Giuliani, and infers cage cher candidates with reasons far more money, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He also suffered in comparison to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who shares many of Brownback's positions and proved to be more engaging in a series of candidate debates. "Huckabee took a big bite out of his support," said Melvin A. Kahn, who teaches political science at Wichita State University. "If Huckabee wasn't running, I think Brownback would've been a lot better off. "Brownback's biggest problem, however, was a lack of money. In campaign finance reports released earlier this week, Brownback reported a mere $94,000 cash on hand, far less than any of his opponents. Since the campaign began, he raised just more than $4 million, compared with $62 million for Romney and $47 million for Giuliani. In a gamble, Brownback spent heavily to compete in a Republican Iowa straw poll in August, hoping a strong showing would vault him into serious contention in the state that will vote first in 2008.

But after a disappointing third-place finish behind Romney and Huckabee, his campaign never recovered cher hot . Earlier this month, a Des Moines Register poll showed Brownback with just 2% support from likely caucus-goers; Romney led the survey with 29%. In exiting the race, Brownback will become the third GOP hopeful to quit before any official ballots are cast Former Govs Cher . Jim Gilmore of Virginia and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin also abandoned their candidacies after struggling for money and attention. Brownback, 50, who has said he will not run for a third term in the Senate, has been mentioned as a candidate for Kansas governor in 2010 when his term expires Cher - wikipedia . But he could face a tough fight in a state where Republicans are deeply divided along conservative-moderate lines. "I don't think running for president helped him inside the state very much," said University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis . "He could probably get the nomination, but it wouldn't be a slam dunk. "--mark. barabak--Republican debateThe Republican presidential candidates will debate Sunday at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando, Fla. Fox News will broadcast the 90-minute forum beginning at 5 p. m. . Floyd Landis and Justin Gatlin may be the latest athletes accused of using performance-enhancing substances.

But they are now (and in Gatlin's case, again) part of a sporting culture that has wearied and disillusioned writers like MSNBC contributor Michael Ventre. "Because the cheaters are far more sophisticated and advanced than the testing techniques set up to catch them, the sports themselves have almost no power to stop the cavalcade of miscreants from running roughshod cher lynn . Therefore, the athletes themselves operate in what is, in effect, an honor system," Ventre said. "The problem, of course, is this: Just as there is no honor among thieves, there doesn't seem to be any among athletes anymore either. "*Trivia time: What do O. J . Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams have in common?*Chew on this: Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban could not tear himself away from training camp this week to have dinner with President Bush . Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon believes Saban should have made time. "It wasn't a tough decision as much as it was a dumb decision, certainly an arrogant decision," Wilbon wrote . "But this is what football coaches do in their ever-present bunker mentality where what you do couldn't be particularly important, because it isn't coach or play football. "*A labored comeback: Defending WNBA champion Sacramento, 12-4 since July 1, seems ready for a deep playoff run. But Coach John Whisenant says the team's chances to repeat could depend on forward DeMya Walker, who is still rounding into shape after giving birth to a daughter in April. "I've never been pregnant myself, obviously, and I've never coached a player that had to get back healthy after pregnancy," Whisenant told NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad "I don't know how far DeMya can go . . . she's pretty amazing, but we'll see if she can get back to 60%, 70%, 80%. "*Watch those deep patterns: According to the Associated Press, the San Diego Chargers plan to hold a walkthrough Friday, the day before they play host to the Green Bay Packers in their exhibition opener at Qualcomm Stadium.

But the walkthrough will be on an unusual surface -- the deck of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan. The team believes it will be the first practice by an NFL team aboard a ship. *A safe haven: Marshall Faulk of the St suspect cher . Louis Rams, who is among a number of NFL players who appeared in Friday night's pay-per-view preview of "Madden NFL 07," said trash talking while playing the video game is safer than trash talking in a real game. "You can talk trash and not have to pay for it," Faulk says . "On the field, you know you're going to get it. "*Trivia answer: They are the only NFL backs to rush for 200 or more yards in consecutive games. *And finally: Michelle Wie, 16, when asked if she would read the Rules of Golf after getting a two-shot penalty Friday at the Women's British Open: "Well, they're not actually great reading material. " . WASHINGTON — Members of Congress apologized Thursday to a Canadian engineer seized by U. S . officials and taken to Syria, where he says he was tortured. Maher Arar said he was ensnared in an "immoral" terrorism-fighting program known as extraordinary rendition. The 37-year-old appeared by video from Canada before a joint hearing of House subcommittees. "Let me personally give you what our government has not: an apology," said Rep Bill Delahunt (D-Mass. ). "Let me apologize to you and the Canadian people for our government's role in a mistake. "Rep.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) also apologized but said he still supported the program. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained by U. S immigration agents on Sept 26, 2002, as he stopped over in New York's John F cher official website . Kennedy International Airport on the way home from a vacation . Cher tickets Days later, he was sent by private jet to Syria where, according to Canadian officials, he was tortured. "Life in that cell was hell I spent 10 months and 10 days in that grave," Arar said. . MIAMI — The Dodgers, left for dead not so many days ago, could be emerging as the team to beat in the National League West. Says who? Says the San Francisco Giants -- or, at least, says Manager Felipe Alou. "While they've been bringing guys in and sending guys out, they've had a winning streak," Alou told the San Francisco Chronicle . "That's not a good sign for the rest of the division. "The Dodgers are undefeated since Ned Colletti imported Greg Maddux, Julio Lugo and Wilson Betemit. They extended their winning streak to eight on Saturday, with Rafael Furcal driving in three runs and Chad Billingsley and Giovanni Carrara combining for 12 strikeouts in eight innings of a 10-2 rout of the Florida Marlins. There was no party in the clubhouse after the game, no dancing or yelling or any other indication that what happened on the field was anything out of the ordinary. For Lugo, marooned with the last-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays for four years, the attitude among the Dodgers players represents a striking change. "They take it more seriously here," Lugo said "They come to play.

The way they handle themselves, the way they carry themselves, getting ready to play -- it's totally different. "If Lugo had shown up a couple of weeks ago, of course, he might have wondered if he would have been better off in Tampa Bay cher poster . The eight-game winning streak immediately follows an eight-game losing streak, and the Dodgers needed the winning streak just to climb back to . 500. The last time the Dodgers won eight consecutive games? That would be last April, to cap a 12-2 start, and neither Jim Tracy nor Paul DePodesta is here to remind you what happened after that. So the winning streak guarantees nothing, but the Dodgers gather encouragement from little things within the streak . Manager Grady Little says he likes the crooked numbers on the scoreboard, with big innings possible when everyone is hitting. For example, the Dodgers staked Billingsley to a 5-0 lead by scoring once in the first inning and batting around in the second. Furcal had the key hit, a bases-loaded triple that extended his hitting streak to 12 games, a span in which he is batting . 417 . Kenny Lofton and Andre Ethier each is batting . 429 on this trip, J. D . Drew is at . 389 and Russell Martin at . 350. During the winning streak, the bullpen has a 1. 29 earned-run average. Yet the single most encouraging performance Saturday might have been delivered by Billingsley, the rookie summoned from the minor leagues in June. He has pitched erratically, but his promise is so bright and his recent outings so tantalizing that the Dodgers kept him in the rotation when they acquired Maddux, instead bumping veteran Aaron Sele to the bullpen. In his first two starts after the All-Star break, Billingsley pitched 12 scoreless innings, but his pitch count remained stubbornly high. In the first four innings Saturday, he set a career high with seven strikeouts He also made 91 pitches. But he settled down by slowing down, throwing nine pitches in the fifth and seven in the sixth, with better command at 91 mph than 94 mph. "If he could do that all the time, it would help him a lot," Martin said. He finished with a nice line -- six innings, one run, three hits -- and consecutive victories for the first time in his brief career.

In five starts since the break, he is 3-1 with a 2. 17 ERA. "I couldn't be happier," he said . "I'm still here, I'm having a blast, and we're playing unbelievable right now. " . The Kansas Department of Health and Environment became the first government agency in the nation to cite carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air permit for a proposed coal-fired electricity generating plant, saying that the greenhouse gas threatens public health and the environment. The decision marks a victory for environmental groups that are fighting proposals for new coal-fired plants . It may be the first of a series of similar state actions inspired by a Supreme Court decision in April that asserted that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, should be considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In the past, air permits, which are required before construction of combustion facilities, have been denied over emissions such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury. . MARDAN, Pakistan — A crowded bridge collapsed Saturday during heavy rain in northwestern Pakistan, flinging pedestrians and cars into a flooded stream. At least 40 people died and three were injured, an official said. Witnesses in Mardan said about 200 people and a number of vehicles were on the 30-foot-high bridge when it collapsed, apparently because of the torrent of water rushing beneath it. Rescuers pulled out 40 bodies before the search was called off at nightfall Saturday, the mayor of Mardan, Himayatullah Mayar, said today. Army troops, aid workers and local residents, using steel cutters, sledge hammers and a crane to break concrete and lift debris, were continuing the search, he said Cher - cher . Relatives of the missing spent the night in the open near the toppled bridge and many were also helping, he said. "We will continue the search until we are satisfied that there are no bodies in the debris," Mayar said. Abdul Wail Khan Yusafzai, the liaison officer of the Flood Warning Center, said the bridge was old and overcrowded, but the primary cause of its collapse was the floodwater. Ehtisham Khan, a rescue worker, said that three vehicles with bodies inside were buried under the collapsed bridge. Umair Ali, 23, a college student who lives nearby, estimated that there were 150 to 200 people on the bridge when it collapsed. "I saw some of them swimming and coming out of the water," he said. Ali said he thought that dozens more could be trapped under the debris. Abid Ali, the city's police chief, said rescue workers needed heavy machinery and tools to cut through steel and concrete. Another police official, Mohammed Iftikhar, said other people might have drowned in the swollen stream. Dozens have died across Pakistan in recent weeks because of landslides and flash floods caused by monsoon rains. The rains have forced authorities to open the spillway to a major dam near the capital, Islamabad, for the first time in five years. .