A curious connection: Wikipedia, Chris Benoit and Floyd Landis

Fox News just reported the latest twist in the Chris Benoit homicide/suicide: That an anonymous user operating from a computer in Stamford, CT (home base for the WWE) posted an entry to Chris Benoit's Wikipedia biography announcing the death of Chris' wife Nancy some 13 hours before the authorities in Georgia found her body. http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,287194,00.html

The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [Johnny Nitro] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.”

At first brush it would sound like Chris posted to his own site: but he could not have since he was in Georgia and the post originated from a computer in Connecticut. It begs the question: Did Chris alert someone at the WWE earlier than what the WWE claims?

While this instance of Wiki sleuthing could possibly work against the folks at the WWE, who've already taken heat for memorializing the death of Chris during the early hours of this case, one person who's benefited from the site's open-use policies is beleaguered Tour de France winner-turned alleged doper Floyd Landis.

Landis invoked the "Wiki Defense," actually posting his entire defense online in the hopes that experts in the fields of chemistry, law, statistics, etc., would come to his side -- and they did. Prior to his Wiki Defense, Floyd was a guilty long before the world understood the difference between and A and B sample; now he seems to have genuine hope that his name will be cleared.

Online communities, and Wikipedia in particular, have come under fire repeatedly in newsrooms and classrooms alike, as these cyberspaces are more easily sourced than they are policed. It seems clear, however, that the time has come for even the naysayers to take note. While these sights may not be the perfect organ for reporting, they definitely can no longer be ignored.

UPDATE: Wikipedia user admits changing Benoit entry http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/29/wrestler.ap/index.html

Nancy's little jurists

I can't let the week go by without congratulating Nancy on her new husband and children. Was it hormones that caused her to act so batshit crazy when I was on her show last? I'd like to think so. At any rate, congratulations, dear.

(ed. note: It's been bandied about over the past few days that now that Nancy has found a husband, and dusted off the cobwebs in her uterus, there is hope for us all. My wise friend just reminded me, "I probably would not use Nancy as a baromoter for my life." Touché.

I'm a lover, not a hater....

Which is why I have to ask, is Ann Coulter really that much different from Bill Maher? Really, their shtick is bascially the same. Should we maybe lay off her a little bit?

SPF, WTF?

Why is SPF 15 so hard to find? I walked away from the CVS feeling like a bad person, because I don't want SPF 50, or above. I've been to at least three stores, and no one seems to stock SPF 15, or even 20. (To be fair, I've seen plenty of SPF 4s, but that just seems like a waste of money.) I mean, I don't want cancer any more than the next person, but I don't think it's too much to ask to stock some stuff that lets the sun in, at least a little.

3 things that bother me right now

1. Shar Jackson and her EPT test

To prove she wasn't housing KFed's spawn, Shar took a pregnancy test. The video (I'm not going to contribute to site traffic by adding the link) shows her purchasing the test, walking into her manager's office to pee on the test, then emerging from the waving the negative test like a flag on the 4th of July. If pee falls on an EPT test, but no one is there to see it, did it really happen? In this spirit of erasing this incident from memory, I'd like to say no. And Shar, do you see *anyone* else of even moderate celebrity status behaving this way? You aren't Katie Couric and this isn't your colon. Some things should be left to the imagination.

2. Remember the time Tony Soprano wore shorts, and it angered the "real" Mob? This is sort of like that.

The leader of the free world should not, under any circumstances, wear short sleeved dress shirts. No one should wear them, really, but especially not our Commander in Chief. Why did he do it? Is it a little warm in D.C. today? Well you know what, I hear it's warm in Fallujah right now, and last I checked the Marines hadn't swapped out their uniforms for something more breathable.


3. Sacre bleu, Tony Parker

Tony makes this list not just for looking particularly assy in this photo, and not just because he's castrated himself for Eva Longoria, but because he raps. In French. And he's got not one but two singles on the air. Tony, you're French, we get it. Just please stop rapping about it.