Certain "gamers"/dorks get banned from Xbox Live, a Smallville recap and Tennessee football headed back to an elite level

- I’m the first to admit that I just don’t get the world of online gaming. Video games can be fun in short bursts, but once you pass the age of 14, they aren’t something that should consume a major portion of your time. In spite of this, many “gamers” (which is code for losers) devote hours and hours of their lives to their favorite games, typically to the detriment of social lives that were already on life support at best. Of late, the development of online gaming has allowed these losers to commune with other like-minded losers and play into the wee hours of the morning, fueled by Red Bull, competing in a wide range of games from football (Madden ’10, for example) to Halo to Call of Duty. War/combat games are especially popular with online gamers and for many, it’s like video game catnip. So when a pirated version of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 leaked online, the temptation was too much for some users to resist. As many as 1 million of these tools rushed to download the bogarted version of the game and once Microsoft found out, it decided to make them pay. Those who downloaded the game have been banned for varying llengths of time from using Microsoft's Xbox Live the ability to use that service. According to a report in InformationWeek, Microsoft has banned as many as a million players from Xbox Live. By for altering their consoles in order to play pirated versions of games, they have surrendered their online gaming privileges like misbehaving 8-year-olds who have had their video games taken away by mom or dad. Xbox 360 consoles are equipped with digital rights management technologies designed to detect pirated software, but some users have been able to modify their systems to work around these protections. Somehow, Microsoft was able to identify these users and for the length of their ban, their machines will only be able to play offline games. No gaming with your fellow losers and talking junk to some dude in Pakistan after you put a burning slug in the back of his head on the battlefield, dorks. The banned users represent approximately five percent of Xbox Live users, so it’s a decent chunk. Microsoft sent out a statement on the situation, saying in part: “All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live.” Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb added fuel to that fire on the Xbox Live support page, further prodding the cheaters with taunts that, “Keep in mind, this isn't just a ban on a particular game. This is a ban on the Xbox Live service as a whole, so you won't be able to go online at all during your ban. Initially, you may be banned for a day, a week, or depending on severity, permanently! Kiss that $50 goodbye." Way to stick that final zinger in there, Lar. From where I sit, you are just as much of a loser as those you’re banning, so the heck with all of you……….

- For the one millionth time over Smallville’s eight-plus seasons, Clark Kent was in danger of someone figuring out his true identity. This time, it was Lois Lane. With someone running around Metropolis trying to emulate the Blur, saving others and fighting crime, Clark finds himself in an impossible position. When the would-be heroes, a brother-sister duo calling themselves Z and J, respectively. Their first hero attempt is to catch a bunch of supposed drug dealers and deliver them in a shipping crate to the Daily Planet, where Clark and Lois end up signing for the package and opening it. Inside, they find the alleged drug dealers, who turn out to be undercover cops. The Blur’s symbol is etched onto a nearby building, leading to the obvious conclusion that he was responsible. Lois is assigned to the story and thinks she’s making headway. Meanwhile, the Z&J duo is pulling another attempted heroic act, stopping a would-be drug deal in an alley using their super powers. The sister half of the duo is able to turn into any animal she wants, while the brother half of the duo can turn himself into ice, fog, etc. They manage to crash the limo, which is then crushed by a falling electrical pole. The resulting power outage cripples the city, but the Blur is able to fix the power grid and get the city back up and running. While on the scene of the alley incident, Clark finds Z’s cell phone and uses it to track down his impersonators. He steps in right as they are trying to bump fists to activate their powers, knocking them both out. He then takes the duo to Chloe’s Watchtower post, leaving them with her to go out and fix the power outage. Once it’s fixed, he calls Lois to explain the situation with his impersonators. Chloe returns to Watchtower to deal with Z&J and warns them to stop making Twitter and Facebook posts as the Blur and trying to be him. The message seems to get through, but J creates a new problem by messing with one of Chloe’s tech gadgets that disguises Clark’s voice any time he makes a phone call to Lois as the Blur. Right at the end of the call, Clark’s voice masking is ripped away and Lois recognizes his voice. The revelation becomes the topic of her next therapy session, as she is now seeing a psychologist. Her psychologist tries to get to the bottom of her obsession with her mystery caller, the Blur, and how it relates to Clark. When Lois decides what she can do to help Clark as he tries to balance both of his identities, she rushes out of the office on a mission. Her mission involves the press conference called by Metropolis District Attorney Raymond Sacks, a corrupt DA involved with organized crime who has challenged the Blur to come forward, reveal himself and work with Metropolis’ law enforcement. Clark attends the press conference and is debating stepping forward, despite Chloe’s objections, but Lois steps in, takes to the mic and explains why it’s important for the Blur to remain anonymous. She admits to knowing the Blur, which ironically puts her right in Sacks’ crosshairs. When Lois returns to the Planet, she finds a single red rose and a note on her desk thanking her for her speech and saying, “Meet me on the roof.” When Lois ascends to the roof and finds who’s waiting, she’s stunned. It’s Sacks, demanding that she tell him who the Blur is. When Lois refuses, Sacks reveals a plan to murder Lois and frame the Blur. He’s painted the Blur’s symbol on the roof and has two of his goons to toss Lois over the edge to her death. He has the Blur framed with the perfect motive: Lois’ own public admission that she alone knows who he is. But the plan is foiled when Lois grabs ahold of a flag pole extending from the side of the building and hangs on for dear life. A crowd gathers in the street below to see her dangle, while Clark rushes to the roof to save her. Clark inches closer to the ledge to reach Lois, but they can’t bridge the gap. In the moments before she falls, Lois informs Clark that she knows he’s the Blur but that he can’t save her because he can’t reveal his true identity to the world. When her grip gives out, Lois falls, but she’s not going to die – of course. Z&J, having learned of her plight when Z was lurking around the city as a bug, of all things, rush to the scene. J turns into fog, engulfing the street and allowing Clark to super speed to the street and save Lois without being seen. When she comes to, she’s lying on the street, unharmed and in the fog. Clark walks over and tells her he’s glad she’s alive, but she’s convinced he’s the one who saved her. However, a phone call to the nearby payphone from the Blur to tell Lois that “he” is glad she’s okay convinces her otherwise. The call is actually from Chloe, using voice automation softwate to mimic the Blur, but it does the trick. Lois is off Clark’s trail and confesses as much to her shrink. As for Sacks, he hops into his limo to flee the scene of Lois’ near-deth experience and is face-to-snout with an angry Rottweiler – Z in disguise. Sacks is unable to flee and soon arrested. Following the excitement, Clark visits Chloe and although he’s thankful for her help, he chastises her for setting up phone taps and surveillance around the city to monitor his activities, including private phone calls with Lois. She reminds him that if not for her help, Lois would still think he was the Blur. Next, Clark visits Z&J to thank them for their help, but also to warn them that in trying to be heroes, they need to not make so many mistakes. With that accomplished, Clark goes back to the Planet and summons Lois for a meeting in the file room. He admits that he has a secret to tell her, but the secret turns out to be lying and saying he is near-sighted and needs the now-famous Clark Kent glasses. She states that she believes that at times she sees a different side – an heroic side – of him that no one else sees. She’s about to leave the room when she turns, rushes over and plants a kiss on Clark. It’s a good kiss, but mid-kiss, Lois blacks out and has another of her dreams of an apocalyptic future in which Zod rules the Earth, Clark is powerless and Chloe is dead. That’s how the episode ends, setting up an interesting show next week, when Tess kidnaps Lois and forces L. Lane to reveal what she learned during her three-week disappearance/trip to the future at the end of last season and the start of this one. Tune in then……….

- Blaxploitation lives in Philadelphia…..assuming you believe the claims of an organization of African American firefighters who filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing the Philadelphia firefighters union of being "racially harassing and abusive" to blacks. According to the lawsuit, union leadership was dominated by members of a predominantly white firefighters organization dedicated to ending a 25-year-old federal consent decree that paved the way for the hiring of many black firefighters. That’s a lot to swallow, I know, but bear with me. These white firefighters have apparently formed a group of their own, the Concerned American Fire Fighters Association (CAFFA), and the lawsuit accuses them of pushing their agenda at the union. The tipping point for the black firefighters appears to have been the union's December bargaining proposal to the city included the request that "any and all quota-based hiring practices" be eliminated. "They're using my union dues to do it," said Kenneth Greene, president of Club Valiants, the black firefighters group. "It's a slap in the face." I’m sorry, you’re angry because the union wants firefighters to not be hired, qualified or not, simply because of the color of their skin or nationality? Inherent in that attitude is the assumption that those doing the hiring are racist and would not hire qualified black firefighters if not required to by some stupid quota. I’m not saying I disagree with everything in the lawsuit, but this particular point is a load of crap. Other allegations in the suit include: that the Philadelphia Fire Fighters' Union, Local 22, has no black officers and only one black employee - a janitor and that union meetings have become so divisive that black firefighters no longer attend. "African Americans have no voice in the union," the suit said. There are also references to posts from the union's private, Internet message board that mock black firefighters as lazy and stupid, and use "ebonics" to denigrate blacks. If those things are true, then they absolutely need to be dealt with and are legitimate beefs. So what do the black firefighters want from all of this? For starters, they want a federal judge to appoint a civil-rights monitor to oversee the local until it is no longer "a racially hostile union." They would also like class-action status for the more than 500 black Philadelphia firefighters. The basis of the case is the philosophical battle over the 1984 federal consent decree, which mandated the hiring of more black firefighters and replaced an entrance exam deemed to discriminate against black applicants. The consent degree was actually expanded by a federal court in 1999, leading to white firefighters pushing back because they feel the focus on hiring black firefighters has gone overboard and is now working against qualified white candidates. It’s a messy issue, no doubt. As always, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle and no one is completely right or wrong. Everyone will have to accept a solution that they disagree with in some way and we can all move along………

- Their play on the field was already indicating as much, but Lane Kiffin’s boys are on the way back to being an elite college football program. Sure, winning games and possibly making it to a bowl game are steps in the right direction, but nothing screams “elite national program” quite like having not one, not two, but three of your guys picked up for armed robbery. Rather than getting ready for Saturday’s big game against Ole Miss, safety Janzen Jackson, receiver Nu'Keese Richardson and defensive back Mike Edwards were getting busted early Thursday morning in Knoxville on charges of attempted armed robbery. According to a Knoxville City Police report, these three idiots attempted a robbery outside a convenience store near campus. I don’t know how close they were to actually getting away with this nonsense, but the fact that at least one of the players arrested was wearing some type of Tennessee gear during the attempted robbery couldn’t have helped. Well done, geniuses. Oh, and I should also mention that their weapon of choice for the alleged robbery was a powered pellet gun, later recovered in the players' car after they were stopped by police. "At this time we are currently evaluating the circumstances surrounding an incident involving Mike Edwards, Janzen Jackson and Nu'Keese Richardson," Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said in a prepared statement. "Any decisions or comments regarding their status will not be made until the evaluations are complete." That comment came Thursday, but by the end of the business day on Friday, it was announced that the three players would all be suspended for the Ole Miss game. The timing on this could not be worse for Kiffin, who on Wednesday praised his team for not having any off-the-field problems during his tenure while speaking during the SEC coaches teleconference. Think he’d like to have that one back? Jackson and Richardson were two of the prized freshmen for this year’s team and Jackson had started in all but two games this season for the Vols this season and emerged as one of the better freshman in the SEC. Of course, one of those two games he didn’t start was last week’s blowout of Memphis, when he was suspended for what Kiffin termed a violation of team rules. What Kiffin didn’t say then but is now being reported is that the suspension stemmed from a failed drug test. No better way to follow up a failed drug test than by piling into a car with a couple of your boys, lurking outside of a convenience store, parking next to a Toyota Prius and approaching the Prius brandishing a gun and demanding that the driver, "Give me everything you have." Following that up with a second member of your crew sidling up on the passenger’s side of the car, opening the door and saying, "give us everything you've got," that’s great too. The only problem? Neither of the intended victims had anything in their wallets. At that point, the trio of idiots fled and were soon stopped by police. As a quick capper to this story, it’s worth noting that Corey Zickefoose, the victim of the alleged robbery and the man who identified the three UT players as the men who robbed him, has gone on the record as saying that he hopes they are not suspended and are allowed to remain on the team. He stated that “these things happen” and it’s “just the way things are in Tennessee.” In other words, my man C. Zickefoose is a huge Tennessee fan and he doesn’t give a crap if these guys stole his car, pillaged his bank account and set his lawn on fire. What matters most to Zickefoose is that his beloved team wins. Way to send the right message to these players, Corey. Nothing builds a sense of entitlement and being above the law quicker than being above the law and treated differently because you are a UT football player. Suspension or not, the bottom line here is that with (alleged) felons like Richardson, Jackson and Edwards on the roster, the Tennessee Volunteers are on their way back to the elite level of college football………

- How about this deal if you are a persecuted indigenous person looking to stay on the land you and your ancestors have occupied for centuries: Leave or we’re going to spray you with toxic pesticides? That’s what allegedly happened to more than 200 indigenous people who refused to vacate their land in eastern Paraguay late last week. The 217 members of the Ava Guarani community in the Itakyry district were allegedly sprayed with pesticides because they wouldn’t leave their land and now they are suffering vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and nausea. The incident took place near the border with Brazil in a region where local soy growers believe that the land belongs to them and not to the indigenous people. The national government, which ironically is not the one persecuting the people (always a nice chage of pace) condemned the attacks, which came after an eviction order against the indigenous people was supposed to be carried out but was canceled by a district prosecutor right before it was to be executed. Amnesty International is also interjecting itself into the mix, condemning “the use of apparently toxic pesticides to intimidate an indigenous community after they resisted being forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands." AI is not shying away from criticizing what it believes is a failure by the Paraguayan government to adequately protect the indigenous peoples in its country. "Indigenous peoples' lives are being put in jeopardy by those who should protect them," said Louise Finer, Paraguay researcher at Amnesty International. "The risk faced by the Itakyry communities was predictable. Insufficient action was taken to protect them from the threats they faced from this renewed attempt to evict them from their ancestral lands." The failed attempt involved a bunch of goons/soy farmers piling into trucks, driving to the land and attacking the Ava Guarani. The Ava Guarani fought back against the 50 men who tried to evict them with bows and arrows as police looked on and did just enough to keep things from getting out of hand. After the battle is when the pesticides came into play; airplanes flew over fields and orchards where the Ava Guarani were working, spraying liquid pesticides. The Ava Guarani are a member of one of the five linguistic groups that the country’s 17 ethnic communities are divided into: the Mascoi, Mataco, Zamuco, Guarani and the Guaykuru. All of these communities exist along the Paraguayan River in the sparsely populated Chaco region to the west, and along the Brazilian border to the east. The indigenous peoples were supposedly protected by the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute, the state body that advises on protecting indigenous peoples' rights, back in 1996 and 1997. The institute acquired 6,518 acres of land of the indigenous communities' ancestral land on their behalf, but those claims have come under attack of late and not much is being done to help the natives. It’s an ugly situation and one that can hopefully be reversed in a hurry before the indigenous peoples are subjected to the same ugly fate that the original inhabitants of what is now the United States met…………

Running afoul of the Donald, musing on MLB's general manager meetings at an airport hotel and trying to figure out how Sammy Sosa became a white dude

- Far be it from me to run afoul of Donald Trump, lest I find myself on the receiving end of a Rosie O’Donnell-esque beatdown from the Donald, but I cannot stay silent on this. You all know my stance on reality TV, namely that there are three and only three reality shows that don’t abysmally suck: The Biggest Loser, Survivor and The Amazing Race. All three have redemptive qualities I’ve spoken on before, but the rest of reality TV is a wasteland devoid of any positive qualities. That includes the Donald’s current reality TV offering, The Apprentice. And it is The Apprentice that has spawned the demon-seed TV program we’re about to have a chat about. On one of the early seasons of The Apprentice (can't say which, having never watched it), there was a contestant by the name of Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. To put it kindly, she was a bitter bitch who was universally hated by viewers and fellow contestants alike. Yet her villainy was enough to push her into the pop culture spotlight for her 15 minutes of fame and she’s refused to shut up and go away since then. Seeing a pub-grabbing opportunity as he is apt to do, Trump is looking to capitalize on the public’s unexplainable and unwarranted fascination with Omarosa by creating what else, a reality dating show designed to help this witch find “love.” Omarosa's Ultimate Merger will showcase a woman none of us should know or care about trying to find a guy who doesn’t mind being with an attention-starved, battle ax of a reality show contestant-turned-D-list-celebrity. "Omarosa was a great personality on The Apprentice that was watched by over 40 million people as it became the No. 1 show on TV," Trump said. "Omarosa is smart, witty and difficult, but all of those qualities will make for some very interesting entertainment." Sorry Don, but no it won't. This is going to be an unmitigated train wreck and watching Omarosa and her 12 “business-minded suitors” make asses of themselves on cable's TV One is not going to bring anyone running to their TV set. The fact that the show’s producers intend to portray Omarosa as a likeable, amiable character this time around only makes the possible unintentional comedy of the show more hilarious, and that’s not nearly enough of a reason to watch. At the risk of pissing off the Donald and having him rant about how I, like O’Donnell, and a disgusting person inside and out, I’m going to pass on watching this show now or ever and consider my life better for it……………

- I would have written sooner about the growing spectacle that is Sammy Sosa’s quest to become the world’s next Michael Jackson (dermatologically speaking) but I’m honestly not sure what to say. For those who missed it (and I don’t know how), the former Chicago Cubs slugger and confirmed steroid user showed up at the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas last week with his skin about eight shades lighter and more pale than when we last saw him. What took Michael Jackson decades and multiple plastic surgeries to accomplish, Sosa pulled off in a matter of a couple years. Since showing up in red-carpet pictures looking like the first cousin of Casper the Ghost, Sosa and those close to him have been looking to spin this story in a different direction while offering up one lame explanation after another about the reason for his sudden change in skin pigmentation. A close friend of Sosa’s from his days with the Cubs, former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, tried to say that the skin change was the result of a rejuvenation process Sosa has been going through to rebuild and repair his epidermis after years of playing baseball under the sun. Cynics among us have speculated that his lighter skin color was a result of years of steroid use, which I’m not sure is scientifically accurate or even possible. I don’t buy Polihronis’ claim that Sosa was "surprised he came out looking so white” after his “treatment,” but it’s not quite as absurd as the steroid line of reasoning. A more plausible explanation being floated around is that Sosa may have been trying to even his skin tone, combating acne scars, for example, using a topical medication called hydroquinone. That’s just one theory, but I can’t imagine that even if it were true that this sort of drastic change is an intended or expected result. No matter what the cause, what can’t be argued is that it was extremely jarring and mentally scarring to see those hideous pics of Sosa and his female companion on the red carpet. Putting those images next to ones showing Sosa with his natural skin color just a few years ago made my eyes hurt, my stomach turn and my mind go on the fritz. Let this be a lesson to all vain, superficial people out there, famous or not: Before embarking on any sort of plastic surgery or cosmetic procedure journey, think long and hard about whether the possible reward is even in the same zip code as the risk you are taking. Unless you’re comfortable with the possibility of ending up in front of cameras sporting a completely different skin color and badly butchered physique, back away from the consent forms, retreat from the surgeon’s office and run in the opposite direction as fast as humanly possible, lest you find yourself Sosa-ed…………

- Well lookee here, Blackwater is at it again. It may be under a different name, but the sh*t is still the same when it comes to everyone’s favorite civilian-murdering private security firm. No, the company isn't accused of senselessly killing more Iraqi civilians. In fact, they’ve attempted to give themselves and their image a makeover by adopting a new name, Xe, and moving on to a new sort of (alleged crime). Allegations became public this week that Blackwater/Xe attempted to bribe Iraqi officials in the aftermath of its murder of 17 Iraqi civilians two years ago. A former vice president of the Blackwater private security company said this week that he was "unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials" as rage erupted over the killings of 17 civilians by the company's security guards more than two years ago. Cofer Black is the man responding to claims that Blackwater "authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials.” Black admitted to meeting with U.S. Embassy officials during the "period described" in order "to discuss the best course of action" in the aftermath of the September 2007 shootings in Nusoor Square. "Blackwater was directed to provide some financial compensation to relatives of those Iraqi victims, which embassy officials described as called for by Iraqi custom," Black said. "During these meetings with embassy officials, Blackwater sought State Department leadership in dispensing any such good faith compensation from Blackwater to the victims' relatives as Blackwater was subordinate to the State Department as its security contractor." The State Department doesn’t exactly appear to have Blackwater/Xe’s back, with one senior official saying the State Department is unaware of any payments to Iraqi government officials but did encourage Blackwater to compensate the victims of the Nusoor Square shootings. The anonymous sources making the accusations against Blackwater/Xe say the payments to Iraqi officials were "intended to silence" Iraqi criticism and "buy their support" after the deadly incident. To this day, those involved in the shooting from the Blackwater side insist that they merely returned fire after civilians fired on them. The alleged bribes came from the top, as four former executives said former Blackwater president Gary Jackson OK'd the bribes, after which "the money was sent from Amman, Jordan" to a "top manager in Iraq." The Iraqi government said this week that it is investigating the bribery claims, although it’s not clear what actions might be taken if the allegations are true. In January, five former Blackwater security guards pleaded not guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and other serious crimes stemming from their involvement in the incident, while sixth former security guard has pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Blackwater/Xe is no longer a major presence in Iraq because the U.S. State Department decided not to renew its contract in. However, the company continues to operate in the country in minor projects, including providing aviation services for the State Department. Word is that even those projects are slowly being phased out, a process that could be accelerated by these allegations. Nothing makes the State Department want to cut ties with you faster than allegations that your company bribed foreign government officials to quell the sh*t storm that resulted when your security guards (allegedly) murdered 17 civilians. As for me, I’m enjoying the process of learning how thoroughly corrupt and dishonest Blackwater/Xe is/was and look forward to the continued degradation and decimation of any credibility they still have left……….

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Okay, so this is technically more of a protest and less of an actual riot, but the spirit is the same. Students at Binghamton University in New York are pissed off at their school’s leadership and actions that are slowly turning their school into an environment-ruining entity. The controversy stems from the university’s use of coal to heat its buildings, a practice that many students believe is outdated and damaging to the environment. An on-campus plant burns the coal, producing the heat needed to keep academic and office buildings warm during the chilly Binghamton winter. But the 50-plus students who staged an on-campus protest Tuesday believe it is time for the plant to go and they are ready to tale a stand. "We stand here today to express campus-wide support for moving beyond coal," was the rallying cry for the demonstration. Students argued that the BU-run plant that helps heat the school is also polluting the earth. "It really doesn't have any place on this campus. It's detrimental to our health, our environment, it pollutes our water sources," said Lauren Hammon, a BU sophomore. The plant has been around for decades as part of the central heating plant at the sprawling suburban campus. In spite of this, BU consistently ranks as a top green school according to the Sierra Club. Showing a bit of hypocrisy, the Sierra Club helped organize the rally in the hopes of convincing the BU administration to find alternative methods of heating the campus. How a school can be one of the most environmentally friendly schools in the country yet also have a huge pollution problem because of its chosen heating methods, I don’t know. What I do know is that the Sierra Club released a statement in conjunction with the rally stating that: "The University has reduced its carbon footprint by 14 percent as compared to the year 2000 level. We successfully incorporated wood burning in our Central Heating Plant in 2007...We have offset about 18 percent of the fossil fuel we required last year by using wood fuel..." The university has meet with Beyond Coal before, but the group says they want higher-level talks and swifter action. "President DeFleur has not committed to meeting with us, which is disappointing, because all we want to do is have a dialogue about how we can improve," said Sam Sussman, a BU freshman, who spoke at the rally. Sussman and his fellow protestors say they appreciate the university's efforts to 'green up' the campus, but they look at the smokestack-topped coal plant and remain convinced that those efforts just aren’t enough. They hope to present the school’s administration with a petition signed by around 2,500 on-campus members in opposition of using coal to supply heat. The university’s argument is that they use the trucked-in Pennsylvania coal because it's the cheapest solution. Perhaps if the enviro-protestors offered to pay a higher tuition than everyone else to make up the difference, the school would consider installing a solar farm to harvest the energy of the sun to heat campus..........

- Here’s my question for those who are upset that Major League Baseball will not be expanding the role of instant replay in its game: How much can you really expect when a meeting is taking place at an airport hotel? All 30 MLB general managers gathered earlier this week at a hotel in Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport for their annual meeting, one of the topics on the agenda was instant replay. The topic was at the forefront because of repeated blown calls during this season’s playoffs, including fair/foul calls, plays on the bases and other key parts of the game. In spite of this and in spite of a presentation given to general managers at the meeting, the GMs failed to take a vote Tuesday on expanding instant replay. "I know there are some who have talked off line about the expansion of instant replay," said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office. "Right now, the commissioner doesn't see any reason to consider it." Doesn’t see any reason? How about getting the calls right? Umpires showed time and again this postseason – when they work with a six-man crew instead of the four-man crews used in the regular season – that they blow an inordinate number of calls. Even with two additional umpires on the field to cover more ground, the blown calls persisted. It’s not as if replay is a foreign concept to baseball, because MLB began video review in August 2008 to determine whether potential home runs were fair or foul or cleared fences. The practice already exists, so now it’s simply a matter of expanding it to address other pressing issues. Yet there stands Bud Selig, the ass-hatted, geriatric commissioner who repeatedly has said he's against widening the use of video review. He pooh-poohs the idea of expanding replay and because he’s the one supposedly leading the sport, his lead is the one that everyone seems content to follow. While there were discussions about replay at the GM meetings, Solomon said "it was all confined to the current instant replay system that we have." Comments by some of the GMs following the meetings seem to indicate that they both grasp and do not grasp the importance of the replay issue. "I think it's working great, and for the most part the umpires are getting the calls right when replay is used," Los Angeles Angels GM Tony Reagins said. "Can we always tweak and get better? Absolutely. But I think were headed in the right direction. For the most part they're getting calls right and not afraid to use instant replay. As long as things are moving in the right direction, I don't see a need to change." Hang on, T. You pose the rhetorical question of whether you can tweak things and make the game better and answer in the affirmative, then you go on to say that there is no need for a change. So making the game better is not an objective for you? Color me confused. But then again, if you’re just flying into Chicago, jumping off the plane and walking to an airport hotel where you will stay for a couple of days without actually venturing out into the world outside of O’Hare, how much can any group realistically be expected to accomplish……….

Why I want an apology from Andre Agassi, birthday wishes for "Sesame Street" and reporting your own drunk driving

- I’d like an apology from Andre Agassi. No, I don’t have a problem with him writing an autobiography in which he admits to hating the sport that made him a famous millionaire (tennis), tanking matches during his career or going on a yearlong crystal meth bender in the midst of said career. I don’t even have a beef with those actions in and of themselves; my issue comes with the response to Agassi’s autobiography. In short, people are acting like morons and falling all over themselves in the rush to say incredibly moronic things in the wake of Agassi’s revelations. First it was former women’s tennis champion Martina Navratilova trying to liken Agassi to noted cheaters like Roid-ger Clemens. Never mind that Clemens and his ilk used performance-enhancing drugs that made them better on the field and in the weight room and Agassi used a performance-hindering drug like meth that only helps you if your chosen profession requires less teeth, living in a mobile home and wearing wife-beaters all day long. Sure, Agassi got out of a failed drug test by lying to ATP officials in a letter, claiming the positive test was an accident that occurred because he took a sip from a cup of Coke laced with meth that belonged to his personal assistant. But that’s on ATP officials and not Agassi, because no way should that lame, transparent excuse fly. But M. Navratilova’s comments were just the tip of the idiocy iceberg and she’s now being joined by former No. 1-ranked Marat Safin, who believes that Andre Agassi should give his tennis titles back and return much of the prize money he won based on his revelations. Safin, who plans to retire this month, said in an interview Tuesday that Agassi should "give his titles, his money and his Grand Slam titles" back. "I'm not defending the ATP, but what he said put it in a delicate position," Safin said. "The ATP allowed him to win a lot of tournaments, a lot of money. It kept his secret. Why does he need to be so cruel with it?" No Marat, what the ATP did in accepting his lame-o excuse put the ATP in an awkward position. Its choice to allow him to continue to play doesn’t mean he owes them a damn thing; capitalizing on someone else’s mistake doesn’t mean you owe them an apology. Why should he give his titles and money back? If other players weren’t good enough to defeat a meth addict on the court, then how is that the meth addict’s problem? "If he is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end," Safin said. "You know, the ATP has a bank account and he can give the money back if he wants.” No, he can’t. If he gave the money back, he would be caving in the brain-dead, foot-in-mouth idiots like you who are assigning blame to the wrong place in a very ugly situation. So I would like an apology for Andre Agassi for writing this book, thereby inciting these insipid and asinine comments from people who are clearly much better off when they stick to hitting a fuzzy yellow ball with a graphite-handled racket over a net and leave the commentary to those of us more qualified for it………

- This is a day late, but a very happy 40th birthday to Sesame Street, which has now spent four decades teaching kids of all ages valuable lessons about life, the world they live in and the personalities of crabby green puppets living in trash cans with pet worms. The show marked its big day with a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama and used the occasion to kick off a two-year, environmental program called "My World is Green and Growing” (ironically, also one of the rejected subtitles for the autobiographies of both Warren Buffett and Willie Nelson, albeit for different reasons). But despite its enviro-centric title, don’t expect the program to delve into big-picture issues. "Global warming and deforestation—those are really adult concepts, and it's just too scary for children," said Rosemarie Truglio, vice president of research and education at Sesame Workshop, the New York City-based nonprofit that produces Sesame Street. "The place we're coming from is, 'Let's love and care for the Earth, because it's so beautiful, and we appreciate its awe and wonder, and we're going to respect it.'" Apparently the hope is that kids will learn to love, respect and cherish nature and thus grow up to become a bunch of tree-hugging hippies…..I think. I’ve actually learned something already, namely that the curriculum for Sesame Street changes every two years. The switch to focusing on the environment could not be a wiser choice, because moving on from focusing on a pointless, useless subject like literacy – the focus for the past two years – is a fantastic idea. It’s also a much better focus than healthy eating, which was the topic of choice prior to literacy and turned the Cookie Monster into a neutered, bastardized version of himself, chowing down on fruits and vegetables instead of chocolate chip and macadamia nut treats. By comparison, teaching kids about concepts such as habitats, hibernation, and migration is a fantastic idea. In the end, I suppose the most important thing to do is congratulate Sesame Street on a fantastic first 40 years and wish the show many successful years ahead. Happy birthday, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Snuffleupagus, the Count and everyone else on Sesame Street…………

- I have no problem admitting that this next story absolutely confounds me. It’s taken me a while to get to this, but don’t believe for one second that the delay is any indication of a lack of enthusiasm on my part for the tale I’m about to tell. Journey with me to Wisconsin on Halloween night, where all manner of frightening creatures were out on the streets. There were ghosts, goblins, slutty nurses/librarians/police officers/ballerinas/demons, pro athletes and oh yeah, drunken lushes with blood-alcohol levels of 0.17 who were phoning 911 to report themselves. The last entry on that list would be Mary Stray, a 61-year-old woman who had a beer or nine and got behind the wheel rocking a BAC more than twice the legal limit. And what’s not cool about someone’s grandma getting liquored up and swerving around the streets on Halloween night, when there were probably more than a few kids and their families out and about? But it wasn’t her erratic driving that did Stray in: it was her cell phone. See, she may have been too drunk to drive legally, but bizarrely she was sober and coherent enough to dial 911 and in slurred speech, inform the operator that she had spotted a drunk driver on the road: herself. Here’s how things unfolded, on account of the actual transcript from the call after Stray stated that she had seen a drunk driver:

Dispatch: You behind them?

Mary Strey: No, I am them.

Dispatch: You am them?

Mary Strey: Yes, I am them.

Dispatch: Okay, so you want to call and report you're driving drunk?

Mary Strey: Yes.

Dispatch: Are you still driving right now? You want to stop driving before you get in an accident?

Mary Strey: Yes, I will stop.

Dispatch: You want to stop right now?

Mary Strey: Yes, I will stop right now.

If you haven’t heard the audio from the call, you need to track it down. The incredulousness in the operator’s voice as he processes the fact that a drunk driver is calling to report herself is hilarious. But big ups to this guy for keeping his head enough to mirror back Stray’s butchered grammar, “You am them?” Oh, and I love how the operator posed the suggestive question implying that maybe Stray should consider pulling over before she caused an accident. After the call, police were able to track her down and administer a field sobriety test. Officers say Mary Strey had slurred speech, was stumbling, and swaying back and forth. Her blood alcohol level was 0.17 and she received a one-way ticket to the drunk tank. No word on whether the judge in her case will give her leniency for having the common decency to stop drunk driving…..by reporting herself………

- No one is more on the side of the working man, the everyman, than I am. Any time that workers anywhere in the world want to strike, picket and rebel against The Man, I will support them. Few things piss me off more than The Man holding down, walking all over or outright abusing the little guy. Today, my support goes out to workers at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco who began a three-day strike Tuesday as contract negotiations with hotel management remained stalled. It was an impressive sight as some 350 workers, members of Unite Here Local 2, began picketing in front of the hotel at about 4 a.m. While I probably would have signed up for a later-starting picketing stint, I appreciate the effort. The union is battling with hotel management to protect workers’ health and retirement benefits, which management is looking to reduce. The cuts were highlighted in hotel management's most recent contract proposal to the union and the reaction was swift and severe. The strike, expected to last until Friday morning, follows a three-day strike by workers at the Grand Hyatt last week. For a city that relies as heavily on tourism as San Francisco, having workers at two of its better hotels go on strike independently of one another with in a one-week period is an attention-grabber. The strikes have gotten the attention of city hall, with Mayor Gavin Newsom stepping in to assist with the contract talks. The Unite Here Local 2 union is currently negotiating separately with hotels including the Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and Intercontinental on behalf of the most blue-collar workers you’ll find in any hotel anywhere: room cleaners, cooks, food servers, bellmen, bartenders and dishwashers. These are people who don’t deserve to be dicked over by management or to have their benefits ripped or reduced just to boost the bottom line. Fight the good fight and stay strong, Palace Hotel employees, I’ve got your back………

- Way to call an anonymous whistleblower with the courage to speak out a liar, International Energy Agency. The IEA is vehemently denying allegations from a whistleblower that world oil reserves have been exaggerated to avoid panic buying in the oil market. Maybe it’s just the conspiracy-theory lover in me, but I’m inclined to hear this anonymous whistleblower out. This person claims that many within the agency believe the body's prediction for oil supplies "is much higher than can be justified." In other words, they are lying about how much oil is available so that people who aren’t smart or forward-thinking enough to begin adapting to alternative fuel sources don’t lose their minds to look to buy up every barrel of oil they can find. These claims stand in direction to the IEA’s annual outlook, which the agency released Tuesday. In that report, the IEA reiterated its prediction that oil supplies would rise to 105 million barrels by 2030 under current government policy. "We're the ones that are out there warning that the oil and gas is running out in the most authoritative manner. But we don't see it happening as quickly as some of the peak oil theorists," Richard Jones, deputy executive director of the IEA, lied, er, said. "Generally, we're viewed as more pessimistic than we should be by the (oil) industry.” Sure you are, Rich. So why am I more inclined to believe your anonymous whistleblower when he or she says that: “Many inside the organization believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90 million to 95 million barrels a day would be impossible, but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further.” A second senior source, also anonymous, seemed to back up those sentiment with this gem, that it was "imperative not to anger the Americans" who were said to play an influential role in encouraging the body to underplay potential supply shortfalls. “We have already entered the 'peak oil' zone. I think that the situation is really bad." Those who support the peak oil theory insist that the world is rapidly running out of oil and multiple measures must be taken immediately to avert utter disaster. As for the IEA outlook, it outlines potential results of two scenarios: The "Reference Scenario" assumes government policy remains the same, while the "450 Scenario" projects what may happen if governments take action on climate change. The 450 moniker is a reference to the long-term concentration of 450 parts per million of CO2-equivalent needed to limit to 50 percent the probability of a global average temperature rise of two degrees Celsius. The “Reference Scenario,” under which global temperatures could rise by up to six degrees Celsius, predicts a 40-percent increase in demand for fuel between now and 2030. The nations expected to drive this increase are fuel-suckers like China and India, along with the Middle East. The dilemma for the world is how to boost production and consumption of renewable energy sources so that demand for oil doesn’t actually rise from 85 million barrels per day to 105 million barrels per day by 2030. If that nightmare scenario unfolds, crude oil could cost as much as $115 per barrel by 2030, up from an average around $60 a barrel this year. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that world leaders hold the key to our energy crisis and that they must find a way to address the Earth’s growing climate-change issues to fix things. Color me cynical, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope for that…………

Help for losers/smokers, a revolting cougar-related story from California and behold the power of NFL fans

- You know how I feel about smoking: Smokers are losers. I say that without qualification or equivocation because smoking is bad for smokers, people around smokers and the world at large – basicallt everyone except tobacco companies and their shareholders. Bearing that in mind, how can I not be pumped at the news of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health, giving out a $10 million grant to a company that is moving ever closer to an anti-nicotine vaccine? The grant went to Nabi BioPharmaceuticals to take its anti-nicotine vaccine, NicVAX, to Phase III clinical trials. The NIH explained that in Phase III trials, the treatment is "given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely." It's also the last step before the drug can go before the FDA for approval, so that’s exciting. The way NicVAX works is by stimulating the immune system to generate antibodies that latch on to nicotine in a smoker's body and actually prevent nicotine from ever entering the brain. No nicotine entering the brain would thus (theoretically) remove the addictive properties of cancer sticks/cigarettes from the equation and help users quit once and for all. The Phase III trials began last week, so I’m anxiously awaiting word on how they’re going. “Nicotine addiction causes nearly a half-million deaths annually in the United States alone. Finding effective treatments that can help people stay off cigarettes has been a real challenge," NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said. "This Phase III trial of a nicotine vaccine offers tremendous hope towards solving this immense public health problem.” I’ll say it’s immense, what with nicotine generally considered more addictive than heroin. And for you losers/smokers out there who have a problem with what I’m saying, just know that the American Cancer Society reports that of the 44 million smokers in the United States, 70 percent say they want to quit. With that many people wanting to quit a disgusting and deadly habit, we should not have as many smokers in this country as we do. Actually, we shouldn’t have any, but that’s a whole different story. Of the 40 percent of smokers who do quit in a given year, only 4 to 7 percent manage to do so on a permanent basis. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and one of the leaders of the study, says that what makes NicVAX different from existing anti-smoking therapies is that it helps smokers quit permanently. I’m hoping she’s right and everyone who smokes or has ever smoked even once should be hoping the exact same thing…….

- This is not a good story. It is not pleasant, it is not uplifting, it is not encouraging and it is not going to make anyone feel good about themselves. On Friday, a truly sad event took place in (where else?) Beverly Hills, Calif., where at the first Miss Cougar California Convention took place. No, this was not a zoological event, although those who attended the convention should probably be locked up behind the bars of a cage, fed be a zookeeper and gawked at by visitors through Plexiglas. The idea of the convention was to help older women and younger men, so-called cubs, find their next piece of ass or sugar mama. More than 300 of these pathetic souls forked over $30 to attend the event, which was sponsored by the Society of Single Professionals, the world's largest nonprofit singles organization. It had to be a big ego boost for the cougars, who were outnumbered two to one and probably had a lot of horny younger guys fighting for their attention. These cougs crammed into their best slutty outfits, showed off their surgically enhanced physiques with collagen-injected faces and paraded around like the truly deplorable spectacle they are. There was also some intra-cougar club drama after the crowning of Miss Cougar California, which isn't at all demeaning or debasing. The winner was Tyana Alvarado, who was wearing a low-cut dress designed to show off her surgically enhanced rack while she also sported a name tag she oh, so subtly plastered to her ass. Her selection infuriated the first runner-up, who repeatedly shouted that Alvarado looked too good to be older than 40 and demanded to see her identification. Wow, that’s not at all pitiful or deplorable, being ready to brawl because you think some other cougar cheated to be crowned Miss Cougar California. Only in your state, Californians. The kicker is that these cougs actually believe that there are the shiz-nitz and are far more attractive and desirable than any other women out there. "I've got it going on," one cougar at the convention said. "Younger men love that I know who I am and know what I want." Sorry cougars, but you’re not all that and just because a bunch of you jam into some fancy ballroom in Beverly Hills where a bunch of delusional younger guys fawn over you doesn’t make it so………..

- Behold the power of the fans. Twice in the past week, the influence of NFL fans has been seen in the actions of two of the league’s worst teams. First, the threat of Cleveland fans staging a mass protest at the team’s upcoming Monday night game against Baltimore and not going to their seats until after the game starts, thus displaying a near-empty stadium to a national television audience, was enough to inspire Browns owner Randy Lerner to sit down for a two-hour meeting in his office with the two fans leading the protest. Lerner listened to their concerns and although it’s unclear what impact the talk had, general manager George Kokinis was fired just a few days afterward in what many observers viewed as a move to appease the team’s outraged fan base. In Kansas City, the anger of the fans was against one player – running back Larry Johnson – instead of the whole team. After Johnson was suspended for a game following his latest off-field incident, in which he twice used a gay slur, a group of fans started an online position to lobby the team to bench or release Johnson following his suspension so that he would not break the team’s all-time rushing record, which he was within 100 yards of reaching. Now I’m not saying that petition was the sole factor in what happened Monday, but the bottom line is that the instant his suspension was over, the Chiefs dropped Johnson like a sack of bricks. He’s been released and is now free to sign with any team. The former Pro Bowler who had back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons for Kansas City has been suspended twice in the past 12 months, so teams must ask themselves if he’s worth the trouble. “Any player that's available, we look at," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "That's been our standard policy throughout. That'll be the case with Larry." Houston coach Gary Kubiak agreed. "When a name like that comes on the free agent market like today, we'll obviously go back and take a look at him just like any other player," Kubiak said. "Obviously, he's been a good player in this league and I'm sure he'll get a lot of interest from a lot of people." That’s one aspect of the story, but I’m more interested in how much the fans are able to influence teams. In the end, it is their dollars that buy tickets and merchandise, which in turn pay player salaries and finance the team’s operations (along with the sizeable chunk of money from the league TV deal). I’m not misguided enough to believe that teams are going to run their operations based on what their fans want entirely, but it is nice to think that for the first time in a long time, the feelings of the average fan are at least part of the equation……….

- Aerosmith has long been one of the most perpetually dysfunctional bands on the music scene. Dating back to their drug-addled early years, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Co. have alternated between writing great songs and being at each other’s throats. You might think that as their careers near the end of the line and they are pushing Social Security age, the members of one of rock’s truly iconic bands would be able to find a collective happy place and enjoy a few more great years before calling it quits. Of course, you would be very, very wrong. Not only are the band’s members not getting along, things have deteriorated to the point that Perry said that he and his bandmates are "positively looking for a new singer to work with." A rift with Tyler prompted Perry, Aerosmith’s longtime guitarist, to make the announcement on his Twitter page. I have to admit, the tweet is a nice addition to the Tyler-Perry dynamic, because when you’ve been fighting with someone on and off for nearly 40 years, things can get stale. But there’s a reason these two are often called the "Toxic Twins," and this would be it. They’ve drugged up together, they’ve written legendary songs together and they’ve fought like bitter rivals more often than not. Maybe they’re just trying to follow in the shoes of their role models, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Tyler probably isn't all that upset by Perry’s announcement, given the fact that he precipitated it by recently declaring his intentions to concentrate on solo endeavors. It’s not the first time he’s made such comments, but combined with the fact that he also stopped communicating with the rest of the band several months ago and hired his own manager, there seems to be some substance to those vows now. The division between Perry and Tyler is so substantial that Perry claimed in a recent interview that Tyler has refused to write a song with him for a decade and that recently, Tyler hung up on him when Perry called him. In spite of all of that, Aerosmith pulled off a few summer concerts and set off on a North American tour in August that ended prematurely when Tyler fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. Now I’m wondering if Perry greased the stage or somehow contributed to the fall, because neither he nor any other members of the band accompanied Tyler to the hospital. Tyler recovered enough for the band to play a pair of recent shows in Hawaii and a set at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 1. The back and forth continued after an interview in which Tyler declared his plans to focus on his own projects, "Brand Tyler," as he called it. Guitarist Brad Whitford and Perry have both talked openly about finding a new vocalist since that interview, maintaining that the band has no plans to break up and is as hot as ever. Of course, it is a bit hypocritical of Perry to rip Tyler for doing the solo thing given that fact that Perry himself just released his fifth solo album and plans an extensive world tour early next year. Heck, Perry is the one who quit the band in 1979 at the height of its drug excess and abuse and launched the Joe Perry project. It took Aerosmith five years to regroup with its original lineup after that, but I have my doubts about their ability to pull it off again. 
I also hate the idea of anyone but Steve Tyler as the lead singer of the band, not after 40 years. It wouldn’t feel right, look right or sound right and here’s hoping it doesn’t happen……..

- I’d like to give Google credit for agreeing to pay for WiFi at 47 of the nation's airports for the rest of the year, beginning Tuesday, and giving travelers the ability to get online for free, but I can’t. The offer is part of an effort that includes running a charity campaign to raise money for three nonprofit groups: Engineers without Borders, One Economy Corporation and Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Upon logging onto the WiFi service, users will be directed to a page wherein they are offered the option of donating to the organizations, with Google matching donations of up to $250,000 per airport. This is one of our holiday gifts to our users, and when you connect, we also hope you'll take the opportunity to try some of the latest Google products," the company said in a statement. Whatever, Google. The real holiday gift would be if the airports themselves made WiFi free, because there is no way in hell that’s ever happening. In this case, someone is still making money off of the service; only the source of the money is changing. And personally, I take great offense to anyone paying $4.50 for an hour of Internet usage, period. As for the specifics of the offer, the list of airports with free WiFi includes the international airports in Miami and Orlando, but it also includes smaller airports such as those in Billings and Bozeman, Mont. One possibly interesting feature of the deal will be Google offering users the chance to try its new Google Chrome browser, although that’s extremely self-promotional and not at all altruistic. This isn't Google’s first stab at free WiFi, as the company already offers free wireless Internet to its hometown of Mountain View, Calif., and last month it partnered with Virgin America to give the airline's customers free access to Gogo's Inflight Internet. Both the free airport WiFi and the Gogo promotion will end, so take advantage now if you plan to do so…………

Welcome to Despot Watch 2009, a Heroes recap and AI continues to be all about AI

- Welcome back to Despot Watch 2009, where we’re tracking the latest actions, threats and oppression from all of your favorite oppressive, domineering dictators around the world. Right now, we have an update on Venezuelan President/Dictator Hugo Chavez, who has urged his armed forces to be prepared for possible war with Colombia amid growing diplomatic and border tensions. My boy Hugo claims that his actions are under the premise of the best way to avoid war being to prepare for it, which of course is a lie. A trigger-happy despot like Chavez doesn’t arm his country for war unless he wants a war and his past comments and attacks on those who oppose him would clearly indicate that he likes conflict – a lot. Colombia doesn’t seem to share Chavez’s penchant for strife and instead of readying its own military, the country’s government intends to seek help from the United Nations. As with all conflict he has engaged his nation in, Chavez is lookin’ to affix blame for the Colombia-Venezuela tensions on his old nemesis, the United States. W., the man Chavez famously called the devil in a speech to the U.N., is long gone and yet Chavez persists in vilifying the U.S. Never mind that Colombia steadfastly maintains that says U.S. forces are only there to battle rebels and drug traffickers; Chavez sees closer military ties between Colombia and the U.S. and he believes a war is needed. "Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility," Chavez said during his TV and radio show Alo, Presidente. He is already escalating things by sending 15,000 troops to the border, citing increased violence by Colombian paramilitary groups. Right, because that couldn’t possibly go wrong in any way. Props to Chavez’s counterpart, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, for saying his government would seek help from the U.N. Security Council and also the Organization of American States. "Colombia has not made nor will it make any bellicose move toward the international community, even less so toward fellow Latin American nations," a statement by Uribe said. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You cannot just go throwing words like bellicose into statements without warning. That’s a three-syllable word and I’m guessing that it flew right over the heads of most people who read it. For the uninformed, bellicose refers to any sort of action denoting a willingness or proclivity to fight. As for the oncoming war, it’s been brewing ever since July, when Bogotá said it would let the U.S. Army use its military bases for anti-drugs operations. Chavez portended conflict in August when he warned that "winds of war" were blowing across the continent. Sounds like someone is spoiling for a fight and looking for any reason to make it happen, Hugo…………

- The cities and uniforms may change, but one thing that doesn’t change with Allen Iverson is that AI is, was and always will be about one thing: AI. He’s bounced from Philadelphia to Denver to Detroit and now to Memphis, but as his skills and athleticism have declined with his career coming to a close, his reluctance to face the reality of those declines has strengthened. In Denver, the Nuggets never won anything with his shoot-first, me-first mentality manning the point guard position. Once he was traded to Denver four games into the 2008 season and replaced with a real point guard, Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets galvanized, took off and made the Western Conference finals. Meanwhile, he managed to wear out his welcome in Detroit faster than anyone had imagined and by season’s end, the team made up a bogus injury and told him that he wasn’t welcome because his malcontented attitude was only bringing everyone down. The issue in Detroit was AI not being willing or able to accept that he was no longer and elite player, no longer good enough to be an effective starter and much better coming off the bench. When the offseason rolled around, not a single team stepped up to express an interest in AI. The man who had become famous for his “practice” rant (Google Allen Iverson and practice and you’ll see it) couldn’t find a team that wanted him at its practices. Not even his former coach in Philly and noted admirer Larry Brown, now coaching the Charlotte Bobcats, wanted to bring AI in. Eventually he found a taker in the hapless Memphis Grizzlies, who inked AI to a one-year contract but refused to hand him the starting spot he so badly wanted but didn’t warrant. The standoff between AI and his new team was postponed temporarily when he missed the first few games with a hamstring injury, but now that AI is healthy and ready to play, things aren’t going very well. He played in all of three games, coming off the bench in all three and averaging 12.3 points per game. He has made no secret of being unhappy with his role coming off the bench and after doing so for the third straight game in the Grizzlies' 114-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, he did not hesitate to point out his non-existent relationship with head coach Lionel Hollins. "I think that's probably the worst part of all this," Iverson said Friday. "That while all this is going on, we have never talked to each other. That's probably why it's at this point right now. We've just never had a conversation, so it's probably going to always be hard for me and him to see eye-to-eye, because we've never even talked to each other. Obviously that's what you do if you're trying to accomplish the same goal." In the wake of his comments, Iverson was granted permission to leave the team to “deal with a personal matter.” That announcement came after Iverson had a meeting with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley following the loss to the Lakers. I would love to tell you that AI is being shortchanged here and that one of the NBA’s most consistently inept franchises is doing another player wrong, but that’s not the case. In fact, AI is either incredibly stupid or just plan oblivious if he in fact believes, as he has stated, that nobody told him the Grizzlies would be rebuilding after a 24-58 season. Anyone with an IQ above 41 who saw their act last season, saw the moves they made prior to this season and knows even the most basic things about basketball knew the Grizzlies would be terrible again this season. Making matters worse, Iverson doesn’t appear to give a damn about fitting in with his new team and figuring out how to make them better, which, hello, should be the goal of every player. "I'm not trying to figure out how to contribute to no team," Iverson said. "I contribute to a team by just playing. That's it. I don't have to figure it out. Obviously, they signed me for a reason. They've been watching me play this game for 13 years, and they know what I do on the basketball court, so I don't have to figure out how I'm going to play or anything like that. I just go out and play basketball." Sorry AI, but that’s not how it works. Teams – good ones anyhow – don’t just sign 12 dudes, not attempt to mold them into a cohesive unit and allow them to go out with total autonomy and do their best to accomplish what they think will help the team win. In case you forgot, there’s a guy called the coach (the one you don’t talk to) who is supposed to help everyone get on the same page and following his direction. But hey, no one expected anything different from AI. When it comes to basketball and his career, AI has always been about AI and AI alone. Odds are he always will be…………

- Warning! Warning! Strollers of death! If you or someone you know, love or even somewhat like owns a stroller made by Maclaren, you need to listen up. Maclaren, the international stroller-manufacturing conglomerate, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are recalling approximately 1 million strollers after the company received a dozen reports of children's fingertips getting amputated by a hinge on the strollers. What? What’s the big deal? So a dozen kids had portions of their fingers lopped off by your product, what’s the rush to recall them? Making matters worse, the affected models have literally been sold at points ranging back an entire decade. The models involved include Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller. The scope of the recall is massive, but given the irreversible nature of the injuries that can be caused, it makes sense. If you own one of the affected strollers, you should stop using it immediately until you can get a repair kit from Maclaren. Maclaren will provide a hinge cover that can be ordered through its Web site, along with a special phone line. For the engineering-stunted among you, the hinge mechanism is located on the side of the strollers. According to complaints received by the company, injuries have occurred when children are getting into the strollers as well as when they're already seated in the strollers. The recall includes all Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers, and the word "Maclaren" is printed on the stroller. Hopefully some users of this Stroller of Death are reading this story and I will help avert some involuntary finger amputations. As such, I will consider my day a success and move on………

- Tonight may have been the best Heroes episode of the season, even if it wasn’t quite on the same level as the show’s first season. The comedy and bloodshed were both at high levels as Matt Parkman and Sylar made one of the more unorthodox cross-country road trips in memory. Sylar is on a quest to find out what happened to his body and why his consciousness is now trapped inside Parkman’s head. Two episodes ago, he seized control of Parkman’s body, turning the tables and leaving Parkman as the one displaced and without a body. Now, Sylar is en route to New York to find Peter Petrelli because Peter stabbing him in the neck with a syringe inside a limo after posing as the President of the United States to take down Sylar, intending to kill the POTUS. It was shortly thereafter that Parkman used his powers to force Nathan’s memories into Sylar’s body and let Sylar’s shape-shifting power finish the job. To prevent Sylar from making it to NY, Parkman first sabotages him at the airport by hiding a gun in Sylar’s suitcase. That gets Sylar (although his outward appearance to everyone else is still Parkman’s) booted from the flight. The next option is to rent a car and drive, but along the way Parkman uses his mind-control powers to make Sylar not see a large piece of metal lying in the road, which results in a flat tire. Parkman, operating outside his body as an apparition visible only to Sylar, is happy with himself for becoming a thorn in his adversary’s side. Sylar doesn’t like being one-upped and when a tow-truck operator stops to help with the flat tire, he turns the tables again by using a tire iron to bludgeon and kill Hank, the tow truck driver. He tersely explains to Parkman that he’s in charge and that there is a line that only he, Sylar, can cross. Parkman backs down when it comes to killing people and the journey forges ahead. Its next stop is the always-popular Burnt Toast diner in Odessa, Texas. It’s a place where, as Sylar tells Parkman, “I once tried to kill a waitress here.” After ordering the Tahiti pancakes and hanging around for a while, Sylar issues an ultimatum: Parkman must tell him exactly where his body is and how he became separated from it or Sylar, inside Parkman’s body, will kill Lynette, the waitress. Parkman calls his bluff but when Sylar goes ahead with his threat, Parkman caves and tells him the whole story. An incensed Sylar says he was headed to see the wrong Petrelli brother, vows to find Nathan, take his body back and then kill everyone who was involved in taking it from him. Parkman proves he has one last ace up his sleeve on the way out of the diner, an ace with deadly implications. While he and Sylar chatted in the diner, Parkman used his power to compel Sylar to scrawl a message on his napkin about having a gun and planning to kill everyone in the diner. Lynette finds the napkin, calls the police and a half-dozen squad cars surround Sylar/Parkman on the street outside the diner. Parkman smugly vows to end things right here and now and laughs off Sylar’s admonition that if he dies, so does Parkman. Willing to sacrifice his own life to stop a monster, Parkman uses his power once more to move Sylar’s arm inside his jacket as if reaching for a gun and pulling it out, prompting the police to open fire. Sylar/Parkman goes down and the displaced version of Parkman fades away too. The last we see of him/them is in the ambulance as the paramedics try futilely to revive Sylar/Parkman. Speaking of paramedics, Peter Petrelli is having an interesting night of his own in the back of an ambulance. As he works on a man injured in a train accident, Peter somehow absorbs a power from the man that allows him to take on the pain and illness of others, a la Green Mile and Michael Clarke Duncan’s character. The man in the ambulance is able to move his toes for the first time since the accident, signaling that his spine isn't too badly damaged. He’s Peter’s first save, soon followed by a man in the emergency room whose blood pressure and pulse keep dropping to dangerous levels until Peter takes hold of his arm, absorbs his pain and suffering and the man begins to recover. Following the save, Peter spots his new friend Emma, the deaf, “sees sounds as colors” girl who works in the hospital records office. She too is pitching in with a glut of train accident victims hitting the ER, using her background as a former med school student to do a quick suture job on a patient. Peter sees her do her thing and when their paths cross later on in the night, he asks her about it. She admits to having once been in medical school but having dropped out. In turn, Peter shares about his new power and even though he looks like crap and feels about the same, he vows to keep using it. However, it’s Emma’s medical background that proves truly powerful when she finds an unconscious little girl lying on the floor in the ER and yells for help. Peter hears her cry and comes running, but it’s Emma who asks for a thorachotomy kit and uses it to help get the girl’s lungs working again, saving her life. Afterward, she takes a moment to unwind by playing the piano in the hospital’s rec room and Peter joins her. That’s when she shares her story of having her nephew die while she was babysitting him, just prior to the second year of her residency, and dropping out of med school because of it. He encourages her to go back and later on we see her pulling her old, white doctor’s coat from the closet, smiling and looking every bit like she intends to resume her medical career. Life is not as happy for Claire Bennet at lovely Arlington University in Arlington, Va. Her roommate Gretchen is so rattled by the apparent attempts to off her by sorority president and PWP (people with powers) Becky that she’s leaving school, possibly never to return. Those attempts reached their zenith during last week’s Halloween scavenger hunt from pledges at an abandoned local meat packing plant, but Claire vows to protect her roomie and BFF at all costs. To that end, she goes on a fact-finding mission to the Psi Alpha Chi sorority house and meets up with some reinforcements she’s called in: her dad, H.R.G, and the Haitian. The Haitian, a.k.a. Rene, has already wiped the memories of the PAC sisters and H.R.G. lays out a plan for dealing with Becky. He plans to canvas her room for clues to who she is while the Haitian stays with Claire to keep her safe in case Becky attacks again. Back at her dorm room, Claire tries to convince Gretchen to stay but to no avail, even when she explains that the Haitian can use his ability to block others’ powers to keep Becky from going invisible again. After Gretchen leaves, Claire is visited by Samuel Sullivan, who tries to convince her that he understands her because he’s special too and suggests that he come to be a part of his family at the carnival. Claire proves too smart for him, keeping him talking only long enough for H.R.G. to finish up at the sorority house. While there, he does have a face-to-face with Becky, who reveals that she’s actually out for revenge against he and Claire because when Becky was five years old, H.R.G. killed her father in his role as an agent for the Company. She wants revenge by harming his daughter, but H.R.G. says that isn't happening. He’s about to Taser her when another PAC sister walks in, forcing him to abort. Back at Claire’s dorm room, a tense showdown between Samuel, H.R.G. and Claire unfolds in which Samuel fingers H.R.G. for his role in ruining Becky’s life. H.R.G., having already apologized to Becky, is having none of it. He demands answers from Samuel, specifically about the compass he found in Becky’s closet that is Samuel’s trademark. Samuel explains that it is to help protect his family from men like H.R.G. and Emile Danko, whom Samuel accuses of killing his brother Joseph. H.R.G. finally decides he’s heard enough, cuffs Samuel and is about to load him into his SUV (to take him where, I don’t know. H.R.G. doesn’t work for the Company anymore, remember?) when Becky attacks. She knocks down both H.R.G. and Claire, but loses her invisibility when Samuel picks up H.R.G.’s Taser and shoots her. H.R.G. uses the chance to draw his gun, but Claire convinces him to let Samuel and Becky go. They flee back to the carnival, where Samuel assures her she will eventually get her revenge. That talk is interrupted by Lydia, who informs Samuel that Sylar, who has been staying with them (well, his body occupied by Nathan Petrelli’s mind and memories is gone). Nathan/Sylar fled earlier in the day after waking up from a bad dream in looking like Nathan instead of Sylar. Rather than allow himself to be see, Nathan/Sylar summons his power to fly, takes off and by day’s end is knocking on Peter’s door. Nathan confesses that he’s in trouble and needs Peter’s help as the episode comes to an end. Of course, Adrian Pasdar will soon be killed off the show, so Nathan won't be around much longer, that we know. So it was a solid episode and a pretty interesting one from top to bottom. Definitely don’t miss next week’s episode, when my boy Mohinder Suresh makes his return. Until then………

- Even Apple isn't immune for the tech f**k-up, as its multiple releases of iPhone models the past few years have shown clearly. This particular f**k-up is for a different product: Apple TV. Only a few hours after Apple released version 3.0 of the software that runs its Apple TV set-top box, the crap began to hit the fan and the company’s online discussion boards were flooded with complaints. By the time Nov. 7 rolled around, which was the date when Apple advised owners by e-mail to immediately update to version 3.01, the discussion topic TV 3.0 — Many Problems had drawn 134 posts and been read more than 10,000 times on the discussion board. A related topic, Apple TV lost all media, had 108 posts and more than 3,000 reads. The 3.01 update only addressed the "lost all media" issue and left users to deal with the other problems - periodic freezes, random restarts, overheating, sluggishness, disappearing networks, screens going "blocky red" etc. — for the foreseeable future. "3.0.1 has actually made things worse for me," wrote user "laozi" late Saturday evening. "Now iTunes won't see the AppleTV at all, and no combination of rebooting/resetting is helping. Totally stuck. Apple, please fix this." Users are calling it the most problem-prone software upgrade they have ever experienced with an Apple product, which can't possibly be good. Just goes to show you that no tech company, big or small, reputable or not, is immune from f**k-ups and problems when you are upgrading, installing new software or breaking in a new product………

I still don't get expensive booze, inspiring interest in women's college soccer and Jay-Z's latest tour plans

- Expensive alcohol has always amused me. If it gets you drunk, what does it matter how much it costs? Paying thousands of dollars for a bottle of Cristal, for instance, has nothing to do with the alcohol itself and everything to do with the ego factor of saying that you can afford to waste $10,000 on a bottle of liquor and use it to pour shots for total strangers or spray strippers with it. If the point of drinking something is to get drunk, which it typically is, then why waste any more money than is absolutely necessary? So it is with more than a hint of amusement that I review the story of the theft of a $3,500 bottle of 200th Anniversary Johnnie Walker Blue Label from a South Florida liquor store. Not that I’m up on the world of expensive booze, but apparently the 200th Anniversary Johnnie Walker Blue label is the most exclusive and most expensive Johnnie Walker product. It’s so rare that there were only six distributed in the state of Florida. The theft took place at Master Wine Liquor in Weston on October 30th at about 6:00 p.m. A portly man walked into the store, grabbed the bottle, shoved it down the front of his pants and nonchalantly walked out of the store. This FAT tub of lard, dressed in a striped shirt that certainly did not provide any sort of slimming effect for his flabby physique, actually did a couple of trials runs prior to his big theft. First, he tried the pants-shove move on a $70 bottle of Grey Goose vodka and was successful. After depositing the Goose in his car, he returned for a second practice run, this time stealing a bottle of Pinot Noir. Two trial runs were enough to convince him of his readiness for the main event and while a female accomplice distracted the store employee, the thief pried open the door of the Plexiglas case containing the rare bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue. He pulled a bait-and-switch, ripping the real bottle and replacing it with a display bottle. At that point, most thieves would be happy with their take and stride out the door to complete their conquest. But this fool actually reached back into the display case to grab the Baccarat crystal decanter that accompanied the limited edition bottle and stuffed the decanter into his pocket. Moments later, he and his accomplice left the store undetected. To the discredit of the store’s employees, they didn't notice their prized bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue was missing until Nov. 2. Fortunately for them, the entire heist was caught on surveillance video. The video shows the suspect, described as a white or Hispanic male, sporting a butt-ugly mustache, standing about 5'9 and tipping the scales at a beefy 250 lbs. As always, anyone with information on the identity of this fool is asked to contact police in Weston, Fla. Do what you will with this one………

- I feel very out of it right now, cinematically speaking. Normally when I see that a movie has earned the most money at the box office for a given weekend, my response is either that I’m glad to see a solid movie do well (rare) or that I am appalled at how well a crap-tacular film did (frequent). But this weekend, my response is…..huh? Not only do I not know a lot about but Disney’s A Christmas Carol, I didn’t even know Disney had a Christmas Carol remake coming out. Admittedly, I hate holiday music and movies as a general rule, so perhaps I subconsciously shielded myself from the movie. But even without my support, the Jim Carrey-led film scored $31 million at the box office and is now just $144 million (give or take a few dollars) from breaking even with its $175 million budget. That budget seems a little high given that Carrey was able to play multiple roles thanks to performance-capture technology. The $31 million tally represented the best opening in director Robert Zemeckis’ career even though most experts expected more. With screenings on some 200 pricey IMAX for the next month or so, that number should go up steadily. While I may not know a lot about Christmas Carol, one thing I do know is that I am happy to see it seize the top spot from that docu-crap film Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which dropped 40 percent in its second weekend and into second place with $14 million. Finishing close behind and in third place was the new George Clooney comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats with a weekend total of $13.3 million. Sci-fi and Milla Jovovich fans turned out in strong enough numbers to put her new alien-abduction film The Fourth Kind in, appropriately enough, fourth place with $12.5 million. The biggest story among the weekend’s top films could well be Paranormal Activity, the plucky little movie that cost a mere $11,000 to make, yet made $8.6 million this weekend to finish in fifth place and push its domestic gross to $97.4 million thus far. Don’t expect that type of profitable run for the Cameron Diaz horror flick The Box, which debuted in sixth place with $7.9 million and was universally ripped by moviegoers and critics alike. Meanwhile, the power of Oprah was on display once again in backing Precious, the Sundance-winning drama starring Mo’Nique and Mariah Carey. The film opened on a mere 18 screens but raked in $1.8 million for a per-screen average of $100,000—the largest per-screen average ever for a movie opening in more than 10 theaters. I, for one, am glad to see that Oprah has turned her ire away from the beef industry and is now focused on building things up instead of tearing them down. Overall, a solid group of top films and for that rare weekend, it wasn’t a total waste of your time to go to the movies………

- I would care a heck of a lot more about women’s college soccer if more women’s college soccer players were like University of New Mexico player Elizabeth Lambert. By now, you undoubtedly know who Lambert is even if you are a casual sports fan or not even a fan at all. Her act in a semifinal game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament was flat-out awesome and just might be the most memorable moment ever in women’s soccer at any level. Lambert’s team was battling BYU, the game was heated and the Cougars had a one-goal lead when, to put it bluntly, the sh*t hit the fan. For starters, Lambert executed a perfect ponytail takedown of BYU's Kassidy Shumway, followed by a blatant trip of a BYU player at the edge of the box, resulting in one of her New Mexico teammates "accidentally" kicking the ball right in her face. At that point, you might think she’d be done for the day, perhaps even with a red card resulting in an automatic ejection. But no, there’s more. Later in the game, Lambert was battling a BYU player for a loose ball and in her zeal to win the ball, she uncorked a nice jab to the opposing player’s face. Alas, her efforts went for naught as BYU won the game 1-0 to advance to the championship game. Because of her actions, Lambert has (inexplicably) been suspended indefinitely from the team. She is prohibited from taking part in practices, games and conditioning, coach Kit Vela announced Friday. "Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship," Vela said. Crossed the line? Coach, I don’t know if you realize this, but prior to Lambert’s awesome display in that game, no one gave a rat’s ass about the New Mexico women’s soccer program. You all could have walked down the streets of Santa Fe passing out $20 bills and you would have been forgotten just as quickly as those bills were consumed. Now, people are talking about your program and although they think you are a bunch of classless hooligans, that’s better than being totally ignored. Focus on the positive here, namely that you have Lambert back next season and you can build a great marketing campaign around the chick who is as likely to send opposing players to the hospital as she is to score a goal. Not sure if you know this, but a lot of guys like seeing two chicks brawl. Now I’m not saying you need to have your team play in Jell-O (although some consistent rainfall would make for a nice mud pit), but seize this opportunity. Stop having Lambert issue public apologies and tell her to embrace her badass image. "I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary," Lambert said. "This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them. I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women's soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women's soccer program and its players." No, no, no. Stop that and stop it now. No one will remember that you and your team were 13-5-3 this season and that you nearly made the conference title game, but everyone will remember what you did on that field against BYU and you need to stop apologizing for it……….

- Any day that Jay-Z announces tour plans is a good day for music. With his latest album, "Blueprint 3," now out and receiving positive response, the rapper has announced the second leg of his North American tour in support of the album. His voyage will begin Feb. 22, 2010, in Houston, Texas, making stops in Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta and Boston before ending on March 26 in Los Angeles' Staple Center. The tour will feature Jay-Z’s Def Jam labelmate Young Jeezy as the opening act for all dates, a rarity. Tickets go on sale on Nov. 13 on LiveNation.com, but Citi cardmembers have access to presale tickets beginning Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. local time. I guess it goes to show that not even rap legends like Jay-Z are above being corporate shills, not that I am looking to rip a guy whose music I love and who has immense game. If you are a Citi cardmember, you can find more details about the presale tickets at citiprivatepass.com. You’ll also have access to VIP Ticket Packages that include VIP Lounge seats, personal concierge, a private pre-show VIP party and other perks and bennies. The full schedule for the second leg of the tour will be announced soon and the dates and ticket information for stops in East Rutherford, Uniondale, Atlantic City and Detroit will be announced at that time. In the meantime, Jay-Z is planning another effort with Alicia Keys, who teamed up for "Empire State Of Mind," originally on the "Blueprint 3" album. "Empire State of Mind Pt. 2" will include a new Jay-Z verse and will appear on Alicia Keys' upcoming "Element of Freedom" album, slated for a Dec. 15 release. Other dates on the tour besides those already mentioned would include: Feb 22: Houston, TX, Feb 23: Dallas, TX, Feb 25: New Orleans, LA,
Feb 27: Atlanta, GA, Feb 28: Greensboro, NC, Mar. 3: Washington, D.C., Mar. 7: Norfolk, VA, Mar 11: Boston, MA,
Mar. 16: Pittsburgh, PA, Mar 19: St. Louis, MO, Mar 20: Indianapolis, IN,
Mar 22: Denver, CO, Mar 24: San Jose, CA and Mar 26: Los Angeles, CA. Stay tuned for more information………..

- Not that living in Nashua, N.H. doesn’t automatically qualify one as incredibly fortunate, but Nashua resident Bob Jaracz has gone above and beyond the boost of luck that even the world’s luckiest town could provide. Jaracz, who says he’s always considered himself a lucky guy, has bucked incredible odds and won the lottery not once, but twice and for more than $1 million each time. The first time was on Thanksgiving Day 2005, when he won Tri-State Megabucks for $1.9 million. For the next four years, Jaracz and his wife Diane were forced to make due with their $1 million (after taxes), right up until he won the Weekly Grand Game for a little more than $1 million back in late September. What’s amazing about these two wins, aside from the obvious, is that although Jaracz plays the lottery every week, he does quick picks only and thus has no special numbers, no system in place and because buys his tickets at random stores, no real pattern. He has no lucky teller, no lucky machine and other than a bit of a gambling habit, nothing unique going for him. Recalling their first lottery win, Diane Jaracz thought back to the Thanksgiving Day miracle and remembered that between all the excitement of telling friends and family, they forgot about the turkey in the oven. "It was only a little dry," she recalled. With their winnings, the couple was able to pay off all their debt, fix up their house, buy a new car and take some trips. The new round of winnings, Jaracz says, will be used for more travel, but also to help local charities such as the Humane Society and the Santa Fund. He also remarked that even after his first win, he always felt like he was going to win again. Bob Jaracz also says he has no plans to retire from his part-time work as an engineer, a role he said keeps him fresh. Will he stop playing the lottery now that he’s won twice? "No way,” Jaracz says. “I think I'm going to win again." Past evidence would indicate not to bet against him………

Tim Lincecum is a stoner, waiting 35 years to learn the fate of your stolen car and someone please find that freak Chris Crocker, he's needed

- I was already a big fan of San Francisco Giants star pitcher Tim Lincecum prior to Oct. 30. Now that I know that dude is a stoner, needless to say I’m an even bigger fan. Lincecum was well into his offseason as the World Series was wrapping up and apparently he likes to spend his offseason getting baked. That’s fine by me, but it’s apparently not cool with the Washington State Patrol. A deputy working a stretch of Interstate 5 about four miles north of the Oregon border on Oct. 30 pulled Lincecum’s 2006 Mercedes over for speeding, approached the vehicle and smell the chronic. The deputy demanded that Lincecum surrender his blunt and the ace right-hander immediately consented. He turned over his bong and tree, with the amount of the hippie lettuce a measly 3.3 grams. WSP spokesman Steve Schatzel said police consider that a small amount for personal use. I’m guessing that 3.3 ounce supply was a bit more plentiful a few hours prior to this unfortunate incident, if you catch my drift. But sadly, Lincecum was hit with misdemeanor marijuana charges just because he likes to get his bake on from time to time. On the upside, he has already reached has an agreement with the prosecutor Washington that could settle his misdemeanor marijuana charge for a mere $250 fine. Grant Hansen, a Clark County deputy prosecutor, told the newspaper his office is willing to dismiss a misdemeanor charge of possessing 3.3 grams of marijuana. "We negotiated the case in the manner we do with just about every first-time marijuana-drug paraphernalia case where the individual is cooperative with the officer," Hansen explained. "We dismissed possession of marijuana and amended the other charge to buying or selling drug paraphernalia, a Class A civil infraction." Combined with the fines for driving at 74 mph in a 60-mph zone, Lincecum will be $622 lighter in the wallet. That’s less than one percent of the salary he earned this past season, so no worries there. As for the drug charges…..lighten up, WSP. You do realize what part of the country you live in, right? The freaking Pacific Northwest, where hippies abound, stoners are the majority and getting baked is just an acceptable pastime. Stop harassing people for recreational weed usage and focus on bigger problems. If the 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner wants to burn tree while he’s home for the offseason, then you need to let it go and be thankful that he’s not off spending his offseason in some tropical paradise………

- Thirty-five years is a heck of a long time to wait to get a stolen car back. Of course, if your ride was worth only a few hundred dollars when it was stolen and is now worth a tidy sum of $27,000, I’d say that’s worth the trouble. In 1974, a 1965 Volkswagen van was stolen in Spokane, Washington. The car wasn’t found at the time and a claim was filed with Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate paid the original owner for the loss decades ago. That means whoever the owner is, he or she won't be cashing in on this good fortune. That payment means Allstate owns the vehicle, which is now valued at about $27,000. It was found in pristine condition along with several vintage Volkswagens in a shipping container in the Los Angeles port last month. Customs agents found the stolen whips before they were shipped out of the country to be resold. The Arizona company that was shipping the van had no idea the vehicle was stolen from a Spokane auto shop in 1974. Customs and Border Protection agents routinely run vehicle identification numbers through the National Insurance Crime Bureau database for all vehicles being loaded on ships for export and stolen rides are recovered on a weekly basis, but typically not vintage vehicles stolen decades ago. Allstate says it hasn’t decided yet whether it will sell the van, but I don’t believe that for a second. Any chance to turn a profit and pad its bottom line is something an insurance company will jump at every day of the week. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not thrilled at the financial good fortune of an insurance company; it’s against my nature…………

- This definitely is not going to help quell the boiling tensions in Honduras. President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in a military-backed coup over the summer, said yesterday that a U.S.-brokered deal to end the nation's four-month crisis had collapsed. Honduras’ presidential elections were slated for Nov. 29, but those are in serious doubt as the ousted leader called on his supporters to boycott them and instead take it to the streets once again to make their voices heard. Obviously I’m down with that just as I’m down with anyone at any time who wants to calls for riots and protests. However, I have to wonder if my man M. Zelaya is getting a little cabin fever, having been cooped up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since September 21. His denouncement of the deal and the country’s interim leadership comes after de facto leader Roberto Micheletti formed a new "national unity" government without Zelaya’s participation last week “The accord now has no value," Zelaya fumed. He added that there was no point continuing with negotiations because "the agreements have been constantly violated." When asked if he planned to stay holed up in the Brazilian embassy until his term runs out on January 27, Zelaya wouldn’t say for certain. This cannot be a happy development for Secretary of State Hank Clinton, who had been celebrating last week's agreement as a triumph for democracy. "We urge both sides to act in the best interests of the Honduran people and return to the table immediately to reach agreement on the formation of a unity government," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington. "We're disappointed that both sides are not following the very clear path laid out." Under the terms of the deal, Zelaya and Micheletti's camps had until midnight Thursday to set up a reconciliation government to represent both sides. The deal did not stipulate that Zelaya must be reinstated, so clearly Micheletti took that as a hint and went ahead setting up a unity government without including Zelaya ministers. In response, Zelaya is digging in his heels, refusing to honor the agreement and denouncing the November presidential polls. "I'm not ready to legitimize a fraud ... nor to whitewash this coup," Zelaya said. In the meantime, Hondurans can likely expect a continuation of the brutal repression they’ve been subjected to ever since Micheletti and Co. seized control of their country. Voices of opposition will continue to be silenced, resistance will be met with excessive force and basic rights will continue to be trampled upon. Enjoy the festivities and do your best to stick it to The Man, Honduras……….

- Thank God that’s over. We are no longer forced to include the Iowa Hawkeyes among the supposed contender’s for college football’s national championship game even though they are clearly nowhere close to being in the class of the sport’s elite. Iowa has spent the season narrowly averting disaster against Div. 1-AA teams (two blocked field goals to preserve a one-point win over Northern Iowa, a four-point thriller against mighty Arkansas State) and pulling out last-minute rallies against bad or mediocre Big Ten opponents, doing just enough to remain unbeaten and thus theoretically in the national title hunt. But after today’s 17-10 loss to thoroughly pedestrian Northwestern, Iowa is dead and gone from the title picture. Thanks to four first-half turnovers and an injury to starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi, Iowa and its whiny fans can now shut up and go away. The real contenders are still alive, with top-ranked Florida (27-3 over lowly Vanderbilt) and No. 2 Texas (35-3 over non-conference foe Central Florida) ground out unimpressive-yet-efficient wins to stay unbeaten and on track for a BCS title game meeting. Of course, Florida now has an opponent for the SEC title game in Atlanta next month: No. 3 Alabama, which beat offensively inept, ninth-ranked LSU 24-15 to clinch the SEC West and set up a big-time matchup with the Gators in December. I am also thankful top see LSU pick up its second loss because of all of the ass clowns out there who were trying to argue that if the Tigers, with an incredibly bad offense and decent defense, beat Alabama, won the SEC West and beat Florida in the SEC championship game, they should get to play for the national title. Really? Having the nation’s 67th-best scoring offense and the 100th-ranked offense in terms of yards per game makes you that good? LSU was never national-title quality and this loss reinforces that fact. Meanwhile, Iowa is one loss from frittering away not only unwarranted national title hopes, but also its Big Ten title hopes and a shot at a BCS bowl. Look for that loss to come next week, when the Hawkeyes travel to Columbus to take on No. 16 Ohio State, which pummeled No. 11 Penn State in Happy Valley by a 24-7 count. And as usual for OSU, erratic quarterback Terrell Pryor completed less than half of his passes yet his team managed to win in spite of him. Perhaps the most impressive performance came from No. 6 TCU, which b*tch-slapped San Diego State 55-12 in exactly the type of performance that fellow aspiring BCS buster Boise State needs to start putting on if it harbors any real BCS hopes. TCU has the nation’s best defense and used it to throttle the Aztecs, while Boise State had the national stage to itself Friday night and had to battle to the bitter end for a road win against sub-.500 Louisiana Tech 45-35. The most exciting game of the weekend was Cincinnati, relying on the many talents of backup quarterback Zack Colleros, outlasting a game Connecticut team 47-45 to remain unbeaten and in position to inch up the BCS leaderboard as teams above them fall off one by one. The Bearcats hung more than 700 yards of total offense on UConn, yet had to hang on as the Huskies mounted a ridiculous fourth-quarter rally to close within two before falling shot on a two-point conversion to tie the game. A close runner-up for game of the weekend was the barn-burner between No. 15 Houston and Tulsa. Houston trailed 45-37 with less than a minute left before a touchdown pass from Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Keenum pulled them to within two at 45-43. Their two-point try failed, but the Cougars managed a miraculous onside kick recovery followed by two key passes by Keenum and a 51-yard Matt Hogan field goal to win and keep their Conference USA title hopes alive. The day was not nearly as pleasant for No. 22 Notre Dame, which was stunned at home by Navy, 23-21, the Fighting Irish’s second home loss to Navy in three years. That kills any BCS dreams for coach Charlie Weis’ squad and if Notre Dame doesn’t run the table in impressive fashion and win its bowl game by a wide margin, this could be the loss that load the gun, pulls the trigger and kills his career at Notre Dame for his critics. To cap this off, how’s about a look at the continued misery of two once-proud programs now floundering in the mud of college football mediocrity (or worse)? As much as Bobby Bowden likes to remain indignant and pretend that he can continue coaching at Florida State as long as he’d like, a 40-24 loss at Clemson to drop his Seminoles to 4-5, 2-4 in ACC play, is further evidence that he needs to turn in his whistle and go home for good. Michigan coach Rich-er Fraud-riguez should suffer a similar fate even though he’s only been at UM for two seasons and Bowden has led FSU for decades. After a 4-0 start that included a win in their first conference game, the Wolverines have gone a hearty 1-5, with their lone win in that stretch over D 1-AA Delaware State. Last week, they were pulverized by unranked Illinois 38-13 and this week, Rich-er’s team blew a 24-10 halftime lead to lose at home to Purdue for the first time since 1966, 38-36. I’m not someone who ranks or rates college football weekends with a star rating or letter grade, but overall this was a solid weekend of action and provided a lot of satisfaction and validation for me. Let’s go ahead and score it as a success…………

- Cue that freaky, yelping loser Chris Crocker, because he cannot be happy right now. Crocker is the girly-voiced freak who posted the infamous YouTube clip lashing out at those who mocked Spears after one of her forgettable lip-syncing performances (they all run together, but this one was MTV-related, I think), concluding with the knockout line, “You’re lucky she even performs for you BASTARDS! Leave Britney alone!” So I have to imagine that whatever rock he’s been hiding under, Crocker is working on a little something for the Australian government over its recent treatment of his hero. Just one show into her Australian tour (sorry Aussies!), Spears is in the crosshairs of controversy as the government weighs in on her lip-synching act that caused angry fans to storm out of Spears' first performance. Spears took to the stage at the Perth Burswood Dome and slogged through all of three songs before fans were so turned off by her pretending to sing to pre-recorded vocals and dance clumsily and off-beat that they exited en masse. Just a suggestion for the insane Ms. Spears, but if you are going to be the most blatant lip-syncer of all-time, maybe you don’t want to throw up massive video screens on stage to magnify the issue. Of course, making the video screens impossible for many fans to see because of their poor placement is a nice way to combat that problem. It does defeat the purpose of having the screens up to begin with, but you can’t win ‘em all. "We are really big Britney fans, but it was crap," fan Josh Blee. "I thought after the music awards she would make up for it with a wicked concert, but she has let us down." Josh, my man, I feel bad for you. Clearly you have no musical taste whatsoever and even horrible, lip-syncing MTV awards show performance wasn’t enough to clue you in to what an absolute hack job Spears is. You and your fellow Aussies ponied up anywhere between $183 and $1,378 to see this train wreck. Sure, it’s Spears' first tour of the continent, because just because it’s the first doesn’t mean you need to be part of the disaster. If the swine flu was making its first appearance in your town, would you buy a ticket to be exposed to it just so you could say you were there when it happened? And yes, I just compared Britney Spears’ music to the swine flu and if you ask me, I probably owe the swine flu an apology. As for the government’s involvement, the country’s leaders recently called calls for full disclosure from celebrities and especially musical artists. Virginia Judge, the minister for fair trading for the Australian state of New South Wales, announced this week that she was considering requiring artists such as Spears to include a disclaimer on tickets if parts of their show would be pre-taped. "It is Britney's 'prerogative' to lip-sync, and it is my job to make sure consumers know what they are paying for up front," Judge said in a statement. "Australians would not tolerate a 'Mickey Mouse performance.” Ouch. Judge just hit Spears with a Mickey Mouse blast and for that I am sorry….Mickey. This could all be solved if Spears would just go away and stay away, but of course she’s not smart enough to do that……….

A Smallville recap, Google's empty gesture to users and Riot Watch! hits Iran

- After dancing around one another all season, the Kandorians and Clark Kent finally saw their paths cross on tonight’s Smallville. But first we found out how the Kandorians came to be on Earth in the first place. Seems that 20 years before the destruction of Krypton, there was a war on the planet and Zod and his battalion were involved. Before they entered battle, the planet’s ruling council mandated that samples of their blood be taken. That was because an elite scientist, none other than Clark Kent’s Kryptonian father Jor-El, had developed cloning technology that would allow them to be brought back to life if they were killed in battle. However, Jor-El did not want his technology used for this purpose and so he pulled the plug on the project. Moments later, a massive explosion decimated Kandor and the last memory of anyone who had their blood drawn was that moment. The two who didn’t, Jor-El and Zod, survived the explosion but found themselves in a tough spot. The council wanted Jor-El executed for disobeying their orders, but Zod intervened during his trial and saved his friend’s life. He expected that favor repaid when he brought Jor-El a lock of his dead son’s hair given to him by his wife and asked the master scientist to bring his child back to life. That was as Jor-El finally made good on the council’s order to complete his DNA project, the results of which would be put into the very Kryptonian orb that was sent to Earth and eventually unlocked by Tess Mercer in last season’s finale. Jor-El refuses to bring Zod’s son back to life, leading his former friend to declare that Jor-El is dead to him. Meanwhile, in the 20 years that follow that day and lead up to the destruction of Krypton, those whose DNA is inside the orb go about their lives and have families, experiences, etc. But because they show up on Earth as their clone selves from DNA collected 20 years prior to Krypton’s decimation, they have no memories of those two decades. On Earth and in the present, Clark Kent is feverishly searching for the Kandorians who have come. He asks Chloe for addition help and she calls in Oliver Queen, who flies Clark on his private jet to a desert in Turkey where one of the Kryptonian symbols hailing the arrival of an other-worldly visitor was seen. Tess’ scientists have been digging in the area, but so far have found nothing. Clark realizes that the secret may lay beneath the sand and uses his super-powered breath to blow the sand off of what turns out to be a huge version of his Kryptonian symbol burned into the Earth. CK realizes that his father must be on Earth and he didn’t even realize it. Having found what they came for, Clark and Ollie turn around and fly back to Smallville. Along the way, Clark wonders why the voice of Jor-El at the Fortress of Solitude didn’t tell him that the in-person version of himself was on the planet. Around this time, that in-person Jor-El is stepping onto the Kent Farm in Smallville. He goes there because when he visited Earth earlier in his life, he visited the farm, met to Kent’s and was so touched by their kindness that he later sent Clark to the farm when Krypton was being destroyed. Jor-El makes himself at home and is soon met by Chloe Sullivan, who shows up to take Clark’s dog Shelby for a walk. Once she learns who Jor-El is, she sets to filling him in on the parts of Krypton’s history that he doesn’t remember. Jor-El is happy that his son found a good home and is doing well, but he’s crushed to learn that his former friend Zod has turned out to be such a piece of crap. Out in the Kent barn, Jor-El looks through souvenirs from Clarks’ younger days but the happy times end when a team of Tess’ men arrive and are looking for a fight. To protect Chloe, Jor-El knocks her out with some sort of Kryptonian sleeper hold. He rushes off to fight Tess’ men, but after taking out the first two he is Tasered from behind by a third man and taken captive. Tess has him brought to the cellar at the Luthor Mansion, where she informs Jor-El that the reason she unlocked the orb was so the Kryptonians inside could save the Earth from mankind. Jor-El counters that they are not that different from humans and if Zod and his battalion regain their powers, they may end up destroying the planet instead of saving it. Tess replies that she’s actually helping his son by keeping Clark a secret from Zod, who thinks that Jor-El is actually the one with his Kryptonian powers and who is doing good deeds around Metropolis. To keep up the façade, Tess allows Zod and his men to “find” Jor-El in her cellar and after shooting down Zod’s advances on her personally, she watches with a wry smile as the Kandorians leave with Jor-El in tow. Zod brutally interrogates his former friend about how he was able to get his powers back on Earth. Jor-El tries to keep up the lie, but eventually he slips up and Zod realizes that Jor-El actually has a son and that son is the one who has the powers. He orders Jor-El released so he can lead them to that son. When Clark finally arrives back at the Kent Farm, he finds a bloodied, near-death Jor-El in the field. The reunion is short-lived, as Jor-El is about to die and his final words are a request for Clark to “Save Zod” from the monster he’s becoming. Oliver visits soon after this sad scene and vows to have Clark’s back from here on out as he looks to find out who killed his father and bring them to justice. CK then must bury a father for the second time, laying Jor-El to rest in the woods nearby with a Kryptonian symbol-engraved stone to mark the grave. He apologizes in advance for not saving Zod because he’s “seen what he becomes.” Speaking of Zod, he watches the scene from behind a nearby tree, smirking because he knows he’s found the Kryptonian he’s looking for. Does this mean Zod no longer needs to partnership he’s forged with Tess? Not sure. Also in this episode, Clark admitted to Tess for the first time that he is Kryptonian when he storms the mansion demanding to know where Jor-El is. Another revelation came when Clark learned that while he was away following the tragic events at the end of last season, she installed security cameras at the farm to keep an eye on the place. The cameras are still in place, to Clark’s dismay, although they do help him learn about the attack by Tess’ men. No Lois in this episode, although Clark does tell Chloe about their kiss at the end of last week’s episode. Chloe explains that when confronted with intimacy, Lois often runs, thus her being “out of town” this week. Overall this was a very interesting episode and one of the stronger ones so far this season. Tune in next week to see if it continues………

- Boy, this is not going well for embattled Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson. He was already having a terrible season, averaging less than four yards per carry and having no rushing touchdowns, when he got hooked by a Twitter follower, unleashed a gay slur at that follower and chased it with that same gay slur the next day when confronted by media members in the locker room. That came last week and the Chiefs wasted no time slapping him with a one-game suspension that will result in Johnson missing Sunday’s game against Jacksonville. You might think that having their team’s most-talented offensive player suspended, even in the midst of a tough season, would be a bad thing for Chiefs fans. Umm….not exactly. Not only are fans not disappointed to see Johnson, who has a history of run-ins with the law and off-field issues while in Kansas City, suspended and unavailable for this week’s game, they are busy logging signatures on a petition to keep him away from the field. Because Johnson is 75 yards from becoming the team's all-time leading rusher and some Chiefs fans don’t want an immature, (alleged) abuser of women and a malcontent as their franchise’s all-time leading rusher, they have started an online petition asking general manager Scott Pioli to deactivate Johnson and keep him on the sideline so he cannot pass the classy, respected Priest Holmes for the team rushing record, or join the team's Ring of Honor at Arrowhead Stadium. Holmes holds the Chiefs' rushing record with 6,070 yards; Johnson currently has 5,996 yards. "While we are thankful for his service, we feel that Larry has been a black eye on the organization and has no business being mentioned" among the team's all-time greats, the petition reads. "We are asking you, as fans of this team, this organization, and of the pride that this city has in the Chiefs, please deactivate Larry Johnson. Please do not let his name sit atop the all-time rushing leaders in Kansas City Chiefs history. He has never represented anything close to the values that we have for our Chiefs and it would be another dagger to the fans that continue to support this proud franchise. We are asking this as a favor to those of us who have supported this team long, long, long before you were brought in," This petition isn't exactly a massive declaration of fan dissent yet, boasting only 1,400 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon ET. I certainly appreciate the effort on behalf of the fans, but this is a futile effort to say the least. As much as the team’s ownership values the fans and their opinions, the bottom line is that Johnson didn’t commit an actual crime this time and if they feel he can stay in his shoes from here on out and help the team, he’ll be back on the field once his suspension without pay is over. No, having the fans who once cheered for you start a petition to prevent you from ever playing another down for their team can’t feel good, but at the end of the day Johnson will still be getting paid boatloads of jack to play football. Whether a few thousand fans hate him or not, that can’t suck…………

- Something I know about you, without ever having met you, if you keep a collection of goats on your property and you’re not a farmer: You are a weirdo. Point blank, people who keep goats around and don’t have any farming-related purpose for them are just a different breed. Southington (Conn.) resident Dan True is just such a man, having kept goats on his property for years. All of a sudden, his town has brought the hammer down and decreed that the goats must go. According to town officials, Southington zoning regulations state that an owner of farm animals needs at least 3 acres of land. Because True owns less than an acre, he doesn’t meet the standard. He received a cease and desist order from the zoning commission last month, after which he asked for and received an extension until the end of November. “I don’t know what to do,” True said. “Two of them are pregnant. Where do I take them? Who’s going to take them? Is there a shelter for goats?” Not sure on that, but I’m guessing not. You can see where True might be bent; he’s never had a single complaint about the goat from his neighbors. In fact, he says neighbors often stop by to feed them and have conversations with him. “I think it’s crazy that they want to get rid of these goats. They’re not hurting anybody,” mused neighbor Steve Clark. “They are entertainment for the kids and special needs people that do come by. I just don’t like the idea that they want to get rid of these.” If you believe the zoning department, they’ve been battling with True about his furry friends since 2003 and even if he’s not hurting anyone by keeping them, if they make the exception for him, they would have to make the exception for everyone else. Still, True does plan to go to the zoning board of appeals and ask for a special exemption. I can't see that going well for him, but as a supporter of wacky, kooky and bizarre people everywhere, I’ll be rooting for him…………

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Let’s sojourn to the Middle East, where Iranian protesters are taking it to the streets with angry, fire-throwing riots to make their voices heard against their repressive, totalitarian government. Protestors vow to continue their anti-government demonstrations indefinitely despite violent crackdowns and arrests. According to witnesses, the number of demonstrators rioting in the streets is in the tens of thousands. At their outset, the protests were time to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy. The date is celebrated as an official holiday in Iran and on Wednesday, tens of thousands showed up to hear anti-American speeches in front of the building that once housed the U.S. diplomatic corps and many chanted "Death to America." But the forward-thinkers among them realized it as a great chance to restart the anti-government protests that took place in June following a stolen/rigged/disputed presidential election. Knowing that the protests might reignite, Iranian authorities issued warnings for dissenters to stay home, but of course, The Man wasn’t going to hold these people down. They took it to the streets, chanting "Death to the Dictator" and others saying, "Obama - Either you're with us or with them.” They were met by riot police and pro-government Basij militia, resulting in explosive and bloody showdowns in the streets of Tehran. “We were running from the police in the alleys off of the main streets," said Soheil, an opposition protester. "Strangers were opening up their garages so we could hide until the police went away. I ran into a garage for about 15 minutes. When I went back into the main street, I saw riot police arresting a group of young men, then putting them inside a bank and locking the door. Only God knows what will happen to them after that." Running from them? No, my man, you need to be looking for something to set on fire and throw at them. Because many of the protestors from this week’s uprisings also took part in demonstrations over the summer, they should know that. Videos of the riots have already made it to YouTube and the images aren’t pretty: riot police clubbing protestors with their batons, throwing them around like rag dolls and generally using excessive force whenever and wherever possible. Protests also took place in smaller cities such as in the southwest Iran city of Shiraz, where demonstrators marched down the main street of Shiraz, yelling "Death to the dictator" and "We will not stand down to you, together we are united." Police attempted to slow or prevent demonstrations by blocking roads and sending out threatening messages, but to no avail. I am proud to say that my riot brothers in Iran, the country’s reformists and forward-thinkers, ignored those warnings and did their thing. They faced tear gas, batons, police in riot gear and all manner of resistance but they didn’t back down. Big ups to everyone who took part in these riots/protests, keep it up and make your voices heard…………

- The all-knowing, all-seeing behemoth that is Google is offering to give you a peak behind the curtain, so to speak. On Thursday, the Web’s most popular search engine released a feature that allows users to see and control data that Google has collected about them. Google Dashboard is the name of this new tech gadget and it provides an online summary of a user's Google files -- Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa photos and so on -- by collecting pre-existing privacy controls in one place. Dashboard users can review and delete recent Google searches, see recently opened and shared documents and check out their interactions with Google-powered sites such as YouTube. This new service comes in response to heavy criticism Google has received from politicians and privacy advocates for its data-collection practices. The company was none too transparent about its intentions, announcing the service with a blog post boastfully headlined, "Transparency, Choice and Control -- now complete with a Dashboard!" The post itself stated, “Over the past 11 years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users. Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data." As you’d expect, this new service wasn’t nearly enough to silence all of Google’s critics. Many of them insist that if Google really wanted to give users control over their privacy, it would allow them total anonymity from the company and its advertisers in terms of search data and online behavior. The general consensus seems to be that this isn't nearly a big enough step to protect users’ privacy and that Dashboard merely collects a bunch of already-existing pieces of information into one place without adding anything new to the mix. In other words, it’s a hollow gesture by a massive corporate entity and has no real teeth to it. For some odd reason, I’m not surprised………