WWE Suspends Ten Wrestlers: Drug Violations are Reason

World Wrestling Entertainment, under tremendous pressure from the public, Congress, and the media, suspended ten of its wrestlers--including some of their main event talent-- for drug violations.

Suspended were Mr Kennedy (the hypocrite), Chavo Guerrero (brother of the late WWE champion Eddie Guerrero), Gregory Helms, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Shoichi Funaki, Charlie Haas, Umaga, William Regal and Edge.

These wrestlers are in trouble because a pharmacy that they all do business with sells steroids to people without requiring them to see a doctor or having a doctor's prescription. The wrestlers were discovered as being clients by police who have access to the seized records of the pharmacy in question.

Prosecutors contacted WWE who suspended the wrestlers. Also linked to this company via seized records are accused murderer and deceased WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, and the late Brian "Crush" Adams as well as Eddie Guerrero.

I think it's too late to save this generation of wrestlers from early death. They know the terrible consequences of their steroid abuse; they know they're breaking their work rules and, more importantly--the law; and they know the long-term effects that steroid abuse has on their health. Yet they use the drugs regardless of the consequences.

There comes a point where the damage becomes irreversible and it becomes a matter of time before they have fatal heart attacks. I think we're in for a lot of sad news in the coming months and years as wrestlers continue to die young from their steroid and drug abuse. For some it's already too late to save their lives, even if they stop this insanity immediately. The damage doesn't reverse itself if the abuse stops. It festers and then strikes when the unsuspecting wrestler least expects it.

I think wrestlers who abuse steroids and drugs are too damned selfish to think about what's going to become of their wives and children after they die. It's utter stupidity and sheer madness to risk one's family on a gamble as they do, every time they inject themselves with liquid death.

Brain cells must be the first thing to go. What other explanation is there?

Bye Bye Gonzales: Now They Can Get Someone to Take Control of Justice Department

Washington is breathing a sigh of relief as Alberto Gonzales tendered his resignation today as Attorney General. At the same time, everyone is holding their breath waiting for President Bush to name the next target on the shooting range. The confirmation process is likely to be a brutal affair.

I didn't like Gonzales any more than I liked Reno or Ashcroft. That's three Attorney Generals in a row who did more damage to the rule of law regarding the Department of Justice than any three prior to them.

All three used their power to shield their respective Presidents from needed probes to determine if they broke the law.

The DOJ needs to get a handle on the Patriot Act as the FBI has been abusing the living daylights out of it since it's inception. Gonzales gave the impression that he didn't know what was happening in his department. That's why I didn't like him.

Good bye, Gonzales. I hope the President does a much better job in selecting someone who isn't one of his friends for the Attorney General position. The DOJ is not the President's personal shield against investigations of wrongdoing. But the last two Presidents have treated it like that, and that needs to end. And the sooner the better.

Democrats Punish Florida for Voting to Have Very Early Primary: Michigan Will Be Next if Bill Proposing Early Primary Here Passes

Florida officials have been told by the Democratic National Committee that they will not have a single vote counted during the primary elections if it doesn't move it's primary into February. The DNC has a rule that says only certain primaries are to be held in January of an election year; Florida chose to ignore the rule.

It's actually a continuation of a double-standard. Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are the only states allowed to have a primary election in January.

There should be no primaries earlier than June 1st. Does anyone out there really have the stomach for Clinton/Obama vs. Guiliani/McCain for nine months, following a too-long primary season with too many candidates? BLEAH!

A three month Presidential campaign is much more preferable.

But Michigan is heading into trouble as well, if their proposal to move their primary into mid-January passes. It probably won't, but it's passed one house already. I don't think the other house of the Michigan legislature and Democratic Governor Granholm would allow this to move forward.

Disenfranchisement of voters on either side is not a good thing. Elections need to be free of this perception, or else we'll have a repeat of the 2000 Presidential Election fiasco in Florida. It's unlikely that the DNC will back down, so I hope Florida does.

People Who Engage in Any Part of Dogfighting are SCUM: They Need to Be in Jail

It's high time that authorities go after those who are engaged in dogfighting "entertainment" and punish everyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. That means those who raise the dogs to fight, those who organize the fights, those who attend the fights, those who gamble on them, and everyone in between who have knowledge about organized dogfights that take place and fail to report them.

This is a cruel, inhumane activity that requires aggressive community policing and prosecutions of those who are involved.

In this matter alone, I am in total agreement with PETA, who has been calling for more aggressive enforcement of the laws for quite some time.

The arrest and conviction of a prominent professional football player--whose name will not be mentioned by me--has brought some much-needed spotlight to a problem that is growing around the country. It has to STOP.

Edwards and Obama Employ Their Wives to Attack Hillary's Positions: Canidates' Families Are Getting Into It

John Edwards and Barak Obama have been taking a back seat to their wives lately, allowing them to go after Hillary Clinton's positions themselves.

Are Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Obama running for President themselves? It sounds an awful lot like they are, telling their husbands to shut up and stand aside while they take care of Hillary as well as their other opponents.

Elizabeth Edwards attacked Obama's "holier-than-thou" attitude on Iraq, and Clinton on her "lack of leadership on health care and Iraq."

Michelle Obama went after Clinton's example of family: "If you can't run your own house, you certainly cannot run the White House." But she has also joked about her husband's big ears, his not putting the butter away, his funny name, and so on. Analysts aren't sure of what to make of her.

I'm waiting for Bill Clinton to jump in on this so that the three-way dance will be complete.

Seems like the spouses of the candidates are really getting into this campaign, which is a little unusual. And the candidates are not returning fire, either, ignoring the barbs coming from the candidates' families.

It's been quite a while since the Democratic side has been this interesting in a Presidential campaign.

Congress's Job Approval Rating: 18% vs. President Bush's 32%:

The Gallup Poll released it's most recent batch of job approval numbers for Congress and President Bush. 18% of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing it's job, while 32% approve of the way President Bush is doing his job.

This Congress is tied with the 1992 Congress, which was in the middle of a check-bouncing scandal at the time the poll was taken back then.

This is precisely why I think that control of Congress is going to change hands back and forth for some time to come. The American public is in the sort of mood that they'll turn politicians out of office until they find someone who does the job that they were sent to Washington to do. I think we're in for a lot of one-term Representatives and Senators from both parties.

And I don't think that's a bad thing either.

Utah Mining President Bungles Rescue Communication: Families Outraged by His Bombastic Comments

I've been watching the story of the mine collapse in Utah with a growing sense of horror.

The president/owner of the Murray mining company has acted irresponsibly, giving false hope to the families of the missing miners. And he kept leading them on. It's just like the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia, where communications got royally screwed up and celebrations of joy went to sobs of sorrow within seconds.

They've all but given up the rescue efforts, saying that the miners may never be found. Unacceptable. The families need to be able to bury their loved ones.

I thought that they would have learned something from the Sago fiasco, but Mr. Murray got up there and re-created the same mistakes from the very first day. That was no earthquake that caused the collapse; seismologists and the government say that the seismic activity was the mine collapsing. The lack of seismic activity in areas beyond the mine itself is telling.

This guy is more bombastic than Jacques Chirac, the former president of France. For someone with as much experience as he has, he should have known better.

And now he's disappeared from the public eye, leaving the breaking of the bad news to his partners and subordinates. This guy needs to stay away from the press and the families.

Congress Sends Letters to Pro Wrestling Companies Requesting Copies of Drug Policies: WWE and TNA On the List

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) has received a letter from Congress, requesting copies of their drug policies and other information. And WWE has received a request detailing it's drug testing policy and practices.

The letter released by TNA President Dixie Carter reads:

"We are writing to request information regarding the response of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to allegations of pervasive use of steroids and other drugs by professional wrestlers. The tragic death of Mr. Chris Benoit and his family has focused attention on the seriousness of the problem. Illegal steroid use in professional sports has gained plenty of attention, but the record suggests that the problem is most pervasive and deadly in pro wrestling, an unregulated form of entertainment that is watched on TV and in arenas by an estimated 20 million fans a week, including children. See e.g., attached USA TODAY investigative report, "High death rate lingers behind fun facade of pro wrestling."

As Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the subcommittee with jurisdiction over sports-related matters, we are monitoring this situation very closely. We request a briefing on this matter at the earliest possible time. We also are considering a hearing on this matter, and whether there is a need for Federal regulation to protect the health and safety of the wrestlers.

In the 109 th Congress, the Subcommittee held a hearing on "Steroids in Sports: Cheating the System and Gambling Your Health," and reported legislation, H.R. 1862, the Drug Free Sports Act World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. implemented a Talent Wellness Program in February 2006. Please advise the Subcommittee by close of business on August 28, 2007, whether TNA has adopted a similar program.

If so, please provide the Subcommittee with a copy of your program, as well as any other relevant records detailing the specifics of the program as well as TNA' s implementation and interpretation thereof. Records include memoranda, correspondence, and electronic communications. Please also describe any and all actions that TNA has taken - either within or outside any such program - to detect and prevent steroid abuse. Information, including the aggregate number of random tests conducted in each month this year, would assist the Subcommittee in its review, and we request that you provide that information, as well. We are sending similar information requests to other wrestling leagues.

Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact us, or have your staff contact (snip).

While I think this is good that Congress is focusing attention on the steroid problem in pro wrestling, I'm not sure that it will do any good. The culture inside organizations like TNA and WWE have to change first. Congress can subpoena Vince McMahon and other people like him and demand answers, but threats won't sway someone like McMahon, who's already beaten the feds in court.

All that will happen is McMahon will do skits in his WWE programming, like he did when the Parents Television Council (PTC) tried to get his weekly Raw! and Smackdown! programs off the air. He created a tag team called the Right to Censure; they wore suits as their wrestling attire and "converted" WWE stars with the most obnoxious gimmicks to their "cause", which was to get immorality, barely clothed women, bad language and foreign objects like tables or chairs out of the squared circle. The Godfather became the Goodfather. It was quite clever. The PTC didn't appreciate the parody.

Vince has already started a parody of Congress with his character, Mr. McMahon, dominating the hearing and then strutting out of the hearing room with a satisfied smirk on his face.

He'll dare Congress to take him on. He'll make a fortune in the process by putting more asses in the seats to watch his antics. It's happened EVERY time someone's gone after him.

Should be interesting to watch. Vince is cocky enough and arrogant enough to thumb his nose up at Congress--and his high-powered and high-priced attorneys will probably get him off of whatever they throw at him.

Enough, Already: O.J. Simpson's Book Should Never See the Light of Day, No Matter Where the Money Goes

Fred Goldman has managed to secure the rights to all proceeds from the sale of O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It" and plans to have the damned thing published.

Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, is shocked and encouraging everyone to boycott the book. I am in complete agreement with her call. That rag (aka Simpson's book) should never see the light of day. I never expected Fred Goldman, father of the late Ron Goldman, to have the rag published in the name of the victims.

As is expected, the families of the victims are not in agreement over the fate of this book. Simpson was cleared of criminal wrongdoing but was found responsible for their deaths in a civil suit and ordered to pay $38 million. Every penny that has gone into that settlement has been due to court action, not Simpson paying up voluntarily.

I was against this book when word broke that it had been written (see November 16, 2006 entry: OJ Simpson is OUT of His Mind...) I'm still against it. It's based on pure evil, no matter where the money goes. Fred Goldman is wrong to do this.

Rove Steps Down: So?

Karl Rove and President Bush got on the TV this morning and announced that Rove was leaving the Bush Administration and heading home to Texas to re-enter the private sector.

Here's the $64,000 question: so what?

The sheer amount of panting and labored breathing coming from the news media and the Democrats this morning (and all day) was hilarious! They couldn't get Rove charged with political crimes, couldn't get him to testify before Congress, and couldn't get him to budge on any issues. The Dems and the press failed to take out Rove. He left of his own accord, when the timing was right to him.

The only thing they're trying to hang their hats on now is the "symbolic end of the Bush Administration." They've been saying that since the day after Gore tried and failed to litigate his way into the White House. They've already been there and done that with the "end of Bush" thingy.

The irony here is too delicious to ignore. What will the Congressional Democrats do if Bush keeps winning political fights without his political attack dog around? Who will they blame? They may come to rue the day that Rove left town. It was easy for them to blame "Bush's Brain" for their defeats, but if Bush takes them head-on by himself and wins, especially on Iraq war funding, who will deserve the title of "idiot" more?

I'm looking forward to watching and finding out.

Another Former WWE Wrestler Dies: Brian "Crush" Adams Dead at Age 44

Here we go again.

Brian Adams was found dead by his wife earlier today. He was 44.

Adams competed in the WWE/WWF as "Crush", "Koko Crush", and was a former member of the tag team known as Demolition, was a member of the Nation of Domination, and was also a member of the WWE biker gang Disciples of Apocalypse. When he was in World Championship Wrestling, he wrestled under both his own name and as "KroniK."

He later moved on to boxing, but was injured and returned to wrestling. He was forced to retire after sustaining spinal injuries in the ring in 2003.

They just keep dying so young. 2007 is turning out to be one of the worst years in wrestling history for wrestler deaths. So far this year, the wrestling world has lost "Bam Bam" Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Sensational Sherri, Biff Wellington, Nancy Benoit, Chris Benoit, John Kronus, and Brian Adams. Every one of them was in their 30s or 40s.

And it's going to keep on happening. The types of drugs these people are taking are so destructive that the damage they cause to a wrestler's body do not heal or go away; it kills them.

If drug abuse is as widespread as many in the wrestling industry are saying in the wake of the Benoit double-murder/suicide, it begs the question:

How many of today's wrestlers will live to see their 45th birthday? I don't think I want to know.

GOP Field Finally Starts to Narrow: Gov. Thompson Pulls Out of Race

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson dropped out of the GOP race for his party's presidential nomination today, after placing sixth in the Iowa straw polls.

He's the smartest one out of all of them. I like Tommy Thompson, but he wasn't the right man in the right place at the right time. This time. He may be a Vice-Presidential candidate down the road.

There are still too many candidates. More GOP candidates should follow Thompson's example and help to clear the board. Those who weren't sure of where they stand with potential voters know now.

Results:

1) Gov. Mitt Romney 31%.
2) Gov. Mike Huckabee 18.1%
3) Sen. Sam Brownback 15.3%
4) Tom Tancredo 13.7%
5) Ron Paul 9.1%
6) Tommy Thompson 7.3%
7) Fred Thomson 1.4%
8) Rudy Giuliani 1.2%
9) Duncan Hunter 1.2%
10) John McCain <1%
11) John Cox <1%

Should be interesting to see if any of the others throw in the towel too.

Foam Penetrated Heat Shield All the Way to Endeavour's Belly: Worst Case Scenario Playing Out Before Our Eyes

The news from orbit isn't looking good. The space shuttle Endeavour's heat shield has been cracked all the way through to the shuttle's felt underbelly from where a piece of foam hit it during last week's take-off from Cape Canaveral.

The astronauts may have to use untested repair techniques to try and repair the damage before they attempt to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

A 2005 New York Times story also reported that shuttles have been hit 15,000 times by debris and posted a schematic of where the hits were on the shuttles over the years. Here's what it looks like:

Hopefully NASA's plans to deal with something as major as this will work. The last thing NASA needs is is to launch another shuttle on a rescue mission, knowing that the rescue shuttle may be damaged during take-off as well.

It would be fascinating to see the tests that NASA is conducting to determine if the heat shield will work now that it's been compromised. Hopefully the news is good and they'll be able to bring the crew and shuttle home safely, with minimal risk to everyone up there. No one wants to mourn the loss of another shuttle crew.

Once they're back on Earth safely, NASA needs to look at whether it's worth keeping the shuttle program going for another three years, or if they should pull the plug and divert their resources into producing the next generation space vehicle. I'd rather see them do the latter.

Shuttle Endeavour Damaged During Lift-Off; Ice Believed to Have Hit Shuttle's Belly

The space shuttle Endeavour was apparently damaged during lift-off from Cape Canaveral yesterday; video showed ice (or something) hitting Endeavor's belly, causing damage to some thermal heat tiles about 58 seconds into the launch.

NASA discovered some kind of gouge in one of the tiles, which is causing no small amount of concern at Mission Control. They may have to do a spacewalk to attempt a repair of the tile. It appears that there's just no way to prevent ice or foam from coming off the external fuel tank or booster rockets during the violent blast-off and atmospheric escape.

Since they can't get rid of this problem, it makes me wonder if every shuttle ever launched has sustained damage like this during take-off?

It took the destruction of the Columbia to make NASA realize how serious this problem is. It doesn't matter what they do to upgrade the rest of the shuttle; if it's pierced by foam, ice or other debris, and they don't detect it, the shuttle is doomed. The loss of the Columbia proved it.

It's a wonder we haven't lost more shuttles.

Predictions on Pakistan Appear to Be Coming True Sooner Than Expected: This is Not Good News

Uh oh.

I had written last week about Senator Obama's rash words promising to send U.S. troops into Pakistan without permission to hunt al-Qaeda down. I had written that it could easily expand into a mission to secure Pakistan's nuclear weapons ("Some Candidates Want to Substitute One War for Others: What's the Point?" once U.S. forces crossed the border to start hunting al-Qaeda.

Look at what was on CNN's web site today.

The Pakistani issue that I raised may become moot if President Bush decides to secure Pakistan's nuclear arms before he leaves office. What are we getting into now??!

Two Judges Threaten to Have the Other Arrested Over Scheduling Dispute: Now THAT'S Courtroom Drama

Two court judges engaged in an argument over scheduling of the same courtroom threatened to issue contempt of court warrants against the other, which could have lead to both of them being arrested.

Now THAT would have been funny! They should proceed with their threats immediately. Some diabolical genius would probably be able to sell tickets for the public to come watch their tax dollars hard at work.

Someone ought to go down there with a couple of push-pins and let some of the hot air out of that courthouse.

Broken House Computer Adds to Trouble in House: Some Members Have Interesting Comments on This

A computer that displays live vote tallies while House voting is in progress malfunctioned today, leading to more tension on top of yesterday's disgraceful actions in the House of Representatives.

One representative complained that he couldn't possibly vote because he couldn't see what his party was doing. Here's a thought: why don't they forget about fixing that machine, and vote based on their own beliefs and values, not their party's??!

If they can't do their jobs, why don't they resign and let someone with more guts make the tough calls?

There was a reason that President Washington spoke out against political parties during his farewell address of 1796:

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy....

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

I think Washington's words ought to be considered carefully by politicians who need a machine to tell them how their party is voting before they cast their own vote.

More Incompetence on the Hill: House Flies Apart at the Seams

The Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives are raising their childish antics to new lows.

I'm not completely sure what happened, but the Republicans claimed an immigration vote went their way late last night by a count of 215-213. The Democratic speaker and his aides claimed that the vote was tied 214-214 and failed. Following the close of the voting time, votes started to change, which according to this article, was "strange." The Democrats then announced that the "actual vote" was 216-212.

The hollering started almost immediately; the Democrats offered to do a re-vote, and all hell broke loose. Both parties starting screaming "shame" at one another, it degenerated into a full-scale farce. Republicans stormed off the House floor in protest, and the original vote disappeared off the record as if it had never happened. What the??!

While both parties have played tricks on one another to pass legislation in the past, last night's attempted theft of a straight up-and-down vote was disgraceful, and so was the purging of the record of the vote.

Both parties share the blame in this disgrace; and I hope it doesn't happen again.

What would happen if national elections were to be held like this? We vote on November 7th from when the polls open at 7am to when the polls officially close.

If elections were held the way that last night's vote in the House was done, we'd be going back in and changing our votes after they had been cast, hours after the polls had closed. And then, after the storm of protest from people over laws being violated, those in authority erased all records of the election, leaving total chaos.

This is just more proof that this Congress is broken.

And one note to Congressional leaders: just because the other party did it to you doesn't mean YOU have to do it to them. Shame on all of you!

Some Candidates Want to Substitute One War for Others: What's the Point?

A lot of the Presidential candidates have come out opposed to the war in Iraq, but have made some comments in recent weeks and months about starting wars elsewhere.

Obama wants to send troops into Pakistan to fight al-Qaeda. This could easily translate into a seizure of Pakistan's nuclear weapons if radicals capture control of the government of Pakistan while U.S. troops are in the country hunting for bin-Laden. While doing that may not be a bad thing, it would be inserting U.S. forces into an already complicated situation.

Dodd is open to using force against Iran. So is Clinton, Edwards (while pushing for a nonaggression pact with Iran), Obama (who has also said that it would be a "profound mistake to initiate war with Iran"), Giuliani (who might use a first strike option with nuclear weapons), McCain, and Romney.

I don't like this idea of pulling troops out of Iraq and sending them straight after Pakistan or Iran. If we're going to pull the troops out, they should do it, then retool and rebuild the military first. Sending a weary army into Iran against an enemy who's spoiling for a fight is not a good idea.

I think they ought to postpone the tough talk and deal with problems we already have, not talking about making more problems.

Great Dane Shoots Owner: Don't Blame the Dog

It seems like there is a story such as this one in the media every so often; this one was a little different due to the comments of the "victim's" fiance.

A Great Dane bumped an end-table which had a loaded handgun on it. The gun fell off the table and went off with the impact. The round hit the owner, requiring him to be rushed to the hospital, where he's in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back.

The fiance says she's afraid of what he will do to the dog when he gets out of the hospital.

Seems to me that he should leave the dog alone; it wasn't the dog's handgun; the dog didn't load the gun and leave it where it could be knocked off the table. I also wonder if the gun's safety was on or off. The dog's not responsible for that either.

Improper handling and storage of the gun is responsible. In other words, the owner is responsible. If what the fiance is saying is correct, a few anger management courses and firearm training classes might be in order here.