Truthout roundup 8/31

William Rivers Pitt The Hollow Man
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-hollow-man
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "The facts reveal that Mr. McCain has thrown his support behind just about every asinine and idiotic decision made by the single most unpopular and unsuccessful American president there ever was and, God willing, ever will be. The facts reveal that he has boomeranged away from so many policy positions he once espoused, going so far as to denounce a whole sheaf of legislation he had personally authored, because the Republican base despised those issues, but since he needed their support if he ever wanted to have a chance of winning, it was whiplash be damned and the Devil take the hindmost."

Five Arrested, Dozens Detained in Pre-RNC Raids
http://www.truthout.org/article/five-arrested-dozens-detained-pre-rnc-raids
Joe Garofoli, The San Francisco Chronicle: "Activists planning protests around the Republican National Convention say they are being targeted in a heavy-handed attempt to chill dissent after police arrested five people, detained dozens of others, and seized computers and protest guides in raids Friday night and Saturday on private homes and the major meeting center."

How Obama and Biden Forged a Friendship in the Senate
http://www.truthout.org/article/how-obama-and-biden-forged-a-friendship-senate
Maura Reynolds and Janet Hook, The Los Angeles Times: "Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), who also sat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Obama and Biden "developed a good working relationship in part because Obama respected the expertise of senior members. 'He's a good learner,' said Chafee, who has endorsed Obama. 'He keeps his ears open.'"

Long-Standing Feud in Alaska Embroils Palin
http://www.truthout.org/article/long-standing-feud-alaska-embroils-palin
James V. Grimaldi and Kimberly Kindy, The Washington Post: "For the past several years, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, has been embroiled in a bitter family feud that has drawn in the state police, the attorney general, the governor's office and the state legislature."

China Quake Kills 27, Destroys 180, 000 Homes
http://www.truthout.org/article/china-quake-kills-27-destroys-180-000-homes
The Associated Press: "Chinese rescue teams carrying tents, quilts and sacks of rice rushed Sunday to reach survivors of an earthquake that killed at least 27 people, turned tens of thousands of homes into rubble and cracked reservoirs."

FOCUS Mayor Orders the Evacuation of New Orleans
http://www.truthout.org/article/mayor-orders-evacuation-new-orleans
Adam Nossiter and Shaila Dewan, The New York Times: "City officials ordered everyone to leave New Orleans beginning Sunday morning - the first mandatory evacuation since Hurricane Katrina flooded the city three years ago - as Hurricane Gustav grew into what the city's mayor called 'the storm of the century' on Saturday and moved toward the Louisiana coast."

FOCUS Frank Rich: Obama Outwits the Bloviators
http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-outwits-bloviators
Frank Rich, The New York Times: "After a weeklong orgy of inane manufactured melodrama labeled 'convention coverage' on television, Barack Obama descended in classic deus ex machina fashion - yes, that's Greek too - to set the record straight. America is in too much trouble, he said, to indulge in 'a big election about small things.'"