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Quote of the day. “What comes out of my blog is the experiences of a soldier right in the middle of all of this. I think that people need to hear from us, more than they need to hear from the big whigs. War has a cost, and that cost is paid by soldiers.” An Army specialist nicknamed "Mud Puppy" explaining his blog from the 10 months he spent in Afghanistan. (New York Times)
FAITH IN THE NEWS
Opposition to Health-Care Reform Re-Energizes the Christian Right “The Christian right, facing questions before the presidential election about its continuing potency as a force for cultural and political change, has found new life with Barack Obama in office, particularly around health care.”
1.2 Million Sign Anti-Health Care Bill Petition to Congress “A prominent Southern Baptist leader and well-known Christian radio hosts will deliver a massive petition with 1.2 million signatures opposing the current health care bill to Congress Wednesday.”
NEWS AT HOME
Health care. Obama Speech Aims To Reenergize Effort “President Obama will seek to rally Congress to pass health-care reform in a prime-time address Wednesday, even as lawmakers continue struggling to reach broad consensus on some of the toughest issues in the debate.” Democrats Promise to Send Health Plan to Obama “Democratic Congressional leaders assured President Obama on Tuesday that they would deliver a health care overhaul to his desk this year as the author of a new compromise Senate plan said he was ready to push ahead with his legislation.” Baucus presents healthcare overhaul plan “Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday unveiled his long-awaited compromise blueprint for healthcare reform, proposing new taxes on high-end insurance plans and offering nonprofit insurance cooperatives as an alternative to a controversial government-run option.” Overhaul's Contours Are Starting to Take Shape “Increasingly, though, the contours of the overhaul are becoming clearer, and are certain to sharpen when Mr. Obama addresses Congress in a special joint session on Wednesday.”
Health care analysis. More than health care rides on Obama's speech “Amid a summer of setbacks, President Obama's speech tonight before a joint session of Congress is a crucial moment that could determine whether he will be able to reestablish his presidency as what John F. Kennedy called the "vital center of action" in the government.” Despite Fears, Health Care Overhaul Is Moving Ahead “While the month of August clearly knocked the White House back on its heels, as Congressional town hall-style meetings exposed Americans’ unease with an overhaul, the uproar does not seem to have greatly altered public opinion or substantially weakened Democrats’ resolve.”
Obama school speech. Obama tries to motivate students with speech “While the prospect of the president speaking directly to schoolchildren became controversial last week, the speech was decidedly motivational and not political and was praised by some of his critics.” Obama school talk urges responsibility “Invoking his own fatherless childhood and ignoring the political firestorm sparked by the address, President Obama on Tuesday asked the nation's students to take personal responsibility for their future and said he expected them to put their best effort into their schoolwork.”
Sotomayor officially takes Court seat. Justice Sotomayor Formally Takes Seat on Supreme Court “Justice Sonia Sotomayor officially took her seat as the Supreme Court's 111th member Tuesday in a tradition-filled ceremony witnessed by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and scores of lawmakers, judges, family members and friends.”
Climate change. Climate bill needed for U.S. security, ex-officials insist “America's national security is at risk unless Congress and the Obama administration end partisan wrangling and agree on legislation to reduce U.S. contributions to climate change, a bipartisan group of former presidential advisers, cabinet members, senators and military leaders said Tuesday.” Developing World's Energy Needs Set Stage for Fight “Developing nations' urgent need for more energy has become a central issue this year as developed countries -- including the United States -- push for a global reduction in carbon emissions ahead of a climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen.”
Employee free choice act. Federal program rejects 'card check' effort “While the Obama administration and its Democratic allies in Congress press to allow private-sector workers to unionize by signing authorization cards instead of voting by secret ballot, the government's legal-aid program for the poor has declared the so-called 'card check' strategy 'unreliable' and rejected an effort by some of its own workers to organize that way.”
Economic crisis. A year after financial crisis, the consumer economy is dead “One year after the near collapse of the global financial system, this much is clear: The financial world as we knew it is over, and something new is rising from its ashes.” Overspending on Debit Cards Is a Boon for Banks “Banks and credit unions have long pitched debit cards as a convenient and prudent way to buy. But a growing number are now allowing consumers to exceed their balances -- for a price.” Recovery May Depend on the Wealthy “In this new era of frugality, well-to-do shoppers have gone into hiding and stowed away their splashy logos. But they may hold the key to a consumer recovery.”
Nuclear weapons. Pentagon Checks Arsenal in Race for Nuclear Treaty “With the clock ticking on a year-end deadline, President Obama is pressing ahead with a top-to-bottom review of America’s nuclear weapons to see how much the arsenal can shrink, as his negotiators are racing to wrap up a major new strategic arms control treaty with Russia.”
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
Reporter rescued in Afghanistan. UK soldier killed during Afghanistan reporter rescue “A British soldier serving with the special forces support group has been killed during a pre-dawn raid to free a British journalist being held by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, it was confirmed today. The reporter's interpreter also died in the operation.” Commando dies in raid to free British reporter “Stephen Farrell of The New York Times was successully freed in the operation but his Afghan interpreter, Mohammad Sultan Munadi, was shot dead. A Taliban commander said that 48 of his men were killed in the raid, in which at least one civilian also died.”
Global hunger. Elimination of food waste could lift 1bn out of hunger, say campaigners “Eliminating the millions of tonnes of food thrown away annually in the US and UK could lift more than a billion people out of hunger worldwide, experts claim.”
Afghanistan. As Vote Count Gives Karzai a Majority, a Recount Is Ordered “Afghan election officials declared that President Hamid Karzai had won a majority of the vote based on preliminary results announced Tuesday, even as the United Nations-backed commission serving as the ultimate arbiter of the elections said it had found 'clear and convincing evidence of fraud' in a number of polling stations and ordered a partial recount.” Airstrikes in Afghanistan drop by almost half “Airstrikes by coalition forces in Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in the three months Gen. Stanley McChrystal has led the war effort there, reflecting his new emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties and protecting the population.” EU trio call for UN Afghan summit “British, French and German leaders have urged the UN to hold a major international conference on Afghanistan's future by the year's end.”
Gaza. Israel 'understated' Gaza deaths “An Israeli human rights group says many more Palestinian civilians were killed in the Israeli military's campaign in Gaza than the army admits.”
Iran. Iran 'closer to nuclear weapon' “Iran is moving closer to being able to make a nuclear bomb, the US envoy has told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.” Iranian Opposition Offices Are Raided “The Iranian authorities on Monday and Tuesday raided offices connected to two senior opposition leaders in Tehran, arresting their top aides and seizing documents, Iranian news agencies and the leaders’ Web sites reported.” Iranian cleric stands his ground against authorities “Under threat of arrest, Mehdi Karroubi continues to lead the charge against the state's crackdown on dissent after the disputed presidential election. 'I won't go underground,' he says.”
Sudan. US envoy in Sudan peace push “Scott Gration, the US special envoy to Sudan, will travel to the country next week to hold discussions with Omar Hassan al-Bashir's, Sudan's president, ruling party and leaders of former fighters from the country's south.”
East Timor Aid 'fails to help E Timor's poor' “A decade after East Timor broke away from Indonesia, prompting one of the most expensive UN-led nation-building initiatives ever, little of the billions spent on the country has contributed to its development, new research has found.”
Zimbabwe. Southern African leaders call for end to sanctions on Zimbabwe “Southern African heads of state called on the international community to end sanctions on Zimbabwe as they ended a summit meeting Tuesday.”
OPINION.
Our One-Party Democracy (Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times) “Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.”
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