Monday, October 8, 2007

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has investigated Milan and their goalkeeper Dida over the incident with the Celtic fan that led to his substitution against Celtic. A fan ran on to the field immediately after Celtic striker Scott McDonald scored the eventual winning goal and appeared to have slightly touched Dida. Dida ran after the fan for a few steps before falling to the ground. UEFA have already investigated Celtic for lack of security for the same incident.

The charges were based on Article 5 Paragraph 1 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, which states that “member associations, clubs, as well as their players, officials and members, shall conduct themselves according to the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship”.

The case were heard on October 11 by UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body. The outcome of these cases were as follows: Celtic FC were fined £25000, 50% of which is kept in a reserve tank and if Celtic have any further problems in two years UEFA will keep it, but if they don’t they will get it back. A.C Milan goalkeeper Nelson de Jesus Silva “Dida” was banned for two games but is appealing. If found guilty he could find himself with a four-game champions league ban.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Australia’s much awaited first match of the 2006 tournament ended in a 3-1 win over Japan in the opening game of Group F, Monday.

In what amounted to a dramatic last 10 minutes Guus Hiddink’s side overturned Japan’s single goal lead as the searing heat of the Fritz Walter Stadium, Kaiserslauten, made Australia’s all-out-attack brand of football too hot to handle.

Australia had faced disciplined and organised Japanese defending for 84 minutes of the game. Captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto looked impressive while goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi made key saves against Australian captain Mark Viduka – including a double one in the first half.

The Socceroos might consider themselves unfortunate for the goal they conceded. It was disputed with questions of goalkeeper interference. In any event, on 25 minutes Mark Schwarzer failed to reach a cross looped in from the right; the ball sailed over his head and into the net.

The match had good passing, inventive plays; both sides played with three defenders and encouraged attacking football, with much of the play in and around the penalty areas. After second half substitutions, Australia ended the match with three forwards over six feet in height and this may have made the difference.

But had Japan scored from a number of good opportunities they made the Australian come back may not have been enough.

The equaliser on 84 minutes owed to similar element of luck or goalkeeping error as the first goal. The Japan keeper missed a throw from the left. The ball fell loose to midfielder Tim Cahill, close to the penalty spot. The substitute drove the ball low through the legs of players to score.

Then the Japanese may feel unfortunate – a minute later Tim Cahill appeared to up-end a Japanese player in his penalty box. No penalty was given; the score remained 1-1.

Zico, the Brazilian manager of the Japanese team who had been minutes from successfully guiding his team to a first game win, then watched as Tim Cahill on 89 minutes scored his second from the top of the semi-circle; with much deftness, he curled the ball in off the right post. Kawaguchi had no chance.

At this point the Japanese, in the 30-plus Celsius heat, seemed to be exhausted while the Australian substitutes were just warming up. Substitute John Aloisi used his pace to beat Yuichi Komano and put the ball in the bottom left corner for the third goal.

There were seven cautions in the game and a total of 33 fouls. However; it was Australia, who had more cautions and committed twice as many fouls as their opponents, whose extra aggression paid in the end.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado has reached a financial settlement with its founder (and former head of National Association of Evangelicals) pastor Ted Haggard. Haggard stepped aside as senior pastor in the Church in November 2006, when a male prostitute claimed that he had engaged in a three year relationship with Haggard and that the two used methamphetamine.

Haggard, who was publicly critical of homosexuality, has agreed to leave the church he founded and led for two decades with a promise that he will not discuss the scandal, will move out of Colorado Springs, and will not reveal how much his financial settlement is.

On February 4th, Haggard sent an e-mail to New Life members stating, “We all wanted to know why I developed such incongruity in my life. Thankfully, with the tools we gained there, along with the powerful way God has been illuminating his Word and the Holy Spirit has been convicting me and healing me, we now have growing understanding which is giving me some hope for the future.”

Rev. Tim Ralph said, after Haggard completed a three-week counseling program, “He [Haggard] is completely heterosexual.”

However, Mike Jones, the man who had allegedly had a 3 year relationship with Haggard publicly replied, “Give me a break.” Adding, “He’s been performing oral sex on me for three years. You don’t change that in three weeks.” And “Until he’s honest with himself, he’ll never be happy.” Jones is currently writing a book detailing his relationship with Haggard due out in summer 2007.

According to interim senior pastor Ross Parsley, at services on Sunday February 18 the panel will “provide any necessary clarification of (Haggard’s) restoration process and give us a report on the New Life staff.”

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

According to reports, a man protesting the G20 Summit in London, England has died after collapsing at a protester camp.

Sky News says the man collapsed on the street inside a camp close to the Bank of England and when found he was still breathing, but efforts by paramedics to rescue him failed and he was pronounced dead at an area hospital. The name of the person and cause of death are not yet known, but several people were injured earlier in the day. The police claim that protestors threw bottles at them while trying to rescue the protestor.

The London Ambulance Service reported that “we received a 999 call at 7:24 pm from a member of the public reporting that a man had fallen over and was unconscious, but was breathing. [They] made extensive efforts to resuscitate him both there and on the way to hospital.”

Earlier in the day a minimum of 20 protesters broke into the bank and according to reports vandalized furniture, broke windows and cut the telephone lines to the building.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper caused controversy this week after telling Toronto business leaders that he prefers to watch American news programmes instead of Canadian.

On Wednesday, he told the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Convention that he watched “mainly American news” and suggested it was his hobby “to watch politics elsewhere”. The Toronto Star says his “words ring true” in light of the interviews he’s given to American broadcasters like Fox News and CNN.

Three of Harper’s cabinet members, Jim Flaherty, Peter Kent and Tony Clement, questioned the veracity of his statement, stating they “assume” he must digest some Canadian news issues. But Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said “I think the prime minister is too busy to sit there being vainglorious and watching himself on TV.”

Political opponents were quick to draw attention to the admission by the Prime Minister, whom they claim has always had American interests at heart during his career.

The Star quoted NDP leader Jack Layton, stating “Perhaps if he watched Canadian news more often, he would understand the negative impact of his policies on Canadian families. And if he actually likes Fox News better than Canadian news, then Canadians ought to be concerned”.

Liberal Bob Rae likewise pointed out that politicians “all have an obligation to know what’s going on”, and noted he found the admission “quite shocking”.

A statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office clarified that Harper watched hockey on national networks, but took his news from American networks.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

A fire broke out in southeast Moscow stemming from a gas pipeline. According to local officials, flames reached up to 200 meters (600 feet) above the city.

According to the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, at least five people were injured by the fire, one of them suffering 35 percent burns on his body. There are no reports of deaths. The mayor added that the probable cause of the fire is “an upsurge of pressure in the pipeline, as a result of which an explosion took place underground.” Deputy mayor Pyotr Birukov says he doesn’t remember a fire of such proportions happening in Moscow.

The fire broke out at 00:30 local time (20:30 on Saturday, GMT), sending flames into the sky. By the morning the fire was brought under control, reducing the flames to 20 meters (60 feet) of height. The Russian Ministry of Emergencies reported the fire being ranked as Category 5, the most serious category on the ministry’s incident assessment scale. 35 fire brigade units were dispatched to fight the blaze. The fire is believed to have been caused by “technical” problems, according to Agence France-Presse as reported by breitbart.com.

“All of our efforts are directed towards reducing the temperature around the centre of the fire”, said the deputy emergency situations minister Alexander Chupriyan. He also predicted that the fire will be put out by midday. Deputy mayor Birukov added that the city’s energy system won’t be affected by the fire. However, municipal telecommunications company reported that 80,000 people lost their phone connections, as the fire burnt nearby underground cables.

The transportation authorities closed the traffic in the area near the fire, including the Michurinsky Avenue, an important arterial street connecting the outskirts with the Moscow River in the city center. About 25 parked cars with no occupants inside were damaged by the fire, while dozens of residents appeared to record the blaze with camcorders.

The fire did not threaten the nearby apartment blocks. The building nearest to the fire is an administrative building 200 meters away and the nearest residential building is a 19-story apartment block 500 meters (1600 feet) away.

Fires like this one are becoming increasingly frequent in the area of the former Soviet Union due to the aging structure of transporting energents, which has not been refit in decades. Officials are saying that the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest finals due next weekend won’t be affected.

Monday, January 2, 2006

Anyone riding the OC Transpo Ottawa municipal bus service’s express bus routes this morning and this afternoon, in the Ottawa area, was probably greeted with an empty bus, and inherently, a “fast and efficient” ride. This is in part because most government workers where off from work still celebrating their Christmas holidays and buses were operating on a “holiday schedule;” a lack of planning on behalf of OC Transpo.

Though, according to OC Transpo, the “Holiday Schedule” means buses this week shall be running a little less often, in reality there isn’t that much difference than the regular schedule. To be more precise, from 05h48 until 07h20, on the express 27 route there will be 5 less buses during the “Holiday Schedule” compared to the “Regular Schedule.”

“This is probably going to be fine for the rest of this week, when government employees start coming back to work”, said Yves Roy, an OC Transpo driver, “but today was a holiday and it appears that express routes only had an average of about 2 to 4 passengers.”

“On my ride in to work, at around 6:10 a.m. this morning, nobody else got on the bus. It was like having a personal stretch limo to myself,” said Patrick Roy, a guard for the commissionaires.

Also, at around 4:15 p.m. another OC Transpo bus driver, whom wished to remain anonymous, stated, “You are the first person I picked up today.” He had been working since the morning doing express runs. He then added, “This is a waste of tax payers money.”

Ottawa’s BRT “Transitway,” has indicated that it cost approximately 42.58$ CAN per hour to run a diesel bus. It is estimated that 729 express buses ran today for approximatelly 7 hours costing approximatelly 217,287$ CAN. The cost of operating OC Transpo is split between transit fares collected and the tax base (mostly municipal, with some federal and provincial contributions.)

“We then continued to talk about waste of fuel, employee pay, insurance liability issues and even went into details about such hot political items as the Kyoto Agreement and conservatism,” said Patrick. “Once the driver reached Place d’Orleans the second passenger joined in the conversation. The driver then took a faster alternate route and dropped us off not far from our homes.”

According to Peter Dickson, editor at The Ottawa Citizen, last year OC Transpo buses followed a ‘reduced’ Sunday schedule and this created havoc on the system. Peter asked, if “perhaps this year they where trying to compensate for this inefficiency?”

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), OC Transpo’s union representative has indicated, “At current fleet levels, Ottawa’s roads would be choked with about 40,000 more cars each rush hour if not for OC Transpo.”[1] ATU suggests 70 per cent of trips in Ottawa are now made by car. However, seemingly, due to returning vacationers and other reasons, today may have created an increase in the use of cars and influenced this statistic. According to city councillor Clive Doucet’s web page “Currently, 17% of all trips residents make in Ottawa are on public transit, up from 15% in the mid-nineties. As a comparison, Paris’ modal split is 40% or higher taking public transit while Los Angeles’ modal split is around 2% for public transit.” Analysing ridership on a large scale seems to be an important element for the city.

According to Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli, “We used to be able to plan a transit system for up to 12 years ahead, with assured funding.” This of course is in reference to provincial government funding. “It would make me happier if we took all of the (fuel taxes) and put them into the transportation infrastructure,” Mr. Hunt, president of the Canadian Automobile Association says. “But we don’t have a plan.”

“Usually OC Transpo bus drivers have two 4 months bookings, for the fall and the winter and two 2 months booking for the spring and for the summer,” said Yves Roy. “For the first time in March 2005, there was a special 1 week booking for the March break that rearranged and redistributed drivers of certain high school bus runs. During previous march breaks, drivers would show up usually waiting 30 or more minutes in an “idling” bus.”

Is there such thing as to much efficiency? Today is an example of buses and drivers being very efficient. On the other hand, it may be a lack of efficiency within OC Transpo’s booking department, upper management and the governments.

Monday, September 5, 2005

Tokyo, Japan — Eleven university hospitals in Tokyo have been threatened with bombings, within 45 days, unless they double admissions quotas to their medical schools for the next academic year. The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, and Keio University Hospital are among the threatened institutions.

Police said that the letters all appear to come from the same source but they have not released the actual letters yet. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating, but nothing suspicious has been found at the hospitals.

Security has increased ahead of an upcoming September 11 general election.