A new layer of American cyber-protection, why not to lie about your fish catch in Texas and Green Day goes Broadway

- Cecil Tidwell of Buckeye, Ariz. is a tougher, harder dude than I. Tidwell was kayaking down the Gila River near Rainbow Valley Sunday when rough waters brought an abrupt end to his intended two-hour ride. He repeatedly became stuck on rocks and flipped his kayak twice, after which Tidwell decided to get out of the boat and hike back to his vehicle. That’s when disaster struck. Just half a mile into his hike, he felt a sharp, severe pain in his leg and looked down to see that he had been bitten by a snake. “It hit me on the leg. I didn’t see the snake,” said Tidwell. Making matters worse, he couldn’t call for help because his cell phone had fallen into the water and was not functional. Out in the middle of nowhere and dealing with a snake bite whose severity or potential for lethality could not be known, Tidwell was quite literally in a potential life-or-death situation. All he could do was keep hiking, so he pressed on. "By this time, my leg is just killing me," Tidwell recalled. A call for help was eventually made once he was able to contact his wife and even then, things didn’t exactly go swimmingly for Tidwell. He spotted the rescue helicopter overhead, but it didn't see him. “I can't explain the emotion of sitting there looking at this desert and wondering if the person you love is alive or dead," said his wife, Nancy Cook-Tidwell. Knowing he had to keep going, Tidwell hiked another five miles before reaching an area with some traffic. “No one would stop -- like 100 cars must have gone by and I was getting kind of disheartened," he said with exasperation. Amazingly, it was half an hour before a car full of guys came by and stopped. Tidwell received the help he needed eventually got to the hospital more than four hours after the bite. “Overall, I'd say he was pretty lucky in terms of severity of rattlesnake bites. His bite was certainly on the more mild side," said Dr. Michael Levine, Banner Poison Control Center. For all he went through, Tidwell managed to leave the hospital the next day, walking on a pair of crutches. He has vowed to steer clear of the Gila River in the future and perhaps stay out of the kayak for a while………

- Protecting the United States on the cyber front is a concern many Americans blow right past on a daily basis, but the issue is not lost on the Obama administration and to head up the fight on cyber-terror, the administration has nominated Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander to head the new U.S. Cyber Command. Alexander spent much of this week taking part in confirmation hearings, where he tried to allay fears that cyberspace will be militarized by the United States to protect the country from attacks on civilian computer networks. Senators grilled Alexander on the possibility that his new position could violate laws that prevent the military from operating in domestic issues. If confirmed for the new position, Alexander would add it to his current gig leading the National Security Agency (NSA), which also has a key role in protecting the nation’s computer networks by monitoring domestic electronic communications. Apparently senators see a military title out on front of someone’s name and assume that means the individual will bring a militaristic approach to anything they are a part of. In his new role, the general would oversee the military's cyber defense efforts for the Pentagon. "This is not about efforts to militarize cyberspace," Alexander said. "Rather it's about safeguarding the integrity of our military system. My goal if confirmed will be to significantly improve the way we defend ourselves in this domain." The Pentagon's new Cyber Command, or CyberCom, has been online since September and basically been in the crosshairs of overanxious lawmakers since Day One. CyberCom is in charge of defending the U.S. military's computer networks and would operate in the same theater as the civilian defenders in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the NSA. The command’s role is vital because it possesses more powerful tools to fight and defend against cyber attacks than does the DHS. During a potential attack, when time is of the essence, that difference could be vital. The basis on which the concerned senators are making their queries is the principle banning the U.S. military from operating within the boundaries of the United States unless authorized by the president. Currently, DHS is on charge of cybersecurity inside the border of the United States and Alexander promised to work within the confines of the law. He faced all manner of hypothetical questions from the senators and appeared to handle all of them fairly well. Will Alexander help make America safer electronically? Hopefully so, but then again, his appointment and the creation of his new command could be viewed as Big Brother growing another arm to reach into the lives of the average citizen……….

- If there’s one thing you don’t cheat or lie about in freaking Texas, it is your catch in a fishing tournament. A Texan could, theoretically, be elected President of the United States and lie about most everything during his term in office, even to the point of starting an illegitimate, bogus war that cost tens of billions of dollars and the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. That Texan could commit those acts and remain largely beloved in his home state, but lying about how many pounds of sea critters you caught in a tournament - well, them are fightin’ words. Robby Rose of Garland, Tex. finds himself in this position and he has no one to blame but himself. Last fall, Rose crammed a lead weight into a bass during a fishing tournament in order to boost his final total. This is no newbie trying to cheat and put a trophy on his mantle to impress people; Rose is a competitive bass fisherman who was competing for a $55,000 bass boat tournament grand prize. The boat was to go to the angler who caught the biggest fish by weight. After Rose turned in the fish and went to the polygraph area, officials noticed the bass had nearly sunk to the bottom of the tank. Sensing something fishy (pun intended), officials pulled the creature from the tank and a lump was found in its belly. They informed Rose that they intended to cut the bass open and at that point, he massaged the fish and removed a one-pound lead weight from it. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden launched a full investigation and determined that Rose stuffed his fish during the 2009 Bud Light Trail Boss Big Bass Tournament on Lake Ray Hubbard on Oct. 24. You might think the situation would end there, with Rose being disqualified and perhaps banned from the tournament for life. But this being Texas, where everything is bigger, the case continued to grow. Rose Rockwall County District Attorney Kenda Culpepper decided to charge Rose with attempted theft, a crime to which Rose plead guilty this week. "As far as we were concerned, the case was about a $55,000 bass boat, not a 10-pound fish," Culpepper explained. On Tuesday Rose pled guilty to attempted theft over $20,000 but less than $100,000 and was sentenced to five years probation, 15 days in jail and loss of his fishing license for five years. Why do I have a feeling that it’s the last of those three aspects of his punishment that Rose will be the most upset about…………

- All of the talk about the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since this year’s incarnation ended has centered on the possibility of expanding the field from 65 to 96 teams. That’s still the central point, but the reality is that the reason the expansion of the field is coming up in the first place is that the NCAA has a clause allowing it to opt out of its current television contract with CBS. The NCAA is intent on exercising that option and now has an April 29 meeting that could decide whether its men's basketball tournament grows from 65 to 96 teams. That decision would also mean opening up the TV contract itself for bidding and along with CBS and Turner Broadcasting, ESPN is also looking to get in on the auction. According to the Sports Business Journal, CBS and Turner have offered a 14-year deal averaging $840 million per year. ESPN, which has apparently made an offer, said Friday it won't increase its current bid to televise the event. Sources close to the situation with direct knowledge of the talks" placed ESPN’s bid at an average of "roughly $800 million per year over 14 years." With either deal, the NCAA would clearly upgrade from its original 11-year, $6 billion deal with CBS for the 65-team tournament. If CBS and Turner combine forces to televise a 96-team event, games would potentially be on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV (huh?). The new deal would also have CBS and Turner would alternating years televising the Final Four. The NCAA insists that no deal has been reached and that furthermore, it has not even decided whether or not to opt out of the current one. Uh-huh, sure you haven’t. The fact that the NCAA asked television networks for their thoughts on what they would bid for the tournament when it sent out a request for proposals earlier this year made it perfectly clear that opting out is exactly what they plan to do. What’s interesting to note, according to the Sports Business Journal, is that CBS did not make money on this year's tournament. As for the decision to on the TV contract, interim NCAA president Jim Isch has that power, while the Division I Board of Directors, made up of school presidents and chancellors, has the call on whether to expand the bracket beyond 65 teams. Given that the NCAA makes approximately 98 percent of its money from the NCAA men's basketball tournament, expect the decision to opt out, expand the tournament and seek a richer deal to come well before the July 31 deadline……….

- As a fan of punk rock and of legitimate punk acts, I’m not sure how I feel about the boys of Green Day putting together a musical version of their 2004 album American Idiot. On the one hand, Green Day used to be a legit, credible punk outfit that churned out attitude-filled, anti-establishment tunes and was an unheralded, rising group that hadn’t yet hit the big time. But that was long before their American Idiot days, before they became an MTV staple, a favorite among corporate America as they look to pretend that they are punk-friendly and reach out to younger people and basically the poster boys for hitting the prime time and selling out. On top of that, I am not a huge Broadway guy and so there is zero chance of me going to see this show anyhow. Either way, the band has been making the rounds on the late-night show circuit and pimping their newest creation as they aspire to follow in the footsteps of other rockers like The Who that have ventured into the world of musicals. Green Day’s Broadway show premieres April 20 at Broadway's St. James Theatre and is produced by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer. The musical hasn’t even opened yet and already it’s catching the eye of one major Hollywood player: Tom Hanks, who s has reportedly expressed interest in taking the musical to the big screen. "It was such a big crazy idea, but that's what you're supposed to do when you're in a band," lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC show recently. "We had the song 'American Idiot,' which is very political and about feeling pissed off about the way things were going for eight years with the worst president we ever had.” Heading to Broadway isn’t the only place Green Day has channeled its inner Gene Simmons and looked to cash in on its name and reputation to pad the ol’ bank account. Fans can also play tracks from American Idiot on the Green Day installment of the Rock Band video game due out June 8. Following the musical’s launch, Green Day will head abroad for festival gigs and other shows through early July before heading back to the U.S. in August for dates with AFI, including a stop at Lollapalooza. In Chicago. Should be a busy summer for Billie Joe and the boys………..