NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - September 04, 2008

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

-G.O.P. Officially Nominates McCain
Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska sought to wrest back the narrative of her life asshe introduced herself to a roaring crowd at the Republican NationalConvention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/04repubday.html?hp

-Running Against Themselves
The difficulty for the Republican ticket in talking about change and actinglike insurgents is that they have been running Washington for most of thelast eight years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04thu1.html?ref=opinion

-Sarah Palin Speaks!
Many people believe that Sarah Palin is a terrible choice for a runningmate. But you have to remember who the other options were.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04collins.html?ref=opinion

-Political Memo
Two Conventions With No Shortage of Contrasts
Three days into the Republican National Convention, its differences fromlast week's Democratic conclave have grown apparent: overwhelmingly whitedelegates, a strongly unified hall, erratic energy levels and speeches thatfocus heavily on iconography.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/04compare.html

-Op-Ed Columnist: How Home Became Homeland
Oh, it's good to be home. The threat level has been raised (or was thatlowered?) to orange. I wonder idly what this means - an image ofmedium-intensity jihadist chatter menacing Armonk, N.Y., comes to mind - butI have no time to get that vision in focus before another cheery messagerolls out across the airport.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04Cohen.html?ref=opinion

-American Forces Attack Militants on Pakistani Soil
Coalition forces opened fire in a village near the Afghan border, killingseven people, the Pakistani military said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/asia/04attack.html?hp

-Cheney Backs NATO Membership for Georgia
One day after the United States proposed $1 billion in assistance forGeorgia, Vice President Dick Cheney flew there to reaffirm support for itseventual NATO membership.\
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/europe/05cheney.html?hp

-Mugabe Threatens to Appoint Cabinet
Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, said he will name a new cabinet ifopposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refuses to sign a power-sharing deal byThursday, the state-owned newspaper reported on Thursday - a deal that bothsides have confirmed would leave Mr. Mugabe himself in command.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/africa/05zimbabwe.html?hp

-Assessing the Value of Small Wind Turbines
With the California blackouts of 2001 still a painful memory, Chris Beaudoinwants to generate some of his own electricity. He marveled the other day athow close he is to that goal, gazing at two new wind turbines atop hisgarage roof. They will soon be hooked to the power grid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/04wind.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1220533817-hRSduoolv+FTgqtk8Z5SEA

-US readies for T.S. Hanna; Cat. 4 Ike close behind
Residents moved boats and booked inland hotel rooms while National Guardtroops prepared to deploy along the Southeastern coast as Tropical StormHanna plowed through the Atlantic on Thursday, with Category 4 Hurricane Iketrailing a few days behind. The uncertain path of Hanna, which may become ahurricane by the time it hits land sometime Saturday, had emergencyofficials holding off ordering coastal residents to head inland Wednesday.Still, high schools in South Carolina canceled football games and workers inSavannah, Ga., put storm shutters over the windows of the gold-domed CityHall.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Hanna-US.html

-Hearing on Detroit Mayor Begins
After months of legal challenges meant to stop her, Gov. Jennifer M.Granholm of Michigan opened an unusual hearing on Wednesday to determinewhether she should remove Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick of Detroit from officefor misconduct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/04detroit.html

-Living Together: In Studies of Virtual Twins, Nature Wins Again
AS sisters only four months apart, Julie and Sara Curry grew up beingpeppered with questions from confused classmates. Your mom was in labor forfour months? asked one friend, said Sara, 19. How is it possible? othersinquired.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/garden/04twins.html


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

-Pentecostalism obscured in Palin biography
Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian. Yet John McCain'srunning mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christiantradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world. It's oftenderided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090400374.html

-Where Palin Stands
Policy positions previously staked out by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:Abortion: Opposes abortion in all circumstances except when a pregnancythreatens the woman's life. A member of Feminists for Life.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303700.html

-McCain's Focus on Iraq War Carries Risk
The 55-page Republican Party platform, approved here this week, containsexactly one paragraph devoted to the war in Iraq -- a sign of how theconflict that dominated the last two national election cycles has faded as amajor political issue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303794.html?hpid=artslot

-Criticizing McCain, Obama Keeps Focus on Economy
Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed the ongoing Republican NationalConvention as a substance-free spectacle hiding behind Sen. John McCain'sbiography and ignoring the economic insecurity that many Americans arefacing every day as he continued a swing through working-class towns in theMidwest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303511.html?hpid=artslot

-In Diverse Nation, a White Convention
Republicans have worked to improve their minority outreach, but setbackshave negated their efforts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303962.html?hpid=artslot

-Democracy Within Our Reach: What's at Stake Saturday in Pakistan
Pakistan is at a crossroads. The gravity of the situation has led me, at theinsistence of my Pakistan People's Party (PPP), to run for president inSaturday's elections. My children and I are still mourning our belovedleader, wife and mother, Benazir Bhutto. We did not make the decision for meto run lightly. But we know what is at stake. Chief among the challengesthat all Pakistanis face is the threat of global terrorism, demonstratedagain in this week's assassination attempt against Prime Minister YousafRaza Gillani.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303131.html

-Stepping Off the Gas
When it comes to fuel prices and energy independence, the watchword is 'nopain, no gain.' THE PRICE of crude oil is falling sharply. It closed atless than $110 a barrel yesterday -- down almost $38 since its July peak.The slack oil market has translated into direct relief at the pump, withregular gasoline now 19 cents a gallon cheaper than it was a month ago.Great news, right? The U.S. economy can grow faster with less risk ofinflation; the potential benefits range from brisker domestic car sales toless pressure on state and local government budgets. So much for those evilspeculators driving us all to the poorhouse!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303164.html


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

-What the Anchorage Daily News has had to say on Palin
How well has Sarah Palin done during her 21 months as Alaska's governor?Here are excerpts of Anchorage Daily News editorials about some major issuesand challenges during her tenure.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/671188.html

-In Palin's hometown, pregnancy news doesn't hurt support
If you watched TV news or went online on Monday, there was a lot ofspeculation about how her unmarried pregnant daugther would play into SarahPalin's appeal as a devoted mother and proponent of conservative values.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/671189.html


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

-Pundits Noonan and Murphy Slam Palin On-camera -- and Off
In what was thought to be an off-air exchange, Wall Street Journal columnistPeggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser Mike Murphy were caught in a"Jesse Jackson" moment when the two Republican insiders continued to discussSarah Palin well after they thought the NBC cameras had stopped taping,calling McCain's VP pick "cynical" and "gimmicky." The incident occurredwhen NBC host Chuck Todd asked Noonan if she thought Palin was the mostqualified choice for the VP spot. "The most qualified? No. I think they wentfor this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time theRepublicans do that, because that's not where they live and that's not whatthey're good at, they blow it." A former speechwriter for President Reagan,Noonan has continued to spark controversy on MSNBC's Morning Joe, callingSarah Palin a "Hail Mary" pass that probably won't complete the RepublicanParty. Time columnist Mike Murphy, who said McCain's choice flies in theface of his "reputation as a noncynical politician," continued when hethought the cameras were off with "It's not going to work." "It's over,"replied Noonan.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid60632.asp


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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
www.dailyqueernews.com
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Palin Helps Alaska Get Rich Off Oil While the Rest of the Country Suffers
By Robert Scheer | Truthdig | AlterNet
Welcome to the People's Republic of Alaska, where every resident this yearwill get a $3,200 payout, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of SarahPalin, the state's Republican governor. That's $22,400 for a family ofseven, like Palin's. Since 1982, the Alaska Permanent Fund, which investsoil revenues from state lands, has paid out a dividend on invested oil lootto everyone who has been in the state for a year. But Palin upped the anteby joining with Democrats and some recalcitrant Republican state legislatorsto share in oil company windfall profits, further fattening state taxrevenue and permitting an additional payout in tax funds to residents. Nowonder she is popular with voters in a state whose residents pay no incomeor sales taxes but are blessed with state coffers rolling in cash at a timewhen all other states are suffering. Indeed, when the oil companies pay moretaxes to the state of Alaska, they get to write that off against theirfederal tax obligation, leaving the rest of us to make up the shortfall. Thestate of Alaska owns most of the oil-producing land and was getting upwardof 85 percent of its budget from the oil companies that lease the fields,even before Palin helped increase the state's cut. While other states fireschoolteachers because of the economic downturn, Alaska has, as Palinindicated in accepting John McCain's offer to join him on the GOP ticket,more money than it knows what to do with. In a display of plucky arroganceat her coming-out press conference, Palin boasted deceptively that ifAlaskans wanted that infamous bridge to nowhere, "we'd build it ourselves."
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/1754/


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

-Palin Missed Her Chance
All right: Sarah Palin's speech was well-delivered, charming, anopening-night hit. The anchors and pundits now analyzing it on CNN arefalling all over themselves: "I think Republicans have to be thrilled withwhat happened here tonight-the most macho speech of the night was deliveredby a woman," Republican consultant Alex Castellanos marveled. But this allhad been a foregone conclusion. People have questioned her experience andher background; nobody really questioned whether she could give a goodspeech, especially after her successful rollout address last Friday.Tonight, diminished expectations combined with Palin'sknown-to-be-remarkable charisma made for the speech-making equivalent ofputting a champ bowler two feet in front of a set of plastic duckpins.
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/09/04/palin-missed-her-chance.aspx

-Why Bristol's Baby Matters
Families deserve privacy about family matters, but families that wantabsolute privacy should stay out of politics. Sooner or later someone wouldhave noticed the pregnancy of Bristol Palin, 17-year-old daughter of JohnMcCain's vice-presidential pick, especially since everyone in her hometownof Wasilla, Alaska, seemed to know already.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/why_bristols_baby_matters.html


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