We interrupt the pending end of the world (at least as we know it), for the following important message: The Eagles have taken the plunge and gotten themselves a legit fullback. Not a converted linebacker (Josh Parry). Not a guy with no versatility (Thomas Tapeh). Not a tweener tailback (Tony Hunt). Not a converted defensive tackle (Dan Klecko).

I applaud thee, personnel peeps, for seeing thine light and signing the best all-around fullback on the market in Leonard Weaver (Heath Evans is a better blocker but does little else). A tight end in college, he a natural blocker and receiver. The Seattle Seawards, who play an almost identical system as the Eagles, learned in the last year or two that he can also be an effective runner -- particularly in those pesky short-yardage scenarios.

The Eagles have been shrugging off positions like fullback, center, return specialist and linebacker and are learning -- spot by spot -- that a true Super Bowl team can't afford any exploitable weak spots.

I'm still concerned about center, as Jamaal Jackson is a stop-gap type of player and the teams in their division have loaded up on interior defensive lineman who'll eat a rent-a-center for lunch and dessert.

As usual, I'm fearful they think they can get by with Jackson -- a converted tackle who was undrafted out of Delaware State -- but there are some centers (Alex Mack, Max Unger) I like in the draft (the Eagles have a dozen picks). At the least, I'd like to see competition for Jackson from last year's fourth-round pick Mike McGlynn and/or Nick Cole.

For now, I'll try not to let it keep up nights. We have a fullback -- a real fullback (like the ones I watched on th NFL Network this weekend during a replay of the 1993 NFC Title Game between the Dallas Cowboys, with Darryl Johnston at fullback, at the San Francisco 49ers, with Tom Rathman).

Wake me up, I must be dreaming.

Does anyone else have a 7-year itch, or is it just me?

As Iraq war enters 7th year, focus on politics

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer Robert H. Reid, Associated Press Writer 36 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Sunni and Shiite lawmakers warned Thursday that political and economic challenges could derail the country's progress toward stability as the Iraq war entered its seventh year.

After six years of war and tens of thousands of deaths, violence has declined sharply nationwide — especially in Baghdad — although the Sunni-led insurgency remains potent in northern Iraq.

The Iraqi government held no official ceremony to mark the start of the war, which kicked off before dawn on March 20, 2003 — March 19 in Washington — with a U.S. missile and bomb attack in south Baghdad in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Saddam Hussein.

With violence at wartime lows, Sunni and Shiite politicians are focusing more on economic and political issues that the U.S. and many Iraqis fear could stoke the war after U.S. troops begin drawing down this year.

"The political process is full of tensions and contradictions and the situation in Iraqi will deteriorate if political progress isn't made," Sunni lawmaker Osama al-Nujaifi said. "There are still a lot of challenges ahead, including unemployment and the immigration millions of Iraqis abroad."

He cited the country's budget crisis after severe cuts had to be made following the steep drop in oil prices from a high of $150 per barrel last summer to just over $50 per barrel on Thursday.

"We live in a critical economic situation," he said. "There is a lot to be accomplished before we can express our optimism."

As a sign of improved security, the Tourism Ministry announced Thursday that an eight-member tourist group — five Britons, two Americans and one Canadian — are touring the country until Sunday.

The tour, organized by a British travel service, includes visits to the largely peaceful Kurdish north, Baghdad and the ancient ruins of Nineveh, Babylon and Ur, where the Bible says the Prophet Abraham was born.

Political and economic problems have grown even as U.S. plans to withdraw combat troops by September 2010, with all American soldiers gone by the end of the following year according to a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

The U.S. military is hoping to leave without the country disintegrating into chaos. At least 4,259 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began.

The decline in violence is largely attributed to a 2007 U.S. troop buildup, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a militia cease-fire called by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

A key Sadrist aide on Thursday demanded a faster U.S. withdrawal.

"Iraq will never see stabilization unless all occupation forces are withdrawn. Any presence on any military base will exacerbate the problems," Sheik Salah al-Obeidi said.

"We haven't seen any change from the last anniversary until now," he added. "Other challenges are the ethical and financial corruption that Iraq will likely have to live with for years due to this occupation."

Al-Sadr, who led the feared Mahdi Army militia, ordered most of his followers to lay down their arms to form a new social welfare network, although he retained a small fighting force.

He renewed his call for members of the network known as Momahidoun — or "those who pave the way" — to denounce violence in a statement issued by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

"We praise and highly appreciate the work of those who are leading or participating in the big and effective Momahidoun project," al-Sadr said. "We hope they will continue to denounce violence and to raise science and culture as a weapon."

Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, is trying to position himself as a political force ahead of national elections expected later this year. He also faces a challenge from breakaway Shiite militia groups that continue to stage attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also said the withdrawal of U.S. forces will be a key factor in achieving national reconciliation in Iraq.

"Iraq's stability can only be achieved through two key things ... to stop all sectarianism polarization and the withdrawal of the U.S. forces," Moussa said after meeting Iraq's senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf. "These two things are linked."

Moussa's mostly Sunni 22-nation organization has begun to engage with the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government after shunning it for years following the U.S.-led invasion.

His visit and push for reconciliation comes as many of his member nations are seeking to prevent Iran from gaining dominant influence in Iraq with the impending withdrawal of American forces by the end of 2011.

Separately, the U.S. military released about 100 more detainees as part of a security agreement with Iraq that took effect Jan. 1.

The former inmates were greeted with hugs and cheers by relatives in Baghdad after they were released from the Camp Bucca detention center in southern Iraq.

The U.S. military said earlier this month that the number of detainees held by the Americans in Iraq — many without charge — has dropped to 13,832 from a peak of 26,000 in 2007.

Bernie Madoff -- a disgrace to my race -- says he is "deeply sorry and ashamed" for bilking billions from "investors" in a Ponzi scheme that would even make Mr. Ponzi (whoever he is) blush.

Why is that these guy are only "sorry" after the fact?

Do handcuffs elicit contrition? (hey, I like that line ... maybe I'll use it in a song, so don't swipe it)

If he's really that filled with remorse, maybe he'll tell us where all the money -- surely earmarked for his wife -- is stashed.

He wouldn't do that.

Then he would be truly sorry.

And "they" dare to mock us when we talked about "hope and change." Here is a prime example:

Obama to overturn Bush policy on stem cells

By PHILIP ELLIOTT
The Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is allowing federal taxpayer dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research, the latest reversal of his predecessor's policies.

The president, who plans to sign an order later Monday, will be fulfilling a campaign promise that could set in motion a broad push on research to find better treatment for ailments from diabetes to paralysis. Proponents such as former first lady Nancy Reagan and the late actor Christopher Reeve had called for ending restrictions on research spending.

The executive order undoes former President George W. Bush's directive that was based on his determination that using embryos to create additional stem cell lines was morally wrong and, therefore, research on those lines should not be funded by the government.

Bush had limited the use of taxpayer money to 21 stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001. The Obama order reverses that but does not address a legislative ban that precludes any federal money to researchers who develop stem cell lines by destroying embryos.

The legislation, however, does not prevent funds for research on stem cell lines that were produced by researchers who did their work without federal aid.

Bush and his supporters had said they were defending human life. Days-old embryos — typically from fertility clinics and destined for destruction — are destroyed for the stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases — such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics, cells that could help those with Parkinson's disease or maybe even Alzheimer's, or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury.

In reversing the Bush policy, Obama also planned to issue a memo on scientific research in an East Room ceremony. White House advisers said the memorandum was part of the president's policy of deeper scientific involvement in issues ranging from renewable energy to climate change.

"I would simply say this memorandum is not concerned solely — or even specifically — with stem cell research," said Harold Varmus, chairman of the White House's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. He said it would address how the government uses science and who is advising officials across federal agencies.

But Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said the White House should focus on the economy, not on a long-simmering debate over stem cells.

"Frankly, federal funding of embryonic stem cell research can bring on embryo harvesting, perhaps even human cloning that occurs," he said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "We don't want that. ... And certainly that is something that we ought to be talking about, but let's take care of business first. People are out of jobs."

Regardless, researchers say newer lines that have been produced without federal money during the period of the Bush ban are healthier and better suited to creating treatment for diseases.

"We've got eight years of science to make up for," said Dr. Curt Civin, whose research allowed scientists to isolate stem cells and who now serves as the founding director of the University of Maryland Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

At the same event Monday, Obama planned to announce safeguards through the National Institutes of Health intended to diminish what the administration believes is an intrusion by the political process on the scientific community.

"We view what happened with stem cell research in the last administration is one manifestation of failure to think carefully about how federal support of science and the use of scientific advice occurs," Varmus said.

ANY QUESTIONS?????

This fall-back, spring-forward stuff is really getting to be a drag.

In the fall, you gain a precious hour of sleep but have darkness fall early through an already dismal time of year.

Now, in the spring, we lose that hour of sleep.

Why not just leave it alone?

Or we could keep the extra of daylight, which would perhaps amount to a small but substantial energy savings, could we not?

I heard it is also mentioned that we should compromise next fall, only going back a half-hour and keeping the clocks there for good.

Sounds good to me.

If we are to continue with this folly, how about some ground rules:

- All owner's manuals in cars have to be clear about setting the clock. Even though this happens every six months, I always draw a blank on how to set the clock in mine and my wife's cars. By the time I page through the owner's manuals to find out how to re-set the clock, six months have passed again. Maybe the clocks could be automatic, like our computers.

- All of us - or at least men - should be allowed a 60-minute nap the Sunday after we lose the hour. To be fair, when we can the hour in the fall, women can use the time to bake a cake for us.