NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS April 29, 2008

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

-The Court Fumbles on Voting Rights
Democracy was the big loser in the Supreme Court on Monday. The court upheldIndiana's voter identification law, which solves a nearly nonexistentproblem by putting major barriers between voters - particularly minorities -and the ballot box. Worse, the court set out a standard that clears the wayfor other states to adopt rules that discourage disadvantaged groups fromvoting. It is a sad reversal for a court that once saw itself as a championof voting rights.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/opinion/29tue1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

-The Pastor Casts a Shadow
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright went to Washington on Monday not to praise Barak
Obama, but to bury him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/opinion/29herbert.html?ref=opinion

-Vexing Issue for the Clinton Campaign: What to Make of Bill?
WASHINGTON - At the end of a week in which Bill Clinton's stumping for hiswife was again overshadowed by a "distraction," many Democrats were asking:Is this method, or madness?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/us/politics/29bill.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS

-Its Candidates Otherwise Engaged, Democratic Party Goes After McCain
WASHINGTON - With no end in sight to the nominating contest between SenatorsHillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, the Democratic Party has begun itsfirst sustained advertising campaign against Senator John McCain,introducing a new commercial this week criticizing his recent comments thathe could envision a United States presence in Iraq for 100 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/us/politics/29ads.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS

-Demography Is King
Fifty-five years ago, 80 percent of American television viewers, young andold, tuned in to see Milton Berle on Tuesday nights. Tens of millions, richand poor, worked together at Elks Lodges and Rotary Clubs. Millions more,rural and urban, read general-interest magazines like Look and Life. Inthose days, the owner of the local bank lived in the same town as thegrocery clerk, and their boys might play on the same basketball team. Only 7percent of adult Americans had a college degree.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/opinion/29brooks.html?ref=opinion

-Chinese Students in U.S. Fight View of Their Home
LOS ANGELES - When the time came for the smiling Tibetan monk at the frontof the University of Southern California lecture hall to answer questions,the Chinese students who packed the audience for the talk last Tuesday hadplenty to lob at their guest:If Tibet was not part of China, why had theChinese emperor been the one to give the Dalai Lama his title? How did thetenets of Buddhism jibe with the "slavery system" in Tibet before China'smodernization efforts? What about the Dalai Lama's connection to Hitler?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/education/29student.html?hp

-With Demand Slipping for Its Pickups and S.U.V.'s, G.M. Will Lay Off 3,550
DETROIT - General Motors said Monday that it would slash production of bigtrucks and sport utility vehicles by nearly 140,000 units this year, a movethat would eliminate assembly shifts at four plants and cause about 3,550workers to be laid off.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/business/29auto.html


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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-A Pastor at Center Stage
And a Parishioner With Questions to Answer
Because John McCain and other legislators worry that they are easilycorrupted, there are legal limits to the monetary contributions that anyonecan make to political candidates. There are, however, no limits to therhetorical contributions that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright can make to McCain'scampaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802100.html

-The Shrinking Election
A 'Change' Year Takes a Turn for the Small
This is supposed to be a big election, but it has given every sign in recentweeks of becoming a small one. As a result, the public and the media areshowing signs of exhaustion with what had once been an exhilarating contest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802103.html

-31 of 53 teen girls at FLDS ranch are pregnant or had baby
SAN ANTONIO -- More than half the teenage girls taken from a polygamistcompound in west Texas have children or are pregnant, state officials saidMonday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042801754.html?hpid=moreheadlines


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-AP Poll: Clinton leads McCain by 9 points
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton now leads John McCain by 9 points in ahead-to-head presidential matchup, according to an Associated Press-Ipsospoll that bolsters her argument that she is more electable than Democraticrival Barack Obama. Obama and Republican McCain are running about even.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-presidential-race-ap-poll,0,5223846.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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-JIMMY CARTER: Talking to the bad guys
One of Jimmy Carter's greatest talents is irritating people.
The former president's deep religious faith and self-righteousness haveconvinced him he can jawbone any despot into responsible behavior. He onceadmitted: ``Rosalynn (his wife) often says I'm too sympathetic to people whoare unsavory, but I have to understand their position."
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/513288.html

-UNITED NATIONS: Making a mockery out of human rights
The world's foremost human rights organization has ordered its envoys tobegin investigating people or groups who abuse freedom of speech byviolating certain ''moral'' standards. The envoys would rely on individualgovernments to define morality in their own states. Imagine what wouldhappen if Washington, London or New Delhi tried to pass laws forbiddingpublic discussion of ''moral'' issues like religion, alcohol or sex. Whatorganization is setting up this absurd investigation?
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/512508.html

-McCain seeks tax credit for health care
TAMPA, Fla. -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants healthinsurance companies to compete for your business on the open market.
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/513460.html


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Pew Research center
http://pewresearch.org/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gen Dems: Party's Advantage Among Young Voters Widens
The current generation of young voters who came of age during Bush's term inoffice, is leading the way in giving the Democrats a wide advantage in partyidentification, just as the previous generation of young people who grew upin the Reagan years -- Generation X -- fueled the Republican surge of themid-1990's. Read more

-Obama's Catholic Voter Problem
Hillary Clinton won the Catholic vote in Pennsylvania's Democratic primaryby more than a two-to-one margin, repeating a pattern among religious voterssimilar to those seen in other states. Does this have implications for theMay 6 contests in Indiana and North Carolina? Read moreMurdoch's Meddling?

-So, Just How Different Is Rupert Murdoch's New Wall Street Journal?
A Project for Excellence in Journalism content study finds that, to date,the newly staked out battleground between the Journal and the New York Timesseems to be located mostly on the playing field of politics. Read moreField
Day

-Turf Wars: A Fight Over Fake Grass
Debates in a handful of states really are pitting those who back theartificial variety of turf against supporters of natural grass forplaygrounds and athletic fields. Read moreDaily Number

-51% vs. 52% - Electability: Clinton vs. Obama
Analysis of Pew surveys conducted in late February and March finds Sens.Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama running equally well against Sen. JohnMcCain among voters in the big swing states of Florida, Ohio, Michigan andPennsylvania; Obama led McCain 52% to 40% among a representative sample ofvoters living in these states, while Clinton bested McCain by astatistically comparable 51%-to-42% margin. Check back every weekday foranother number in the news. Read more


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Inside Higher Education

When Athletics May Influence Alumni Giving
An explanation that college leaders sometimes give for why theirinstitutions must play big-time sports - and why they feel the need to pourmoney into big-time football and men's basketball programs to make them morecompetitive - is their belief that winning teams make alumni more likely todig into their pockets when the fund raisers come calling. The perceptionpersists even though numerous studies over the years have challenged thelink between athletic success and giving to a college's general fund(stronger correlations have sometimes been found to giving to sportsprograms themselves). Most of the research on the purported link hasfocused on institution-level data - in other words, whether a college'salumni, as a group, contribute more, less or the same based on whether itsteams win or lose. But a new study takes a different approach, examininggiving decisions made by individual graduates at one selective institution.
It finds some correlation between alumni giving and teams' on-the-fieldsuccess - but not necessarily the type of connection that would justifypouring funds into high-profile teams like football and basketball.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/29/giving


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
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-On affirmative action, Obama intriguing but vague
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama is one of the rare Democrats who often choose toexplain the values behind a policy rather than the policy itself. (That'smore often been the proud approach of Republicans, including Ronald Reaganand George W. Bush.)
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/29/on_affirmative_action_obama_intriguing_but_vague/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z

-ROVE'S 'WINNING' TIPS FOR BARACK
April 29, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - Karl Rove, the Republican politicalstrategist formerly known as President "Bush's Brain," offered someunsolicited advice yesterday in an open letter to Democrat Barack Obama onhow best to beat Hillary Rodham Clinton.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04292008/news/nationalnews/roves_winning_tips_for_barack_108584.htm

-Heated Campaign Souring Democrats On Rival Candidates
Heated Presidential Campaign Increasingly Souring Democrats On RivalCandidates
Loyal Democrat Richard Somer says if Hillary Rodham Clinton gets his party'spresidential nomination, he just may sit it out this Election Day.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/29/ap/politics/main4053390.shtml

-Does John McCain Stand for Anything?
Ideas have never been the Arizona senator's strong suit, even when theconservative tide was surging. McCain's calling card has always been hisbiography, and his platform is built on received conservative truths.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=does_john_mcain_stand_for_anything

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