NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - August 23, 2008

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

-Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate
Senator Barack Obama has chosen Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware tobe his running mate, turning to a leading authority on foreign policy and alongtime Washington hand to fill out the Democratic ticket, Mr. Obamaannounced in text and e-mail messages early Saturday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us/politics/24biden.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-For McCains, a Public Path but Private Wealth
When Senator John McCain is in Washington, he lives in a luxury high-risecondominium in Arlington, Va., owned by his wife, Cindy Hensley McCain. Mrs.McCain also owns their condos in Phoenix, San Diego and Coronado, Calif.,and their vacation compound near Sedona, Ariz. And it is the beer business,Hensley & Company, she inherited from her father that is the source of theMcCain family fortune.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/us/politics/23mccain.html

-Editorial: Beijing's Bad Faith Olympics
The Beijing Olympics still have one more day to run. But the final goldmedal - for authoritarian image management - can already be safely awardedto China's Communist Party leadership.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/opinion/23sat1.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: McCain's Drill Appeal
Mr. Obama, I'm stunned. You've allowed John McCain to use the energy issueto steal your momentum and erase your lead in the polls. McCain told Americathat we needed to explore all our options to solve the energy crisis,including drilling offshore. He said that you disagreed. He summed up hisargument in a powerful little phrase: "Drill here and drill now." Brilliant!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/opinion/23blow.html?ref=opinion

-Editorial: Taking On the Traffickers
The Federal Trafficking and Victims Protection Act of 2000 was an ambitiousattempt to rescue women and children who are smuggled into the country assex slaves and to step up prosecution of the pimps and traffickers who drivethis ghastly business. It has fallen short on both counts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/opinion/23sat2.html?ref=opinion

-Editorial: Mr. Johnson Steps Up
We have had very little good to say about Stephen Johnson, the administratorof the Environmental Protection Agency who has refused to stand up to theWhite House or industry on important issues involving clean air and climatechange. Yet he clearly deserves credit for asserting his authority in twoclean water cases where the Army Corps of Engineers was on the verge ofcausing environmental damage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/opinion/23sat3.html?ref=opinion

-Despite Pullout, Russia Envisions Long-Term Shift
MOSCOW - As the Russian Army withdrew most of its forces from Georgia, itwas becoming ever more clear on Friday that Moscow had no intention ofrestoring what once was - either on the ground or diplomatically.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/world/europe/23moscow.html?hp

-The Olympics over, China counts medals and respect
BEIJING (AP) -- In the heady, waning days of Beijing's Olympics, youngChinese took to greeting each other gleefully: ''How many gold medals havewe won today?''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-OLY-Chinas-Olympics.html

-News Analysis: After Musharraf, U.S. Struggles to Find New Pakistan AllyAgainst Taliban
Now that Washington's close friend, President Pervez Musharraf, is gone, thequestion is this: who among the array of characters in the politicalfirmament here will America turn to in the messy fight against an emboldenedTaliban?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/world/asia/23assess.html

-2 Withdraw From Petition to Rethink Drinking Age
Two college presidents, both in Georgia, have withdrawn their names from apetition to reconsider the legal drinking age after it drew blisteringcriticism this week from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, safety experts,transportation officials and politicians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/us/22drinking.html

-Mixed Results on Paying City Students to Pass Tests
Offered up to $1,000 for scoring well on Advanced Placement exams, studentsat 31 New York City high schools took 345 more of the tests this year thanlast. But the number who passed declined slightly, raising questions aboutthe effectiveness of increasingly popular pay-for-performance programs inschools here and across the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/education/20cash.html


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

-Deepak Chopra: Founder and president of the Alliance for a New HumanityFaith Quizzes Get an F
For me, the God quiz that Barack Obama endured with barely concealed sweatypalms and that John McCain breezed through with seasoned casualness has noplace in American politics. Rick Warren is a feel-good preacher who softenedthe interrogation and administered no canings, but that's irrelevant. Toclaim that "faith and politics" is different -- and more acceptable -- than"church and state" is semantic sleight of hand. The reason that anycontemporary presidential candidate is forced to suffer the indignity ofconfessing his religious beliefs in public goes back to the Reaganrevolution. Pandora's box was opened by the right wing in 1980, admittingnot just inappropriate matters of religion into political life but alsomaking acceptable a range of prejudice, bigotry, and divisiveness that hadbeen banished by an era of liberal social legislation. Reagan, after all,was the president who, if left to his own devices, would have let thousandsmore AIDS victims die through neglect and lack of funding for basic medicalresearch. The implicit reason, well understood by the right and endorsed byfundamentalists, was that gays deserve what they get if they pursue alifestyle that doesn't match right-wing Christian ideology. Minorities,women, immigrants, and progressivism in general were given the same backhand.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/deepak_chopra/2008/08/faith_quizzes_get_an_f.html

-What Rick Warren Should Have Asked
Even a cable TV commentator could watch Saturday's Saddleback Church CivilForum and figure out why John McCain did so well. In a sanctuary filled withconservative evangelicals, McCain decided to preach to the choir whileBarack Obama decided to talk to the pastor. Obama had a conversation;McCain's goal was conversion. Fortunately for McCain, Karl Rove could nothave designed a better set of questions for him. In his opening remarks,Rev. Rick Warren, Saddleback's pastor and forum moderator acknowledged that"faith is just a worldview and everybody has some kind of worldview and it'simportant to know what they are." Intentionally or not, understandably ornot, Warren's questions were grounded in the priorities and worldview ofAmerican cultural conservatives.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/08/what_rick_warren_could_have_as.html

-New Data: Impact of Biden
Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate is unlikely toshake-up the presidential horse race. In a new Washington Post-ABC News pollcompleted last night, three-quarters of voters said picking Biden would notsway their votes one way or the other. And about as many said they would bemore apt to support Obama with Biden on the ticket as said the choice wouldmake them less likely to vote Democratic on Election Day (13 to 10 percent).
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2008/08/new_data_impact_of_biden.html?hpid=topnews

-Convicted Of Charisma
"On Thursday, as the convention moves from the indoor Pepsi Center to MileHigh, an open-air football stadium, Democrats will have to balance theirdesire to spotlight Obama's enthusiastic following with concern that imagesof a cheering throng will ratify Republican attacks on the candidate as aglitzy but untested celebrity." -- The Post, Aug. 14
It's not completely crazy for a political party to worry that a campaignevent could be too successful. In Britain in 1992, the Labor Party wasleading in all the polls until just a few days before the election, when italso staged a huge rally in a football stadium (different kind of football,of course). British voters punished Labor's leader, Neil Kinnock, forseeming complacent and overconfident and delivered an upset victory toConservative Prime Minister John Major. The rally was regarded as "tooAmerican."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202354.html

-They Can Only Go So Far
The world's bullies are throwing their weight around. But history isn't ontheir side. Are we entering the age of the autocrat? It's certainlytempting to think so after watching Russia's recent clobbering of Georgia.That invasion clearly marks a new phase in world politics, but it's amistake to think that the future belongs to Russian strongman Vladimir Putinand his fellow despots.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202395.html

-Who Needs Russia?
The United States should make a clear-eyed assessment of the fruits ofstrategic cooperation. ON THURSDAY, while overseeing his country'scontinuing occupation of neighboring Georgia, Russian President DmitryMedvedev found time to meet with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Mr. Assad, who is under suspicion of ordering the murder of politicalopponents in Lebanon, lavishly praised Russia's invasion of Georgia andasked for more Russian weapons. Mr. Medvedev acceded to this request,according to his foreign minister.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202760.html

-The Overthinking Obama
Abortion is back with, dare we say it, biblical vengeance. Republicansrecently have focused on Barack Obama's opposition years ago to "born alive"legislation in Illinois that mirrored federal legislation aimed at grantingpersonhood to a fetus or baby that was alive after removal from its mother'sbody, either by abortion or premature birth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202207.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-U.S. Halts Self-Deportation Project
In 3-Week Test, Just 8 Illegal Immigrants Volunteered to LeaveDespite drawing only eight volunteers, a three-week pilot program that urgedsome illegal immigrants to turn themselves in for deportation was not afailure, U.S. authorities declared yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202561.html?hpid=moreheadlines


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

-A dream reawakened
Obama poised to accept candidacy 45 years after King's historic speechKetley Blaise Williams believes. The 50-year-old West Palm Beachbusinesswoman already has her plane ticket to Washington, D.C., for theJanuary 2009 presidential inauguration.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/sfl-flbobamaking0823sbaug23,0,1813521.story

-Neb. 'safe-haven' law allows abandonment of teens
Nebraska's new "safe-haven" law allowing parents to abandon unwantedchildren at hospitals with no questions asked is unique in a significantway: It goes beyond babies and potentially permits the abandonment of anyoneunder 19. While lawmakers may not have intended it, the month-old lawraises the possibility that frustrated parents could drop off misbehavingteens or even severely disabled older children with impunity.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/ny-bc-children-safehavens0822aug22,0,4739473.story


-Tips for saving money on prescription drugs
Switch to generic drugs if your doctor approves it; generic drugs usuallycost less than equivalent brand names. Buy three-month supplies throughyour pharmacy or mail-order service.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flzmedicarebox0822sbaug22,0,918955.story

-Medicare costs cause some to stop meds
Many people in Medicare with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronicconditions stop taking their medicine when faced with picking up the entirecosts of their prescriptions, researchers say. About 3.4 million older anddisabled people hit a gap, known as the doughnut hole, in their Medicaredrug coverage in 2007. When that happened, they had to pay the entire costsof their medicine until they spent $3,850 out of pocket. Then, insurancecoverage would kick in again.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flzmedicare0822sbaug22,0,2399914.story



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

-FTC pulls plug on annoying `robo calls'
OUR OPINION: CONSUMERS DESERVE A BREAK FROM NEVER-ENDING PITCHES
The Federal Trade Commission this week adopted a new rule that will prohibittelemarketers from calling households with prerecorded messages -- except incases where consumers have given the caller written consent to dial theirnumber.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/652565.html

-EQUAL RIGHTS: Losers, line up for your awards, please
Once more we prepare to honor our foremothers by celebrating the anniversaryof the passage of women's suffrage. Each year, in advance of Aug. 26, ourone-woman committee gathers to hand out the Equal Rites Awards to thosestalwarts who have done the most in the past year to set back the cause ofwomen.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/654316.html

-Leonard Pitts: SADDLEBACK FORUM
Thoughtful questions, candid answers
First I spent long moments trying to decide upon my greatest moral failing.Then I spent longer moments asking myself whether I'd really want to sharethat failing with an audience of millions. So much for playing along athome.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/649056.html

-IN MY OPINION: John Edwards is the new Clinton, Spitzer, Craig
There is obviously no way to quantify this, but I regard Bill Clinton as themost thoroughly humiliated person in all of human history. Who else evencomes close? There is obviously no way to quantify this, but I regard BillClinton as the most thoroughly humiliated person in all of human history.Who else even comes close?
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/639680.html


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The Advocate
http://advocate.com/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Gay-baiting Ads Get Their Due
Writer Bob Garfield takes issue with intolerance being used as marketing.
Clad in bright yellow short shorts, a speed-walker swishes down thesidewalk. Suddenly Mr. T drives up in a truck and machine-guns the walkerwith a Snickers bar, calling him a "disgrace to the man race," then imploresviewers to "get some nuts!" This is the latest questionable commercialcreated by Omnicom Group advertising agencies. You may know their work: Theywere behind the 2007 Super Bowl Snickers spot that showed two men freakingout after accidentally kissing -- and attacking each other with wrenches inan alternative online version. And in a Dodge ad from another Omnicomagency, a macho man snidely calls a male Tinker Bell-like character a "sillylittle fairy," only to have the pixie turn him into a sweater-cladmetrosexual -- a silly little fairy in his own right.
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid59206.asp


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

-OBAMA-BIDEN 08
WASHINGTON ? Barack Obama named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vicepresidential running mate early Saturday, balancing his ticket with aseasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defenseissues. Obama announced the pick on his Web site with a photo of the two menand an appeal for donations. A text message went out shortly afterward thatsaid, "Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee." Biden, 65,has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots,a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times notonly as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of theJudiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation,Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/23/joe-biden-is-obamas-vice_n_120772.html

-College presidents' petition sparks national debate
The college presidents said they wanted a national debate on the 21-year-olddrinking age. They got it. For years, former Middlebury College PresidentJohn McCardell has been criticizing the law, saying it only encourages bingedrinking and pushes alcohol into the shadows.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080822/NEWS/152296&title=College_presidents__petition_sparks_national_debate

-PROJECT GREEN: Saving the Everglades
The engine that spurred restoration of a dying eco-treasure
On a sweltering day in June, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist convened a pressconference at the edge of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge near PalmBeach to make a blockbuster announcement. The state, he declared, had agreedto buy the U.S. Sugar Corp. for $1.75 billion in a bold effort to acceleraterestoration of the Everglades. The company's vast swath of land wouldprovide a "missing link" reconnecting Lake Okeechobee with marshlands to thesouth that depend on it for nourishment. Widely hailed by environmentalists,the deal nevertheless came as a shock to most of them. But not to the folksat the Everglades Foundation, a tiny conservation group that was dialed into the negotiations months earlier. At the June announcement, itsrepresentatives were already armed with gleaming press kits touting thebuyout proposal.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/154161


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

-AP Says Biden Accepts Dem. VP Nom.
Neither Camp Confirms Choice
A Democratic official said Sen. Joe Biden will be Sen. Barack Obama's vicepresidential nominee. An unnamed source close to the Obama camp said Bidenwas asked -- and accepted -- the vice presidential nomination, TheAssociated Press reported.
http://www.local10.com/politics/17272070/detail.html?treets=mia&tml=mia_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=mia_natlbreak_1_12160308232008

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