unpopular.

Travel journaling for the 21st century: Piperboy’s Scrapbook.

Reuters investigates supposed A-list Hollywood actor blogging under pseudonym Rance.

New city parking tickets are easier to read, still difficult to receive. (Maybe you could pay to have them dismissed?)

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. Stephen Burt on new, disappointing revision to Philip Larkin’s Collected Poems. (Did Larkin read much foreign poetry? No!)

Zito & Sons closes on Bleecker Street.

Big big image: Paris at night, city of light.

In light of new D.C. memorial, collected memories from WWII. (See also, George Orwell on Arthur Koestler’s Darkness At Noon.)

Lions have been known to mate over 50 times a day. This is probably the sole criterion to become King of the Jungle. Revised dating tips from the animal kingdom.

Headlines for Thursday, May 27, 2004

New York’s currently: sweater off, sweater on

FBI announces Al Qaeda is planning an attack on U.S. soil in the coming months, and releases photos of seven terror suspects they’d like to locate.

New terror warnings not based on fresh intelligence, but rather on desirable targets soon available, including the party conventions.

“America’s job is to enjoy living in this great country and go out and have some fun.” Tom Ridge pleads for good times in the face of threats.

Sadr and U.S. military agree to end fighting in Najaf.

Fire destroys over 100 pieces of Britart from Charles Saatchi’s collection. Is this funny? No, it’s not.

If reelected, Dub-Dub White House may cut spending for all domestic agencies in 2006 budget.

Robert Birnbaum, interviewer, interviewed.

Missing novelist Helen DeWitt turns up safe in Niagara Falls.

With sidewalks stroller-packed, Chelsea plays it straight.

Recently released phone transcripts have Nixon joking about nuking the Hill.

Officials say questioning of Iraqi prisoners has led to “very little valuable intelligence.” Related: An interrogation gone awry loses a colonel his job.

Making parks nicer for the poor and the pooped-on.

Welcome to the Art Historian’s Guide to the Movies.

City health officials want man who kills rats with a baseball bat to please stop.

Celebrity iTunes playlists—some bad, some good, but mainly bad.

Famous nudes, now clothed. (made safe for work)

Headlines for Wednesday, May 26, 2004

New York’s currently: double-quoting

Classified survey of deaths and mistreatment of prisoners in U.S. Army’s custody paints “broad picture of misconduct.”

Body found near jogging path in northern Manhattan believed to be missing 21-year-old Julliard student.

More than 500 dead in floods and mudslides in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Astonishing, must-read story of marine who covered a grenade with his helmet to protect his squadmates.

U.S. denies accusations of holding dozens of Iraqis hostage as bargaining chips for others to surrender.

Author Helen DeWitt reported missing from home on Staten Island.

Interview with U.S. soldier, now medically retired with a brain injury, beaten after posing as an enemy for training exercise in Guantanamo Bay.

Great poll dirt on battleground states for the upcoming presidential election.

George Saunders: How to leave Iraq in three simple steps.

Times apologizes for relying on Chalabi (see breakdown of Chalabi’s claims).

TMN’s Sarah Hepola on why Idol night is always oldies night.

I was reminded more of a beach-going mom who’s decided to smoke and swim at the same time. Dale Peck pines for better money shot in The Day After Tomorrow, better survival strategies in Manhattan.

Spheres of influence for the Bush campaign Pioneers.

Could this be the start of something really big and really slow? Reasons to sail on the new QE2.

Every outfit Ryan Seacrest has ever worn.

The scale of this assault on the environment is so large as to be numbing. Details behind the Bush administration’s paralysis of environmental progress.

New York real estate, blogged on Curbed. Related: Blog about NYC’s bid for the Olympics.

Q&A with the Food Network’s Alton Brown.

Video: Porno puppet. (Relatively safe for work)

Headlines for Tuesday, May 25, 2004

New York’s currently: waiting for fresh, directly

In a bid for more time and public support, Bush orates a five-point plan for Iraqi stability, though many key questions remain unanswered.

Bush speech calls for demolition of Abu Ghraib prison, as “a fitting symbol of Iraq’s new beginning,” which leaves some Iraqis both dubious and wondering why they aren’t to decide the prison’s fate.

New fissures and cracking sounds halt search for survivors at de Gaulle Airport.

U.S. forces quit trying to disarm Iraq militia groups, instead accept them and, in some cases, support them.

Bush has five weeks to hand over Iraq and convince the electorate it was all worth it.

Alvin Ailey and Jazz at Lincoln Center find treasure chest in wealthy black professionals ignored by bigger arts organizations.

Radio interview with Oliver Griswold, author of “Reading With the Enemy.”

Wal-Mart encroachment threatens the pristine Vermont landscape.

Oregon lawyer who was held in connection with Madrid bombings now cleared in a fingerprint error.

New regulations from the MTA may need a bit more work before they make much sense.

Doctors’ neckties shown to harbor disease-causing bacteria.

Inspirational speaking, reality television, and night vision come together for the first time in the new World SWAT Challenge.

If Kerry wants to win, he’ll have to learn to become more of a worthwhile literary character.

Hitler descendant refuses to sue for royalties to Mein Kampf.

Greg Allen on parenthood at DaddyTypes.

A rock opera about the comics code, MP3s included.

Headlines for Monday, May 24, 2004

New York’s currently: congratulating all recent graduates; also, wondering why the West Village can’t look more like Georgetown.

U.S. forces hunt Sadr in his stronghold of Kurfa.

Wedding video contradicts U.S. denials about recent attack near the Syrian border.

Piece of the nuclear puzzle: The case of Asher Karni, accused conductor of nuclear deal destined for Pakistani program.

University of Utah refuses to acknowledge law permitting students to carry guns.

Department of Homeland Security spent at least $5 billion in first year.

Benefits for Europe’s Parliament members—costing taxpayers $100 million a year—can be three times their salaries.

Saudi Arabia bringing new oil fields online for an additional 800,000 barrels a day in the fall.

France & Germany: Pro-EU? Pro-themselves, says Clay Risen.

Activists plot strategies, travel plans to disrupt this summer’s Republican convention.

Report from the Taurus award ceremonies for stunt actors.

Eclectic mix: PS1 launches 24-hour online art radio station.

Nominate your candidate for the soon-to-appear New York City Hall of Fame.

I hated him. But I saw that this was a person who was trying from his soul to get something done. Hopes for normalcy dashed in Chechnya after Kadyrov was killed.

Securities firms push employees to donate to Bush campaign.

Posh Spice spent two days living like street poor in Peru.

Six Feet Under posts clever billboard.

Headlines for Friday, May 21, 2004

New York’s currently: spring and summer cleaning

American and Iraqi forces raid former favorite and WMD accuser Ahmad Chalabi’s Baghdad HQ in investigation of employee wrongdoing and possible espionage with Iran.

The rising and falling political life of Ahmad Chalabi.

Survivors of strike that left 40 Iraqis dead say the U.S. attacked a wedding; U.S. claims it was really a smuggling operation.

You will know the trail of paper: Memos since 2001 outline ways to circumvent prisoner rights and signed memo from October widened allowable interrogation methods in Iraq.

Video, more photos, more accounts, more abuse from Abu Ghraib.

Expanded Transit Authority rules may include ban on unauthorized picture-taking in subways, buses, and trains.

Oregon lawyer arrested in connection with Madrid bombings released from custody, remains a material witness.

Nick Hornby listens to rock music, even if he should be ashamed to be doing that, at his age.

‘Well, you can get very pretentious about soup!’ Ex-KLF member Bill Drummond and master of the prank now making soup for people.

Man fatally shot in the head on a busy midtown street; strangely, Candice Bergen and Lorraine Bracco are on the scene.

City shows support for the not-so-famous parks of New York.

British spies: female spies not to use sex for secrets and suicide pigeon attacks.

Taboo Tunes watches controversy and censorship in music, and has an exhibit of some of the most venomous perpetrators.

‘Cue the taxicabs to be flung about like puny toys.’ On making a truly great New York disaster film.

Photography from Jason Santa Maria: at the Cornell House and spending Halloween in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Headlines for Thursday, May 20, 2004

New York’s currently: freaked as hell to pick up a newspaper

Giuliani plays softball with Sept. 11 commission (or, other way around) during second day of New School hearings.

40 Iraqi civilians killed near Syrian border by U.S. troops gunning for smugglers, battles with Sadr’s Mahdi Army continue despite Sistani’s call for armed groups to leave Najaf.

Army commanders in Kut hiring militia fighters to drop arms and build roller coasters.

Jeremy Sivits sentenced to one year for role in abuse at Abu Ghraib, generals acknowledge systemic problems.

Editorial: IDF’s moral values sunk by deaths of schoolchildren in Rafah. (Three dozen Palestinians killed in two days.)

French politician vows to perform country’s first gay marriage.

U.N. highlights 10 stories ‘the world should hear more about.’

Fox News whups CNN in ratings, but only commands 75% of its ad rates.

Slippery slope arguments about gay marriage are flaccid, though won’t half of all marriages slide to divorce lawyers?

Asking for candy on Halloween was called trick-or-treating, but asking for candy on November first was called begging, and it made people uncomfortable. Excerpt from David Sedaris’s new collection.

Do not miss: Simon McBurney’s jawbreaking Complicite mounts Haruki Murakami’s Elephant Vanishes for Lincoln Center Festival. (McBurney on how he reworked the stories.)

Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito accuses court bureaucrats of imprisoning his wife to produce male baby.

Guide for screenwriters and novelists on correctly composing autopsy narratives.

White House homelessness czar thinks chronic homelessness can be killed in 10 years, carries picture of French philosopher in his pocket.

Photos: Ruins around New England.

City Ballet’s resurrection of Balanchine has been hyped to hysteria, with an uneven level of performance unthinkable when Balanchine was in charge.

Video: Guns shot, in slow-motion.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 19, 2004

New York’s currently: a sky of silver linings

In response to reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib late last year, the Army tried to curtail Red Cross spot-visits to the prison.

At court martial, U.S. soldier pleads guilty to abuse charge.

Looking toward reelection, the Bush administration does shuffle-back on cuts in strategically important states.

Sept. 11 commission criticizes New York for its continued lack of preparedness, inadequate equipment, and poor communication.

Israelis kill 19 Palestinians in major Gaza offensive.

Randy Johnson pitches 17th perfect game in baseball history.

Sonia Gahdhi refuses Indias prime minister spot, Congress Party leaders resign in protest.

An inside view of the Abu Ghraib abuse reaction from a security contractor in Iraq.

A love note to the indefatigable Seymour Hersh.

On eBay: Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear us Apart’ and New Order’s ‘Thieves Like Us’ production master tapes.

Choire Sicha on tiny price hikes.

Every minute, two people are killed in conflicts around the world. A map of where it’s happening, who’s involved, and why.

Including video, Save the Carbs.

It would be the size of a telephone book and wouldn’t fit in any automobile glove compartment. Why there is no Michelin Guide to the United States.

Man’s chronicles of digging a hole in his backyard.

Acclaimed actor, benefactor, and first-time father at 77 Tony Randall dies at 84.

Gambian giant pouched rat sniffs for landmines, gets a bite of banana afterwards.

Quadrophenomenal: Yesterday, in 1964, ‘scores’ of Mods and Rockers were arrested in seaside riots.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 18, 2004

New York’s currently: knock knock; who’s there?; to; to who?; to whom, sucker

Hundreds of same-sex couples marry in Massachusetts.

Hersh: Rumsfeld’s and Cambone’s anti-terror black-op ran interrogations at Abu Ghraib to shame Arabs into informing.

Doctors flout insurers’ common sense by apologizing to wronged patients, and avoiding lawsuits.

Bush under fire for gas costs.

Who will Kerry pick for VP? Veep-O-Matic matches candidates to possibly necessary characteristics.

The presidential election, often symbolized as U.S. democracy, in fact is the game and competition for the rich people. From China, ‘The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2003.’ [ via PS ]

Photos: Bill Brandt, Martin Parr.

Mark Bowden on Abu Ghraib: Americans are not a superior race, and American soldiers are not morally superior to the soldiers of other nations.

White House AIDS prevention programs push abstinence, using fake facts to say condoms are less effective.

Interviews with TMN’s Maggie Berry and Matthew Baldwin.

59 of the country’s 100 largest publicly traded fed contractors had at least one subsidiary in a ‘tax haven’ country overseas in 2001. [PDF]

Old Gurley story nails Spring quandaries for sex in the city when women switch to skirts and tees, and men watch them.

Hitchens on 1908 Boy Scout Manual, one of few books that inspired a worldwide movement.

The Man Who Invented The Internet blogs backwards to the web’s hey-days of greed and fear.

Rats put to work sniffing for mines.

Quizzes never die: Yankee or Dixie?

Headlines for Monday, May 17, 2004

New York’s currently: fortified with xanthan gum

President of Iraqi Governing Council assassinated, six weeks before scheduled handover of power to new government.

Even prior to the assassination, no leader or governing powers set for Iraq.

Israel announces plans to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes along Gaza Strip, Powell slams new plans.

Same-sex marriages permitted for Massachusetts residents, beginning today.

U.S. may want to get more involved in Sudan, both for big business and good Coke.

At the 50th anniversary of the decision, Gates and West discuss the effects of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Due to criss-crossed chains of command, about 100 high-ranking Iraqi prisoners are being held out-of-reach of top U.S. general.

From toilet tubing to in-wall wiring, New York City to rewrite all building codes, meeting standards enjoyed by the rest of the country.

In case we missed her waving the big foam ‘No. 1 Crazy Person’ finger, she re-states her position four songs later. Sasha Frere-Jones on Nellie McKay and going bananas.

Macedonian government accused of luring, executing migrants in fake terror plot.

Renown nature-sculptor Andy Goldsworthy brings art and stones to New York.

Explore the buildings of Manhattan through a fascinating interactive map, historical documents, and old postcards.

Climbing Everest the right way, with a formal dinner.

First book published without verbs.

Learn how to say anything with the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Your life, juggled, at Jugglezine.

Headlines for Friday, May 14, 2004

New York’s currently: hooked on outdoor ping-pong, beer

Fighting erupts in Najaf between U.S. and Sadr-loyal militants, more than 300 prisoners released from Abu Ghraib.

Bloomberg beats Pataki for city’s refinancing of ’70s debt, providing $500 million a year.

India’s Prime Minister Vajpayee resigns, stunning upset likely to be led by Sonia Gandhi. See also: Slight profile of Gandhi, Diary: Election time in the world’s largest democracy.

Congress wary to cut blank check for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Britian says photos of U.K. soldiers beating Iraqi prisoner are fake.

Hey: Last day to win a Sokoloff ‘Salt’ print for yourself!

Bush stomping Kerry on campaign-merchandise front.

Photos: Jeanne Hilary.

Implicated Abu Ghraib soldiers attract dream team of lawyers, likely to disappoint White House’s hope for swift convictions.

Rabbis in Israel ban Indian wigs made from human hair, Orthodox women in Brooklyn swap expensive mops for synthetic dos.

U.S. policy summarized: Sticks for Syria, carrots for Palestinians.

Gardening tips for your fire escape, from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

FEC refuses to limit 527s from spending as much soft money as they want.

Just a bit partisan, but: Keeping track of President Bush.

How to cast an actress who must launch a thousand ships.

If Aurora did get cozy with J-1 and accept his spermatophores… Line between rape, love blurred between octopi.

Video: Reels by the Director Bureau’s Coppola siblings, Melodie McDaniel, Geoff McFetridge.

Headlines for Thursday, May 13, 2004

New York’s currently: realizing Manhattan’s not the only island worth visiting

Intense negotiations with Moktada al-Sadr for truce in Najaf, Sadr urges troops to fight Americans.

Politicians horrified by new photos from Abu Ghraib, seen behind closed doors.

Thousands seek refuge in northern Nigeria, fleeing Muslim youth mobs.

Former Marine judge: We have ignored provisions of the Geneva Convention in favor of gathering intelligence.

Professional pianist finds passion in payphones. Related: Database of payphone numbers around the U.S.

India’s Hindu nationalist leaders concede defeat to secular opposition alliance.

Even my suitemates understand that they have to turn down their Mandy Moore while I’m composing. Young composers meet Alex Ross.

Julia-expert Julie Powell wins James Beard Award for magazine feature.

Profile of an indecency hunter, calling the FCC on every lesbian joke.

Mussolini wore the heavy, thick suits, not like the English. We did not like the fabric of Mussolini. Generations of Zegnas come together.

Hey! Two more days to win a gorgeous Salt print by Marshall Sokoloff.

Thinking of Abu Ghraib in light of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

MoMA has made $79.7 million in last five years by selling top pieces from permanent collection.

Video: Man commmits 10 sins before breakfast (click on ‘Ten’).

Journal columnist accidentally emails hole-tearing edit of Sept. 11 widow’s op-ed to Sept. 11 widow.

Letters by C.S. Lewis.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 12, 2004

New York’s currently: doubting the forecasts

Before Senate hearing, general and under secretary of defense contradict each other on who was in charge of Iraq prisons.

Militants in Iraq behead West Chester, Pa., man in retaliation for American prison abuses.

U.S. abuse cases reach to Afghanistan, where a former police colonel recounts similar treatment last summer.

Stunning computer animation and the largest lawnmower in the world.

Thirty years in the planning, Chelsea recreation center finally opens.

How to destory a political opponent, according to the 2000 campaign to elect Bush: Hire lawyers and watch. Related: Kerry and Bush focus on an increasingly complex electoral map.

Built by Wendy fashions a new line with Wrangler.

In the face of diminishing yields and the promises of Nafta, Native Americans continue the search for peyote buttons.

Famous chefs, criss-crossing the country to cookand open new restaurants.

The history of the English language, diagrammed.

The Strand Book Store doubles its measurements, from eight miles of books, to 16.

Coffee and tea: More effective when you drink it smaller and often.

Mike Sacks is dynamite, strong, captivating. Mike Sacks enjoys reading to senior citizens. A promotional message from Michael Sacks to his girlfriend.

Back to the original, but which to buy? Selecting from the many species of wild salmon.

Two years after his brother’s death, David Reimer, of the notorious Brian-Brenda gender experiment, kills self.

A primer on cleaning out old foodstuffs from your pantry, determining which are the rancid, the expired, and the mummified.

Celebrate your synthesision at the MoogFest, Tuesday, May 15, with Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson at B.B. King’s Bar & Grill in Times Square.

Photographic essays on modern ruins.