NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - July 24, 2008

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

-Plan Would Use Antiterror Aid on Pakistani Jets
The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million to upgradingPakistan's F-16s, which critics say are not used in counterterrorism efforts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/asia/24pstan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Is Afghanistan a Narco-State?
The Taliban are not the only ones benefiting from opium. Drug-relatedcorruption pervades the Afghan government, says a former Bush administrationofficial.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/magazine/27AFGHAN-t.html?hp

-House Approves Sweeping Effort to Help Housing
Citing the need to restore confidence in the mortgage giants Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac, the president said he would set aside his objections to thelegislation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/business/24housing.html?hp

-A Lesson Not Learned
After the controversy over Palm Beach County's infamous "butterfly ballot,"Congress should require that ballots used in federal elections meet minimumdesign standards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/opinion/24thu1.html?ref=opinion

-Tough Love for Israel?
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Barack Obama gave ritual affirmations of his support for Israeli policy, butwhat Israel needs from America isn't more love, but tougher love.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/opinion/24kristof.html?ref=opinion

-The Oil Man Cometh
"Totally misleading" is the way T. Boone Pickens describes Republicanattempts to convince the public that if we opened up more areas to oildrilling then gas prices would fall. [...] And what the 80-year-old T.Boone Pickens says, in a $58 million campaign, is that we can't drill ourway to lower gas prices. By implication, anybody who tells you otherwise -including the fellow Texan he helped put in the White House - is a fraud.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/opinion/24egan.html?ref=opinion

-The Voluntary Spirit?
"A relatively new group, Service Nation, is planning to kick off a campaignwith a Summit for "National Service" on September 11," reports Jim Lindgrenof the legal site Volokh Conspiracy. "Time Magazine has signed on topromote the effort. The website trumpets its training of 'Change Agents' incooperation with 'Change, Inc.' Its blog is called ChangeWire. Does thistheme sound familiar? The website makes it clear that it is not just callingfor individuals to get involved, but it is calling for a new NationalService Act that will involve the government in transforming Americansociety."
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/the-voluntary-spirit/index.html?ref=opinion

-Bashir Returns to Darfur
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Sudanese President Bashir had the gall to begin a campaign-style swingthrough Darfur after being indicted by the International Criminal Court.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/bashir-returns-to-darfur/index.html?ref=opinion

-At Trial, Former Serb Leader Seeks to Represent Himself
THE HAGUE - A lawyer for Radovan Karadzic said on Wednesday that his client,newly shorn of the bushy white hair and beard that disguised him for years,would defend himself in any war crimes trial if he was handed over to theUnited Nations tribunal here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/europe/24hague.html

-China Sets Zones for Olympics Protests
BEIJING - The Chinese government will permit public protests inside threedesignated city parks during next month's Olympic Games, but demonstratorsmust first obtain permits from the local police and also abide by Chineselaws that usually make it nearly impossible to legally picket overpolitically charged issues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/sports/olympics/24china.html

-Billionaires Back Antismoking Effort
Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that theywould spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/health/24tobacco.html


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

-They Fight but Can't Vote
Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, introduced a resolution on July 8demanding that the Defense Department better enable U.S. military personneloverseas to vote in the November elections. That act was followed bysilence. Democrats normally leap at any opportunity to find fault with theBush Pentagon. But not a single Democrat joined Blunt as a co-sponsor of theresolution, and an all-Republican proposal cannot pass in theDemocratic-controlled House.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072302905.html

-A European Honeymoon
No American politician can go wrong these days by visiting the good oldEuropean allies in their capitals. So it's not surprising that Sen. BarackObama's current tour features stops in London, Paris and, today, Berlin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303117.html

-Obama's Tour de Force
David S. Broder
If its purpose is to make him look presidential, his current trip is asuccess.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072302903_2.html

-Time for the Shield: Federal legislation protecting journalists' sourcesis overdue for a Senate vote.
APROPOSAL to protect reporters from having to reveal confidential sourcespassed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin last year. Asimilar measure was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 15 to 4. Thepresumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees support it. Sodo the attorneys general of 42 states, who urged the Senate last month toact on the measure. Although 49 states and the District recognize areporter's privilege, the absence of a federal statute undermines thoseprotections, "producing inconsistency and uncertainty for reporters and theconfidential sources," a letter from 41 of the attorneys general noted.Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard G.Lugar (R-Ind.) have fine-tuned the measure to make it more acceptable tofederal officials who have been adamant in their opposition. It is time forSenate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to bring this bill to thefloor.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303316.html

-U.S. Voters: Kinda Out of It?
Political scientists ponder whether citizens are ill-informed or onlyinterested in certain issues. [...] How much credit do we give our mostprecious resource, the American brain? Is it half-empty or half-full?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303693.html?hpid=topnews

-Talking Into the Sunset
It's the season for peace talks in the Middle East, as the region watchesthe clock and waits for the departure of the Bush administration. Some ofwhat's going on is real and some of it is illusion, but to a student ofdiplomatic intrigue all of it is interesting. So here's a brief guide to theSyrian and Iranian negotiating tracks: First, the Syrians. Though they aretechnically in a state of war with Israel, these two bosom enemies (toborrow a phrase from journalist Barbara Slavin) have been conducting asurprisingly robust round of negotiations through Turkish intermediaries. WeAmericans like to think that people should either talk or fight, but thewily politicians in Damascus and Jerusalem understand that in real life,nations often pursue a combination of the two. They need each other, the waythe Joker needs Batman.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072302902.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-McCain Still Waiting for His Turn at Good Luck
It seemed like a great way to counter Obamamania. Sen. John McCain wouldboard a helicopter in New Orleans today, skim quickly over the Gulf ofMexico and land on an oil rig -- a made-for-TV moment to highlight his callfor offshore drilling, an issue that Republicans believe will be a bigwinner in November.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303653.html?hpid=topnews


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-The great tomato panic
''Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?'' former LaborSecretary Ray Donovan famously asked after being indicted for mob-relatedlarceny and fraud, and then acquitted of the charges. Vegetables can havethe same problem -- or to be botanically correct in the case of tomatoes,fruit. For three months, the Food and Drug Administration held tomatoes asthe prime suspect in a salmonella outbreak that sickened perhaps 40,000people. Last week, the FDA declared all tomatoes safe to eat.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/615884.html

-Guarantee healthcare for all
A sobering report from the Commonwealth Fund released July 17 says a lotabout the shameful state of our healthcare system and the abysmal failure ofour elected leaders to enact meaningful reform. The United States spendsmore than twice as much per person on healthcare as most otherindustrialized countries -- but it has plunged to last among those nationsin preventing deaths through timely and effective medical care. How manyfamilies does this touch? A shocking 101,000 fewer Americans would dieprematurely if we matched the benchmarks of 18 other industrialized nations,25 times the number who have died in Iraq.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/615870.html

-You think slavery ended in 1865?
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
This is how John Davis became a slave: He was walking one evening from thetrain depot in Goodwater, Ala., when a white man appeared in the road.''Nigger,'' he demanded, ``have you got any money?'' [...] This wasSeptember 1901 -- 36 years after the end of the Civil War. It would beappalling if it happened once. Douglas Blackmon says it happened hundreds ofthousands of times in Alabama alone. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for TheWall Street Journal, is the author of a compelling new book, Slavery ByAnother Name. Yours truly flatters himself that he is well versed inAfrican-American history, but this book introduced me to a chapter of thathistory I did not know.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/614324.html

-Federal minimum wage rises to $6.55 today
About two million Americans get a raise Thursday as the minimum wage rises70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up andsome small businesses will pass on the cost.
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/AP/story/615500.html


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

-Poll: Economy top issue; energy worries grow most
What's rising faster than gas prices this summer? Americans' worries aboutthem. The economy is the nation's top concern by far, but anxiety aboutenergy has grown more since spring than any other issue while the focus onIraq continues to fade, according to a poll released Wednesday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TOP_PROBLEMS_AP_POLL?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME

-Clinton Supporters Try One More Tack
As many have been saying all along, Senator Barack Obama is only thepresumed Democratic nominee. And that fact has given heart to some ofSenator Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters, who are investing tens ofthousands of dollars to pressure the party to put her name to a binding voteat the convention next month.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/clinton-supporters-try-one-more-tack/

-Dems rack up wins
Democrats are marching through their legislative agenda as they near thefall election season, scoring several key victories and forcing PresidentBush to abandon his veto threats.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-rack-up-wins-2008-07-23.html

-McCain, Fla. GOP pass donor's contributions to charity
Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party of Florida have given to charityseveral thousand dollars in political contributions from a Tampa Bay areaman who recently lost an investor lawsuit in Oregon that accused him ofmishandling millions.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article735985.ece

-"The One" leaves them swooning
JERUSALEM - Barack Obama wrinkles. Just slightly, and just when he has towear a flak jacket over his blue oxford shirt. The media behemoth slouchingafter the senator is scouring his every word, expression, bead of sweat,basketball shot and accessory - are those hiking boots too Bremer? Are thesunglasses too rapper? Will he leave enough time for his glittery groupie,Carla Bruni? - for hints of imperfection that would foretell lacunae inpresidential judgment.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008069356_dowd24.html

-Jonah Goldberg: For John McCain, surge is a losing strategy
"Senator Obama didn't support the surge, wanted to pull out, said that itwould fail. I supported it when it was the toughest thing to do. I believethat my record on national security and keeping this country safe is there.And the American people will examine our records, and I will win." That'sJohn McCain explaining why he'll win.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-goldberg_24edi.ART.State.Edition1.4d88f9d.html

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