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A Lauded Prison Recycling Program Became a Hacker's Dream

3 refurbished computers hidden in ceiling of Marion Correctional Institute

(Newser) - Three computers hidden in the ceiling above a closet in a staff computer lab in Marion Correctional Institution gave inmates access to the Ohio prison's network, databases, tools for creating security passes, and the outside world. “Our inmates are way smarter than our technical people, you know,”...

He Was a Rap Pioneer. Then He Forgot Everything
He Was a Rap Pioneer.
Then He Forgot Everything
longform

He Was a Rap Pioneer. Then He Forgot Everything

But T La Rock has reconstructed his life after a traumatic head injury

(Newser) - Back in 1995, Tupac recorded a song called "Old School" in which he paid tribute to the rap artists who'd come before him. Among those he mentioned was T La Rock, whose single "It's Yours" in 1984—mixed in the dorm of Rick Rubin at NYU—...

Kim Jong Un Envisions Tourist Haven at His Summer Retreat

North Korean leader has big plans for Wonsan: Mud baths and live missiles

(Newser) - If Kim Jong Un has his way, the port city of Wonsan, North Korea, will someday be a mecca for tourists. Reuters reports on Kim's ambitious plans for the resort city, which serves as his own summer retreat and, by some accounts, was where he was born. UN sanctions...

Terrified, She Left. So He Went After Her Daughter

But Terra Newell fought back against John Meehan

(Newser) - Someone always gets it in the end, and in the case of John Meehan—or "Dirty John," the nickname that doubled as the title for the Los Angeles Times' six-part series on the con man —it was him. He had had something else in mind, though. Some...

How Much More Can Tillerson Take?


How Much
More Can
Tillerson Take?
LONGFORM

How Much More Can Tillerson Take?

Being secretary of state is quite different than heading Exxon—and Rex may not like it

(Newser) - "I don't know. I'm not a diplomat" is an odd statement to make if you're a high-ranking US Cabinet official tasked with critical matters of diplomacy. Yet those words were uttered by the US secretary of state during a September meeting at the UN regarding Iran'...

It's Not Easy Leaving a Man Even Strangers Are Terrified Of

Part 5 in the 'Dirty John' series from the 'Los Angeles Times'

(Newser) - "Scariest man I've met in my 70 years," attorney John Dzialo tells the Los Angeles Times in Part 5 of its six-part series on "Dirty John" Meehan, a conman who married a California woman desperate to find love . Dzialo was hired—and quickly fired—by Meehan...

She Learned Her Husband Was 'Dirty John'—and Went Back

Part 4 of the 'Dirty John' series in the 'LAT'

(Newser) - The Los Angeles Times on Thursday dropped Part 4 of six in its "Dirty John" series, and the title is "Forgiveness." If you've been following along , go ahead and read deep into that word. It's true: After uncovering more than 300 pages that documented her...

He Made Big Tobacco Cave. Now's He's Got a New Target

Attorney Mike Moore is going after companies that make and sell opioids

(Newser) - Mike Moore is renowned in legal circles as the attorney who brought Big Tobacco to its knees by orchestrating a 50-state, $246 billion settlement back in the 1990s. Now, the 65-year-old Moore has a new but similarly giant target: companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell opioids, reports Bloomberg Businessweek . Its...

Married for a Decade. Then She Met the Real 'Dirty John'

Conman called 'the most devious, dangerous, deceptive person I ever met'

(Newser) - John Meehan became "Dirty John"—occasionally "Filthy John"—in law school. The nickname was bestowed by his classmates for the sheer number of women he would bring home, but it seemed to cover a lot of his unseemly behavior, Christopher Goffard writes in the third installment...

Bluster or Grand Vision? 'Just Mayo' CEO Has Big Plans

Critics think Josh Tetrick's Hampton Creek has too much talk, not enough results

(Newser) - If you're familiar with a company called Hampton Creek, it's likely because of its "Just Mayo" product. It's essentially vegan mayonnaise, with pea protein in place of eggs, though 37-year-old CEO Josh Tetrick hates the connotations of the word "vegan," and industry rivals don'...

He Was the Man of Her Dreams. Then the Red Flags Piled Up

The 'Los Angeles Times' presents 'Dirty John' in 6 parts

(Newser) - At 59, Debra Newell had found professional—but not romantic—success. Divorced four times, the Irvine, Calif., interior designer hadn't totally given up on love, and then it found her in a whirlwind. She met John Meehan via an online dating site in October 2014, and he seemed too...

The Pathos-Driven Rise of Kate McKinnon
The Pathos-
Driven Rise of
Kate McKinnon
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Pathos- Driven Rise of Kate McKinnon

In 'VF' interview, 'SNL' comedian touches on empathy she drew on to play Hillary Clinton

(Newser) - Kate McKinnon is dressed down ("real-person down," without makeup and in sneakers and a baggy tee) and skittish like a cat, reacting so warily to her interview with Lili Anolik for Vanity Fair that Anolik realizes she's "going to have to approach her slowly, carefully, no...

Hungry WWII POW Had Ideas Silicon Valley Now Wants
Hungry WWII POW Had Ideas
Silicon Valley Now Wants
longform

Hungry WWII POW Had Ideas Silicon Valley Now Wants

Inside the story of Willem van Eelen

(Newser) - We've come a long way since a 5-ounce hamburger patty was grown in a lab in 2013 at upwards of $325,000. As Quartz reports, advancements in technology have dropped that cost tremendously, to about $6,000 a pound. And Hampton Creek—a darling of Silicon Valley, a food...

Gloria Allred&#39;s Endless Fight for the Victims of Male Entitlement
Inside the 'Creative
Lawyering' of
Gloria Allred
Longform

Inside the 'Creative Lawyering' of Gloria Allred

One of US' most famous lawyers continues the fight for victims of male entitlement

(Newser) - Gloria Allred has been accused of winning important victories for victims of harassment while simultaneously cheapening harassment as a concept. She's represented female farmworkers, female prisoners, a woman sexually abused by priests, and female marines. But she's also fought for Octomom, two of Tiger Woods' former mistresses, and...

Bankruptcy Makes Debt Worse for Many Black Americans

System popularized in 'bankruptcy capital of US' is spreading

(Newser) - Quick, name a type of bankruptcy. Odds are you went with Chapter 7—the most common type of bankruptcy filing in most of the US. But in the South, more debtors choose Chapter 13—in Memphis, the "bankruptcy capital of the US," 75% of debtors choose Chapter 13—...

Kardashians Nearly Imploded, Until Kanye Saved Them

A profile at Racked explores how the sisters have become business juggernauts

(Newser) - Wish the Kardashians would go away? Keep wishing. "There's something palpably too big to fail about the Kardashians these days," writes Zan Romanoff in a lengthy profile at Racked . The story traces the clan's rise, showing how the sisters have gone from making a buck by...

After 600 Tons of Mercury Flowed, the Trouble Began

How Minamata disease in Japan changed what we know about mercury poisoning

(Newser) - It is, writes Joshua Sokol at Digg , "one of the most famous environmental disasters in history." And the cause is now known to be fairly straightforward: From 1932 to 1968, a chemical factory in Minamata, Japan, dumped 600 tons or so of mercury into the local harbor. One...

He Escaped Prison in 1978. Then the Blood Began to Spill

Inside the story of Gary Tison and the Tison Gang

(Newser) - Last Rampage, starring Robert Patrick and Heather Graham, had its limited release on Friday, and as the trailer promises, "blood will spill." It's based on the true story of Gary Tison (played by Patrick), who in 1978 broke out of the Arizona State Prison with the help...

Welcome to the Depressing New Real-Estate Game
Welcome to the Depressing
New Real-Estate Game
in case you missed it

Welcome to the Depressing New Real-Estate Game

Faraway investors scoop up abandoned homes online to make a quick buck

(Newser) - A story in the New Republic pronounces "a new era of real estate speculation" in the US, one that's taking a depressing toll on poor neighborhoods across the country. Two factors are at play: the housing bust of 2008, which left a glut of abandoned properties on the...

Wife to Presidents, 'Mom' to Ivanka, or Maybe Just a Con

Madame Giselle has some stories to tell

(Newser) - “I’d never met anybody like her in my life,” Bob Underwood says. He says his neighbor, known as Madame Giselle, claimed to be the former wife of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and current secret wife of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi. She told him she was...

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>