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.

3 College Students Arrested in Alabama Church Fires  —  Three college students from the prosperous suburbs south of Birmingham, two of them 19 and one 20, were arrested today in the burning of nine Baptist churches in rural Alabama last month that federal officials say was a prank that spun out of control.

Executive Order: Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate …

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 …

TX-28: Post mortem  —  The bottom line: we helped a campaign that was the walking dead and gave it new life, pumped in resources, and made it competitive.  We did much to even the playing field even if ultimately we came up tantalizingly short.  —  And yeah, I know "tantalizingly short" …

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.

Hardball for the left, softball for the right: Conservatives dominate on Hardball … Since its CNBC debut as Politics with Chris Matthews in 1996*, MSNBC's long-running Hardball with Chris Matthews has consistently attracted criticism from the right wing.  For example, in January 2006 …

Enough of the D.C. Dems  —  Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party.  I don't know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating …

Jeers and Heckling Greet Annan At Staff Meeting at United Nations  —  UNITED NATIONS - U.N. staffers heckled and booed Secretary-General Annan yesterday in a raucous meeting after he presented a "management reform" plan that includes cutting jobs for New Yorkers employed at Turtle Bay.

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.

Smoking In U.S. Declines Sharply  —  Americans smoked fewer cigarettes last year than at any time since 1951, and the nation's per capita consumption of tobacco fell to levels not seen since the early 1930s, the association of state attorneys general reported yesterday.

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 …