NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST April 12, 2008

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

-Fewer Options Open to Pay for Costs of College
Parents will have to navigate unfamiliar and difficult terrain when it comestime to pay for college this year, with student loan companies in turmoiland banks tightening their standards and raising rates on other types ofborrowing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/business/12loan.html?hp

-Time for the Colombian Trade Pact
American workers are understandably anxious. Their incomes went nowherethrough six years of economic growth. Many are losing their jobs as theeconomy slips into recession. Yet concern about workers' plight should notlead Congressional Democrats to reject the trade agreement with Colombia.
This deal would benefit the American economy and further the nation'sbroader interests in Latin America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/opinion/12sat1.html?ref=opinion

-Losing Our Will
I wonder what the answers would be if each American asked himself or herselfthe question: "How is the war in Iraq helping me?" While the U.S. government continues to pour precious human treasure and vast financial resources into this ugly war without end, it is all but ignoring deeply entrenched problems that are weakening the country here at home.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/opinion/12herbert.html?ref=opinion

-Catholic Schools Face Changing Fortunes
THE grammar school at St. Lawrence O'Toole Roman Catholic parish here openedin 1926, in a two-story building at the crest of a gentle slope near thetrain station. For decades, nuns lived in the rooms upstairs and taughttheir students in classrooms on the first floor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13rCatholic.html


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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-It's Our Fault, Too
The federal deficit halfway through this budget year is at an all-time high,the Treasury Department announced Thursday, and the national debt is growingas well. But before we blame Washington politicians for theirirresponsibility, stupidity and cowardice -- and we should -- we may want tolook at another culprit: the American people. We, too, bear someresponsibility for our $9 trillion federal debt and $50 trillion ingovernmental promises of future benefits.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041102993.html

-Marketing McCain(TM)
Campaign Plays Up a Political Brand That Stands for Independence From GOPRepublican Sen. John McCain is a champion of an unpopular war, he is tryingto succeed an unpopular GOP president, and he is a member of an increasinglyunpopular party in a year when the historic race of his rivals has causedhundreds of thousands of voters to register as Democrats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041104150.html?hpid=topnews

-Australia to China: Let's Not Be Friends
Does the West have a new secret weapon in dealing with China in the personof Kevin Rudd, the new prime minister of Australia?
Rudd is the only Western leader who speaks Chinese, and his Chinese ispretty good at that. But deeper still is Rudd's understanding of China.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/pomfretschina/2008/04/australia_to_china_lets_not_be_1.html

-Bush Approved Meetings on Interrogation Techniques
President's Comments to ABC News Prove Top-Level Involvement in AllowingHarsh Coercion
CRAWFORD, Tex., April 11 -- President Bush said Friday that he was aware histop national security advisers had discussed the details of harshinterrogation tactics to be used on detainees.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041103653.html?hpid=moreheadlines


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Answers to last-minute reader tax questions
Still haven't filed your tax return? With three days to go until the IRSdeadline, here is the final installment of our reader taxquestion-and-answer column.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flhlptaxqa0412sbapr12,0,986882.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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-Equal-rights law is long overdue in Fla.
`Iron my shirt! Iron my shirt! Iron my shirt!''
The caustic chant came from the middle of an auditorium filled with voterslistening to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, one day before NewHampshire's presidential primary.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/beth_reinhard/story/493106.html

-THE CARIBBEAN
Showdown pushes Haiti toward new crisis
Haitian Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis may become the latest casualtyin Haiti's recent food riots.
http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/492967.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
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-Late-night comics sock it to democracy, some fret
NEW YORK - John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are in a rowboat inthe middle of a lake. The boat rolls over. Who's saved?
The United States.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-comedy_bdapr13,1,4244103.story

-Iraq's all or nothing for Bush, but not for the rest of us
The problem with the debate over our future course in Iraq is that the twosides are not even talking about the same things.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5694360.html

-McCain Coasts on Illusion We Want to Believe: Margaret Carlson
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- As I was watching General David Petraeus beingquestioned in congressional hearings, I finally got why Senator John McCainhas an even chance of being president in spite of supporting a war that mostAmericans are against.
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_carlson&sid=arwII9vothC4

-Clinton's record shows trade support
On the trail, the candidate has made a point of critiquing free tradeagreements, saying they cost U.S. jobs.
WASHINGTON -- Campaigning across Pennsylvania and other sections of the RustBelt in recent months, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has stressed herdetermination to put a hold on trade agreements, which she says are costingAmerican jobs.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-trade12apr12,0,5178534.story

-CAMPAIGN '08: Why Gov. Bill Richardson didn't endorse ClintonGov. Bill Richardson, shown here in New Mexico on Tuesday, has drawn criticism from supporters of Bill and Hillary Clinton for endorsing Sen. Barack Obama. "I was loyal," Richardson says. "But I don't think that loyalty is transferable to his wife.... You don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty." The New Mexico governor says he was dismayed by pressure from the Clinton camp, and impressed by Obama's optimism. Besides, 'you don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty.'
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-richardson12apr12,1,6948327.story?track=rss

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