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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384947329/2008-09-06-hanna_N.htm">
<title>Hanna dumps heavy rain in N.Y., New England</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384947329/2008-09-06-hanna_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Tropical Storm Hanna accelerated toward New England on Saturday after the storm's whipping winds and rain didn't linger long ...
]]></description>
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<title>7 years on, Sept. 11 is so far and yet so close</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385827220/2008-09-07-sept-11-moving-on_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[It is not a tidy anniversary this year. Seven years between that awful day and this Sept. 11, the terrorist attacks linger somewhere ...
]]></description>
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<title>Powerful Hurricane Ike looms as trouble for Gulf</title>
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<description><![CDATA[Powerful Hurricane Ike rolled down an uncertain path Sunday that may lead to the U.S. Gulf Coast late this week, forcing emergency ...
]]></description>
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<title>Raising grandchildren an extra burden for many</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385547231/2008-09-07-grandparent-guardians_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[An estimated 2.5 million U.S. grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren who live with them, ...
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<title>Gustav victims face insurance worries</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385392105/2008-09-06-gustav-insurance_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[As victims of Hurricane Gustav's fury turn to their insurance companies for help in recovering from the wind and water inflicted ...
]]></description>
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<title>House explosion kills 2 in Chicago suburb</title>
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<description><![CDATA[An explosion destroyed a house early Saturday and the bodies of the elderly couple who occupied the home were found in the wreckage, ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385276538/2008-09-06-mo-mayor_N.htm">
<title>Former Mo. mayor dies from Feb. shooting wounds</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385276538/2008-09-06-mo-mayor_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[The former mayor of a St. Louis suburb who was badly wounded when a gunman opened fire at a February city council meeting has ...
]]></description>
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<title>4th teen charged in immigrant&#x27;s fatal beating</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385240467/2008-09-06-immigrant-death_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Authorities in Pennsylvania say a fourth teenager has been charged in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant.
]]></description>
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<title>Ex-NJ politician headed to trial on fraud charges  </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385240468/2008-09-06-nj-politician_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A former New Jersey lawmaker with a national reputation for pushing welfare reform is facing charges of using his political clout ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385068217/2008-09-06-philly-crash_N.htm">
<title>1 Philly police officer killed, 1 hurt after car chase</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385068217/2008-09-06-philly-crash_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[An allegedly intoxicated teen motorist smashed into a police car during a chase and one of the two officers in the cruiser was ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385061746/2008-09-06-scores-nyc_N.htm">
<title>Famed NYC gentlemen&#x27;s club could be shut</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/385061746/2008-09-06-scores-nyc_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[The end could be nearing for the Manhattan strip club Scores, an establishment that for 17 years survived Mafia infiltration, ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384960398/2008-09-06-SF-quake_N.htm">
<title>Minor earthquake rattles San Francisco Bay area </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384960398/2008-09-06-SF-quake_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A minor earthquake rattled the San Francisco Bay area Friday night. The U.S. Geological Survey's preliminary report put the quake ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384953031/2008-09-06-kfc-murders_N.htm">
<title>2nd trial starting for 1984 Texas KFC murders </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384953031/2008-09-06-kfc-murders_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[When Darnell Hartsfield saw the inside of a Texas prison cell for the first time in 1984, it was for an aggravated robbery he ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384650815/2008-09-05-train-searched_N.htm">
<title>Bomb scare spurs search of freight train in N.J.</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384650815/2008-09-05-train-searched_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A suspicious package found aboard a freight-train Friday evening contained an electronic device that bomb squad members doused ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384644311/2008-09-05-police-liability-insurance_N.htm">
<title>Police liability insurance at political conventions comes under fire</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/384644311/2008-09-05-police-liability-insurance_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Organizers of the Republican convention were required by St. Paul, city officials to purchase a $10 million insurance policy ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060464&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Examining Alaska (1): From pork to petrodollars </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060464&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Sarah Palin&#8217;s home state is awash with moneyJOHN MCCAIN&#8217;S decision to anoint Sarah Palin as his running-mate looks eccentric for many reasons. Not the least is economic principle. Thanks in part to Mrs Palin, Alaska&#8217;s economy is built on two things that Mr McCain has spent the last few years railing against.The first is federal spending, especially the little-scrutinised grants known as earmarks. Between 1996 and 2006 per-capita federal spending in Alaska rose from 38% above the national average to 71% above. Scott Goldsmith, an economist, reckons a third of all jobs in the state depend on it. So needy are the citizens of the &#8220;last frontier&#8221; that the looming trial of Ted Stevens, Alaska&#8217;s senior senator and champion pork-rustler, for failing to disclose gifts is viewed not just as a political scandal but also as an economic threat. ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060472&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The Republican convention: The maverick and the hockey mom </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060472&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Republicans are more fired up than before, but less so than DemocratsBEFORE Barack Obama&#8217;s big open-air speech in Denver last week, some Christian conservatives prayed for rain. That was in poor taste. But this is a competitive election, and anything the right can do, the left can do better. When the news came that a hurricane might strike New Orleans during the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota this week, Michael Moore, a film-maker, said it was &#8220;proof that there is a God in heaven&#8221;. Another calamitous storm, you see, would remind people how ineptly George Bush dealt with Hurricane Katrina three years ago and spur them to vote Democratic. The first day of the convention, September 1st, was all but cancelled&#8212;though, in the end, the hurricane was less destructive than had been feared (see article). That left three days for Republicans to achieve three goals. They needed to distance John McCain from Mr Bush, to introduce Sarah Palin (Mr McCain&#8217;s surprise vice-presidential pick) to voters and to denigrate Mr Obama. Strangely, Hurricane Gustav may have helped. The storm gave Mr Bush a good reason to stay away on the first day. During a brief video link-up, he generously stressed the times Mr McCain has disagreed with him. ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060480&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Ron Paul&#x26;#8217;s campaign: Another old Republican </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12060480&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[A boisterous alternative convention targets NAFTA and the FedHIS movements were monitored by Republican organisers, and his supporters were muzzled at the Republican convention. Michael Moore, a rabble-rousing lefty film-maker? A surrogate for Barack Obama? No: Ron Paul, a Republican congressman. His campaign for restoring limited government did not win him the Republican nomination for president. But it did earn him a legion of adoring fans who gathered for a huge counter-convention in Minneapolis, across the river from the official Republican convention in St Paul, in a 15,000-seat basketball arena.In the arena, the fans booed mentions of John McCain and George Bush. But they boisterously cheered the names of Friedrich Hayek and Murray Rothbard, libertarian economists from decades past. Any favourable mention of guns or the constitution won cheers; but hard words for the Iraq war gained the biggest roars of approval, and speaker after speaker hit themes of personal responsibility and small government.  ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066224&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Lexington: The woman from nowhere </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066224&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[John McCain&#8217;s choice of running-mate raises serious questions about his judgmentTHE most audacious move of the race so far is also, potentially, the most self-destructive. John McCain&#8217;s choice of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has set the political atmosphere alight with both enthusiasm and dismay.  Mr McCain has based his campaign on the idea that this is a dangerous world&#8212;and that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with it. He has also acknowledged that his advanced age&#8212;he celebrated his 72nd birthday on August 29th&#8212;makes his choice of vice-president unusually important. Now he has chosen as his running mate, on the basis of the most cursory vetting, a first-term governor of Alaska. ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066196&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Examining Alaska (2): The challenger </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066196&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Running against a senator who is about to stand trial is harder than it looksSINCE being elected mayor of Anchorage in 2003, Mark Begich has acquired a reputation for getting things done. On his watch a shiny new convention centre has gone up. Roads are being repaired and heating elements laid under pavements to melt snow during the long Alaskan winter. Miraculously, much of this has been paid for by bonds, not federal earmarks. On August 26th Mr Begich sailed through a primary election. Now all he has to do is defeat a man who will soon go on trial for failing to report gifts from oil companies and he will become Alaska&#8217;s first Democratic senator for 28 years. Four out of every ten Alaskans live in Anchorage, so Mr Begich has a strong base of support. He also has a good surname: his father, Nick Begich, was a popular congressman who disappeared in 1972 while flying in a small plane. Best of all, Mr Begich is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Woe betide any Alaskan politician who stands in the way of guns and oil. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066204&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Hurricane Gustav: Could have been worse </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066204&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[New Orleans dodges another natural disasterBY THE time Nathan Reese realised that New Orleans was really being evacuated, his neighbours in St Bernard parish had already cleared out. He scraped up enough money to buy an old car, which he filled with his girlfriend, their newborn son, a cat, three kittens, and whatever clothing they could grab. It was a miserable trip. Traffic crawled. The car had no air-conditioning and it overheated. At one point Mr Reese had to sneak into a hotel outside Houston to get some ice to put on the baby. On September 2nd, the day after Hurricane Gustav made landfall, the family were sitting in a patch of shade outside an emergency shelter in Austin, unsure of their next move. &#8220;All I know is we lost everything and we&#8217;re trying to get gas so we can get up out of here,&#8221; said Mr Reese. When Gustav formed in the Caribbean late last month, much of the Gulf coast girded for disaster. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and part of Texas were put under hurricane watch. The National Guard was activated. Emergency shelters were set up all over the South. But the biggest worry was for New Orleans. Forecasters said that Gustav was heading directly for it and would probably arrive as a Category 3 hurricane. The city is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana as a Category 3 storm three years ago and led to at least 1,600 deaths. Officials were frantic to avoid another such catastrophe. They were also keen, especially at federal level, to show that they had learnt from the last time.  ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066214&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Swing states: Minnesota: A polka-dot place </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066214&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[A formerly reliable Democratic state is now much less soON A hot summer day at Shady Oak Lake, teenagers line up for the high-diving board. Parents with small children wade in the shallows near the sandy beach. This suburban idyll, surrounded by leafy trees and big houses, lies near Edina, a town just west of Minnesota&#8217;s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Despite appearances, it is a political ground zero in a state the Republicans are fighting to snatch from the Democrats. Minnesota is famous as a liberal bastion. It is the only state not to have voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, and has its own (traditionally leftier) brand of Democrats in the Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party. It was the land of Hubert Humphrey, a former vice-president, the Democrats&#8217; presidential candidate in 1968 and an early advocate for civil rights. Walter Mondale, another former vice-president, Democratic presidential candidate and liberal, also represented Minnesota in the Senate. But Americans probably remember the state better for some of the musicians it has produced: Bob Dylan, an enduring liberal icon, and Prince, once notorious for his raunchy lyrics. Odd, then, that the Republicans chose to stage their national convention in such seemingly hostile territory this year. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066188&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The economy: In need of more Band-Aids </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066188&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[A poor second half could boost the odds of more stimulusTHE American economy entered the summer on a strong note as GDP grew by an annualised 3.3% in the second quarter. That figure, released last week, was much better than the first estimate of 1.9%, and mostly reflected a strong trade performance. Another important factor was that, despite rising unemployment, soaring fuel prices and constricting credit, consumer spending managed to grow at a 1.7% annual rate. For that, thank a fiscal stimulus package that included $110 billion in tax rebates, of which $92 billion had been disbursed by early July. Without those cheques, Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, figures that consumer spending would not have grown at all. The second half is already looking weaker. Real consumer spending tumbled at a 0.4% monthly rate in July (see chart) as car sales plunged and high oil prices bit. The drop may also have reflected a reversal of the temporary boost from rebates delivered in previous months. Economists at Bank of America think consumer spending will decline in the current quarter, for the first time in 17 years. The fourth quarter could be worse. Unemployment is probably heading higher. Housing may be bottoming, as stocks of unsold homes drop and price declines slow, but the credit crunch shows no sign of easing. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010845&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Lexington: Joebama </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010845&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Joe Biden brings both strengths and weaknesses to the Democratic ticketHIS first run for the presidency collapsed, in 1987, after a bizarre act of plagiarism. Bizarre because Joe Biden not only borrowed the words of another politician, Neil Kinnock, the leader of the British Labour Party. That is par for the course in modern politics. He borrowed his life-story, too. He claimed that he was the first Biden to go to university and that his ancestors had worked down a coal mine, both untrue. The only thing he did not claim was to be Welsh. This was doubly damaging because Mr Biden, like the man whose identity he tried to purloin, is a notorious wind-bag. He loves nothing more than the sound of his own voice. And when he talks the sentences and paragraphs tumble over each other with no obvious end in sight. Members of the audience just have to cross their fingers and hope. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010835&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The campaign trail: Conventional wisdom </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010835&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Gilding the lily&#8220;To give them haircuts and make them all spiffed up for the Democratic National Convention, because they&#8217;re part of our community as well.&#8221; ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010827&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The Democratic convention: Flags, cheers, discipline and doubt </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010827&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Barack Obama struggled this week to unite his partyTHERE were two conventions in Denver this week. One was a joyful event. Cheered on by throngs of jubilant activists, the Democratic Party&#8217;s brightest and most boisterous speakers praised Barack Obama extravagantly and rejoiced that in a mere four months the Bush-Cheney tyranny will be over. The other convention, which took place mostly behind the scenes, was more bitter. Some of Hillary Clinton&#8217;s supporters still cannot believe that Democratic primary voters spurned their brilliant and battle-tested candidate for a smooth-talking novice. And despite the party&#8217;s heroic efforts to present a united face to the cameras, the cracks kept showing.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010127&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Swing states: Missouri: Show me a showdown </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010127&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Who can win the state whose capture traditionally leads to the White House?AT A park in downtown St Louis, three women are drinking Bud Light and watching a demonstration of Scottish tossing-the-caber. It is a peaceful scene at the Festival of Nations, but worries simmer beneath the surface. The women supported Hillary Clinton, and are now undecided. Barack Obama is &#8220;a wonderful young man&#8221;, but inexperienced in foreign policy. John McCain is &#8220;honourable&#8221;, but perhaps not up to the task. These are typical concerns from an average undecided voter in this state. Missouri has 5.8m people and 11 electoral votes. Its moderate size belies its traditional role in presidential elections. There are ways to win the White House without winning Missouri, but few candidates have managed it. The state has voted for the victor in 25 of the last 26 elections. The exception was in 1956, when America went for Dwight Eisenhower, a popular Republican war hero, in a landslide. Missourians gave it to Adlai Stevenson, a cerebral Democrat from neighbouring Illinois.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009922&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>After Katrina (1): Half-empty streets </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009922&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[New Orleans is recovering its energy, but not its peopleTHREE years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the shape of the post-flood city is starting to emerge. Demographers put the city&#8217;s current population at about 325,000, two-thirds the size that it was before Katrina, and expect no dramatic change for the next few years. The Census Bureau thinks the number is quite a bit lower than that.The loss of so many residents, possibly permanently, has created a raft of problems for a city that already had plenty. A new study notes that about a third of the 50 districts that flooded have yet to regain 50% of their households. And that sorry statistic begets another. A second recent report has found that New Orleans has the country&#8217;s highest percentage of vacant residential addresses. Most of those vacant units cannot be lived in. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009914&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>After Katrina (2): The trailers that smelt bad </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009914&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[After the storm, the poisoningWHEN Hurricane Katrina displaced more than 1m people on the Gulf coast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) put in a rush order for 120,000 trailers. They were intended as temporary housing. A year ago, more than 50,000 trailers were still in use in Louisiana and Mississippi; today, about 15,000 remain. As the time passed, complaints emerged. The trailers had a funny smell, and residents were coming down with nosebleeds, asthma and headaches. Some shrugged this off: any shelter after a storm. But as early as 2006, tests showed that some of the trailers contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogenic chemical used in building materials. The sweltering summers made it worse. FEMA knew about the problems, but ignored them.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967019&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The economy: Inflation&#x26;#8217;s last hurrah </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967019&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Sinking standards of living explain why the inflation news is likely to get betterTHE inflation news in America has been ugly. Consumer prices rose 5.6% in the year to July, the fastest clip since 1991. Producer prices rose 9.8%, the most since 1981. Fuel and food are mostly to blame; but even excluding them &#8220;core&#8221; consumer and producer inflation have both picked up.This may, however, be as bad as it gets. Not only have international commodity prices turned down decisively, but America&#8217;s state of near-recession means that it will be hard for workers to secure wage rises that match, let alone exceed, the inflation rate. That is a painful but unavoidable result of Americans&#8217; changed economic circumstances: what they buy has become more expensive relative to what they sell. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11977032&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Midwestern wine: Move over, California </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11977032&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Sniffing a fine bouquet of Chateau Michiganne STATE fairs are not known for high culture. Corn dogs, funnel cake&#8212;burst seams are made of these. But at Wisconsin&#8217;s state fair earlier this month, not too far from the racing pigs and the Cream Puff Pavilion, a genteel group sipped Wisconsin-made wine. The state&#8217;s industry is tiny but growing, from 13 wineries in 1995 to 41 last year, according to WineAmerica, a lobby group. Wineries are cropping up in unexpected places. Some states, such as Wisconsin, import most of their grapes. Others have seen small farmers, seeking new hobbies and higher margins, grow their own. Many politicians are encouraging them, keen to boost tourism and rural economies. In 1975, 34 states had wineries. Now all 50 do.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11975412&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Swing states: New Mexico and Nevada: Operation desert storm </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11975412&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Winning votes in the parched south-west is like wrangling scorpionsIN THE film &#8220;Swing Vote&#8221; a redneck played by Kevin Costner passes out, drunk, on election day. His young daughter votes on his behalf, but an accident means the ballot is not counted. It turns out to be the deciding vote in the presidential race. Mr Costner&#8217;s character, Bud Johnson, has ten days to make up his mind. All pretty improbable, except for one detail: the film is set in New Mexico. For two presidential elections in a row, the margin of victory in New Mexico has been narrower than anywhere else. In 2000 Al Gore won by 366 votes; four years later George Bush prevailed by 5,988. Opinion polls point to another close race this year. As Chris Garcia, a political scientist, points out, New Mexico is a bellwether state as well as a close one, at least when it comes to predicting the popular vote. Yet no one can quite explain why.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967035&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The presidential race: Blazing Saddleback </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967035&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[John McCain ralliesIT IS an interesting comment on American politics that the first encounter between the two presidential candidates took place in a mega-church presided over by a famous preacher. It is an interesting comment on the American media that Rick Warren&#8212;Pastor Rick to the faithful at his church, Saddleback, in California&#8212;put on such an impressive performance. He eschewed the gotcha-in-a-flip-flop questions beloved of professional journalists in favour of substantive questions about the candidates&#8217; characters and beliefs. He should be asked to moderate the debates. Barack Obama was everything you might expect&#8212;thoughtful and intelligent. But he was also long-winded and at times evasive. The real revelation of the evening was John McCain. He came across as feisty and full of life. A bit bombastic, certainly, and a bit too inclined to rely on his stump speech. But he nevertheless seemed like a man who knew his mind and could sell his beliefs with a joke and an anecdote.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967027&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The Senate: A capitol target </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967027&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Democrats hope to gain effective control of the Senate, which, thanks to its arcane rules, is the main blocker of legislationIN THE midst of a presidential race, it is easy to forget that political power in America extends beyond the White House. Both candidates have big plans; but they will be unable to implement any of them without Congress&#8217;s approval.  Not that Congress has managed to pass everything it wanted since the Democrats took over in 2007. Several initiatives, not least withdrawing from Iraq, have got nowhere. Ask Democratic leaders why, and they say that the party&#8217;s narrow majority in the Senate (49-49, with two independents who are allied with the Democrats) has been unable to overcome Republican obstructionism. So, Democrats say, give us more senators, and we will get more done.  ...]]></description>
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