as well as the elimination of all capital gains taxes was
a more pro-growth approach than Romney's prescription.In a radio interview, former Pennsylvania
Sen. Rick Santorum said Romney had "sort of gotten a pass"' when
he said in a recent debate he had done all he could
as Massachusetts governor to block same-sex marriages in the state.Rep. Michele Bachmann
of Minnesota had a bus of her own, and saw herself as
the rightful Romney alternative."I am the only consistent conservative in the race
and the only candidate with the proven leadership and experience to create
more American jobs and repair our economy," she wrote in an email
seeking donations for her underfunded candidacy.Bachmann, Perry and Gingrich have all spent
time atop the Iowa public opinion polls in recent months, either alone
or alongside Romney, only to fall back.Recent soundings suggest Texas Rep. Ron
Paul is Romney's likeliest threat in Iowa. He is due in the
state on Wednesday.A conservative
ared with Schwarzenegger during their 25-year marriage, TMZ reported.She is seeking spousal
support and requested Schwarzenegger pay her attorney's fees in what could be
one of the costliest celebrity divorces ever.
already nearly come to blows over oil fields in this disputed region.
In 2008, a 24-hour standoff developed between their respective security forces over
a section of an oil field in Kirkuk, an ethnically-mixed area the
Kurds want to annex.Baghad warns it could punish Exxon Mobil and that
the company's existing contracts could be in jeopardy. But so far it
has taken no punitive measures.Many analysts doubt that it will, considering Baghdad's
profound need for foreign investment.Outside the Kurdish zone, Exxon Mobil and Shell
are already developing one of Iraq's biggest oil fields, the 8.6 billion-barrel
West Qurna Stage 1 field in southern Basra province. Exxon Mobil is
also expected to lead a multibillion dollar project in Basra, a Shiite
stronghold, that will help make available the water needed for oil development.Baghdad's
oil policy is not a "long-term sustainable program that would attract foreign
capital into Iraq," said Fadel Gheit, chief economist with
NEW YORK Three security contractors including two Americans were released by
Iraqi Army forces Tuesday after they were held for more than two
weeks, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security announced as
he demanded a full report on the episode.Republican Peter King identified the
men as Army veteran Alex Antiohos of West Babylon, N.Y., National Guardsman
Jonas March of Savannah, Georgia and Kevin Fisher of Fiji.King said they
were working for a security firm when Iraqi Ministry of Defense officials
rejected paperwork prepared on their behalf by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior
and began holding them on Dec. 9.The men weren't charged with any
crimes and King said it appeared that the men were not injured.He
said Antiohos, who lives on Long Island, spoke to his wife Tuesday
evening, and he was expected to be home later this week."She said
he seems to be doing well," he said.King said they were released
after efforts by his office, the State Depart
suit continues that the measure is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer
money. and notes that state laws already mandate use of condoms when
workers are exposed to blood-borne pathogens.But Ellen Widess, head of the California
Division of Occupational Safety and Health, told the L.A. Times that her
group doesn't "see a bar to the city or the county doing
what they need to do" to enact rules on condom use in
porn, thereby bypassing the need for a referendum.The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has
unsuccessfully tried to get the county to enforce condom use before. It
cites records from the county's own Department of Public Health to argue
that adult film industry workers are 10 times more likely to be
infected with a sexually transmitted disease than members of the population at
large, and that some performers can contract four or more separate infections
over the course of a year."In addition, LADPH has stated that as
many as 25 industry-related cases of HIV have be
TEHRAN, Iran Iran's official news agency is quoting a top official
as saying Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off oil
exports, if the West imposes sanctions on Iran's oil shipments.According to the
IRNA report Tuesday Vice President Mohamed Reza Rahimi said Iran does not
want hostilities but charged that the West continues its plots against Iran.Rahimi
has no major role in Iran's foreign or military policy.Iran is conducting
a 10-day naval maneuver in the area the of the Strait of
Hormuz, where about 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes. Closing
the strait would have immense world economic impact.The West is considering limiting
Iran's oil trade over its disputed nuclear program. Some 80 percent of
Iran's foreign revenue comes from oil exports.
