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WWF condemns 9/11 print ad by DDB Brazil [NOTE: The WWF says it never approved this ad and is condemning it. See the updates below.] Just in time for the anniversary of 9/11 comes this tasteless, nightmarish print ad for the World Wildlife Fund, showing dozens of planes headed for lower Manhattan. See a larger version here. The copy reads: "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it." Unfortunately, respect is the main thing lacking here. Exploiting one tragedy to try to prevent another is just stupid and self-defeating, and...

It's enough to turn your stomach. Or, if you're a New Yorker who lived through the September 11th attacks, give you a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. A new ad purportedly for the World Wildlife Fund features dozens of airplanes converging on lower Manhattan -- featuring the Twin Towers -- with the line "The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11." The ad was first brought to our attention by Gothamist, but was originally picked up by Adweek.com's AdFreak blog, which reports that the ad is from the Brazilian arm of the WWF. Sure, the 2004 tsunami was a...

The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics. For years, the fight over the Earth's rising temperature has been mostly over what's causing it: fossil-fuel emissions or natural factors beyond man's control. Now, some of the country's biggest industrial companies are acknowledging that fossil fuels are a major culprit whose emissions should be cut significantly over time. A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit, or "cap." Some see a lucrative new market in clean-energy technologies. Many figure a regulation is politically inevitable and they want to be in the room when it's negotiated,...

Andrew "Test" Martin, a World Wrestling Entertainment star from earlier this decade, was found dead in his Tampa, Fla., apartment Friday night. He was 33 years old. The cause of death wasn't immediately known, the Tampa Tribune reported. Martin worked for WWE from 1998 to 2004 and 2006 to 2007. Martin was thrust into a prominent position from the onset because of his size and muscularity, with the "Test" nickname being short for "testosterone."

Hulk Hogan asks court for $300,000 Hulk_hogan Hulk Hogan needs money. Most of what the wrestler has is tied up in frozen bank accounts until his divorce is resolved. On Feb. 28, he had back surgery, so he won't be able to bring in any new money for a while. And the little bit of money he is allowed to spend is quickly disappearing. Hulk has just $410,985.84 in his bank account, and his bills are $312,686.35, according to a motion he filed in court Monday. Without an infusion of $300,000 from his frozen bank accounts, he won't be able...

Several years ago, Will Smith starred as legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in a movie. It was a movie. Play acting. Pretend. Smith didn’t actually get into a ring and box 12 rounds with Mike Tyson for real. Now Mickey Rourke is winning awards for his role as professional wrestler Randy the Ram in the acclaimed movie The Wrestler. That’s the difference between boxing and pro wrestling. Rourke has signed to wrestle WWE superstar Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 25 in Reliant Stadium on April 5. For real, or as real as pro wrestling can be. Rourke made the surprise announcement Sunday...

You've probably seen the commercials; TV actor Noah Wyle (ER, The Librarian) somberly informs us of an impending grave catastrophe: "A tragedy is unfolding in the world today. Climate change is threatening one of the most magnificent wild animals on the planet. Polar bears. They're struggling to survive."  Heart-tugging violins accompany video footage of a mother polar bear and her cuddly cub on a small ice flow.The ice is melting all around them and food is becoming harder to find as they lose their hunting grounds. Climate change. It's happening right now and its leaving mothers weaker and unable to...

Chairman Waxman Releases Letter Regarding Illegal Steroid Use in Professional Wrestling In a letter to Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John P. Walters, Chairman Waxman summarizes results of the Committee’s investigation into steroid use in professional wrestling and requests that ONDCP examine the widespread steroid abuse and systemic deficiencies in testing policies and practices. January 2, 2009 The Honorable John P. Walters Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Executive Office of the President Washington, DC 20503 Dear Mr. Walters: As you may know, I will be leaving the Oversight Committee to become Chairman of the Energy and...

Special Delivery Jones, one of the regular faces in the World Wrestling Federation heyday of the 1980s, died Sunday in Antigua, following a stroke two days ago. He was 63.

The classicists argue as to whether Nero really fiddled while Rome burned. Yet the story is seen as apocryphal in the same way biblical parables and myths from Greek Mythology are often so viewed. That is because we all know people who have done just that sort of thing. It happens amongst us now – and on a grand and extravagant scale. Perhaps the most amusing recent examples of this sort of behavior come to us from both the business world and from our friends, the environmental movement. We begin with the detestable resort vacation taken by those corporate bums...

The WWF told a conference in Stockholm there might be only 3,500 tigers left, and that one sub-species, the South China Tiger, could soon be extinct. Chinese demand for tiger body parts - used in traditional medicine - was described as one of the main threats. The WWF's co-ordinator in Nepal, Bivash Pandav, painted a bleak picture as he described the problems facing tigers across the world, saying he believed there were some 3,500 tigers left, compared with an estimated 5,000-7,000 in 1982. The director of WWF India's species programme, Sujoy Banerjee, said that at the beginning of the 20th...

When it comes to all things "green", common sense seems to have been abandoned. Consider the recent "lights out" campaign that was supposed to energise the world about the problems of climate change by urging citizens in 27 big cities to turn out their lights for an hour. With scores of companies and municipalities signing up, the WWF quickly called it an amazing success. Nobody, it seemed, wanted to spoil the party by pointing out that the event was immensely futile, that it highlighted a horrible metaphor, or that it caused much higher overall pollution. Danish newspapers happily quoted the...

Stalin's last army: hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe - By Julius Strauss in Kirkenes, Northern Norway Millions of giant Pacific crabs, whose ancestors were brought to Europe by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, are marching south along Norway's coast, devouring everything in their path.The monster crabs, which can weigh up to 25lb and have a claw-span of more than three feet, are proving so resilient that scientists fear they could end up as far south as Gibraltar. Energised by a mysterious population explosion a decade ago, whole armies of the crustaceans - known as the...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Power companies in just five EU nations could reap windfall profits of up to 71 billion euros over five years thanks to Europe's emissions trading scheme, the green group WWF claimed Monday. The environmental group, which released the findings of a sector study, said the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) gives no incentive to move away from the most polluting coal-fired power stations and warned that Poland and other eastern European members were lobbying against a planned overhaul of the system after 2012. At the root of WWF's gripe is the free distribution of polluting permits to...

King Carl Gustaf XVI has announced that the lights will be turned off for an hour at royal castles on Saturday. The King has announced the royal intention to respect Earth Hour, a campaign by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to highlight energy use and climate change. Ulriksdal Castle and the King's home Drottningholm Castle will join Stockholm Castle in the centre of the city in cutting the lights at 8pm on Saturday. The King is honorary chair of the WWF in Sweden. WWF's Earth Hour campaign is expected to be respected by a large number of households across the...

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan has been rocked by another bombshell as he recovers from his shock marriage split - he has been romantically linked to his teenage daughter Brooke's former assistant. (Advertisement) A new U.S. tabloid report claims Hogan had an affair with 33year-old Christiane Plante, while he was married to now-estranged wife Linda. The National Enquirer claims the wrestling great started romancing Plante 12 months before his 24-year marriage fell apart in 2007. Plante tells the publication, "I will never be able to fully forgive myself for this. I have lost an amazing friend." Hogan, who is hoping for...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 28, 2008 – When the “Legends of Wrestling” tour rolled in here Jan. 26, servicemembers and civilians gathered at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation clamshell to take part in the festivities. Army Pfc. Michael Grandi Jr., Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, holds the WCW Championship belt with wrestling greats (from left to right) Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, and Nicholai Volkoff during the "Legends of Wrestling" tour that came to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2008. Photo by Spc. George Welcome,...

BERLIN (AFP) - German conservationists on Monday condemned the freeing of some 17,000 minks from a fur farm, apparently by animal rights activists, saying they would starve in the wild. "It was a political act, and it has nothing to do with protecting the environment," said Joern Ehlers from the German chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "These animals are going to die of hunger." Minks are carnivores who feed on small animals and those freed from the farm in Grabow, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Berlin, risked disturbing the ecological balance in the region,...

"Crush" Bryan Adams dead at 43 By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling According to WWE.com, Bryan Adams, who worked as Demolition Crush and was half of the KroniK tag team, has been found dead. He was 43. WWE.com said no other details were available. Adams was a boxer in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Japan, when Antonio Inoki discovered him and talked me into going into professional wrestling. When his time in the service was up, he trained in the New Japan dojo for a year. In the United States, Adams debuted in the Pacific Northwest in 1986,...

ATLANTA — Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his son before hanging himself in his weight room, a law enforcement official close to the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Authorities also said they are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths of Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son. Steroid abuse has been linked to depression, paranoia, and aggressive behavior or angry outbursts known as "roid rage." "We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at," said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard. He said test results...