"I go out to Walter Reed quite often and see these brave young soldiers who have served and sacrificed so much. Many of them have lost limbs, as you know. And it's a very sad thing to see. But at the same time it's very uplifting. Because these young people are so proud of what they've done... This generation of men and women who are serving in the military are the very, very, very best of us."

The Pentagon cannot account for 14,030 weapons — almost 4% of the semiautomatic pistols, assault rifles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other weapons it began supplying to Iraq since the end of 2003.

The missing weapons will not be tracked easily: The Defense Department registered the serial numbers of only about 10,000 of the 370,251 weapons it provided — less than 3%.

Missing from the Defense Department's inventory books were 13,180 semiautomatic pistols, 751 assault rifles and 99 machine guns.

The audit on logistics capabilities said there is a "significant risk" that the Iraqi interior ministry "will not be capable of assuming and sustaining logistics support for the Iraqi local and national police forces in the near term." That support includes equipment maintenance, transportation of people and gear and health resources for soldiers and police.

On what level of losing does an "opposing kicker hitting a 62-yarder to win when he hasn't kicked one longer than 30 yards all year" game fall in the levels of losing? That's has to be a "swift kick to the genitals" game.--Jacob, Philadelphia

Don't think I wasn't shocked when Bryant hit that 62-yarder. This is what happens in this town. We invent new ways to lose. I think I'm actually beginning to hate sports.--Harris, Philly

It's time to rename this town Stomach-Punch City, U.S.A. What's the opposite of a Team of Destiny? --Eric Raskin

Seriously, what did we as Philly fans do to deserve this?????--Rob, Toms River, N.J.

I have just been informed Tampa Bay's kicker was previously cut by the 49ers. I can't get drunk enough to numb this feeling.--Stephanie G., Atlanta

After the Eagles took a 21-20 lead over Tampa, I still knew they'd lose. Even with :30 left. Why? Because Andy Reid can't hold a clipboard to save his life, Donovan McNabb's lost his MVP feeling and they just ... I don't know, it's a Philly thing. --Tim Malcolm, Philadelphia

We really will never win another championship. I'm completely convinced now. I've never seen a Philly championship in my lifetime and never will.--Dan S., Philadelphia

We can't even lose on the longest FG in NFL history. No, just the second longest.--Andrew, Haddon Heights, N.J.

I am taking an official leave of absence from caring about Philadelphia sports until next September.--Ken, Philadelphia

I hate my life as a Philly sports fan. I think I'm gonna go throw up all over the 45-yard line.--Adam, Philadelphia

God hates Philadelphia. --Justin C., Philadelphia

NBC is bringing back its trademark two-hour comedy block on Thursdays with freshman "30 Rock" and "Scrubs" joining "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office." Meanwhile, another new NBC comedy, "Twenty Good Years," is being pulled off the schedule.

"30 Rock" will be first to join the Thursday lineup Nov. 16 for a supersize night of 40-minute episodes of "Earl," "Office" and "30 Rock" leading into "ER."

Now, this is Michael J. Fox. He's got Parkinson's disease. And in this commercial, he is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He is moving all around and shaking. And it's purely an act. This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has.

So this is really shameless, folks, this is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two.

"'If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face...'"

Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were in the front seat.

They drove the Iraq car off a cliff.

Then they turned to the Dems in the back seat.

And said the Dems couldn’t complain unless they could come up with a plan of their own.

The tragedy is that there is no rational hope for a plan (any plan) that will work well. When you’ve driven the car off the cliff, your range of options is quite limited.

We’re in the hands of gravity at this point.

I don't think abandoning our troops on the battlefield or closing your eyes to enemy communications or listening to enemy communications in our country, or killing the economy, or supporting illegal immigration, I don't think that's something to run on. So I'm saying, for the sake of the nation, I think you Democrats should stay home. For you there's no reason to vote.

An 81-year-old boater was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stabbed him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest, authorities said.

"It was a freak accident," said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it."

Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin last month are rare, marine experts say. Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry.

The FBI, which opened an investigation in recent months, has formally referred the matter to the department's Public Integrity Section for additional scrutiny. At issue are Weldon's efforts between 2002 and 2004 to aid two Russian companies and two Serbian brothers with ties to strongman Slobodan Milosevic, a federal law enforcement official said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, must pay at least $78 million for violating Pennsylvania state labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a jury said Friday.

Michael Donovan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, had asked the jury for at least that amount for what he said were missed or shortened breaks, or time employees worked off the clock.

The class-action suit involves 187,000 current and former employees who worked at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs in Pennsylvania from March 1998 through May of this year. The Common Pleas Court jury found Thursday that Wal-Mart violated state labor laws.

Lead plaintiff Dolores Hummel, who worked at a Sam’s Club in Reading from 1992-2002, charged in her suit that she had to work through breaks and after quitting time to meet work demands in the bakery. She said she worked eight to 12 unpaid hours a month, on average, to meet work demands.

More than 650 economists, including five winners of the Nobel Prize for economics, called Wednesday for an increase in the minimum wage, saying the value of the last increase, in 1997, has been “fully eroded."

...

“We believe that a modest increase in the minimum wage would improve the well-being of low-wage workers and would not have the adverse effects that critics have claimed,” the economists wrote.

Politics is a water-cooler topic, a dinner-table subject, an issue to discuss after Sunday services, and this year the interest of American voters is at its highest level in more than a decade.

That renewed attention could translate into higher voter turnout on Nov. 7, according to an Associated Press-Pew poll.

Seventy percent say they are talking politics with family and friends, and 43 percent are debating the issues at work. Among churchgoers, 28 percent share their political views, a number that rises to 34 percent among the congregations in the South.

The level of interest outpaces 1994 when Republicans swept Democrats from power in Congress. It's a far cry from the weeks after the disputed 2000 presidential election when discussion of politics was verboten at many family gatherings, especially those with carving knives nearby.

The high levels of political interest are driven largely by Democratic anger and optimism that they can win in November. Republican interest is close to its usual levels, according to the poll of 1,804 adults, including 1,503 registered voters.

The Who and Lynyrd Skynyrd are out at WRDU-FM. Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw are in.

After 22 years as a rock station, WRDU (106.1), WRDU has switched to a country format called “The Rooster.” Much of WRDU’s old playlist can now be heard on “The New River,” WRVA-FM (100.7). WRVA recently abandoned its adult-alternative format for classic rock, officially known as “rock-based adult contemporary.”

Both stations are owned by Clear Channel, which also owns top-40 station WDCG-FM (105.1) and soft adult-contemporary station WRSN-FM (93.9).

Centuries before the world came to know a rock star called Sting - or any rock star, for that matter - another English troubadour traveled the globe, playing songs about love and yearning, isolation and despair.

"John Dowland was our first alienated singer/songwriter," Sting says. "A totally conflicted man but a genius musician. We're just following in his footsteps."

Mind you, Sting offers little evidence of personal conflict on this pleasant afternoon. The 55-year-old pop icon, whose early hits made him a poster boy for existential angst, chooses a chair on the sunny side of a garden in The Cloisters, a Metropolitan Museum of Art enclave showcasing works from medieval Europe. It actually was during the Elizabethan era that Dowland made his name as a composer and master lute player.

For the Record

There is no evidence that Congressman Patrick McHenry hasn't spent the last decade kidnapping babies, raping them, killing them, and piling them up in his basement shrine to Ronald Reagan.

No evidence at all that he hasn't done this.

Quite shocking, really.

Voters just don't like Santorum

Rick Santorum has spent 12 years in the Senate -- and millions of dollars on TV ads for a third term. Yet a lot of Pennsylvania voters just plain don't like him.

Polls show Santorum's approval rating is in the 30s, just about what it was a year ago. Roughly the same number of voters view him unfavorably as favorably.

Questions over the use of Pennsylvania tax dollars to pay for the cyber schooling of his six children in Virginia continue to dog him. Anger lingers over comments he made in a book last year criticizing some working parents, as well as statements he made in opposition to same-sex marriage and in support of keeping Terri Schiavo alive.

"Santorum's real problem is Santorum," said Clay Richards, a Quinnipiac University pollster.

U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the number of car bombs in Baghdad, both detonated and defused, hit their highest level of the year last week and that bombs reported in general were "also at an all-time high".

U.S. and Iraqi forces have mounted a major military operation in the past two months against militants in Baghdad.

For the second time in two days, four U.S. soldiers were killed in a single incident around Baghdad, this time in what appears to have been a substantial skirmish involving mortars or rockets and gunfire to the northwest. It took the death toll in four days of the month to 15 around Baghdad and 22 in total.

Fez: Terrell Owens tried to committ suicide yesterday, he's in the hospital.

Ron: I know, there's a 6 1/2 mile Conga line going around Philadelphia right now.