Bush Boycotts Summer Olympics!
Juuuuuuust kidding!
Like he'd ever in a million years do something so bold as boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in China ... still Bush had to defend why he is going to Beijing in August at this week's G8 Summit in Japan:
“I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Mr. Bush said at a press conference in nearby Toyako, after the two leaders met privately. He said not going to the opening ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.”
Human rights advocates have been urging a boycott of the Games, to protest China’s crackdown on anti-government protests in Tibet and its support for the government in Sudan. Other world leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, are skipping the opening ceremonies..
But Mr. Fukuda said: “I don’t think you have to really link Olympics with politics.”
Um, Mr. Fukuda, perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the Olympics for the past 100 years. Because politics nearly always stoke one flame of the Olympics and snuff another.
But I have to wonder why Bush won't visit Eugene during the Trials, where he'd have a chance to cheer on all of the top American athletes while setting an example of location. (And yes, I'm now going to start using "location" to mean a "local vacation.") I mean, it's not like he'd be unsafe in Eugene. They already have his Homeland security guards all over the place.
Question: Because Bush skipped the U.S. Olympic Trials, isn't that an "affront" to Americans that might make it "more difficult to be able to speak frankly" with the American people?
Redder Beijjing Bushwhacked than Bluegene.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/06/2008 - 11:56.Where are the pictures of the barely legal and highly controversial NIKE "altitude training" tents. You were busy eating shrimp rolls in the media tent? Okay that way we do not have to look at the story about our beloved NIKE morphing into a biomedical research and montitoring network that uses humans as guines pigs. That would be too complicated and besides those jumbo shrimps are scrumptious. Also free tickets to the trials will be rescinded if coverage does not meet the NIKE "storytelling" criteria.
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Submitted by Zachary Vishanoff (not verified) on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 09:20.Zach, I want to know where the shrimp rolls were in the media tent. I want to know the location and the variety, because I sure as hell missed out on the shrimp rolls! All I saw was a bowl of fruit and a few candy bars. Yuck!
And as a reward for not following the Nike "storytelling" criteria in my piece last week, my credentials were not rescinded.
"Altitude-training" tents are commonly used by mountaineers to prepare for assaults on K2, Everest, even Mount McKinley. So why not athletes? It saves the environment because then athletes don't have to literally train at altitude (the Rocky Mountains), jetting from high to low, from low to high. Think of all the fossil fuels saved! And how do you know that only Nike is using them exclusively for its athletes?
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Submitted by Chuck Adams on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 15:43.I was joking about the shrimp rolls although Nikes world campus hosts all sorts of culinary nibbling for people like the Governor etc. The altitude training issues are numerous. The technology is not proven and Salazar is currently in poor health. Was over use of technology to blame? The most complete and frightening analysis of altitude training was written up in the New York Times in a article by Michael Sokolove called In Pursuit of Doped Excellence.A second article on the Oregon project is from Wired magazine called The Ultimate Running Machine. If you can read those long articles and not see the problems emerging with this "training" I do not think there is much for me to write. The Oregonian recently wrote up on altitude training also(June 22 I think-Doug Binder was the reporter). The Oregonian article raises the issue of technology and how it has eroded the credibilty of those using it. To find the article use a google search with keywords:rupp salazar altitude oregonian trials. Let me know if you still do not see what is weird with it.
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Submitted by Zachary Vishanoff (not verified) on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 17:12.The article you wrote this week mentions the technology controversy/ethical issues surrounding Rupp and Salazar. I really appreciate that. As globally controversial as their weird high-tech "movement" is there is a information blackout about this sport "science" in our local media. The information blackout is a problem and the other question is is it intentional? W.A.D.A.(world anti-doping association) has had alot of unanswered questions about these altitude chambers(NIKE has em in portland and colorado) and so do I-especially here in Tracktucky U.S.A.
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Submitted by Zachary Vishanoff (not verified) on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 10:59.Post new comment