] Da Coach is thinking of running for office.
]
] Illinois is abuzz over a fledgling effort to draft Mike
] Ditka, legendary coach of the Chicago Bears, to fill the
] Republican slot in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat
] Barack Obama.
]
] The opening was created last month when investment banker
] Jack Ryan said he was quitting the race over claims in
] his divorce records that he took his wife, actress Jeri
] Ryan, to sex clubs and asked her to have sex in front of
] other people.
]
] Many prominent Republicans have declined to step in, most
] citing a lack of financial backing from the party.
]
] Ditka met Tuesday night in Chicago with Sen. George
] Allen, R-Va., head of the National Republican Senatorial
] Committee. Allen is the son of another legendary football
] coach, the late George Allen Sr., the man who picked
] Ditka in the first round of the 1961 NFL draft. Allen sat
] down with Ditka not to recruit him but to make sure his
] family friend was aware of what might lie ahead.
]
] Ditka, who has never held elected office, has said he
] will make a decision by week's end.

Being from the Chicago area, Ditka is worshiped there and a shoe-in if he runs. I liked him as coach, but the US Senate?? He is not the brightest crayon in the box and his anger management problems are legendary. It's just a series of bad jokes that write themselves for Leno and Letterman if he makes the bid. -LB

Ditka considers bid for U.S. Senate

] A previously unknown militant group in Iraq is
] threatening to kill the most-wanted terror suspect in
] that country: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
]
] The Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya said it
] received a taped statement from an organization that
] calls itself the Rescue Group warning al-Zarqawi and his
] followers to leave Iraq or face the consequences.
]
] One masked militant read a stamen denouncing the actions
] by al-Zarqawi and his followers as hurtful to Iraq,
] particularly the kidnapping of foreigners.
]
] The group has called for the killing of the
] Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi if he doesn't leave Iraq.
]
] Coalition officials blame al-Zarqawi for dozens of
] attacks on coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. The
] United States recently raised the bounty on his head to
] $25 million.
]
] Al-Zarqawi is also believed to be behind the beheading of
] two hostages in Iraq, an American and a South Korean.

Its about freaking time people in the middle east started taking counter terrorism matters into their own hands. -LB

Militant group threatens death for al-Zarqawi

] Here's a story that isn't getting as much coverage as I
] think it should. Yesterday World Net Daily was reporting
] that in July George Bush will announce a sweeping new
] mental health initiative that will recommend mental
] health screening for every U.S. citizen.
]
] In 2002 Bush set up something called the New Freedom
] Commission on Mental Health. The goal was to study the
] U.S. mental health service delivery system. Soon the
] commission will deliver its report, complete with a
] suggestion that government schools would be in a "key
] position" to screen 52 million unfortunate children who
] attend government schools and the 6 million adults who
] work there. The commission is going to recommend that
] this screening be linked somehow with treatment ..
] including medications.
]
] Are you comfortable with the idea of your friendly local
] government school screening your child for mental
] problems, and then recommending or perhaps even requiring
] certain medications?
]
] Now .. without delving into details, here's something
] else you need to know. The commission will recommend
] something called The Texas Medication Algorithm Project
] (TAMP) as a model for the medical treatment of Americans,
] and government school students, found to be suffering
] from medical problems. There is evidently some
] relationship between huge pharmaceutical companies and
] TAMP. One of these companies, Eli Lilly, has some rather
] extensive relationships with George Bush. George Bush
] (41) was once a member of the Eli Lilly board of
] directors, and George Bush (43) appointed a Lilly chief
] executive to the Homeland Security Council.
]
] I'll have much more to say on this if and when the
] predicted initiative sees the light of day. For now,
] just consider the idea of your local government school
] screening your child for mental diseases. And also
] consider where and how you are going to receive your
] screening!

I agree with about half of what Boortz says - the other 50% is unabashed pandering to the right wing. Occasionally (like this instance), he trashes the GOP when they deserve it. -LB

boortz.com: SCREEN ME FOR WHAT?

] SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Ramona Trinidad Iglesias
] Jordan, who at age 114 was recognized as the world's
] oldest person, has died after a bout with pneumonia, her
] family said Monday.
]
] She enjoyed a beer with meals, Matos said.
]
] "Even when she was over 100 years, every time we took her out to
] a restaurant, she always like to have a beer, a small beer, a 7-
] ounce beer with the food," he said. "That was the first thing she
] asked for when she got to a restaurant."

See??? BEER = GOOOOOOD!! -LB

World's oldest person dies at 114 - May 31, 2004

k wrote:
] ] The Spanish Defense Ministry says it has completed its
] ] troop withdrawal from Iraq, fulfilling a campaign pledge
] ] made by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez.
] ]
] ] At the time of the initial withdrawal announcement, there
] ] were 1,430 Spanish troops in Iraq, but nearly half of
] ] them had already left by Friday.
]
] Hey - lets ALL stick our tails between our legs when a suicide
] bomber strikes. Cave in to their demands and the problems
] will all go away. This is cowardice of the worst sort -
] befitting of the french.
]
] There is an old saying "He who appeases the crocodile is eaten
] last."
]
] LB
]
] [ Actually, if I recall correctly, Zapatero had been
] campaigning on an anti-war message throughout his candidacy.
] It's arguable that the bombings in madrid gave the public a
] shove in his direction, a mere few days before the election...
] though I think he was probably going to win anyway.
]
] Regardless, Zapatero was almost certainly going to pull these
] troops out regardless of the tragic bombings. You can
] criticize his opposition to the war, but I wouldn't base those
] criticisms on the terrorist acts. -k]

Oh I dont criticize Zapatero one bit. You are right - it was his platform during the campaign. Cant blame someone for sticking to his campaign guns! ;) However the polls in the weeks leading up to the election (IF you believe polls) showed him lagging well into last place as I understand it.

I blame the voters in Spain for doing an 11'th hour 180 degree turn in the face of tragedy and appeasing the extremeists.
To to cave in to the terrorists demands is to let them win. And when extremeists win the rest of us lose. VERY bad judgement call.

While I didn't support the war, I also realize that what is done is done and like it or loath it - we are there. It is FAR too early for ANYone to pull out. There is a fledgling "government" that needs full support of the coalition at this time and to give up now would leave Iraq in worse turmoil than it ever saw under Saddam.

al Qaeda has already stated they prefer Bush in the Oval Office, as he continues to show no regard for forigen relations. Sitting idle as he turns the rest of the world against the the USA is very much in their best interest.

Expect the Homeland Security threat level be raised to code RED in the final weeks leading up to the November election. And do not be suprised if a string of attacks on "soft targets" happens in that time frame... and a majority of voters rally to pacify the incombant president.

Four more years of George W BULLSHIT I fear...

RE: Spain pulls out last Iraq troops

] The Spanish Defense Ministry says it has completed its
] troop withdrawal from Iraq, fulfilling a campaign pledge
] made by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez.
]
] At the time of the initial withdrawal announcement, there
] were 1,430 Spanish troops in Iraq, but nearly half of
] them had already left by Friday.

Hey - lets ALL stick our tails between our legs when a suicide bomber strikes. Cave in to their demands and the problems will all go away. This is cowardice of the worst sort - befitting of the french.

There is an old saying "He who appeases the crocodile is eaten last."

LB

Spain pulls out last Iraq troops

] May 12, 2004: On May 13th, weather permitting, sky
] watchers up and down the US east coast can see the
] International Space Station (ISS) glide by the planet
] Jupiter. The ISS looks like a slow-moving meteor, as
] bright as Jupiter itself. When the two converge ... it's
] going to be beautiful.
]
] The encounter will be widely visible from Alabama,
] Georgia, parts of North Carolina and Tennessee,
] Washington D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all the
] states of New England. Most people in those areas will
] see the ISS pass mere degrees from Jupiter. A few
] observers are going to see the station actually eclipse
] the giant planet.
]
] The "path of totality," only about 80-meters wide, runs
] from Alabama to Maine. Viewed from inside this narrow
] corridor, the space station will pass right in front of
] Jupiter. It only takes a split-second for the ISS to
] cross the planet, but during that instant, Jupiter's
] cloud belts and its largest moons will wink in and out
] among the station's gangly solar arrays and modules.

Well THIS just sucks - The path of totality is not too far from my home. I'd take a road trip and my Cannon GL2 out, but forcast calls for scattered t-storms all night :( -LB

Space Station Eclipses Jupiter

] Bored Boy Behind President Gets Nationwide Attention

awesome.

Bored Boy Behind President Gets Nationwide Attention

inignoct wrote:
] Upset that the maverick run of Republican Presidential
] candidate (and incumbent President) George W. Bush could lead
] to a victory by John Kerry, Ralph Nader called upon Bush to
] cease splitting the anti-Kerry vote and drop out of the
] race.
]
] I like Nader.
]
] [ Me too. Just not enough to vote for him again. Not more
] than I dislike Bush. I'm not naive enough anymore to believe
] that principle is the only thing i should use to guide my
] choices. Voting for the best (most like me in principle), and
] ending up with the worst (Bush) is *not* better than voting
] for second best and getting it. No one will ever successfully
] use the "The lesser of two evil's is still evil," argument on
] me again -- it may be true, but it's a poor way to choose a
] president. "Less evil" wins over "Not evil but not really a
] competitor" from now on.

Well said. Never in a trillion years did I EVER think I'd vote for Al Gore as president. His over-zealous wife Tipper with the whole PMRC censorship thing in the 80's scared the CRAP out of me.

THEN I woke up and realized a man TRULY unfit to be president in every way was gonna give Al a run for his money in November of 2000, and suddenly "President Gore" didn't have such a bad ring to it any more. So I crossed my libertarian party lines "its not a vote for Gore, its a vote AGAINST Bush". I sure do wish I could have convinced some of my hard-headed friends the same thing. And believe me - I tried.

And they, like you, are also sorry for their short-sightedness to see the forest for the trees four years ago.

Live and learn. -LB

RE: Plastic: Nader Calls Upon Bush To Leave Presidential Race

] Nader told CNN
] that he and Kerry "have a common objective, and that's to
] defeat the giant corporation residing in the White House
] masquerading as a human being."

Classic quote! -LB

Nader says he'll meet with Kerry