Last night I was watching the women compete in the vault exercise and watched as one gymnast stopped her run and returned for a second try. I was surprised to hear that females are allowed to stop in their run, but males are not. Why?
Category: International
Tunisian blogger and political reformer Sofiane Shurabi has been arrested by the government for drinking in public during Ramadan. We recently saw how Saudi Arabia issued warnings to non-Muslims that they were expected to respect the food and drink limitations of Ramadan in public. This arrest comes with added suspicion of a political agenda since Shurabi was a scathing critic of deposed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an opponent to the rising control of Islamic parties over the country.
Continue reading “Tunisia Arrests Leading Critic For Drinking In Public During Ramadan”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The sign above the gym floor contains one word, “Gold.” It’s a stark, relentless reminder to the children beneath it as to just what their mission requires. China’s obsession with winning Olympic gold has turned gymnasiums into dungeons for its youngest and most promising athletes. Starting at age five, children are subjected to strenuous training techniques like hanging on rails with their arms extended backwards, swinging on beams, and being given painful lessons on what it takes to beat all comers and particularly Americans. And the work seems to be paying off at the London games, as 16-year-old Ye Shiwen swam her way to a world record in the 400 meter individual medley beating the old record by almost one second. Her teammate, Sun Yang, won the 400m freestyle. Both attribute their success to “hard work and training.” And in China, that’s no sports cliché.
Seven protesters are suing Toronto police for $1.4 million, claiming they were unfairly arrested and abused after being profiled by police, who looked for such things as “hairy legs.” That allegedly was one of the ways used to spot protesters — presumably those women with shaven legs were allowed to pass freely by the officers.
In Germany the country is setting records in its reliance on alternative energy sources like solar power and record wind power installations. Japan is now building the country’s biggest solar park which make it one of the world’s largest markets for solar power (Newscientist). Here in the United States, of course, we continue to let the world take the lead in such efforts. Mitt Romney’s campaign has announced that he intends not only to reject calls for greater investment in our wind power industry but to actually kill federal support for wind power.
Continue reading “A Cold Wind Blows: Romney To Kill Support For Wind Power In The United States”
With all of the attention given the horse of the Romney family competing as the ultimate dark horse at the Olympics, there seemed little discussion of the far more relevant question: why is this still an Olympic sport?
Continue reading “Question of the Day: Why Is Dressage An Olympic Sport?”
It is always painful to watch a politician run out of steam, but that is precisely what happened to London Mayor Boris Johnson who wanted to zip line into an Olympic function.
Continue reading “No Gold: London Mayor Left Dangling In Zip Line Mishap”
Yesterday many of us watched in agony as South Korean Olympic weightlifter Jaehyouk Sa snapped his elbow while trying to life 357.15 pounds. The injury again raised the question of whether weight lifters are trying to push weights beyond their physical limitations.
There is another interesting legal controversy in the Olympics (I watch just for the challenges and appeals). The Chinese have again been accused of cheating — this time in Badminton. Onlookers booed and heaped abuse on Chinese players as they clearly threw matches to secure a better draw later in the competition. This reportedly prompted the South Korean team to also intentionally lose – resulting in an embarrassment for the entire field. Eight female players have now been charged with the novel offenses of “not using one’s best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport.” The charged players include China’s world champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang. China’s long-serving head coach Li Yongbo denied any such effort even though observers said it was obvious and obnoxious. [UPDATE: all of the players have now been disqualified from the competition]
Continue reading “Say It Ain’t So, Yongbo: Chinese Accused Of Cheating At Badminton”
The fencing competition came to a halt yesterday after South Korea fencer Shin A-Lam sat weeping on the piste for over an hour after a controversial ruling in the semi-final. As the father of a couple fencers, I was not surprised by the controversy but I was surprised by one of the reasons for the delay — a lack of cash.
Twitter appears to be claiming more athletes than drugs or injuries this year. We recently discussed the decision to remove a Greek jumper from the Olympic team over a couple of tweets that were considered offensive. I disagreed with that decision, though many have supported it. Now, Swiss Michel Morganella has been sent home for making insulting remarks on Twitter about South Koreans after the South Korean soccer team beat the Swiss, 2-1, on Sunday.
Continue reading “Swiss Athlete Removed From Olympic Team Over Anti-Korean Tweet”
The mystery woman who has caused such an international stir from the opening games has been found. Fingers have been pointed in every direction after a mysterious woman was shown walking with the Indian athletes in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. People demanded to know who could possibly walk to the front of a team and participate in the almost sacred progression for elite athletes. The answer is Madhura Nagendra, a graduate student from the southern city of Bangalore.
We have another fresh outrage from a Sharia verdict: a couple in Mali was stoned to death by extreme Islamic activists in Northern Mali.
Continue reading “Couple Stoned To Death In Mali Under Sharia Law”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
To deflect attention away from the Romney fiasco that his trip to England has become, Charles Krauthammer resurrected an old story: “Obama started his presidency by returning to the British Embassy the bust of Winston Churchill that had graced the Oval Office.” The inference is that this story demonstrates animus between Obama and Britain. The bust had been loaned to then-President George W. Bush from the U.K.’s government art collection, for the duration of his presidency.
There is a bizarre rape story out of Nigeria where Uroko Onoja, a wealthy businessman, reportedly died after being raped by his multiple wives. Polygamy is common in Nigeria and the wives reportedly became jealous with the husband’s focus on his sixth and youngest wife.