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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377111389/2008-08-28-Gustav_N.htm">
<title>Gulf Coast readies for T.S. Gustav&#x27;s worst</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377111389/2008-08-28-Gustav_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Gulf Coast communities prepared for the worst Tuesday as Gustav threatened to become the first major hurricane to test the region ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377774987/2008-08-29-amtrak_N.htm">
<title>More holiday travelers will bypass gas pumps</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377774987/2008-08-29-amtrak_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[More Labor Day travelers will hop on trains and buses this holiday weekend to avoid high gas prices and hefty airfares, travel ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377735376/2008-08-28-less-trash_N.htm">
<title>Slowing economy curbs garbage</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377735376/2008-08-28-less-trash_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Waste-tonnage declines of 3% to 12% have been reported over time frames ranging from the past several months to the past year ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377714602/2008-08-28-Gustav-New-Orleans_N.htm">
<title>New Orleans gets jump on Gustav to avoid 2005 repeat</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377714602/2008-08-28-Gustav-New-Orleans_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[As Gustav threatened to pack a wallop, local leaders and emergency workers unfurled plans and readied evacuation tactics Thursday ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377696344/2008-08-28-shaming_N.htm">
<title>To reduce prostitution, cities try shaming clients</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377696344/2008-08-28-shaming_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Tired of arresting and re-arresting prostitutes, police in communities across the nation are increasingly targeting their clients ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377681659/2008-08-28-college-president_N.htm">
<title>Iowa college president steps down after beer photo  </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377681659/2008-08-28-college-president_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[An Iowa community college president resigned less than a week after a photo was published appearing to show him pouring beer ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377588524/2008-08-28-walkway-collapse_N.htm">
<title>Before collapse, walkway gave shelter to homeless</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377588524/2008-08-28-walkway-collapse_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[The block-long construction walkway across the street from the St. Vincent de Paul Village shelter was a favorite hangout for ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377666347/2008-08-28-nanny-ad_N.htm">
<title>Help-wanted ad for nanny: &#x27;My kids are a pain&#x27;</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377666347/2008-08-28-nanny-ad_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[It was an unusually honest ad for a live-in nanny, a 1,000-word tome beginning, "My kids are a pain." But it worked, attracting ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377601648/2008-08-28-boats_N.htm">
<title>U.S. gears up to detect nuclear material at sea</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377601648/2008-08-28-boats_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[Puget Sound law enforcement and emergency boats will get radiation detectors this fall.
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377588523/2008-08-28-missing-flagirl_N.htm">
<title>Mom of missing Fla. girl could return to jail  </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377588523/2008-08-28-missing-flagirl_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A bounty hunter who helped free the mother of a missing Florida toddler wants his associates to withdraw her bail.
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377559095/2008-08-28-bassinet_N.htm">
<title>Federal agency warns of dangers of popular bassinet </title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377559095/2008-08-28-bassinet_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and caregivers to immediately stop using a popular brand of ...
]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377409732/2008-08-28-gotti_N.htm">
<title>&#x27;Junior&#x27; Gotti pleads not guilty in Florida</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377409732/2008-08-28-gotti_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[John A. "Junior" Gotti, son of a former New York City Mafia leader, has pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges in ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377285994/2008-08-28-ohio-baby_N.htm">
<title>Arguments begin in microwaved-baby case</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377285994/2008-08-28-ohio-baby_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A prosecutor says an Ohio mother intentionally put her month-old baby in a microwave oven and cooked the child to death.
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377273429/2008-08-28-crane_N.htm">
<title>2 hurt as crane topples in Dallas</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377273429/2008-08-28-crane_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A crane lowering a heavy length of pipe has toppled at a city water pumping station on the Trinity River in Dallas, injuring ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377142698/2008-08-28-detroit_N.htm">
<title>Witnesses refuse to testify for Detroit mayor</title>
<link>http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/377142698/2008-08-28-detroit_N.htm</link>
<description><![CDATA[A former lawyer for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has filed a lawsuit against the mayor claiming he's owed about $80,000 in ...
]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010827&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The Democratic convention: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010845&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Lexington: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010835&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The campaign trail: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009922&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>After Katrina (1): </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009914&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>After Katrina (2): </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12010127&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Swing states: Missouri: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11975412&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Swing states: New Mexico and Nevada: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11965249&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Lexington: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11965249&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[David Axelrod is the architect of Barack Obama&#8217;s presidential runONE of the great ironies of the Obama campaign is that the man responsible for crafting the candidate&#8217;s hope-filled image is one of the unhappiest-looking men in American politics. David Axelrod persuaded a reluctant Barack Obama to embrace the &#8220;Yes We Can&#8221; slogan. He insisted from the first that the campaign should be built on the twin pillars of &#8220;hope&#8221; and &#8220;change&#8221;. But with his sad eyes and drooping moustache, Mr Axelrod has a perpetual air of gloom hanging over him. He is currently the leading member of one of America&#8217;s most powerful clubs&#8212;the consultants, spin-meisters, string-pullers and behind-the-scenes operatives who run political campaigns. They are not elected to anything. But they shape American politics just as surely as their glad-handing front-men. Some of them, like Karl Rove (who worked for George Bush until last year) and James Carville (Bill Clinton) in the current generation, and Lee Atwater (George Bush senior) in the previous one, become famous; most of them are perfectly content to grow fat and powerful in the shadows.  ...]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967035&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The presidential race: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967027&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The Senate: </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>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11967019&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>The economy: </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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<title>Midwestern wine: </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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<title>The swing states: North Carolina: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11921213&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Barack Obama wants to turn this state Democratic. That will be harder than he thinksTHE past few years have been difficult for Mark Paylor, a pig, cattle and grain farmer. On a sunny summer morning in Greensboro he complains that rising petrol and feed prices have driven up his costs so far that it is impossible to compete with cheap imports. He is disgusted by trade agreements that let Mexico send America jalapenos riddled with salmonella, when American farmers have to play by stricter rules. Mr Paylor is a black and a Democrat, and he clearly wants change. He will not vote for John McCain. But he does not have much faith in Barack Obama, either: &#8220;He might put on a show to win, but he don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;That comment suggests why Mr Obama faces an uphill climb in North Carolina. As swing states go, North Carolina is an unlikely prospect for the Democrats. It is a culturally conservative southern state that has voted for the Republican in every presidential election since 1976. In 2004 George Bush clobbered John Kerry here by a 12-point margin, even though Mr Kerry&#8217;s running mate, John Edwards, was North Carolina&#8217;s senator at the time (see article). ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920735&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Cities and housing: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920735&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The suburbs have been hit hard by the housing crisis. But reports of their death are exaggerated&#8220;KEEP your house&#8221; reads the handwritten sign on a chain-link fence some 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is an advertisement, although it could be the attitude of an overstretched buyer who owes the bank more money than his home is worth. Many people in Moreno Valley have simply walked away from their properties. As abandoned lawns turn brown in the desert climate, the fallout spreads. It is no longer a matter of saving individual houses, but a whole city. Until recently Moreno Valley was one of the fastest-growing cities in America. It lies in the Inland Empire, a two-county region in southern California that is so called largely because it is difficult to know how else to characterise such a sprawling expanse of detached homes, strip malls and warehouses. Between 1990 and 2007 the Inland Empire&#8217;s population grew from 2.6m to 4.1m&#8212;the equivalent of adding a city the size of Philadelphia.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11921221&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>John Edwards: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11921221&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[A disappointingly grubby coda to a political careerON AUGUST 8th, as the Olympics ceremonies were being broadcast and Russian tanks were rolling into South Ossetia, John Edwards, a former presidential candidate, admitted to an affair. The other woman, Rielle Hunter, was a hippie from Florida who had worked on his campaign. In his (curious) defence, Mr Edwards said that he had never loved her. He added that the affair had ended before his wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with an incurable form of breast cancer. He would be happy to take a paternity test, he said, but was sure that the baby could not be his. Mr Edwards, with his molasses accent and concern for America&#8217;s underdogs, was once a rising star in the Democratic Party. As a bright young tort lawyer, he was elected to the Senate on his first try in 1998 and was picked to be John Kerry&#8217;s running mate in 2004. Shortly before that election, his wife, Elizabeth, discovered she had cancer. After she had had treatment, Mr Edwards decided to run for president again. But the cancer metastasised and returned in 2007. The couple decided to carry on, and Mrs Edwards became her husband&#8217;s most effective advocate on the trail. Part of her effectiveness was to cover up his affair, which she had known about since 2006. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920933&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Lexington: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920933&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Rick Warren has emerged as the most powerful evangelical in AmericaON AUGUST 16th John McCain and Barack Obama will both appear at one of America&#8217;s great mega-churches, Saddleback, in Lake Forest, California, to discuss &#8220;leadership and compassion&#8221;. The result of the &#8220;discussion&#8221;&#8212;it is not a formal debate because the candidates will be appearing in sequence rather than side by side&#8212;will not only help &#8220;values voters&#8221; decide which man they support. It could also determine whether the host of the event, Rick Warren, can lay claim to one of the most sought-after titles in America, that of &#8220;the next Billy Graham&#8221;.Billy Graham has been the most powerful Christian in America since the 1950s. Eisenhower summoned Mr Graham on his deathbed. Richard Nixon played golf with him. George Bush senior called him &#8220;America&#8217;s pastor&#8221;. George Bush junior credits him with planting the &#8220;mustard seed&#8221; of faith in his heart. When Mr Graham was hospitalised in 1976, three presidents (Nixon, Ford and Jimmy Carter) rang him in a single day. ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920881&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Animal conservation: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920881&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[Is it safe to let bison return to the unsupervised wild? TO THE earliest explorers they seemed almost infinite, a dark pulsing mass stretching to the horizon. But the vast throngs of bison or buffalo grazing on the Plains, by some estimates as many as 60m, were not endless. Relentless hunting and the approach of civilisation reduced them to a last herd of 300 in 1893. Now they are being slowly reintroduced into the wild.As many as 200,000 bison are currently raised commercially, to satisfy a growing demand for a meat that is leaner and richer in protein than beef. But wild bison, which are held in federal and state preserves, number fewer than 20,000.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920873&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Technology and the campaigns: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920873&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[The battle to master new media becomes ever more intenseON JULY 30th John McCain&#8217;s campaign released an anti-Barack Obama advertisement on the McCain YouTube channel. The ad compared Mr Obama&#8217;s celebrity to that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. By August 13th it had been viewed 2m times, TV and newspapers had taken it up, a bikini-clad Paris had launched a spirited riposte (&#8220;Thanks for the endorsement, white-haired dude&#8221;) and it was still the most viewed clip on the McCain channel. In reply, Mr Obama&#8217;s campaign launched &#8220;Low Road Express&#8221;, a website that mocked Mr McCain&#8217;s reputation for straight talk. On July 31st the Republican National Committee launched &#8220;Obama Audacity Watch&#8221;, to track less-than-glowing stories and clips about him.  Last year, seven of the 16 major presidential contenders kicked off their campaigns online. Andrew Rasiej, a former Howard Dean adviser and founder of Personal Democracy Forum, a website and annual conference that explores the relationship between politics and technology, thinks the internet will change not only campaigns, but also democracy itself. He points to Utah&#8217;s Politicopia, an open wiki (a collaborative website where content is added or modified) through which citizens can influence the legislature.  ...]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920743&#x26;fsrc=rss">
<title>Detroit: </title>
<link>http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920743&#x26;fsrc=rss</link>
<description><![CDATA[A mayor who seems to spend more time in court than in city hallA PATCH of pavement outside the district court has become a second home for Detroit&#8217;s reporters. On August 7th their mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, spent a night in jail for violating his bond terms in a perjury case. The next day he was charged with assault, bringing his total roster to 14 counts. He was in court again on the 12th and is scheduled to return on August 14th and 15th. Known for his style, the mayor now wears an anklet adorned with a tracking system.  Such chaos would damage the healthiest city. But Detroit&#8217;s population has fallen by half since 1950; almost one-third of its residents are poor; and its car industry is in a long decline. For a town with an image problem, Mr Kilpatrick is hardly helping.  ...]]></description>
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