NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - September 19, 2008

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

-Fed and Treasury Offer to Work With Congress on Bailout Plan
Top officials at the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve began discussing with Congressional leaders a plan to buy up large numbers of distressed mortgages held by ailing financial institutions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/business/19fed.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Stocks Surge in Europe and Asia on Hopes of U.S. Action
Banking shares in particular surged, with investors pinning hopes on proposed U.S. action to counter the global crisis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/business/worldbusiness/20markets.html?hp

-The Post-Lehman World
by David Brooks
Everybody says we're about to enter a new political era, rich in global financial regulation. The herd might just be wrong once again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19brooks.html?ref=opinion

-Editorial: Immigration Deception
Yes, immigration is a complicated and combustible issue for political candidates - and the economic meltdown is everyone's top priority. No, that is no excuse for ignoring immigration or lying about it to voters, as John McCain and Barack Obama have been doing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19fri1.html?adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1221822039-XlH8Yis+R4X5D3i3VQas8A

-Bankers and Their Salaries
Bankers' risk-taking is a significant cause of this financial crisis. It is time for executives' compensation to be tied to long-term performance, not to short-term profits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19fri2.html?ref=opinion

-Gun Lobby First
A gun control bill approved by the House tramples the District of Columbia's right to govern itself and makes it harder for the police to protect streets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19fri3.html?ref=opinion

-Saudi Women Find an Unlikely Role Model: Oprah
Many women in Saudi Arabia feel a bond with Oprah Winfrey, who speaks about topics rarely aired there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/middleeast/19oprah.html?hp

-Gates Urges Cautious NATO Stance on Russia After Georgia Conflict
With NATO divided over how to respond to a newly assertive Russia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he would urge alliance ministers meeting here to adopt a cautious and deliberate approach that would reassure newer members along the Russian border without provoking hostilities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/europe/19russia.html

-China Says More Milk Products Show Signs of Being Tainted
China's adulterated-milk scandal continued to widen Thursday, as the authorities arrested a dozen people, fired a senior government official and acknowledged that a wider range of milk products showed traces of a chemical used to disguise its poor quality.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/asia/19milk.html

-Alaska Star May Add Luster to Tarnished Senator
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/politics/19stevens.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1221823567-gWl4AoelXKdSHv3fKKdQ3A

-GOP Eyes Rebound in Congress
Party hopes Palin factor and competitive race for the White House will help limit losses.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091804138.html?hpid=topnews


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

-Make-or-Break Michigan
If Obama can't win here, he's got a big problem.
This state, which was living with economic catastrophe long before this week's Wall Street meltdown, could be to this election what Ohio was in 2004 and Florida was in 2000. And voters here are so angry -- about unemployment at 9 percent and some of the country's highest rates of foreclosures and outbound one-way U-Haul rentals -- that no one is certain where they will lash out. "What's challenging about Michigan is that they've suffered this economy in its worst form," said Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who has studied the state for years. "They blame the Democratic governor and the Democratic Party, and the Republican president and the Republican Party, and an elite they believe sold out their state."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803046.html

-McCain Misfires
John McCain has just demonstrated his vulnerability as a presidential candidate. Speaking from prepared remarks at an Iowa rally today, he said that he would fire Chris Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This outburst demonstrates McCain's ignorance, his impetuousness and his vindictive streak. Not bad for one remark.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/mccains_outrageous_outrage.html

--Isolating or Attacking Iran Won't Work
I did the following interview with Dr. Akbar Etemad for the British magazine New Statesman. Some may find Dr. Etemad's comments in support of current nuclear policy of the Islamic Goverment to be surprising. After all, he was a high-ranking official in the Shah's government, which was toppled by the current regime. Yet like millions of Iranians, who are not particularly fond of the Islamic Republic, Dr. Etemad thinks of the Iran's nuclear program as a national issue that doesn't have to do with any particular government in Iran. I think in the light of f the upcoming meeting of permenanent members of UN Security Council and Germany, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's next week's visit to New York, Dr. Etemad's interview will provide good background to any reporting of Iran's nuclear program.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/needtoknow/2008/09/iran_does_not_trust_the_west_a.html


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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Financial Upheaval Narrows: Options of Next U.S. President
Sometimes events reshape a presidential campaign. Sometimes they reshape the world the candidates seek to lead. This week's Wall Street earthquake is such a big event that it is doing both. Much chatter is being devoted to how the market tremors are affecting the campaign -- whether they help Sen. Barack Obama by reinforcing his "change" message, whether Sen. John McCain has hurt himself with his initial declaration that the fundamentals of the economy remain sound, and so forth.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122177465587454019.html


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

-Disgraced ex-congressman Foley still has $1.1 million in campaign funds
Almost two years after U.S. Rep. Mark Foley resigned from office, his campaign chest still tops $1.19 million. Foley, who now lives in Lake Worth, stepped down just before the 2006 election when reports surfaced that he sent sexually explicit online messages to teenage boys.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbfoley0717sbjul16,0,6837877.story


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

-CAMPAIGN 2008 | DEMOCRATS
Obama starting key Florida swing with rally at UM
Barack Obama arrives in South Florida on Friday for the first time since he clinched the Democratic nomination in June. After one of Wall Street's worst weeks ever, Barack Obama brings his campaign and its hope-and-change theme to Florida, one of the states hit hardest by the economic crisis.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/692553.html

-Rep. Rangel: Resign post . . . or be removed
OUR OPINION: APPLY SAME ETHICAL RULES FOR DEMOCRATS AS FOR GOP
When Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., took the gavel in January 2007 to become the first woman to fill the post of House Speaker, she proclaimed that Democrats would run the chamber ''with the highest ethical standards.'' That was then.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/692578.html

-LATIN AMERICA
Chávez wrecks Venezuela, democracy
Only the most zealous or naive outsider would challenge the right of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to wreck his own country. But we now know that he has converted his politics of rant and division into policies of criminality, terror and aggression. And that is our business.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/692587.html


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

-Rising European Ethnocentricity
Unfavorable Views of Jews and Muslims Increase in Europe
Findings from the latest Pew Research Center Global Attitudes survey show that Europeans who view Jews unfavorably also tend to see Muslims in a negative light. However, the trend in negative views toward Muslims in Europe has occurred over a longer period of time than recently growing anti-Semitic sentiment. Read more

-Immigration Issues
Latinos See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating
A new Pew Hispanic Center survey finds increasingly widespread pessimism among the U.S. Hispanic community, which has been hit hard by rising unemployment and stepped-up immigration enforcement. Latinos' strong opposition to federal enforcement policies may have consequences in the political arena this fall. Read more

-Hustings Hassles
McCain Gains on Issues, But Stalls as Candidate of Change
The latest People & the Press survey finds the presidential race remains close as enthusiasm for McCain increases among the GOP base. Somewhat more swing voters (46%) now say their greater concern is that McCain will govern too much like President Bush, rather than that Obama lacks experience (37%). Read more

-Views Of Palin Fluid As Spotlight Remains On GOP Ticket
Sarah Palin continued to be a dominant factor in presidential campaign coverage last week, but her impact on the race remains unclear and her public image is very much in flux. However, in the contest for public attention, Hurricane Ike beat the campaign. Read more

-Daily Number
60% - Hispanic Contribution to Public School Growth
The increase in Latino students in the nation's public schools accounts for 60% of the total growth in public school enrollment from 1990 to 2006. Check back every weekday for another number in the news. Read more


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

-John McCain and the Lying Game
Politics has always been lousy with blather and chicanery. But there are rules and traditions too. In the early weeks of the general-election campaign, a consensus has grown in the political community - a consensus that ranges from practitioners like Karl Rove to commentators like, well, me - that John McCain has allowed his campaign to slip the normal bounds of political propriety. The situation has gotten so intense that we in the media have slipped our normal rules as well. Usually when a candidate tells something less than the truth, we mince words. We use euphemisms like mendacity and inaccuracy ... or, as the Associated Press put it, "McCain's claims skirt facts." But increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar. You might well ask, What has McCain done to deserve this? What unwritten rules did he break? Are his transgressions of degree or of kind?
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1842030,00.html

-Amid fiscal woes, Obama reshapes campaign message
Says he is best pick to fix Wall Street
Throughout his presidential campaign, Barack Obama has boasted that he passed up jobs on Wall Street in order to focus on public service. But now he is dramatically reformulating that equation, saying that he should be elected president because he knows how to fix the crisis on Wall Street.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/19/amid_fiscal_woes_obama_reshapes_campaign_message/

-Sarah Palin's husband joins witnesses stonewalling probe of charges VP nominee abused power
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband has refused to testify in the investigation of his wife's alleged abuse of power, and key lawmakers said Thursday that uncooperative witnesses are effectively sidetracking the probe until after Election Day.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-palin-troopergate,0,383359.story

-Our views: The Palin files
GOP vice presidential candidate can run but not hide from rigorous scrutiny
For the last couple of weeks, we've been watching events unfold as GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin grabbed the spotlight. And we can no longer keep from pointing out the hypocritical double standard coming from the McCain campaign on the strong and justifiable doubts about the Alaska governor's readiness for the office.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080919/OPINION/80918033/1004/capitolnews

-McCain-Palin Health Plan Relies on the Very Marketplace Strategy That's Crippling Our Economy
The Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG fiascos show just how well the unfettered marketplace has been working. Talk about a shock to the system. Has anyone bothered to notice the radical changes that John McCain and Sarah Palin are planning for the nation's health insurance system?
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/99239/mccain-palin_health_plan_relies_on_the_very_marketplace_strategy_that%27s_crippling_our_economy/

-Advancement Project And ACLU Sue Michigan Secretary Of State Over Unlawful Voter Purging
Advancement Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Michigan and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP filed a federal lawsuit late yesterday challenging two statewide voter purge programs that could potentially disfranchise hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters in advance of the November 2008 presidential election. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit against Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Christopher M. Thomas, and Ypsilanti Clerk Frances McMullen.
http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/gen/36836prs20080918.html?s_src=RSS


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