Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Daily Update 07/18/2007
Hello and welcome to my page
I am planning on posting daily things that I find interesting on the internet. I hope you enjoy these items as much as I do. Most topics posted on this page will be completely random. Just various stories and news tidbits I have discovered today.
My Favorite Featured Story
Brought to you by Yahoo
Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old psychologist who uses his professional training in his card-playing arsenal, won the $8.25 million top prize Wednesday at the World Series of Poker.
Yang vaulted quickly from eighth to the chip lead soon after play began Tuesday afternoon.
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He knocked out seven of the eight other players at the final table, reminiscent of last year when Jamie Gold ran over his opponents. The main difference, Yang did it from the back of the pack.
"The only way I would win this tournament is to be aggressive from the very beginning and that's exactly what I did," he said.
An ethnic Hmong who grew up poor in Laos, Yang said before the final table began that he would donate 10 percent of his winnings to charity, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, the Ronald McDonald House and his alma mater, Loma Linda University.
He won his way into the main event from a $225 satellite tournament at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula and only began playing poker two years ago.
Despite his 5-foot-3 stature -- often standing up from his seat to move chips or stare down opponents -- Yang was an intimidating force at the table from the beginning.
He aggressively raised pots and became the first player at the table to go all-in. On the ninth hand, he forced Lee Childs, a 35-year-old software engineer from Reston, Va., to fold pocket queens, face up, on a board with a seven, four and deuce.
Yang began heads up play with a giant chip lead against Tuan Lam, a 40-year-old professional online poker player from Mississauga, Ontario. Yang had 104.5 million in chips to Lam's 23.0 million.
On the last hand, with a huge mound of cash deposited on the felt, Lam moved all-in with an ace and queen of diamonds and Yang called with pocket eights.
When a queen, five and nine came on the flop, it looked like Lam, waving a Canadian flag, would be on the verge of a miracle comeback, making a pair of queens for the lead.
But a seven on the turn and a six on the river gave Yang a straight, sealing a win in which he dominated the final table from the moment the nine finalists sat down.
"I've seen the miracles of God with my own eyes," Yang said. "I did a lot of bluffing, also."
Lam, who earned $4,840,981 for his second place finish, was also a refugee who found his way to Canada from Vietnam. He said he'd be returning to his village, Bao Trinh, to help those who need it.
"I was patient and waited for the big hand, but the cards came out different," Lam said. "I have been through a hard life. And I will be going back to Vietnam and giving back."
Play at the final table began at noon in Las Vegas and didn't finish till nearly 4 a.m.
The finalists ranged in age from 22 to 62, and hailed from five nations: the U.S., Canada, Russia, England and South Africa. By birthplace, players also were from Laos, Vietnam and Denmark.
Each had their section of fans in the audience, and the arena took on the air of the Olympics as supporters broke out into national songs every time their player won a big hand.
"The final table says a lot about the globality of poker and the globality of our fans," said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner for event owner Harrah's Entertainment Inc.
Yang burst out of the blocks shortly after play began. But 31-year-old Dane Philip Hilm made a stand with a flush draw and a pair of fives on the flop, pushing all-in against Yang. Yang made the call holding an ace and king for a pair of kings and Hilm never improved, finishing ninth for $525,934.
Lee Watkinson, a 40-year-old poker pro from Cheney, Wash., pushed all-in before the flop with an ace and seven, but Yang read through the show of strength by calling with an ace and nine and Watkinson fell in eighth for a $585,699 payday.
"I was playing for the bracelet," Watkinson said. "I wasn't going for third, fourth or even second. I wanted to make a play and be a contender."
Childs, who quit his job a month ago to play poker for a living, finished seventh with $705,229 when he went all-in with a king and jack against Yang, with a jack and eight. Childs lost when an eight came on the turn.
"My goal when I came in to the tournament was to trust my instincts, make the right decision and hopefully not get unlucky," Childs said. "I was that close to doubling up."
Jon Kalmar, a 34-year-old poker pro from Chorley, England, was the only player to bust out against someone other than Yang. He lost a head-to-head bet against South African retiree Raymond Rahme when his ace and king failed to improve against Rahme's pocket jacks.
Kalmar proclaimed himself "thrilled" with his prize and said he intended to use his winnings to pay bills and perhaps buy a car back home.
Hevad Khan, an Internet poker pro from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., finished in sixth when his ace and queen of spades couldn't top a pair of jacks belonging to a surging Yang. Khan didn't seem disappointed with sixth place and his $956,243 payday as he celebrated with friends in the audience.
Alex Kravchenko, 36, was Yang's fifth victim, when he was all-in before the flop with an ace and king but Yang nailed three of a kind, holding a pocket pair of eights. Kravchenko finished in fourth with $1,852,721.
Finally, Rahme went down when he pushed all-in with pocket kings on a board with an ace. After several minutes of pacing and a staredown, Yang made the call holding an ace and a five, for two aces, and Rahme shook his head in resignation.
"That was the only mistake I made in the whole tournament," Rahme said.
Nine players who began the day were all that remained from a field of 6,358 players that began to play down in stages July 6. Everyone paid or won $10,000 to enter the main event, the biggest poker tournament of the year.
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The pilot of an airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The death toll rose Wednesday to 189 and could climb higher.
The TAM airlines Airbus-320 flight that originated in Porto Alegre in southern Brazil on Tuesday cleared the airport fence at the end of the runway and the busy highway but slammed into a gas station and a TAM building, causing an inferno.
The 6,362-foot runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport has been repeatedly criticized as dangerously short. Two planes slipped off it in rainy weather just a day earlier. Pilots call it the "aircraft carrier" — it's so short and surrounded by heavily populated neighborhoods that they're told to take off again and fly around if they overshoot the first 1,000 feet of runway.
By contrast, New York's LaGuardia Airport has a 7,003-foot runway that accommodates similar planes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"What appears to have happened is that he (the pilot) didn't manage to land and he tried to take off again," said Capt. Marcos, a fire department spokesman who would only identify himself by rank and first name in accordance with department guidelines.
Temperatures reached 1,830 degrees inside the plane, and officials said there was no way passengers could have survived.
"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," said Elias Rodrigues Jesus, a TAM worker who was walking nearby when he saw the crash. "I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."
TAM Linhas Aereas SA said 186 were on the Airbus-320 — 162 passengers, 18 TAM employees and a crew of six — and officials said three bodies of people killed on the ground had been recovered. There were fears of more dead on the ground, with 14 others taken to hospitals, where their conditions were not known.
Ninety badly charred bodies, along with the flight data recorder, had been pulled from the wreckage by midmorning, firefighters said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning for Brazil's second major air disaster in less than a year. In September, a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 and an executive jet collided over the Amazon rain forest, killing 154 people. Wednesday's crash now replaces that tragedy as Brazil's worst air disaster.
Silva's government is under increasing pressure to deal with Brazil's aviation woes. In September, a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest, causing the passenger jet to crash, killing 154 people.
Since then, congressional investigations have raised questions about the country's underfunded air traffic control systems, deficient radar system and the airlines' ability to cope with a surge in travelers. Controllers — concerned about being made scapegoats — have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing lengthy delays and cancelations.
Presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said it was premature to declare a cause, but critics have warned for years of the danger of such an accident when large planes land in rainy weather at Congonhas airport, Brazil's busiest.
In 1996, a TAM airlines Fokker-100 crashed shortly after taking off from the same airport, killing all 96 people on board and three on the ground. In February, a federal court briefly banned takeoffs and landings of three types of large jets because of safety concerns. An appeals court overruled that, saying the safety concerns weren't sufficient to outweigh the severe economic ramifications for Brazil.
A320s were not covered under the judge's ban, and the TAM jet that crashed was a relatively recent model, said William Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
"So there are no red flags coming up, it sounds like a straightforward runway overrun," Voss said.
The single-aisle, twin-engine plane, delivered in 1998, had logged about 20,000 flight hours in some 9,300 flights, Airbus said.
Still, rainy conditions were a particular concern at the airport. Globo News television played tapes of conversations between flight controllers and pilots complaining about slick conditions on the runway days before the latest accident.
Tuesday's TAM flight was landing on Congonhas' main 6,362 feet-long runway, which was recently resurfaced but not grooved to provide better braking in rainy conditions. There were plans to regroove the surface by the end of July.
In France, Airbus said it was sending five specialists to Brazil to help investigate and would provide "full technical assistance" to France's bureau for accident investigations and to Brazilian authorities.
Emergency workers searching for bodies used a crane to maintain the structure of the destroyed TAM building.
The airline released a list of most of the people on the flight early Wednesday morning, but did not specify their nationalities. Opposition congressman Julio Redecker was among those on the flight.
"TAM expresses its most profound condolences to the relatives and friends of the passengers who were on Flight 3054," the company said.
Pope Benedict XVI, who visited Sao Paulo in May, also sent his condolences.
The airline flew 67 relatives of the victims from Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo Wednesday after they passed the night in a closed room. They arrived teary-eyed and unwilling to talk to the media.
But one man who spoke with the Associated Press earlier, Lamir Buzzanelli, said his 41-year-old son, Claudemir, an engineer, had called him from a business trip to Porto Alegre to say he was in the plane. "I've been calling him on his cell phone, and all I get is his voice mail," Buzzanelli said, his eyes tearing up.
Despite the crash, authorities reopened the airport Wednesday, using an auxiliary runway.
My Favorite Story Trash News Story
Brought to you by TMZ
It's dog days for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and others, after being indicted today on federal charges related to illegal dogfighting.
Vick was charged with illegal competitive dogfighting, which involves training pit bulls to fight against other dogs. When authorities searched Vick's property this month, they found 54 pit bulls and a host of brutal items including a "rape stand," used to hold dogs in place for mating; an electric treadmill modified for dogs and a bloodied piece of carpeting.
Graves of seven pit bulls were found inside "Bad Newz Kennels," a Virginia property owned by Vick. The dogs were allegedly killed after testing whether they would be good fighters. According to documents, dogfights would end when one dog died or backed down, and dogs were sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gunshot, electrocution or some other method. The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfights in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star's rookie year with the Falcons.
My Favorite Press Release Today
Brought to you The Open Press
Each Sunday at 14:30 GMT, the online poker room hosts a $100,000 guaranteed holdem poker tournament for its players. This week, 788 players from Europe and Asian joined in the poker action.
Montreal, QC (PRWEB) July 18, 2007 -- Everest Poker www.everestpoker.com today announced the winners of the latest $100,000 guaranteed holdem poker tournament held by the online poker room. Each week, players from around the world get the chance to compete for their share of $100,000, the largest regularly-held poker tournament offered by Everest Poker.
"This week saw over 780 of our players join in the action," said Jonathan May, Everest Poker property manager. "Our low-cost satellite tournaments help players at all levels get a fair shot at winning a lot of cash, guaranteed!"
We're always happy with the turnout at these events; we'd not be able to host them without the dedication of our players!
The top ten winners for the latest tournament are as follows: Rem 24 from Brazil ($22,000), fisholinho from France ($12,000), domramones from Brazil ($9,000), iceball12 from The Netherlands ($7,000), TxM@x from Germany ($5,000), Kristiban from Sweden ($4,000), moteru from Italy ($3,000), eudox from Germany ($1,750), A. Valverde from France ($1,500) and noodle15 from The Netherlands ($1,250)
"Despite the Bastille day holiday, France still brought 277 players to the tournament this week, with Germany bringing 161," May added. "We're always happy with the turnout at these events; we'd not be able to host them without the dedication of our players!"
For more information about Everest Poker's weekly $100,000 guaranteed poker tournaments and play poker free online, download the free Everest Poker software from http://www.everestpoker.com/dload Tournament schedules are available through RSS and XML feeds at http://www.everestpoker.com/tournament/current-schedule.html
About Everest Poker
Everestpoker.com is the first site dedicated to the international poker playing community. Recognizing the many non-English speaking poker enthusiasts around the world, Everest Poker has built the only poker software fully localized in 11 different languages. In addition, Everestpoker.com offers poker players customer support in 15 languages, and is involved with local poker initiatives through partnerships and participation in national, European and worldwide tournaments. Everest Poker is owned by Ultra Internet Media. For more information, please visit: www.everestpoker.com.
My Favorite Spam e-mail of the day
I don’t know about you but I am consistently getting spam e-mail. Some of these e-mails totally crack me up. I’ve decided to post my favorite spam e-mail daily.
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My Weather: Kansas City
Brought to you by the NOAA
Today: Sunny. High 94F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.
Tonight: A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Tomorrow: Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 92F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Tomorrow night: Isolated thunderstorms during the evening hours. Skies will become partly cloudy overnight. A few storms may be severe early. Low 67F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 60s.
Saturday: A few clouds. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 60s.
My Daily Horoscope (Virgo)
Brought to you by Yahoo Astrology
Quickie:
Things that challenged you will make sense today -- it's a good day to be tested.
Overview:
Your schedule is packed, but try and find a little time for your loved ones -- and yourself! After all, this effort is supposed to improve your quality of life. Remember that something outside of work exists.
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I am planning on posting daily things that I find interesting on the internet. I hope you enjoy these items as much as I do. Most topics posted on this page will be completely random. Just various stories and news tidbits I have discovered today.
My Favorite Featured Story
Brought to you by Yahoo
Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old psychologist who uses his professional training in his card-playing arsenal, won the $8.25 million top prize Wednesday at the World Series of Poker.
Yang vaulted quickly from eighth to the chip lead soon after play began Tuesday afternoon.
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He knocked out seven of the eight other players at the final table, reminiscent of last year when Jamie Gold ran over his opponents. The main difference, Yang did it from the back of the pack.
"The only way I would win this tournament is to be aggressive from the very beginning and that's exactly what I did," he said.
An ethnic Hmong who grew up poor in Laos, Yang said before the final table began that he would donate 10 percent of his winnings to charity, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, the Ronald McDonald House and his alma mater, Loma Linda University.
He won his way into the main event from a $225 satellite tournament at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula and only began playing poker two years ago.
Despite his 5-foot-3 stature -- often standing up from his seat to move chips or stare down opponents -- Yang was an intimidating force at the table from the beginning.
He aggressively raised pots and became the first player at the table to go all-in. On the ninth hand, he forced Lee Childs, a 35-year-old software engineer from Reston, Va., to fold pocket queens, face up, on a board with a seven, four and deuce.
Yang began heads up play with a giant chip lead against Tuan Lam, a 40-year-old professional online poker player from Mississauga, Ontario. Yang had 104.5 million in chips to Lam's 23.0 million.
On the last hand, with a huge mound of cash deposited on the felt, Lam moved all-in with an ace and queen of diamonds and Yang called with pocket eights.
When a queen, five and nine came on the flop, it looked like Lam, waving a Canadian flag, would be on the verge of a miracle comeback, making a pair of queens for the lead.
But a seven on the turn and a six on the river gave Yang a straight, sealing a win in which he dominated the final table from the moment the nine finalists sat down.
"I've seen the miracles of God with my own eyes," Yang said. "I did a lot of bluffing, also."
Lam, who earned $4,840,981 for his second place finish, was also a refugee who found his way to Canada from Vietnam. He said he'd be returning to his village, Bao Trinh, to help those who need it.
"I was patient and waited for the big hand, but the cards came out different," Lam said. "I have been through a hard life. And I will be going back to Vietnam and giving back."
Play at the final table began at noon in Las Vegas and didn't finish till nearly 4 a.m.
The finalists ranged in age from 22 to 62, and hailed from five nations: the U.S., Canada, Russia, England and South Africa. By birthplace, players also were from Laos, Vietnam and Denmark.
Each had their section of fans in the audience, and the arena took on the air of the Olympics as supporters broke out into national songs every time their player won a big hand.
"The final table says a lot about the globality of poker and the globality of our fans," said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner for event owner Harrah's Entertainment Inc.
Yang burst out of the blocks shortly after play began. But 31-year-old Dane Philip Hilm made a stand with a flush draw and a pair of fives on the flop, pushing all-in against Yang. Yang made the call holding an ace and king for a pair of kings and Hilm never improved, finishing ninth for $525,934.
Lee Watkinson, a 40-year-old poker pro from Cheney, Wash., pushed all-in before the flop with an ace and seven, but Yang read through the show of strength by calling with an ace and nine and Watkinson fell in eighth for a $585,699 payday.
"I was playing for the bracelet," Watkinson said. "I wasn't going for third, fourth or even second. I wanted to make a play and be a contender."
Childs, who quit his job a month ago to play poker for a living, finished seventh with $705,229 when he went all-in with a king and jack against Yang, with a jack and eight. Childs lost when an eight came on the turn.
"My goal when I came in to the tournament was to trust my instincts, make the right decision and hopefully not get unlucky," Childs said. "I was that close to doubling up."
Jon Kalmar, a 34-year-old poker pro from Chorley, England, was the only player to bust out against someone other than Yang. He lost a head-to-head bet against South African retiree Raymond Rahme when his ace and king failed to improve against Rahme's pocket jacks.
Kalmar proclaimed himself "thrilled" with his prize and said he intended to use his winnings to pay bills and perhaps buy a car back home.
Hevad Khan, an Internet poker pro from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., finished in sixth when his ace and queen of spades couldn't top a pair of jacks belonging to a surging Yang. Khan didn't seem disappointed with sixth place and his $956,243 payday as he celebrated with friends in the audience.
Alex Kravchenko, 36, was Yang's fifth victim, when he was all-in before the flop with an ace and king but Yang nailed three of a kind, holding a pocket pair of eights. Kravchenko finished in fourth with $1,852,721.
Finally, Rahme went down when he pushed all-in with pocket kings on a board with an ace. After several minutes of pacing and a staredown, Yang made the call holding an ace and a five, for two aces, and Rahme shook his head in resignation.
"That was the only mistake I made in the whole tournament," Rahme said.
Nine players who began the day were all that remained from a field of 6,358 players that began to play down in stages July 6. Everyone paid or won $10,000 to enter the main event, the biggest poker tournament of the year.
Next story
The pilot of an airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The death toll rose Wednesday to 189 and could climb higher.
The TAM airlines Airbus-320 flight that originated in Porto Alegre in southern Brazil on Tuesday cleared the airport fence at the end of the runway and the busy highway but slammed into a gas station and a TAM building, causing an inferno.
The 6,362-foot runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport has been repeatedly criticized as dangerously short. Two planes slipped off it in rainy weather just a day earlier. Pilots call it the "aircraft carrier" — it's so short and surrounded by heavily populated neighborhoods that they're told to take off again and fly around if they overshoot the first 1,000 feet of runway.
By contrast, New York's LaGuardia Airport has a 7,003-foot runway that accommodates similar planes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"What appears to have happened is that he (the pilot) didn't manage to land and he tried to take off again," said Capt. Marcos, a fire department spokesman who would only identify himself by rank and first name in accordance with department guidelines.
Temperatures reached 1,830 degrees inside the plane, and officials said there was no way passengers could have survived.
"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," said Elias Rodrigues Jesus, a TAM worker who was walking nearby when he saw the crash. "I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."
TAM Linhas Aereas SA said 186 were on the Airbus-320 — 162 passengers, 18 TAM employees and a crew of six — and officials said three bodies of people killed on the ground had been recovered. There were fears of more dead on the ground, with 14 others taken to hospitals, where their conditions were not known.
Ninety badly charred bodies, along with the flight data recorder, had been pulled from the wreckage by midmorning, firefighters said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning for Brazil's second major air disaster in less than a year. In September, a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 and an executive jet collided over the Amazon rain forest, killing 154 people. Wednesday's crash now replaces that tragedy as Brazil's worst air disaster.
Silva's government is under increasing pressure to deal with Brazil's aviation woes. In September, a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest, causing the passenger jet to crash, killing 154 people.
Since then, congressional investigations have raised questions about the country's underfunded air traffic control systems, deficient radar system and the airlines' ability to cope with a surge in travelers. Controllers — concerned about being made scapegoats — have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns, causing lengthy delays and cancelations.
Presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said it was premature to declare a cause, but critics have warned for years of the danger of such an accident when large planes land in rainy weather at Congonhas airport, Brazil's busiest.
In 1996, a TAM airlines Fokker-100 crashed shortly after taking off from the same airport, killing all 96 people on board and three on the ground. In February, a federal court briefly banned takeoffs and landings of three types of large jets because of safety concerns. An appeals court overruled that, saying the safety concerns weren't sufficient to outweigh the severe economic ramifications for Brazil.
A320s were not covered under the judge's ban, and the TAM jet that crashed was a relatively recent model, said William Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
"So there are no red flags coming up, it sounds like a straightforward runway overrun," Voss said.
The single-aisle, twin-engine plane, delivered in 1998, had logged about 20,000 flight hours in some 9,300 flights, Airbus said.
Still, rainy conditions were a particular concern at the airport. Globo News television played tapes of conversations between flight controllers and pilots complaining about slick conditions on the runway days before the latest accident.
Tuesday's TAM flight was landing on Congonhas' main 6,362 feet-long runway, which was recently resurfaced but not grooved to provide better braking in rainy conditions. There were plans to regroove the surface by the end of July.
In France, Airbus said it was sending five specialists to Brazil to help investigate and would provide "full technical assistance" to France's bureau for accident investigations and to Brazilian authorities.
Emergency workers searching for bodies used a crane to maintain the structure of the destroyed TAM building.
The airline released a list of most of the people on the flight early Wednesday morning, but did not specify their nationalities. Opposition congressman Julio Redecker was among those on the flight.
"TAM expresses its most profound condolences to the relatives and friends of the passengers who were on Flight 3054," the company said.
Pope Benedict XVI, who visited Sao Paulo in May, also sent his condolences.
The airline flew 67 relatives of the victims from Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo Wednesday after they passed the night in a closed room. They arrived teary-eyed and unwilling to talk to the media.
But one man who spoke with the Associated Press earlier, Lamir Buzzanelli, said his 41-year-old son, Claudemir, an engineer, had called him from a business trip to Porto Alegre to say he was in the plane. "I've been calling him on his cell phone, and all I get is his voice mail," Buzzanelli said, his eyes tearing up.
Despite the crash, authorities reopened the airport Wednesday, using an auxiliary runway.
My Favorite Story Trash News Story
Brought to you by TMZ
It's dog days for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and others, after being indicted today on federal charges related to illegal dogfighting.
Vick was charged with illegal competitive dogfighting, which involves training pit bulls to fight against other dogs. When authorities searched Vick's property this month, they found 54 pit bulls and a host of brutal items including a "rape stand," used to hold dogs in place for mating; an electric treadmill modified for dogs and a bloodied piece of carpeting.
Graves of seven pit bulls were found inside "Bad Newz Kennels," a Virginia property owned by Vick. The dogs were allegedly killed after testing whether they would be good fighters. According to documents, dogfights would end when one dog died or backed down, and dogs were sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gunshot, electrocution or some other method. The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfights in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star's rookie year with the Falcons.
My Favorite Press Release Today
Brought to you The Open Press
Each Sunday at 14:30 GMT, the online poker room hosts a $100,000 guaranteed holdem poker tournament for its players. This week, 788 players from Europe and Asian joined in the poker action.
Montreal, QC (PRWEB) July 18, 2007 -- Everest Poker www.everestpoker.com today announced the winners of the latest $100,000 guaranteed holdem poker tournament held by the online poker room. Each week, players from around the world get the chance to compete for their share of $100,000, the largest regularly-held poker tournament offered by Everest Poker.
"This week saw over 780 of our players join in the action," said Jonathan May, Everest Poker property manager. "Our low-cost satellite tournaments help players at all levels get a fair shot at winning a lot of cash, guaranteed!"
We're always happy with the turnout at these events; we'd not be able to host them without the dedication of our players!
The top ten winners for the latest tournament are as follows: Rem 24 from Brazil ($22,000), fisholinho from France ($12,000), domramones from Brazil ($9,000), iceball12 from The Netherlands ($7,000), TxM@x from Germany ($5,000), Kristiban from Sweden ($4,000), moteru from Italy ($3,000), eudox from Germany ($1,750), A. Valverde from France ($1,500) and noodle15 from The Netherlands ($1,250)
"Despite the Bastille day holiday, France still brought 277 players to the tournament this week, with Germany bringing 161," May added. "We're always happy with the turnout at these events; we'd not be able to host them without the dedication of our players!"
For more information about Everest Poker's weekly $100,000 guaranteed poker tournaments and play poker free online, download the free Everest Poker software from http://www.everestpoker.com/dload Tournament schedules are available through RSS and XML feeds at http://www.everestpoker.com/tournament/current-schedule.html
About Everest Poker
Everestpoker.com is the first site dedicated to the international poker playing community. Recognizing the many non-English speaking poker enthusiasts around the world, Everest Poker has built the only poker software fully localized in 11 different languages. In addition, Everestpoker.com offers poker players customer support in 15 languages, and is involved with local poker initiatives through partnerships and participation in national, European and worldwide tournaments. Everest Poker is owned by Ultra Internet Media. For more information, please visit: www.everestpoker.com.
My Favorite Spam e-mail of the day
I don’t know about you but I am consistently getting spam e-mail. Some of these e-mails totally crack me up. I’ve decided to post my favorite spam e-mail daily.
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My Weather: Kansas City
Brought to you by the NOAA
Today: Sunny. High 94F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.
Tonight: A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 74F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Tomorrow: Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 92F. SW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Tomorrow night: Isolated thunderstorms during the evening hours. Skies will become partly cloudy overnight. A few storms may be severe early. Low 67F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 60s.
Saturday: A few clouds. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the low 60s.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 60s.
My Daily Horoscope (Virgo)
Brought to you by Yahoo Astrology
Quickie:
Things that challenged you will make sense today -- it's a good day to be tested.
Overview:
Your schedule is packed, but try and find a little time for your loved ones -- and yourself! After all, this effort is supposed to improve your quality of life. Remember that something outside of work exists.
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# posted by Bob Braun @ 11:55 AM 
