Eagles coach dead at 68

Jim Johnson, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator died today after battling a cancerous tumour on his spine. He was the heart and soul of the team I follow and will be sorely missed. All of a sudden a promising season ahead has a very black cloud directly before it. We fans will miss you Jimmy. Thank you for being the best and giving us your best.

Thankful for Pioneers

Enjoying the Pioneer Day holidays in Utah over the weekend, I have been thinking about the Mormon pioneers who trekked through, snow, wind, fierce sunshine and mud across the western plains of the United States in the middle of the 19th century. Theirs was a story of great sacrifice, poverty and greater faith. Of dead children buried along the trail, great thirst and walking hundreds and hundreds of miles. I am grateful for their courage.

The fact fact is, I am thankful for any of our pioneers, those who had the fortitude to not believe that mankind had already gone higher, faster, deeper, further or longer than was possible. I am thinking of Amelia Earhardt, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Henry the Navigator, Roald Amundsen, Joan of Arc, and many others. Those who have, and continue, to defy the odds and win. Without them our world would be a far grayer place, without the desire to stretch and lead.

I am thinking of Chuck Yeager who broke the sound barrier the the experimental jet, the X-15. Much of the scientific thought at the time believed that the aircraft would break up and he would be killed. Yeager proved them wrong. I am thinking of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay not paying any attention to all the failures and deaths that had littered the landscape of Mt. Everest until they triumphed.

Boks beat my Blacks

Jacque Fourie scored a late try as world champions South Africa opened their Tri-Nations campaign with a 28-19 victory over holders New Zealand in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Fourie raced down the right touchline for a 72nd-minute try to clinch the win while Morne Steyn completed the scoring with an angled penalty from halfway with just two minutes remaining.

With the win the Springboks regain the world No. 1 spot from New Zealand.

Fake officer tries to stop real officer

Oakland, California police say a man impersonating a police officer tried to pull over a real undercover officer and was arrested.

Police say 21-year-old Antonio Fernandez Martinez of Oakland was arrested Wednesday in the Fruitvale district after trying to pull over an unmarked police vehicle. Martinez was driving a Ford Crown Victoria outfitted with flashing lights, a microphone and speakers.

Martinez, a convicted car thief, will have his felony probation revoked and could face a prison term. The officer, Jim Beere, says Martinez probably thought he'd be an easy mark to rob.

BUSTED... WHAT A DORK!

New Mozart piano music discovered

Two piano pieces have been identified as the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, experts in the Austrian city of Salzburg say. The compositions have long been in the possession of the International Mozarteum Foundation in the city, the organisation said. Mozart left more than 600 pieces of music before his death at 35.

Few details are being released until an official presentation in a week's time. In January, a piece by Mozart which had lain undiscovered in a French library for years, had its first performance. What great news from the Master.

The two-minute-long piece performed in public in January for the first time was played by violinist Daniel Cuiller before a small audience in Nantes, western France.

The sheet music had been found by staff at the city's library, and authenticated as the work of Mozart in September 2008.

White Sox Buerhle Pitches Perfect Game

Out of 385,000 opportunities, Major League Baseball pitchers have only pitched 18 perfect, no-hitter games, EVER!

Mark Buehrle had been in this situation before. His nerves were not an issue. Chopping down batter after batter with his nasty cutter and deceptive change, Buehrle breezed through the Rays' lineup quickly, as only he can. The Rays simply couldn't keep up with the southpaw's swift pace.

Buehrle hurled a perfect game and led the White Sox to a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay at U.S. Cellular Field, where 28,036 in attendance held their breath with each pitch. After every out, the roar of the crowd got just a little bit louder.

For my father-in-law Mark, who also played professional baseball, this is sports at its very best. Just as good as the game itself, was the reaction of other league players, who clapped and cheered when they found out that their great rival had completed such a milestone. Sport teaches so many good principles.

Hugo Chavez criticises US-Colombia plan

Venezuela's president has objected to a decision by neighbouring Colombia to allow more US troops onto its soil. Hugo Chavez said that Bogota's plan to accommodate more US troops at its air and naval bases was "a threat" to Venezuela.

"They are surrounding Venezuela with military bases," he said in a speech televised late on Monday, adding that relations between Caracas and Bogota would be placed under review. The criticism comes ahead of a fifth round of talks between the US and Colombia aimed at finalising a security accord.

Chavez probably objects to the increased security because it affects the money he gets from narcoterrorism and it opens his abuse of his country open to closer international inspection. The man is a pirana.

Giant Leap For Mankind

It is 40 years ago today that the crew of Apollo 11 captivated the imaginations of the world by being the first men to walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, pictured here, were the NASA crewmen on the famous mission. I remember clearly watching the landing on TV in Hawaii as a teenager. What a day it was, and I am sure that the Apollo program was responsible for me wanting to be an astronaut when "I grew up!"

Missing the Cut

Something happened today that I never thought I would see once, but it happened again today. A fit and firing Tiger Woods, one of my most favourite golfers of all time, missed the cut in the British Open. I am sure he feels sick about it, but Tiger, chin up my friend, you are still number one and the most feared man on tour. Kick butt next week instead. Real champions show their steel after losing.

Awwwwwww cuuuuuuuuute!

GREENVILLE, Pa. » A Pennsylvania toddler did such a remarkable job of hiding during a game of hide-and-seek that the family had to call police and firefighters to help find her.

Two-year-old Natalie Jasmer was playing the game with her siblings Tuesday in their Pymatuning Township home. When the family couldn't find her, parents Dennis and Michelle Jasmer called authorities.Emergency crews and friends frantically searched the neighborhood about 70 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for about an hour.

The family's dog, Copper, finally sniffed her out. She had fallen asleep in a drawer underneath the family's washing machine.The little girl told her family she was sorry. Hide-and-seek is now banned in the Jasmer household.

Al-Qaeda Vows To hit China Over Uighur Unrest

Al-Qaeda is threatening for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in the Xinjiang region, according to a risk analysis group.

The call for reprisals against China comes from the Algerian-based offshoot Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Although AQIM appear to be the first arm of Al-Qaeda to officially state they will target Chinese interests, others are likely to follow,” said the report.

I bet the Chinese authorities are absolutely SHAKING IN THEIR BOOTS!

Scary stuff in Iran

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's accomplishments these past few weeks have been vast and unmistakable. By securing the unconditional support of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his power grab, Ahmadinejad killed three birds with one stone. He ensured that the clerical hierarchy in Qom - which is dependent on Khamenei for its financial stability - acquiesced to his authority. He expanded the Revolutionary Guards Corps' control over the country by making it the indispensable guardian of the revolution. And he effectively transformed Khamenei from the "supreme leader" into a creature of Ahmadinejad's will. The moment that Khamenei gave Ahmadinejad his full support and gave a green light to the Revolutionary Guards to repress the protesters, Khamenei tied his own fate to that of his president.

Kim Jong Very Il

A news report says North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer. Seoul’s news channel network YTN television reported Monday that Kim, 67, was diagnosed with the cancer around the time he was felled by a stroke last summer. The report cited unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China. Frankly, for world peace, I hope the disease takes him quickly. We don't need his pig-headed belligerence destablizing the Asia-Pacific region.

Cursing is good for you, new study says. Really!

Jim Wilkes STAFF REPORTER

Holy #%$@!!! Damn, that feels better already. And that's just what British scientists would expect, saying they've learned cussing may be good for you. Their study, "Swearing as a Response to Pain," is published in August's NeuroReport, a journal "for rapid communication of neuroscience research." The report by researchers at England's Keele University found volunteers withstood pain longer when they resorted to distasteful invective.

So, let loose when the pain comes!!!

Four Galaxy Pile-up 280 million Light Years away

Aussie Mark Webber wins his first F1 Grand Prix

The normally calm Webber allowed all the years of pent-up emotion to pour out as he took the chequered flag, bellowing his jubilation across the team radio as he won for the first time in 130 starts.

"Mark Webber, you are a grand prix winner. Well done, brilliant drive," replied team boss Christian Horner once the driver had stopped screaming.

Watched by his proud father Alan, the Australian took a deep breath and soaked up the atmosphere as he heard his national anthem sound out for a grand prix winner for the first time since Alan Jones for Williams in Las Vegas in October 1981.

The 32-year-old triumphed despite a drive-through penalty for causing a collision at the start.

"It's an incredible day for me, I wanted to win so badly," said Webber, who started from pole position.

The Australian also set a record for the longest gap between his debut and first win. The previous holder was Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who had to wait 124 races before his first victory with Ferrari in 2000.

Lucky Dust Mites

Want longer lasting sex? Come back as a dust mite.

In virtually every bed tonight, couples will launch themselves into 24-hour sex marathons.

The sexual athletes are dust mites, no more than half a millimetre long. "You can't see them and you can't feel them," said Matt Colloff, a CSIRO Entomology scientist who has spent 25 years studying them. But "almost every house has them."

And, he added, "their sexual behaviour is absolutely bizarre. They mate back-to-back. The male has a penis shaped liked an old-fashioned coffee-pot spout and locks onto the female with a pair of suckers." Because the dust mite's penis is so narrow, compared with its sperm, "the sperm has to travel in single file".

As a result, mating is slow. "They remain in that position for 24 hours," said Dr Colloff. "She continues on with everyday life and the little male hangs on."

Two totally random thoughts arrive out of this information; (1) Am I jealous of their prowess?, and (2) What drives a man to study the sex life of dust mites for a quarter of a century?

Monkeys Recognize Poor Grammar

Monkeys can form sentences and speak in accents—and now a new study shows that our genetic relatives can also recognize poor grammar. "We were really curious whether monkeys could even detect the common trend found in human language to add sounds to word edges, like adding 'ed' in English to create the past tense," said lead study author Ansgar Endress, a linguist at Harvard University. Too bad the same can't be said for the writers of some of the newspaper columns I have looked at lately!Mistakes are everywhere.

Farewell Michael

Michael Jackson must have been a good father. When his daughter Paris got up and tearfully took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just want to say I love him so much," it gave me goosebumps. Rest in peace and keep on singing.