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Quote of the day. “Because of the union, my father got things like vacation days or a raise in wages. But my mother, who worked as a domestic, had nobody. It taught me from a young age the difference between workers who are organized and workers who were by themselves.” John Sweeney, retiring as president of the AFL-CIO. (New York Times)
FAITH IN THE NEWS
Sebelius: No public abortion funding in health care bill “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pledged Sunday that President Barack Obama will support barring public funding for abortion in any health care overhaul legislation.”
Religion reporting is losing its prominence in American newspapers “There have been reductions in the number of reporters who write about religion full time at all of the nation’s biggest newspapers, and the religion news beat has disappeared from multiple midsize and smaller papers.”
Amid a holy war “…she is a symbol in a holy war that exposes the hostile relationship between some elements of evangelical Christianity and Islam. She is something very different to each side: a heroic would-be martyr or a pawn used to demonize Islam.”
Amid war, recession and health care debate, politicians loath to mention sacrifice “Politicians prefer not to talk about all the pesky sacrifices that are needed to give bold action a chance to succeed. This is a country where prosperity has been the norm, an era when technology has made so many things so much easier.”
Is secularism saving marriage? (Oliver Thomas, USA Today) “Religion may put the 'holy' in matrimony, but secular society may be applying the glue that keeps more couples together.”
NEWS AT HOME
Financial reform. Obama Heads to Wall Street, Turns Attention to Financial Reform “President Obama will head to Wall Street on Monday to try to breathe new life into efforts to overhaul the financial regulatory system, an undertaking he has said is essential to halting the abuses and failures that led to the current crisis.” U.S. Is Finding Its Role in Business Hard to Unwind “When President Obama travels to Wall Street on Monday to speak from Federal Hall, where the founders once argued bitterly over how much the government should control the national economy, he is likely to cast himself as a 'reluctant shareholder' in America’s biggest industries and financial institutions.”
Protesting health care reform. Tens of Thousands Protest Obama Initiatives at Capitol “Tens of thousands of conservative protesters, many complaining that the nation is racing toward socialism, massed outside the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, angrily denouncing President Obama's health-care plan and other initiatives as threats to the Constitution.” Thousands Rally in Capital to Protest Big Government “A sea of protesters filled the west lawn of the Capitol and spilled onto the National Mall on Saturday in the largest rally against President Obama since he took office, a culmination of a summer-long season of protests that began with opposition to a health care overhaul and grew into a broader dissatisfaction with government.”
Supporting health care reform. Thousands Rally in Minnesota Behind Obama’s Call for Health Care Overhaul “Thousands of roaring supporters turned out Saturday to rally behind President Obama’s call to overhaul the nation’s health care system, packing a basketball arena here as Mr. Obama warned that nearly half of all Americans under 65 could lose their insurance at some point during the next decade.” Obama rallies Minneapolis crowd for healthcare reform “After several days spent exhorting lawmakers in Washington to back his healthcare overhaul, President Obama took to the road Saturday for a campaign-style rally in which he said he would not cooperate with Republicans determined to kill his plan for political purposes.”
Health care and non-profits. Nonprofit Groups Upset at Exclusion From Health Bills “Nonprofit organizations say they are upset that Congress and the Obama administration have not addressed their rising health care costs in the various health care proposals being floated on Capitol Hill.”
Immigration. Senate committee tackles illegal-immigrant healthcare concerns “Key members of the Senate Finance Committee moved Friday to quell the latest furor over President Obama's healthcare overhaul, discussing added identification and enforcement requirements intended to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving federal benefits.” White House stiffens against illegal immigrants “The White House strengthened its stand against health care coverage for illegal immigrants Friday, and a pivotal Senate committee looked ready to follow its lead.”
Extremes in GOP. Some fear GOP is being carried to the extreme “Amid a rebirth of conservative activism that could help Republicans win elections next year, some party insiders now fear that extreme rhetoric and conspiracy theories coming from the angry reaches of the conservative base are undermining the GOP's broader credibility and casting it as the party of the paranoid.”
Climate change. Climate bill politics are heating up “After months of promoting President Obama's climate plan as a vehicle to create millions of clean-energy jobs, supporters of the legislation are increasingly pushing another strategy -- its benefits for national security.”
Abortion protester killed. Abortion Protester Is Killed in Michigan “A man who had long opposed abortion and was known nationally among anti-abortion protesters was shot to death Friday morning while staging a protest outside a Michigan high school, the authorities said.”
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
Canadian politics. Four elections. Six years. Is Canada broken? “If someone told you that a country, any country, was heading into its fourth general election in less than six years, you would say: That country is broken. Is Canada broken?”
Afghanistan. 5 U.S. troops, dozens of Afghans killed in wave of attacks “A wave of violence swept across Afghanistan on Saturday, leaving five American troops and dozens of Afghans dead and underscoring the Taliban's growing reach.” Reemergence of Taliban in Kandahar Presents Challenges for U.S., NATO “Kandahar in many ways is a microcosm of the challenges the United States faces in stabilizing Afghanistan. The city is filled with ineffective government officials and police officers whom the governor calls looters and kidnappers.” Deadly Afghan ambush shows perils of ill-supplied deployment “The ambush and the nearly nine-hour battle in the rugged mountains of eastern Kunar province illustrated many of the toughest challenges inherited by the Obama administration and U.S. commanders and their soldiers, who're scrambling to regain the upper hand in an eight-year-old guerrilla war that's growing bloodier and more unpopular in both countries by the day.”
Middle East. 'Urgency' in US Middle East talks “The US Middle East envoy George Mitchell said Washington shared in a 'sense of urgency' following talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres.” Israel sees 'gaps' with US on peace “Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has said that differences remain with the US over conditions needed to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.” Netanyahu, Mitchell both agree: No agreement on settlements “Netanyahu will meet with U.S. envoy George Mitchell tomorrow in an effort to reach an agreement over the issue of a freeze in West Bank settlement construction.” West Bank Settlers Dig In, but Resolve May Have a Limit “Armed, ideological settlers are unlikely to engage in organized armed conflict with the Israeli military, as some fear, because their beliefs make them hesitant to turn against their own.”
Iran. Iranians set for big powers talks “Iran is to hold talks next month with the six world powers dealing with the crisis over its nuclear programme.” Six more Iran activists in dock “The hearing was the latest session of a mass trial that began on 1 August, involving more than 100 opposition supporters accused over the protests that followed the disputed 12 June presidential election.”
Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe PM hits out at Mugabe “Morgan Tsvangirai told thousands of supporters marking his Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC) 10th anniversary on Sunday that despite guarantees of political freedoms in the unity deal, Mugabe's Zanu-PF party continued to persecute MDC supporters.” Reforms before aid, EU tells Robert Mugabe “Zimbabwe can expect no major financial aid or lifting of sanctions until it carries out promised democratic reforms, the first European Union delegation to visit for seven years has warned.”
Passing. Norman Borlaug, Plant Scientist Who Fought Famine, Dies at 95 “Norman E. Borlaug, the plant scientist who did more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday night.” Norman Borlaug, scientist who 'saved 245m lives', dies aged 95 “India has paid tribute to Norman Borlaug, the American agricultural scientist who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for developing high-yielding crops that helped to prevent hundreds of millions of people from dying through famine.”
OPINION
The cloud of war (James Carroll, Boston Globe) “The elephants in the congressional chamber last week were not the scowling Republicans, but Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which was mentioned. In both places, American wars are quite clearly spinning toward catastrophe.”
Sane Immigration Reform on Tap? (Lee Hockstader, Washington Post) “The chances of building a sane immigration system seemed unlikely enough in 2007 before it was squashed by divisions among Democrats and a talk radio-fueled revolt on the right. If anything, they look even worse now.”
Sojourners
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