Chris Benoit: 1967 - 2007

It's very rare when a story about professional wrestling makes major news. It happened a couple of years ago with the untimely demise of Eddie Guerrero, and now it has happened again with the death of Chris Benoit, in more suspicious circumstances.

CBC News and the WWE both have the story about what happened, but I will not remember him that way.

I will remember him as "The Canadian Crippler", who was incredibly intesne in the ring, and gave it his all every time. I will remember him as the man who retired "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan in WCW, because of a storylined affair with Sullivan's manager, Woman. Ironically, life would imitate art as Woman eventually divorced Sullivan and married Benoit!

I will remember him as a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, winning the title the night before he defected to WWE. I will remember his amazing victory over Triple H at Wrestlemania 20 by submission to win the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, and to be joined in the ring by his good friend Eddie Guerrero, who held the WWE Championship at the time, and the celebration they had that night was incredible.

Rest In Peace, Rabid Wolverine.

Arena Football: Final Week before the Playoffs!

I dunno how many of you have been following the Arena Football regular season, but this one has been a doozy. If you don't know it, you don't know what you're missing!

Arena Football League is similar to it's National Football League gridiron counterpart, but in an indoor arena 50 yards long, half the length of an NFL pitch. AFL 101 has the complete rundown on all the changes.

Last week was Week 16, the penultimate week of the regular season, and to look at the week's results, it shows you that Arena Football is much higher scoring than it's NFL counterpart. One game during week 16 saw a combined score of 129 points between the two competing teams, with 9 teams scoring 60 points or more, annd two of those were on the losing end of the equation.

Looking at the standings, three teams have dominated their respective divisions with 100% divisional win records. They are the Dallas Desperados in the National Conference Eastern Division, who have only lost 1 game all season, Georgia Force in the National Conference Southern Division, and the San Jose SaberCats in the American Conference Western Divison. I have to say that despite their only loss coming in week 8 against the Georgia Force, I think it would be a very brave man or woman who wouold bet against the Dallas Desperados at this stage making it all the way through to a sold out ArenaBowl 21 on July 29th in New Orleans. The game will be shown live in the US on the ABC television network at 3pm Eastern/Noon Pacific.

In the UK and Ireland, NASN and EuroSport 2 have coverage of the Arena Football League and as soon as I know who will be showing Arena Bowl 21 live, I will let you know.

Meanwhile, the final week of the regular season, Week 17, will see the Dallas Desperados @ Colorado Crush (8-7), trying to make it a 15-1 regular season, which is pretty astonishing stuff. Georgia Force will be trying to make it a 14-2 season when they host New Orleans VooDoo (5-10), whilst the San Jose SaberCats will go to fellow Western Division team Las Vegas Gladiators (2-13) looking not just to end on a 13-3 record, but also to get a perfect 8-0 divisional record.

The battle for playoff positions is not over though, and with 12 teams making it through to the palyoffs, 6 in each conference, it means there are many other interesting matchups.

In the National Conference, New York Dragons will host the Columbus Destroyers, with the winner taking the final wildcard playoff spot, whilst in the American Conference, Nashivlle Kats (6-9)must win against the Grand Rapids Rampage (4-11), whilst hoping that the Utah Blaze(7-8) slip up against the Los Angeles Avengers(9-6), who are already in the playoffs.

Should be a fasicanting week of high scoring, top class football action. I would recommend that you find out where you can watch it, and stock up on the beer and crisps, and not miss a moment!

Alberto Gonzales: The fuse is lit...

C-SPAN is providing it's usual gavel to gavel coverage online from C-SPAN2. Bob Geiger points out there is an amendment to the no-confidence vote from Republican Senator Dr Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, which says that the Seante has no confidence in Congress! Right! That's never gonna happen!

Blog Browsing: The extra penny.

Have a look at this post from the Reunion blog.

That's my Thought for the Day

Newsbusters don't get the joke!

Newsbusters, the blog of the conservative Media Research Center, show once again why conservatives have no sense of humour.

On NPR's On The Media, Host and Managing Editor Brooke Gladstone joked that they go from "...sort of left to very left..." in an interview with Jeff Sharlet of The Revealer. Now it was an obvious joke, but Newsbusters humourless correspondent Tim Graham, took that joke and translated it to being NPR's motto!

I'm sure NPR Check would love that!!!

Atlantis ready for launch

If you want to watch the NASA launch live, may I suggest NASA TV. They are already webcasting live coverage of the countdown.

Paris Hilton will appeal.

TMZ.com is reporting that Paris Hilton will appeal the judge's re-sentencing of her to prison.

This story is getting weirder by the hour.

Breaking News: Paris Hilton Back To Prison.

MSNBC has the story from the Associated Press.

CIA prisons in Europe 'confrimed' by investigation

BBC News is reporting that an investigator for the Council of Europe has confirmed the existence of CIA prisons in Poland and Romania, which were used for the interrogation of suspects in the USA's 'war on terror'.

Well, it's nice to know that the proof is there, but let's be honest, anybody who has been following the presidency of George 'Dubya' Bush would have 'known' that the CIA would have been running secret jails in places where they were not likely to be found out.

I wonder if this will make Keith Olbermann's Countdown tonight on MSNBC in the US. He'll be spoilt for choice tonight. CIA Secret Prisons, Paris Hilton, the US Secretary of Defense replacing his Chief of Staff, the G8, there's tons of stories out there, and it will be an interesting edition tonight

Pyjama Mamas???

BBC News has a story about women who are taking their kids to school at a school in Northern Ireland in their pyjamas!!!

There's even a syndrome for this, according to the story. All Day Pyjama Syndrome. You know what I call it? Laziness.

Paris Hilton; Back to Prison?

TMZ.com is reporting that Paris Hilton has been ordered to return to court to find out if the judge wants to order her back to prison.

Whilst it's rare for me to agree with Bill O'Reilly on anything, it's even rarer for me to agree with Bill O, John 'Gobby' Gibson AND Rev. Al Sharpton!!! I think Paris Hilton got preferential treatment, and maybe, just maybe, the judge might do something good and overturn it, even if it does put him on shaky legal ground.

Viewpoint Extra: Problems at the UK's Capital Life?

Well,we've just had the 5am news from Independent Radio News in London, two idents and fianlly a different tune. This one is Love Today from Mika. So whatever the problem was, it seems to have been solved.

Problems at the UK's Capital Life?

It might sound strange, especially with the way radio stations are criticised for high rotation of tracks, but this is real and is happening right now on UK digital radio station Life.

They have been playing the same two songs repeatedly for about 30 minutes and possibly longer. The songs are Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton and Sewn by The Feeling. No idents, no sign of any extra tracks. I think the computerised playlist has thrown a wobbly!!!

Fox News = Al Qaeda!!!

Daily Kos and Crooks and Liars both have this story, but Daily Kos has the funnier angle!

Since, Fox News is the official Republican party/Bush administration news channel, and since Fox News = Al Qaeda, does that mean the Bush administration is fighting itself???

Flooding in British Columbia

I just read this on the CBC News site and I'm worried. I have friends in British Columbia, pretty near to where all this flooding is taking place, and I hope everything's all right with them.

US stock markets in the red

Well, I had a look at CNBC and the markets in the US do not look great. Everything in the red by around 1% with Dow Transports the worst performer down 1.76%

There were no climbing sectors today, as far as the Dow Jones sector indicies went, but the best performers were Automotives and Parts which were only slightly in negative territory. Worst performer was Construction and Materials, which fell alomst 2%.

The AMEX Composite actually did better than the major markets, being down just over 0.5%.

In Toronto, the stock exchange there didin't fare any better, with their composite index down alomst 1.5% on the day.

Police catch Japanese underwear thief in schoolgirl uniform!

Of all the crazy stories to find, this one has to be the craziest!

I found this on the Australian ABC News Online site. As far as news stories go, they don't get much crazier!

There isn't much more I can say about it, just read it...

Fox News Channel = National Enquirer + Weekly World News!!!

Raw Story has a great story about a Fox News Political Analyst, Tammy Bruce, who claimed that she wanted to find "...the space aliens that kidnapped the President I grew to admire after September 11 and left this tool behind..."

I'm not kidding! There's video to prove it too.

Style sense out of the window?

I will often look at particular pages for a laugh or a bit of fun, and AOL UK's Fashion Police is one of those pages that is a nice pick-me-up.

Have a look at this batch of fashion faux-pas and style slip-ups and vote for the worst.

My choice out of this bunch, definitely Sharon Stone. You need sunglasses just to look at the outfit!!!

News Roundup: Monday 04th June 2007

Al Jazeera English: Pakistan's broadcasting regulator has been given increased powers to close stations down.

Al Jazeera English: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has refused to attend his war crimes trial, saying he wouldn't get a fair trial.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: US research indicates that people eat more when watching entertaining television.

1010 WINS - New York: Would you live on the Moon? It's being discussed at a conference in New Jersey!

Comment: I think my answer would be no, there's no atmosphere up there!!!

National Nine News, Australia: Labor have announced plans for a bi-partisan board for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation if Labor wins the Federal election.

BBC News: The Ministry of Defence is to carry out a jamming exercise on GPS Satellite Navigation systems in Cornwall this week.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030, Boston: 3 minor earthquakes were detected in New Hampshire last weekend.

Lottery Update: Monday 04th June 2007

In the UK, every day from Monday to Saturday is a lottery day, thanks to the Daily Play draw. Today's results are now online, and unfortunately no-one has won the top prize on the Daily Play, which is £30,000.

Viewpoint Extra: New York airport terror plot thwated

Well, two days into this story, developments get stranger and stranger!.

NPR reports that a twice-convicted drug dealer was the informant. It's a long way down the story, but it is worth reading all the way through.

MSNBC has an Associated Press story about how in fact the damage that would have been caused by an explosion would in fact have been quite limited, because it would not travel up and down the pipeline.

I have already seen blog articles call the timing of the announcement somewhat suspect, coming just a day before the Democratic Candidates Debate on CNN. Noel Sheppard of the Newsbusters blog even predicted this would happen, whilst the story was still fresh.

Plus, on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Democratic respresentative John Murtha, stated that he felt we were getting more of these plots BECAUSE the US invaded Iraq, not in spite of it.

Confused??? So is the Tardis!!!

London unveils logo for 2012... sheesh!!!

BBC Sport are reporting on the new logo for the London 2012 Olympics, and it has to be said that on BBC News 24 and BBC.co.uk, the overwhelming reaction to the logo is a negative one.

Just take a look at it, and you will understand why! Whoever thought this was a good idea seriously needs their head examined!

When I cast my vote on the BBC website, I discovered that over 82% of over 8,500 voters, had agreed with me. If this is meant to be hip and trendy, it represents the typical stereotype of hip-ness! It may have cost a lot of money, but it was not well spent.

Newsbusters shows conservatism sinking to a new low

Just when you think that humanity cannot sink any lower, you discover something which pulls the rug out from underneath you.

Newsbusters, the blog of the Media Research Center which supposedly exposes liberal bias in the media, uses an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, as an excuse to blatantly promote a so-called children's book called "Help, Mom! There's A Liberal Under My Bed!"

Childhood, especially early childhood, should not be a time to indoctrinate your kids in political bias, but a time to let them find their own way, but no, conservatives do not want anybody, especially yooung kiddies, to make up their own minds on anything.

*sigh* Why oh why???

From the 22nd Amendment, to Hilary-bashing!

It strikes me just how afraid the conservative/republican movement in the USA is of Hilary Clinton, when I read this commentary from David E Marion at the conservative Washington Times.

Basically, the 22nd Amendment is the one that prohibits any President from being in office for more than 2 terms of office. David E Marion uses this idea to suggest that Hilary Clinton's candidacy may be in violation of the spirit of the amendment, even if it isn't literally in violation of it.

Now, David E Marion is not your average political pundit, he's a college professor of Political Science, so he has some decent grounding, but the trouble is, his article has the definite pro-republican/anti-democrat undercurrent that Fox News and the rest of the conservative media love.

For instance, in one paragraph he says...

"... In all fairness, the wisdom of limiting presidents to two terms is open to debate. Ronald Reagan, among a group that has included Bill Clinton, believed there was much practical wisdom in Alexander Hamilton's assertion in the Federalist Papers that unlimited terms advance the cause of both effective and accountable government. But the important fact as we look ahead to 2008 is that the Hamiltonian side lost the debate on the 22nd Amendment. What won out was the argument that the benefits of institutionalizing change and curbing excessive ambition in the executive department outweigh whatever undesirable consequences Hamilton might have conjured up."

Note the positive spin is in Reagan's favour, more than Clinton's. How can we know whether a third Reagan term wouldn't have been more damaging to both the US and the Republicans than the Bush 41 term turned out to be.

The article raises some good points, but all spoiled by the definite pro-republican stance, and the opportunity to take a seemingly desperate constitutional pot-shot at Hilary Clinton, which quite frankly, would legally hold about as much water as a tea-strainer!

New York airport terror plot thawted.

CNN has been reporting about a plot to bomb fuel lines at JFK International Airport in New York. It is also being reported right now on BBC News 24 and Sky News. There is more developements constantly being reported on CNN US and you can hear the coverage at CNN.com.

However, skepticism about the timing of the announcement has already been noted from Newshounds, saying...

"Here we go again. Another "aspirational" fantasy plot by yet another home-grown "cell" of Muslims angry about Bush foreign policy, uncovered by good police work and revealed just when the Bush administration has had a bad week."

I'll keep an eye on how the blogosphere reports this story.

Webstream Of The Week: Voice Of America News Now

International news on the radio is actually a dying breed, especially after the disappearance of Swiss Radio International, as more and more local stations go online. One source that is available is VOA News Now, from the Voice Of America.

Whilst it is a US Government owned and operated operation, run as it is by the Broadcasting Board Of Governors, it actually seems to manage to retain a greater degree of editorial independence than other state owned radio and TV stations, which is actually quite a feat in itself.

At 32kbps, for the Real Media stream, the quality is sufficient for clear listening, even on dial-up connections. But remember, this service was designed for an international audience, so don't expect to be too US centric, even though it does seem to cover more US news than other international outlets, although not by much.

I rate this a 7.5 out of 10.

Doctor Who rumour shows newspapers struggling for scoops

ITN is reporting that the BBC is denying rumours Doctor Who will be axed after 4 seasons. The basis for this specualtion is a story in a newspaper that Russell T Davies wants to free up time for other projects.

Well, there's no reason why another executive producer with a vision for the show couldn't be brought in to guide the show on past season 5. In the original run of the show, producers seemed to change every 2 or 3 years, until John Nathan Turner took over and basically ran the show for 9 years til it was put on it's "extended hiatus", which lasted until 2005,minus one made for TV movie in 1996.

This is the usual tabloid way of hyping something to make it successful, which Doctor Who has become, and then taking pot shots at it until they make it fall. I'm sure I'm not the only person who dislikes this tabloid obsession with building people and things up to knock them down when they get bored with them, which they seem to do incredibly quickly.