The Sox win!

I just watched and/or slept while Boston played Baltimore tonight. I was surprised that they didn't bring in Foulke for the save! Anyway, my thoughts and prayers are with Johnny Damon and I hope he feels better in the week to come.

I support Senator Evan Bayh in 2008. Do you?

Many military families don’t know that they’re protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act from foreclosure and eviction, so they don’t fight the notices they receive, said Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.

At the same time, financial institutions are either ignoring the law or claiming they are unaware of its existence, Bayh said.

Aiming to safeguard soldiers’ homes, Bayh is introducing the Servicemembers Home Protection Act of 2005. It would levy fines against financial institutions that ignore the law against foreclosing on soldiers and would educate families about their rights.

With active-duty tours lasting longer than any in the past 50 years, an increasing number of military families are facing economic difficulties ranging from inability to pay grocery bills to outright bankruptcy, Bayh said.

Bayh’s new bill attempts to help in three ways:

• Requiring the Department of Defense to develop an educational outreach program for military families during the process of mobilization.

• Enacting a series of fines to be levied against financial institutions that violate the protection offered to military families. Financial services regulators would have the authority to levy these fines.

• Including information on military families’ rights on notices required during the foreclosure process to ensure that families are aware of their protected status.

Darn right!

Chevy Chase delivered an important message to Princeton graduates: "I'm Chevy Chase...and you're not." Not really, but wouldn't that be a great speech?

"Should I have words of wisdom for you?" asked Mr. Chase, who delivered the keynote address at Princeton's Class Day event held on Cannon Green on the university campus. "I'm not sure a movie actor would have words of wisdom for students from the No. 1 university in the world except — use ointment. Or if you're going blind, you are doing it right."
The comedian and actor began his address by hamming it up. He spoke in several unintelligible languages, one of which vaguely resembled Japanese.
"I don't know what a keynote address is," he said. "I didn't know what I was supposed to do, sing?" He intoned a musical note and invited his listeners to hold it with him: "Whoever holds it the longest gets key to my S600," referring to his Mercedes-Benz sedan.
Explaining his apparent lack of preparation for his address, Mr. Chase said he forgot to bring his speech with him. He said that as he was packing to come to Princeton, "There was the speech on the edge of the bathtub. You know where it is now? On the edge of the bathtub."
But in the midst of the humor Monday morning, Mr. Chase found time to offer the Class of 2005 some real advice, which had to do with — what else? — humor. He said he once asked his father what the most important quality in humans is.
"He said, 'a sense of humor,'" the comedian said. "A sense of humor is a sense of perspective. It's a way of gauging what's important in life, and which is less important. If you don't have a sense of humor, you're going to go through life with pimples on your back, and have a heart attack at the age of 30."
He said of humor, "It's a way of gauging what's important and what's mindless." He also advised the graduates to take some time to think: "That's the most important thing you can do. Take time to think after graduation. You deserve to have the time to settle in and think a little bit."
Sounding a political note, Mr. Chase, an honorary member of the class he was addressing, said the graduates could go into computers or study law — "Or you might join the armed forces and kill somebody. Or rappel from a helicopter. Or you might go into politics, get into a position to have others killed for you. Or pretend to find WMDs. Play some golf. And always remember: pronounce it 'nuclear.'
"I wish I had a real piece of wisdom to give you," Mr. Chase said, but he suggested it was unnecessary given that the people he said he's met at Princeton have struck him as so "bright," "articulate" and "really way ahead of me."
In closing, the comedian said, "I'm very proud of all of you. I'm proud to be considered a member of your class. I wish you all the best. Of all the things in life I would suggest — keep laughing, keep a sense of humor, and keep things in perspective. God bless all of you."
More than 5,000 people attended Class Day on Monday morning, not including those who watched the event's simulcast.[...]
Dr. Tilghman also was named an honorary member of Princeton's Class of 2005. The other honorary members were Mr. Chase; actor Ben Stiller, who recently spoke at Princeton; Charles H. Jones, a dining-services employee at the university; and Donald M. Betterton, director of undergraduate financial aid at Princeton.
Mr. Chase was selected by leaders of the senior class from among nominees suggested by classmates. "We watched Mr. Chase throughout our formative years, with his movies becoming part of our collective memory and shared sense of humor," one of the class speakers said Monday.
The actor and comedian is one of the founding members of television's Saturday Night Live. He worked behind the scenes as a writer and in front of the camera as the "Weekend Update" anchor, earning Emmy awards in both writing and acting for his efforts.
After Saturday Night Live, Mr. Chase moved on to Hollywood, where he starred in films including Caddyshack, the National Lampoon's Vacation series, the Fletch series and Three Amigos. Mr. Chase was valedictorian of his high school class and a graduate of Bard College, the class speaker said.
His father graduated from Princeton in the 1940s, and his sister was the first female valedictorian at the university in the 1970s. His daughter has also attended Princeton, speakers said.

So Princeton is in Chase's blood. He was just in Kentucky earlier this month.

The Red Sox have sold out 166 games in a row. That's 3rd in MLB history. Boston and Cincy have not been shut out all season long. Johnny Damon needs to runs for 1,000.

A Bush dynasty, you want? Impossible to see, the future is.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has repeatedly said he does not plan to run for president in 2008, trying to dampen speculation that another Bush could be on the next Republican ticket for the White House.

In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, former Bush said he would want Jeb to run for president "someday," but now was not the time.

"The timing's wrong. The main thing is, he doesn't want to do it. Nobody believes that," Bush said.

But he and wife Barbara both said they believed Jeb, 52, did not want to run in the next presidential race.

Bush said he did not have a favorite candidate for the Republican nomination to succeed his son, President Bush.

Barbara Bush said she believed Senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the Democratic nominee in the 2008 presidential race. "I'm not going to vote for her, but I'm betting on her," she said.

I think that'll do for now.