Alaska’s largest newspaper backs Obama. Alaska’s largest newspaper, The Anchorage Daily News, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, saying the Democrat “brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand.” In a rebuke of the Republic ticket, The Daily News said since the economy has turned sour, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has “stumbled and fumbled badly” in dealing with it. “Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown’s root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it,” the paper said. As for Palin, who governs the state where the paper is based, The Daily News said she has shown the country why she is a successful state leader. However, the paper said few would say Palin is truly ready to step into the job of being president, despite her passion, charisma and strong work ethic. “Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency – but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation,” the paper said. “Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time,” the paper concluded.

Ailing Kennedy “secretly” working on health care plan.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has “secretly been orchestrating” and overseeing meetings with members of both parties to draft health care legislation to present to the new president and Congress next year that would extend health insurance to all U.S. residents, The Washington Times reports. The “wide-ranging talks,” which Kennedy has monitored through telephone updates from his staff, have included 14 roundtable meetings attended by Kennedy aides and staffers for both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate Budget Committee, Senate Finance Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Kennedy. The talks also were attended by representatives from a “panoply of interests groups with stakes in the cost and availability of health coverage,” including the AFL-CIO, Business Roundtable, National Federation of Independent Business, the National Retail Federation, Federation of American Hospitals, the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Families USA, AARP and Consumers Union, according to the Times. Kennedy aides have also started meeting regularly with consumers and small groups of people representing each area of the health care industry. The conversations, which started in June, are “extraordinary” because they are bipartisan and have “managed to put in the same room interests that rarely meet – let alone agree with one another,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said. “There is a serious process moving forward and that augurs well. There really is a sea change that should not be underestimated in terms of attitude.” A spokesman for Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee and a participant in the meetings, said the discussions “are a testament to how people feel about [Kennedy].” Kennedy is “really seizing the moment,” Adrienne Hahn of Consumers Union said. “He’s a real bridge-builder. He can bring strange bedfellows together.” The Times reports that participants believe Kennedy’s active role in the talks has “increased the likelihood of a breakthrough.”

Black preacher sues Klan store on his church’s property. A Black South Carolina church has sued a Ku Klux Klan store, which is selling robes and pointy hoods, racist T-shirts and other anti-African American paraphernalia from the space it rents from the house of worship. The Rev. David Kennedy, pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Laurens County, S.C., acknowledges that a clause in the deed entitles John Howard to run the store from the building until he dies. But Kennedy says that a Klansman, who was clashing with fellow members of the hate group, transferred property rights back to the church more than a decade ago. Kennedy is seeking to shut the store down. As it stands now, he says he can’t even inspect the store, even though it’s on his property. “We’ve been outright denied,” he told The Associated Press. “Right now what we’re focusing on is removing this cloud of doubt and this whole lie that we are not the real owners of the Redneck Shop building.” If Kennedy is successful, his church will be deemed the owner of the property. It would also preclude Howard and his cohorts from continually trying to transfer the property to various members of the Klan. “We think the actions they did were willful,” Kennedy’s attorney, Rauch Wise, told AP. Howard says he’s a former Ku Klux Klan grand dragon for South Carolina and North Carolina. In addition to the Klan garb, his shop features pictures of burning crosses and of men, women and children in Klan clothing. “Martin Luther King said this: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,”‘ Kennedy said. “It’s going to be a good day to see them in court.”

It marks the first time in 50 years a U.S. leader goes to the North African nation.
Secretary Rice will visit ex-enemy Libya. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Libya this, it will mark the first time a U.S. secretary of state has visited the former enemy in more than a half-century. It’s a historic stop,” spokesman Sean McCormack said, noting that Rice will be the first secretary of state to visit Libya since John Foster Dulles in 1953 and the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since then-Vice President Richard Nixon in 1957. “In that period of time, we’ve had a man land on the moon, the Internet, the Berlin Wall fall, and we’ve had 10 U.S. presidents.” The trip to the oil-rich North African nation is designed to open a new era of U.S.-Libyan relations at a time when the United States is desperate for new sources of petroleum. The State Department removed Libya, once dubbed by President Ronald Reagan the “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” from the international terrorist list after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi began renouncing terrorism and owning up to the infamous bombings, such as that of Pan Am Flight 103, for which he compensated the families of victims $3 billion. While in Tripoli, Rice is expected to raise the case of Fathi al-Jahmi, 67, a seriously ill political prisoner, who has been jailed or held in a hospital for the past six years. His brother, Mohammed, lives in Boston and has been prodding Bush administration to get involved in securing his release.  Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights have sent Rice a deluge of recent letters urging her to raise Jahmi’s case and other human rights issues when she meets with Gadhafi, The Washington Post reports. “We have followed this case,” said Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch. “We have been discussing it for some time with the Libyan government. We expect it to be discussed [by Rice] in forthcoming meetings in Tripoli.”

Two powerful speeches with one message: Elect Barack Obama!

 Sen. Edward Kennedy and Michelle Obama opened the Democratic National Convention Monday night with a message of party unity, calling for the American people to elect Sen. Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Get the latest at Pamela On Politics. Talk about Michelle Obama’s speech here.

George Lucas sets sights on Tuskegee Airmen
The man who helped take science-fiction adventure to outer space is planning to spotlight those who ruled the sky: Star Wars film visionary George Lucas has begun work on Red Tails, a movie depicting the legacy of World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen. Named for the color that marked the rear portion of Airmen’s planes, which guided bombers in Germany, the movie is set to shoot late this year or early ’09. “I think the story that has not been told is stories like mine, in which the home battle that was waged … shall we say, helped open the door so that the unit could enter combat and demonstrate its capabilities and be successful,” says 91-year-old Lt. Col. Eldridge F. Williams, a Tuskegee Airmen. John Ridley’s script for the movie reportedly addresses both American segregation and racism against the Black heroes, as well as the courage and valor for which they became known.

Lil’ Eazy E joins Terry Kennedy to encourage community involvement
The son of gangster rap pioneer Eazy E is helping to encourage volunteers to repair a Venice, Calif., skate ramp with pro Black skateboarder Terry Kennedy. Lil’ Eazy E will join Kennedy from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at Venice Center for Peace with Justice and the Arts Community Center in L.A. Registered volunteers can participate in activities, in exchange for tickets to a Friday concert featuring Common, Three 6 Mafia and others.

Tyler Perry reportedly disses cousin.
Claiming kinship to filmmaker Tyler Perry may not gain you a thing, even if you’re his actual kin. Marlon Campbell, Perry’s first cousin, tells TMZ.com that the multi-millionaire producer, better known as “Madea,” sent him a legal letter. The document came in response to Campbell’s having mentioned Perry’s name in connection with his own film project, which lawyers say “wrongfully infringes upon the economic value of Mr. Perry.” The letter, which apparently doesn’t deny a blood relationship between the two, calls Campbell’s reference “intentionally misleading.” Kinda like a 6-foot-plus man wearing a wig and dress on stage, maybe?