NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - August 25, 2008

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

-That's 8 Out of 457,000
America should require the hard-working undocumented workers to legalize andassimilate, and use enforcement power to catch and deport the criminals.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/opinion/25mon2.html?ref=opinion

-Op-Ed Columnist: Out of Africa
In the castle here, slaves force-marched from the African interior were heldin dungeons until their passage through the "Door of No Return" onto theships that would carry them to the New World.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/opinion/25cohen.html?ref=opinion

-Obama Aides Defend Bank's Pay to Biden Son
During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the creditcard industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to filefor bankruptcy protection, his son had a consulting agreement that lastedfive years with one of the largest companies pushing for the changes, aidesto Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign acknowledged Sunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/us/politics/25biden.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1219665853-bjBg0+eUgeJVfIoDJ0DIZA

-Tasks for Biden This Fall: Travel and Attack McCain
Travel plans for Senator Barack Obama's running mate, Senator Joseph R.Biden Jr., have yet to be finalized beyond his arrival this week in Denverfor the Democratic National Convention. But campaign advisers said Sundaythat they were certain Mr. Biden would spend considerable time campaigningthrough Election Day in four swing states: Florida, Michigan, Ohio andPennsylvania.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/us/politics/25MAP.html

-1 million cut off by monsoon floods in India
Authorities struggled Monday to get aid to more than 1 million peoplestranded by floods in a north Indian state, with one local government leaderdescribing the situation as a catastrophe.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-India-Monsoon-Flooding.html

-At Conference on the Risks to Earth, Few Are Optimistic
This ancient hilltop town, rife with Roman, Greek, Norman and otherinfluences, is hosting a very modern gathering: a conference on global riskslike cyberterrorism, climate change, nuclear weapons and the world's laggingenergy supply.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/world/europe/24sicily.html

-A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash
David Campbell switched on the overhead projector and wrote "Evolution" inthe rectangle of light on the screen. He scanned the faces of thesophomores in his Biology I class. Many of them, he knew from years ofteaching high school in this Jacksonville suburb, had been raised to takethe biblical creation story as fact. His gaze rested for a moment on BryceHaas, a football player who attended the 6 a.m. prayer meetings of theFellowship of Christian Athletes in the school gymnasium.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/education/24evolution.html


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

-Obama's Reassuring Choice
I saw another man dance with Joe Biden's wife, Jill. It was almost threeyears ago, on the terrace of the sublime Villa d'Este on the shore ofItaly's stunning Lake Como, and Biden watched, smiling broadly and sometimeslaughing, as the man gracefully moved Jill around the dance floor. It waslate, and the guests still there looked on keenly because Jill Biden'sdancing partner was very good-looking and very famous. He was John McCain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/24/AR2008082401857.html

-Using God Politically
With all due respect to Pastor Warren and the candidates, and withoutcomplaint about what was said, I'm on the side of those who are nervousabout the practices that bring this kind of forum about, and its longer-termconsequences.. It is almost impossible to stage events with a focus likethis without falling into the trap of "using" God.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/martin_marty/2008/08/using_god_politically.html

-Zimbabwe opposition wins vote for speaker
Zimbabwe's opposition won the vote for speaker of the first parliament sincedisputed elections in March, claiming votes even from the ruling party ofautocratic President Robert Mugabe on Monday amid stalled talks over sharingpower.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082500276.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-In India, New Opportunities for Women Draw Anger and Abuse From Men
Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through alabyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, shecarries an Indian version of Mace -- a bag of chili powder and a pouch ofsafety pins -- to fend off the often boorish men who loiter in the narrowpassageways.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/24/AR2008082401665.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Where Are All the Men?
Relief! That's the word that describes my emotions last week when wereceived the long-awaited postcard telling us who the first-grade teacherwould be. While we're lucky that our school has many very good teachers,there are a few I'd rather avoid. A good teacher means my son will likelyhave a great school year; a bad teacher means... Well, thankfully we haven'thad to cross that path yet.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting/?hpid=news-col-blogs

-The GOP's Delicate Passing of the Baton
When it gathers next week in Minneapolis-St. Paul for its quadrennialconvention, the Republican Party will try to turn the page from George W.Bush to John McCain. It won't be an easy trick.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/24/AR2008082401668.html?hpid=sec-politics

-Ex-prime minister Sharif quits Pakistan coalition
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says he is withdrawing his party fromPakistan's ruling coalition. The move will likely concentrate power in thehands of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party, which wants to maintainthe country's close ties with the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082500173.html?hpid=sec-world

-Olympic Closing Ceremony - Photos
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082500173.html?hpid=sec-world


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

-Human rights group says 78 Afghans killed; US to investigate civilian death claims
Scores of Afghan civilians who had gathered in a small village for thememorial ceremony of a militia commander were killed when U.S. and Afghansoldiers launched an attack in the middle of the night, officials andvillagers said Saturday. President Hamid Karzai condemned the early Fridayoperation in western Afghanistan and said most of the dead were civilians.The U.S. coalition, however, said it believed only five civilians were amongthose killed and said that it would investigate the Afghan claims.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap-afghan-violenceaug23,0,7647447.story

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

-MIDDLE EAST: What Georgia crisis means for Israel
A war between a resurgent Russia and tiny Georgia over the microscopicregion of South Ossetia should have little impact on another miniaturecountry on the shores of the Mediterranean. And yet, the course of thisconflict points in a direction that should trouble those who care aboutIsrael and about the prospects for peace in the Middle East.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/656414.html

-Leonard Pitts: Children of Katrina still bear the scars
You cannot watch Laura Belsey's movie without ruminating upon the myriadways we fail our young. There are many wrenching scenes in Katrina'sChildren but arguably the most wrenching is not the girl crying because thehurricane left her so fearful of water she can no longer swim, or the boystouring the wreckage that once was home, or the children recalling howcorpses floated by, writhing with maggots, bursting open. No, the mostwrenching scene comes when Tyronieshia tries to read.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/653939.html

-It's not personal
The temptation is obvious: Polling tells us that voters are more likely toremember a negative message than a positive one. And yet the danger issubstantial: Those same voters tend to think less of candidates who delivera negative message. So the question that every candidate faces is this one:Is the probable backlash worth the potential payoff?
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/653936.html


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Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
frishkorn@bellsouth.net
Contact Ray's List for the full articles.

-McCain's Plan to Privatise Veterans' Health Care
If John McCain is elected the next U.S. president, wounded veterans could bein for a world of hurt. On the campaign trail, the Republican's presumptivenominee has talked of a new mission for the Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) and argued that veterans with non-combat medical problems should begiven vouchers to receive care at private, for-profit hospitals -- in otherwords, an end to the kind of universal health care the government hasguaranteed veterans for generations. "We need to relieve the burden on theVA from routine health care," McCain told the National Forum on DisabilityIssues last month. "If you have a routine health care need, take it whereveryou want, whatever doctor or health care provider and get the treatment youneed, while we at the VA focus our attention, our care, our love, on thesegrievous wounds of war." The Republican senator argues that giving veteransa VA card that they can use at private doctors would shorten the long waittimes many veterans face in seeing government doctors, who are nearlyuniversally viewed as among the best in the world.

-Citizens' U.S. Border Crossings racked
Data From Checkpoints To Be Kept for 15 Years
The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints togreatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collectinginformation on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that willbe stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligenceinvestigations. Officials say the Border Crossing Information system,disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a FederalRegister notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terroristthreats. It also reflects the growing number of government systemscontaining personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broadrange of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exemptfrom some Privacy Act protections. While international air passenger datahas long been captured this way, Customs and Border Protection agents onlythis year began to log the arrivals of all U.S. citizens across landborders, through which about three-quarters of border entries occur.


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Video: Message from Joe Biden about the Coming Campaign
http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/bidendtc


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Pew Research center
http://pewresearch.org/
Go to this link for the following articles:

-Politics and the Pulpit
More Americans Question Religion's Role in Politics
A new Pew Research survey finds a decline in the share of Americans who wantchurches and other houses of worship to be involved in political matters.Most of the drop in the past four years has come among politicalconservatives. Read more

-News to You
Key News Audiences Blend Web and Traditional Sources
For more than a decade, audiences for most traditional news sources havesteadily declined and the number of people getting news online has surged.The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' biannual media studyalso finds that a growing number Americans mix both old and new mediasources. The report presents a typology that breaks news consumers into fourgroups: Integrators, Net-Newsers, Traditionalists and the Disengage. Readmore

-Pocketbook Press
Uptick in Coverage of Economic Slowdown
The slowing economy has replaced Iraq as the second most intensely coveredstory so far in 2008, according to a new study of media content. However, itstill trails far behind the presidential campaign. Read more

-Party Time
Democrats Primed to Tune into Convention
More Americans are interested in following the Democratic Convention (59%)than the Republican Convention (48%). An overwhelming majority of Democrats(79%) plan to follow their party's convention. However, those who favoredHillary Clinton express only modest interest in Obama's speech and stronginterest in her address. Read more

-Conflict Coverage
Russian-Georgian War Knocks Campaign off Coverage Perch
Last week marked the first time in nine months that the most covered newsstory was not the presidential campaign. The Russian-Georgian war led thenews and also generated positive coverage for McCain and his aggressiveapproach to the crisis. Read more

-Daily Number
20 points - Jobs: Partisan Problem
Views of the job situation continue to differ along partisan lines with 69%of Democrats and 65% of independents -- but only 49% of Republicans --saying jobs are hard to find in their area. Check back every weekday foranother number in the news. Read more


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As U.S. growth of online social networks slows due to market saturation,social nets are going global, expanding into a diversity of world marketsand growing worldwide. MySpace, for example, has a footprint in more than 29countries worldwide, and 63% of Facebook's 132 million users reside outsideof North America.


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

-FLORIDA, MICHIGAN ENTER CONVENTION WITH FULL VOTING RIGHTS
DENVER ?
Democratic delegates from Michigan and Florida were awarded fullvoting rights at the national convention Sunday, despite holding earlyprimaries against party rules. The convention credentials committee votedunanimously to restore the voting privileges at the behest of Barack Obama,the party's presumptive nominee for president. The states were initiallystripped of delegates for holding primaries before Feb. 5. The party's rulescommittee restored the delegates in May, but gave them only half votes.Democrats hope the gesture will strengthen their standing in two importantbattleground states while ending a contentious chapter of the nominatingprocess.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/24/florida-michigan-granted_n_120975.html

-Kennedy hopes to give speech at convention
In a moment that is sure to bring down the house, US Senator Edward M.Kennedy is expected to attend the Democratic National Convention, mostlikely to deliver a speech tonight. Kennedy has been battling brain cancersince May, and his doctors are said to be worried that his treatment hascompromised his immune system and that attending the convention could puthim at further risk. Still, the senator has recently told people that he hasa speech written for the convention and that he badly wants to come, pendinga final medical consultation.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/08/25/kennedy_hopes_to_give_speech_at_convention/

-Decision 2008: Romney abortion stand gives pause
Some at state GOP convention worry about potential VP candidate. Not allMichigan Republicans are thrilled that Mitt Romney could be the vicepresidential running mate John McCain names in his expected announcementFriday. At the state GOP's weekend convention in Novi, most said they wouldlove to have Michigan-reared Romney, who won Michigan's Jan. 15 presidentialprimary, on the ticket with McCain.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/POLITICS/808250376&imw=Y

-Time for Obama to prove he's the leader next door
One of the most fascinating passages from Barack Obama's first book, Dreamsfrom My Father, describes his first trip from Hawaii to the mainland withhis family when he was 11 years old. He mentions visits to Disneyland andthe Grand Canyon, days spent on Greyhound buses and nights in Howard Johnsonmotels. And then, somewhat discordantly, he says he watched the Watergatehearings on TV each night.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/08/time-for-obama.html?csp=34

-DNC schedule
Today
Theme: "One Nation."
Headline primetime speaker: Michelle Obama.
Other highlights: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former president Jimmy Carter,and a tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/08/25/dnc_schedule/

-Pelosi agrees to hear case for offshore drilling
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that expanded oil drilling infederal waters could be included in a broader energy bill if advocates canprove its effectiveness as a solution to America's energy problems.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/08/25/pelosi_agrees_to_hear_case_for_offshore_drilling/

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