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Mike Tyson’s Daughter Dies In Hospital
Mike Tyson’s 4-year old daughter has died in the hospital after a tragic accident at the Tyson home.
Paramedics responded to the Tyson residence this morning after Mike’s 7-year old son found his little sister hanging from the treadmill by its power cable.
-Chris Jones
The Obligatory USA Women’s Gymnastics Team Bikini Pictures
Here are some pictures of Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone, and a few of their teammates as they enjoy some much needed and much deserved rest after a terrific performance in Beijing.
(Click to enlarge)
(hat tip Egotastic)
What You Didn’t See In Beijing
I’ve been largely willing to turn a blind eye to the politics in China, at least while the Olympics were going on. I thought the games were really exciting this year and except for China cheating with underage gymnasts, the games went quite well.
Having said that, now that the games have concluded we’re beginning to learn more about just what made it possible for Beijing to put on such a spectacle. It seems that like everything else in China, one must take a peek behind the curtain to see what’s really going on.
Foreigners traveling around Beijing over the last couple of weeks have admired the beautiful flowers blooming and lush green grass around famous monuments.
We’re now learning that China was terrified that they would run short of fresh water during the games, predicting as much as a 30% spike in water usage. Rather than gather the smartest minds in China to come up with a solution, the Chinese government did what any good dictatorship does, and decided to steal the extra water.
More than 200 miles of pipeline was constructed which drained thousands of farms completely dry leaving farmers without a livelihood and many without a home.
More than 30,000 people have been left homeless, and many have even been driven to suicide. Security officials blanketed the area to ensure none of the disgruntled farmers could somehow make it to Beijing and clue the world in on what’s going on.
The blunders began when officials started to worry that Beijing might not have enough water to cope with 500,000 visitors to the Olympics. There was talk of a 30% spike in demand. Their gaze turned to Hebei province, its fields ripe with vegetables, corn and rice, providing a good living for its huge rural population.
Decrees were issued, targets were set and engineers scurried to complete a “100day struggle” to build almost 200 miles of channels and pipes to Beijing. These will form part of a gigantic project to bring the waters of the Yangtze River to the drought-stricken plains of northern China. Meanwhile, four strategic reservoirs in Hebei, around the city of Baoding, were filled to the brim.
Accounts differ of what happened next. Some farmers say the price of water was raised by 300% to put it beyond their reach. Others simply say that their irrigation channels ran dry. As subterranean water levels fell, their wells collapsed, fields were abandoned, mud-brick farm houses stood empty.
About 31,000 people around Baoding are said to have lost their homes or land. Local leaders complained; China’s tiny environmental movement agitated. That all stopped when the Hebei media trotted out a barrage of propaganda assuring readers that the entire population was overjoyed to be making a sacrifice for the national good.
The security services were also on high alert for any foreigners entering Baoding. Taxi drivers were told to drive any foreigners who asked for a ride straight to the police station.
A reporter for the London Times who uncovered this whole story experienced the creepy security first-hand when he traveled to Baoding.
At a city hotel, the staff at the front desk arose aghast when I entered to ask for a room, then immediately telephoned the authorities. Deciding to forgo the pleasure of their acquaintance, I made my excuses and left Baoding.
As I waited at the railway station, the only foreigner in a reeking hall crammed with shabby migrants, a young man in a perfectly ironed green polo shirt and polished black shoes came and sat opposite, apparently engrossed in a newspaper.
A few minutes later a second young man, in a neat purple T-shirt and equally shiny shoes, sat down nearby and stared into space. A third fellow, this time in a pink polo shirt, materialized in the heaving throng next to me as we tramped towards the night express, murmuring into a mobile phone. After I climbed on board they vanished.
Yet another red banner, strung across the interior of our packed carriage, read: “The five Olympic rings include you and me.”
This pretty much destroys any illusions about the Chinese government. The entire Olympic games was a remarkably well choreographed charade intended to maintain a facade of progress. President Hu Jintao is really just a quieter and more reserved version of Joseph Stalin. It was a mistake to allow China to host the Olympics and it’s a decision the world will grow to regret more and more as time goes on.
Video: USA Women’s Volleyball Team Blindsides NBC With Shout-Out To President Bush
Team USA Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh finished as the winning team of the Women’s Volleyball games making them the first team to win back-to-back gold medals. What makes this Olympic victory sweeter than most is what the two did immediately after the match.
As usual, NBC interviewed team USA right after their win to get their reaction. After thanking the usual suspects like coaches, families, etc. the two women did the unthinkable. They gave an entheuastic shout-out to President Bush thanking him for his inspiration and everything he’s doing for the country.
I can just imagine the NBC producers looking on with horror as these two Olympic champions thanked the man they so loathe, and in front of the entire world no less.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh deserve a huge congratulations for their impressive win and another congratulations for being patriots.
(hat tip Hot Air)
Video: Interview With Olympic Gold Medalist Nastia Liukin
Video: Phelps Wins 8th Gold Medal, Greatest Olympian In History
SOLID GOLD
Congratulations to Nastia Liukin for winning the GOLD medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around.
Congratulations To Shawn Johnson For Winning The Silver!
Congratulations to Shawn Johnson for winning the SILVER medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around!!
Tyson Gay Runs 100 Meters In 9.68 Seconds
World champion Tyson Gay ran the fastest 100 meter race ever. He clocked in at 9.68 seconds which would have been a new world record if not for the 4.1 meters per second wind speed.
Only marks set with assisting winds of 2.0 meters per second or less can be considered for record purposes. The victory does put Gay on his first U.S. Olympic team which is what the 25-year old was hoping for.
Video: Kobe Bryant Jumps Over Speeding Aston Martin
Marion Jones Sentenced To Six Months In Prison
Disgraced American track star Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday.
The sentence, handed down by United States District Judge Kenneth Karas, stemmed from Jones’ admission to lying about steroid use and check fraud.
Jones, 31, denied using performance-enhancing drugs during a 2003 grand jury investigation into BALCO, a San Francisco area lab linked to the steroids scandal in sports.
But the five-time Olympic medal winner retired in October after pleading guilty to two charges of lying to federal investigators.
Judge Karas said he sentenced Jones to the maximum sentence in order to “send a message” to other athletes.
I think we have too many judges in this country that believe their job is to “send messages” rather than just following the law. Jones has been disgraced, stripped of her medals, and her name has been wiped from the history books.
A prison sentence on top of all that is unnecessary and excessive.
-Chris Jones
Mitchell Unveils Steriod Report
For more than a decade, baseball has been afflicted with “widespread illegal use of steroids and other anabolic substances” by players on every team in the big leagues, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s declared today.
The report contained “many” names of baseball players who sued banned drugs, Mitchell said.
Among the players named: New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, a seven-time winner of the Cy Young award. The report describes Clemens’ use of the injectable steroid Winstrol in 1998.
Also, some of the former A’s and Giants players mentioned in the report: Miguel Tejada, F.P. Santangelo, Jason Christensen, Matt Herges, Mike Stanton, Glenallen Hill, Mark Carreon, David Justice, Jack Cust and Adam Piatt, whose cooperation with Mitchell was one key to his report.
Other A’s and Giants mentioned, names that had come out before in connection with BALCO, were Bonds, Benito Santiago, Bobby Estalella, Armando Rios, Jason Giambi and Jeremy Giambi. The report also mentions players with Bay Area connections who the media had reported were customers of an on-line pharmacy, including Jose Guillen, David Bell and Matt Williams.
Click HERE to read the actual report
-Samantha Giles
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