NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - September 23, 2008

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

-Bailout Talks Advance, but Doubts Voiced in Congress
Discussions with the Bush administration have addressed measures such as increased oversight and aid for homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

-Retirees Filling the Front Line in Market Fears
Older Americans with investments are among the hardest hit by the turmoil, and have the least opportunity to recover.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23retirees.html?hp

-The Establishment Lives!
DAVID BROOKS
The Paulson plan announced last week is a pure establishment play. It would assign nearly unlimited authority to a small coterie of policy makers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/opinion/23brooks.html?ref=opinion

-Experts See a Need for Punitive Action in Bailout
While most economists say the crisis justifies an intervention, there is debate over how to do it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23skeptics.html?hp

-Editorial: Remember Iran?
We have long felt that Mohamed ElBaradei and his United Nations nuclear inspectors were too patient with Iran's cat-and-mouse games and constant evasions. Even their patience is running out. In a report last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared that it had reached an impasse over Tehran's refusal to answer questions about its past nuclear activities. (An official close to the agency told The Times: "We seem to be at a dead end.") The report also said that Iran had substantially improved its ability to produce nuclear fuel in direct defiance of a Security Council ban.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/opinion/23tue2.html?ref=opinion

-Mukasey Vacates Panel's Decision Denying Asylum to Malian Woman
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey on Monday vacated a decision by a federal immigration board that had denied asylum for a Malian woman who said she feared genital mutilation and forced marriage to a first cousin if she were returned to Mali.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/23deport.html

-Pakistan Army Says 60 Suspected Militants Are Killed
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-AS-Pakistan.html

-Obama: Bailout likely to delay spending programs
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he probably would have to delay the spending programs he has called for during his campaign in light of the massive government bailout being proposed for the nation's financial industry.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Obama.html

-Ban Near on Diverting Water From Great Lakes
The House began debate Monday on a sweeping bill that would ban almost any diversion of water from the Great Lakes' natural basin to places outside the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/23lakes.html

-Two Decades in Solitary
He is one of New York's most isolated prisoners, spending 23 hours a day for the past two decades in a 9-by-6-foot cell. The only trimmings are a cot and a sink-toilet combination. His visitors - few as they are - must wedge into a nook outside his cell and speak to him through a 1-by-3-foot window of foggy plexiglass and iron bars.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/nyregion/23inmate.html

-McCain Camp Takes Issue With Times Coverage
The McCain campaign lashed out at The New York Times on Monday, accusing it of dropping its journalistic standards and being "150 percent in the tank" for Senator Barack Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/politics/23times.html


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

-McCain Loses His Head
Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html

-Iran Slips Away
Even as its nuclear program accelerates, the impetus to stop it loses steam.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202592.html

-In Defense of the New York Times (and Independent Journalism)
Boy, you know the McCain campaign is having a bad week when it tries, yet again, to intimidate the press and tells people not to pay attention to newspapers. Steve Schmidt, the McCain campaign's chief operating officer, held a conference call yesterday to run down the press for calling his campaign out for lies and half-truths. He particularly singled out The Times, which yesterday reported that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis had received some $2 million for serving as "president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations." This was embarrassing, especially because McCain has made a big deal of any ties Barack Obama has had to Fannie and Freddie folks.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/in_defense_of_the_new_york_tim.html

-Advisers Warn of Dire Consequences
Bernanke and Paulson, appearing this morning on Capitol Hill, acknowledge that government actions have failed to stabilize global markets.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092300284.html?hpid=topnews?hpid=topnews

-Biden Walks Back Comment on 'Terrible' Obama Ad
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden issued a statement late Tuesday attempting to clarify his comments that an ad the Obama campaign ran earlier this month was "terrible."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/22/biden_walks_back_comment_on_te.html?hpid=sec-politics

-Study Finds Major Shift in Abortion Demographics
The face of women who have abortions has shifted significantly in the past 30 years, with relatively fewer white childless teenagers and more mothers of color in their 20s and 30s opting to terminate their pregnancies, according to a report being released today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202831.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Poll: Race Close in 4 Key States
Presidential contest in key battleground states remains stable despite month's developments.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092300439.html?hpid=topnews

-Battleground Soundings
These surveys of likely voters in Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were conducted by Quinnipiac University in partnership with washingtonpost.com and The Wall Street Journal as part of a four-month effort to measure voter sentiment in key battleground states. The four states surveyed in this project provide a snapshot of where things stand less than five months before Election Day and will be followed by regular polling and analysis in the months ahead.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/battleground-polls/index_092308.html

-Anti-Obama Smears About Religion or Race?
I saw someone in Atlanta wearing a shirt with a picture of King and a picture of Barack - "The Dreamer and the Dream" it read. It reminded me, even in the midst of the partisan fray of a presidential election, that Barack Obama's journey is an achievement for America - one that will make our country proud for generations to come, no matter what happens in this election. A man who wouldn't have been able to drink from the same water fountain as most of the people reading this sixty years ago is a finalist to be the leader of the free world. The world changing before our eyes. I thought one of John McCain's most statesmanlike moments was when he congratulated Obama for the historic nature of his accomplishment on the night he received the nomination. Which is exactly what makes the race/faith smear campaign against Obama so stomach-turning.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2008/09/destroying_barack_spitting_on.html


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

-Venezuela closes door on rights scrutiny
OUR OPINION: EXPULSIONS UNDERSCORE CHAVEZ'S INTOLERANCE FOR DISSENT
The abrupt expulsion of two respected human-rights monitors from Venezuela last week is the latest evidence that President Hugo Chávez is determined to muzzle dissenting views. José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, and deputy director Daniel Wilkinson were seized at their hotel and forcibly expelled ''as if we were common criminals,'' Mr. Vivanco said later.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/697452.html


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

-Obama econ speech heavy on reform
Linking the financial crisis on Wall Street with government inefficiency in Washington, Barack Obama issued a series of proposals Monday that aim to tighten federal spending and increase oversight of government workers.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13755.html

-Fury at $2.5bn bonus for Lehman's New York staff
Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/fury-at-25bn-bonus-for-lehmans-new-york-staff-937560.html

-CNN Poll: GOP takes brunt of blame for economy, Obama gains
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll suggests that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks - one factor that may have contributed to an apparent increase in Barack Obama's edge over John McCain in the race for the White House.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/22/republicans-blamed-obama-gains-over-financial-crisis/

-GOP: Lose Your Home, Lose Your Vote
Senator John McCain was a foot soldier in the deregulation revolution, which triggered the current banking crisis and the wave of foreclosures. In Michigan, his party wants to deny the right to vote to victims of the GOP's misguided economic policies and the sleazy banking practices they
encouraged.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/dreier

-Falwell's 'Champions for Christ' Debate Coach Schools McCain
During the 2000 presidential campaign, John McCain lumped Jerry Falwell in with the "agents of intolerance." Flash forward eight years and McCain has really changed his tune. So much so that he's using a disciple of the former Agent of Intolerance to prepare him for his first high-stakes presidential debate this Friday against Barack Obama.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/09/falwells_champions_for_christ.html

-On debate night, who'll be master of low expectations?
Presidential debates have been won and lost over two things: gaffes and expectations. Gaffes can't be predicted. But expectations are established in advance.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/09/23/on_debate_night_wholl_be_master_of_low_expectations/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z

-What Palin defenders see
The attacks that filter up from the left-wing blogosphere to the mainstream media betray a shallow, distorted view of conservative Americans.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-whitcomb23-2008sep23,0,538200.story


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Forwarded from Joe Van Eron
info@GayDaniaBeach.com
PBS is having a poll about whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president. The GOPs are voting early and often, so we need to do our part, too. You don't have to give your name or email address in order to vote. It's very simple. Literally 2 clicks! Here is a small thing you can do in two clicks - SECONDS! Check this out please and fast. Here's the link:
www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html


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From Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
SlackerUprising.com

It's officially September 23rd and my new film, "Slacker Uprising," is now remiering live at SlackerUprising.com! It is available for free as a gift from me to all of you. And you have my permission to share it or show it in any way you see fit. Watch it all - there are five ways you can watch it free and without advertising: :
http://slackeruprising.com/download/location.php?utm_medium=download&utm_source=30309639

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