America

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Dig Finds Washington's Home (No Cherry Tree)

Archaeologists excavate boyhood home of founding father

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found the childhood home of George Washington, the New York Times reports—and despite the popular legend, there's no cherry tree anywhere on the premises. Researchers describe the founding father's Virginia digs as “a very nice gentry house” sporting eight rooms—not the simple cottage pictured in...

Candidates Exploit Muslim-Jewish Divide
 Candidates Exploit
 Muslim-Jewish Divide 
OPINION
Jun 26, 2008 6:05 PM CDT

Candidates Exploit Muslim-Jewish Divide

McCain and Obama insulting Muslims to gain favor with Jewish voters

(Newser) - The presidential candidates are ignoring—even insulting—American Muslims in the hope of grabbing the Jewish vote, write Salam Al-Marayati and Steven B. Jacobs in the Los Angles Times. McCain and Obama have on several occasions snubbed Muslims, who seem to be the victims of modern McCarthyism—just substitute terrorism...

Oz Tops US As World's Fattest
 Oz Tops US As World's Fattest 
Jun 20, 2008 5:02 PM CDT

Oz Tops US As World's Fattest

26% of Australians obese, to 25% of Americans; 9M of Aussies too heavy

(Newser) - Australia is the fattest nation in the world, the Age reports. A new study says body-mass index measurements pegs 4 million people—26% of the nation's population—as obese, narrowly beating the US, where 25% are obese. An additional 5 million Aussies are classified as overweight—with the usual suspects...

Foreign Investment in Iraq Up
 Foreign Investment in Iraq Up 
Jun 17, 2008 4:09 PM CDT

Foreign Investment in Iraq Up

American firms may miss early opportunities

(Newser) - European and Asian investors are taking advantage of the recently stabilized Iraqi business climate, USA Today reports. US firms still regard Iraq as too dangerous to invest in, but that attitude may cost them the best opportunities. The firms “who are getting in on the ground floor are not...

Long Journey Home From Iraq
 Long Journey Home From Iraq 
Jun 8, 2008 5:13 AM CDT

Long Journey Home From Iraq

A soldier's remains touches many

(Newser) - One soldier's death reveals more of America's pain more starkly than Iraqi war statistics ever could. So one reporter discovered as he followed the remains of Indiana native son Sgt. Robert Joe Montgomery from a pass near the Tigris to a funeral in Scottsburg, meeting all who suffered along the...

At Chicago's Field, 'Ancient Americas' Exhibit a Bust

Museum 'patronizes, demeans' its subjects

(Newser) - Revisiting Chicago’s Field Museum—an institution enshrined in loving childhood memories—for its “The Ancient Americas” exhibit is a sore disappointment, PJ O’Rourke writes in the Weekly Standard. Once a bastion of public scholarship so solemn it contained a section devoted to useful varieties of wood, the...

10 Score Later, America Still Loves Lincoln

As bicentennial nears, an industry springs up around Honest Abe

(Newser) - Honest Abe may be gone, but an industry of books, debates, and a Spielberg biopic are all alive and well. With Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial coming next year, all three White House hopefuls have invoked his name, and the US Mint is issuing pennies to honor states where he lived. "...

Iran Outsmarting US in New Cold War in Mideast
Iran Outsmarting US in New Cold War in Mideast
OPINION
May 14, 2008 12:02 PM CDT

Iran Outsmarting US in New Cold War in Mideast

America is too dumb, weak right now to counter, Friedman says

(Newser) - The new cold war is being waged between America and Iran, and Iran is winning hands down, Thomas L Friedman writes in the New York Times. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nation has built up influence from Iraq to Lebanon, with power over Iraq's prime minister, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other militias—and a...

Philly Steak Shop Can Keep 'Please Speak English' Signs

Statement political, no service denied: panel

(Newser) - The owner of a Philadelphia institution can keep signs that ask customers to order their cheese steaks in English, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. A city agency ruled the signs at Geno's Steaks—"This is America. When ordering, please speak English"—do not violate discrimination rules; owner Joey Vento...

More Americans Cut Church Ties
More Americans Cut Church Ties
Feb 26, 2008 6:00 AM CST

More Americans Cut Church Ties

50% have switched denomination, and 16% have no affiliation

(Newser) - Americans are swapping  religious affiliations at an accelerating rate, with 50% choosing  a different denomination than the one they were raised in, and 16%—double the number 20 years ago—saying the have no ties to a particular church, a new survey of religious life finds. That doesn't mean they're...

US Fertility Rate Bounces to Boom Levels

Birth rates up across all age groups

(Newser) - Americans are having more babies than at any time since 1971, USA Today reports. The fertility rate hit an average of 2.1 babies for every woman in 2006, the highest since just before the Baby Boom ended. The rise in fertility puts America apart from other developed countries, many...

At 500, 1st 'America' Map Baffles
At 500, 1st 'America' Map Baffles
Dec 4, 2007 5:25 PM CST

At 500, 1st 'America' Map Baffles

German monk closely mapped South America, unknown Pacific

(Newser) - The Library of Congress this week unveils the first map to use the name "America"—and the 500-year-old mysteries that go with it. The 1507 map by a German monk includes a surprisingly precise rendering of South America, Reuters reports, and seemingly predicts the contours of the continent's...

Venezuela Calmly Goes to Polls
Venezuela Calmly Goes
to Polls
Dec 2, 2007 3:07 PM CST

Venezuela Calmly Goes to Polls

Chavez seeks to end prez term limits, enact socialist reforms

(Newser) - Polls are orderly today as Venezuelans decide on an amendment that may make Chavez president for life, Reuters reports. Most surveys say voters are split 50/50 on the referendum, which Chavez vows will win by 10 points and usher in “21st century socialism.” Opponents say the changes, which...

Japanese Party Scrambles to Keep Boss to Dodge Chaos

Opposition chief to quit amid deadlock mess

(Newser) - Members of Japan's opposition party are pleading with their leader to rethink his announced resignation, fearing the move will break up the party and hurt its chances at the polls. The head of the Democratic Party of Japan said he would resign yesterday after the party leadership resoundingly voted to...

Tiny Smart Cars Zip Toward US
Tiny Smart Cars Zip Toward US
Sep 19, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Tiny Smart Cars Zip Toward US

Newsweek interviews president of Smart USA

(Newser) - With the first Smart Car set to hit the US in January, Newsweek questions the company president on the intelligence of trying to sell a 1,750-pound vehicle in the land of bigger-is-better. Despite bad safety ratings from Consumer Reports and entrenched SUV love in the American psyche, he seems...

Rural America Gets Wired
Rural America
Gets Wired
Sep 19, 2007 7:39 AM CDT

Rural America Gets Wired

US has paid providers $1B to bring broadband to remote areas; progress is uneven

(Newser) - Measured by President Bush's goal—to give every America access to broadband this year—it's not a success. But the effort to wire rural America has made impressive progress, the Economist reports. The US government has given more than $1 billion to internet providers in distant markets in an effort...

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart
America,
as Defined
by Wal-Mart
Sep 13, 2007 4:29 PM CDT

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart

With firm grasp on US consumers, snapshot of giant's sales is a self-portrait

(Newser) - Wal-Mart knows a lot about Americans, courtesy of the 208 million US consumers who shop there every year. ABC News takes a look at the superstore's sales figures and finds a portrait of the nation's changing face and taste. Some highlights: Boxers are tied with briefs; Ohio buys the most...

Midwest Jobs Take a Beating
Midwest Jobs Take a Beating
Sep 10, 2007 9:35 AM CDT

Midwest Jobs Take a Beating

Housing slump and auto woes hit the region hard

(Newser) - Jobs in the Midwest have taken a one-two punch from the national housing slump and the flagging Detroit auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Factories that make the materials used to build new homes in high-flying markets from California to Florida are starting to downsize, following huge layoffs by...

Online Book Links Torture Tests to Government

'Torture bible' details studies

(Newser) - A "torture bible" recently unearthed online indicates that the US government sanctioned and funded the torture of test subjects in psychological experiments in the '50s, apparently to perfect interrogation techniques, Boing Boing reports. The studies were commissioned by the government and involve methods "likely to be regarded as...

Americans Own 30% of World's Guns
Americans Own 30%
of World's Guns
Aug 28, 2007 9:05 PM CDT

Americans Own 30% of World's Guns

The world's largest arsenal works out to 90 firearms per 100 people

(Newser) - Americans form the biggest gun-toting posse on Earth, Reuters reports, boasting a high 90 firearms per 100 noncombatants. Other countries lag behind on a per capita basis: Yemen takes second with 61 per 100 and Finland places a surprising third with 56 for every 100 civilians. Many poor countries, like...

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