Monday, May 05, 2008

NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS May 5, 2008

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

-In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test
A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationshipbetween Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected theiropinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influencevoters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, accordingto the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/us/politics/05poll.html?hp

-Op-Ed Columnist: Success Breeds Failure
Cross your fingers, knock on wood: it's possible, though by no meanscertain, that the worst of the financial crisis is over. That's the goodnews.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/opinion/05krugman.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: McCain-Jindal?
Barack Obama said Friday, "We've had a rough couple of weeks." Actually, he's had a rough couple of months. He's lost three big primaries to HillaryClinton. And, should he hold on to win the nomination, he can no longer beconsidered a clear favorite over John McCain in the general election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/opinion/05kristol.html?ref=opinion

-Editorial: Big Oil's Friends in the Senate
Listen to almost any politician, President Bush included, and you'll hearthat the fight against global warming cannot be won without cleanertechnologies that will ease dependence on fossil fuels. Yet these samepoliticians are on the verge of allowing modest but vital tax credits toexpire that are crucial to the future of renewable energy sources like windand solar power.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/opinion/05mon2.html?ref=opinion

-For the Elderly, Being Heard About Life's End
Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-pacedgame of tennis. But when it comes to health care, she is a champion of "slowmedicine," an approach that encourages less aggressive - and less costly -care at the end of life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/health/05slow.html?hp

-Democrats Call Victory a Sign G.O.P. Tactic Failed
The Democratic victory in a special House election in Louisiana this weekendwas interpreted by leading Democrats on Sunday as a sign that Republicanswould fail in their efforts to damage Congressional candidates by tying themto national figures and presidential contenders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/us/politics/05louisiana.html


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

-On Economy, Unlikely Allies Forge Winning Strategy
Housing Bill to Test Treasury Chief, Democrat's Ties
One is a free-market Republican from Wall Street with roots in the ruralMidwest and a passion for bird-watching. The other is a rumpled, union-hallDemocrat from Bayonne, N.J., who once famously described himself as "aleft-handed, gay Jew." About the only thing Treasury Secretary Henry M.Paulson Jr. and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank have in common is a Harvarddegree. Yet the two have forged a remarkably productive relationship in thewaning days of the Bush administration, steering complicated bills tooverhaul two federal agencies through the Democratic House and shapingWashington's response to the nation's credit crisis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050402183.html

-Cyclone death toll nears 4,000 in Burma, state radio says
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050500083.html?hpid=topnews

-Fiscal Pressures Lead Some States to Free Inmates Early
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050402054.html?hpid=topnews

-Iraq Says It Has Proof Of Iranian Meddling
Tehran Funneling Weapons, Officials Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401738.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Operating outside public view, the House Democratic majority is takingextraordinary steps to maintain spending as usual while awaiting the arrivalof a Democratic president. Remarkably, the supine House Republican minorityhardly resists and even collaborates with its supposed adversaries. Therehas been little public Republican protest over the seizure of theappropriating process by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her clique. For thesecond year, no appropriations bill other than defense is scheduled forpassage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401598.html

-Of all the strange features of this presidential race, the tarnishing ofBarack Obama has got to be the most ridiculous. First Obama was accused ofanti-religious elitism. Then he was accused of identifying with theunderclass anger of his spiritual mentor. Excuse me, but which is it? Am Isupposed to believe that Obama is a supercilious elitist or a menacingghetto radical? Is he contemptuous of religion or too close to a religiousleader? Obama's critics don't bother to say. Meanwhile, real characterissues go relatively unheeded.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401600.html

-Attorney General Michael Mukasey is wrong when he says we do not need afederal media shield law.
Mukasey recently argued in an op-ed that there is no need for Congress toprovide a qualified, evidentiary privilege for journalists. As evidence, hecited a few of the many important news stories that, even in the absence ofa shield law, were brought to light because of sources who providedinformation to journalists under a promise of confidentiality. Pending mediashield legislation would impede the investigation of crimes and threats tonational security, he argued. As the ranking Republican member of the SenateJudiciary Committee, I strongly disagree with him.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401597.html

-Coming Clean on Torture
What Congress should do next
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401570.html


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Susan Frishkorn
frishkorn@bellsouth.net
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Doesn't Mince Words About War and JusticeShirin Ebadi wants Americans to do what they can to stop the Bushadministration's threats to bomb Iran as punishment for presumably makingnuclear weapons. "Nuclear weapons are not a daily concern of the people,"said Ebadi. "They want jobs; they want houses; they want health; they wantmore freedom." However, she predicted that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadwould whip up nationalistic support if Iran were forced into a face-off withthe United States, just as it did when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.
The invasion resulted in an eight-year war between the two countries.
"Iranians may criticize their government, but if there is a military attackon Iran, they will defend their own country," she said. "A government thatis in danger from the outside will take any chance to accelerate nationalisminside the country."
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/04/8700/


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

-Obama hits Big 3 on SUVs
Illinois senator cites Detroit 'mistake,' while Clinton defends plan tosuspend gas tax.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/AUTO01/805050358/&imw=Y

-Democratic and Republican healthcare plans offer clear choices
John McCain wants better and cheaper coverage for more Americans. So doBarack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But their strategies for achieving thosegoals are fundamentally different.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-health5-2008may05,0,2373137.story


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