News

The New York Times's Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny write: "Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are already drawing up strategies for taking each other on in the general election, focusing on the same groups - including independent voters and Latinos - and about a dozen states where they think the contest is likely to be decided this fall, campaign aides said."

In The Politico, Jim VandeHei and David Paul Kuhn say, "In case you've been too consumed by the Democratic race to notice, Republicans are getting crushed in historic ways both at the polls and in the polls."

Reuters reports: "Desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis headed out of Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta in search of food, water and medicine, but aid workers said on Sunday that thousands will die if emergency supplies don't get through soon."

Jennifer C. Kerr of The Associated Press writes: "Increasing numbers of US troops have left the military with damaged bodies and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost the nation billions for decades to come - even as the total population of America's vets has begun to shrink."

The Miami Herald's Marc Caputo says that "For a sign of Florida Republicans' all-out effort to attract black voters, look no farther than the glossy full-colored The Black Republican magazine that launches broadsides like these: The KKK was the 'terrorist arm of the Democratic Party.'"

According to Truthout contributor Ann Wright, "The presence of the US military, 63 years after World War II, is a huge source of anger for the citizens of Japan, Korea, Germany and Italy. On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the US military uses an artillery firing range known as Yausubetsu. The range is small in comparison to ranges in the United States and Germany - only 30 kilometers by 10 kilometers - but the source of irritation to Japanese farmers whose land was taken for the range and for those who live near the range is large. The peaceful rolling hills and valleys of the area are the home of the dairy industry of Hokkaido. The Japanese have used a cartoon of an angry dairy cow with boxing gloves as their symbol of protest of the US military's use of the range."

Beth Reinhard of The Miami Herald reports: "Hispanic voters registered as Democrats have overtaken Hispanic Republicans in Florida, signaling a trend that, if it continues, could have far-reaching implications for the 2008 election and US foreign policy."

In TomDispatch.com, Bill McKibben writes: "Even for Americans, constitutionally convinced that there will always be a second act, and a third, and a do-over after that, and, if necessary, a little public repentance and forgiveness and a Brand New Start - even for us, the world looks a little Terminal right now."

Michael Isikoff reports for Newsweek: "After John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minnesota? The campaign recently tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was chosen for his 'management experience and expertise,' according to McCain press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's selection could fuel perceptions that McCain - who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests - is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients. Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today." And, The New York Times' Michael Cooper reports on Goodyear's Saturday resignation: "The executive, Doug Goodyear, said in a statement that he was stepping down as the coordinator of the convention, which will be held September 1-4 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, 'so as not to become a distraction in this campaign.'"

Thomas Powers writes in The New York Review of Books: "There is a working assumption among the American people that a new president enters the White House free of responsibility for the errors of the past, free to set a new course in any program or policy, and therefore free - at the very least in constitutional theory, and perhaps even really and truly free - to call off a war begun by a predecessor. No one would expect something so dramatic on the first day of a new administration but it remains a fact that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, and the power that allowed one president to invade Iraq would allow another to bring the troops home."

The multinational drugs company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) downplayed an early warning about the rising number of people who have suffered heart attacks after using one of its drugs, abacavir. An anti-Aids medication, abacavir is taken by tens of thousands of people worldwide. GSK was officially told of the possible risk in May 2005, three years before it [...]

No one could have guessed, back in 2000, what would come of Chalabi's efforts in Washington.

Portland Coalition Against Poverty is calling out for solidarity with the homeless camped out in front of City Hall. The police are planning a crack down sometime on Tuesday, and we want to have as many non-homeless folks as possible around to show support and monitor police abuses.

On Sunday at 5:00pm at Terry Shrunk Plaza (the park across the street from City Hall) we're having a solidarity meeting to get folks together and coordinate our efforts- feel free to show up, and camp out that night if you choose. Monday night is the power night, where everyone who can should come and flop down a sleeping bag, in case the police decide to sweep early on Tuesday morning. We'll be camping out that night for sure, and, starting Tuesday morning we'll be circulating a petition of support for the homeless around downtown. Even if you can't camp, show up Tuesday at noon to pick up a clipboard and circulate petitions.

PHILADELPHIA — A former USA Today reporter facing fines for failing to reveal her sources for stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks said Saturday that news organizations need to go on the offensive in the fight to protect the First Amendment.” As we all know, the news business is on a collective nervous breakdown,” Toni Locy [...]

The media buzzed in recent years with reports of mothers opting out of the work force to raise their children. It turns out the revolution among mothers has been canceled — and maybe never even started. There is not a widespread trend of working moms trading paychecks for play dates, several economists report. In fact, the [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas - Common household dust has long been known to carry pesticides, allergens and other irritants. But the dust that coats your television sets may answer why virtually every American tested has traces of a chemical flame retardant that may be harmful. The flame retardants have been used for decades in television sets, computer-wire insulation, [...]

BEIJING - Nothing about the lunch rush at a McDonald’s in China would feel out of place in America: Students huddled around video games and fries; a computer salesman scarfing a chicken sandwich; a teacher lingering over a hamburger and coffee. And in that all-American scene lies the next great challenge to the world’s food [...]

BARSTOW - As the sun rose over the Mojave Desert, researcher Kristina Drake approached with caution as a creature with weary eyes, a scuffed carapace and skin as rough as rhino hide peered at her from the edge of a dirt road just east of here. Wearing rubber gloves, Drake picked up the old female California [...]

“We haven’t eaten rice for the past few days,” Dowla Shwe says, sitting forlornly by the roadside in southern Burma, begging for food from every passer-by. Since Cyclone Nargis struck last week, her five children have had only bananas and coconut. “We have nothing,” she says, nodding towards her starving children. “They are getting weak, and I [...]

Across the South, Barack Obama’s smashing primary victory in North Carolina last week reflects a new reality - a half-century of rising Republican red tide has crested, with signs of receding. A week ago yesterday, Democrats won a special Congressional election in a Louisiana district held by Republicans since 1974. That outcome might well be replicated [...]