NEW YORK – If you believe the TV commercials and magazine ads, the age of the mom-and-pop company is back. Instead of relying on telecommunication giants AT&T Wireless or MCI for your cellular-phone service, you can get your text-messaging needs met by the mysterious but more personable mLife. And you …

WASHINGTON – Party lawyers in many states will be available en masse at the polls on Election Day, but whether they will be welcome depends on the party to which they belong. Democrats say they are training and placing 10,000 local attorneys across the country to guard against voter intimidation …

I’m perusing the newspapers today, eying the real estate sections, and — tell me if you’ve ever noticed this — everyone featured in builders’ ads is positively giddy. Or, if it’s for an adult community, over-the-top laughing older folk. It scares me. You know, I drive by a lot of …

NEW YORK – After the oppressive humidity and snail-paced crowds of Sunday’s massive anti-Bush demonstrations, hundreds of protesters bounced back on Tuesday for a “side project” — a Midtown protest outside the offices of FOX News Channel. Cops clad in riot gear worked to keep the demonstrators from blocking traffic …

I wonder knowing what we know now ofMohamed Atta (search)whether we would have minded seeing him stripped in a prison or forced to wear a hood or humiliated in any other way? I wonder if we secretly would have found ourselves hoping for far worse treatment. I wonder if anyone …

The latest from the Political Grapevine: VP BuzzOne day after a front-page article in the New York Times trumpeted rumors that President Bush might replaceVice President Cheney (search)as his running mate, a new Gallup poll shows that 59 percent of Americans, including 71 percent of Republicans, want Cheney to stay …

WASHINGTON – Two senators chairing committees with direct oversight of intelligence and terrorist-related issues have asked the chief internal watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security (search) to investigate the appointment of a top director at the agency and his brief suspension from it. Faisal Gill (search) was forced to …

‘Team America’ |Documentary DVDs ‘South Park’ Makers: Sex, Puppets and Controversy Try to imagine, if you will, a movie that in its first few minutes offends just about everyone who’s watching it. Then you have “Team America: World Police,” the new outrageous and controversial new comedy from Trey Parker and …

All right, every year that I do this I’m criticized for being sexist. Fair enough. In this case, I am. But when it comes to offering men advice for holiday shopping, I’m well within my sexist bounds. Because when it comes to retail, we are the weaker species. Women rule …

WASHINGTON – After three terms in office representing downtown Portland, Ore., and its suburbs, DemocratRep. David Wu (search)is facing an opponent whose Iranian background and immigrant story has drawn attention and speculation that she has what it takes to win this First District seat. But Wu, whose family emigrated from …