These are examples of issues we all should be paying attention to. Few candidates are talking about any of them. Theses are the types of things that really matter to the electorate. Instead of talking about issues like these, the current Republican candidates from all levels are using attack adds and working hard to suppress the vote! The best way to combat this disturbing trend is to educate our friends and neighbors and encourage them to do the same. Duane Shank does a fine job of articulating the issues. Don't take my word for it, judge for yourself. God Bless!
- Pate Hutson

The latest news on Christians Combating Poverty, Envagelical Journalists, U.S. Economy, Presidential Campaign, Death Penalty, Global Economy, South America, U.S. Wealth Gap, Food Crisis, Pakistan, Iraq, and Select Op-eds.

compiled by Duane Shank 10-23-2008

Christians combating poverty. Activists see opening for poverty issue “At a time when more than 37 million Americans are in poverty, including many who are newly poor and paying keen attention, spiritual leaders are encouraging the young to vote and urging voters to select candidates who will fight poverty.” Evangelicals gathering to combat poverty “A diverse group of 2,000 evangelical Christian community activists from different denominations and political parties will meet in Miami this week to discuss ways to combat poverty and empower the disenfranchised.”

Evangelical journalists. Evangelicals are in the news, but not in newsrooms “Here is a foolproof way for politicians to score points with evangelical voters: Attack the media, an institution widely seen as lacking conservative Christian voices. … One way to change this perception, some church leaders, social commentators and journalists say, is for mainstream news organizations to employ — and keep — more evangelicals in their newsrooms.”

U.S. economy. Job Losses Accelerate, Signaling Deeper Distress “Employers are moving to aggressively cut jobs and reduce costs in the face of the nation’s economic crisis, preparing for what many fear will be a long and painful recession.” Foreclosures continued their rise in September, stats show “Nevada, Florida and California continued to lead the country in foreclosures in September. Of the 10 worst cities for foreclosures, six were in California, two in Florida and Las Vegas and Phoenix rounded out the list. Nationwide, foreclosures were up by 21 percent over September of last year.” Medical costs still burden many despite insurance “Although far more Massachusetts residents have health insurance coverage than residents nationwide, a significant portion of Bay Staters are still struggling to pay for needed healthcare, a new survey shows.”

Presidential campaign. Rivals Split on U.S. Power, but Ideas Defy Easy Labels “Mr. McCain’s campaign portrays him as an experienced warrior who knows how to win wars and carries Theodore Roosevelt’s big stick, even if he occasionally strays from Roosevelt’s advice about speaking softly. Mr. Obama’s campaign portrays him as a cerebral advocate of patient diplomacy, the antidote to the unilateral excesses of the Bush years, who knows how to build partnerships without surrendering American interests.”

Death penalty. Texas to execute ten men in one month “The state of Texas has scheduled ten executions in 30 days, a record in the southern state that is already the U.S. leader in capital punishment, having put more than 400 people to death in 30 years.”

Global economy. Bush to Host World Leaders at Nov. 15 Economic Summit “President Bush will host a summit on the global economic crisis in Washington on Nov. 15, kicking off landmark negotiations among world leaders on financial reforms less than two weeks after American voters go to the polls to choose a new president.” Bush Calls 20 Nations to Summit on Markets “President Bush will convene leaders of 20 nations in Washington on Nov. 15 for an emergency summit meeting to discuss the economic crisis.”

South America. Financial panic now sweeping through South America “While the United States wrestled with financial meltdown this fall, Latin American leaders often boasted that their economies were models of stability in an otherwise tumultuous global landscape. Such confidence gave way, however, to panic this week, as the effects of the U.S. credit crunch and an international downturn wreak havoc on Latin America’s formerly booming economies.” Turmoil in Latin American markets “Latin American investors brace themselves a day after government interventions in Argentina and Brazil.”

U.S. wealth gap. Wealth gap creating social time bomb, says U.N. report “Growing inequality in U.S. cities could lead to widespread social unrest and increased mortality, says a new United Nations report on the urban environment. In a survey of 120 major cities, New York was found to be the ninth most unequal in the world and Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami had similar inequality levels to those of Nairobi, Kenya, Abidjan, and Ivory Coast.”

Food crisis. Fearing a Drought of Aid “President Bush, who has made international aid a cornerstone of his foreign policy, warned yesterday against cutting U.S. assistance to impoverished nations in the midst of the financial turmoil sweeping Wall Street and Main Street.” U.N. food agency says millions suffer food crisis in North Korea “The U.N. food agency said Thursday that millions of North Koreans face a food crisis, but a South Korean official said that Seoul has not decided whether to respond to a request for food aid to the communist country.” South Africa poverty ‘emergency’ “A former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town has described poverty in South Africa as being worse than ever. Having met communities affected by poverty across the country, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said South Africa was in ‘a state of emergency.’”

Pakistan. Pakistan stares into the abyss “Pakistan was locked in crisis last night, with the government pressed by Washington to deepen its conflict with Islamic militants in the lawless regions on the Afghan border, and obliged to call in the International Monetary Fund to stave off financial catastrophe.” Pakistan Will Give Arms to Tribal Militias “Pakistan plans to arm tens of thousands of anti-Taliban tribal fighters in its western border region in hopes — shared by the U.S. military — that the nascent militias can replicate the tribal ‘Awakening’ movement that proved decisive in the battle against al-Qaeda in Iraq.” Pakistan and IMF in talks over loan “Pakistan has begun talks with the International Monetary Fund in Dubai over a loan program to overcome a balance of payments crisis, according to an adviser of the prime minister.” ‘U.S. missiles’ hit Pakistan school “A suspected U.S. missile strike kills at least eight students at a religious school in north-western Pakistan, witnesses say.”

Iraq. Blow to U.S.-troop withdrawal from Iraq “The Iraqi Cabinet dealt a blow yesterday to a draft agreement to allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq beyond the end of the year, demanding changes to the document to make it more acceptable.” Russia Backs Keeping U.S. Force in Iraq “With the prospects for agreement on a proposed American-Iraqi security pact in doubt, the idea of allowing United States-led troops to stay under a United Nations mandate resurfaced this week, and Russia’s foreign minister told reporters that his country would support such a plan.” In Sadr City, a Repressed but Growing Rage “Seven months after intense clashes with U.S. and Iraqi government forces rocked Baghdad’s Sadr City enclave, a sense of betrayal and frustration flows through its sprawling expanse.”

Commentary. Stopping A Nuclear Tehran (Daniel R. Coats and Charles S. Robb, Washington Post) “It is likely that the first and most pressing national security issue the next president will face is the growing prospect of a nuclear-weapons-capable Iran. After co-chairing a recently concluded, high-level task force on Iranian nuclear development, we have come to believe that five principles must serve as the foundation of any reasonable, bipartisan and comprehensive Iranian policy.”

Categories: Daily News Digest