An early leader for the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship is a pair of shooters, one from Russia and one from Georgia, who shared the medal platform today in the Womens’ 10m air pistol. Georgia’s Nino Salukvadze and Russia’s Natalia Paderina, former teammates on the USSR team, collected the bronze and silver today respectively, but took a moment to appeal for peace in the trouble South Ossetia area.
“I am very nervous today. It’s very difficult for my people,” said the Georgian.
“If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars.
“We live in the 21st Century, after all,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes as she put her pistol down after her final shot of the event.
“We shouldn’t really stoop so low to wage wars against each other.”
Wall Arch collapses in Utah
One of the more famous arches in Arches National Park in Utah came crumbling down earlier this week. The sandstone Wall Arch which has been photgraphed countless times was found in pieces by Park service officials. The arch’s opening beneath the span was 71-feet wide and 33-1/2 feet high. It ranked 12th in size among the over 2,000 known arches in the park.
Now before you go blaming global warming, or motocross bikers, or stupid teenagers, it’s worth noting this is a natural event. From the NPS press release:
]]>All arches are but temporary features and all will eventually succumb to the forces of gravity and erosion. While the geologic forces that created the arches are still very much underway, in human terms it’s rare to observe such dramatic changes.
Russiatoday 'Genocide' graphics
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Georgian forces announce pullout from South Ossetia
Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman have announced they will be removing Georgian forces from South Ossetia. Russia now has nearly 10,000 troops in South Ossetia (which had a pre-battle population of 70,000) and the Russian Black Sea fleet is positioning itself off the Georgian coast for a naval blockade.
Meanwhile, strategic thinkers are starting to question the response by Russia. The use of ballistic missiles and strategic bombers seems disproportionate to an attack on peacekeepers, and some are questioning whether these attacks are designed to destabilize the Georgian government, or at least keep them out of NATO.
One other side effect of the attack is a more unified Western ‘view’ on Russia and the fact they may not be a ‘partner’ in the future. French, UK and other European allies share the US view that Russia may have burnt some bridges with their overresponse to this crisis.
]]>World asks Russia to withdraw from South Ossetia. Russia asks why?
Russia continues to pour troops into South Ossetia and has reportedly stepped up the bombing of Georgia, targeting not just military locations but economic assets such as ports and pipelines. Meanwhile the world has been sending ambassadors and whatnot demanding that Russia pullback, but the Russian government is starting to ask the big question–why?
Russia will win militarily, through sheer numbers if not military ability. While it may be a much longer fight than just this weekend (despite what Russian bloggers think) the overall political climate in Russia is now asking the question ‘maybe we should redraw the maps.’
With a veto at the UN, don’t expect ‘blue helmets’ to be replacing the Russian ‘peacekeepers’ in South Ossetia anytime soon. Putin is calling the Georgian attack ‘Genocide’ which is a pretty loaded word designed to stir up a range of emotions around the world, though many around the world take everything Putin says with a grain of salt. It’s pretty clear that most of the world isn’t going to be rushing to the Russian side on this matter, but it’s also pretty clear that that doesn’t really matter.
What happens next is anyones guess. Militarily we could see guerilla-like fighting for years. Economically it’s unlikely we’ll see any sort of sanctions or anything more than a slap on the wrist (i.e. visa troubles for Russian leaders, etc). Russia might find itself kicked out of the G-8 regardless of who wins the American presidential election in a few months, but it’s doubtful many Russians would really care.
How much of a ‘resurgence’ in the Russian military is ‘real’ (readiness / training / resupply) and how much was for ’show’ (i.e. long range bomber flights of little significant value) over the last few years of Putin’s tenure will soon become apparent. Should the Roki tunnel (where South Ossetia gets much of its money) be blown up by some errant missile, resupply of Russian forces would become a bit more difficult.
We’ll see what happens next.
p.s. for additional updates from the Russian point of view you can use TASS’s English language website. It is updated more frequently than Russia Today’s website. For the Georgian side you can check the Civil.ge website.
UPDATES:
* Head of the Russian 58th Army injured in attack.
* Georgia claims to retake South Ossetian capital, destroying 40 Russian tanks.
]]>Phelps wins first Gold, sets World Record in 400m individual medley
How the Olympic Opening Ceremony was developed?
Dress like an Olympian with the Polo Ralph Lauren US Olympic collection
If you’ve ever seen Chariots of Fire, you’ve seen much of the 2008 Olympic team’s wardrobe, sans the hat. The opening ceremony suits and slacks look very familiar to the 1924 US Olympic team’s wardrobe, with the exception they wore straw hats and the Americans had something a little more trendy (Driving Hats).
The US Olympic Committee has a full range of Beijing 2008 Polo’s outfits that you’ll be seeing over the next few days. There are (surprise) Polo shirts, and jackets and the driving hat and other things.
Ralph Lauren’s website also has the full range available for sale, and a few pictures of the opening ceremonies from last night.
]]>Terrorist bombing hits NW China
Yet another bomb in Xinjaing, this time killing two and injuring several.
Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur people who have been fighting a low-level campaign against Chinese rule for many years.
]]>Raj Bhavsar Olympic dream shows the value of never giving up.
Raj Bhavsar has a nice story. He was an alternate in 2004, and when the 2008 trials came he was named alternate once again, thinking his Olympic dream was over. He almost was ready to pack it in after 2004 but some self-reflection brought him around to thinking he should try again.
When Paul Hamm pulled out with a hurt hand, Raj was elevated to the national team and on his way to China.
In his role as Hamm’s replacement, Bhavsar will perform in five of six events in Saturday’s team prelims, based on the schedule that the U.S. men used Wednesday. Five gymnasts compete in each event in prelims, and the top four scores count.
You can see some of his Youtube videos here from the Olympic trials.
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