Key Articles by Category with Brief Excerpts

Health Care:
White House Tries to Strike Down Insurance Industry Criticism Ahead of Key Vote: Fox News
The White House fired back Monday at the health insurance industry for issuing a study that claims the health care reform bill working its way toward a key vote Tuesday will raise the cost of individual coverage by hundreds of dollars a year.

Read the Health Bill! Not as Easy as you Think: Yahoo News
Read the bill! It was a rallying cry at angry health care town halls this summer and has evolved into something of a political movement. Many Americans are demanding that lawmakers actually read the comprehensive legislation they've written — or at least make it publicly available — before voting on it.

CVS, Walgreen Have Spot Flu-Vaccines Shortages as Demands Surge: Bloomberg
CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co., the two largest U.S. drugstore chains, are experiencing spot shortages of seasonal-flu vaccines because of increased demand. CVS MinuteClinics in Austin, Texas, and New York ran out of the seasonal-flu vaccine within the past week before restocking, according to calls to 13 stores by Bloomberg News. Calls to eight Walgreen stores in Manhattan on Oct. 5 determined none had it at the time. There are also shortages in the South and Southeast, said James Cohn, a Walgreen spokesman.

CDC Officials Downplay Risks of Swine Flue Vaccine: MyWay
A top U.S. health official says the risks from not getting the swine flu vaccine are greater than any potential risks associated with the vaccine. Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she's surprised by all the misinformation going around about the new vaccine. She says a good safety record from past vaccines bodes well for the swine flu vaccine now becoming available.

Economy:
Top Economist Says Unemployment Could Peak at 10.5 Percent: Fox News
Unemployment will continue to rise and could peak at 10.5 percent, one of the nation's top economists said Sunday. Mark Zandi, co-founder of Moody's Economy.com, warned on "FOX News Sunday" that the recovery will continue to be "halting" and "fragile," backing up estimates from other economists that show unemployment peaking next summer and hovering above eight percent four years down the road. New figures released last week showed unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since 1983.

Dollar facing 'power-shift' analysts : Breitbart
A report last week in The Independent claiming that China, Russia and Gulf States are among nations prepared to ditch the dollar for oil trades has heightened the uncertainty surrounding the US currency's future. The dollar's position as the world's leading reserve currency faces increased pressure as the financial crisis allows emerging economies greater influence on the world stage, analysts said.

Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves: Bloomberg
Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades. Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Obama Fails to Win Nobel Prize in Economics: WSJ
In a decision as shocking as Friday's surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Monday. While few observers think Obama has done anything for world peace in the nearly nine months he's been in office, the same clearly can't be said for economics.

Recession-Hit Britain to Sell Off State Assets: Prime Minister: Breitbart
The government is to sell off 16 billion pounds (25.4 billion dollars, 17.2 billion euros) of assets, Brown was to say, according to extracts from a keynote speech to be given London setting out his vision for "enduring and sustainable growth." The British government will sell off a raft of state assets, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was to say Monday as he bids to reclaim the initiative on reducing recession-hit Britain's debt.


Politics:
Pelosi Key to GOP 2010 Playbook: Fox News
Republicans are stepping up attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, deciding that a major part of their 2010 electoral strategy will be linking Democratic candidates to her.

Report: Obama's White House Counsel Has 'No Plans' to Resign: Fox News
President Obama's White House counsel Gregory Craig said he has no intention of resigning from his position as the administration's top in-house lawyer -- despite widespread reports that he may step down over his role in the closing of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The National Law Journal reported.

Whats with all the @#%! Language?: Politico
President Barack Obama called rap star Kanye West “a jackass.” Vice President Joe Biden told a senator to “Gimme a f—-ing break!” Economic adviser Christina Romer declared that Americans had yet to have their "holy s—-” moment over the economy. Those who pay attention to political rhetoric say an unusual amount of profanity has emanated from this White House – even without counting famously colorful White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Chavez Says Obama did "nothing" to Deserve Nobel: Reuters
Venezuela's socialist leader Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama had done nothing beyond wishful thinking to earn the Nobel Peace Prize. Chavez, who has mixed praise for Obama personally with criticism of his government's "imperialist" policies, said he thought it was a mistake when he read the U.S. leader had won.

Nobel Committee Defends Obama Choice: Financial Times
Leaders of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have leapt to the defense of their choice of Barack Obama for the 2009 Peace Prize amid criticism that the award is premature and politically biased. Geir Lundestad, secretary of the committee, said the US president fulfilled the criteria set out in Alfred Nobel’s will better than most winners for his commitment to multilateral diplomacy, nuclear arms reduction and tackling climate change.


Foreign Affairs:
UK halts Business with Iran Firms on Nuclear Fears: Yahoo News
Britain froze business ties with an Iranian bank and state-run shipping firm Monday, citing fears that they were involved in helping the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons. Irannuclear bombs, saying any threats or deadlines would have no impact.

US and UK Downplay Pakistan Fears: Financial Times
The US and Britain tried to bolster confidence in Pakistan’s ability to retain control of its nuclear arsenal on Sunday in the wake of an audacious weekend attack by militants on the headquarters of the country’s army – previously described as impregnable. The Taliban in Pakistan on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack.

Clinton Downplays Threat to Pakistan Nuke Arsenal: MyWay
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday the Taliban siege of Pakistan's army headquarters showed extremists are a growing threat in the nuclear-armed American ally, but she contended they don't pose a risk to the country's atomic arsenal.


Afghanistan:
Senators Escalate Call for Obama to Send More Troops to Afghanistan: Fox News
Top Republican senators escalated their call Sunday for President Obama to grant Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops in Afghanistan, and one prominent Democrat warned that a failure to do so could jeopardize U.S. forces.

Key Senators Says Afghanistan Mission in Jeopardy: Yahoo News
Saying the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is in "serious jeopardy," the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says more troops are needed to combat an increasingly potent Taliban. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's views on the issue are more closely aligned with those of key Republicans than members of her own party, including Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee. He wants to hold off on new troops pending revision of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan.

Partisan Divie Persists on US Troop Surge for Afghanistan: Breitbart
US Republican Senator John McCain warned Sunday that a failure to dispatch more US troops to Afghanistan would be "an error of historic proportions" but Democrats expressed caution about any surge. "I think the great danger now is not an American pullout," McCain told CNN television. "I think the great danger now is a half-measure... trying to please all ends of the political spectrum."


Social Issues:
Gay Rights Advocates March on D.C., Demand That Obama Keep His Pledge: Fox News
Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays.

Rep. Frank: Gays should Lobby Elected Officials: Yahoo News
Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, says he'd rather see gay rights supporters lobbying their elected officials than marching in Washington this weekend, calling the demonstration "a waste of time at best." Frank said in an interview with The Associated Press that he considers such demonstrations to be "an emotional release" that does little to pressure Congress.

Gays Question Obama 'don't ask, don't tell' Pledge: MyWay
President Barack Obama restated his campaign pledge to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military, but left many in his audience of gay activists wondering when he would make good on the promise. "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said Saturday night to a standing ovation from the crowd of about 3,000 at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. He offered no timetable or specifics and he acknowledged some may be growing impatient.


Environment:
What happened to Global Warming?: BBC News
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

Gore Upbeat On Climate Bill: Wisconsin State Journal
Former Vice President Al Gore shared his optimism about the "shifting momentum" of the climate change debate with about 500 environmental journalists Friday in Madison. "We're very close to that political tipping point," Gore said at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference at the Madison Concourse Hotel. "Never before in human history has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions."

Soros aims to Invest $1B in Green Tech: Reuters
Billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that he would invest $1 billion in clean energy technology as part of an effort to combat climate change. The Hungarian-born U.S. investor also announced he would form and fund a new climate policy initiative with $10 million a year for 10 years.

Energy Crisis is Postponed as New Gas Rescues The World: Telegraph
America is not going to bleed its wealth importing fuel. Russia's grip on Europe's gas will weaken. Improvident Britain may avoid paralysing blackouts by mid-decade after all. The World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires last week was one of those events that shatter assumptions. Advances in technology for extracting gas from shale and methane beds have quickened dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected.

Other:
Obama Takes to Basketball Court With Cabinet Members, Lawmakers: Bloomberg
President Barack Obama wanted to hold court with LeBron James. He made do yesterday with Cabinet officials and lawmakers. In perhaps the most exclusive after-work, backyard basketball game ever, the president recruited players from the ranks of the executive branch and Congress to play on the converted tennis court on the White House’s South Lawn.

Director Polanski Feels Depressed in Jail Reports His Lawyer: Yahoo News
Director Roman Polanski is feeling depressed two weeks after his arrest in Switzerland to face U.S. extradition for a 1977 case involving the rape of a 13-year-old girl, his lawyer was quoted as saying on Sunday. "I found him to be tired and depressed," Herve Temime told the Sonntag newspaper, one of two newspapers he talked to after visiting the Oscar-winning director in a Zurich prison.