NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS May 12, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
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-The Empire Zone: Bloomberg Asks Albany to Oppose Union-Backed RetirementBills
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York is appealing to Gov. David A.Paterson and legislative leaders to hold firm against two bills that thecity believes would cost as much as $300 million a year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/nyregion/12empire.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=gay&st=nyt&oref=slogin

-Generation Faithful: Love's Rules Vex and Entrance Young Saudis
Nader al-Mutairi stiffened his shoulders, clenched his fists and said, "Let's do our mission." Then the young man stepped into the cool, empty lobby of adental clinic, intent on getting the phone number of one of the young womenworking as a receptionist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/world/middleeast/12saudi.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Editorial: What Social Security Isn't Meant to Do
To hear some in Congress tell it, the federal government urgently needs toexpand its electronic employment verification system, E-Verify, to allcorners of the country and force every business to use it. But a hearing inthe House last week raised serious questions about the costs and collateraldamage of that expansion, the latest scheme by hard-liners to slam the doorshut on unauthorized immigrant workers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/opinion/12mon1.html?ref=opinion


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Washington Post
http://www.miamiherald.com/
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-Broadband Content Bits: SNL Political; Entertainment Rights; MTVN;;CSG-National Lampoon
NBCU launches Saturday Night Live politics minisite: SNL still doesn't havea real contender for Obama impressions but it does have " SNL Politics",newly launched with all the usual gimmicks and then some: e-cards, games,profiles of presidential candidates as depicted by cast members and anelection for favorite SNL Presidential Candidate. The best bits?and possiblythe worst: video clips featuring political content as well as the show'sdigital shorts,TV Funhousecartoons, and classic sketches sorted by host andcast member. Huffington Post dubs the site a "blatant capitalization" ofComedy Central's "Indecision 2008."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051200271.html

-VH1 Zips (With No Unzipping) Through 'Sex'
Not so much a documentary as a laser blast of rapidly changing images, "Sex:The Revolution" harks nostalgically back to the days of Times Square pornoshops, high jinks in a place called Haight-Ashbury, nudity as a politicalstatement and an obscure late-'60s magazine that advertised itself with theboast: "Living under the constant threat of police confiscation."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101998.html?sub=AR

-Death Toll in China Earthquake May Rise to 7,600
As Many as 900 High School Students TrappedA powerful earthquake hit centralChina on Monday, killing at least 7,600 and injuring 10,000 others asschools and other buildings collapsed throughout Sichuan province.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051200122.html?hpid=topnews

-McCain's Christian Problem
John McCain, who as the Republican candidate for president has spent thepast two months trying to consolidate right-wing support, has a problem ofdisputed dimensions with a vital component of the conservative coalition: evangelicals. The biggest question is whether Mike Huckabee is part of theproblem or the solution for McCain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101786.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
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-Democrats step around elephant in the room
Breaking up is hard to do, especially when the other person doesn't want tosay goodbye.
One way to go is the torturously deferential one, which is the route ofchoice for some of those leading Democrats who think the race for thepresidential nomination is pretty much over for Hillary Clinton.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-campaign12may12,0,4318635.story

-Why the Obama-Clinton ticket is nuts
The sun may be setting on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.
But it is only just rising on what promises to be months of obsessivespeculation, cheerleading and naysaying in a media and political circles onthe next question: Clinton for vice president?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10242.html

-CAMPAIGN 2008: Sit Back, Relax, Get Ready to Rumble
He's taken everything in stride, it seems. How Obama and his team willbattle the GOP onslaught.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136440

-Poll Predicts 36-Point Clinton Landslide in W. Virginia
Voters Say Clinton's Persistence Will Not Hurt the Democratic Party
http://markets.chron.com/chron?GUID=5440387&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3197

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