GOP House Panel Votes to Block Ports Deal  —  WASHINGTON - In a congressional election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations.  Democrats clamored for a vote in the Senate, too.

Suspect: Church fires started as 'joke'  —  Three Birmingham college students arrested, charged  —  BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) — Three Birmingham college students were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with a string of Alabama church fires that is described in court papers as a joke that "got out of hand," authorities said.

Official Says Shiite Party Suppressed Body Count  —  BAGHDAD, March 8 — Days after the bombing of a Shiite shrine unleashed a wave of retaliatory killings of Sunnis, the leading Shiite party in Iraq's governing coalition directed the Health Ministry to stop tabulating execution-style shootings …

Agency  —  Digby leads us to this fascinating exchange between Tweety and Pat Toomey: … I really can't figure out why they can't answer this question.  Is it simply recognition of the political reality that punishing pregnant women for this stuff won't go down or is that they really are denying women the agency of their actions?

Thousands of Port Truckers Go Unscreened, Yet Many Have Criminal Records  —  WASHINGTON, March 7, 2006 — In Washington today, House Republicans vowed to defy President Bush's effort to have a Dubai company take over six major U.S. ports.  But ABC News has learned about a port threat from within …

U.S.: Iran remarks 'provocative'  —  VIENNA, Austria (CNN) — The United States has dismissed Iran's comments that it can inflict "harm and pain" on Washington for its role in pushing for U.N. Security Council action over Tehran's refusal to halt its nuclear program.

Retirement Fund Tapped to Avoid National Debt Limit  —  The Treasury Department has started drawing from the civil service pension fund to avoid hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.  The move to tap the pension fund follows last month's decision to suspend investments in a retirement savings plan held by government employees.

TX 22: DeLay More Vulnerable Than Ever Following Primary  —  Tom DeLay and his partisans are hailing his primary victory Tuesday as a landslide and vindication from his constituents that the Texas Republican's legal and ethical problems are behind him.  —  But the primary result …

SHAPED CHARGES  —  We've already noted the media's recent selective quoting of General George Casey, commanding general of the Multinational Forces in Iraq.  This past weekend another fine example of the technique played out on national television.  —  First, take a look at General Casey's …

Negative Perception Of Islam Increasing  —  Poll Numbers in U.S. Higher Than in 2001  —  As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence …

Ariz. Governor Orders Troops to Border  —  Gov. Janet Napolitano on Wednesday ordered more National Guardsmen posted at the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigrants and curb related crimes.  —  National Guard troops have worked at the border since 1988, but Napolitano signed …

House approves Patriot Act renewal  —  Approval sends measure to Bush's desk before expiration  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Congress on Tuesday renewed controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the 2001 law passed weeks after the September 11 attacks to help the government investigate and capture possible terrorists.

Eyeing '08, Sen. McCain courts K St.  —  Good-government advocacy groups working on lobbying reform say their longtime ally Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has played a smaller leadership role on the issue than they had expected.  —  McCain's lower-than-hoped-for profile on the sensitive subject coincides …

Gordon Parks, a Master of the Camera, Dies at 93  —  Gordon Parks, the photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer who used his prodigious, largely self-taught talents to chronicle the African-American experience and to retell his own personal history, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan.

A place like many others  —  Robert Kaplan's article in the Atlantic, The Coming Normalcy, is a curious mixture of pessimism and optimism.  The pessimism stemmed from his doubt a solution could be found for anarchy in the Third World, from which would come terrorism, plagues and humanitarian catastrophe.