The glitch in the system caused an error in the FAA’s ability to generate flight plans, including listing flights under their respective flight numbers, as well as equipment issues, runway take offs, as well as flight points and altitude checks.  When that system failed, it took down the warning system the FAA has in place to alert pilots of specific flights of potential cautions or things they should be aware of in the future, such as inclimate weather and runway closures.

The problems cleared up by mid-morning, but there were several delays and backlogs that had to be updated.

The system the FAA uses is dated, and while it was highly touted for its effectiveness when first installed, it has now fallen behind due to age and being obsolete.  Updates are hard to come by and with the frequency of system crashes increasing, the FAA may need to look into an overhaul to prevent disaster.

The first is the most obvious: Jordan’s accomplishments built the NBA to what it is now and without it, the opportunity for many of the next generation’s players wouldn’t exist, or exist in a state nowhere near what it is currently.

The second: anyone wearing the No. 23 is simply living in the shadow of Michael Jordan.  No matter how great the player is, after what Michael Jordan did during his career and the number of championships he acquired, no player will have remotely the same impact on the sport.  Regardless of talent, Jordan was the right man, at the right time.

The third ties into the second.  Playing under a different number, The King can build his own legacy.  Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have been heralded as the “next” Jordan, but that is an unfair comparison because they are two players in a much different era.  A new number lets LeBron build his own legacy, away from the one Mike made.

LeBron realizes that not even he could overshadow Jordan’s legacy.

Basically (for those of us who know nothing about video games and the like), when you play this game you have a big gun and you do a lot of shooting. Let me put it another way for you: I know when my roommate is playing this game…because I hear gun shots coming from his room.

Still this M-rated military game, which was released on Tuesday, earned $310 million in opening-day sales alone. According to Daniel Terdiman, a blogger for CNET news, 4.7 million copies were sold in the United States and the U.K. alone in order to break this record.

Just to put this in perspective for you, The Dark Knight made $155 million in the opening WEEKEND. The next top-selling video game was Grand Theft Auto IV which also made $310 million in first-day sales worldwide. (Modern Warfare made $310 million in just the U.S. and U.K.)

So, for those of you who are against violent video games, you may not want to join the millions of people who have purchased this game. I’m not into video games so much, but for those of you who are… What do you like about this game? Why is it so popular?

Something I find rather interesting about this little tidbit news story is the fact that the only reason the media are all over this and everything else related to Ms. Prejean is because she apologetically offended the gay community. The girl freaking spoke her mind and actually spoke it quite eloquently for a southern California valley girl and the world still can’t get over this woman’s tactful exhibition of…. Wait for it…

Free speech.

The last time I checked, this was still a free country and one that supposedly values the right to free speech so highly that we made part of our very first amendment.

Anyway, so all the gossip news now is covering Carrie Prejean implants, Carrie Prejean Playboy, and overall Carrie Prejean pictures. I guess everyone wants a look at those unnatural boobies so that we can once again dig up more reasons to make the gay community feel better about itself by trashing an otherwise decent American woman.

I’m so over this.

Not for much longer.

The Yankees pulled away from the Phillies in game four of the World Series, led by Johnny Damon’s crucial at-bat that turned into a double steal to A-Rod capping off a furious rally to drop three runs on the Phillies in short order, putting the Yankees up for good 7-4.  Mariano Rivera then did what he does best: close the game.

In a post season consisting of A-Rod beating his demons as well as A-Rod leading the Yankees through the first two rounds against the Twins and Angels, the Phillies did an excellent job of keeping him quiet, even if it required the pitchers to hit him three times with pitches, one in the first inning of game four.  That last hit may have been what awoke the sleeping giant and sparked the end of the Phillies’ reign as World Series Champions

It’s easy to say that we should have found a cure by now. We have little bits of crucial information that could be pushing us closer to a cure. Still, we’re left without certainty that this awful monster will ever be curbed.

This is precisely why you want to be a…naked mole rat.

Sure, that doesn’t really make sense but, in terms of cancer, naked mole rats are the creatures to be.

Scientists at the University of Rochester have been studying these ugly little rodents for about 30 years. They’ve been manipulating their cells in an attempt to give them cancer. (Nice, huh?) The interesting point is this: they don’t get cancer.

According to the research that was published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these animals have a specific gene that will not allow cells to over-reproduce. This gene is called p16 and it makes cells “claustrophobic” so that when the cells begin to reproduce at alarming rates, they just stop when they get too close. In this way, the tumors never even become tumors because they can’t grow.

Because this is at the beginning stages, it’s hard to tell where this discovery will lead us. Obviously, we would all love a way for this to be harvested in humans. It sure would be weird though to know that your life saved by something as ugly as this.

As a Floridian, I’d like to think that this isn’t necessarily true, but I can’t ignore the facts. There are some very ignorant and straight up stupid people who live here. Considering that Florida has a very large amount of elderly people, perhaps we can blame it on them.

In this new case, we are definitely blaming it on them.

Kimberly Broffman, 6, has a life that many of us can only dream of, and not in a good way.

Broffman has been living with her grandparents, Judie and Jimmy Stottler, since she was six months old, according to Associated Content. Her mother has a chronic drug problem and she has two siblings who live with other relatives.

The problem is that her grandparents live in a retirement community. (They’re everywhere in Florida.) These communities, like all deed restricted communities, have strict rules. The most strongly enforced of these rules is that all residents must be 55 or older or at least 18.

More than three years ago, the community filed a lawsuit against the Stottlers for having little Broffman there. I mean, it is part of the rules, so the Stottlers put their house on the market.

It’s been there for a while. With their house still on the market and pressure from the homeowner’s association, the Stottlers have nowhere to go and a lot to deal with.

It’s an awful situation and it’s making me embarrassed to be a part of this state. The homeowner’s association clearly knows the situation and they still want to evict this little girl. She could end up in foster care (don’t even get me started on that!) and would be away from her family.

I thought the older you get, the wiser you get. Apparently that’s not true. These people should be ashamed of themselves.

Check out the Today’s Show video of the situation here.

But they were willing to give the man a chance to perform after Joe Torre departed for Los Angeles.

That chance was not wasted.

The Yankees are now one game away from reaching the World Series again, and this time they are rushing in with a full head of steam.  Their team is firing on all cylinders and doesn’t seem to be on the verge of collapse.  They have won all but one game so far in the post season, sweeping the Minnesota Twins and now are one win away from eliminating the Los Angeles Angels.  The Yankees dominated game 4 of the ALCS.

Riding on the back of the dominating Alex Rodriguez and the solid pitching of CC Sabathia,  the Yankees blew out a game in a series where extra-innings were so common, they were going out of style.  The 10-1 victory may have been the straw to break the camels back and put to rest any thoughts that the Yankees were going to collapse and fail to reach the World Series once again; that dream seems all but extinguished.  CC Sabathia’s, who is undefeated in the post season this year, is next expected to pitch Game 1 of the World Series in the new Yankee Stadium.

The biggest story, however, is the performance of A-Rod.  Suddenly, the most talented and rich player in baseball who was best known for his post-season collapses is coming through in a big way.

Now with the first round done for the Yankees, the days off and in between have been very hard for reporters to find A-Rod to get him to create more gossip fodder as he has done every year in the past with questionable comments.  A-Rod seems to be in control of not only his game, but his mouth, but has his game ever been a problem?

Other players have had their bad games, but no one has been more crucified than Alex Rodriguez, and especially this year.  It started with a steroid scandal, then hip surgery, and the building anticipation of his return.  It seems that he came back with the right message in his first at bat, knocking a home run out of the park that set the tone for the rest of the season.

A-Rod is beating his demons, with a baseball bat, and leading the Yankees to their most promising post-season in recent years.

Don’t believe me? Check out the latest situation with “Balloon Boy.”

If you were paying any type of attention to the news today, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I refer to the “Flying Falcon.”

If not, I’ll do a short summary. (You can find more in-depth information if you search for 6-year-old Falcon Heene in your favorite search browser.)

Earlier today in eastern Colorado, Falcon’s parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, told authorities that their son had untethered their mylar balloon and was suspected to be inside of it.

Well, it ends up that the little child wasn’t in the balloon at all. He was hanging out in a box in the attic.

Great family! Also, it turns out that awesome family spent some time on the television show Wife Swap.

This made for some incredibly entertaining television. It also made for some interesting tweets for those who, apparently, have nothing better to do with their time.

According to CNN, the whole world was watching. Al-Jazeera reported on it. Australia reported on it. I guess it could be said that I’m reporting on it too.

I mean, it’s a pretty stupid story if you think about it. What I’m interested in is how viral this became all over social networking sites.

Like I said. What did we do before the Internet?