I Wish I Were In Paris

From war to peace and politics to gossip, if we have an opinion on something we'll share it here.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Here We Go Again!! It's A Terri Schiavo Redux!!

I'm sure that the so-called "pro-lifers" are chomping at the bit on this one.

Husband gets guardianship in Schiavo-like case

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A judge on Wednesday granted temporary guardianship to the husband of a woman on a feeding tube in a case similar to the lengthy legal dispute over whether Terri Schiavo should be kept alive.

Karen Weber, 57, has been in and out of a nursing home and hospital since having a stroke in December.

She is now hospitalized on a feeding tube in Okeechobee and suffering from meningitis, her mother, Martha Tatro, said Wednesday.

Weber's husband, Raymond, sought earlier this year to have the feeding tube removed and his wife transferred to a hospice ward, where she would likely die.

He says she is in a vegetative state and would not want to live this way. But Weber's mother is fighting to keep her alive, arguing she has been alert and responsive at times and doesn't want to die.

She said that during visits with her daughter in March and April, Weber was aware and used body language to communicate.

"She had her faculties and she made it clear that she did not want her feeding tube removed," Tatro said after Wednesday's hearing in Okeechobee. "She could laugh and she could giggle and she could shake her head yes and no."

Since then, Weber's condition has deteriorated, but Tatro remains confident she can recover.

Despite the guardianship order, an injunction that the judge issued in March to prohibit the feeding tube's removal remains in place.

"The injunction says he (Raymond Weber) has to adhere to reasonable medical advice, but he can make those decisions as long as the feeding tube and ventilator are kept in place," said John Cook, an attorney appointed by the court to represent Karen Weber, who does not have a living will and cannot talk.

Tatro had been given temporary emergency guardianship over her daughter last week, but the judge on Wednesday handed it to Weber's husband, pending another guardianship hearing next week at which Tatro's attorney plans to bring in medical experts.

"I feel much better with the judge's ruling," Raymond Weber said Wednesday. He declined to comment further.

His attorney, Colin Cameron, did not immediately return a telephone message.

The arguments in this case are similar to those made over Schiavo, whose husband wanted her feeding tube removed against the wishes of her parents.

Congress passed a bill that allowed a federal court to intervene. President Bush later signed the bill into law, but the Supreme Court sided with the husband. Schiavo was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state after her heart stopped in 1990.

She died amid protests outside her hospice in 2005 after her husband prevailed in the polarizing dispute.

Yes folks, here we go again!! It's a Terri Schiavo redux!!

Here's what I don't understand. He's her husband. He has a right to make decisions for her since she can't make them for herself. Her mother has no such right. While she may be her mother, her husband is LEGALLY her next of kin.

If she is suffering, why leave her to suffer more? Is it out of "love"? Or is it out of this sick religious belief that you must leave them to suffer and prolong life because that's how "God" intended it to be?

My family knows my wishes. If it were to come to that, I expect my family to carry out my wishes. If someone tries to stop them, I hope my family kicks some ass!!

She said that during visits with her daughter in March and April, Weber was aware and used body language to communicate.

"She had her faculties and she made it clear that she did not want her feeding tube removed," Tatro said after Wednesday's hearing in Okeechobee. "She could laugh and she could giggle and she could shake her head yes and no."

Yeah, kind of like Terri Schiavo did right? We all saw that she did NOTHING her family claimed she did. If this woman is in a persistent vegetative state, she isn't doing anything that her mother claims she is doing.

How long will it be before the blood-sucking pro-lifer priests, other pro-lifers, and the media start camping out on this doorstep? How long will it be before Bill Frist or some other whackjob declares that this woman was misdiagnosed? How long will it be before a bill is brought up in Congress to prevent this woman's tube from being removed? How long will it be before Bush signs it into law? How long will it be before we have the million court battles playing out on national television?

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

An Open Letter To Mike Malloy

Mike,

Bob Dylan wrote:

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know that you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the
clowns
When they all came down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin, thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

For nearly nine months, the truth has been staring you in the face.

You didn't need to seek it; it was handed to you on a silver platter by myself and others like me.

And now you're disillusioned by illusions that you helped to create in the first place.

And now you're trying to wash your hands of everything that you did to further this myth.

No. Not that easily. Not this time.

You don't get to be outraged this time. You don't get to bitch and moan this time.

You and others like you continued to shove Barack Obama down the throats of Americans and people world-wide. Over and over, you told us that Barack Obama was the greatest thing that ever drew breath. You told us that he was the future and, when he was seated in the Oval Office, things would change. Birds would sing, skies would turn blue, water would be clean, massacres would end. I can go into your archives and show you proof of all of this and more.

Now, when it doesn't go your way, when Joe Biden is chosen by the Powers That Be, now Obama is suddenly, unbelievably, a corporately-owned entity. As if he wasn't before the weekend. As if it just suddenly happened.

You leave just enough daylight for me to operate in, Mike.

That daylight allows me to ask: if Biden hadn't been chosen, if, say, Dennis Kucinich would have been chosen (as if that was going to happen), would that have sat just fine with you? Would Obama not have been a corporately-owned entity then? What would it have taken for you to remain on the Holy Obama Tour?

You don't get to slink away from your man Obama, Mike. You own him and he owns you. Because of what you did for at least the last nine months. Because of how you ignored the truth, rather than reported the truth. Because of how you gave up all semblance of integrity for the flavor of the month.

That is why I left as Senior Correspondent. Because, while I still sought the truth and gave it to you, you wanted nothing to do with the truth and instead decided to live a fairy tale.

In your latest comments, you bemoan the fact that the DLC once again got its way when Biden's name was announced. The DLC has had its way the entire time, from the moment that Barack Obama announced that he was going to be a nominee for the candidacy for president, from the moment Hillary Clinton did the same. From those moments onward, the DLC had won.

The game was rigged from the beginning. You were either too stupid to see it, too blind to see it or you were always with the gang until it didn't work for you anymore. I can't tell which and, in the end, it's all the same to me.

Now, when it's too late, when you've helped to brainwash a group of people into believing in a myth, now you want us to believe you've seen the light. No, strike that. Now you want us to believe that you never believed the lie in the first place.

No. Not that easily. Not this time.

You should enjoy what you've helped to create, Mike. We'll talk again in 2012 after you've had four years to digest what you've wrought.

The continuing massacre in Afghanistan (you do understand that this is Obama's "smart war", don't you?); the continuation of foreclosures and the rising homeless rate; the lack of universal health care (trust me, in 2012, we'll still be asking for universal health care); the hundreds of new drilling rigs that pollute the oceans of the planet; the multiple attempted (with some being successful) coups around the world, ushering in brand new future "enemies" that have no problem with massacring their own people while the Obama administration looks the other way; the continued support of Israel's subjugation of the Palestinian people; more tensions with Russia; new tensions with Pakistan (up to and including invading that country "to go after Al Qaeda"); new tensions with China (they're already talking about it on C-SPAN, just as they were with the Russians starting back in January); possible nuclear strikes on Iran and North Korea (who's to say?); nuclear power plants all over the country (perfect for Obama's backers, Exelon Energy) and on and on.

Yeah, we'll sit down in 2012 and have a nice long chat, Mike.

Until then, kick back with the Jack Black and toast yourself.

You've earned everything that's coming to you.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

This Is American Arrogance At Its Finest

Jacques Rogge, the IOC President, bashed Usain Bolt for the way he celebrated. Rogge said that Bolt needed to show more respect to the other racers. It's funny how he's not saying the same thing about Dwyane Wade, a US basketball player.

Wade says gold medal back with rightful owners

BEIJING (AP)—Welcome to the final edition of Inside the Mind of Dwyane Wade. What can I say, we came to Beijing and showed that we’re the best in the world at the game that was invented in America. And I’m going to enjoy this.

The last Olympics left a bad taste in my mouth. But I got my gold on, my new friend. It’s going to be with me for a while. So anybody who sees me is going to see the gold. I’ve got to get security for it.

This gold medal is back with its rightful owners.

Every game was good for us. We dominated these Olympics. But it wasn’t easy. I know sometimes we made it look easy, but it wasn’t.

Spain pushed us to the limit, they’re a great team. But at the end of the day, we had more weapons. We were the better team. We made the plays we had to make to win.

But it was a long road back, for me personally and for the United States. So we’re enjoying it.

After celebrating on the court, we continued in the locker room. That was special because we were able to share the moment of being Olympic champs by ourselves. But then we got on the bus, and there were 15 bottles of champagne waiting on us. We were shaking it up and spraying it around.

Right now it’s about 8:30 at night, about four hours after the gold medal game ended. I took a break from celebrating to talk to you guys, but I’m going to get back to that right now.

I hope you enjoyed following our Olympic journey through my eyes, getting a taste of what it takes to be Olympian. But I’ve got my NBA ring, I’ve got my finals MVP and now I’m coming home with a gold medal.

First of all, the Olympics are supposed to be about AMATEUR athletes competing not PROS. Had the US actually possessed enough balls to back up their shit talk with amateurs instead of pros, the results may have been completely different.

It's rather arrogant to profess that the gold medal is back with its "RIGHTFUL OWNERS". Funny Mr. Wade, but I didn't know that you actually OWNED anything. I didn't know that the US actually OWNED any medal.

I realize that it's a lot to ask of Americans, but try having a little respect for your opponents. Maybe then the rest of the world won't think that Americans are arrogant assholes. Mr. Wade has just proven that point!!

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Joe Biden: Great For America, Great For Americans

Yeah, sure, whatever.

I thought it would be really interesting to hear from every day Americans today when it was announced that Joe Biden was running alongside Barack Obama.

You all didn't let me down.

I think I've figured out why every sycophant that backs Obama is able to forgive his back-and-forth, ever-changing positions on the issues.

It's because they, themselves, are the exact same way.

What's today? Oh, Saturday. Well, today, I'm for the war in Iraq. Monday, though, I'm against it again. But, by Friday, I'm back on the bombwagon.

That's the thinking of Barack Obama and that's the thinking of his backers.

This morning, callers into C-SPAN were expressing how happy, overjoyed, beside themselves with glee, that Joe Biden was chosen by the Powers That Be (of course, not one of them said those three words) to be Obama's running mate. There were comments about how he's great because he knows foreign policy and he's great because he's experienced and it just blew me the fuck away.

Some of them were vindictive as hell, still invoking the name of Hillary Clinton and saying that she wasn't chosen because "of what she and Bill Clinton did to denigrate Obama". This despite the fact that they'd previously said that an Obama/Clinton ticket was "the dream ticket".

There were very few people saying that Joe Biden was a boring/insane choice. But, as I have said, the Powers That Be get what they want and they wanted milquetoast Joe Biden, warmonger extraordinaire. Boring, by the way, hides the truth of Joe Biden. He's far from boring. Belligerent is more like it. There are plenty of video clips out there if you want to see this side of the "good" senator.

And he's perfectly at home being a lapdog for the PTB, having played this game for thirty-six years.

Which brings me to my next point.

A couple weeks back, after his tour of Afghanistan, Iraq and Europe, Barack Obama came home and he gave a speech in Lansing, Michigan, in which he talked about how John McCain has been in Washington for twenty-six years and he's done nothing to change the course of America, done nothing to help the underprivileged, done nothing to change fuel standards, etc., etc.

I think John McCain is a warmongering schmuck that needs to retire to one of his six houses (or is it seven?). I have gone on record many times saying that if McCain were "elected" as puppet and went off to massacre Iranians, I wouldn't protest. Instead, I would run amok in the streets of this country or I would figure out a way to get to Iran and join them in the war.

So if any of you out there wish to confuse yourselves and think that I have love for John McCain, think fucking again.

But I digress.

With Biden beside him now, how can Obama make any more Lansing-style speeches? Biden has been at this thing for thirty-six years to McCain's twenty-six and nothing has changed. Biden is the old guard, the same old guard for which Obama professes hatred.

Yet here's Obama embracing tradition rather than true change.

He's never been there, that fictious land called Change, so, as far as I'm concerned, it's just another log on the fire.

But there it is.

If Obama wanted to have real change, he would have put his foot down to the PTB and he would have said he was choosing someone out of the phone book. And not the D.C. phone book, either.

That would have been change. What's the worst they could do to him? It's a bit late to find a replacement without some real questions flying, isn't it?

Nah, never mind, Barack says. I'm happy with this bullshit choice.

Joe Biden = Obama's LBJ, without the benefit of attracting voters.

I just can't wait to hear the statements out of the mouths of true believers like Mike Malloy.

I'll probably be back Tuesday, laughing my ass off.

No Change Coming.

P.S. Mike Malloy is realizing that Barack Obama isn't what he represented himself as. On August 18, Malloy wrote:

"[...] and yet more disappointment for those who honestly thought Obama was a Liberal Democrat...like me."

When I read that, I smiled wide and shook my head at the sheer stupidity of it all. I know I've harped on this for the longest time but I have to say it again. I dropped the dime on Obama back in January, to Malloy, at the same time I did with all of you. I continued to do so through February and March and finally gave up at the beginning of April.

It's been nearly nine months since I started doing my best to inform the apparently uninformed and here we are, nine months later, and Malloy's saying he fell for the okeydoke.

If he had just kept his wits about him, if he had read my fucking e-mails in the first place, if he had done his own research rather than swallow the bullshit being pumped out by the machine, he would have understood what I did and he wouldn't feel like a schmuck.

But, despite not having listened to him since March and not having written him since April, I can tell you exactly what was said after he made it known he was less than pleased. Malloy simply said, "We have to vote for Obama because the alternative is no alternative at all."

It happened in 2004 with John Kerry and here it is again with Barack Obama.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, indeed. In the land of Malloy, it's permanent Groundhog Day.

Well, That Was Fun

Don't waste your time now in checking out Chet Edwards. Unless, of course, you'd like to know what kind of freaks lurk in the halls of Congress. In that case, knock yourself out with Edwards and everyone else.

Joe Biden is the VP choice of the machine behind Obama.

Excuse me, I just nodded off.

Joe Biden from the school of thick skulls.

Joe Biden from the land of make-believe.

Joe Biden from...What the fuck?

Joe Biden wants to carve up Iraq, giving the Kurds their own country in the north, the Sunnis their own country in the middle of the country and the Shiites their own country in the south.

Because partitioning worked so well after World War I. Look it up, kids.

Joe Biden never met a "defense" bill that he didn't like, never met an "appropriations" bill he didn't sign onto. June 26, 2008, Joe Biden voted YES to continue the massacres in both Afghanistan (where, if you haven't heard, we just slaughtered 70 plus innocents...again) and Iraq.

But, hey, he fits in perfectly with Barack Obama, who wants to bring everyone out of Iraq and play musical massacre with them, putting them into Afghanistan where they can drop 20,000 lb. bombs on as many men, women and children that the US can locate.

He's a great backup in the event that the Powers That Be believe they need to "remove" Obama because Biden's a corporate yes-man, too.

I'm really going to be interested in seeing how the idiots amongst the Obama crowd justify their shots at McCain having been in the Senate for twenty-six years when they finally realize that Biden's been there for thirty-six years.

Thirty-six years. Yeah, Obama sycophants, you're getting REAL CHANGE with Joe Biden, aren't you?

Funny, funny, funny.

More later.

No Change Coming.

Friday, August 22, 2008

America, Meet Chet Edwards. He Might Be Your Next VP.

When I came to the realization that Barack Obama was a perfect match for the Powers That Be and their corporate octopus back in January, I did so through the help of three websites.

One was The Black Agenda Report.

But, before I checked BAR out, there were other two places I looked.

OpenSecrets.org and VoteSmart.org.

Open Secrets showed me just how much money Obama (Clinton and McCain, too) was taking from corporations, lobbyists (despite his crapola fairy tale that he was clean where it concerned them) and lawyers that worked for these lobbyists and corporations. The fact that his numbers were very close to those of Hillary Clinton and ignored by people like Mike Malloy and Greg Palast was amazing.

VoteSmart.org has the voting records of every congressperson as well as every senator. The fact...I'll say that again, the FACT that Barack Obama continually voted to fund the Iraq massacre, despite, once again, his fairy tale that he hadn't voted to continue it once again went over the heads of those that would claim to seek the truth.

Now comes word that perhaps, maybe, could be, who knows, Chet Edwards (D-TX, 17th District) could be Barack Obama's pick for Veep.

Joy to the fucking world.

First of all, Chet Edwards is a conservative Democrat, something Barack Obama happens to be, despite the calls from the right that he's a socialist and the beliefs from the left that he's a leftist.
Second, Chet Edwards is fucking nuts!

Don't believe me. Please don't believe me. I don't want you to take my word for it.

Go to Wikipedia and find everything that's compiled there.

Go to VoteSmart.org and enter his name in the search field.

Or, better still, just click on the above links and find out for yourself.

Do it.

If you don't want to wait, though, here's a sampling:

Edwards voted IN FAVOR of the massacre in Iraq.

He voted to DISCRIMINATE AGAINST gays and lesbians not just in the workplace but also where it concerns marriage.

Nancy Pelosi, she who will NOT impeach Bush even if he executed her cat, thinks Edwards is a great choice for Obama.

If Nancy Pelosi owns a horse, she'd better watch its back where it concerns Chet Edwards; on September 7, 2006, Edwards voted NO on an amendment to the Horse Slaughter Prohibition Bill. The amendment would have protected horses against slaughter for human consumption.

Of course, he's voted FOR every military budget under the sun, obviously never meeting a bomb he didn't want dropped on innocent civilians elsewhere in the world.

He has no problem lumping every Arab or Muslim person in with the so-called "terrorists" by calling everyone a "jihadist", an "Islamofascist", etc., within the intelligence sector and federal government.

And he has NO problem with the FBI or the CIA listening in on your phone calls.

Great guy, right?

Well, let me let you in on a little secret. If Chet Edwards is the running mate of Barack Obama, he's the running mate of Barack Obama for a reason: to keep Barack Obama in line.

This is how they do things, the Powers That Be.

They look for a way to emotionally blackmail someone.

Maybe Barack Obama is a sex fiend, I don't know. But if he is, he's blackmailed into doing whatever the Powers want because, if he doesn't, they'll just Clinton his ass.

Maybe Barack Obama is a basket case, I don't know. But if he is, he's blackmailed into doing whatever the Powers wish because, if he doesn't, something will be leaked to the media to show that we have a mentally unstable president sitting in the Oval Office.

Maybe Barack Obama has a drug problem, he claims to have used, meaning he's still an addict. Once an addict, forever an addict. If he is, he's going to do what they say or a picture is going to appear that has him doing a line or taking a hit off a bong.

They can't ever tell if shit like this is going to take so they go out and they get someone that's just as, if not more, ambitious than the guy/woman running for puppet in chief and they put that someone in the role of Veep and then they start making noise about how easy it would be to get rid of the front man so the front man better do as they say.

And that's the end of the game.

It happened with Truman, with Eisenhower (who got a small measure of revenge when he gave his farewell address), with Kennedy (the use of sex as a blackmail tool against him; it would have continued had he not been assassinated), apparently Lyndon Johnson had some kind of emotional problems. Nixon, well, Nixon was Nixon. Ford was a puppet of the highest order. Carter had emotional problems. Reagan was already a vegetable. Old Man Bush had emotional problems. And Clinton had sex. Junior is an imbecile and, as long as he gets to play with his big ass toys and shit like that, he's happy.

So what's Barack Obama's deal? Is he any of what I said above? Or is he just like the people that surround him? We know just by looking at his record that Chet Edwards is crazy.

And, in the other corner, John McCain has slipped around the bend, so he's easy to control, too.

America and Americans, you are about to get fucked again.

No Change Coming.

More American Bitching!!

When is this incessant bitching going to end?

Lopez takes fight to taekwondo federation

BEIJING – With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid even the slightest shock of controversy.

On Friday, it was struck by lightning.

In a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the 80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader, Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) for intimidation and gross mismanagement of the sport’s rules and oversight.

“When (poor judging) happens to you, you’re told to shut up and not say anything because of what will happen to you, or what will happen to the sport,” Perez said. “If this is truly what taekwondo is about, maybe taekwondo shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Maybe they should fix it.”

Perez was furious after a string of events that began when Lopez – who hadn’t lost a match since 2002 – was docked one point in his quarterfinal match against Italy’s Mauro Sarmiento. A referee determined Lopez had used a “cut kick,” which is essentially kicking away an opponent’s blow below the waist. Perez maintained that Lopez had merely raised his left leg in defense on the foul, and Sarmiento had kicked into Lopez’s leg in an attempt to draw a point deduction.

Lopez’s lost point cut his 2-1 lead into a 1-1 tie in the third and final period of the match. He eventually lost in sudden-death overtime.

What came next had the WTF scrambling on the defensive as Perez came out with some serious allegations. First, he said the protest wasn’t properly handled – that the Olympic Competition Supervisory Board didn’t respond for 45 minutes, well outside of the allotted 15 minutes typically allowed. Second, Perez said they were given little explanation as to why their protest had been deemed “unacceptable.”

“Unacceptable could mean anything from we didn’t file the papers properly to we didn’t use the right color pencil,” Perez said. “… Under the WTF competition rules, we should have been notified about the decision, the criteria, the methodology used, what evidence was presented,and what referees were reviewing it. We were not.”

But that wasn’t even the bombshell. Perez said that, in a June taekwondo conference, the heads of the 25 teams which attended were asked to sign an agreement not to file any protests at these Olympic Games in hopes of avoiding a controversy that could further put the sport’s Olympic future in jeopardy.

“We were manhandled,” Perez said. “We were threatened not to protest at this event. I think that needs to be said. We were made to sign a document not to protest for the betterment of taekwondo. It was a very big thing. There was a table, you went up to the table, (and) you signed the document. You signed it in front of the secretary general (of the WTF) and you gave him the document.”

Perez said he was approached again by WTF officials on Friday after his protest was denied. This time, Perez said, they were asking him not to speak to the press.

“I was asked to compromise (again) five minutes ago,” he said. “They said, ‘Don’t tell anyone.’ The head of the WTF came to me and said, ‘Don’t speak to the press.’ The secretary general said, ‘Don’t do this.’ (Secretary General Jin Suk) Yang and (WTF president Chungwon) Choue said, ‘Herbert, don’t do this. Think about the future.’ ”

The WTF’s director of public relations, Seok-Jae Kang, vehemently denied coaches had signed a “no protest” pact, calling the claim “nonsense.”

“It is not an agreement. I would call it a resolution,” Kang said. “A resolution on fair play. … It was ‘Do your best to ensure fair play and judging.’ Appealing is up to them. It’s their right and their rule. They can appeal.

“Ask him the right wordings (on what he signed).”

Kang said officials from the WTF were not prepared to respond on Friday night, but pointed to a June release on the body’s Web site, which touted “Participants in WTF Olympic Coach Seminar Adopt Resolution on Fair Play.” The release lists some lines from a document signed by coaches at the event, including an agreement that signees would “respect and accept the judgment and decisions of the refereeing and technical officials in all taekwondo competitions.”

Clearly, Perez believed that to mean that coaches were being leaned upon not to protest at the Olympics. But Kang said that interpretation was “a matter of opinion.” Another coach, Iran’s Kiarash Bahri, didn’t attend the June meeting, but he said he was never told explicitly not to protest.

“The WTF wanted everybody to have more self-control, and if they want to make a protest, take the correct procedure actually, not to jump up and down and make a ruckus, raise a lot of noise,” Bahri said. “Take the correct procedure to go about it, file the complaint and then they’ll decide. But it wasn’t like, ‘Don’t make a protest.’ ”

The ugliness marred an otherwise positive story for taekwondo, which had seen a generous amount of coverage as Lopez and his two siblings, Mark and Diana, had captured medals in their respective weight classes. Mark Lopez captured silver in the 68-kilogram division, while Diana Lopez took bronze in the 57-kilogram weight class.

“(WTF officials) don’t think about the repercussions until after they make a mistake,” Steven Lopez said. “They know the power we have as a family and bringing limelight to our sport. By no means do I want to bring this sport down. I love this sport. But sometimes in any sport there are judges, there are politics involved. Unfortunately, there’s not supposed to be that in any of the sports, but you see it all the time. Whether it be gymnastics, boxing, it happens.

“There are bad calls all the time. This is one of the times that it happened to me. It normally doesn’t, but it happened. It sucks.”

Okay, let me see if I have this straight. He hasn't lost a match since 2002, thus it's impossible for him to lose or to have lost? Yeah, okay!! Using that logic, I guess that since the United States softball team never lost the gold medal until now they must have somehow been cheated. Right?

My favorite comment in the whole article was, “(WTF officials) don’t think about the repercussions until after they make a mistake.” “They know the power we have as a family and bringing limelight to our sport." The power you have as a family? What are you? The fucking mob? Are you going to off the judges? I mean, being so powerful and all!!

This is exactly what I've been pointing out and will continue to point out. People from the United States act like they own everything. They act like they're entitled to everything. When they lose, it's politics. Someone cheated. They've been screwed. Blah...Blah...Blah!!!!!

If he took an illegal shot, he deserved to be docked a point. Fuck the "I haven't lost a match since 2002" whining. He lost!! It's as simple as that. But apparently bronze isn't good enough for an American!!

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Quit Your Bitching!!

Oh good Lord!! People just can't quit their bitching!!

Olympics probe into China's 'underage' teenage gymnast

The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into allegations Chinese authorities falsified the age of a double gold medal winning gymnast because she was too young to compete.

China's He Kexin, who won team gold in artistic gymnastics and an individual title on the asymmetric bars, was registered as being born on January 1, 1992.

There have been persistent media allegations that He had competed in earlier tournaments under a later birth date, and on Thursday an American computer expert said he had uncovered Chinese state documents that proved she was 14 and not 16.

The caption on a photograph published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua last year referred to '13-year-old He Kexin', while China Daily reported in May that she was 14.

Britain's Beth Tweddle finished fourth in the uneven bars behind He Kexin and bronze medallist Yang Yilin.

An IOC official said the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) had been asked to look into 'discrepancies' over He's age, but others stressed she had already been cleared to compete.

'Everything that has been received so far shows we have no problem of eligibility for these competitors,' said the IOC's sports director Christophe Dubi, adding FIG had asked the Chinese national gymnastics federation to investigate.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies added the organisation wanted to clear up the matter 100 percent 'and put it to rest'.

Gymnasts must turn 16 in the year of the Games to take part, a rule introduced in 1997 to protect their wellbeing, and China's gymnastics coach told a news conference all the team 'were in total compliance with the age requirement'.

'Since Asian bodies are not the same as Westerners', there have been questions, but there shouldn't be,' Chinese head coach Huang Yubin said.

China has invested billions in selecting and training its athletes from a young age, an effort rewarded by top spot in the medals table, with 46 golds.

This has been seen as a sign China has the sporting prowess to match its rising superpower status.

There has been criticism of the system even from within China, though, with one former Olympic medallist saying many children who fail to make the grade are left without sufficient education or social skills.

Let's clear one thing up. The United States DEMANDED that the IOC investigate. The IOC wasn't simply asked by some secret person.

Notice that it was also an AMERICAN "computer expert" that supposedly found these documents "proving" that He Kexin wasn't 16. Is that what they're calling hackers these days? Silly me but I thought hacking was a crime!! Ah, never mind!!

The truth of the matter is, Americans will never be satisfied even if it's proven 100% that these gymnasts are old enough to compete. I'm waiting to hear the demand for endless medical tests, gynecological exams, proof of menstruation, and so on. Come on, you know it's going to happen!! You know exactly who is going to demand this. How much do you want to bet that there will be a demand to submit to medical tests performed by AMERICAN doctors? Think I'm joking? Think again!!

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Un-American? Bullshit!!

I know what I won't be doing. I won't be watching the WNBA, and I sure as hell won't be rooting for Lisa Leslie.

Hammon just living the American dream

BEIJING – Becky Hammon’s new team spells her name “Rebekka.” A player and the coach of her old country’s team have called her “un-American” and “a traitor.”

The back and forth over whether a Rapid City, S.D. native should be playing not for the United States but Mother Russia has been a heated subplot of women’s basketball. And that was even before Russian tanks started rolling into the city of Gori, John McCain declared “Today, we are all Georgians” and the U.S. and Russia plowed through the Olympic tournament to set up a semifinal matchup Thursday.

“This is sports. It’s never been a political statement on my end,” Hammon told the media Tuesday, according to the New York Times. “I don’t agree with everything that our government does, and I don’t agree with everything the Russian government does.”

In the United States, at least, not everyone agrees with what Becky “Rebekka” Hammon is doing, a knee-jerk reaction from what should be the bye-gone era of the politics of fear, division and isolationism.

The reality is Hammon is doing what any American should do – and our government and major corporations do each day – boldly striking out into the world in search of opportunity and advancement.

For all the handwringing over this pony-tailed daughter of the Dakotas’ supposed anti-Americanism, this story and its polarizing debate stems from a simple and undeniable beginning.

Team USA didn’t want Becky Hammon.

Despite having enough talent to finish runner-up for WNBA MVP honors in 2007, Hammon was not included on USA Basketball’s original list of candidates for the team. As a result, her chance of wearing the red, white and blue were all but over.

She could either root her fellow Americans on from home or she could pursue her lifelong dream and find another country to play for in what has increasingly become a free agent-fueled Olympics.

“When I was a little girl there was no WNBA, so the Olympics was the highest thing and, in my opinion, it’s still the highest thing in basketball,” Hammon told the Seattle Times. “The dream of playing in the Olympics is something I’ve carried around with me for 30 years.”

Hammon had no natural country to turn to. She wasn’t Grand Rapids’ Chris Kaman using his grandparents’ heritage to play for Germany. She would have to pick a country and become a naturalized citizen.

She chose Russia, in no small part because of its well-funded women’s basketball league, where star players make far more than the WNBA pays. A team called CSKA Moscow was willing to give her a four-year, $2 million contract. Playing for the Russian national team was a benefit to the team because it will boost her popularity and box-office appeal.

So Hammon saw business and she saw an Olympic dream and she, most likely, never saw what was coming.

Anne Donovan, the U.S. coach, hammered her for it.

“If you play in this country, live in this country and you grow up in the heartland – and you put on a Russian uniform – you are not a patriotic person.”

Donovan has since calmed down on her rhetoric, even dubbing it “a good business decision.” She’s been gracious to Hammon in Beijing. The damage was done, though. U.S. star Lisa Leslie piled on by declaring, “That’s un-American.” Hammon received plenty of negative feedback.

And just as much positive.

Using hired guns to bolster a nation’s Olympic team is an unseemly development to the Games. It is, however, hardly a Russian or a Hammon development. Everyone is doing it, including the United States.

No matter how much some want to retreat to the old days of good vs. evil at the Olympics, this is a new world order. If anything, the athlete – the individual – has been empowered. It’s the nations that, by going begging, have opened the door of opportunity.

Hammon was able to dictate her own Olympic experience. She was able to pursue her own happiness. It may just be something as simple as playing basketball, but it still matters.

The slight, 5-foot-6 31-year-old certainly didn’t anticipate the souring of relations between Moscow and Washington. No one could’ve predicted Russia’s response to Georgian military action in South Ossetia, an action decried by U.S. politicians. It hardly matters.

Hammon insists playing for Russia is not a statement about international affairs, just the pursuit of an individual dream.

“I don’t expect everybody to understand or jump on my bandwagon,” she told the Times. “I know how I feel about my country. I’m very proud of what America represents to the world. But this is a basketball game. This is not life or death. The real heroes are over in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m playing a game.”

A game between the two countries she holds citizenship in, between one team that didn’t want her and one team that did.

Not accepting personal and professional rejection from Team USA, Becky Hammon forged her own path to the medal round and found a way to make her goals come true.

It was a most American of acts.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what Becky Hammon did. She wanted to be in the Olympics. The United States basically said fuck you to her. So, she found a country that had a team and she joined them.

Lisa Leslie can go to hell. Un-American? What's the matter Lisa? Are you pissed that you didn't come up with the idea yourself? Talk about a bitch!!

She had a right to play in the Olympics and the United States didn't want her. She found a team and a country that actually respected her and wanted her.

Traitor? Hardly!! Athletes do it all the time. If Lisa Leslie and Anne Donovan didn't have their heads so far up their asses maybe they'd realize that instead of acting like their shit doesn't stink.

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Eat Crow Michael Johnson!!

Michael Johnson can eat crow!!

Jamaica’s Bolt breaks 200 mark, gets sprint double

BEIJING (AP)—Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

Bolt is the first man ever to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics. Not even Lewis or Jesse Owens managed that.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish—something he hadn’t done yet in the Beijing Games—Bolt eclipsed the old record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.

Bolt was an astonishing 0.52 seconds ahead of Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles, who was second across the finish line but later was disqualified after a U.S. team protest that he had run out of his lane. The third man across the line, Wallace Spearmon of the United States, also was disqualified for leaving his lane.

Those rulings meant Shawn Crawford of the United States, the defending Olympic champion, wound up with the silver medal, and another American, Walter Dix, ended up with the bronze medal despite being the fifth man across the finish line.

The performance marked Bolt as one of the breakthrough stars of these Summer Games, coming on the heels of his victory in the 100 Saturday night. He bettered his own world record in that race by winning in 9.69 seconds—despite slowing down over the final 20 meters to showboat.

Michael Johnson declared the other night that Usain Bolt was not going to break the world record in the 200m. Not only did Bolt win the 200m, but he also broke the world record while racing with wind.

Who's talking now Michael?????

Congratulations to Usain Bolt. I'm beyond thrilled that he won this race.

To those people out there who are bitching about his "showboating", it's called PRIDE!! Nobody had a problem with Michael Phelps when he beat his chest and "showboated". All of a sudden Bolt is wrong for doing the exact same thing? I think not!!

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How Convenient!!

How convenient it is that yet another Clinton superdelegate is dead!!

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones is dead, supposedly as a result of an aneurysm. This comes exactly one week after another Clinton superdelegate was shot dead in Arkansas.

Coincidence? I think not!!

UPDATE: She's not dead like they reported earlier. She's in the hospital in critical condition. How nice to report that someone is dead when they're actually not!!

UPDATE # 2: She apparently is now deceased. It's a sad day!! Like I said before, how convenient that yet another superdelegate is dead!!

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Put This One In The Better Late Than Never File

Didn't see this until today.

Kate Connolly, writing at CounterPunch.org, on August 12:

'The foreign policy adviser of US presidential candidate Barack Obama has called on the world community to isolate Russia in protest over its campaign in the Caucasus, likening its tactics to those of "Hitler or Stalin".

'Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, and is now advising the Democratic candidate, said the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, was "following a course that is horrifyingly similar to that taken by Stalin and Hitler in the 1930s".'

Anyone ever notice that whenever we need an enemy for this country to attack, we invoke the name Hitler?

Saddam Hussein? Hitler.

Osama bin Laden? Hitler.

Kim Jong Il? Hitler.

Hugo Chavez? Hitler.

Fidel Castro? Hitler.

On and on and on.

Every one of them must have some kind of DNA from Hitler. Pretty good for a one-testicled guy, eh?

It got so ridiculous once that some caller to C-SPAN called in about ten years ago and said that Yasser Arafat had been trained by Hitler himself.

What was laughable about that claim was that Arafat would have been four years old when Hitler came to power, nine when Hitler started what would become known as World War Two and sixteen when Hitler put a gun to his own head and painted the wall of a bunker with his brains.

Yasser Arafat was Hitler, you know.

Give me a fucking break.

As I said yesterday, I warned you about these people in January, when the Trojan Horse Obama was rolled outside the gates of everyone's mind and they opened them up. Now you're all stuck with a malady that you don't know how to get rid of.

Some of you wish that you had paid more attention to what Obama and those around him were all about. I have no sympathy for you, only contempt, actually, because you didn't pay attention in the first place.

Some of you continue to support him, though you hold your noses, because you don't agree with what he has to say on certain subjects. The alternative, you say, is worse. Wrong. There is no alternative. John McCain is just a mirror (or mere) image of Obama. No difference. I have no sympathy for you.

And those of you that continue to shuffle your feet and mutter the beautiful, melodious words 'hope', 'change' and 'better America' (or whatever it is this week), nothing I say will help you; you're fucking lost and I can't wait until the guillotine in your brains comes down and you realize just how stupid you were. Oh, yeah, no sympathy forthcoming from me to you.

No Change Coming, either.

McCann Hysteria Continues

I knew that something like this was going to happen. It was only a matter of time.

British couple tried to 'rescue' Maddy lookalike... from a Croatian football star and his model wife

When two British tourists spotted a woman leading a child with long blonde hair on the Croatian holiday island of Krk, they immediately thought it was Madeleine McCann.

The couple became even more convinced that the youngster was the missing Briton after secretly taking a couple of photographs.

So when the adult leading the child was not looking, the British woman grabbed the youngster's arm.

It was only then that she realised the child not only wasn't Madeleine, it wasn't even a little girl.

To make matters worse, the boy's father is a famous Croatian footballer and his mother - who was with him at the time - is a renowned glamour model.

Dino Drpic, who is a defender for Dinamo Zagreb and has several international caps, and his wife Nives are the Posh and Becks of Croatia.

Their son Leone has long blond hair like Madeleine's, but the similarity ends there - he is even six months younger than the missing three-year-old.

Today Nives told of the moment that the British couple mistakenly attempted to make off with their little boy.

She said: 'I started getting suspicious when the British woman approached Leone and started chatting with him.

'Suddenly she grabbed him by the arm, apparently thinking nobody was watching him.

'However, when I went over she realised her mistake and apologised.'

Nives said she was used to people staring and taking photographs of her because she and her husband are famous in Croatia.

The British couple have not been named.

Madeleine was three when she disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year.

Since then there have been false sightings as far apart as Morocco, Belgium, Chile and Venezuela.

This hysteria is so out of control. Now you have people attempting to kidnap "look-alikes" from their parents. I just knew something like this was going to happen. I'm sure it's not even the first attempt at something like this.

This wasn't even a girl that they tried to grab. This was a BOY!! A little boy at that!! McCann would be almost five. How someone can mistake a two or three year old little BOY for a five year old GIRL is beyond me!!

As people have pointed out, they're lucky that the parents were understanding. If it had been my child, they would be sitting in jail right now on attempted kidnapping charges. There would have been no apology because I would have given them a verbal beatdown!!

Seriously, how fucking dare people attempt to take a child simply because they "believe" that it's this missing child. What balls!!

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Alicia Sacramone Is How Old?

She's supposed to be 20 years old. But Alicia Sacramone sure is acting like she's two.

Romanian upsets Johnson, Liukin in women's floor

BEIJING (AP) -- Once more, the gold medal was within Shawn Johnson's reach. Again, it was snatched away.

Two days after Nastia Liukin edged Johnson for the all-around title, Romania's Sandra Izbasa -- the very last competitor -- grabbed the floor exercise gold that was almost in the American's hands.

After Johnson went in the unenviable first spot Sunday night and saw her 15.50 stand up through six other finalists, including Liukin, only Izbasa remained. But the Romanian wowed the judges with her soaring somersaults and solid landings, earning a 15.65.

That left Johnson, the 2007 world champion, with three silver medals in Beijing, and gave Liukin, who took bronze, one of each. Not a bad haul, with more event finals to come.

Johnson, gracious as always, wore a bright smile all night, and gave several competitors big hugs when they finished their routines. She barely flinched when Izbasa's mark came up, and the 16-year-old American also had a hug for the winner.

"I just stayed calm and had a great time out there," Johnson said. I love to perform."

The biggest upset of the night came in women's vault, with China's Cheng Fei losing for the first time in three years. The gold medalist at the last three world championships landed on her knees on her second attempt, leaving the competition wide open. North Korea's Hong Un Jong stepped in with two solid vaults and clean landings to win the title -- the first gymnastics medal for her nation.

The men's event finals were -- here's a shock -- dominated by China. Zou Kai won the floor exercise and Ziao Qin took pommel horse, making the hosts 4-for-4. Add in the women's successes, and it's been a medals feast for the Chinese.

And not at all disappointing for the U.S. women, who now have five medals. Johnson and Liukin had a hand in all of them.

"After the all-around, I was excited to have made the floor finals and a bronze medal feels great," Liukin said.

Neither of them competed in vault, where Cheng followed the best effort of the night, a 16.075, with her huge error, ending up with the bronze behind Oksana Chusovitina of Germany. Cheng also fell during her floor routine, then burst into tears as her coach tried to console her on the sideline.

Chusovitina, competing for Germany for the first time but in her fifth Olympics, won silver. A native of Uzbekistan and now a German citizen, the 33-year-old Chusovitina said she "feels 18."

"Today I concentrated only on my moves, not the medals," she said. "I felt that I had a very normal performance without surprises, and that is why I got a silver medal."

American Alicia Sacramone, who has three world championships medals in vault, felt she deserved a medal, but finished fourth.

"I'm disappointed, especially since third place had a fall and I made both of mine," she said. "I can't change her score. The judges made up their minds."

Sacramone was hoping to atone for her weak performance in the team competition, when she fell off the balance beam, then struggled on floor as the United States finished second to China.

"I definitely had to pull myself together a little bit the last few days," Sacramone admitted. "I'm sure someday I'll appreciate what I did. I still have to get to that step."

Alicia Sacramone felt that she DESERVED a medal. Sorry sweetheart but that's not how it works. You don't snap your fingers and get medals handed to you.

The bronze medalist may have fallen on her knees, but Sacramone doesn't know why she got the medal. Perhaps maybe she had a more difficult vault than Sacramone. Perhaps maybe she had a higher start value. Who knows!!

I think this has more to do with her still being pissed about falling on her ass on the floor and off the beam, rather than about not getting a bronze medal. Either way, she should stop throwing a tantrum, and start acting like the adult that she's supposed to be!!

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The Father Begets The Son

C-SPAN, in their "infinite wisdom", decided this morning that you haven't had enough bullshit shoved down your throat yet.

So they gave you Mark Brzezinski, son of Zbig and yet another foreign policy flack for Barack Obama.

I would just like to call attention to the fact that I warned you about these people from the jump, all the way back in January. I was not, and am not, the only one doing so; there are far more knowledgeable people than I who have been saying this shit for the longest goddamn time, not the least of which is Adolph Reed, Jr. You would do well to read everything you can get your hands on by Professor Reed.

But I have been talking about the Brzezinskis and the hooks they have in Obama and his "foreign policy" since January and I have either been ignored or scoffed at. If I've changed anyone's mind about Obama by mentioning the company he keeps (or those that keep him), I haven't heard about it, no one has spoken up.

For your information:

Mark Brzezinski harped for at least a half hour about varying issues of Obama's "foreign policy" but spent a majority crying about Russia and "our need for a strategy against Russia".

He called Russia "a threat" no less than twice, never acknowledged that Georgia attacked South Ossetia where Russia had peacekeepers (despite a caller mentioning this fact), and advocated the missile "defense" system that the US wants to plant in Poland and the Czech Republic. He said that Obama would have gone about negotiations a different way than Bush and company did. He did not say that Obama is opposed to it because, clearly, he's not. Brzezinski claimed that the "defense" system was necessary for the US to "protect our allies from threats like Iran and Russia".

He also said that the US, under Obama, would do everything to "protect" Israel, despite the fact that Israel is one of the leading terrorist nations on the planet (my words, not Brzezinski's), behind the US and Britain, of course.

Yeah, Mark, I said as I watched this, Obama already made that clear when he told those assembled at the last AIPAC gathering that his first act as prez would be to peel off $30 billion for the "defense" of Israel.

He was asked, by a Republican that clearly doesn't understand much, some horseshit question about whether or not Obama would call 9/11 an "invasion" of the US.

Brzezinski's answer meandered all over the place, winding up in Pakistan at one point, continuing the line that Obama would invade Pakistan even if the Pakistani government did not welcome US presence.

My running commentary was: Don't forget that Obama thinks that Afghanistan was/is "the right war". Dropping 20,000 lb. bombs on innocent people doesn't even elicit a blink from Barack Obama.

If there were more than thirty minutes with Mark Brzezinski, I only saw the final thirty. It's was plenty, believe me. I'm really surprised I kept my breakfast down.

I suppose that someone will be writing in and asking me what's wrong with anything Mark Brzezinski had to say. And I suppose I'll be responding with one word.

Everything.

No Change Coming.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Fix Is In!!

Michael Phelps did NOT win his seventh gold last night. Yes, the officials gave him his seventh gold. But, he did NOT win it. Milorad Cavic, the Serbian swimmer touched the wall first.

They replayed the finish over and over again. You can clearly see that Cavic touched the wall first. Even one of the announcers stated that he won the race, not Phelps.

Then cut to Bob Costas. He says that no matter how it looks, Michael Phelps got there first. No matter how it looks Bob? So, if Michael Phelps wasn't even close and someone else touched the wall, should Michael Phelps still have gotten gold? Hell no!! No matter how it looks Bob? It looks exactly how it looks. The Serbian won, but he was screwed out of his gold medal. Cut back to the announcers. One says that normally it would be a toss up. But it's gotta go to the "Magic Man".

The Serbian coaches filed a protest. FINA refused to accept their protest. They're trying to claim that even the Serbians agreed that Phelps won. BULLSHIT!! They wouldn't agree that Michael Phelps won, especially when they believed that their swimmer won. Get off it FINA!!

The fix is in. They couldn't give it to the Serbian because they couldn't take away "history in the making". They couldn't let Michael Phelps settle for silver which he rightfully deserved because that would mean that no medal record would be broken here. They couldn't let that happen. Michael Phelps had to be given the gold, despite the fact that he didn't win.

This is an example of fair play? This isn't cheating? Oh, but don't question the Americans because Americans never cheat. Americans never get things that they don't deserve. Don't question the "greatest Olympian of all time" right? He's the Golden Boy. He's untouchable right? He lost, yet still walked away with gold because as I said, they couldn't let "history" die.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Here We Go Again!!

The United States is just full of hypocrisy!! Now, two Congress members are demanding that the IOC take the 2014 Games away from Russia.

Lawmakers want Olympics out of Russia

WASHINGTON (AP)—The International Olympic Committee should punish Russia by moving the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Sochi, Russia, the co-chairs of the congressional House Georgia Caucus said.

Reps. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said in a joint statement they plan to file a resolution declaring that Russia’s movement of troops into Georgia on the eve of the Beijing Olympics makes it an unacceptable country to host the games.

“It is practically and financially untenable to hold the 2014 Winter Olympic Games less than 20 miles from a zone of conflict, particularly when the prospective host country has played a significant role in the escalation of that conflict,” according to a draft of the resolution.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said Friday the IOC believes the Olympics games are “not a tool to be used by politicians.”

“It is premature to make judgments about how events happening today might sit with an event taking place six years from now,” Davies said in a statement, adding that 35 representatives from the Sochi 2014 are in Beijing observing the games.

The head of the Sochi organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said in a statement that the members of the panel are aware of the intended resolution and only the IOC can respond to such matters.

“All our efforts here in China are spent on learning from these wonderful Beijing Games so that we can enhance our offer for the Olympic movement,” Chernyshenko said. “At Sochi 2014, our focus is to deliver an excellent and innovative Games that will inspire the world. We are on track to achive this.”

On Friday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia that protects his country’s interests despite concessions to Moscow.

The two lawmakers said here that they plan to file the resolution when Congress reconvenes after the August recess.

“Russia must realize that its actions in Georgia will not be ignored by the international community,” Schwartz said.

Sochi was selected last summer as the location for the 2014 Olympics.

This really comes as no surprise. First we bitched about China getting the Games. We said that they shouldn't get them due to their human rights violations. Now we're demanding that the Olympics be revoked from Russia because they're at "war" with Georgia.

As usual, the United States is completely hypocritical. Pot meet Kettle!!

This, coming from a country who invades any country we damn well please. This, from a country that engaged and continues to engage in an illegal, immoral war with a country that did nothing to us. This, from a country that has its own major problems with human rights violations.

I want to know who these jackasses from Congress suggest that the Games be given to? The United States? I mean after all, we're just the greatest country in the world. We do absolutely nothing wrong. We're not immoral. We don't engage in unjustified, illegal wars. We haven't murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. We haven't stuck our noses in business that doesn't concern us. We're not human rights violators. We're PERFECT!!

If we're going to take the Games away from Russia, I would offer this suggestion. If Chicago is awarded the 2016 Games, the Games should be taken away from Chicago. After all, there's a "war" going on there in the streets. How many people are murdered every single day there? Are we going to put visitors and athletes at risk of being shot?

What's that I hear? Oh yeah, silence!!

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Stop Giving Bela Karolyi An Outlet For His Hate-filled Rants

NBC and the United States need to stop giving Bela Karolyi an outlet for his hate-filled rants against the Chinese gymnasts and China.

Karolyi accuses Chinese of age-old problem

BEIJING – Perhaps the most famous case of an underage gymnast – the current Olympic age minimum is 16 – occurred back at the 1991 world championships.

North Korea entered a girl who, while certainly capable of spins and flips, looked painfully slight and terribly young. Still, the documentation checked out and no one was truly sure until she happened to flash a big smile which revealed … she was still losing her baby teeth.

Bela Karolyi, the Vince Lombardi of women’s gymnastics, tells that story just like he tells all of his stories about underage gymnasts – using mock humor to convey the disgust.

He’s been railing about underage girls in gymnastics for decades. Now he fears the United States women’s team is about to be victimized by them

The Americans must compete against Chinese girls who, while “officially” being old enough, sure look awfully young. Consider 4-foot-6, 68-pound Deng Linlin. Or Jiang Yuyuan, who checks in at a strapping 4-7 and 70 pounds.

“They are using half-people,” Karolyi told the Associated Press. “One of the biggest frustrations is, what arrogance. These people think we are stupid.

“We are in the business of gymnastics and we know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. You don’t have to be a gymnastics coach to know what they look like at 16.”

A number of U.S. media investigations have shown that Deng is one of three Chinese team members who previously had ages listed on various documents that would make them as young as 14 during this calendar year.

However, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) merely requires a government issued passport as proof of age. China produced one for each member of the team.

“All passports are valid for all gymnasts competing in the Beijing Olympic Games,” the FIG said in a statement. “Stringent control measures are taken at the time of athlete accreditation for all official FIG competitions. Further, all athlete ages for the Beijing Olympic Games are consistent with the FIG records for all past FIG competitions.”

In Sunday’s preliminaries, China took a lead over the U.S. in the team competition that concludes Wednesday morning in Beijing. Karolyi is convinced the Americans are being cheated. He wonders out loud if the Chinese packed diapers. He mocks passport accuracy since it is the Chinese government that issued it and says such forgery has been common around the globe for decades.

Besides, why not trust his lying eyes?

The Chinese look so young they may still watch “Dora the Explorer.” The team’s average height and weight on its listed roster is a mere 4-9 and 77 pounds.

By comparison, the smallest American gymnast is Shawn Johnson, a 16-year-old who checks in at 4-foot-9 and 90 pounds. The U.S. average is 5-foot and 107 pounds, which might qualify as obese by Chinese standards.

Maybe they are doping.

“What kind of slap in the face is this?” Karolyi asked. “They are 12, 14 years old, max. And they line them up for the world … and having the government back them?”

In China’s defense, there are other tiny gymnasts. Japan’s Koko Tsurumi is 4-7 and 75 pounds. Russia’s Ksenia Semenova is 4-6 and 77 pounds. Japan’s team average is just 4-10 and 82.5 pounds.

Younger and thus smaller gymnasts may have an advantage in a number of disciplines. Age limits were enacted by FIG for the safety of the athletes.

Karolyi is an NBC commentator and no longer has an official role with USA Gymnastics. However, his wife Marta is the team’s coach and the athletes train at their Texas ranch.

He’s been against age limits for years, preferring to let anyone of any age to compete. FIG says it has no plans to change its age limit, nor should it. Karolyi is wrong on this one; sending out little girls whose muscles and bones haven’t fully developed is not the proper answer.

Asking for more than a meager passport – which, since the government issues it, is obviously quite easy to control – is a long overdue change. Not that anything would completely eliminate cheating.

No one knows for sure whether the Chinese are simply tiny or eviscerating the rules and putting their athletes in harm’s way in pursuit of gold.

USA Gymnastics can’t do much at this point. Officially, it has no statement and reminds that Bela Karolyi doesn’t work for them. Marta Karolyi was pretty clear about what she thinks, though.

“We are ready to take on any team,” she deadpanned. “Overage or underage.”

Sniping is about all she can do. Unlike doping, there isn’t a test to determine someone’s age. It’s not like cutting into a redwood tree and counting the rings.

Maybe they can ask Deng Linlin to smile wide for the cameras.

Now that the China has beaten the US for gold in Women's Gymnastics, Bela Karolyi still isn't shutting up. Last night after the women lost, he was interviewed by Bob Costas. He said that the right decision was made on the floor last night. But, China didn't legally win the gold because the girls were underage.

This man needs to shut his mouth. He is in no position to be saying anything. I've never liked the guy because he has such a big mouth. What I found out makes my dislike of him extremely justified.

Check this out about Bela Karolyi.

Károlyi's career as a coach has been saddled by controversy.

While still in Romania, Károlyi came under fire from Romanian officials due to his score protests and conduct at several international meets, including the 1980 Olympics. His school in Oneşti was originally shunned in favor of Bucharest's Dinamo club; Károlyi had to battle the Romanian gymnastics federation to get Nadia Comaneci and his other athletes named to the 1975 European Championships and the 1976 Olympic team.

In America, Károlyi's training methods have been roundly criticized. Some of his former athletes, including Kristie Phillips and Erica Stokes, have stated publicly that Károlyi was verbally and psychologically abusive during workouts. Károlyi's constant critical remarks about weight and body type were said to drive some gymnasts to develop eating disorders and low self-esteem. Some gymnasts, such as Phillips and 1988 Olympian Chelle Stack, have noted that they were compelled to continue training and competing even when coping with serious injuries such as broken bones. In one interview, Dominique Moceanu, one of Károlyi's final proteges, noted: "I'm sure Bela saw injuries, but if you were injured, Bela didn't want to see it...You had to deal with it. I was intimidated. He looked down on me. He was 6-feet something, and I was 4-foot nothing."

Károlyi was also said to strictly monitor his gymnasts' food intake: Moceanu, for instance, stated that at meets away from home, gymnasts were limited to consuming as little as 900 calories a day. Even Károlyi supporters have admitted that at certain competitions, his gymnasts ate so sparingly that members of the men's gymnastics team smuggled food to them in their hotel rooms.

What's worse? Supposedly lying about somebody's age, or starving athletes, making them train and compete with injuries including broken bones, and being abusive?

There's a reason that this man (and I use that term loosely) has been banned from being on the floor at the Beijing Olympics. His wife should be banned too while we're at it!!

There is no proof that China lied about the ages of the gymnasts. NBC needs to stop giving him time on the television. Those with half a brain know damn well that nobody would be bitching if the US team hadn't fucked up last night and actually won the gold medal.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHINESE GYMNASTS!! YOU DESERVED THE GOLD!!

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Another Madeleine McCann "Sighting"

Wow, that's amazing. These people are laughable!!

Report: Brussels Security Footage May Show Missing Child Madeleine McCann

LISBON, Portugal — European authorities are studying security footage from a street camera in Brussels to determine whether or not a girl pictured in it is Madeleine McCann, a young British girl who went missing in Portugal last year, The U.K.'s Sky News reported.

The child in the video is around McCann's age and appears to look like her, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is accompanied by a dark-haired woman wearing a hijab head scarf, Sky News reported.

The images, which were released by The Sun newspaper, were handed over to police as well as McCann's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, Sky News said.

Since her disappearance, there have been sightings of McCann all around the world, Sky News said.

The current footage is under review, McCann Family Spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Sky News.

I saw the video footage. First of all, I would like to point out that the woman in the video was NOT wearing a hijab. There is a difference between a scarf and a hijab. Learn it!!

Second of all, isn't it interesting that they were able to tell that this child had blue eyes despite the fact that the video footage was grainy? I looked and I couldn't even see the child's face let alone the color of her eyes. Oh, and let's not forget that the footage was black and white. So, the eye color of that child could have been anything!!

Are they going to investigate every blond haired child sighting? Are they going to claim that every child is Madeleine McCann? After all, just a few weeks ago they tried to claim that Madeleine McCann was the child in another video. They tried to claim that the child in the video told the clerk that her name was Maddie and that she was taken from her holiday with her family. That turned out to be BULLSHIT!! Her own parents said it wasn't her.

Investigating is one thing. Declaring every blond-haired, blue-eyed child to be Madeleine McCann is another. It's ridiculous!!

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Bush Sticks His Foot In His Mouth...In Other News, The Sun Rises

He's back with a brand old statement.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatened a government elected by its people," Bush said. "Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century."

But, before you take potshots at the easy mark and start coughing up the countries Afghanistan and Iraq, re-read his statement.

Do you see what I see?

Someone has given him an exit route. It starts with the word neighboring and ends with the words government elected by its people.

Of course, he fucking blows it with that last bit, what with his two attempts to overthrow Hugo Chavez, elected by the Venezuelan people. But you're to pay zero attention to the man behind that curtain, damn you!

The sovereign neighboring state bit made me laugh, though. Leave it to his wordsmiths to come up with some kind of way out. Bravo, idiots! You still made this jackass sound like a hypocritical jackass. But that's not too hard by now, is it?

Mark, Mark, Mark!! He Just Doesn't Get It!!

Mark Spitz wasn't invited to the Olympics.

Spitz, once the star, upset over Beijing snub

US swim legend Mark Spitz won't be on hand in Beijing if Michael Phelps breaks his record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics—because, he says, no one bothered to invite him.

Spitz said the International Olympic Committee, a US television network or FINA—the international body that governs world swimming—should have brought him to the Games this year, with Phelps making a go at his record.

"I never got invited. You don't go to the Olympics just to say, I am going to go. Especially because of who I am," Spitz told AFP in Hong Kong.

"I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost—it is."

Spitz became one of the most famous athletes in the world at the 1972 Munich Olympics, winning seven gold medals—with seven world records—in what many consider to be one of the greatest achievements in all of sport.

Phelps is aiming to better that mark in Beijing, hoping to bring home eight golds. And Spitz, now 58 and grey and without his trademark moustache, cannot understand why he wasn't asked along to see the show.

"They voted me one of the top five Olympians in all time. Some of them are dead. But they invited the other ones to go to the Olympics, but not me," he said. "Yes, I am a bit upset about it."

Now a stockbroker and motivational speaker, Spitz also thinks he could have won eight golds himself in Munich if only he had had the chance.

"I won seven events. If they had the 50m freestyle back then, which they do now, I probably would have won that too," he said.

Spitz, whose brief stint in show business in the 1970s never quite matched his success in the pool, said he attended the Athens Olympics four years ago—when Phelps also tried to break the record.

"They did not once put my face on television," he recalled. "But as soon as the swimming was over, and Michael Phelps didn't break my record, every time I went to beach volley, they put my face on the volleyballs."

Spitz said it would have been a great idea if he could be the one presenting the gold medals to Phelps, who has for years been candid about his ambition to eclipse the mark of seven golds.

And Spitz thinks Phelps will succeed—for one very good reason.

"He's almost identical to me. He's a world-record holder in all these events, so he is dominating the events just like I did," Spitz said. "He reminds me of myself."

Mark, Mark, Mark!! He just doesn't get it!! Allow me to spell it out for everyone. It was an INTENTIONAL SNUB!! Mark Spitz doesn't mean shit to the United States now that they have their GOLDEN BOY for the moment!!

They don't want him there if Michael Phelps doesn't beat Spitz's record. They can't have the actual record holder sitting there if Phelps doesn't get the record because that would make Phelps and everyone else look like schmucks!!

Mark Spitz is one of the best Olympic athletes ever. However, athletes come a dime a dozen. You're the greatest one second, and then you're treated like shit the next. The same will happen with Phelps. They may be talking about him now, but someone else will come along and he'll be shit too!!

I don't know what's so special about him anyway. It's not like he's competing despite having cancer, which another U.S. athlete is doing. It's not like he was a child who survived an earthquake, rescued himself, and saved other people like the little Chinese boy at the Opening Ceremony did.
When he does something equally as inspiring, then we can talk!!

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Michael Phelps Doesn't Deserve Medal

Michael Phelps doesn't deserve the medal that the U.S. men won for the four by one hundred meter freestyle event.

This isn't sour grapes. This isn't jealousy. This is simply my opinion, and should be reality. Michael Phelps doesn't deserve the medal for one reason. He didn't participate in the qualifying race that led up to the final for this event. I say that if you don't compete in the qualifying races, you shouldn't be allowed to be in the final.

The only reason he was on the team for the final in this event was so that he could have the opportunity to beat Mark Spitz's Olympic medal record. That's it, and that's BULLSHIT!! His selfishness cost a fellow team member the chance to get an Olympic medal.

If you think this had nothing to do with beating Mark Spitz's record, think again. Last night when the U.S. team won, the comment wasn't that the team won. It was, "Yes!! Michael Phelp's shot to beat the record is still alive."

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

U.S. Looking For A Fight Between Russia And Georgia

The United States just can't help themselves. They take every opportunity to look for a fight between athletes from Russia and Georgia.

Olympic shooters hug as their countries do battle

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Sharpshooters from Russia and Georgia embraced Sunday after earning medals for their countries, which have been teetering on the brink of war since the Beijing Summer Olympics kicked off last week.

Russia's Natalia Paderina and Georgia's Nino Salukvadze hugged after winning Olympic silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 10-meter air pistol competition.

The rivals kissed each other on the cheek after standing on the medal podium with China's Guo Wenjun, who won the gold medal in the event.

Waving flower bouquets high, the women smiled broadly at the audience.

"If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did, there would never be any wars," Salukvadze, 39, said afterward, according to media reports. The reports described the two as friends.

Georgia said it launched an operation in South Ossetia on Thursday after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. Russia, whose forces entered the republic Friday, accuses Georgia of plotting to wipe out Ossetians loyal to Russia. Georgia says Russia merely wants control of an oil pipeline.

Before Sunday, Paderina and Salukvadze had competed against each other several times, including at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics; the 2005 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia; the 2006 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia; and the 2008 European Championships in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Salukvadze's bronze medal marked the first for her country in these Games.

She won a silver medal in the same event two decades ago at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where she also took home a gold for the 25-meter pistol competition. Salukvadze was a member of the then-Soviet Union's 1988 Olympic shooting team.

Sunday's silver medal was first in an Olympics for Paderina, 32.

Despite reports that the Georgia Olympic delegation might return home, team spokesman Giorgi Tchanishvili said Sunday the athletes would stay and compete, according to The Associated Press.

Tchanishvili said that the competitors were ready to leave China if it would help the situation back home, but that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili sent a message saying the athletes should remain at the Games, AP reported.

Guess what? They're not going to give one to you!! Unlike the United States and the media, these people have class. They know the meaning of the word RESPECT!!

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We're All Together Now

What would it take for George W. Bush, John McCain and Barack Obama all to sing from the same hymnal?

I'll give you two guesses.

If you guessed Cheetos, you're wrong.

If you guessed Russia, give yourself a pat on the back; I'm all out of prizes.

George W. Bush and his mouthpiece, Jim Jeffrey, who pretends to be the Deputy National Security Advisor, decided to run off at the mouth today.

First, Bush:

"The violence is endangering regional peace, civilian lives have been lost and others are endangered. We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for an end to the Russian bombings."

If you just take the word Russian out and substitute it with American, couldn't this same statement be applied to Bush and his massacres in both Iraq and Afghanistan?

I always have to laugh, because it's so ridiculous, when Bush starts talking about wanting peace and how someone else is endangering lives.

Mirror, reflection, duh!

Now for Jim Jeffrey:

"If the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations."

Disproportionate? Someone in this administration is going to preach about disproportionate "escalation"? Are you fucking kidding me?

What about Shock and Fucking Awe, slimeball?

What about the 20,000 lb. bombs that you continue to drop on the people of Afghanistan, asswipe?

I have to tell you, if I were in D.C. and I saw this jackass on the street, I wouldn't hestiate to trip his ass. What happened afterwards, I leave to your imagination.

Disproportionate, indeed.

But the fun's just starting.

Here's John McCain:

"[Russia's actions are] totally, absolutely unacceptable...I would be very direct with President Putin that these actions will have consequences long term, in terms of our relationship with Russia, and it is in violation of the norms of international conduct."

First of all, is it possible to do successful brain transplants? Because it's quite obvious that this son of a bitch needs one...STAT.

Vladimir Putin is the Prime Minister of Russia, dumbass. Not the president. If he was, don't you think he would have been back in Moscow, rather than cavorting in Beijing?

Second, you need to do yourself a favor, Senator, and actually read something so you can be familiar with the situation. Even a little bit.

Repeat after me, Mr. McCain. Russia was charged by the United Nations to have peacekeeping duties in South Ossetia. Georgia decided, I don't know, that they had an itch they needed to scratch (only they know for sure where that itch was) and attacked South Ossetia. Because Russian troops were in South Ossetia at the time, Russia decided (I don't know why; perhaps because it was) that this was an act of war and retaliated.

I seem to remember something similar happening after Pearl Harbor was bombed (regardless of what you believe about that attack or what newfound history shows it to be). I seem to recall the Bush thugs attacking Afghanistan (for reasons known only to them) after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Just because you were a fly boy in a massacre against an innocent country doesn't mean you can't grasp this concept.

Countries retaliate when they believe that they have been wronged.

Now, if someone would be so kind as to wheel Senator McCain into the operating theater, we're going to teach the kids what a brain looks like when it's past its expiration date.

And finally, Barack Obama:

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he had talked with Rice and Saakashvili to condemn Russia's recent actions. He said top diplomats from the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations should become directly involved in mediating the military conflict.

"'A genuinely neutral mediator - not the Russian government - must begin the process of negotiations immediately,' Obama said in a statement."

I gotta say, this is a real CHANGE. It sounds like CHANGE, doesn't it? I mean, it's not as if US policy is to side with the aggressor, is it? Oh, wait, it is? Hmmm, for some reason, I thought we were the beacon of the oppressed or the aggrieved. Guess not.

So Obama's been on the phone with the architects of this conflict, Condoleezza Rice and Mikhail Saakashvili, and told them, "Oh, I'm with you guys. I don't like that big bad Russia."

What a fucking surprise!

Then he recommends that three groups become involved in "negotiations" to "resolve" this "crisis". Well, one out of three ain't bad, bucko. Too bad you want the EU and the US to stick their dicks in where they don't belong. Syphilis sounds like a fitting reward if they do.

Finally, this cheese puff thinks that there's such a concept as a "genuinely neutral mediator". Who would that be, Barack? Martians? Perhaps we could get the aliens from Alpha Centauri to beam down.

The US is not a "genuinely neutral mediator" so don't even think about suggesting...oh, wait, you already did.

Britain is not a "genuinely neutral mediator" so...whoops, already mentioned the EU. That's two strikes.

Good luck in your quest for the last honest man or woman, Senator. As I said, you'll be looking long and far because there ain't one.

Never thought you'd see the day that Barack Obama, John McCain and George W. Bush would hold hands and sing Kumbaya, did you?

It happens more often than you think.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

So...When Do I Get To Say I Told You So?

January, I warned you. February, I warned you. March, April, May, June, July, August, I warned you.

The very first post I made here, I said that Barack Obama was the biggest threat that we had and I told you why and, if I'm not mistaken, the name Zbigniew Brzezinski came out of that post and, if I recall right, there were those, or at least one of you, that said, "So what? What's wrong with Brzezinski? He said he wants to bring dignity back to the White House. What's wrong with bringing dignity back to the White House?" That person didn't understand, and probably still doesn't, that dignity never existed in the confines of the White House.

The name Zbigniew Brzezinski was important to me because of who this motherfucker is and what he's all about. The fact that Zbigniew Brzezinski was/is an advisor on foreign policy for Barack Obama told me that the candidate would be willing to take a hardline stance against Russia. I didn't say on this or any other blog at the time but mentioned it to various people in e-mails, as well as private conversations that the US would be ramping up pressure against Russia, as well as using proxies to goad Russia into acting out.

And now...

I told you so.

Georgia attacked South Ossetia. Inside of South Ossetia, Russian peacekeepers. It's understandable, then, that Russia should take some kind of affront, wouldn't you agree? Tell me that the US would not be doing the exact same thing as Russia is right now and I will sell you a bridge in John McCain's front yard.

However, both McCain and Obama see things differently. They see Russia as being at fault here. By the way, I fully trust that someone will try to take issue with this statement so I come prepared to kick their ass.

McCain's comments:

"Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory." McCain also called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to put pressure on Russia.

First of all, dipshit, the U.N. agreed to allowing Russian peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia.

Second, fuckwits, the U.N. did hold an emergency meeting, in which the US fucked around and fucked around and fucked around and nothing came of it.

Third, shitass, the Security has been perverted by the US, by Britain and by France numerous, numerous, numerous times. It has also been perverted by China and Russia just as many times. So much so that everyone involved has fucking forgotten what the Security Council is supposed to be used for. It is not to take fucking sides, shit for brains. It is there to act as arbiter between two (or more) nations when there is a problem.

Yet, you want to be puppet of the United States? Everyone would be smarter just to put a gun to their head and pull the trigger before they went and voted for John Stupid Fuck McCain.

Now, Obama:

"Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis."

I'm sure someone's going to say, "What's wrong with what Obama said?"

As I said above, he has taken the side of the aggressor, but what else is new? He sides with Israel and, of course (duh!), the United States and Britain where it concerns doing whatever they wish to do against Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghanis, fill in the blank.

If you can't read between the lines of his statement, allow me to help.

First thing is first: just because someone says something fancier doesn't make it "a more even-handed" statement. In fact, if someone is telling you something and they're using flowery language, stuff that sounds like you couldn't possibly disagree with it, punch that motherfucker right in the face. You'll thank me in the morning.

Obama starts out saying, "Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected".

He's referring, of course, to South Ossetia. Except even the U.N. recognizes this area as not being Georgian territory or they wouldn't have permitted Russian peacekeepers in that area.

This part of Obama's statement is no different than McCain's statement of Russia withdrawing from South Ossetia.

Obama then says that all sides (all sides?) should "enter into talks on behalf of stability in Georgia."

As I asked in the parentheses, all sides? What "all sides"? There are three sides in this conflict and no one else. Russia, Georgia and the people of South Ossetia. The US has absolute no fucking business in this conflict and should, as usual, keep their fucking nose out of it. Do I expect this to happen? Do I expect to see pigs fly tomorrow?

As for "the stability of Georgia", note that Obama doesn't say anything about the other two "sides" in this fight, the people of South Ossetia and Russia. He only cares about whether or not his puppeteers' pal, Mikhail Saakashvili, is feeling okay or not. Last I heard, Saakashvili wanted to declare martial law. I think he'll be okay, Barack. Just be sure you continue to prop him up when January comes and everything should be fine.

How was I able to see this coming nearly eight months ago? Unlike most Americans, I pay attention to the obvious shit that's right in front of all of our faces. More people should try it.

Olympic Opening Ceremony: A Combination Of Spectacular Imagery And American Ignorance

For once I would like to see the host country of the Olympics do the announcing for the Games. If it weren't for my desire to blog about the Opening Ceremony, I would have had my tv on mute last night. The ignorance from Matt Lauer and Bob Costas was typical American ignorance that we see and hear at every Olympics. What do you expect? I, for one, would like to see respect being shown for everyone including the host country. But that would require someone to actually know the meaning of the word RESPECT.

Some comments that I found totally disgusting were the following:

"Iran has been a long time antagonist" - This comment was made I believe by Matt Lauer when the Iran delegation made its way into the stadium during the Parade of Nations.

"Hugo Chavez is a 'blustery' president" - I'm not sure which ass said this. This comment was made when the Venezuela delegation made its way into the stadium during the Parade of Nations.

"He changed the time zone to a half hour ahead of NYC. That's weird!!" - This comment was made about Hugo Chavez during the Parade of Nations. Again, I'm not sure if it was Lauer or Costas who said this. The ridiculous thing about that comment is that they clearly accept on face value the equally ridiculous changing of Daylight Savings Time by the U.S. Congress for the exact same reason that Hugo Chavez changed his time zone.

"So much for the Olympic Truce in this case!!" - This comment was made by Matt Lauer I believe when the Russian delegation entered the stadium during the Parade of Nations. This was made in reference to the current "war" taking place between the countries of Georgia and Russia. My questions to Lauer would be simple. Has the United States called a truce in Iraq? How about in Afghanistan? Has Israel called a truce with the Palestinians? The answer is HELL NO!! We have not, and Israel has not. Yet, Lauer feels the need to comment on the "Olympic Truce" when talking about Russia and Georgia? Pot, meet Kettle!!

Lauer kept saying that he shouldn't be talking about politics because the Olympics are not about politics. Yet he felt the need to be ignorant and snarky, and bring up political issues every chance he got.

"Would you look at that!! The boy speaks a little English." - This comment was made after a reporter interviewed Yao Ming who was holding a 9 year old Chinese boy who survived the earthquake in China back in May. Instead of focusing on the amazing story about this child, Bob Costas had to make the comment about the child speaking English.

This child's story is amazing. He survived the earthquake that killed 20 of his classmates. He dug himself out of the rubble, and went back in to save two of his classmates. When people asked him why he did that, he said that it was his job. He was a hall monitor, and it was his job to help his classmates.

Rather than praising this heroic child, Bob Costas apparently felt the need to basically mock him. Yes, he said thank you and thank you very much to the reporter. Yes, he spoke ENGLISH. And Bob? What's your point? I would like to point out that his ENGLISH was EXCELLENT!!

I will move on to other observations.

George Bush: Could the man be more disrespectful? During the performance portion of the Opening Ceremony, he wasn't paying any attention. He was shown on camera talking to Putin. If he had to express his love to his "soul mate", he should have either taken it elsewhere or waited until the ceremony was finished.

During the Parade of Nations, Bush was once again shown on camera. This time he was shown slumped in his seat with an expression of boredom on his face, his leg bouncing up and down, and he kept looking at his watch. What's the matter George? Was it past your bedtime?

When the delegation from Iraq made its way into the stadium, the camera cut to Bush again. The man looked as though he thought that he was the reason that they were there. I was totally expecting them to cut to him when Iran came out. But they didn't.

On a better note, the ceremony was amazing!! There really are no words to truly describe what it was like watching it. From the drums to the lighting of the torch, it was spectacular!!

I loved some of the outfits from various countries. I especially enjoyed a lot of the outfits from the African countries. From the vibrant colors to the plaids and design, they were by far my favorites!!

The outfits worn by the U.S. sucked. The women looked like old men golfers from the 40's or 50's. Perhaps, maybe even from the 30's. Hell, give them a pipe and they would have looked like Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island. I saw better outfits on Project Runway when the designers had to create a look for the Opening Ceremony. Of course nobody actually wore these outfits, but they still looked a hell of a lot better!!

If you missed it, you missed an amazing show. Check out some of the images from the Olympic Opening Ceremony courtesy of Boston.com.













China put on an amazing show. Congratulations!! I look forward to seeing everything!! If the Opening Ceremony was this good, I can't wait to see the Closing Ceremony!!

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