Are_grits_groceries
Are_grits_groceries's JournalThe homophobic ceremonial Mayor of the Olympic Village in Sochi:
Pole vault star Isinbayeva a symbol of Russian homophobia
The greatest female pole vaulter ever, a woman whom many consider physically beautiful, showed the ugly face of homophobia two days after winning her third world title in the event Tuesday in Moscow.
While Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva cannot be condemned for free expression of her views, they are so out of tune with the Olympic ideals of inclusiveness she should step down immediately — or be forced to resign — from her ceremonial positions with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the Youth Olympic Games.
Isinbayeva is to be a torchbearer in the Sochi Olympic torch relay and ceremonial mayor of the Olympic Village in Sochi, which undoubtedly will house some gay athletes. She was an ambassador for Sochi’s successful Olympic bid and is an official International Olympic Committee ambassador of the Youth Olympic Games.
And her words at a Thursday news conference were a much harsher attack on gay rights and the LGBT community than Vidmar’s support of anti-gay marriage legislation in California.
Speaking in English, the 2004 Olympic pole vault champion delivered an impassioned defense of Russia’s new anti-gay law, said she feared for the future of her country if gays had free expression and condemned two Swedish athletes at the world championships who painted their fingernails with rainbow colors as a symbolic show of support for the LGBT community.
“It’s unrespectful of our country,” Isinbayeva said of the rainbow nails, according to news reports. “It is unrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians.”
<snip>
Isinbayeva, 31, apparently thinks rainbow fingernails will put Russia on the slippery slope to perdition. “If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves a normal, standard people,” she was quoted as saying. “We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys.”
Her definition of “normal” is a slap in the face to all LGBT citizens of Russia, no matter that Isinbayeva also claimed she had no issues with gay athletes being allowed to compete in Sochi.
<snip>
She is not only ignorant but repugnant. She has the right to be both. That is hardly what one wants from an Olympic ambassador or the mayor of an Olympic Village. She has forfeited her right to any and all such positions anywhere in the civilized world.
Yelena Isinbayeva’s words have unwittingly — and witlessly — made her a symbol.
Of prejudice.
phersh@tribune.com
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-77044919/
Entire delegations should wear a visible rainbow symbol. This would be on par with Jesse Owens. Owens very race was a rebuke to the Nazis. Identifying as LGBT or as a supporter of LGBT rights would also be a rebuke.
They could be arrested or sent home by the IOC or their country's Olympic officials. If entire delegations did this, that would be a very hot mess.
The Olympic motto should be changed from "Altius, Citius, Fortius" to "Altius, Citius, Avaricious."
Macy's needs a wake-up call right now!
Sign the Petition: Macy's, Stop Blocking Equal Pay
Here's the story: Macy’s recently played a key role in defeating an important equal pay bill in Texas. The bill would have given employees who are discriminated against more time to sue in state court. Without this law, women who are paid less simply because of their gender could miss their chance to get justice before they even find out that they were discriminated against.
The bill passed the Texas legislature with strong bipartisan support, but Governor Rick Perry vetoed it last month at Macy’s request.
Wage discrimination is a major problem in America, costing women and their families an average of $431,000 over their careers. Macy’s is in the middle of a big back-to-school marketing campaign right now, aimed largely at moms. The last thing they need right now is controversy over equal pay--an issue women all over the country care a lot about. If we all speak out now, we can generate enough media attention to pressure them to retract their opposition and pledge to support equal pay legislation--in Texas and nationally--going forward. Can you sign the petition?
Our message to Macy's:
"I’m outraged that Macy’s would undermine women’s right to equal pay for equal work. If you want my business, you should publicly retract your letter asking Governor Perry to veto the Texas equal pay act, and pledge not to block any future equal pay legislation in Congress or state legislatures."
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/macys_equal_pay_sp/?sp_ref=7849107.39.452.t.1857.2&
Jackasses!
Egypt May Not Need Fighter Jets, But The U.S. Keeps Sending Them Anyway (Why?)
Every year, the U.S. Congress appropriates more than $1 billion in military aid to Egypt. But that money never gets to Egypt. It goes to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then to a trust fund at the Treasury and, finally, out to U.S. military contractors that make the tanks and fighter jets that ultimately get sent to Egypt.
The U.S. started sending M1A1 Abrams tanks to Egypt in the late '80s. In all, the U.S. sent more than 1,000 tanks to Egypt since then — valued at some $3.9 billion — which Egypt maintains along with several thousand Soviet-era tanks.
"There's no conceivable scenario in which they'd need all those tanks short of an alien invasion," Shana Marshall of the Institute of Middle East Studies at George Washington University, told me.
<snip>
Every March for the past few years, Baron says, he and other small-business owners have gone to Capitol Hill at the invitation of General Dynamics, a big contractor. They visit their congressmen and "let them know of our support for these programs and also the impact that these programs have on employment," he says.
Former Republican congressman Jim Kolbe often received visits from military contractors like Baron. Before he retired in 2007, Kolbe was the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that approves the military aid we give to Egypt. But when I talked to Kolbe recently, he said that "legitimate questions need to be asked of the Egyptian military."
"What is the objective of of the military these days? What do you see as the real threat?" he said.http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/08/08/209878158/egypt-may-not-need-fighter-jets-but-u-s-keeps-sending-them-anyway
And it is ever thus.....
Gas explosion at Kyoto fireworks show:
@mpoppel: Kyodo: Kyoto fireworks show canceled after suspected gas explosion hits main venue; at least 61 injured
(Using translator)
15, 7:30 PM around the venue was just before the start of shimoyanagi-Cho, Fukuchiyama, Kyoto in yura River no. 72 times Fukuchiyama Fireworks, was 119 "stand gas cylinders exploded". According to Fukuchiyama City Fire Department, including the children, leaving 58 people were injured. 17 People are injured said. Kyoto Prefectural Police from street vendor situation, looking into the precise cause.
<snip>
http://www.asahi.com/national
Gah! Scary!
A Simple Device to Detect Concussions (Wow!)
The start this month of high school and college football seasons across the country renews concerns about the issue of repeated head impacts and how to manage or, preferably, avoid concussions. Unfortunately, the resources to deal with the problem remain limited. Newly released, state-of-the-art football helmets, for instance, may measure how much force each player’s head is absorbing and relay that data via telemetry to trainers on the sidelines, but at $1,500 or so per helmet, they are unattainable for most teams.
<snip>
One means of assessing concussion status, Dr. Broglio continued, is to look at a player’s reaction time, since it is known to increase immediately after a concussion. A variety of scientifically validated tools exist to measure players’ reaction times, but most require a computer and sophisticated software, and are not practicable on the sidelines or in the budgets of many teams.
<snip>
To use the device, an evaluator simply holds it in front of an athlete who is seated at a table with one arm resting on the surface and his hand at the table’s edge. The evaluator aligns the puck with the bottom of the athlete’s hand and lets go. The athlete catches the falling stick. The evaluator marks where his hand lands, and, voila, a coach or trainer has a baseline measure of someone’s reaction time. Theoretically, should a player later be suspected of having sustained a concussion, the trainer could pull out the dowel-puck, repeat the test, and, if the player’s reaction time were slower, conclude that he or she likely was concussed.
<snip>
“We’re not saying” that the dowel test is definitive, Dr. Broglio said. Concussions remain highly individualized, differing in severity and presentation from player to player. “The more tests that are used to assess” a player’s brain health, he said, “the better.” But the dowel measurement has the advantage of being readily available to any team, he points out, no matter how small their resources, if their will to protect their players is sufficiently ample.
Much more:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2013/08/14/a-simple-device-to-detect-concussions/?_r=0&
This could make a huge difference. Everybody has the ability to use this test. If they are rigorous in adhering to the simple standards in using this, it can provide timely and invaluable info. No more excuses.
WWE Wrestler Announces He's Gay
Not a gimmick, not an angle (yet!), and done in the least showy way imaginable.
TMZ's cameras found Darren Young (real name: Fred Rosser) waiting for his bags at an airport, and asked him if he thought a gay wrestler could be successful. Young laughed, realizing this was how the first publicly gay wrestler was going to come out.
"Does it matter to you?" Young asked the photographer, and everyone. "Does it change what you think about me?"
ESPN's Jonathan Coachman worked for WWE for a decade. On a radio show earlier this year, he was asked if a gay wrestler would present any problems. He said absolutely not.
"There were several openly gay wrestlers and some of our old school guys as well. Never an issue and not only were we getting naked in front of each other, but we were wrestling each other in the ring and it wasn't an issue."
Update: WWE has released a statement in support of Young:
http://deadspin.com/wwe-wrestler-announces-hes-gay-1147816394
Caveat:If this is no stunt...
Good for him! He also made this clear without fanfare and whatever.
This matters. In such a macho sport, his attitude and that of WWE & other wrestlers makes a real statement to a different demographic.
Organizing For Action gave Congressional GOPeas a climate change award:
@Earth_Pics
Ha!
Good Lawd!Orson Scott is taking another lap around the crazy track:
Orson Scott Card Worries About Obama Turning "Urban Gangs" Into His Personal Police Force[div]<snip>
That's good! The gay marriage foofarah was a distraction from Card's much more fascinating political paranoia. His last column on politics is a sort of masterpiece of that genre, starting with the grouping of "George W. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq" among "politically useful lies," and continuing with a fantasy of how Barack Obama will stay in power forever.
<snip>
Instead of doing drive-by shootings in their own neighborhoods, these young thugs will do beatings and murders of people "trying to escape" -- people who all seem to be leaders and members of groups that oppose Obama.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/08/14/orson_scott_card_worries_about_obama_turning_urban_gangs_into_his_personal.html
Lurleen Wallace??? Really Orson? Really?
He is a nasty man with a dyspeptic view of life. Card needs to STFU and stay in his cave.
Al Jazeera highlights key features at main pro-Morsi sit-in Cairo's Nasr City area(Interactive)
Egyptian security forces moved in on Wednesday to disperse two ongoing pro-Morsi sit-ins, now in their sixth week.
The smaller of the two protests, at Nahda Square in Giza, was quickly destroyed by the army and police. But they have yet to disperse the thousands of people still gathered outside the Raba'a al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood. This protest has become something of a miniature city over the past few weeks, with security guards and barricades, tents serving food, and dormitories for protesters.
tap the icons for info
The map below highlights some of the key infrastructure at this sit-in:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2013/08/201381462016326343.html
Interesting.
They will continually update this.
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