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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Bush says the deal allowing an Arab company to take over six major U.S. seaports should go forward and he will veto any bill that would stop it.

The acrid smell of burning rubber and smoking fire bombs mingled with odors from our sumptuous dinner table, but we were determined to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with our friends, regardless of the turmoil in our city streets. It was November 1978, post-Shah, Iran. Three weeks earlier, in the capital city of Tehran, establishments that Americans visited for recreation were being fire-bombed by radicals; any place that served liquor and provided dancing were targeted as "… against the holy book." Living in Esfahan, only 300 miles from Tehran, we feared for our lives. My husband's job had brought us to Iran...

FOR years, Massoud Dehnamaki was known widely as the feared enforcer of conservative rules that restricted freedom for women and society. In recent years, however, he has emerged as Iran's Michael Moore, having directed a documentary on the taboo issue of prostitution and another forthcoming film on soccer as a metaphor of political struggle. Reformists and conservatives alike harshly criticized Mr. Dehnamaki for making the first movie, "Poverty and Prostitution." Conservatives were furious that one of their own had not only highlighted an un-Islamic social pathology but seemed to sympathize with the prostitutes. Reformists believed he deliberately exaggerated the problem...

AUSTIN — With the Capitol as a backdrop and a scorching sun beating down, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned the political heat up on Gov. Rick Perry today, formally announcing as a challenger to his re-election. Strayhorn, saying she will run against Perry in next year's Republican primary, wasted no time in attacking her new opponent. "You know that Texans cannot afford another four years of a governor who promises tax relief and delivers nothing," she said. "Now is time to replace this do-nothing drugstore cowboy with one tough grandma," Strayhorn told a cheering crowd. Strayhorn specifically criticized Perry for...

Sat Mar 12, 5:10 AM ET Iranian female police cadets conduct a drill during a graduation ceremony at Iran's police academy in Tehran March 12, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

BOYS may be outperformed by girls at school but there is a glimmer of hope for them. Researchers claim to have found scientific proof that men can think faster than women. Their study found that men's brain cells could transmit nerve impulses faster than women's – potentially giving males the intellectual edge. The claim will add fuel to the debate recently triggered by Larry Summers, the president of Harvard University, who challenged the prevailing wisdom when he suggested women were innately less able than men in subjects such as maths and science. The new study is likely to prompt similar...

JONESBORO, Georgia (AP) -- On his first day on the job, the new sheriff called 27 employees into his office, stripped them of their badges, fired them, and had rooftop snipers stand guard as they were escorted out the door. The move Monday by Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill provoked an angry reaction and prompted a judge to order him to rehire the employees. "It appears ... that employees of the Sheriff were terminated without cause" and in violation of the county's civil service rules, Judge Stephen Boswell wrote in granting a 30-day restraining order. Hill, 39, defended the firings...

Can someone post updates of the game for those of us still at work? I have a K on SC. Thanks Admin relocate as necessary

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Police said a 22-year-old man was charged with filing a false report about a hate crime. Floyd Elliott Floyd Elliott, of Independence, told police that on Dec. 14, two subjects attacked him in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He said the attackers cut him in the stomach, branded him with a hot knife, and attempted to carve the word "Fag" on his forehead. Investigators were suspicious about the report because the head carving was backwards, as if done while looking into a mirror.Later, Elliott admitted to police that the injuries were self-inflicted. He said...

Actress and singer Liza Minnelli was taken to a hospital after falling out of bed and hitting her head in the early morning hours of December 27, 2004 People Magazine reported. 'She was sleeping and she rolled out of bed,' People quoted a police source as saying in an article on its Web site. Minnelli sings at a benefit near Cannes, France in this May 20 file photo. Photo by Vincent Kessler/Reuters

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Men are more likely to want to marry women who are their assistants at work rather than their colleagues or bosses, a University of Michigan study finds. The study, published in the current issue of Evolution and Human Behavior, highlights the importance of relational dominance in mate selection and discusses the evolutionary utility of male concerns about mating with dominant females. "These findings provide empirical support for the widespread belief that powerful women are at a disadvantage in the marriage market because men may prefer to marry less accomplished women," said Stephanie Brown, lead author of the study...

However, the government said two thirds of the capital was under about four feet (1.2 meters) of water in some areas. About a third of the country’s 330,000 population live in the highly congested capital island. Maldives is a cluster of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator and is vulnerable to any rise in sea levels. The fate of tens of thousands of tourists in the Maldives was not immediately known.

The Leftist radio hag, Randi Rhodes, had callers suggesting that the Bush folks knew about Kerik's troubles, and nominated him - TO EMBARRASS RUDY. Randi didn't seem to dismiss the idea. If this was really a Karl Rove plot, as these leftists claim, then I'm applauding. WE DON'T NEED RUDY, A PRO-ABORT LIB, AS GOP NOMINEE IN 08. That would elect Hillary as sure as I'm typing here. Kerik's sordid life may have spared us from having Rudy, his sponsor, as a disastrous GOP nominee. Thank you Kerik! Thank you, Karl Rove (if you were sly enough to have intenionally...