NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - July 27, 2008

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

-Shiite Militia in Baghdad Sees Its Power Ebb
The Mahdi Army has been profoundly weakened in a number of neighborhoods, inan important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/world/middleeast/27mahdi.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Black Radio on Obama Is Left's Answer to Limbaugh
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/us/politics/27radio.html?hp

-How Obama Became Acting President
FRANK RICH
Barack Obama-branded change is snowballing, whether it's change you happento believe in or not.
IT almost seems like a gag worthy of "Borat": A smooth-talking rookiesenator with an exotic name passes himself off as the incumbent Americanpresident to credulous foreigners. But to dismiss Barack Obama's magicalmystery tour through old Europe and two war zones as a media-made fairy talewould be to underestimate the ingenious politics of the moment. History wason the march well before Mr. Obama boarded his plane, and his trip wasperfectly timed to reap the whirlwind. He never would have been treated asa president-in-waiting by heads of state or network talking heads if all heoffered were charisma, slick rhetoric and stunning visuals. What drew theminstead was the raw power Mr. Obama has amassed: the power to start shapingevents and the power to move markets, including TV ratings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27rich.html?ref=opinion

-Mr. Mukasey's Justice
Attorney General Michael Mukasey's demand for an expansion of the president's
power to detain foreigners without charge was couched, as usual, inapocalyptic terms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27sun2.html?ref=opinion

-The Pope vs. the Pill
Critics who forecast the collapse of the Roman Catholic papacy after itreiterated its ban on artificial contraception in 1968 underestimated itscapacity to stand its ground.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27allen.html?ref=opinion


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

-China: A Long Wait at the Gate to Greatness
By John Pomfret
Nikita Khrushchev said the Soviet Union would bury us, but these days,everybody seems to think that China is the one wielding the shovel. ThePeople's Republic is on the march -- economically, militarily, evenideologically. Economists expect its GDP to surpass America's by 2025; itssubmarine fleet is reportedly growing five times faster than Washington's;even its capitalist authoritarianism is called a real alternative to theWest's liberal democracy. China, the drumbeat goes, is poised to become the800-pound gorilla of the international system, ready to dominate the 21stcentury the way the United States dominated the 20th. Except that it's not.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/25/AR2008072502255.html

-The Right Place to Try Terrorism Cases
By John C. Coughenour
I have spent 27 years on the federal bench. In particular, my experiencewith the trial of Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber," leads me to worryabout Attorney General Michael Mukasey's comments last week, urging Congressto pass legislation outlining judicial procedures for reviewing Guantanamodetainees' habeas petitions. As constituted, U.S. courts are not only anadequate venue for trying terrorism suspects but are also a tremendous assetin combating terrorism. Congress risks a grave error in creating a parallelsystem of terrorism courts unmoored from the constitutional values that haveserved our country so well for so long.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/25/AR2008072502759.html

-Workable Terrorism Trials
A special federal court could balance fundamental rights and nationalsecurity needs
ON THE OPPOSITE page today, we publish the views of a federal judge whoargues that terrorism cases can and should be handled within the traditionalfederal trial court system. Advocates of such an approach often point tosuccessful prosecutions of those responsible for the 1993 bombing of theWorld Trade Center in New York as evidence of the federal court's ability toprocess such cases in a fair and relatively smooth manner. They citeexpansive laws, such as the material-support statute, that apply both todomestic and overseas acts and give law enforcement officers the ability toarrest someone who aids the enemy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601555.html

-California to Begin Integrating Prisons for Men
Some Warn That Racial Tension Will Explode as Others Predict IncreasedTolerance
Male prisoners in the nation's largest corrections system, long keptsegregated by race in an effort to temper violence, will soon be sharingcells with inmates of other ethnicities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601557.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-When Should I Upgrade My Browser?
Q I would like to know if and when I should upgrade my browser? I think Ihave Internet Explorer 6.
A As much as this question made me cringe, I'm glad this reader asked it. Yes, you do need to keep your browser up to date -- especially if you'rerunning Internet Explorer 6. That program is frightfully insecure againstdrive-by downloads and does such a poor job of supporting Web standards thata small but growing number of sites have begun to block it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072600030.html?hpid=sec-tech


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

-Avoiding airlines' baggage fees might take some sacrifice
You may have to sacrifice to avoid airlines' baggage fees
Packing for a summer vacation or business trip can be a hassle. And morethan ever, travelers are rewarded if they can stuff all their belongingsinto carry-on bags. Airlines such as American, US Airways and United havestarted charging passengers $15 each way for the first checked piece ofluggage in an effort to offset soaring fuel costs. If each person in afamily of four checks a bag, that can add up to $120 - nearly the price ofanother round-trip airline ticket.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzpacking0727sbjul27,0,822316.story


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

-We're losing the ability to think
Leonard Pitts
I love comic books. For 41 years, I've studied them, collected them,written and read exhaustively about them. So I hope you'll agree I'mqualified to judge the merits of a comic book created by one Brent Rinehartas a tool in his campaign for reelection as a commissioner of OklahomaCounty, Okla.
http://www.miamiherald.com/285/story/618348.html

-Woman on a mission: Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama makes her own rules on the road to the White HouseMichelle Obama glides into an empty Jungle Island banquet room looking freshin a signature, white sheath dress that exposes toned arms and showcasesthat long, graceful neck. If her style earns her comparisons to Jackie O,she won't complain.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/619061.html


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Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
frishkorn@bellsouth.net
Go to this link for the following article:

-New Zealand Students Offer New Bounty For Arrest of Condoleezza Rice ForWar Crimes
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A group of New Zealand students offered a higherreward Saturday for the citizen's arrest of U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice for war crimes after another group withdrew their ownbounty, accusing police of threatening them. Students at VictoriaUniversity in the capital, Wellington, doubled the original reward offer toUS$7,400, according to Joel Cosgrove, the student president. Cosgrove saidRice should be arrested because she is responsible for the deaths of atleast 600,000 Iraqis killed since the 2003 invasion by U.S.-led coalitiontroops.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/26/asia/AS-New-Zealand-Rice-Bounty.php


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MoveOn.Org
http://www.MoveOn.org/
Go to the links for the following articles:

Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free-no stringsattached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.Click this link to get a free Obama button:
http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=13339-5533006-ZkbwdJx&t=4


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

-Hopefuls gird for Florida slugfest
When presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama arrive in Floridathis week for the first time in more than a month, they'll find a tight racefor the state's precious electoral votes. Obama appears to have closed thegap on McCain - taking the lead in several recent polls for the first time -following a glut of campaign hires, a swarm of organizing and, perhaps mostimportantly, his first flood of targeted television ads, particularly inNorth Florida.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/07/26/m1a_fla_prez_0727.html

-Can minority journalists resist applauding Obama?
When Barack Obama ascends the stage Sunday at the Unity journalismconvention, fresh from an exhaustively chronicled overseas tour, he willface a surprisingly divided audience. Not on the subject of whether Obamashould be president -- members of the four minority organizations thatcomprise Unity are largely Democratic. But many at the quadrennial gatheringdiffer on whether the underlying current of enthusiasm for Obama's historiccandidacy should be constrained or allowed to spill forth on livetelevision.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-applaudingobama,0,2235555.story

-In election, markets will be winner
Uncertainty during the run-up to a vote for president instills investoranxiety, experts say, and the release of tension afterward often leads to a"relief rally." [...] "The markets hate uncertainty, so as we get closer tothe election, any contradictions in the candidates' policies can causeanxiety," said David Kudla, chief executive and chief investment strategistfor Mainstay Capital Management in Saginaw, Mich. "We tend to see a reliefrally after a presidential election, no matter what the outcome, becausethere finally is some certainty."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-election-0727jul27,0,1071822.story

-Senate Republicans block heating aid bill
Republicans on Saturday blocked the Senate from considering a bill next weekthat would nearly double federal aid to help the poor pay heating andair-conditioning bills.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601080.html?hpid=sec-politics

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