NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST April 1, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-In London's Mayoral Campaign, a Conservative Jokes His Way Into Contention
LONDON - The Conservative politician Boris Johnson bounded through BoroughMarket the other day like some kind of hyper-articulate Labrador, trawlingfor votes in the May 1 mayoral election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/europe/01mayor.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=GAY&st=nyt&oref=slogin

-Hamas's Insults to Jews Complicate Peace Effort
GAZA - In the Katib Wilayat mosque one recent Friday, the imam wasdiscussing the wiliness of the Jew.
"Jews are a people who cannot be trusted," Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamastold the faithful. "They have been traitors to all agreements - go back tohistory. Their fate is their vanishing. Look what they are doing to us."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/middleeast/01hamas.html?hp

-U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula
Moving to sweep away the tangle of inaccurate state data that has obscuredthe severity of the nation's high school dropout crisis, Secretary ofEducation Margaret Spellings will require all states to use one federalformula to calculate graduation and dropout rates, Bush administrationofficials said on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/education/01child.html


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Washington Post
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Campaign.USA
With the Internet Comes a New Political 'Clickocracy'
We saw it coming.
Just as MySpace and Facebook change the way we communicate, just as YouTubealters the way we entertain ourselves, just as eBay and iTunes modify theway we shop, the Internet is transforming the way we engage with thisnever-ending presidential campaign.

-Campaign.USA: With the Internet Comes a New Political 'Clickocracy'
We saw it coming.
Just as MySpace and Facebook change the way we communicate, just as YouTubealters the way we entertain ourselves, just as eBay and iTunes modify theway we shop, the Internet is transforming the way we engage with thisnever-ending presidential campaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102856.html

-McCain's Free Ride
Quite a "defining moment" in Iraq, wasn't it? At this rate, John McCain isgoing to be proved right: The war will last a century.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102157.html

-Clinton's Real Choice
Chill out.
More specifically: "We're going to win this election, if we just chill outand let everybody have their say."
Thus, Bill Clinton's advice to Democrats who are gnashing their collectiveteeth over whether the extended struggle between Hillary Clinton and BarackObama will cause their party to lose an election it once seemed certain towin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102153.html

-What a Headscarf Can Mean
It can be a little wisp of fabric, nothing more. It comes in longerversions, shorter versions, versions that cover the hair, others that coverthe face. According to Le Monde, you can even get a Viennese stylist todesign one in the manner of "Catherine Zeta-Jones and Naomi Campbell," witha whiff of supermodel glamour.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102150.html

-Zimbabwe Teeters
With the help of its neighbors, a country could be rescued from autocracy.
ZIMBABWE IS at a familiar tipping point. There is growing evidence that apresidential and parliamentary election held Saturday was won by theopposition -- mandating, at long last, the retirement of 84-year-oldPresident Robert Mugabe. But there's been a suspicious and prolonged delayin the announcement of the voting results: By late yesterday the officialelection commission had reported tallies from only 66 of 210 parliamentarydistricts, and none from the presidential election. It seems pretty clearthat Mr. Mugabe, whose misrule has all but destroyed Zimbabwe during thepast decade, hopes to steal the election and enforce his decision with thepolice and army.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102429.html

-Holding Pattern
The demise of New York's passenger bill of rights puts the spotlight onCongress.
WELL, IT WAS a good try. The New York state law that sought to bring alittle dignity to flying by requiring air carriers to provide fresh air,lights, functioning restrooms and "adequate food and drinking water" duringa delay of three hours or more at John F. Kennedy or La Guardia airports wasstruck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The rationale:Regulation of the airlines is a federal, not a state, function. As much aswe want air carriers not to treat passengers like cattle, we're not unhappywith this outcome. State micromanagement of their operations is not the wayto bring carriers in line.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102405.html

-Bush Pushes NATO Membership for Ukraine, Georgia
KIEV, Ukraine, April 1 -- President Bush championed expansion of NATOfurther into the former Soviet Union on Tuesday and declared that Russia"will not have a veto" over the alliance's decision this week about whetherto put Ukraine and Georgia on a path to membership.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040100686.html?hpid=topnews


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Who'll Stop the Pain?
Gore and Edwards may have the most party clout. But there's only one personHillary will finally listen to. Her name isn't Bill.
http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/45604/

-Bush's Last Laugh
In the recent history of presidential campaigning, April is the time whenhope springs eternal. When every Democratic general election candidate--Michael Dukakis! John Kerry!--looks like he might have the stuffto pull off a landslide. It is the time to heal from the knocks and bruisessuffered during the primary season. You raise money, you begin building acase for the fall, you vet vice presidential candidates, you start to knockaround your opponent, and you still have time to head to Florida to work onyour tan.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=0f6390f1-526e-4509-9321-8f886c529b3c

-Bare-knuckle politics
Why is Clinton fighting so hard? Because history shows it works.
At any time other than in the midst of a heated electoral battle, it's hardto imagine that Nancy Pelosi would attract much controversy by opining thatthe Democratic Party's nominee for president should be the candidate whowins the most votes. The House speaker has done just that, last week drawingan angry backlash from wealthy supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-nugumbel31mar31,0,343914.story?track=rss

-Dem elite working for June solution
Hoping to avoid a summer-long bloodbath for the Democratic presidentialnomination, some party leaders such as Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen haveurged a convention of superdelegates in June, after the caucuses andprimaries are over.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9272.html

-McCain polls well amid war, economic worries
WASHINGTON (AP) - He robustly backs the unpopular Iraq war. The U.S. economyis in a tailspin under the stewardship of President Bush, a fellowRepublican whose favorable ratings with Americans stands at 30% or lower.
His stance on some hot-button American issues like immigration rankle hisparty's conservative base.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-03-30-mccain-poll_N.htm?csp=34


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Politico.com
http://www.politico.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Clinton's convention strategy in doubt
If the fight over whether to count the results in Florida and Michigan makesit to the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton will not haveenough pledged votes on the 169-member Credentials Committee to deliver amajority decision in her favor, according to an analysis conducted forPolitico.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9298.html


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