Hence the lure of a man who could also transform peoples' opinions of Mr Bush and may be (slightly) more temptable: John McCain.

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Hence, in Japan, when a wealthy man died, the eldest son inherited all, generally land, and the younger siblings, who were equally educated, tended to migrate to the cities and transferred their allegiance to the emperor rather than their families.

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Mr Bremer promised a safety-net for redundancies, suggested that the elusive oil revenue might one day be paid out as dividends to Iraqis, and unveiled plans for a new army which two years hence would be just 10% of its former 400, 000-man strength.

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