Those progressive Kenyans?

Kenya has moved to ban public smoking, the country's top health official has said.

Is he "Deep Throat"?

Mark Felt, a former FBI official, claims to be 'Deep Throat', the source who leaked secrets about then-president Richard Nixon's Watergate coverup to the Washington Post in Tuesday's edition of Vanity Fair. Felt has long been one of several leading identified candidates. Let's see what Bob Woodward has to say.

Early Champions League Ruling

Reds can probably be cheered (or more cheered) by news that UEFA is set to make an early decision regarding the Club's special inclusion in next year's Champions competition. UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson says a decision over whether or not Liverpool will be allowed to defend their Champions League title next season could be made before a scheduled meeting in Manchester on June 17.

When Essential Services go wrong.

Suicide hotline only open from 9 to 5

Prince Edward Island, a small province on Canada's East Coast, says it is too expensive to operate the hotline around the clock. Starting June 1, it will be open only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

French 'Non' puts EU in turmoil

French voters' clear 'No' to the EU constitution has left European leaders struggling to define the way forward. It throws the future direction of the European Union into doubt. That it should be France which has dealt this blow is the real shocker. France has been at the heart of the post-war construction of Europe and been the mover and shaker constructing the new Europe. Now it has certainly done a bit of shaking.

So a "this day in World History" blog entry. It will be curious to see what comes of the days, weeks and years ahead.

Victory!

I may be no longer on speaking terms with my liver. But the reason for this is completely justified (at least im my opinion). Why? Because yesterday Liverpool won the Champions League! Liverpool pulled off an astonishing comeback from a 3-0 deficit at the half (a terrifying score in soccer for you who don't follow the game) against Italian superclub AC Milan. The first half was downright embarrassing. Liverpool's dreams looked shattered at half-time as gloomy talk of a drubbing ensued. At Scallywag's the initial cheer went out of the place after the first goal within the first minute of play. But after the half-time break (during which there were many long faces), something remarkable occurred - within the space of six minutes the three-goal deficit had been sensationally overcome. First Gerrard headed in a goal (which was met with grim cheer), then Smicer knocked one in (and it was a game again! much rejoicing). When Xabi Alonso stepped up for a penalty after Gerrard was pulled down in front of the goal, I knew that we would win. It took another 40 minutes of play, an astounding performance by goaltender Dudek and a shootout, but it was amazing. A comeback like this has never been done before! The Toronto Supporters were cheering and celebrating for many hours afterwards! We sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" quite a few times. Reports are that there were 75,000 Liverpool supporters in Istanbul for the match (and only 40,000 may have had seats in the stadium).

There are all kinds of weird coincidences between this year and past years where Liverpool have been crowned Champions of Europe ('81 and '78):
- The Pope dies ('78)
- Prince Charles gets married
- Coronation Street's Ken and Deirdre get married
- There is a new Doctor Who
- Norwich City and Crystal Palace are both relegated
- Liverpool win 17 league games and finish 5th
- The Welsh rugby team wins the Grand Slam title
- The league winners (1978 Nottingham Forest, 2005 Chelsea) beat Liverpool in the League Cup final

Tomorrow is the day.

Today was a day too.

Yesterday turned out to be an alright day in the end. Of sorts. Game three of the poker tournament ended with victory in heads up play... only a few unfortunate missed plays and stumbles so I guess I can take that. Bluffing has worked out very well lately. (wait a sec... am I bluffing?)

Today was pretty hectic as I tried to bump my current projects out until Thursday as I'm taking tomorrow off. Why, You ask? It's because I'm taking the day off to watch Liverpool win the Champions League. [insert maniacal laughter] It will be a long day - either way. :p

Pitched our website proposal today... went very well I think.

Poker Tournament

Well I flamed out early in a stunningly bone-headed call in our poker tournament today... I had absolutely no business going all in on a set when a flush draw was on the table. Just all out stupid play, so I deserved my fate. >sigh<

My poker play has been far too undisciplined this last week - and playing online I have been smoked all too often on river flush draws (which I tend not to notice). So to blow it at this point is unforgiveable... as I write these words just after leaving the table I am completely disheartened...

Liberals survive key budget vote

The Liberal government survived a crucial budget vote Thursday night by a sliver, effectively ending the possibility of a snap election and giving the governing minority a bit of breathing room to finish this session of Parliament before the summer break.

Rafa aims to become Reds great

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has targeted becoming the most successful manager in the club's history. Benitez, 44, has set himself a major task considering the exploits of the club's former managers in Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan, who made Liverpool into one of the most successful teams ever both domestically and in Europe. He hopes the first of his trophies will come with a win over AC Milan in the Champions League final on 25 May.

Today in Canadian Government News.

In Canada's Parliament, a political showdown looms as the budget vote nears and MPs of all stripes face off in the House of Commons to decide whether Canadians will be sent to the polls just a year after their last trip to the ballot boxes to pick a government.

Around 5:45 p.m. EDT, MPs will vote on a pair of budget bills, with the Liberals fighting to hold on and the Opposition determined to bring down what they say is a government lacking what they call 'moral authority' to govern.

But, even with the only hours remaining, the political waters which have seen everything from health scares and political defections to broken hearts make headlines continued to churn.

(I'll be working out at this time)

The first Czech to Check Out?

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has told Vladimir Smicer he can leave the Reds at the end of the season, bringing his six year association with the Reds to an end. Is this the first of the Czech players to be leaving LFC in the Summer? I think so.

Three Hours I'll get back - IN ReVENgE!

I forgot to mention the other day that I got trapped into watching the 3 HOUR finale of 'The Bachelor' on Monday. Truly this was cruel and unusual punishment as they dragged out Charlie's sad sack selection of Sara B. I will get my revenge... oh yes, I will. Maybe we'll have to watch the Champions Final - in repeat!

Stronach crosses the aisle.

Belinda Stronach, the most liberal of Conservatives, often found herself at odds with her own party's policies. And now she has joined the Liberal Cabinet as Human Resources Minister. Hear it in her own words. Consider her thoughts on the Conservatives forcing an election this week: "...by forcing an election before the Conservative party has grown and established itself in Quebec, the hold over Quebec of the Bloc Québécois can only grow into the vacuum. The result will be to stack the deck in favour of separatism and the possibility of a Conservative government beholden to the separatists." "Hello" to a new PM?

ManU Selling Out?

US sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer has won control of Manchester United in a 790m ($1.47bn) takeover bid. The fans are outraged. Oh well.

That must have hurt.

It's cruel and unusual punishment or some desperate attempt to show they still have some bite, but the final score today was Arsenal 7-0 Everton.

Rugby starts next week!

Mondays look like the regular day for our fat-boys rugby nights - I guess after 10 years it's time to get some new boots.

Always knew he'd rise above it all.

California bans Internet Hunting

Certainly this is one of the most peculiar and disturbing stories I have come across in some time. A bill passed by the state Senate two weeks ago would prohibit use of computer-assisted hunting sites and ban the import or export of any animal killed using computer-assisted hunting. The measure now moves to the state Assembly.

If you ever wondered...

... the movie "Boat Trip" is horrible.

This is Anfield

People are still talking about The Kop and how it was the 12th man in Tuesday's match.

"Anfield constructed three layers of defence last night. The first, the conventional back four, did everything that could have been expected of them, with Jamie Carragher again setting the tone. But those demands had already been reduced by the partnership of Didi Hamann and Igor Biscan in a front screen which gradually eroded the morale of Chelsea's forwards. And the third layer was formed by the 17,000 fans filling the old Kop and creating a steel wall of noise that surely kept out Eidur Gudjohnsen's blazing cross-shot in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time.
Richard Williams, The Guardian "

Victory Yesterday! Back to the Grind today.

Yesterday's Champions League win was a fantastic nerve-wracking affair which "unfortunately" required several pints of Guinness - first to make it through the match, then to celebrate. Scallywag's was packed with LFC supporters. Jamie Carragher and Djimi Traore were outstanding.

Returning to work today, I have several projects to bump along... or bump off. Not sure I'll be able to make my workout tonight.

Collection Agency Boards - Fun!

So Karina got stuck with a nonsense Imperial parking ticket that has been tossed to some dubious collection agency - CBCL Limited. They have the hysterical standard letter closing of "Govern yourself according".

Doing a little research about these fools led me to a delightful bulletin board about Impark. On this board people write in to tell ImPark collections stories and some of the comments are fantastic.

Personal favourites?
"So I apparently owe them $69.55, I should just mail them a spoon and tell them to eat my ass."

And this great exchange:
CBCL: "Ah, may I have your telephone number please"
Me - "Nope, you most cirtainly can not, as you called me, you should have it."
Clown - "Nope I'm sorry, I dont have it, this is a large center with lots of numbers called all the time"
Me - "Well thats not my problem is it. Call me back when you have my number"
*Click*

I don't like Mondays.

What a stinker of a day this is turning into. By 10 this morning I was ready to go home. Several projects are s-t-a-l-l-e-d in development and I don't know when they will revive.

Tomorrow is the big game against Chelski to determine who will be playing in Istanbul for the Champions League finals. I've already booked the afternoon off. Hope we have nice patio weather.

Saw the movie Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the weekend. Enjoyed it, but it was nothing compared to the Douglas Adams books - it's hard to wrap up a creation myth with product placement in two hours. Mos Def was excellent as Ford Perfect, Sam Rockwell went fabulously over-the-top and the animated sequences portraying the guide were also highly amusing. Karina didn't know what "the Guide" was (she also doesn't know who Robert DeNiro is >sigh<), so it's a good thing she didn't come along. I have always thought that the Dirk Gently books would translate well to film, but they are probably too absurdist and tongue-in-cheek to be understood by a mainstream (non-British) audience.