Monday Newsbreak: 11/26

--It looks as if fires have broken out again in the coastal California area around Malibu, although the damage is nowhere as widespread as it was a few weeks ago in southern California. My area in northern Florida is also prone to fires from time to time. A few months ago, fires in southern Georgia caused almost unbreathable conditions in much of northern Florida. When the wind shifted, Atlanta had some serious emergencies with some people who couldn't breathe well. So it's not just the people who build their homes out in high-fire potential areas who are affected.

--Ten-year Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his party were convincingly turned out of office and replaced with Kevin Rudd and his Labor Party. Rudd has promised to withdraw the token Australian force in Iraq. But more importantly, he said that his administration would support ratification of the Kyoto agreement , designed to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ameliorate the global warming crisis. Meanwhile, extreme right-wing corporate hack Sean Hannity is filling up his air time claiming that global warming isn't really happening, but if it is, it's caused by increased solar activity. Anything to avoid conceding a point to Al Gore!

--Tragedy struck downtown Gainesville during the very early Sunday morning hours in the form of a senseless, random murder. A Tallahassee man who, along with his brother, had visited Gainesville for the Saturday UF-FSU football game, was leaving a downtown parking garage when he was shot to death by someone in the garage. Video cameras caught the perpetrator as he was fleeing the garage, and the victim's brother witnessed the murder. So I ask, where was the security? You mean to tell me that they don't provide security for these parking garages, with all of the money that they rake in from them? I think that I'll just take my chances parking alongside curbs.

--The Florida Gators football team ended their regular season on a successful note by handling their cross-state rivals, the Florida State Seminoles, 45-12. It's a little sad for me to see both FSU and Miami having tough seasons, but maybe this is just a dip that will be corrected in the near future. I was happy to see the Tennessee Vols hold on to beat Kentucky in multiple overtimes, 52-50, to gain a shot at LSU for the SEC title. Since the Tigers blew a chance at a national championship with their loss to Arkansas this past week, I'm just going to stick with good ol' Coach Phillip Fulmer in his quest to lead Tennessee to steal the crown from the favorites!