NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - August 24, 2008

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.

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

-In Obama's Choice, a 'Very Personal Decision'
As world events shifted, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s stock rose throughone of the most rigorous vice presidential vetting processes Democrats couldrecall.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us/politics/24deconstruct.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Hoping It's Biden
By DAVID BROOKS
August 21, 2008
Barack Obama has decided upon a vice-presidential running mate. And while Idon't know who it is as I write, for the good of the country, I hope hepicked Joe Biden. Biden's weaknesses are on the surface. He has said anumber of idiotic things over the years and, in the days following hisselection, those snippets would be aired again and again. But that won'thurt all that much because voters are smart enough to forgive the genuineflaws of genuine people. And over the long haul, Biden provides what Obamaneeds: Working-Class Roots. Biden is a lunch-bucket Democrat. His fatherwas rich when he was young - played polo, cavorted on yachts, drove luxurycars. But through a series of bad personal and business decisions, he wasbroke by the time Joe Jr. came along. They lived with their in-laws inScranton, Pa., then moved to a dingy working-class area in Wilmington, Del.At one point, the elder Biden cleaned boilers during the week and soldpennants and knickknacks at a farmer's market on the weekends.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?pagewanted=print

-Op-Ed Columnist: Last Call for Change We Can Believe In
AS the real campaign at last begins in Denver this week, this much iscertain: It's time for Barack Obama to dispatch "Change We Can Believe In"to a dignified death. This isn't because - OMG! - Obama's narrow three- tofour-percentage-point lead of recent weeks dropped to a statisticallyindistinguishable one- to three-point margin during his week of vacation. It's because zero hour is here. As the presidential race finally gains thecountry's full attention, the strategy that vanquished Hillary Clinton mustbe rebooted to take out John McCain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/opinion/24rich.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: Melting Pot Meets Great Wall
The Olympics may just be a sporting event, but it is hard not to read largermessages into the results, especially when you see how China and Americahave dominated the medals tally. Both countries can - and will - look attheir Olympic successes as reaffirmations of their distinctly differentpolitical systems. But what strikes me is how much they could each learnfrom the other. This, as they say, is a teaching moment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/opinion/24friedman.html?ref=opinion

-Georgia Prepares for Refugees; Russians Declare Pullback Finished
GORI, Georgia - Though Russian forces still held several key areas of thecountry, the Georgian government began on Saturday to prepare cities andvillages in the conflict areas for the return of thousands of refugees.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/world/europe/24georgia.html

-A Courteous Call and a Quick Strike From McCain
Senator John McCain publicly reacted Saturday to the news that his goodfriend, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., would be on the Democratic ticket withhis now daily vacation ritual: going for a morning coffee run with hissix-car motorcade to Starbucks and saying not a word.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us/politics/24mccain.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1219587057-YQNX8esKUNM/mhs4/4Pudw


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

-Assessing Joe Biden
This is a good first decision by Barack Obama. Sen. Joseph Biden has manyobvious strengths that make him a good running mate: unassailable foreignpolicy credentials, personal relationships with many world leaders, long anddeep service on the Hill. He will be a valuable voice of experience in anObama White House.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082300853.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

-READERS LEFT BEHIND
We're Teaching Books That Don't Stack Up
Browsing in Barnes & Noble one recent afternoon, I found myself drawn tothe "Summer Reading" table, where neatly stacked piles of books by CharlesDickens and John Steinbeck and Zora Neale Hurston sat waiting for theteenagers who were supposed to read them by the first day of school. Gazingat the gleaming covers, I had to wonder how many students were in factturning the pages with any real desire to get to the next one.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202398.html

-The Right Age for Drinking
It isn't 18, whatever some college officials think. COLLEGE OFFICIALS whohave signed on to the provocative proposition that the legal drinking age of21 isn't working say that they just want to start a debate. Perhaps whenthey get done with that, they can move on to whether Earth really orbits thesun. Any suggestion that the current drinking age hasn't saved lives runscounter to the facts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082301748.html

-Texas truant students to be tracked by GPS anklets
Court authorities here will be able to track students with a history ofskipping school under a new program requiring them to wear ankle braceletswith Global Positioning System monitoring. But at least one group isworried the ankle bracelets will infringe on students' privacy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082300274.html?hpid=sec-education


=
Detroit News
http://detnews.com/

-Be wary of McCain's inconsistency
There's a candidate in this presidential race who remains a mystery -- hazy, undefined, so full of contradictions that voters may see electing him as anenormous risk. I'm referring to the cipher known as John McCain. In fact,there are some basic things about McCain that apparently even McCain doesn'tknow. Asked Wednesday by reporters from Politico how many houses he and hiswealthy wife Cindy own, McCain responded, "I think -- I'll have my staff getto you." The correct answer seems to be somewhere between four and seven,but who's counting?
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080824/OPINION03/808240307/1031


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

-Be wary of McCain's inconsistency
There's a candidate in this presidential race who remains a mystery -- hazy,undefined, so full of contradictions that voters may see electing him as anenormous risk. I'm referring to the cipher known as John McCain. In fact,there are some basic things about McCain that apparently even McCain doesn'tknow. Asked Wednesday by reporters from Politico how many houses he and hiswealthy wife Cindy own, McCain responded, "I think -- I'll have my staff getto you." The correct answer seems to be somewhere between four and seven,but who's counting?
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080824/OPINION03/808240307/1031

=

[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####