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WASHINGTON - New legislative proposals responding to the scandal over a Dubai-owned company's attempted takeover of major operations at some major U.S. ports, which touched off a political firestorm, are getting attention in Congress on Thursday. Measures coming before committees in the House and Senate aim to strengthen U.S. cargo security and port safety, and to bring the federal panel that approved the DP World ports deal under tighter oversight by Congress. The multiagency panel, called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, would be required to investigate any proposed transaction that involved a foreign government or "critical...

Israeli forces have made several arrests at the house of a Palestinian suicide bomber who killed five Israelis in the town of Netanya on Monday. Reports say the 21-year-old bomber's father and three brothers were seized in a raid in the northern West Bank. Amin Abu Saada had said he had no idea that his son was linked to the Islamic Jihad group which staged the attack. Israeli defence officials are seeking to lift a legal ban on knocking down the homes of suicide bombers. Israeli military radio reported that Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had given the go-ahead for the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2005 – Americans owe their freedom and liberty to military veterans, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said today during Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, Va. He added that the current generation of servicemembers will continue in their predecessors footsteps. Thousands of American veterans of previous wars are buried at Arlington, and some of those killed in the war of terror have found their final resting place there, as well. The vice president represented President Bush at the Department of Veterans Affairs-sponsored ceremony. He thanked all those Americans who served. "Approximately 25 million of our citizens...

This is the fourth installment in my Developing "The Disaster Master Mind©" series. I’m praying that you are well on your way to a completely screwed up life after just reading and obeying the first three of the 10 habits of the Decidedly Defective People©. If success is still looking like it might attach itself to you, do not despair, stay the course and chaos can be yours, too. Be patient, as fiascos take time and demand dedication in order to set in motion the forces for failure; therefore, be vigilant and the repugnant life will be yours before you...

WASHINGTON - Former President Clinton (news - web sites) told Democrats Thursday night it won't take any special magic for them to win the White House again. "All that has to happen is you have to have a clear vision, a plan for the future, good campaign tactics and fight like the devil," said Clinton. "We need to brand ourselves better. There were too many people who didn't know why we were Democrats except that we were against President Bush (news - web sites)'s policies." Clinton spoke at a rally honoring outgoing Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe. "He got us out...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Ukraine’s richest, most powerful people have stayed out of the spotlight during the five days of what’s being called the Ukrainian opposition’s “Orange Revolution.” That’s no surprise, as opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has been calling them “bandits” during rallies, and saying they belong in jail after robbing the Ukrainian nation of its riches and suppressing democracy. Many believe that if the opposition takes control of the government, Ukraine’s so-called “oligarchs” – who backed the candidacy of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - could be tried for stealing state property, election fraud, and other crimes. This group includes Presidential Administration head Viktor...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley may have violated congressional restrictions on how federal voting funds may be used by spending some of the money on Democratic consultants who attended fund-raisers and party meetings, a newspaper reported. At the least, the way Shelley applied some of the nonpartisan funds differs from how his colleagues in other states spent the money earmarked for replacing voting machines and educating poll workers and voters following the disputed outcome of the 2000 presidential race in Florida, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "We didn't intend for anyone to hire political...

The clerk at my local Post Office gave me this bit of news today. It is also being talked about on the eBay Boards. USPS is going to open and check every bit of "Media mail" (used to be book rate) to make sure the packages dont contain anything that is not allowed by the regulations. Here is what the clerk told me today: At first they issued a notice that anyone with Media mail had to bring it in UNSEALED before that would accept it, then the clerk told me that they changed that directive so the clerks had...

How do homing pigeons navigate? They follow roads By Caroline Davies (Filed: 05/02/2004) Researchers have cracked the puzzle of how pigeons find their way home: they just follow the main roads. Zoologists now believe the phrase "as the crow flies" no longer means the shortest most direct route between two points. They say it is likely that crows and other diurnal birds also choose AA-suggested routes, even though it makes their journeys longer. Some pigeons stick so rigidly to the roads that they even fly round roundabouts before choosing the exit to lead them back to their lofts. Animal behaviouralists...

Follow my lead, Gaddafi urges 'rogue' states By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 24/12/2003) Col Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, called yesterday on other "rogue states" to follow his dramatic example, by admitting involvement in banned weapons programmes, if they were to prevent "tragedy" from striking their nations. He sidestepped direct questions about whether the war in Iraq had influenced his decision to scrap nuclear, biological and chemical research, saying his motives were "not important". But his stark warning to other "rogue" states appeared to offer endorsement of Washington's and London's policy of diplomacy backed by pre-emptive strikes. Asked if...

CHICAGO In news that has electrified the music world, the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew announced Monday that it is reuniting and will soon begin work on its first new material since the seminal 1985 single Super Bowl Shuffle. Above: The Shufflin' Crew's classic 1985 line-up. Confirming the recent swirl of music-industry rumors regarding a possible anniversary reunion, Shufflin' Crew lead singer Willie Gault told reporters,After years of solo gigs and side projects, "we decided it was time for us to work together again." Gault went on to strongly deny rumors that the Crew was returning to the studio looking for...

<p>VENTURA -- The Republican scramble to replace Gov. Gray Davis began in earnest here Tuesday as state Sen. Tom McClintock filed to run in the Oct. 7 recall, vowing to issue an executive order rescinding the recent tripling of the vehicle license fee as soon as he's sworn in.</p>

Arrests follow Philippines blast The injured were rushed to Davao hospital Police have arrested several men in connection with a bomb attack on an airport in the southern Philippines which killed at least 18 people and injured 50, a presidential spokesman said. President Gloria Arroyo was told by the national police that they had "several men in custody being interrogated for committing these murders," her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said. He did not give details of the identities of those detained. The explosion ripped through a packed waiting area in Davao City airport on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao at...