Ports deal opens rift between Bush, House GOP  —  Committee votes 62-2 to block approval of UAE takeover  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House faced a major rupture with House Republicans on Thursday after a House committee overwhelmingly voted to block a deal that would allow …

Senator Resumes Lobbyist Huddles  —  After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.

PortGate: Republicans Turn on President Bush — And What Will It Cost Us?  —  We make a prediction.  —  The AP's Liz Zidoti is eager to report: "In an election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm …

Iran Is Building A Nuclear Weapon  —  A Nuclear Composition based on one of my favorite El Greco's "An Allegory with a 'Believer' Lighting a Candle in the Company of an Ape and a Fool (Fábula)" ca.  1589-92; National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh  —  For some months now …

Boy in a Bubble  —  What George Clooney doesn't know about life.  —  Memo to: The Academy  —  From: Just another viewer  —  Re: Advice, as if you wanted more  —  I cannot remember a time when, in the days after the Academy Awards show, it was not criticized, and even blasted.

BLOGS: Health Wonk Review  —  Welcome to Health Wonk Review.  Joe expected some crack about English soccer fans, but I'm all depressed since the Catalans ejected my boys with barely a whimper from the European Champions League we were supposed to win on Tuesday.  —  So onto the review.

Bush: Congress 'Shortchanged' New Orleans  —  Touring Gulf Coast, President Calls for Restoration of $1.5 Billion for Levee Repairs  —  NEW ORLEANS, March 8 — President Bush, on a Gulf Coast inspection tour that included his first visit to this city's storm-shattered Lower Ninth Ward …

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 …

Faith Hill, Tim McGraw Blast 'Humiliating' Katrina Cleanup  —  Country Stars Lash Out in Anger Over Conditions in Storm-Ravaged States  —  March, 8, 2006 — Faith Hill and Tim McGraw — two stars who usually stay out of politics — blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort …

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 …

The Three Stooges  —  Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Howard Dean.  —  According to the latest CBS News poll, George W. Bush's approval rating hit a personal worst of 34 percent in February, making him the most unpopular president since Nixon during Watergate.

Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups  —  A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the Sunday talk show circuit's Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.

South Dakota's Top Paper Refuses To Editorialize On Abortion Ban  —  NEW YORK Although the biggest abortion rights story in 33 years is taking place in its own backyard, South Dakota's largest newspaper will not editorialize on the controversial statewide abortion ban just recently approved by its legislature.

Justice Dept. Report Cites F.B.I. Violations  —  WASHINGTON, March 8 — The Federal Bureau of Investigation found apparent violations of its own wiretapping and other intelligence-gathering procedures more than 100 times in the last two years, and problems appear to have grown more frequent …