Cheating goalkeeper Kim Christensen faces fine after moving goalposts

A goalkeeper in Sweden’s top football league may be suspended and perhaps fined after being caught moving the goalposts. Literally.

Kim Christensen, a Dane who plies his trade with IFK Gothenburg, was seen on camera kicking in both sides of the goalframe to reduce the target area ever so slightly at the start of a crucial match in the Allsvenskan (All Sweden) division, the equivalent of the English Premier League.

The game between IFK, who are top of the league and on course for a lucrative place in European competition next season, and Örebro, was shown live on national television but it took the referee more than 20 minutes to spot that the posts were a few centimetres inside the guidelines marked on the pitch. He moved them back out to their correct positions but, because he was unaware that the goalkeeper was responsible, took no further action.

Faced with clear television evidence, however, Christensen later admitted that this was not the first time he had moved the goalposts — which, in the Swedish game, often rest on top of the artificial playing surface and can easily be manipulated.

“I got the tip from a goalkeeping friend a few years ago, and since then I have done it from time to time,” Christensen told a reporter.

Stefan Johansson, the referee, said: “Had I seen him do it I would have warned him. I think so, anyway — it is not easy to find that rule.”

A member of the disciplinary committee for the Swedish Football Association (SFA) said that, had the referee witnessed the incident, a penalty kick for Örebro would have been the correct response. The game ended 0-0 but Örebro came close to scoring several times, so may yet decide to appeal to the SFA. Christensen has already been reported to the body.

Jonas Nystedt, a spokesman for the SFA, said that its disciplinary committee would consider the case at its October meeting. “Since this ia a very special case we cannot say at the moment what will happen. During an investigation, we can say that a player is not allowed to play, but so far he has not been suspended.”

He said that moving the goalposts was not a specific offence in the SFA rulebook but the player could be charged with obstruction. Mr Nystedt added that the SFA would consider the mandatory fixing of goalposts securely to the ground in future. “On artifical grass it is not so easy to hold the goals in the right positions all the time.”

@ 'The Times'
(Thanx SirMick!)

All you David Sylvian fans...

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The Interrobang is back!?!

The interrobang was introduced in 1962 by Martin Speckter, head of a New York advertising and public relations agency and editor of a magazine called Type Talks. In a Type Talks article, Speckter declared that advertising copywriters needed a new mark to punctuate exclamatory rhetorical questions common in advertising headlines (for example: “What?! Whiter than White?!”). In this type of copy, neither an exclamation point nor a question mark (used alone) could fully convey the writer´s intent.

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Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Vertical Ascent (pattern3)

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Throbbing Gristle Make Their Own Buddha Machine

The Buddha Machine is a tiny box that emits calming ambient sounds-- "I've never heard music as good for reading as the Buddha Machine," wrote our own Mark Richardson in a 2006 column praising the device. Something tells me Throbbing Gristle's take on the Buddha Machine-- dubbed the Gristleism-- will not be quite as soothing.

Made by the industrial provocateurs along with original Buddha Machine creator Christiaan Virant, the Gristleism features "thirteen original and uncompromising loops" and promises a "mix of signature TG experimental noise, industrial drone, and classic melodies and rhythms." Perfect for those days when you need some background music to go along with dissecting dead animals or staring at TV static. More info here.

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Census Worker Killed By Asphyxiation: Police

A part-time census worker found hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery was naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape, said an Ohio man who discovered the body two weeks ago. The word "fed" was written in felt-tip pen on 51-year-old Bill Sparkman's chest, but authorities have released very few other details in the case, such as whether they think it was an accident, suicide or homicide.
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Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/census-worker-killed-by-a_n_299725.html

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US Patriot Act used mostly in drug cases

In the debate over the PATRIOT Act, the Bush White House insisted it needed the authority to search people's homes without their permission or knowledge so that terrorists wouldn't be tipped off that they're under investigation.

Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.

Only three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) quizzed Assistant Attorney General David Kris about the discrepancy at a hearing on the PATRIOT Act Wednesday. One might expect Kris to argue that there is a connection between drug trafficking and terrorism or that the administration is otherwise justified to use the authority by virtue of some other connection to terrorism.

He didn't even try. "This authority here on the sneak-and-peek side, on the criminal side, is not meant for intelligence. It's for criminal cases. So I guess it's not surprising to me that it applies in drug cases," Kris said.

"As I recall it was in something called the USA PATRIOT Act," Feingold quipped, "which was passed in a rush after an attack on 9/11 that had to do with terrorism it didn't have to do with regular, run-of-the-mill criminal cases. Let me tell you why I'm concerned about these numbers: That's not how this was sold to the American people. It was sold as stated on DoJ's website in 2005 as being necessary - quote - to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists."

Kris responded by saying that some courts had already granted the Justice Department authority to conduct sneak-and-peeks. But Feingold countered that the PATRIOT Act codified and expanded that authority -- all under the guise of the war on terror.

Feingold, the lone vote against the PATRIOT Act when it was first passed, is introducing an amendment to curb its reach. "I'm going to say it's quite extraordinary to grant government agents the statutory authority to secretly break into Americans homes," he said.

@ 'HuffPo'

From Qaddafi's 'The Green Book'

الكتاب الأخضر

It is an undisputed fact that both Man and woman are human beings. It follows as a self-evident fact that woman and man are equal as human beings. Discrimination between man and woman is a flagrant act of oppression without any justification. For woman eats and drinks as man eats and drinks … Woman loves and hates as man loves and hates … Woman thinks, learns and understands as man thinks, learns and understands … Woman, like man, needs shelter, clothing and vehicles … Woman feels hunger and thirst as man feels hunger and thirst … Woman lives and dies as man lives and dies. But why are there man and woman? Indeed, human society is composed neither of man alone nor of woman alone. It is made up naturally of man and woman. Why were not only men created? Why were not only women created? After all, what is the difference between man and woman? Why was it necessary to create man and woman? There must be a natural necessity for the existence of man and woman, rather than man only or woman only. It follows that neither of them is exactly the other, and the fact that a natural difference exists between man and woman is proved by the created existence of man and woman. This means, as a matter of fact, that there is a role for each one of them, matching the difference between them. Accordingly, there must be different prevailing conditions for each one to live and perform their naturally different roles. To comprehend this role, we must understand the differences in the nature of man and woman, namely the natural differences between them: Woman is a female and man is a male.

WTF???

Fox & Qaddafi

Fox -- which refuses to broadcast speeches by President Obama -- put Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi on air for 90 minutes Wednesday. (CNN and MSNBC also broadcast the bizarre speech.)

When Fox finally cut Qaddafi short, 'reporter' Eric Shawn immediately said "the top news" of Qaddafi's speech was that "he kept on calling Barack Obama 'our son'...because of the President's African heritage."

Transcript:

FOX ANCHOR JON SCOTT: Wearing his regal robes, Muammar Qaddafi gets ready to speak to the United Nations General Assembly. I'm Jon Scott along with Jane Skinner.

[ fast-forward through 90 minutes of Qaddafi rambling ]

FOX REPORTER ERIC SHAWN: Let me start with what is probably one of the top issues that he raised, the top news, in the sense that he kept on calling Barack Obama "our son." Muammar Qaddafi referred to him as "our son." He called the President of the United States "my son." He says this because of the President's African heritage.

By the way, remember that the same Fox News that just gave Qadaffi a 90 minute platform to spew his propaganda attacked President Obama earlier this week because a U.N. seating chart may end up seating President Obama near the Libyan leader during a Security Council meeting.

@ 'Daily Kos'

"I was black before the election"