NATIONAL & WORLD NEWS May 6, 2008

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

-States Get In on Calls for a Gas Tax Holiday
Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida has been fighting to cut 10 cents from thestate's gasoline tax for two weeks in July. Lawmakers in Missouri, New Yorkand Texas have also proposed a summer break from state gas taxes, whilecandidates for governor in Indiana and North Carolina are sparring overrelief ideas of their own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/us/06gas.html?scp=4&sq=GAY&st=nyt

-Lots of Animals Learn, but Smarter Isn't Better
"Why are humans so smart?" is a question that fascinates scientists. TadeuszKawecki, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Fribourg, likes toturn around the question.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/science/06dumb.html?8dpc

-Interactive Democratic Delegate Calculator: What the Candidates Need to Win
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/delegatecalculator/index.html

-Editorial: Death by Detention
A chilling article by Nina Bernstein in The Times on Monday recounted thesecrecy, neglect and lack of oversight that are a few of the shamefulsymptoms of the booming sector of the nation's prison industry - thedetention of undocumented foreigners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/opinion/06tue1.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: Doing the Troops Wrong
At the top of the list of no-brainers in Washington should be Senator JimWebb's proposed expansion of education benefits for the men and women whohave served in the armed forces since Sept. 11, 2001.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/opinion/06herbert.html?ref=opinion


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

-Obama vs. Clinton 2.0
At this crucial moment, the Democratic presidential battle is a puzzlewrapped in two ironies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502063.html

-Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000: state radio
The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000others were missing as the international community prepared to rush in aidafter the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050600289.html?hpid=topnews\

-Justice System For Detainees Is Moving At a Crawl
No Sept. 11 Trials Likely Before Bush Leaves Office, Officials Say
At the end of a tattered, sunbaked runway dotted with large green tents hereis a building aptly called the Expeditionary Legal Complex Courtroom,surrounded by coils of concertina wire, where the most notorious allegedterrorists in U.S. custody are supposed to face charges related to the Sept.11, 2001, attacks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502315.html?hpid=topnews

-Pins and Panders
Obama Wears His Independence on His Lapel
Sometimes I think the best thing about Barack Obama is that little emptyspace on his lapel. It is where other politicians wear the American flagpin, a kitschy piece of empty symbolism that tells you nothing about thatparticular person except that he or she thinks like everyone else. Obama'sflag, invisible to the naked eye, is the Jolly Roger of a politicianthinking for himself.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502065.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-A Lone Tibetan Voice, Intent on Speaking Out
Writer Seeks to Chronicle Events in Areas Hit by Crackdown
Each morning, it is the same. She rises and heads to her computer to write,to pierce the silence that otherwise shrouds events these days in Tibet, herhomeland.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502218.html?hpid=sec-religion

-'Idol' Carries a Shakier Tune
It's time for the annual "American Idol" column, written this year with aheavy heart. Let's not kid ourselves: Something's not right.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502066.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Ga. execution would be first since Supreme Court ruling
Georgia moved forward with preparations to execute a convicted killer, whoon Tuesday night could become the first inmate put to death since the U.S.Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a three-drug lethal injectionprocedure.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top13may06,0,7357582.story


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Support PBS
In the next few months, Congress will decide whether to continue supportingBig Bird-or give him the ax. Public broadcasting gets around $400 millionannually from the U.S. government, which covers about 15% of local stationbudgets. (Most shows are funded primarily by producers, viewer donations,private foundations and corporations.) Now the Bush Administration hasproposed cutting funding by half. Those who agree with this decrease saythat, with the availability of high-quality cable-TV shows, public TV isunnecessary. Its average nightly audience is 2.1 million-around half of theviewership of pro wrestling. Responds Eric Boehlert, senior fellow at MediaMatters, a nonprofit media watchdog group: "PBS is a success story for thegovernment, ranking up there with the national parks. Any cuts would hurtthe millions of people who can't orwon't pay for cable." Should tax dollars support PBS?
Vote at Parade.com.
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_05-04-2008/Intelligence_Report=

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