MANILA, Philippines -- The 1,310 passers of the 2008 Bar examinations will take their oath on Apr. 28 at the Philippine International Convention Center, the Supreme Court announced today.
ADVERTISEMENT

The oath will be administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Beginning today, the passers may secure their clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant at 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., from Monday to Friday, until Apr. 27.

A total of 1,310 out of 6,364 takers or 20.58 percent passed the Bar examinations held Sept. 7, 14, 21 and 28 last year at the De La Salle University in Manila. Judy Lardizabal of San Sebastian College topped the exams with a score of 85.7 percent.

Justice Dante Tinga headed the 2008 Committee on Bar Examinations. - By Dennis Carcamo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

US blames Hamas for growing Mideast violence

WASHINGTON – The United States on Saturday blamed the more than week-old onslaught in the Gaza strip squarely on Hamas militants and avoided any criticism of Israel despite mounting world outrage over a death toll now topping 460 and growing.

Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza on Saturday in its bid to stop the Hamas rocket attacks.

A State Department official said the U.S. is working toward a cease-fire but provided no details on how this can be accomplished because the U.S. does not talk to Hamas. Spokesman Sean McCormack said a cease-fire is needed that will not allow Hamas to continue firing rockets into Israel. The comments were made after Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza.

McCormack said "it's obvious the cease-fire should take place as soon as possible," but it has to be sustainable and cannot allow Hamas to continue to launch rockets out of Gaza.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled emergency consultations Saturday night to address the escalation of violence in Gaza, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate halt to Israel's ground operation.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said President Bush was briefed this afternoon on the situation in Gaza and said U.S. officials are in "regular contact with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in the region and Europe."

Asked if the U.S. was warned before the invasion, Johndroe did not answer that question, but said: "Their ground action is part of their overall operation. We continue to make clear to them our concerns for civilians, as well as the humanitarian situation."

A senior U.S. defense official in Washington said it appeared that the Israeli ground force that entered Gaza was perhaps several thousand strong. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said it appeared the objective of the ground assault was not just to deal with the current problem of rocket attacks into southern Israel but to seek longer-term security.

With time running out on the Bush presidency, the crisis in Gaza is likely to carry over to President-elect Barack Obama.

The escalation of fighting in Gaza comes as the Bush administration approaches its final two weeks in office, with Obama scheduled to become president on Jan. 20.

Israeli warplanes have rained bombs on Gaza, targeting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has traumatized southern Israel with intensifying rocket attacks. More than 460 Palestinians and at least four Israelis have been killed. The U.N. estimated Friday that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians.

President George W. Bush also spoke about the situation in Gaza during his weekly radio address.

Calling the Hamas attacks an "act of terror," Bush said the United States was "leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire."

"Another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable," he said in the address, which was released Friday. "And promises from Hamas will not suffice — there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end."

Before Saturday's movement of Israeli ground troops. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had briefed Bush on developments in Gaza and conducted telephone diplomacy in hopes of arranging a truce. Yet, she said she had no plans to make an emergency visit to the region.

___

Associated Press writers Bob Burns, Matthew Lee and Anne Gearan contributed to this report.

Across Mideast, thousands protest Israeli assault

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Crowds of thousands swept into the streets of cities around the Middle East on Sunday to denounce Israel's air assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

From Lebanon to Iran, Israel's adversaries used the weekend assault to marshal crowds into the streets for noisy demonstrations. And among regional allies there was also discontent: The prime minister of Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel, called the air assault a "crime against humanity."

Several of Sunday's protests turned violent. A crowd of anti-Israel protesters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul became a target for a suicide bomber on a bicycle.

In Lebanon, police fired tear gas to stop dozens of demonstrators from reaching the Egyptian Embassy. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the embassy compound. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.

Egypt, which has served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians as well as between Hamas and its rival Fatah, has been criticized for joining Israel in closing its borders with Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on Hamas to renew its truce with Israel: "There has been a calm and we should work to restore it."

France also called for the truce to be renewed and rallied European nations to use "all their weight" to stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

"We have entered a new spiral of despair," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the Journal du Dimanche in an interview published Sunday. "The truce must be restored."

Kouchner noted that the attacks come "in a context of vacancy of power in Israel and the U.S." as both countries are undergoing leadership transitions.

"Europe has a role to play," Kouchner said.

In Beirut, Hamas representative Osama Hamdan told the crowd that the militant group had no choice but to fight. Gaza militants have been lobbing dozens of rockets and mortars into southern Israel since a six-month truce expired over a week ago, prompting Israel's fierce retaliation.

"We have one alternative which is to be steadfast and resist and then we will be victorious," Hamdan said.

In the capital of neighboring Syria, more than 5,000 people marched toward the central Youssef al-Azmeh square, where they burned an Israeli and an American flag.

One demonstrator carried a banner reading, "The aggression against Gaza is an aggression against the whole Arab nation."

"Down with America, the mother of terrorism," read another.

In Amman, Jordan, about 5,000 lawyers marched toward parliament to demand the Israeli ambassador's expulsion and the closure of the embassy. "No for peace, yes to the rifle," they chanted.

In Jordan's squalid Baqaa camp for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, protester Yassin Abu Taha, 32, blamed America and Israel for the Middle East's problems.

"The Israelis kill our people in Gaza and the West Bank. The Americans kill our people in Iraq. We're refugees, kicked out of our home in Tulkarem in 1967 and we're still displaced," he said, bemoaning his family's flight in the 1967 Mideast war.

The U.S. Embassy in Jordan warned Americans to avoid areas of demonstrations.

Thousands of Egyptians — many of them students — demonstrated at campuses in Cairo, Alexandria and elsewhere and accused President Hosni Mubarak and other Arab leaders of not doing enough to support the Palestinians.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said Israel should be "wiped off the map," denounced the Israeli strikes.

And in the normally politically placid streets of glitzy Dubai, hundreds of demonstrators — some draped in Palestinian flags — gathered at the Palestinian consulate.

"This is a time for the Palestinians and Arabs to unite to fight against a common enemy," said Majdei Mansour, a 30-year-old Palestinian resident of Dubai. Mansour said he has been unable to contact his family in Gaza since the latest fighting.

In Iraq, where the government has also condemned the Gaza airstrikes, a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up amid a crowd of about 1,300 demonstrators in Mosul who were protesting against Israel, killing one demonstrator and wounding 16, Iraqi police said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack on the demonstration, which was organized by a Sunni party in sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, who are largely fellow Sunnis.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Hamid Ahmed in Baghdad contributed to this report.

sources

UN says nearly 1 billion hungry

ROME — High food prices have pushed the number of hungry people in the world close to 1 billion, a United Nations agency said Tuesday.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report that 40 million people have fallen into hunger this year, bringing the number of needy to 963 million.

"For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream," said Hafez Ghanem, the organization's assistant director general.

Even though prices of major cereals fell by over 50 percent from their peaks earlier this year, they remain high compared to previous years, the agency said.

Among the poor, the agency said, landless and female-headed households are most vulnerable to sharp rises in food prices.

According to the report, nearly two-thirds of the world's hungry live in Asia, while in sub-Saharan Africa one person in three is chronically hungry.

The agency warned that reduced demand in industrialized countries due to the global financial crisis could threaten exporters in developing countries.

Investments and other capital flows, including development aid, are also at risk, the agency said. - AP

SWS: More Pinoy families go hungry

MANILA, Philippines – Hunger has reached a new peak nationwide, a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed, with the national percentage of families having experienced nothing to eat rising to nearly a quarter of all households.

At 23.7 percent — equivalent to 4.3 million families — this month’s finding surpassed the previous record of 21.5 percent — recorded in September 2007 — and was 11 points higher than the 10-year average of 12.6 percent, survey results made exclusive to BusinessWorld showed.

The December 2008 score is also five points higher than the 18.4 percent posted last September.

It put this year’s hunger average at 18.5 percent, up from last year’s 17.9 percent. The independent survey research institute noted that hunger has been in double-digit territory since June 2004.

A National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) official, however, expressed doubts over the findings, pointing to government efforts to eradicate hunger and provide employment to the poor.

An economist, meanwhile, said the higher hunger was an effect of the global economic downturn and warned that next year’s results could be worse due to a slowdown in consumption and job losses among Filipino migrant workers.

The latest SWS survey was fielded over November 28-December 1, 2008 and covered 1,500 respondents nationwide.

In face-to-face interviews, household heads were asked: "Nitong naka-raang tatlong buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? Kung Oo: Nangyari po ba ’yan ng minsan lamang, mga ilang beses, madalas, o palagi? (In the past three months, was there an instance when your family experienced hunger or had nothing to eat? If yes, did it happen only once, a few times, often, or always?).

Respondents were divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in the rest of Luzon. Sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for the rest of Luzon were used.

The SWS said the five-point increase in total hunger between September and December could be attributed to a three-point rise in moderate hunger and the two-point increase in severe hunger.

Moderate hunger, pertaining to those who experienced it "only once" or "a few times" in the last three months, hit a record high of 18.5 percent (around 3.3 million families) in December from 15.2 percent (around 2.7 million families) in September. The December figure is nine points higher than the ten-year average moderate hunger rate of 9.2 percent. Counted in this category were those who did not state their frequency of hunger.

Severe hunger — meaning it was experienced "often" or "always" in the last three months, rose by three points to 5.2 percent (about 940,000 families) in December from 3.2 percent (about 580,000 families) in September. The latest figure is higher by two points than the ten-year average severe hunger rate of 3.3 percent.

The percentage of families who experienced hunger reached record highs in Mindanao and in Metro Manila. Overall hunger was the highest in Mindanao at 33.7 percent (around 1.4 million families) from 18.3 percent. It was at 23.3 percent (around 570,000 families) in Metro Manila, barely moving from 23 percent last September but nevertheless still a new peak for the area. It was up nine points in the Visayas to 20.7 percent (around 750,000 families) from 11.7 percent and remained at 20 percent (1.6 million families) in the rest of Luzon.

Moderate hunger hit record highs in Mindanao (27.7 percent from 16 percent) and in the Visayas (18 percent from 11.3 percent). It went up in Metro Manila (18.3 percent from 15 percent) but declined in the rest of Luzon (14 percent from 16.5 percent).

"In all areas, the latest moderate hunger rates remain higher than their ten-year averages," the SWS said.

Severe hunger went down in Metro Manila (5 percent in December from 8 percent in September) but rose in Mindanao (6 percent from 2.3 percent), the Visayas (2.7 percent from 0.3 percent) and in the rest of Luzon (6 percent from 3.5 percent).

"The latest severe hunger figures remain higher than their ten-year averages in all areas except Visayas, where its latest score of 2.7 percent was slightly lower than its ten-year average of 3.1 percent," the SWS said.

Asked to comment, NAPC lead convenor Domingo F. Panganiban expressed reservations over the results, claiming that the government had already implemented programs to help the poor and address the problem of hunger.

"I cannot say that the results are reliable. Last month we went to the poorest provinces and the people there were thanking the government for its initiatives like the P500 electricity subsidy and the conditional cash transfer. Aside from that, the price of rice has fallen because of the access cards issued by the government," he told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

The P500 power subsidy, which was designed to help poor households pay their electric bills, was funded by excess revenues from the value added tax on oil. The conditional cash transfer program, meanwhile, provides cash allowances to parents who send their children to school.

Mr. Panganiban said the government would continue to work to ensure that the poor were protected from the impact of the global economic crisis.

"The President has directed the Cabinet to oversee and implement employment programs in the regions. We expect to generate more than 1.2 million jobs in 2009. Our programs like the food for school will continue and in fact, the government has increased the budget for these programs," he said.

But Leonor M. Briones, a former National Treasurer who now teaches at the University of the Philippines, said the higher hunger incidence was proof that the economy was slowing down due to the global downturn.

"It is a sign of the slowing down of our economy. We have seen job losses, the retrenchment of overseas Filipino workers and higher prices of goods. The year 2009 may even be worse. We will also see lower consumption," she said.

"The government is not recognizing these economic difficulties. The 7 percent economic growth last year is consumption-based and is not sustainable. But consumption will weaken. The government is making it worse by committing corruption," she said.

Ms. Briones said the government should come up with reforms to address corruption and to ensure that state resources are channelled to the needy. - Alexis Douglas B. Romero, BusinessWorld

3 dead as blasts rock Iligan City a day before Arroyo visit

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Three people were killed and 47 others were wounded Thursday afternoon in two separate explosions that rocked two major shopping centers in Iligan City.

The explosions occurred a day before President Arroyo’s scheduled visit to Iligan City to attend the inauguration of Suka Pinakurat Processing Plant belonging to Green Gold Gourmet food products in Pugaan village.

This was the second time this month that attackers targeted an area that the President was scheduled to visit. Last December 12, Arroyo canceled a trip to Shariff Kabunsuan in Maguindanao after an improvised explosive device went off near a public market on the day before her scheduled visit.

Arroyo has condemned Thursday's twin bombings and ordered law enforcers to conduct "relentless" operations against the perpetrators, a Malacañang spokesman said Thursday.

“The President condemns the ruthless and violent acts of terrorism against our communities. The Philippine National Police and the Armed Fores will be relentless in their pursuit against the perpetrators," said presidential deputy spokesperson Anthony Golez.

"The government will not stop hunting these terrorists until they are put behind bars and we urge our people to coordinate with our law enforcers as to any information that might lead to the arrest of those responsible," Golez added.

Iligan City is Arroyo's maternal hometown.

Fatalities

The military said at least six people were hurt, but the local Red Cross said as many as 38 people were injured in the blasts that sent Christmas shoppers out in the streets.

An L-300 van was also destroyed in the attack, reports said.

Army Lt. Steffani Cacho, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said the first bomb exploded at 1:25 p.m. inside the Unicity Commercial Center. The next explosion occurred 20 minutes later at the Jerry Supermart.

"The improvised explosives were left at the baggage counters of both Unicity and Jerry's Supermart," Cacho told reporters.

Police Officer 3 Abdullah Sumayan of the Iligan City police identified the fatalities as Erwin Suico, 20, from Pugaan village; Jonas Badelles, 22, from Poblacion village; and Jalilah Mangondato, a 22-year-old nursing student from Marawi City.

In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Sumayan said Mangondato has already been claimed by her family, while Badelles and Suico are still at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) office in Manila said 21 people were hurt. It said seven victims were rushed by PNRC-Iligan Chapter volunteers to Dr Uy Hospital while five others at the Sanitarium Hospital and another one at the E & R Hospital.

Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, has sent bomb-sniffing dogs and explosives experts to help police in the investigations.

"We have sent K9 units and bomb experts in the area to help in the investigations," he said.

Malacañang has expressed condolences to the families of those who were killed in the blast.

"We condole with the families of those killed in this tragedy and the different government agencies will support those who have survived," Golez said.

Suspects

No group or individuals have claimed responsibility for the bombings, but previous attacks in the city had been blamed on Moro rebels and local militants trained by Jemaah Islamiyah.

A military official in the region said that the attacks might have been the handiwork of lawless elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that the components used in the explosives included mortar rounds – a known signature of the MILF.

“Our suspect here are the lawless MILF group because of the type of the (improvised explosive device) that were used. That IED manifest their signature, using mortar rounds. That is our initial findings," said Col. Nicanor Dolojan, commander of the Army’s 403rd Brigade.

Last month, at least three people were also wounded in the bombings of two budget hotels - the Traveler's Inn and the Caprice Lodge – in Iligan City.

Asked on the possible motive behind Thursday's attacks, Dolojan said: “Terrorism, which is their real intention, to sow terror in the area."

Dolojan said a close-circuit TV installed at the Unicity Mall was able to record two men, both wearing scarf, depositing a item at the mall’s baggage counter. The official said pictures of the suspects have been culled from the video.

Dolojan said the video showed one of the men going out of the mall, apparently to deposit another item at the Jerry’s bargain center. “After depositing the items, after how many minutes, the bombs went off," he said. - GMANews.TV

Court: No review of Obama's eligibility to serve

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth. The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election.

Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.

Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.

Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

But Hawaii Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the state's registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961.

(This version CORRECTS that Hawaii officials, not secretary of state, confirmed Obama birth certificate.)

Collapse ArticleTurn OFF Expand

Tiny, long-lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On a misty mountaintop on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, scientists for the first time in more than eight decades have observed a living pygmy tarsier, one of the planet's smallest and rarest primates.

Over a two-month period, the scientists used nets to trap three furry, mouse-sized pygmy tarsiers -- two males and one female -- on Mt. Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, the researchers said on Tuesday.

They spotted a fourth one that got away.

The tarsiers, which some scientists believed were extinct, may not have been overly thrilled to be found. One of them chomped Sharon Gursky-Doyen, a Texas A&M University professor of anthropology who took part in the expedition.

"I'm the only person in the world to ever be bitten by a pygmy tarsier," Gursky-Doyen said in a telephone interview.

"My assistant was trying to hold him still while I was attaching a radio collar around its neck. It's very hard to hold them because they can turn their heads around 180 degrees. As I'm trying to close the radio collar, he turned his head and nipped my finger. And I yanked it and I was bleeding."

The collars were being attached so the tarsiers' movements could be tracked.

Tarsiers are unusual primates -- the mammalian group that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and people. The handful of tarsier species live on various Asian islands.

As their name indicates, pygmy tarsiers are small -- weighing about 2 ounces (50 grammes). They have large eyes and large ears, and they have been described as looking a bit like one of the creatures in the 1984 Hollywood movie "Gremlins."

They are nocturnal insectivores and are unusual among primates in that they have claws rather than finger nails.

They had not been seen alive by scientists since 1921. In 2000, Indonesian scientists who were trapping rats in the Sulawesi highlands accidentally trapped and killed a pygmy tarsier.

"Until that time, everyone really didn't believe that they existed because people had been going out looking for them for decades and nobody had seen them or heard them," Gursky-Doyen said.

Her group observed the first live pygmy tarsier in August at an elevation of about 6,900 feet.

"Everything was covered in moss and the clouds are right at the top of that mountain. It's always very, very foggy, very, very dense. It's cold up there. When you're one degree from the equator, you expect to be hot. You don't expect to be shivering most of the time. That's what we were doing," she said. source

Gaza food shortage

While Israel threatens renewed attacks, the residents of the Hamas controlled region face desperate conditions. Over one quarter of the residents of Gaza are living in the dark – and half (750,000) are now without food supplies due to a continuing blockade imposed by Israel beginning on November 6. Medical supplies are also in short supply and the lack of fuel means there is no power for water and sewage processing.

The UN, which distributes the food aid to 750,000 Palestinians in Gaza has had to close it's distribution centers:

In the Shati refugee camp, hundreds of people sought food at a U.N. distribution center but were disappointed. A note taped to the center's gate said handouts were put off until Dec. 13 "because of a lack of food to distribute."

Even without the new threat of large scale attacks, Oxfam is warning “that Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe unless Israel’s blockade is lifted:

"World leaders must step up and exercise all their political might to break the blockade of Gaza,” Oxfam’s executive director Jeremy Hobbs said. “As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay.

source

USGS: 6.5-magnitude quake strikes northwest China

BEIJING – A strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck remote northwestern China on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The quake struck the Qinghai province at a depth of 6.2 miles on Monday morning, the agency said. The USGS said the quake's epicenter was located 1,120 miles west of Beijing.

China's Earthquake Administration confirmed the earthquake, but said it had a magnitude of 6.3 on its scale. There were no immediate reports of casualties, said Zhang, a spokesman for the earthquake administration in Qinghai.

"We contacted the local authorities, but we are still investigating the situation for any damage or injuries," said Zhang, who gave only his surname as is common with Chinese officials.

China's far west is fairly earthquake-prone. A 7.9 magnitude earthquake on May 12 devastated parts of Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killing 70,000 people and leaving 5 million homeless.

CBCP head rejects Arroyo's call for ‘political ceasefire’

MANILA, Philippines - The head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) rejected over the weekend Malacañang's call for a political ceasefire, once again stressing that the issue was about corruption.

CBCP president and Jaro archbishop Angel Lagdameo said the call for a change in government that he and four other bishops made is not for political but for moral change.

"Kung ang ating sinasabi ay pagpuna sa mga maling gawain, hindi lang naman yan sa government kundi sa lahat na pati sa lahat ng antas or level ng ating society. Sapagkat ang corruption ay hindi lang naman nasa gobyerno kundi maging sa iba't-ibang antas ng ating society,” Lagdameo said over Church-run Radio Veritas.

(“Our calls against corruption apply not only to government but also to all sectors of society. Corruption is not only in government but also in many places in society.”)

Excerpts of the interview were posted Saturday on the CBCP website.

Lagdameo added what is needed is ceasefire on corruption currently plaguing not just in the government but in the society as a whole.

He said the uphill battle against corruption should continue and should not only be limited to government and political institutions.

President Arroyo earlier called for a "political ceasefire" amid left and right criticisms from the opposition, militant organizations and civil society groups.

She said the coming Yuletide season should encourage the Filipinos to "set aside personal differences and focus on improving the lives of the people."

Last week, Lagdameo and four bishops issued a statement calling for a radical form in government, which he said is already stricken by a social and moral cancer called corruption.

"Itong pagtalikod sa gawang masama, pagtalikod sa pagawa ng korupsyon, pagtalikod sa kasalanan, yan ay patuloy na dapat na gawin. Ang call for conversion, call for change of mind, conversion of mind, conversion of heart ay dapat ipagpatuloy hanggang makarating tayo ng langit," Lagdameo said.

(“Turning your back on evil and corruption should be done. This is a call for conversion of heart and mind.”)

But Lagdameo agreed with President Arroyo in saying there is a need for a ceasefire in politicking especially with the Christmas season just around the corner.

"Hindi lang dapat dahil sa nalalapit na ang Pasko. It should be for all times. Kinakailangan natin ay kapayapaan. Kinakailangan natin ay magandang pakikitungo at pakikiisa," Lagdameo said.

(“The political ceasefire should not apply only during Christmas but the whole year round.”) - source

Haitian school collapses, at least 30 killed

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – A church school collapsed on the outskirts of Haiti's capital on Friday, killing at least 30 people and burying dozens under rubble, rescue workers said.

The three-story La Promesse school building collapsed while class was in session and some of the walls and debris crushed neighboring residences in the Nerettes community near Port-au-Prince.

"Thirty have already been killed and there are many others under the debris," said Philippine Army Maj. Donald Hongitan, who was among U.N. peacekeeping troops working with police to rescue survivors.

At the scene, crying and screaming parents searched desperately for their children while bodies of students lay crushed under blocks of concrete.

"It's like an earthquake," said Brazilian Maj. Gen. Carlos dos Santos Cruz, the commander for U.N. troops in Haiti.

One boy was trapped by debris that pinned his legs beneath the rubble. He begged the rescuers to "please cut my feet off," a firefighter told Reuters.

Police commissioner Carl Henry Boucher said more than 25 people had been hospitalized in very serious condition.

The roads around the school were so jammed with people looking for loved ones that some of the rescuers had to be brought in by helicopter.

"My son who is 15 years old, he's dead. He's my only son," sobbed 40-year-old Josiane Dandin. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Another woman screamed for her missing 12-year-old daughter. "I don't know if she is dead or alive," she said.

More than 9,000 multinational troops and police currently make up a U.N. peacekeeping force sent to stabilize Haiti after its former president was driven out in a bloody rebellion in 2004.

The impoverished Caribbean nation lacks sophisticated rescue equipment. Haiti is still struggling with the destruction wrought by four tropical storms and hurricanes that hit in quick succession this year, killing more than 800 people and destroying 60 percent of the crop harvest.

"We don't have a number ... but it could be very high," CNN quoted Haitian Red Cross President Michaele Gedeon as saying when asked about the likely death toll.

"What we need right now is heavy search and rescue equipment."source

At least 40, including 12 kids, die as ferry sinks off Masbate

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - An inter-island ferry packed with commuters overturned Tuesday while being buffeted by sudden monsoon winds and waves southeast of Manila, killing 40 people, officials said.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sodusta, the regional army commander, said 76 people were rescued and taken to two hospitals for treatment after the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn was battered shortly after leaving port in central Masbate island for nearby Sorsogon province.

Masbate provincial police chief, Sr Supt Reuben Sindac, said that 40 bodies have been recovered, the last one that of a four-year-old boy.

"The recovery of the body of a four-year-old boy brings the number of fatalities to 40," Sindac told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

At least 13 are believed missing but Sindac said that there may be more as they received reports that some were on board the boat but their names were not on the manifest.

The ship's manifest listed 119 passengers and a crew of six on board, though ferries frequently carry more people than are officially listed.

"We brought the dead to the plaza," said police senior inspector Arturo Estopare, police chief of Dimasalang town, about three miles (five kilometers) from the accident site.

The bodies were lined up and covered, with wailing people checking them for missing loved ones.

Sindac told Manila radio station DZBB that the ferry had been sailing in relatively clear weather.

Police officer Roy Almine, who helped in the rescue, said huge waves and strong monsoon winds suddenly hit the boat, causing it to overturn and tossing passengers into the sea.

"There was some kind of whirlwind," Sindac said. "There was no rain, no typhoon; the waters were calm when it happened.

"The ferry was not passenger-friendly. There were high railings and tarpaulin on the side so when the vessel overturned, these may have helped to trap the passengers."

Such accidents frequently happen in the Philippine archipelago due to tropical weather, badly maintained passenger boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

The typhoon-prone country was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.

In June, the 23,800-ton Princess of the Stars went belly up during a typhoon close to Romblon province, near Masbate, killing more than 800 people on board.

The discovery of several drums of toxic chemicals held up the retrieval of bodies inside the ship until last week. The chemicals have been removed by marine experts.

PO2 Bernardo Pajalla Jr of Masbate police identified the fatalities as of 10 p.m. as:

1. Michelle Ramirez, 1
2. Ritchinel Andaya, 3
3. Nathaniel Andaya, 6
4. Maricel Ornopia, 30
5. Silvina Gabriel, 58
6. Auria Pasas, 66
7. Rosalie Atabay, 26
8. Rosalina Atabay, 50
9. Crisilda Atabay, 7
10. Cizzia Atabay, 6
11. Joy-joy Atabay,6
12. In-in Nueva, 16
13. Grace Capellan, 48
14. Larganie Capellan, 5
15. Lean Capellan, 2
16. Teresita Abejuela, 40
17. John Paul Abejuela, 6
18. Nenita Matos, 36
19. Charlene Leastardo, 19
20. Jimmy Banaag, 22
21. Filipina Anman, 66
22. Ana Nerbis, 59
23. Consolacion Baybayon, 78
24. Lanie Mahinay, 18
25. Sonia Cordera, 40
26. Adelina Adobas, 74
27. Reynaldo Arcueno, 42
28. Jennifer Mantal, 34
29. Nerie Badillo, 44
30. Jessica Marsonia, 36
31. Benita Hermosa, 67
32. Olympio Blaso, 64
33. Rosalina Pilapil, 50
34. Marichu Apao, 5
35. Parcy Abenir, 6
36. Salud Abenir, 65
37. Rossie Belarmino, 57
38. Marilyn Lleness, 43
39. Christian Ramos, 4
40. Francisca Rondina, 50

source

Chacha answer to bishops' call for change

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang insisted Wednesday on Charter change as the answer to Catholic bishops' call Tuesday for change in the system of government.

Press secretary and presidential spokesman Jesus Dureza said the Palace was "heartened" that even bishops now "realize" the need for systemic change that can be brought by Cha-Cha.

"We are also heartened even bishops realize kailangan may systemic change tayo, now, hindi bukas (We are heartened that even bishops realize the need for systemic change now, not tomorrow). Some changes in the system will have to be done. Ang pangulo (The president) was a very strong proponent of changes in the charter when she campaigned even for the presidency," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

He also said the changes in the 1987 Constitution should not only be economic but also be political.

Several groups had opposed Malacañang's moves to amend the Charter due to fears it may manipulate political changes to keep President Arroyo in power beyond 2010.

Under the present Constitution, the president will get only one six-year term and is not eligible to seek another term.

"May mga provision sa Constitution natin kailangan palitan natin, hindi economic provisions kailangan yung mga changes yan sa political system natin (There are provisions in the Constitution that we have to change, not just economic provisions. We also have to make changes in our political system)," Dureza said.

He also chided some Catholic bishops critical of the government for opposing Palace moves to amend the Constitution. "Hindi tayo umuusad eh (That's why we're not progressing)," he said. - GMANews.TV

Jun Lozada to Joc-Joc: Tell truth, leave a lasting legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Barely two days before he is to supposedly board a flight that will take him home, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante was advised to bare all on the P728-million fertilizer scam once he returns home.

The advice came Friday from Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., who earlier this year decided to spill the beans on another anomaly - the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess.

"As a father, I am asking you to please think about your children, please consider the legacy you are going to leave to them. Are you going to forever leave them as pariahs branded as children of a thief - or as children of someone who did wrong and yet chose to serve his country in the end, rather than to be a captive forever of the dark forces he used to serve?" Lozada said in an open letter posted on the blog site of the Black and White Movement.

The advice came the same day that law professor Harry Roque Jr. said that he expects Bolante to take a Northwest Airlines flight home on Sunday, and may arrive in Manila at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Bolante has been tagged as the engineer of a P728-million fertilizer scam where funds for liquid fertilizer were allegedly funneled to the campaign kitty of then administration presidential bet Gloria Arroyo.

In his open letter, Lozada also appealed to Bolante as a fellow Rotarian to take the four-way test as part of his discernment process.

"Is it the Truth? Is it fair to everyone concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to everyone concerned? You have been a good Rotarian for many good years of your life. Will you now turn your back on these ideals in the biggest test of your Rotarian values?" Lozada said.

On the other hand, he urged Bolante not to be afraid of the consequences.

"It is my faith in this God that allowed me to face all the fears that I am confronted with when I decided to tell the truth that I know about the NBN-ZTE scam. May you find the faith to lead you to the Light of God's love that no darkness can ever defeat, not even a President of the Republic of the Philippines," he said.

But Lozada advised Bolante to prepare his family for whatever decision he will make.

He said one of his regrets in coming out on the ZTE mess was that he did not prepare his family enough for the consequences.

"I am sharing these insights with you, because if there is one thing that I did regret in telling the truth about how this Arroyo administration has been stealing from the very people it is supposed to serve, it is that I was not able to prepare my wife and my children well enough against the backlash of this government's wrath against me for telling the people about their crimes,"Lozada said.

"You still have time to discern your next move, whether or not you are going to tell the people the truth about the fertilizer scam or bring the secret to your grave, just like Romy Neri," he added. - GMANews.TV

Customize Your Google News

Personalize Your Page Now

Go to Google.com and just above the search box you'll see the text link titled ‘News'. Click this to get a standard news format featuring World News, Weather, Sports and the usual fare.

Let's assume for a moment that you are a realtor who specializes in Virginia Beach, VA real estate. Click on, ‘edit this personalized page' in the upper right-hand corner and enter the keywords for the news you want delivered to your personalized news page. You might choose Virginia Beach Real Estate, Virginia Mortgage, Virginia Fore Closures, Virginia HUD Properties and Home Interest Rates.

Presto! You now have a customize news page that delivers current and breaking Virginia real estate related news to your browser at a glance.

As a web designer and SEO developer I stay on top of what's happening with the major search engines and the hi-tech sectors.
I set my Google news page to display news for SEO, (Search Engine Optimization), Sci/Tech, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com and Top Stories.

Let's presume you are a Virginia attorney, you could set your Google news page to; US Supreme Court, Virginia Appellate Court, Virginia Beach Local Courts, Crime Busters and so on.

Depending on your career track or what interests you the most, you can personalize your Google news page for virtually any person, place or thing!

It's a great way to stay at the tip-top of what's happening, while it happens!

See a screen-capture of my Google News page !

Depression: How To Watch The News

Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do when you suffer for depression is to look the news. In this time of sensationalism, it can sometimes be hard to watch the news without allowing it to send you deeper into your depression. There are a few things to do so as not to undergo from that.

The first is to buffer the news. Watch something wwws before. Since the news usually ends on upbeat notes, that should remain your mood up. Another technique is to do something while you watch the news, so overly you don't spend all of your focus on the news. Read a book or do a crossword while watching the news. By focusing on the news only, you are more likely that you will allow it to change your mood. By giving it merely part of your attention, you can stabilize your mood a bit more. You can also watch the news surrounded by somebody else. That way, you have one with whom you can talk something like how you are seeing which might help you to release any anxiety that you are feeling.

Sometimes, watching the news on television is more harmful than helpful. The web allows you to get news whenever you want and that might strive better. Yahoo and Google both have complete news sites and companies such as the New York things and CNN also keep up extensive web presences. It should allow you to watch the to hear a little at a time and get headlines without needing to get too much information.

How to Write Your Own Press Release

News reports and readily available information on news and events are second nature to us. We see them all the time in all forms of media whether it be commercial or purely news-based. Both types of news reports are the result of something that ensures only an entertaining, informational, educational or otherwise beneficial news states reaches the masses. It is a serious business made up of carefully thought-out approaches. The key here is a Press Release.

A push release is basically something you spit out to inform someone of a news story, an event, or a commercial news item. More specifically however, a press release is sent to persons who survey news stories to the general public and thus do not make contact with the public directly; rather through a medium these as a newspaper or interweb news website. In condition to write an effective press release, you need to supply all important details related to your news story. Make sure it is concise and at the same time highly interesting to the reader. In short, the tone of your press release should be that the news item is in fact shock worthy regardless of how it is about.

By having a good understanding of what a press release is, how it ultimately affects what to hear stories reach the public, and how it will effect your own news item might help you to better formulate a good drive release. Do some quick research and you can find ample information on how one is written. Plan carefully and your news item can undoubtedly get further exposure amongst a nice press release!

Pakistan Marriott blast shows signs of al-Qaeda

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Taliban militants based near the Afghan border and their al-Qaeda allies are the most likely suspects behind a massive truck bombing at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, officials and experts said Sunday. At least 53 died in the explosion, including two U.S. Defense Department employees and the Czech ambassador.

The truck sat burning and disabled at the hotel gate for at least 3 1/2 minutes as nervous guards tried to douse the flames before they, the truck and much of the hotel forecourt vanished in a fearsome fireball on Saturday night, according to dramatic surveillance footage released Sunday.

The attack on the American hotel chain during Ramadan, among the deadliest terrorist strikes in Pakistan, will test the resolve of its pro-Western civilian rulers to crack down on growing violent extremism which many here blame on the country's role in the U.S.-led war on terror.

While no group has claimed responsibility, the scale of the blast and its high-profile target were seen by many as the signature of media-savvy al-Qaeda.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said "all roads lead to FATA" in major Pakistani suicide attacks — referring to Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where U.S. officials worry that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri are hiding.

Mahmood Shah, a former government security chief for Pakistan's tribal areas, said that while the attack had "all the signatures" of an al-Qaeda strike, homegrown Taliban militants probably had learned how to execute an attack of such magnitude.

Al-Qaeda was providing "money, motivation, direction and all sort of leadership and using the Taliban as gun fodder," he suggested.

A Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the record to media, said investigators were examining just that theory.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the attack was an attempt to "destabilize democracy" in Pakistan, which this year emerged from nine years of military rule, and destroy its already fragile economy.

Gilani also claimed that the bomber attacked the hotel only after tight security prevented him from reaching Parliament or the prime minister's office, where President Asif Ali Zardari and many dignitaries were gathered for dinner.

However, the owner of the hotel accused security forces of a serious lapse in allowing a dump truck to approach the hotel unchallenged and not tackling the driver more clinically.

"If I were there and had seen the suicide bomber, I would have killed him. Unfortunately, they didn't," Sadruddin Hashwani said.

The bomb went off close to 8 p.m. Saturday, when the restaurants inside would have been packed with Muslim diners breaking their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

The explosion wrecked a favorite spot for foreigners as well as the Pakistani elite that has been targeted twice before by militant bombings. The building — one of the few places outside the diplomatic district where U.S. diplomats were permitted to socialize — was still smoldering 24 hours after blast, which also wounded more than 260 people.

Anti-American feeling is running particularly high following a series of strikes by U.S. forces based in Afghanistan on Islamic militants nested in Pakistan's tribal belt.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said there was no evidence that Americans were the target.

Still, he confirmed that two Defense Department employees were among the dead and that a third American — a State Department contractor — was missing.

Three U.S. Embassy employees and an embassy contractor were injured, Fintor said.

IntelCenter, a group which monitors and analyzes extremist communications, said senior al-Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid threatened attacks against Western interests in Pakistan in a video timed to the recent anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Malik, the interior minister, declined a reported offer of U.S. assistance in the investigation, saying Pakistani agencies could cope.

Rescue teams searched the blackened hotel room by room Sunday, finding several more bodies, and Gilani said the death toll had risen to 53. A Danish diplomat was also listed as missing and rescue workers said they expected to find more human remains.

Officials confirmed that Czech Ambassador Ivo Zdarek was also among the dead. Zdarek, 47, only moved to Islamabad in August after four years as ambassador to Vietnam.

Malik said one Vietnamese citizen was also killed. The wounded also included Britons, Germans, and several people from the Middle East.

Malik told a news conference that the bomb contained an estimated 1,300 pounds of military-grade explosives as well as artillery and mortar shells and left a crater 60 feet wide and 24 feet deep in front of the main building.

The government released footage from a hotel surveillance camera showing the heavy truck turning left into the gate at speed, ramming a metal barrier and jolting to a halt about 60 feet away from the hotel.

Guards nervously came forward to look, then scattered after an initial small explosion.

Several guards tried repeatedly to douse flames spreading through the cab of the truck as traffic continued to pass on the road behind. There was no sign of movement in the truck and the footage played didn't show the final blast.

Officials said vehicles carrying construction materials are allowed to move after sunset, meaning the sight of a dump truck near the government quarters might not have aroused suspicion.

The bombing came just hours after Zardari made his first address to Parliament since becoming president, less than a mile away from the hotel.

It drew condemnations from around the world, including from Bush, whose administration has pressured Pakistan to do more to put more pressure on militants using Pakistani soil to support the increasingly deadly insurgency in Afghanistan.

A recent series of suspected U.S. missile strikes and a rare American ground assault in Pakistan's northwest have signaled Washington's impatience with Pakistan's efforts to clear out militants. But the cross-border operations have drawn protests from the Pakistani government, which warned they would fan militancy.

The Marriott blast could prompt diplomats and aid groups in Islamabad to re-evaluate whether nonessential staff and family members should stay. U.N. officials met Sunday to discuss the security situation and, for now, made no decision to change their measures, said Amena Kamaal, a spokeswoman.

Zardari, who on Sunday was headed to New York to lead a delegation to the United Nations and was expected to meet with Bush during the week, spoke out against the cross-border strikes in his speech to Parliament. He condemned the "cowardly attack" afterward in an address to the nation.

Pakistan's powerful army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, joined the condemnation Sunday, calling the attack "heinous" and saying the army stands "with the nation in its resolve to defeat the forces of extremism and terrorism."

The army has staged offensives against insurgents in the nation's northwest that have drawn revenge attacks by Taliban militants.

The country's deadliest suicide bombing was on Oct. 18, 2007, and targeted ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto — Zardari's wife — who survived. It killed about 150 people in Karachi during celebrations welcoming her home from exile.

Bhutto was assassinated in a subsequent attack on Dec. 27, 2007.

The last big attack in Islamabad was a suicide car bombing in June outside the Danish Embassy that killed six people in apparent revenge for the publication in Denmark of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Qaeda took responsibility.

Historic White House race enters final stretch

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

ST. PAUL, Minn. - They embody four uniquely American stories. They offer messages of transformation with two distinct world views. They pursue one goal.
ADVERTISEMENT

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama and their respective running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, begin the final eight weeks of their historic and remarkably close presidential contest ready to rewrite national politics.

Race, gender and age barriers are at stake. A shifting political landscape will take the fight to previously ignored states. Advertising will suffocate the airwaves with intensely negative exchanges. Debates could be as decisive as the final Carter-Reagan debate of 1980. And more money will be spent by the hour in politics than ever before.

Armed with a bigger bankroll and a partisan Democratic advantage, Obama is competing in more states than John Kerry did in 2004, including typically Republican states like Virginia and North Carolina.

Soon, strategists predict, the number of states in play will narrow to nine or 10, resembling past elections with Virginia the new battleground in the mix.

As election day closes in, they say, McCain needs to shore up his position in previous Republican states and hope the only states left in play are Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

"Whoever wins two out of those three will probably win the election," said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole's 1996 campaign and is close to the McCain camp.

Obama and McCain march into the fall campaign with their parties newly unified — tasks they accomplished by each reaching out to a female political figure. Obama joined hands with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and sealed the deal with many of her supporters. But McCain's selection of Palin proved most stunning and has the potential to change the game.

Obama sits atop a mountain of advantages. President Bush and the Republican Party remain highly unpopular, Democrats have displayed greater intensity, Obama has expanded the electorate, and he has set huge records for political money.

McCain, however, has managed to remain far more popular than his party or his president. Independent voters and even some Democrats remain unsure about Obama, either because of his race or his rapid rise from obscurity.

And while Obama's election would represent a monumental milestone for the nation by putting the first black man in the White House, Palin gives voters a chance to make history, too, by electing the first woman as vice president.

___

THE ISSUES

The economy is a driving issue in the election and both candidates are making direct appeals to the working class.

"I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market," McCain said, using the kind of populist language usually heard at Democratic conclaves.

And Palin, upon introducing her husband, Todd, to the delegates, defied the party's antipathy toward big labor by describing him as "a proud member of the United Steelworkers' Union."

"The underlying reality of this election is the nation is fundamentally convinced we are headed on the wrong track," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who was a senior adviser to Kerry 's 2004 campaign. "The person who convinces people they are about change will win."

In casting themselves as change agents, both candidates also are creating caricatures of each other. McCain brands Obama a mere "celebrity," and his ads say Obama represents "old ideas masquerading as change."

Obama, in turn, ties McCain to the unpopular Bush.

"My friend John and George Bush are joined at the hip. And we need a hip replacement," Biden said Saturday while campaigning at a Philadelphia union hall.

___

THE BATTLEGROUNDS

Both candidates have targeted 11 states with advertising this week. They are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. McCain and the Republican National Committee also are up with an ad in Minnesota.

Obama, however, has expanded the field for now, placing ads in Indiana, Michigan, Montana, and North Dakota.

Timing is also crucial. Five battlegrounds — North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri and Michigan — begin distributing absentee ballots between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23.

McCain must ensure a state like Montana, which voted for Bush 59-39 percent over Kerry in 2004 doesn't flip. But the state has two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor. He must shore up North Dakota and hold on to other states Bush won such as Nevada and Colorado, where there's been a growth in the population of Democratic-leaning Hispanic voters.

"The secret of the next 30 days is to get these traditional Republican states back in our column," said Reed.

It won't be easy. Obama has the financial resources to keep those states competitive, forcing McCain to divert money he will desperately need in tossup states.

Palin will be McCain's ambassador to vulnerable Republican "red" states. She'll cross paths with Biden in small cities and rural hamlets in Pennsylvania and Ohio in competition for working class white men and women. McCain would be free to promote himself as a maverick and independent in states such as New Hampshire and in the suburbs and ex-urbs where independent and undecided voters might live.

___

DEBATES

McCain and Obama will face each other in debates three times, each lasting 90 minutes and one conducted in a town hall format. The first opportunity to see the two candidates side by side will be Sept. 26, at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., with domestic policy as the sole subject.

Obama has the upper hand going in, with polls showing voters trust Obama more than McCain to fix the economy. If the race is tied as the debate begins, Obama could help change the dynamic.

Vice presidential debates aren't decisive, but can put a campaign on the defensive. The public is likely to tune in to the Oct. 2 Biden-Palin debate for the novelty of it.

The next two debates favor McCain. On Oct. 7 they will meet at Washington University in St. Louis for a town hall styled meeting on any subject. McCain likes the format and uses it regularly on the stump.

A week later, the two will meet at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., to discuss foreign policy. In polls, McCain leads Obama on questions of defense and who would best deal with Iraq. That debate, held almost three weeks before election day, could prove to be as key as the final debate was for Ronald Reagan in 1980 when his performance broke him out of a tie with Jimmy Carter.

Indeed, debates are about the show — who best connects with voters on the subject at hand, who stays on message and doesn't fumble a name or a country. Who doesn't look at his watch or sigh with disdain. And, in these particular debates, how will the 72-year-old McCain compare with the 47-year-old Obama.

___

MONEY:

Obama is the first major party candidate to opt out of the general election public financing system since the post-Watergate reforms of the 1970s. His fundraising has dazzled. Now Biden will be his chief fundraiser, using his connections to tap deep-pocketed trial lawyers and donors once loyal to Hillary Rodham Clinton in Florida, a top money state where he has ties to big contributors.

Obama's most powerful financial weapon is an online network of nearly 2 million donors who can respond to a money appeal with a few strokes on a keyboard. Palin's rousing convention speech Wednesday invigorated conservatives, but a call for cash that night by the Obama campaign generated $10 million in less than 24 hours.

Still, Obama will have to raise money in unprecedented sums. Democratic fundraisers say he and the Democratic National Committee, which can raise money in larger individual donations, must jointly raise $200 million to $250 million this fall to make the venture outside the public funds system worthwhile.

McCain is staying within the public system. That means he gets $84 million without effort. But to compete with Obama's money machine, the Republican National Committee is picking up the slack, already airing hybrid ads with the McCain campaign that help stretch McCain's spending limits.

McCain raised an impressive $47 million in August, a campaign record. In a testament to Palin's role, the campaign said $10 million of the total came in the three days after McCain announced her as his running mate.

The McCain campaign says its combined campaign and party resources entering the fall campaign are between $220 million and $240 million. It expects the Victory '08 committee to raise at least $60 million over the next two months.

Palin is the draw. Until the election, she's booked for fundraisers at the rate of one every two days.
http://www.adsvv.com/news