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PrideFC has announced that elite Russian heavyweight Sergey Kharitonov will face Dutch sensation Alastair “Demolition Man” Overeem at its February show, titled Pride 31: Dreamers. Overeem has fast risen to prominence with a very impressive showing at last year’s 205lb tournament, stopping Vitor Belfort and Igor Vovchanchyn with guillotine chokes, and nearly finishing tournament winner Mauricio Rua in […]
NBC’s “Dateline” investigates the perils of social networking websites, and what they find is shocking. When “Dateline” surfed MySpace, it found scenes of binge drinking, apparent drug use, teens posing in underwear, and other members simulating sex, and in some cases even having it.
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Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes “Internet companies have long been dwarfed in Washington by the lobbying might of telecoms. But now some firms are beefing up their D.C. operations, the Wall Street Journal reports, partly in an effort to push legislation that would prevent telephone companies from charging Internet companies for guaranteed fast delivery of Internet content. A telecom lawyer hired by Google last summer to build the company’s Washington office tells the WSJ, ‘Carrier control over Internet activity is bad for consumers. … We’re not worried consumers won’t be able to reach Google. The real threat is to the next Google and to the services that are important for consumers.’”
Christian Cage walked out as Jarrett celebrated the victory. Christian said he didn’t have comedy tonight. Good to see he’s expanding his repertoire. Christian said he has a promise from TNA management that he will face Jarrett for the NWA Title at the February PPV. So much for the suspense of the open contract. Christian said he would fulfill his destiny of becoming NWA Champion and relieving TNA fans of watching Jarrett as champion.
Patchw0rk F0g writes “On this, the anniversary of the Challenger disaster, Jay Barbree has a moving and in-depth piece on this international disaster.” From the article: “During several earlier shuttle missions, disaster did everything it could to crawl into the shuttle launch system and turn it into tumbling flaming wreckage. The primary O-rings on those flights suffered severe erosion from superheated gases, sometimes accompanied by lesser erosion. And the erosion had occurred after launch temperatures much higher than on this freezing Florida day — 53 degrees was the lowest launch-time temperature up to that time. The booster engineers felt helpless. For months, they had been studying the O-ring seal problem. They knew a disaster was coming, but no one stepped forward and said, ‘Stop this train until it’s fixed.’”
I attended the E27 Technology Conference today at Stanford University. Startups founded by entrepreneurs who are less than 27 years old were eligible to present. With a couple of exceptions these companies were all new to me, and a few have the potential to be real winners. The E27 founders did a great job of […]
Offensive line coach Jack Henry agreed to a two-year contract with the San Diego Chargers on Saturday, his second stint with the club.
The Washington Post today reminds us of Patriot Act II, drafted by the Justice Department lawyers in February, 2003 and submitted secretly to members of Congress. When news of the draft leaked, the Justice Department claimed it was just something being debated, not something intended to be introduced.
Why it matters now: It undermines Bush and Gonzales’ claims that Bush didn’t need Congress’ approval or an amendment of FISA to engage in his warrantless electronic surveillance program, instituted in 2001.
Some background: Patriot Act II was officially called the Domestic Security Surveillance Act of 2003. The Center for Public Integrity still has the complete bill on their website, (text here, pdf) along with the control sheet (pdf) from the Office of Legislative Affairs showing that it was directed to House Speaker Denny Hastert and Veep Dick Cheney.
Sen. John F. Kerry cut short a European trip yesterday and returned to Washington, where he was greeted with praise from liberal groups and ridicule from Republicans for his role in postponing a confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. (from Washington Post) [Bandelier]
AP - Oprah Winfrey is not just one of the most popular talk show hosts in history, she is the woman behind a brand — including her production company, magazine and book club — that has the power to influence millions.
AP - Television news director Arthur Bloom, who helped found the newsmagazine "60 Minutes" and donated his stopwatch to create the show's iconic ticking image, died Saturday of cancer. He was 63.
The Palestinian vote was a win for democracy - but also for a radical group the US rejects. [Christian Science Monitor]