NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - September 01, 2008

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

-Editorial: Mr. McCain and Iraq
Senator John McCain's rival, Senator Barack Obama, once was a lonely voice demanding the withdrawal of all combat forces by mid-2010. But now, Iraq's leaders are pushing a timetable that would have American troops out in 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/opinion/01mon2.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

-Powerful Storm Starts to Lash Gulf Coast
2 Million Flee and New Orleans Is Largely Emptied
While powerful, Hurricane Gustav appeared to be less devastating than some had feared. The storm's center was expected to make landfall around midday.
http://www.nytimes.com/

-Political Memo
Storm Politics Present Risks and Rewards
On the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall three years ago, President Bush helped Senator John McCain celebrate his birthday with a cake that melted on a blazing hot airport tarmac, just as the president's approval ratings would in the weeks to come.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/us/politics/01memo.html?hp

-Troopergate could dog Palin on campaign
Troopergate. It's a political he-said, she-said that has dogged Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for nearly two months and is likely to do so for another two months leading to the Nov. 4 presidential election. The little-known vice presidential candidate faces accusations of firing public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in what amounts to a messy Palin family drama dating to her pre-gubernatorial days. Monegan had refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-CVN-Palin-Troopergate.html

-Pangs of Seller's Remorse in Miami Market
For sale: one newly constructed three-bedroom, four-bathroom home near the University of Miami, with South African wood in the kitchen, marble from India, Egypt and Spain, and a $4,500 top-of-the-line garage door. Listing price two years ago: $979,000. Listing price now: $599,000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/us/01miami.html

-G.O.P. Rallies in Support of McCain, Poll Shows
Senator John McCain this week will officially claim the presidential nomination from a convention here that is united behind him, and confident of keeping the White House.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/us/politics/01poll.html


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

-Northern Underexposure
By all rights, there should be a revolt at this week's (now-delayed) Republican convention against John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate -- for the same reasons so many Republicans opposed President Bush's selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083101618.html

-How Palin Could Help
This one was really different. John McCain has flummoxed the leaders of his Republican Party and most of the media by picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. It's a choice no other candidate conceivably could have made -- a typical McCain gamble, unpredictable in its consequences.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083101621.html

-This Isn't the Return of History
The Georgia attack will go down not as the dawn of a new era of Russian power but as a major strategic blunder. Many in Washington have described Russia's attack on Georgia as a turning point in international affairs. Pundits thunder that we are returning to an age of great-power conflicts. Globalization and integration have been exposed as shams. Russia is playing this new Great Game with ruthless brilliance and we-the United States and Europe-are foundering. As events unfold, however, almost all of this instant analysis will prove sensationalist, misguided and incorrect. It's certainly true that today's world is characterized by the emergence of new powers like China, Russia and India (a phenomenon I have termed "the rise of the rest"). This is not a contradiction of globalization but a consequence of it. Economic growth is producing new centers of influence. And that's leading to greater national pride, confidence and assertiveness. But there are also powerful new countervailing forces-yes, of globalization and integration-that are working to mitigate nationalism and unilateralism.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/156350

-The McCain Paradox
Americans know the man better than they understand where he would lead the country. LAST WEEK, the Democrats faced the task of presenting a relative newcomer to politics as their nominee for president. This week, the Republicans face a different challenge, one greatly complicated now by the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Gustav on the Gulf Coast. After a long career of public service, and on his second presidential campaign, John McCain is a familiar figure to many Americans. But where he would lead the nation is less clear to many, and his vice presidential selection last week didn't help. Out of respect for potential hurricane victims in Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas, Republicans may nominate Mr. McCain without the usual fanfare of a party convention -- and without nearly as much public attention as Barack Obama attracted last week. That only heightens the difficulty of the task Mr. McCain faces: to offer a vivid picture of why he wants to be president and what he would hope to accomplish.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083101746.html

-ANALYSIS: The Hurricane In Question Is Still Called Katrina
Three years after it battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina upended this convention city Sunday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083102069.html?hpid=topnews

-Opening Day Is Abbreviated; Bush, Cheney Won't Appear
Republican officials threw away the script for their presidential nominating convention on Sunday as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast and threatened to cast a pall over a week intended to boost Sen. John McCain's campaign for the White House.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083100403.html?hpid=topnews


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

-Gustav bears down on Gulf Coast
Hurricane Gustav steamed toward the Louisiana coast early Monday on track to hit west of New Orleans as the few remaining in the city watched nervously and hoped levees only partly reinforced in the three years since Katrina would hold. Those who heeded days of warnings to get out watched from shelters and hotel rooms hundreds of miles away, praying the powerful Category 3 storm and its 115-mph winds would pass without the same deadly toll.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sfl-hurricane-gustav-2,0,5001907.story

-McCain says hurricane defense OK but could be better; Bush heads for area under threat
As anxious Republican delegates bid their time, President Bush on Monday headed for Texas, a state threatened by Hurricane Gustav. Presidentialnominee-in-waiting John McCain suggested defenses against Hurricane Gustavare better than three years ago when Katrina slammed into New Orleans, butare "not perfect."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-cvn-convention-rdp,0,6517318.story

-Obama's acceptance speech at Democratic convention seen by 38 million-plusviewers
More people watched Obama speak from a packed stadium in Denver on Thursdaythan watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "AmericanIdol" or the Academy Awards this year, Nielsen Media Research said Friday.(Four playoff football games, including the Super Bowl between the Giantsand Patriots, were seen by more than 40 million people.)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-cvn-obamas-audience,0,3917688.story

-Let's pass maximum wage law to even up CEO, employee pay
American workers don't have anything to celebrate this Labor Day. They areworking harder. They are working smarter. However, their real wages havedeclined since 2000. And more are unemployed. Meanwhile, their CEOs aregetting outrageous pay packages. On an annual basis, U.S. CEOs earn 411times what their employees earn.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-wage01forumpnsep01,0,6306754.story

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