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It's refreshing to see that Florida star defensive end Carlos Dunlap has been eating his vegetables and getting plenty of rest the week of one of the biggest games the Gators will ever play.
In his defense, according to the police report, he was at least sleeping in his car at 3:25 in the morning when police found him.

At this point, Dunlap is only charged with drunken driving. Perhaps there's an explanation. But in reading the Gainesville Police Department's account of Dunlap's arrest, it's difficult to imagine what that explanation might be.

Better yet, what's his explanation to Florida coach Urban Meyer going to be? What's his explanation to his teammates going to be?

Keep in mind this is not some second-string tight end we're talking about. This is Carlos Dunlap, the highest rated NFL prospect on the Gators' team, one of their top pass-rushers and the defensive MVP of last season's BCS National Championship Game.

Regardless of what happens with the legal process in this case, it's fair to question whether Dunlap genuinely gives one hoot about this football program, about his teammates, about their quest to become one of the great dynasties in college football history.

How do you even put yourself in that position four days before such an epic showdown with Alabama?

Florida officials are obviously aware of Dunlap's arrest and are gathering more information. Meyer isn't expected to comment until later Tuesday afternoon when the Gators practice.

Meyer talked on Sunday night about what a tough season this has been as far as dealing with all the gaudy expectations. But every step along the way, he talked glowingly about this team's chemistry, its leadership and its professionalism.

With his actions in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Dunlap made sure there was a tinge of selfishness mixed in there, too.

Now it's up to Meyer to decide if that selfishness will cost the Gators one of their best players come Saturday in the Georgia Dome.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/14580/dunlaps-arrest-inexplicable

FORT HOOD, Texas -- The base commander at Fort Hood says soldiers who witnessed a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire at the Texas post.

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage Thursday that also left 30 people wounded.

Military officials say they are still piecing together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades.

Cone says Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.

Hasan was shot four times during the rampage. Cone says he is hospitalized in stable condition and that military officials will interrogate him as soon as possible.

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of Warren E. Buffett, said on Tuesday that it planned to buy the 77.4 percent of Burlington Northern Santa Fe it did not already own for $34 billion in cash and stock, in the largest deal in Berkshire history.

The deal, which will also include the assumption of $10 billion in Burlington Northern debt, represents what Mr. Buffett said was a big bet on the United States. He told CNBC in an interview that railroad operators cannot do well unless American businesses were producing goods and customers were buying them.

“It’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” he said in a written statement. “I love these bets.”

In the interview with CNBC, Mr. Buffett said that the deal came together quickly. He made a proposal to Matthew K. Rose, Burlington Northern’s chairman and chief executive. Mr. Rose took the proposal to his board — and got an answer in about 15 minutes.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to become a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family,” Mr. Rose said in a statement. “We admire Warren’s leadership philosophy supporting long-term investment that will allow BNSF to focus on future needs of our railroad, our customers and the U.S. transportation infrastructure.”

During the financial crisis of last year, Mr. Buffett spent $14.5 billion to buy preferred shares of three blue-chip American companies, Wrigley, General Electric and Goldman Sachs. These companies didn’t get Mr. Buffett’s seal of approval for free, however; the preferred stock carries hefty dividend payments.

Burlington Northern was created in June of 1994 with the merger of Burlington Northern Inc. and the Santa Fe Pacific Corporation in a stock swap valued at $2.7 billion. The merger was seen as complementary, giving it access to the coal fields of the West as well as West Coasts ports and Mexico and Canada. Santa Fe specialized in intermodal services, which involves moving goods by rail to be delivered locally by truck. Burlington Northern carried heavy commodities like coal, grain and timber.

Under the terms of Tuesday’s deal, Berkshire will pay about $100 for each Burlington Northern share, a price comprised of about 60 percent in cash and 40 percent in stock. Berkshire deals historically have almost never used stock, but Mr. Buffett told CNBC that Burlington Northern wanted a tax-free component for their shareholders.

Shares in Burlington Northern, which closed Monday at $76.07, jumped nearly 30 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday to $98.15. Class A shares in Berkshire were up slightly in premarket trading at $98,971.57.

As part of the deal, Berkshire will split its class B shares 50-to-1 to help pay for the acquisition. It’s an unusual move for Mr. Buffett, who has long said he did not like stock splits. Most of the stock component in the deal, however, will be in Berkshire class A shares.

Of the $16 billion in cash for the deal, Berkshire plans to use $8 billion on its books and $8 billion borrowed from banks, which will be repaid in three annual installments. After the deal, Berkshire will have $20 billion in cash on hand.

“I like cash,” Mr. Buffett said.

The Burlington deal is the largest for Mr. Buffett since he agreed nearly two years ago to acquire control of Marmon Holdings, the industrial holding company of the Pritzker family, for an initial price of $4.5 billion.

The race in Virginia seems to have tilted in favor of the GOP, as Bob McDonnell has the edge over Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Deeds had the misfortune of being thrown under the bus by the Obama White House in October, which used the front page of the Washington Post to throw out anonymous quotes about how bad a race Deeds had run and more.

In other words, if Democrats lose this race, party officials will talk about how they had a "weak" candidate in Virginia, not that the GOP won because of the message or a backlash against President Obama.

Up in New Jersey, Democrats are trying to hold on as Governor John Corzine has been back and forth in the polls against Republican Chris Christie, who has had to battle stories about ethical lapses in recent weeks.

The wild card in New Jersey is an Independent, Chris Daggett, who has been in double digits in the polls, and has even won the endorsement of several New Jersey newspapers.

Where Daggett's votes come from - either out of Christie or Corzine - will determine where this election goes. Daggett has worked for both parties in the state.

Corzine had surged ahead last week, but some numbers were trending towards Christie on Monday.

The final race to watch nationally will be a special U.S. House election in New York State that grabbed a lot of headlines over the weekend.

This seat was held by Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), who is now the Secretary of the Army.

The Democrat in the race is Bill Owens, who was considered by some to be too conservative.

The Republican in the race, state Rep. Dierdre Scozzafava, was considered to be too liberal.

That opened the door for Doug Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party line. He won the backing of Sarah Palin and other GOP heavyweights, and that ultimately forced Scozzafava out of the race over the weekend.

But in a shocker, she threw her support to Owens, the Democrat.

And even though she's out of the race, her name will still be on the ballot, which could drain votes away from Hoffman.

If the Democrats win this seat, they will be clucking loudly. Same goes for the GOP in New Jersey.

If all three races go against the Democrats, it should make for an interesting political spin session on Wednesday morning, just as it will be if Democrats win two of three.

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Rumors have been flying across the web that Disney is creating a system that will allow Walt Disney World guests to make Disney Dining reservations online. I did some poking around today to find the latest info related to this rumor and here’s what I dug up:

• The new online reservations system will be available in late October 2008.
• Travel agents and guests will be able to make dining reservations through the new online system.
• The new online reservations system will allow people to make dining, recreation and resort reservations.

All I can say is – it’s about time! I truly dislike making dining reservations through the telephone system Disney uses, so the online option should be great if it works! It will also be fantastic for people who live outside the United States and have had to pay long distance telephone charges every time they wanted to make a Disney dining reservation through the existing 407-WDW-DINE number.

My biggest question that I haven’t found an answer to is whether or not you have to be a Disney resort guest to use the system. I hope that’s not the case. I hope it’s open to anyone who wants to make a reservation at a Disney restaurant.

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