NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 24, 2008

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

-Russia's Liberals Lose Their Voice
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Nikita Y. Belykh, once a Kremlin critic, took a job offered by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/world/europe/24russia.html?_r=1&hp

-Jordanian Students Rebel, Embracing Conservative Islam
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Across the Middle East, young people are using religion to defy the status quo and challenge their governments. [ ] Across the Middle East, young people like Mr. Fawaz, angry, alienated and deprived of opportunity, have accepted Islam as an agent of change and rebellion. It is their rock 'n' roll, their long hair and love beads. Through Islam, they defy the status quo and challenge governments seen as corrupt and incompetent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/world/middleeast/24jordan.html?hp

-Resistance to Kennedy Grows Among Democrats
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Contention is emerging among officials against Caroline Kennedy as she pursues Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/nyregion/24kennedy.html?hp

-In Reversal, Court Allows a Bush Plan on Pollution
By FELICITY BARRINGER
A federal appeals court in Washington reversed itself on Tuesday and temporarily reinstated a Bush administration plan to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/washington/24air.html

-Shifting Troop Targets
Barack Obama should stick to his campaign pledge to pull combat troops out of Iraq in 16 months.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/opinion/24wed1.html?ref=opinion

-Time to Reboot America
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
We don't just need a bailout in this country, we need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/opinion/24friedman.html?ref=opinion

-The Right to a Day in Court
Four former Guantánamo detainees awaiting a hearing from an appellate court, should be entitled to sue on the basis that they were tortured and denied their religious rights.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/opinion/24wed2.html?ref=opinion


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

-'Green' Jobs Compete for Stimulus Aid
Obama Weighs Them Vs. Traditional Projects
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/23/AR2008122303023.html?hpid=topnews


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The Pen
Speak Out Against The Planned Bush Blanket Pardons BEFORE They Can Happen
Pay no attention to the handful of Christmas pardons granted by Bush. This is mere political window dressing to distract from the bumper crop of blanket absolutions, including one for himself, scheduled to be released just before midnight on Jan 19th. Cheney would not so arrogantly be bragging on TV about how he authorized torture if it were not so. But there is a resolution in Congress, H.Res. 1531, preemptively condemning any such move if we can just get enough members of Congress to sponsor it (already 10 so far). Many of you have submitted a action page on this already. Please do it again, especially if your representative did not hear you the first time. Action Page To Stop The Bush Pardons:
http://www.usalone.com/hres1531.php

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

-Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Source
The internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as a main source for national and international news. Read more

-Media Monitoring
A Christmas Present -- No Story Dominates the News
As 2008 draws to a close, last week's media attention was divided more than at any point this year. Read more

-Roll Call
The Religious Makeup of Congress
Although a majority of the members of the new, 111th Congress are Protestants, Congress -- like the nation as a whole -- is much more religiously diverse than it was 50 years ago. Read more

-Daily Number
52% - Commercialized Christmas
More than half of Americans (52%) say they are bothered at least to some degree by the commercialization of Christmas, including 26% who say that they are bothered by it a lot. 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:

-Will Obama Deliver for Organized Labor?
By Jay Newton-Small/Washington
Perhaps it was his background as a community organizer helping laid-off steel workers find work, or his promises to close the book on discredited trickle-down economics and renegotiate unfair trade deals. Few groups were as happy about the election of Barack Obama as organized labor, which felt it finally had a champion after more than three decades of being marginalized.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1868355,00.html

-4 picks for national security team named
By Bryan Bender
President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden yesterday announced four more top picks for the administration's national security team, including a Boston native and a longtime adviser to the late House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/24/4_picks_for_national_security_team_named/

-Shirtless Obama images causing stir on Internet
Forget Barack Obama's staff making contact with a governor charged with corruption. What's got everyone talking is the president-elect's fine first form. "Fit for office: Buff Bam is Hawaii hunk," the New York Post gushed on its cover yesterday above a photo of the future president strolling without a shirt in Hawaii. The Drudge Report called him "President Beefcake."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/24/shirtless_obama_images_causing_stir_on_internet/

-Commentary: Maybe it's time to turn the tables on the South
John McCormick
The unnecessarily long and painful path toward the approval of government bridging loans for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC has exposed a new threat to Detroit. It's one that Michigan consumers may want to keep in mind as they consider their expenditures, vacation options and even retirement plans. The problem here centers on certain southern states -- Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and, in particular, Alabama -- where certain bone-headed senators seem to have forgotten that the Civil War ended, with the appropriate outcome, almost 150 years ago.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081224/OPINION03/812240303/1031


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