Here are some of the contenders for today's biggest...news...of...the...day...

• Better-than-expected earnings from LM Ericsson (ERIC)...
• A product delay for Research in Motion (RIMM)...it is said the release of the new 3G BlackBerry phone "apparently named Meteor, has been pushed to as late as August, from the planned June launch..."
• Earnings from Microsoft Corp (MSFT)..."sales slumped, casting doubt on whether PC demand can hold up in a slowing economy..."
• Better-than-expected earnings from ITT Corp (ITT)..."the world's largest maker of night-vision goggles, said first-quarter earnings rose 23 percent..."
• Word that Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), "earned about $10.8 million in total compensation and cashed out $121.5 million in stock options last year..." [Note - shares of CFC are down 85% over last 52 weeks...]
• A look into the "The Fortune 500's biggest losers"...companies mentioned include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Sprint Nextel (S), Pulte Homes (PHM), Newmont Mining (NEM), and Virgin Media (VMED)...
• A new mindset at Nokia (NOK)..."Tired of losing ground in the U.S., the handset maker is ready to customize phones for carriers..."
• Predictions that "gasoline could hit $7 a gallon in four years..."
• A look into the "run on rice"
• A call "to quell rising food costs" by the U.N. Secretary-General...
• Rice shortages in San Francisco Stores...

While those are all stories worth watching, I think it is obviously clear that the biggest news is this pair of stories...

• Legally blind man teaches alleged intruder a lesson - "A legally blind man beat up an intruder and held him at knifepoint until police arrived at the man's eastside home..." Allan Kieta said - "I opened the door and just ran into him. I had him pinned in the laundry room and just kept pummeling..."
• Police: Carjacker stops to ask TV news crew for directions - "A carjacking suspect stopped during the crime to ask a television news crew for directions...when the passenger in a car asked for directions to a bank. The driver signaled that he was being held at gunpoint..."

Yes, it is our weekly examples of "wow, that is embarrassing" and "what were you thinking"...I can (thankfully) say I have never been in prison so I don't fully understand that "environment" but I have to believe that a guy who gets pummeled and apprehended by a legally blind man is going to face some "challenges". As far as the other story goes, you would think the person in the act of an alleged crime might want to avoid the people with cameras. Of course, if there was that "level of thought" put into the whole endeavor, there probably wouldn't have been a crime to begin with.