My first news and Headlines of the new year

Sorry it has taken so long to drop another of these out there, but I have been really busy at work and home. Hope to get back on to a more regular schedule here this week.


Air Force Staff Sergeant Relieved of Duties After Posing Nude in Playboy Had to start with this news article

Michelle Manhart's my space page

U.S. Embassy in Athens hit by terror attack it was only a matter of time

North Korea Seeks Giant Rabbits for Meat Production to Alleviate Food Shortage Kill the wabbit.....

Five Iranians Seized by U.S. Troops in Iraq Remain in Custody do you see any reason to be nice to Iran with things like this happening?

Where Parents Favor Baby Boys to Girls, China to Have 15M More Men Than Women in 20 Years

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul Files Paperwork for 2008 Presidential Bid Maybe we can get some honest debate in the next election cycle

Democrats Choose Denver for 2008 Presidential Convention Most liberal town East of the Rockies and West of the Appalachains

Investors Sue to Block Former Home Depot CEO's $210 Million Severance Package If only we could sue professional sports teams for outrageous contracts.

Casino Mogul Wynn Sues Insurance Company After He Pokes $54M Hole in Picasso Painting Why should his clumsy act come out of our pockets

Will David Beckham Spark a Star Ad War in the U.S.? Who cares...

14 Carter Center Advisers Resign Over Former President Jimmy Carter's Book and this is important because...

Rare Turtle Turns Up in Thailand After Two Decades Where are the enviromentalist and their party

California State Panel Votes to Restrict Navy Use of Sonar This makes no sense

Texas High School Teacher Charged Under 'Peeping-Tom' Law for Videotaping Girls Wrestling look it is a Drama Perv... Sad...

Ted Turner opens mouth again and inserts foot one more time

Ted Turner needs to shut up and go away...

Look at the latest from our favorite communist.

"There is one person I don't like," he said of Murdoch.
"He gives nothing to charity," said Turner
"I had better luck with the Soviet Union than with one of America's largest
and leading companies," he told an audience

A little bit of info on Murdoch and Turner

• Turner donated $1 billion over the past nine years to the United Nations to promote world peace. ( and it has not done a damn bit of good)
• Murdoch - whose net worth is $7.7 billion,
• Turner's net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion.
• CU president Hank Brown presented Turner with the 2006 Investment in Excellence Award for his public service.
• Turner said living by the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules)served him well in his business career until it came to Time Warner. .
• He told the audience he was most proud of CNN,
• "I'm curious. That is why I started CNN," he said. "Then I let my friends in on it."
• Turner's ranches host 45,000 bison, the meat of which he serves at his restaurants.
  Hickenlooper tried to grill Turner on the seeming contradiction of an ardent conservationist raising buffalo for consumption, but he didn't get far. "They keep increasing - that is why we eat them," said Turner, drawing laughter.

All in all Turner sounds like a bitter old man who now regrets some of his previous decisions in life... You be the judge here is the link to the whole story

Big Ben Part 2

Well Ben Roethlisberger has been released from the hospital, and he will not be drinking out of a straw for 6 to 8 weeks. He might be eating a lot of soft food till his dental work is done though.

Because Roethlisberger's multiple facial fractures, broken nose and broken upper and lower jaw are being held in place by screws and 2-inch titanium plates, he can eat soft foods -- and not be restricted to liquids -- during an estimated six-to-eight-week recovery period.
"We take a titanium plate, bend it and adapt it to the contours of the facial bones and then secure it in place with screws," surgeon Daniel Pituch said. "This kind of state-of-the-art technology allowed us to successfully treat Mr. Roethlisberger's facial fractures."
As a result, the 240-pound Roethlisberger probably won't lose as much weight as he would have on an all-liquid diet. The Steelers have not given a timetable for his return, but they are optimistic he will be ready for their Sept. 7 opener against Miami.

If you read that clip, you can come to love modern medical technology. That being said, Ben was very, very lucky not to have suffered more serious damage. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I hope Ben recovers completely, and has learned a lesson from all of this.

As it stands now Ben made several poor decisions, all of which I attribute to him being an elite athlete that some members of society are willing to empower as being above the law, and invincible. His actions and resulting accident came in spite the team's efforts to treat him like a responsible adult.

Pittsburgh Steelers officials warned quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in writing last year that he might jeopardize portions of his contract, and could suffer financial implications, if he continued to ride a motorcycle.
League and team officials confirmed for ESPN.com on Tuesday night that the Steelers last year sent a letter to Roethlisberger's representatives stating their concerns and the possibility his contract could be affected if he was injured while riding a motorcycle. Agent Leigh Steinberg confirmed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Steelers sent such a letter.
It is believed the letter was intended to serve dual purposes: To apprise Roethlisberger in writing of the team's stance on what it considered a perilous activity, and to place the club on more solid legal footing were the Steelers forced to try to recover prorated signing bonus money or even base salaries if the quarterback failed to fulfill his contract because of a motorcycle-related injury.

All that being said and the fact that in the past 3 years now we have had 3 premier athletes suffer serious injuries while riding motorcycles. It cost Jay Williams his career, it has cost Kellen Winslow 1 year off of his career and millions in lost bonuses and other money, and it will certainly will cost Ben when it comes to both his next contract as well as the amount of trust that the Steelers have in him. It is almost a guarantee that Ben's next contract will have a clause in it above and beyond the standard unsafe conduct wording and it will most likely have restrictions spelled out in detail and be very restrictive to say the least.

The contract Roethlisberger signed as the Steelers' first-round choice in the 2004 draft does not include language which specifically precludes the quarterback from riding a motorcycle. But the standard NFL contract, in general terms, prohibits players from engaging in off-field activities that pose "a significant risk of personal injury."

In the wake of the Roethlisberger accident, some league teams are likely to become more specific in contractually forbidding players from engaging in certain activities.
Buffalo Bills safety Troy Vincent, the president of the NFL Players Association, said Tuesday that the union does not oppose teams using such specific language but noted it should be done on a case-by-case basis.

It is good to see that the NFLPA agrees that protecting the players from themselves is something that is reasonable. When these young men realize that they have been given enormous responsibility in exchange for insane amounts of money, that is when those sort of contract language will not be necessary. In the meantime it will be interesting to see if Ben does learn from this, and maybe Gene Wojciechowski has hit the nail on the head for what Ben will have to do for riding with out a license

I always knew Alec Baldwin was off center.

I knew it would eventually come out. Alec Baldwin is mentaly unstable, has a tendancy to be a bit on the vengefull side and of course this

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin must face a detailed psychological examination to have any chance of winning extra custody of his daughter Ireland.

We were right. The man in not stable. I mean are these the comments of a sane person

SCREEN star Alec Baldwin claims ex-wife Kim Basinger is brain-washing their daughter with chocolate bars.
In court papers, he claims the 9 Weeks star has bars made for Ireland, 10, with messages on the wrappers.
He has sent a sample wrapper, listed as Exhibit C, to the Los Angeles judge handling their custody battle.
Baldwin, 47, claims: "The quote reads 'To my daughter Ireland, who gave me the strength, courage and tenacity to stand up for myself...Mom'."
He adds: "The false message she continues to send our daughter is that she needs protection from her father."

Then there is this.

She claims he is violating a court order banning him from speaking to the media and is threatening to sue his publisher St Martin's Press. Baldwin insists he is writing the book to educate people on divorce issues, custody battles and the legal system's bias against fathers.

We have a nice comfortable room for you Mr. Baldwin.. that and a new jacket that has extra long sleeves.....

When will they learn

When will they learn? I mean Kellen Winslow, Jay Williams, and now Ben Roethlisberger? I know there are many more, but these three stand out for some reason. I mean why in the world would you do something that intentionally places you at risk when you have a multi-million dollar contract and millions more in endorsements laying in front of you.

In the wake of a motorcycle accident sustained by Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow last spring, Roethlisberger spoke about his own fixation with motorcycles, and his penchant for riding without a helmet. He was admonished by former Steelers quarterback and Hall of Fame member Terry Bradshaw for potentially jeopardizing his career.

In May 2005, Steelers coach Bill Cowher lectured Roethlisberger on the dangers of riding without a helmet.

I mean if he does not have a restriction clause in his next contract I would be surprised. I mean this is simply a case of a rich athlete who thinks he is invincable. Ben is lucky to be alive, let alone to have escaped serious injury.

Smooth move EX-lax