NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - August 06, 2008

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

-Editorial: Guns and Poppies
In the morass that is Afghanistan, not just the Taliban are flourishing. Sotoo is opium production, which increasingly finances the group's activities.There is no easy way to end this narcotics threat, a symptom of widerinstability. Even a wise and coordinated plan of attack would take years tobear real results. But the United States and the rest of the internationalcommunity are failing to develop one. They must work harder, smarter andmore cooperatively to rescue this narco-state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/opinion/05tue1.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: McCain's Green-Eyed Monster
Not since Iago and Othello obsessed on the comely Cassio, not since Richardof Gloucester killed his two nephews, not since Nixon and Johnson gloweredat the glittering J.F.K., has there been such an unseemly outpouring of boyenvy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/opinion/06dowd.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

-Op-Ed Columnist: Learning to Speak Climate
Sometimes you just wish you were a photographer. I simply do not have thewords to describe the awesome majesty of Greenland's Kangia Glacier,shedding massive icebergs the size of skyscrapers and slowly pushing themdown the Ilulissat Fjord until they crash into the ocean off the west coastof Greenland. There, these natural ice sculptures float and bob around theglassy waters near here. You can sail between them in a fishing boat,listening to these white ice monsters crackle and break, heave and sigh, asif they were noisily protesting their fate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/opinion/06friedman.html?ref=opinion

-Forging Perceptions
If the campaign consultants have their way, 90 days from now roughly half ofthe electorate will think that John McCain is an angry, nasty and bitter oldman. The other half will think that Barack Obama is an egotistical, fecklessand immature dilettante.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/forging-perceptions/index.html?ref=opinion

-As Iraq Surplus Rises, Little Goes Into Rebuilding
Rising oil prices will leave the Iraqi government with a budget surplus ofas much as $79 billion by year's end, according to a new report.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/world/middleeast/06surplus.html?hp

-Olympics Tracker
Follow the schedules of your favorite Olympic sports, day by day and eventby event, and stay on top of all the coverage from Beijing.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/05/sports/olympics/2008_OLYMPICS_TRACKER.html

-Texas Executes Mexican Despite Objections
In a case that has drawn international attention, Texas executed José E.Medellín on Tuesday night in defiance of an international court ruling anddespite pleas from the Bush administration for a new hearing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/us/06execute.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1218027607-ozYKn9TIkLsmsPfVlnuT+g

-Texas Seeking Custody of 8 Children From Sect
Texas child welfare officials asked a court Tuesday to return eight childrenfrom a polygamous sect to state custody because their mothers refused tolimit the children's contact with men involved in under-age marriages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/us/06polygamist.html

-An Energy Diet for Power-Hungry Household PCs
In its drive to go green, the technology industry has so far focused mainlyon big targets like corporations and especially computer data centers, thepower-hungry computing engine rooms of the Internet economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/technology/06green.html


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

-Political Perils of a 'Big Sort'?
People prefer to be with people like themselves. For all the celebration of"diversity," it's sameness that dominates. Most people favor friendshipswith those who have similar backgrounds, interests and values. It makes formore shared experiences, easier conversations and more comfortable silences.Despite many exceptions, the urge is nearly universal. It's human nature.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080502933.html

-Faith's Real Riches
In a recent investigative profile, the Associated Press tells thedepressingly familiar story of televangelist Kenneth Copeland. Hisministry's private jet and lakeside mansion. The complex web of ranching,oil and media interests that benefits his extended family. In this case,there is no taint of hypocrisy. Copeland practices what he preaches -- adoctrine that God wants his followers to prosper in very material ways.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080502928.html

-Obama's Pitch to Hit
For the past two weeks, John McCain's Trash Talk Express has rolled overBarack Obama, flattening the Illinois senator's lead in many national pollsand directing public attention away from the fundamental political choicesthe nation has to make and toward Obama's allegedly elitist character.Campaigning against Democrats' allegedly elitist characters has been theRepublican formula for presidential victory for the past 20 years, eversince uber-consultant Lee Atwater realized he could steer the populistsentiments of many voters against cultural rather than economic elites. TheAtwater ploy often requires GOP consultants to manufacture evidence of theDemocratic candidate's cultural marginality, but over the past fortnight,McCain's campaign, with its nose dive into Paris Hilton Plays the Race Cardthematics, has proved equal to the task.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080502930.html

-Alexander Solzhenitsyn
He lived not by lies. ON FEB. 18, 1974, this newspaper published an essay," Live Not by Lies," by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who with his writings anddauntless moral courage had shaken Soviet power as no other individual haddone. Written six days earlier, probably hours before the Soviet secretpolice broke into his Moscow apartment, arrested him and sent him into whatwould be a 20-year exile in the West, the essay was an ardent call fortruth-telling, for spurning the monstrous lies that bore the USSR aloft."Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, but notwith any help from me," he wrote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/04/AR2008080401866.html

-In Spite of Rules, Olympic Athletes Say They Won't Lose Faith
Sanya Richards envisions 91,000 fans at Beijing National Stadium andmillions more on television watching her cross the finish line first in the400 meters later this month. Immediately afterward, Richards said, she plansto kneel, say a quick prayer and then point skyward in spiritual appreciation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080503315.html

-Motorcade Map Found at House Of Bomb Suspect
Police found a map of Camp David marked with a presidential motorcade routeinside the Bethesda home of the teenager at the center of a bombmakingprobe, along with a document that appears to describe how to kill someone ata distance of 200 meters, a Montgomery County prosecutor said yesterday at acourt hearing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080502341.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Iran Seeks Details on Nuclear Offer
Western Countries Say That Tehran's Response Is Evasive
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 5 -- The Iranian government said Tuesday that it isready to respond to an incentives package that the United States and fiveother world powers have offered in exchange for suspension of itsuranium-enrichment program. But Iran insisted that the big powers"simultaneously" provide a more detailed explanation of the offer, a formulathat may lead to drawn-out talks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080501727.html?hpid=sec-world

-They're Baaaack... Swift Boat Veterans Take Aim At Obama
Just as they sought to destroy John Kerry in 2004, the founders of the SwiftBoat Veterans for Truth group are aiming their guns at this season'spresumptive Democratic presidential candidate. But unlike four years ago,when the Swifties spent millions to discredit Kerry, their hit on BarackObama so far hasn't cost them a dime.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/08/theyre_baaaack_swift_boat_vete.html?hpid=sec-politics


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

-Survey: Florida's proposed property tax amendment not popular
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-flfproptax0806sbaug06,0,7018423.story

-If oil is down a lot in price, why is gas down only a little?
An expert explains that the drop in crude prices won't result inpenny-for-penny decreases at the pump. Crude oil prices are droppingsharply. Gasoline prices are falling, too, but not nearly as much. What'sgoing on here? We asked an independent expert to explain.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flzgasprices0806sbaug06,0,5465102.story


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

-`Politics as war is not pretty' by Leonard Pitts
I haven't read Robert Novak's column in 10 years. Back in 1998, he made acomment on CNN -- what it was is not material here -- that I consideredbeyond the pale. I decided I could henceforth do without his opinions andinsights. He impressed me as a distinctly disagreeable man. And that waswell before he outed covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/630724.html

-CELEBRITY ROUNDUP: Morgan on the mend
Morgan Freeman is doing well after surgery to reconnect nerves and repairdamage to his left arm and hand following a car wreck Sunday night. Thesurgery Monday night ''lasted approximately four and a half hours, includingrecovery, and he is in good spirits and was visiting family members thismorning,'' Donna Lee, Freeman's publicist, said in a statement Tuesday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/people/story/630706.html

-Obama leads McCain nationally in AP-Ipsos poll
Solid margins among women, minorities and young voters have powered BarackObama to a 6 percentage point lead over John McCain in the presidentialrace, according to a poll released Tuesday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/630024.html


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Local10.com
http://www.local10.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Ex-Bin Laden Driver Found Guilty
Panel Soon To Deliver Decision
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A military jury convicted Osama binLaden's former driver Wednesday in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial.
http://www.local10.com/news/17109350/detail.html?treets=mia&tml=mia_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=mia_natlbreak_1_09370308062008

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