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Qanta Ahmed, MD: Guests of God: 2.5 Million Muslims Worship in Makkah, Saudi Arabia in This Year's Hajj

2009-11-19T15:30:36Z

They will arrive from over 160 countries; many have already departed for their journey as I write. Some are old, some young, some unborn, some about to leave this life and go into the next. They will all come, however, just as the Qu’ran predicted: “on every kind of camel”.

This week, Thursday marks the eve of Hajj, centered on the ancient city of Makkah, located in the Hijaz area of southwestern Saudi Arabia. Today more than 1.4 million Muslims will arrive by air. Often at the rate of 50,000 per hour, columns of robed pilgrims will stream through Jeddah’s specially designed, gleaming Hajj terminals. Others will arrive by land and even sea. In recent years, annually, Hajj has hosted more than 2.5 million Muslims as they engage in the most sacred rituals in Islam.

Hajj involves a series of rites, timed over several days. The rituals involve entering a spiritual state of purity through prayer, bathing and dress and immediately, paying homage to God at the Ka’ba in the Al Haram Mosque located at the center of Makkah. In the days to come, millions at a time will circumambulate this extraordinary cuboid building (draped in a black embroidered veil), which has stood for four millennia in the center of what was, for so long, a caravan stop for nomadic merchants.

The Ka’aba is a 49 ft square cuboid “House of God” which Abraham himself built, with guidance from the Archangel Gabriel. After circulating this building which seems as if to emanate an electrifying charge in the atmosphere around it, Muslims move en masse to supplicate in the near by Mina environ, home to the semi-permanent ‘Tent City” where the entire gathering resides for several days. A number of other rituals follow, including standing in prayer on the plain of Arafat where the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) gave his final sermon to his followers and God is believed to be closest to his worshippers at this site. After the exhausting day, considered the pinnacle of Hajj, pilgrims spend a night in prayer in the plain of Muzdallifah, outdoors. At first dawn, the millions begin the march towards a dramatic denunciation of Iblis, the fallen angel -- Satan -- symbolized in the stoning of three pillars at Jamaraat. Finally, reborn, pilgrims again return to Makkah, simulating Hagar’s desperate searching for water for her crying child, and soon after, bid farewell to their Maker by circumambulating the Ka’aba once more. With a final glance at the Ka’aba, Muslims pray they may return to this celestial place once more before death and depart the city limits at once.

Much of Islam is based on orthopraxy and not orthodoxy. Hajj is perhaps most emblematic of this theme. Muslims do not go to Hajj for scholarship, rather they go to observe important rituals, which capture the actions of both the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) and the Prophet Abraham.

Islam’s most important rite has been unfolding for almost 1500 years since the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) first performed the Islamic Hajj. Preparations for the colossal event this year have been underway for months, especially fevered in the current climate of global H1N1 pandemic influenza. The King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud -- in his nation’s role as the Custodian for the Two Holy Cities in Islam (Makkah and Madinah) -- takes Hajj responsibilities very seriously. Safeguarding the pilgrims, the ‘Guests of God’, is an act of grace considered zakat (Islamic charity). It is within the Muslim world an unparalleled privilege to serve these Guests. Each year the Kingdom expends billions of riyals in preparation for every imaginable detail such a mass gathering presents, from healthcare, security, food, water, accommodations, emergency response services, immigration and even repatriation of those who faithful who pass away engaged in the rigors of Hajj.

Unlike Olympic Games, Hajj planners do not have a seven year period for languid preparations. Hajj is annual, allowing at most, a nine month lead-time until pilgrims begin to gather for each new subsequent Hajj season. Planners move fast, and must be agile to a world where SARS can appear one year and Avian Flu another. The degree of international collaboration involved in coordinating 160 nations and their preparations for sending pilgrims is in itself a mammoth undertaking, especially when new infections or emerging diseases threaten to impact Hajj travelers. This year, King Abdullah himself is intensely engaged in pandemic preparations, meeting with Hajj planners personally. He is deeply concerned about the impact of a global pandemic on Hajj travels and feels personally accountable for the welfare of Hajj visitors to his country. His concern is manifested in unprecedented investment and access to the world’s leading experts in mass gathering medicine, pandemic preparedness and crowd dynamics. Many of these experts are themselves Saudi nationals who have acquired extraordinary expertise in mass gatherings through their Hajj management experience and research. Nonetheless even though H1N1 is a serious concern, pandemic or not, Hajj must go on.

Hajj is eternally a place of dynamism, through time and space, and essentially has never come to a halt, since it first began. Hajj is the largest mass gathering in the world and the most culturally and geographically diverse. Representing an extraordinary congress of humanity, anyone who has experienced Hajj understands the diversity embodying Islam. My own Hajj would emerge to be an emphatically transformative experience, leading to a new area of academic interest, the kernel of my first nonfiction book and a growing spirituality which had eluded me despite years of ritualistic observation of Islam.

Hajj is costly and laborious and so Muslims must prepare and save before they can go. Muslims must be of adequate means, go on their own finances devoid of loans or debts and must be able-bodied, healthy and strong. Islam strongly discourages the weak, ill or frail to go or the poor, to avoid any additional affliction on already challenged lives. But those who have the financial and physical wherewithal are in fact expected to perform Hajj once in this lifetime, both men and women are equally accountable to perform Hajj.

It is said one can never go to Hajj until one receives an ‘invitation’ from God. If the invitation comes, Muslims must heed it. Each Muslim who makes Hajj usually has a story which captures the serendipity in which the remote possibility of an imagined Hajj becomes reality. Whatever the circumstances, in many cultures Hajj is pursued only when close to the end of life, in preparation for the hereafter and thus follows a lifetime of increasing piety. In cultures, including SE Asia’s Indonesia, for instance, and also Malaysia, many pilgrims are often of a younger age, reflecting perhaps more affluence but also the cultural preferences of marrying a woman who has already performed Hajj.

Until I had entered the forecourt of the Al Haram Mosque in Makkah, I had only ever been part of one mass gathering. It came to mind as I confronted the Ka’ba. I felt small in the crowds, remembering I had once watched U2 perform their ‘Pop’ concert in the now demolished Shea Stadium. As Bono moved through the crowd of 50,000, I grasped the meaning of celebrity. Several years later, as I approached the Ka’aba, I began to feel the edges of Divinity. I was walking on the ground floor of the three-level mosque, each floor of which has a capacity of 750,000. God was bigger than Bono.

Way bigger.

This introduction to the scale of humanity and the insignificance of my own dimensions was an important reminder of the fragility of life and the scale of creation. Understanding my ‘smallness’ was good for an overgrown ego. But even more so, Hajj was key for me feeling at home in Islam and finding my place. As a westernized British female Muslim of Pakistani heritage who had made a home in New York City, I finally felt at home at Hajj surrounded by Muslims who looked and spoke pretty much like I did and were ultimately just as hybrid as myself. Too often, when we are introduced to religion in our childhoods it is served alongside culture without distinction. Cultural mores often overwhelm spiritual ones. Allowing cultural expectations to fall away by observing Muslims from every culture helped me at last engage in Islam.

This week, as we watch the pilgrims engage in their rites on CNN with Wolf Blitzer or on Al Jazeera with Riz Khan, one theme will transcend all others: cooperation. And at a time when the world is so lacking in both the will and the opportunity for cooperation, this is a key time to be reminded of this basic human quality which preserves our societies, wherever and whatever they may be.

How do 2.5 million manage to perform all these complex steps and movements in confined spaces without the crowds disintegrating into utter and irretrievable chaos? The answer is that everyone is part of a smaller, informal group and these clutches of worshipers are very much enjoined to conduct their Hajj rites in the spirit of collaboration and concern for the weaker, less able: a wonderful metaphor for the world beyond Hajj.

Scholars have long discussed the innate meanings of Hajj in a number of metaphorical contexts. The best place I have read about that is in Robert Bianchi’s seminal academic work “Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World”. Bianchi helps us understand Hajj is a symbolic metaphor for how all Muslims can collaborate to contribute to peaceful, ordered and supportive society. We must do this whether we choose our homes in Manhattan County or Majma in the Najd.

Because Hajj ultimately subsumes all cultures and all races, its messages are universal and global. For the short few days that the millions gather, in the eyes of their Maker and one another, they are equal in clothing, status, vantage and rank. The crowd is uniform and cannot be distinguished. An Egyptian professor of English literature prays next to an African American nurse aide from Newark, New Jersey, an Arab prince prays abreast with a shepherd, a reformed Mumbai gangster prays, sobbing, comforted by a Lahori polo-player. For these short dynamic days, in the world of Hajj, they are equal. This after all, is how humanity was intended in the context of Divine ideals.

Never has there been a more important time for Muslims to engage in greater introspection, self-evaluation and insight. We face a Muslim world rife with conflicts, sectarian hatreds, misogyny and injustice. We face misunderstanding, Islamophobia and exploitation by nefarious elements who come from within our midst and pose as Muslims when their conduct and code could not be more alien.

As the millions move through the Hajj rituals this week, let us all aspire to greater humility, courage and engagement to improve and advance the constructive contributions Muslims can make around the world, while helping the less advantaged among us. Lets us aspire to being conduits for benevolent Islamic ideals and instruments of clarity in times of crisis and confusion. Let us do that wherever we may be, whomever we are, however we can. Let us serve our societies as Muslims are enjoined: through creative contribution and as Hajj teaches us, through cooperation and a deep sense of public service, service to our societies. Hajj reminds us that we have three duties as Muslims: duty to ourselves, duty to our Maker and duty to our society.

Society waits, Muslims.

Will we rise to the task and meet our duty to society?

Joe Favorito: The Olympics? No Bloomin Way...He's Got Better Things To Do

2009-11-19T09:10:22Z

The last year has seen more athletes embrace issues for social change and cause marketing as part of their platform than perhaps any other period. Is it because smart business-minded athletes and the representatives see what is going on at the fan level with the economy and have more of a sense to give back? Maybe. Is it because there are causes that athletes have always felt compelled to embrace because of a personal connection and now have more vehicles to do so? Could be. Is it because brands and leagues have made a much bigger outward push to tie to social responsibility that hospitality and other areas for ROI? Also possible. In the end, it doesn't really matter which is the cause -- the effect is a positive impact directly on the lives of millions in a time where that impact needs to be felt most. The impressive thing about the public outreach by those of influence in sports is the breadth and depth of the programs, from cancer awareness to childhood obesity and single parenting issues.

However, even with all the engagement, every once in a while, a new initiative jumps forward. Case in point was Wednesday's announcement that winter Olympian Jeremy Bloom was retiring. Bloom, who took the NCAA to court when he lost two years of college football eligibility because of his skiing endorsements (he lost his appeal and had two wait two years before becoming NFL draft eligible), announced that he would not look to qualify for the Vancouver Games at a point when he was skiing and training the hardest in his life. Instead he has chosen to devote more time to the philanthropic passion he has developed in Denver. Working with kids or education? Not exactly.

The charity Bloom has developed and will implement is Wish of a Lifetime, a group which works with the elderly to improve the quality of their lives and grant wishes, Make a Wish Style, to seniors. It is a clear departure from the way many athletes have looked at philanthropy. Yes, many devote time and effort to causes that effect adults, especially with poverty or health-related issues. However, few have embraced the passionate support of seniors, a group which is growing both in need and numbers as the American population matures at the fastest rate ever. Is it a version of The Bucket List? Perhaps. However, what it really is is the attempt by a world-class athlete to identify with a cause that he or she sees as maybe not the trendiest but as the place or the niche where he can make the most difference, since that area is underserved. In many ways, it is not much different that the efforts of someone like former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo started with Malaria awareness in Africa. At the time little was known or addressed amongst the population in the Western World about Malaria, but today, largely through Mutombo's work, the issue of Malaria awareness is a very high priority.

Bloom's choice for dedication does come from a personal connection to his grandmother and seeing the issues she and her friends have had and finding a way to assist them. It is ironic that the elder issue hasn't been addressed more amongst athletes; since many athletes have had a senior, at least one senior, impact them in some way. Regardless, it is a novel and valiant effort by Bloom, and if he is able to put the dedication into his charity work that he did in both football and skiing, could have a profound, trailblazing positive effect on the lives of seniors not just in North America, but around the world.

For the Vancouver Games and its partner NBC, it is another loss in an event that is already lacking in star power (unless Bode Miller comes back clean and somber and focused and in shape) but for a society that is getting older and is lacking the benefits of healthcare and Social Security, Bloom's move could have a bigger upside than the dollars and value brought from a gold medal.

Nikki Stone: How Olympic Aerial Skiers Get Through the Things They Dread

2009-11-18T10:42:39Z

As you read my blogs, keep in mind that these stories , anecdotes and tools are all based around my philosophy for success: THE TURTLE EFFECT. The Turtle Effect was taught to me by my mother when I was a young girl. She told me that I could achieve anything I wanted to as long as I remembered to have a soft inside, a hard shell, and be sure to stick my neck out. I hope my personal training tool will inspire you on that path to find your "soft inside" in order to reach your goals....

To be successful, you need to...

Be soft on the inside... Find Your Passion

Do things you hate first

Nikki's Perspective: Performing triple back flips was something I knew I had to master if I was ever going to win an Olympic medal someday. But doing them terrified me, and I dreaded that part of my training. I would put them off until the end of the day, and if I could, put them off until later in the week. The very thought of doing triples was a weight on my shoulders.
My assistant coach recognized how the pressure was affecting the rest of my training. At the start of the next week, he suggested we do the triples first thing in the morning so I wouldn't have to worry about them all day. Beginning with them didn't make the maneuver any less nerve-racking, but did make the rest of the day much easier. I found everything else a lot more enjoyable.

Your Tools for Success: Our career choices are not always easy and there are times we have to just get through challenging parts. There is often one task we really hate to do. Instead of putting it off until later, do it today, as soon as possible. If we get it over with right away, then we don't have to dwell on it or fret about it. Make that unpleasant call or do that dreaded chore first thing in the morning and you won't have it hanging over you the rest of the day. This will give you more time to enjoy the things you really love. Be it tackling a pile of laundry or doing triple flips, think of the relief you'll feel, having it behind you.

Write down five things you don't like to do--like the list below. Do each before 11:00 a.m., and check off that you've done them.
TASK Done!
1. Phone call to Mr. Smith X
2. Turn in report X
3. Run 3 miles X
4. Do the laundry X
5. Do triple back flips X

I'm somehow guessing that you won't even want to do a triple back flip by the end of the week, however. Am I right?

Rashid Ramzi Doping Violation: Ramzi Stripped Of Olympic Gold Medal

2009-11-18T09:48:00Z

LONDON — Fifteen months after the Beijing Olympics, Bahraini middle-distance runner Rashid Ramzi was stripped of his 1,500-meter gold medal Wednesday and four other athletes were disqualified because of doping at the games.

The International Olympic Committee took action against the five athletes who tested positive in April in retroactive tests for CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO.

Nikki Stone: Under Pressure -- Not Just Another Day at the Office

2009-11-13T15:14:54Z

As with all my blogs, my stories and tools are based on my philosophy for success: the Turtle Effect. The Turtle Effect was taught to me by my mother when I was a young girl. She told me that I could achieve anything I wanted to as long as I remembered to have a soft inside, a hard shell, and be sure to stick my neck out. The Turtle Effect helped me win my Olympic Gold Medal and it's continued to propel me to peak performances in every aspect of my life (business, relationships, fitness, health, parenting, etc.). See how I developed the confidence to handle the incredibly intense pressure of the Olympic Games. I hope this short story will inspire you on that path to "stick your own neck out" in order to reach your goals....

I was once asked what the most appropriate song would be to represent the athlete's emotions at the Olympic Games -- and the only song to pop in my head was David Bowie and Queen's song "Under Pressure". I don't think the general public realizes the burden that a young athlete has in qualifying for an event that comes once every four years. Meeting the expectations of a world of encouraging spectators with hopes of your bringing home a shiny medal for the US that means more than the lifetime of work put into it.

Qualifying for a spot on the illustrious Olympic team can be as nerve-wracking as the Olympic competition itself. Often times, hundreds and thousands of American athletes are fighting for the 3-4 spots delegated to each Olympic discipline -- and many a friendship has been lost in the process. To make matters worse, the selection procedure can be drawn out until a few days before the athletes are to walk into the Opening Ceremonies. So much energy is expended on qualifying for the Games that many athletes are burnt-out by the time the actual Olympic competition rolls around!

Since the Olympics only come every four years, many sports are receiving vastly more attention than they do in their everyday competitions. The athletes are suddenly thrust into a media world that can be quite foreign. Actors and Actresses might not like the paparazzi, but at least they are used to reporters following them into grocery stores or catching them as they leave the restrooms. Athletes suddenly realize that "bringing home the Gold" is not only their hope, but their country's expectation as well.

I remember the day of my Aerial Skiing Olympic finals in 1998 vividly. I arrived at the hill to encouraging screams of "We're counting on you, Nikki" and "If you can't bring home the Gold, than no one can". Now, of course, this was inspiring, but it also provoked feelings that if I didn't perform well, then I'd be letting down all the fans, and the entire United States. Everywhere I turned, there was a camera less than 12 inches from my face. Suddenly, the winds picked up and I wondered if I'd turn into a kite as I launched myself off the jumps flipping and twisting 50 feet in the air. The wind was still gusting in pre-competition training, but we couldn't push back the competition, as there was a world waiting to see LIVE coverage of the event.

As I took my place for my first competitive jump, I looked down the hill to see a camera pivot in front of the jumps on a giant swinging boom. All the time, I'd been trying to quash the thoughts of appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno and the Today Show, hometown parades, worldwide endorsements, and even more if I'm successful.

I was in the air for a mere 3 seconds for each of my jumps. If one millisecond was off just a hair, it would be bye-bye Olympic medal. And to add to the pressure, because of the headwinds, my speed tests prior to my competition jumps were too slow to enable me to perform my maneuvers.

So how did I handle the pressure? I had to remind myself that the hay was already in the barn. I had already put in the work and at that point, all I could do was try my best. I had anticipated that there could be bad weather when I got to the Olympics, so I had to pretend that every day WAS the Olympics. That way, I would be prepared for any eventuality when I got the Games. The preparations gave me the confidence to know that I could handle any situation. The weather, or paparazzi or spectators could not convince me otherwise.

It's crucial to not only have a game plan. And not only have a Plan B, C, and D. We all need the practice these game plans. Plan D could be just as important as Plan A, and if we don't have experience dealing with it, the pressure is going to blow us over worse than a gust of wind.

Having the practiced plans doesn't mean we don't feel the nerves. Whether in a board meeting, trying to win over a big client, being confronted with an enticing chocolate cake when you're on a diet, sending your child off to college or standing at the top of an Olympic run, we all have fears. I bit my nails down to the nubs competing in the Olympic Games. But I DID know that I was capable of winning that shiny medal because I did everything I could to prepare. I had faith that I could now stick my neck out.

And that shiny gold medal that means much more than the lifetime of work put into it now sits in a red, velvet bag in MY house. I'm so glad that I didn't shrink from those pressures but, instead, embraced them head on. It was worth every bead of sweat.

I know personally, from both successful and tragic Olympic experiences, that once the Games are over, no matter what the outcome, there's always a feeling of being able to exhale after you've held your breathe for eight months. So if NBC produces a video with a montage of Olympic athletes, set to the song "Under Pressure", you may now understand the significance.

Pat Ryan, Head Of Failed Chicago Olympics Bid, Gets New Sports Gig

2009-11-13T12:41:40Z

CHICAGO (AP)--Patrick Ryan will continue his efforts to expand Olympic sports in Chicago, even after the city lost its bid for the 2016 Games.

Ryan was named chairman of the board Thursday of World Sport Chicago, the bid's legacy organization. The group is dedicated to increasing participation in Olympic sports among Chicago's children, and Ryan had promised that its efforts wouldn't end with last month's selection of a host city.

Rio de Janeiro beat out Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid for the right to host the 2016 Olympics.

"We may not have won the honor of hosting the games in 2016, but we have positively impacted the lives of thousands of kids, and we look forward to expanding our programs in the months and years to come to reach even more youth," Ryan said. "I'm honored to take on this role and personally oversee the activities."

World Sport Chicago has already sponsored clinics and programs to introduce local children to archery, fencing, badminton, wrestling, bocci, swimming, track and field, and judo. It also has hosted several international events during Chicago's bid for the 2016 Games, including the world boxing championships and gymnastics' American Cup, and will hold the Chicago Cup wrestling tournament this weekend.

Ryan 's appointment was announced Thursday. Bill Scherr, an Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling and the previous chairman of the board, will be the group's president. Olympic gold medalist Michael Conley, the previous president, remains on the board of directors.

Ryan replaces Bill Scherr, an Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling who will become the group's president. Previous president Michael Conley, a triple jump gold medalist, remains on the board of directors.

Jeremy Bloom Retired: Olympic Skier Calls It Quits

2009-11-11T17:19:25Z

DENVER (AP)--Freestyle skier Jeremy Bloom has abandoned his comeback try, ending a bid to make the 2010 Olympic team so he can spend more time on his charity work.

The 2002 and 2006 U.S. Olympian said on Wednesday that he was retiring because "the passion that I once had for sports has naturally transitioned into my new ventures." He had announced about a year ago that he would try for his third Olympics.

Bloom plans to focus on the foundation he started, Wish of a Lifetime, and also hopes to do color commentary on college football games. He had a brief NFL career after playing at Colorado.

He finishes with 11 World Cup wins and two World Cup titles. He finished sixth in moguls at the 2006 Olympics and ninth in 2002.

Brazil Looks For Answers After Huge Blackout

2009-11-11T13:42:16Z

RIO DE JANEIRO — Heavy rain, lightning and strong winds caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians – 60 million people – in the dark, officials said Wednesday as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

The weather made transformers on a vital high-voltage transmission line short-circuit, Brazil's energy minister said. Two other transmission lines also went down as part of an automatic safety mechanism.

Shannon Rowbury: What It Felt Like to Win a Bronze Medal at the World Championships in Track

2009-11-11T13:27:00Z

Standing on the awards podium, I look out over the Berlin Olympic Stadium. I am on a promontory that juts out over the stands, the same space where Hitler spoke during the 1936 Olympic Games and where Jesse Owens' received his four gold medals, each of which shot a hole in the myth of Aryan supremacy. The power of this spot is palpable and, with only the blue track below me and the blue sky above, I feel as if I am floating on air. In the distance three flags are being raised, one of which is American, and in that moment it sinks in that that flag is for me.

The moment I just described, where I received my bronze medal for the women's 1500m at the IAAF World Championships, was be the pinnacle of my athletic career thus so far. In fact, in terms of best life moments, it ties with marching into the Beijing National Stadium with my fellow countrymen for the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

Yet it's funny, because although I have fantasized my entire life about what it would feel like to own a medal, not much has changed now that I have one. As soon as the awards ceremony was over, I had to rush to do my cool-down and to go to drug testing. Less than a week after that, I was racing again in Zurich. Now that I'm home, my medal sits on my dresser in the tin case it came in and I'm back to base training in preparation for the 2010 track season. In this way, I have come to realize that it's not about the medal at all. Instead, what matters most is the sense of pride in accomplishing a goal I had worked so long towards and the joy of sharing that success with the people that helped me to achieve it.

It would be impossible to pinpoint the moment when I started working for a medal. I think experiences in life create dreams, which then become goals, and all along the way everything you do affects your journey towards them. If you are lucky, you have friends and family who encourage you, mentors who show you the right path, and doctors and trainers who make it possible for you to follow that path to completion. Had I not broken my leg in kindergarten, my Grandma might not have started me in Irish dancing, which developed my leg strength and speed, and which in turn helped me become a successful runner. Then again, maybe I would have, because there are so many paths that can lead to the same place.

When I look back at how things turned out this past summer, it is amazing for me to think that I actually am a bronze medalist. I am not particularly superstitious, but I was beginning to think that the world had it out for me. My month started with a surprise breakup, which left me feeling emotionally wrecked. When I reached Berlin, my bed had bed bugs and I found myself covered with red bumps from head to toe. The medical staff cringed when they saw me and everyone else probably thought I suffered from some form of pox. When the racing finally started things were not much better. I was tripped in the quarterfinal and moved on to the next round only through appeals. In the final, another girl was knocked down. I had to leap over her, which meant I ran out of gas the last 50m, and crossed the line in 4th. But, since the winner had caused the fall and then stepped on the inside of the track, she was disqualified and I am now a bronze medalist.

For me, it was a very rocky road to bronze, but I wouldn't change a moment of it. I learned so much about myself through those hardships. I have always believed that the most challenging situations are the most educational. While I do not enjoy going through hard times, it is from those experiences that I have seen what I am truly made of and what matters most, and in the end, success feels that much sweeter.

While my resume now says "World Bronze Medalist," I think it is important to realize that for every success a person has, there is always a story behind it. Whether that person is an international figure or an average Joe, their achievements were preceded by some combination of self-determination, struggles, and a lot of support. The common factor, however, is persistence in their pursuit, and that is something that everyone is capable of.

Ralph Lauren Winter Olympics Designs Revealed (VIDEO)

2009-11-04T11:58:16Z

*Scroll down for video*

By Samantha Critchell, AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Ralph Lauren's affinity for Americana will be on full display on athletes at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia - complete with red, white and blue, stars-and-stripes flags and, of course, polo ponies.

Polo Ralph Lauren began its strategic unveiling of its outfits for athletes on Wednesday, with 100 days until the start of the games. The closing-ceremony parade outfit includes a mostly red and blue shawl-collar sweater with antique buttons, a newsboy cap, a plaid shirt for the men, and a navy ribbed turtleneck for the women.

Long-sleeve T-shirts with big bold graphics printed on the chest are part of the Olympic Village wardrobe, as well as white warm-up jackets with red and blue stripes down the sleeves and old-school alpine ski sweaters decorated with reindeer.

"We took a lot of inspiration from the 1930s games, reaching into the heyday of the Olympics and bringing to a more modern sensibility," said David Lauren, the company's senior vice president of advertising, marketing and communications.

The company dressed the American athletes for the summer games two years ago and has signed on with the U.S. Olympic Committee through 2012 in London to provide ceremonial clothes as well as recreational looks. It's also creating the outfits for the Paralympic teams.

As far as performance uniforms during actual competition, Ralph Lauren isn't ready to get into that game yet because of the technical aspects of the clothes.

Many of the items are also available to the public, said David Lauren, who called the Olympics the "ultimate branding opportunity."

"There's an interest in what athletes are wearing, but what people really want is what's commemorative, so they can hold on to something that's a piece of history," he said.

At the Beijing games, Lauren said he was mistaken for an athlete in an elevator because he was wearing the same flag-bearing styles - the highlight of a memorable trip. "For one brief moment, I could put myself in the shoes of an Olympic athlete," he said.

(His real talent, he joked, is "spectating.")

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Aging Olympians Denounce High-Tech Swimsuits As Cheating

2009-11-03T11:44:44Z

By making new suits with polyurethane and neoprene, materials more buoyant and less porous than traditional spandex, swimsuit companies touched off the biggest flap since East German athletes started bulking up on steroids. The fight has spread beyond the world's elite swimmers, who wrangled over the new attire this past summer.

Judge H. Lee Sarokin: Conservatives/Republicans Have "New Rules" for President Obama

2009-10-31T14:10:37Z

No matter how trivial or innocent the conduct, conservatives find a way to criticize President Obama. Bill Maher ends his programs Real Time with "New Rules" suggesting how certain matters should be handled differently. I thought I might adopt that format to submit a compilation, but just a smattering, of the "new rules" the conservatives/Republican apparently think that the President should follow:

New Rule: Don't engage in the outrageous, unethical practice of inviting your friends and donors to use the bowling alley at the White House. Instead give them no-bid contracts like we did for Halliburton.

New Rule: Have your children stand in line out in the open like everyone else to get their swine flu shots. Children of the president should not receive preferential treatment. Follow the stellar example set by George Bush in the Air National Guard.

New Rule: Stop dilly-dallying and waffling over sending more troops to Afghanistan. Stop worrying about more dead and wounded American troops and Afghan civilians for what might be an unattainable goal. Follow the Nike slogan: "Just do it" like we did in Iraq. See how well that turned out.

New Rule: Quit being a rock star attracting adoring and cheering crowds wherever you go in the world. We preferred it as it was before, when the President was burned in effigy whenever he visited a foreign country.

New Rule: Don't try bringing the Olympics to the United States because of pride or the money or prestige it brings to the host. Look how China lost the respect of the world for its pathetic performance.

New Rule: Don't let anyone photograph you paying respect for our fallen heroes. Seeing the President honoring the dead in this fashion hurts the morale of the troops. Bush and Cheney never went to Dover Air Force Base and hurt morale in this way. And if you insist on having it photographed, at least display a "Mission Accomplished" banner.

New Rule: If you must have a date night with Michelle take a taxi and leave the Secret Service at home and save the taxpayers money. Do what George Bush did: stayed at the White House 24/7 with a few minor exceptions to Camp David and Crawford.

New Rule: Stop indoctrinating our schoolchildren (like Chairman Mao) about studying, doing their homework and staying in school. We would rather have them drop out than be brainwashed and even worse, singing a song about the President.

New Rule: Stop with this socialist idea of having everyone get good and affordable health care. Let the insurance companies continue to deny coverage to those who need it and frequently even to those who have it. Do what we did for eight years about health care: Nothing

New Rule: Don't embarrass us by getting the Nobel Peace Prize. Now everybody will expect the United States to bring peace in the world. We will have to stop invading countries and torturing people and that will make us look weak in the eyes of our enemies.

By submitting the above, I do not mean to suggest that there should not be robust discussion and criticism of the President's policies. But this chipping away at everything he does, no matter how trivial, the labels of Hitler, Nazi, racist, socialist, the presence of guns where he appears, the shouting down of advocates of his policies, the publicly announced wishes for his failure and the challenges to his citizenship, may combine in a way that we will all regret, particularly those who are responsible for this incendiary and hate-filled atmosphere that they have created..

Jaouad Gharib: NYC Marathon Runner May Win Top Prize

2009-10-30T17:07:08Z

Moroccan Jaouad Gharib will compete in Sunday's New York City Marathon. Gharib has competed 8 times before and at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. He finished third place in the 2009 London Marathon.

Gharib's running style is easy to spot -- he often looks around and is constantly fidgeting with his shirt and shorts.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics: NBC To Bring Unprecedented Push For Winter Games

2009-10-27T08:21:14Z

Making the U.S. Winter Olympic team is no clear-cut deal. Most athletes earn their spots not at Olympic trials, but based on their performances during World Cup events in the months leading up to the Games.

NBC and its Olympic cable partner, Universal Sports, will bring an unprecedented amount of that action to American viewers – and try to explain what it all means – over the 100 days leading to the Vancouver Games.

China Executes 2 Tibetans For The Roles In 2008 Riots

2009-10-27T02:06:37Z

BEIJING -- Two people have been put to death for their roles in deadly protests last year in the Chinese-controlled region of Tibet, the first known executions for the violence, an overseas monitoring group said Tuesday.

Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak, who goes by one name, were sentenced to death in April on charges relating to "starting fatal fires," according to the International Campaign for Tibet, a Washington-based advocacy group.

The group said the Tibetans were executed in the regional capital of Lhasa but did not say when. Other Tibetan rights groups have said the executions were carried out last Tuesday.

Tibetans attacked Chinese migrants and shops in the regional capital of Lhasa in anti-government riots in March 2008 and torched parts of the city's commercial district.

Chinese officials say 22 people died, but Tibetans say many times that number were killed. The violence in Lhasa and protests in Tibetan communities across western China were the most sustained unrest in the region since the late 1980s. Tibetan resentments against Chinese rule have been fueled by religious restrictions and competition for resources with migrants from the Han Chinese majority. Similar grievances fed ethnic rioting in the adjacent heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang this year that left nearly 200 dead.

In comparison with the slower pace of prosecutions in Tibet, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have already sentenced 21 people, with nine sentenced to death. The official China Daily newspaper said Tuesday three of those sentenced to death will not appeal the rulings.

In Tibet, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch, authorities have made thousands of arbitrary arrests, and more than 100 trials have gone through the judicial system over the unrest.

Lobsang Gyaltsen was sentenced to death for setting fire to two garment shops in downtown Lhasa on March 14 that killed a shop owner, according to a spokesman for the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court, cited by the official Xinhua News Agency in April.

Loyak received the death penalty for setting fire to a motorcycle dealership in Dechen township in Lhasa's Dagze county on March 15 last year, which led to the deaths of five people, Xinhua said. Many Tibetans only go by one name.

The court spokesman said the two defendants who were sentenced to death have committed very serious crimes, and only their executions can appease the anger of the public, according to the April 9 report by Xinhua. The article did not give the spokesman's name.

China says Tibet has historically been part of its territory since the mid-13th century, and the Communist Party has governed the Himalayan region since Communist troops arrived there in 1951. Many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of their history.

More than 950 people were detained and 76 were sentenced following last year's riots, according to state media, but the government has never given a complete accounting and details of punishments continue to trickle out.

Officials at Lhasa's public security bureau and People's Court have repeatedly said they have no information on the executions.

British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis condemned the executions in a statement Friday.

"We respect China's right to bring those responsible for the violence in Tibet last year to justice. But the U.K. opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, and we have consistently raised our concerns about lack of due process in these cases in particular," he said.

Lewis also called on China to urgently review the cases of others sentenced to death.

(This version CORRECTS ADDS background on sentencing for Xinjiang riots; corrects 76 sentenced sted 80 over Tibet riots)

Diane Passage: Pole Dancing Will Need a Makeover For the Olympics

2009-10-24T15:17:05Z

You may have heard the buzz about certain committees that are petitioning to get pole dance recognized as an Olympic sport. If you are laughing at this idea, then you're probably not familiar with the athletic pole dance competitions that are taking place all over the world. Yes, there is such a thing as athletic pole dance! And no, they do not have tailgate parties for this sport yet. Several years ago, pole dance became the new fitness craze, and husbands all over the U.S. were thrilled. Pole dance has clearly moved beyond strip clubs and is moving on to more prestigious things.

I recently spoke with Collette Kakuk, who is the founder of the Pole Fitness Association -- one of several organizations petitioning to get pole dance in the Olympics. A realistic goal for pole dance to be recognized is for the 2028 Olympics, but she is encouraging everyone to get on board now. And it looks like a lot of people are paying attention. The Pole Fitness Association's petition currently has signatures from supporters all over the world including Australia, Germany and the UK -- to name a few.

However, in order for this activity to be taken seriously by the Olympics committee, pole dance will need a significant make over. Or make-under depending on how you look at it. The pole dance community is in its infant stages of the quest to the Olympics, but one thing is clear according to Kakuk, and that is the stigma associated with pole dance needs to change.

Everyone is aware that pole dance and sexuality go hand in hand. In fact, I find it next to impossible to separate the two. Sure, you can put a pole dancer in spandex shorts and a spots bra, but when she is performing a vertical over-split, the word 'conservative' does not come to mind. I personally am a bit reluctant to get behind the idea of toning down the image of pole dance because I find that the raciness is half the fun.

It seems though that the sterilization of pole dancing's image would be mostly present when associated with the Olympics, and not necessarily for all of pole dance as we know it. Some of the things that would change for pole dance -- the Olympic sport -- would be:

First, in the context of the Olympics, pole dance would be referred to as pole sport.

Potential competitors can save their stripper stilettos for the Olympic after-party because Olympic pole competitors will probably compete barefoot. Stilettos are considered too risqué.

And definitely no g-strings! Figure skating inspired costumes might be acceptable though.

Potential competitors will also not be allowed to gyrate their hips or try to tempt the judges in any way. Which leads me to believe that rolling around on the floor could get a girl shamefully disqualified.

Men's division? Yes!

Under 18 division? Maybe. It is vertical gymnastics after all.

In addition to transitioning pole dance into pole sport, the Pole Fitness Association is working with several pole dance federations and fitness studios worldwide to create common terminology for pole maneuvers, the criteria required of a pole sport competitor, and so on. The Pole Fitness Association and other international pole dance organizations certainly have a long road ahead of them in their mission to have pole dance recognized as an Olympic sport. The current pro pole dancers seem to already have the strength, flexibility and stamina equivalent to Olympic gymnasts and rhythmic dancers, so pole dance in the Olympics is a no-brainer in my opinion. I just hope there will be a lenient policy regarding tattoos, or the pole sport competitor population may dramatically decrease!

If you want to join this cause and sign the petition for pole dance to be recognized as an Olympic sport, click here

Alex Pasternack: How Beijing Cleans Its Air (and Fakes It Too)

2009-10-21T17:06:53Z

As savvy moves by officials in China are pushing its state-run English-language news outlets to start sounding a bit more like their Western counterparts, did a New York Times article over the weekend about improvements to air quality in Beijing bear echoes of state-run media?

The good news, fortunately, is mostly true. The pressure of being an Olympics host has brought definite improvements by the government, like moving factories and ratcheting up emissions standards -- efforts that, the Times notes, "some environmentalists in developed nations, pitted against industry lobbyists and balky political machinery, can only envy." (Also possibly at work is the country's economic slowdown, which has helped bring nationwide pollutant emissions down temporarily.)

But even amidst advances, there can be an especially big difference in Beijing between between what seems and what is, between the measurement of one particulate and a survey of the entire sky.

The problem is that the Times' main source of data -- and the only extensive source available -- is the government itself. As we noted before, Beijing has been caught fudging numbers, moving monitoring stations and shutting down factories just to get good statistics.

The article reports the Beijing government's litany of improvements since the city won the Olympics in 2001, an impressive arsenal of smog-cutting tools by any standard:

The conversion of 60,000 boilers and commercial heaters to run on clean natural gas instead of coal, and a transition from coal to electric heaters among low-income residents

Addition of pollution scrubbers to the city's four coal-fired power plants

The relocation of heavily polluting factories away from the city, including a a coking coal plant and soon, the Shougang steel mill, one of the city's biggest employers

A raise in emissions standards for new cars from nothing in 1999 to Euro IV today

An effort to push high emitting vehicles from the city center, while phasing them out. In fact, contra the Times piece, the country proposed a "cash for clunkers" program well before Obama, and implemented it in July

More than 4,100 of the 20,000 city buses run on clean-burning compressed or liquefied natural gas -- the largest such fleet in the world

A traffic reduction effort that keeps a fifth of cars off the roads every day, based on the last digit of license plate numbers.

Even if factory closures and emissions improvements have offset the pollution from the torrent of new cars, as officials insist, that's little solace for a city where rush hour is often more like eight hours. One worrisome statistic not mentioned in the Times piece: around 1,200 new cars on the roads of Beijing every day.

Though many newly affluent Chinese can't wait to get behind the wheel (with encouragement, to be sure, from the state-owned auto industry), the city's traffic may be helping to make the city's public transit more attractive than ever. And just in time -- Beijing's building out its subway system at lightning speed, with track length set to triple in five years. Bus rapid transit (BRT) lines are growing too.

But the city will likely need even more measures to slow the growth in cars. And just as importantly, it will need to keep improving how it collects data, and what kind of pollution it measures. That doesn't sound sexy, but true management begins with honest measurement.

The Times notes that "through September, the government counted 221 days in which the 0-to-500 pollution index -- the lower the number, the better -- was below 101. It was the greatest number of 'blue-sky days,' as the city calls them, since daily measurements were first published in 1998." Beijing has also recorded only 2 days with dangerously high air pollution this year, the lowest number in a decade, and 17 days fewer than were logged over the same period in 2000.

In Smog Count, It's Beijing Vs. U.S.
He may not need to, but the Times doesn't mention that the government is infamous for playing fast and loose with these numbers in particular. Suspicions were confirmed last year by researcher Steven Andrews, who showed that in the run-up to the Olympics, the city had moved pollution sampling stations to areas outside the city, and that a preponderance of "blue sky days" were the result of pushing numbers just under the 101 mark.

Recently, Live From Beijing came across another anomaly in the Olympic statistics: two very different official sets of data for the same day: the original number, 23, and another number, 84.

Amidst perplexities like these, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing set up its own pollution monitor this year, a move that stirred minor controversy. It's only one sampling station next to the city's dozens. But while the city only releases a monolithic pollution statistic the next day, the embassy's numbers are released every hour, available on Twitter. The numbers are consistently worse than those reported by Beijing. Of course, Twitter is now blocked by the Great Firewall.

When it announced cleaner skies this summer, the city's Environmental Protection Bureau continued to dismiss the notion that it had manipulated the metrics. Instead, the head of the pollution monitoring center said Beijing had relied instead on another kind of Potemkin pollution solution...

Read the rest at TreeHugger

Obama Chicago Olympics Defense: President Mocks Critics Of His Push For 2016 Olympics

2009-10-20T23:23:07Z

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama is having some fun at the expense of those who criticized him for trying to help his Chicago hometown land the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Addressing donors at a Democratic Party fundraiser Tuesday night in New York City, Obama said he believes in a strong opposition but doesn't like it when some folks root for him to fail on health care or ... on getting the Olympics.

Charles Fabius: Chinese Fall at Carnegie Hall

2009-10-19T12:40:29Z

With the spectacular ceremonies for the Olympics in Beijing last year, China made a dazzling debut on the world stage, showing off its potential supremacy in the new millennium. Three top Chinese "go-to" artists, who had once turned their back on their own country, were brought back to great acclaim in order to orchestrate the "greatest show on earth": film-maker Zhang Yimou, explosive artist Cai Guo-Qiang and choreographer Shen Wei.

All three went out of their way trying to strike a balance between ancient and modern China, something which surprisingly few Chinese people seem to care about these days. The tabula rasa of the Cultural Revolution has created a gap, which has remained hard to bridge. We know that Chinese contemporary art has recently became hot stuff overnight; we know that the big auction houses are doing better in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world; we know that piano star Lang Lang brought the good old Grand Piano back into fashion, and, by being emulated by millions of fellow young Chinese piano prodigies, literally saved the Steinway factory from going out of business. But what else do we know, really?

Carnegie Hall is making an ambitious attempt to address the issue in its upcoming festival, Ancient Paths and Modern Voices, a festival celebrating Chinese Culture, starting on October 21. For this festival, Carnegie Hall not only has reached out to partner institutions in NYC, like the Asia Society and Works & Process at the Guggenheim (which hosts Shen Wei Dance Company on Oct 24 and 25), but even created a West Coast alliance with Philharmonic Society of Orange County at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA.

Image courtesy of Shen Wei Dance Arts

Clive Gillinson, the executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, is the visionary behind the annual Carnegie Hall Festival concept, ever since its brilliant first edition 2 years ago with Berlin in Lights. The idea of occasionally partnering with other cultural institutions (something of a taboo..."OMG!"), has taken the world's most famous concert venue out of its splendid isolation, and proven to be a shot in the arm for this venerable institution. The concept has now been adopted in Southern California, where the Philharmonic Society of Orange County not only shares part of the New York Carnegie Hall Festival programming, but has reached out to its own local partner institutions such as The Bowers Museum and The OC Museum of Art. Even fashion district South Coast Plaza, just a pedestrian bridge away from the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, presents an amazing exhibition of photographs by the young Beijing artist Quentin Shih, commissioned by DIOR (Oct. 14 - Nov. 6).

Quentin Shih
Image courtesy of Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging

It will be interesting to see how Ancient Paths, Modern Voices will resonate with the actual Chinese communities largely present both in NYC and Orange County. Too often, US-born children from Chinese parents are no longer able to communicate with their own grandparents, because of both a culture and a language barrier. So maybe it is a time for these kids to re-discover pipa player Wu Man performing with traditional musicians coming from remote areas in rural China, or the marionettes of the Quanzhou opera puppet theatre? Adeline Yen Mah in her bestseller Falling Leaves touchingly describes the complexity of coming to terms with Chinese heritage and living in the US today. She has to go down Ancient Paths in order to find her Modern Voice ... something that sounds straight out of a fortune cookie.

2010 Olympic Medals Made From Melted-Down Circuit Boards

2009-10-19T12:18:37Z

The gold medals for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics have been revealed, and they're made from melted down old circuit boards. Because athletes will really appreciate that geeky touch.

Dr. Susan Corso: Invading The Moon & Our Disordered Home Planet

2009-10-18T11:01:09Z

I think there's a message in Chicago losing the Olympics. I also think there's a message in the moon invasion despite its alleged success.

The message is a simple one: It's time to focus on home. We need to take care of business here in America.

That means a lot of things. Repair the economy. Stop the wars in other places. Bring our troops home. Close Guantanamo. Restore the housing and job markets. Handle healthcare once and for all. Stop whining. Restore the infrastructure. Make a difference in our global civilization.
Charity, beloved, begins at home. We have to take care of things here.

So even though I believe in the space program, and think it is doing remarkable things, I'm not sure I agree with the expenditure of $79,000,000 to find out if there's water on the moon. How many uninsured Americans could have been covered with that kind of money? How many prisons could have been closed? How many people could have been employed to help green our economy?

Urban shaman Mama Donna Henes is a friend and mentor to me. Her blogosphere words about the moon invasion are chilling.

No sooner did we land [on the moon] than we set about trashing it. In the short time that we have been visiting our attendance upon it, we have left over 20 tons of debris--biological, atmospheric and manufactured--on the surface of our once pristine satellite.

Here are just some of things we left to litter Lady Luna: flags and dedication plaques from each moon mission, video cameras at the launch sites, sensitometers, the launch legs for the lunar module, geologic tools, laser reflecting mirrors, the lunar rovers, a gold-plated extreme ultraviolet telescope, a Tesco super market shopping cart, several Apollo backpacks, and three golf balls.

How many people have been to the moon? One dozen have walked its surface. Twelve people left 40,000 pounds of garbage? That's 3,333+ pounds per person! We can barely handle the garbage problem on our own planet. Do we really need to pick up the problem of garbage on the moon? If we moved there, we'd have to.

Donna writes, "At 7:30AM EDT on Friday, October 9, 2009 the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission, will fire a Centaur rocket into a crater at the South Pole of the moon which will act as a 'heavy impactor' crashing into the lunar surface at nearly 6,000 mph sending a debris plume of 300,000 to 350,000 tons of material from the crater floor over 30 miles high.

"A second sensor satellite will then drop down into this plume analyzing its contents in the hope of finding water. The result of this search will ultimately determine how realistic a full-time base on moon can be.

"After the booster rocket hits the crater, blasting out a hole 90 feet deep, the shepherd will follow through the plume. After analyzing the plume, the shepherd craft will itself slam into the crater four minutes later, creating a second hole 60 feet deep."

This seems wasteful to me. We are not managing our resources well here at home. Sure, it's a curiosity whether there's water on the moon, but come on! It's the same message as that of Chicago not getting the Olympics. We don't need to spend money on new things; we need to make the old things work better.

"ʽWater on the moon has haunted us for years,' said William Hartmann of the Planetary Science Institute. ʽIt's all part of humanity's quest to understand our nearby cosmic environment.' Yeah, right, understand it so we could rape it."

Whoa! Moon rape? Slightly drastic? Unfortunately, I don't think so. I think it's an accurate statement of the nature of the experiment. We're not dealing well with the water issues here on Earth either.

Donna concludes with a Robert Francis poem that is too poignant to omit.

Who (said the moon)
Do you think I am and precisely who
Pipsqueak, who are you

With your uncivil liberties
To do as you damn please?
Boo!

I am the serene
Moon (said the moon)
Don't touch me again

To your poking telescopes,
Your peeking eyes
I have long been wise.

Science? another word
For monkeyshine
You heard me

Get down, little man, go home.
Back where you come from,
Bah!

Or my gold will be turning green
On me (said the moon)
If you know what I mean.

I truly believe, despite the awe that NASA fosters, that we need to be focusing our abundant energies on solving the domestic problems that plague us. Poking the moon goes nowhere toward those goals.

Donna Henes is the author of the bestselling book, The Queen of My Self.

For spiritual nourishment, go to www.susancorso.com.

Carl Jeffers: Rush Loses Rams Bid, Rest of Us Just Lose

2009-10-16T12:29:34Z

In the aftermath of the announcement that Rush Limbaugh's name has been dropped from the group bidding to purchase the St. Louis Rams NFL football team, a moment of some rational reflection on this matter might be in order.

Certainly, as both a moderate progressive with a liberal philosophy of the role of government and society in helping those who need pro-active support, and also as a minority political analyst who clearly has sensitivities to racial, ethnic, gender and lifestyle insults and attacks, I have often been most disconcerted and sometimes quite appalled by comments Rush Limbaugh has made over the years using the forum he has as a national radio talk show host and recognized spokesman for the conservative, Republican, and sometimes "right wing" position on the issues of our time.

Yet, after really considering all the various aspects of the controversy over Limbaugh's bid to become an owner of the Rams, I must say that I am far more concerned and dismayed by what Limbaugh says on the air rather than by what he does off the air. And in fact, I'm just not convinced that if, as an American citizen, he is engaging in activities in his private life that any other American could engage in without scrutiny (thus ruling out violating moral or civil laws), that we should be able to deny him that privilege to do that because of what he does in his professional, non-elected, public life. And non-elected is a key phrase in that description.

I don't have to account to any liberals who would attack me for even appearing to defend Rush Limbaugh because, in my good fortune to have had the opportunity to host my own radio show and appear frequently on both radio and television to defend liberal and progressive positions on race, politics, government, business and education, I have in fact been able to more openly confront and oppose Rush Limbaugh and many others who espouse some of his views far more frequently with far more exposure than virtually any of those who would want to attack me on this - so go ahead. What I'm trying to do here is make some sense and raise some common sense issues that those among us who like a reasoned approach to discourse can just reflect on.

To me, the arguments made against Rush Limbaugh being allowed to participate in ownership of an NFL team just seem less than totally convincing in this specific application regardless of how we might feel about him in other applications.

He is after all a successful American citizen whose only crime is that he is hated by so many of us for reckless, insensitive and polarizing comments, just as he is also loved by so many of us for motivating and inspiring a significant portion of the population who feel that he is the only one who truly understands how they feel and is courageous enough to articulate those views. See how different your description of him can be based on whether you actually agree or disagree with his political and social views on the issues.

But beyond that, do we really have the right to punish him in his own private life and family life for pursuing something that everyone of us would want to do if we could, and if we had the resources to pursue it along with the interest he clearly has in sports.

Again, if he is not a public villain certified by either registrations such as sex-offender lists or owing alimony or child support, or a convicted felon or other adjudicated determinations of that nature (the prescription pain matter has been expunged from the record), or disgraced himself in a public way that brings universal scorn (people who display themselves in public, etc.), and remember, what he does on the radio brings scorn only from those of us who disagree with him, not universally from everyone based on universally accepted societal mores and values.

And if you at least understand that point, then I just don't think we can prevent him from being part of the group attempting to purchase the team. We can certainly write letters to the current owners to express our opinion on why we don't want him involved in the team's ownership, and we can also express concerns to the NFL League office expressing our reservations as well.

But ultimately, the process should go forward as normal and it should be the decision of the current owners as to whose bid they accept, and an organized public action coordinated by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as if it is a core civil rights movement "call to action" just seems unjustified. Limbaugh should not have been forced out of even the process just because of who he is.

The fact is, I was much more comfortable with Limbaugh being forced to resign from ESPN's Monday Night Football game analysis team after his comments about the NFL wanting a "black quarterback to succeed" than I am with this current result. Why, because the "cause-effect" application in the Monday Night Football case looks at something he was doing as part of his public, professional life, and in that capacity, he was insulting so many fans of the game and also Americans in general and African-Americans in particular. And in that capacity, for him to continue to be part of that analysis team would only add salt to that original wound - and he should have been more sensitive - just as he should be in his current radio talk show format - with more license than he would have on the Monday Night Football format.

And as for Jesse and Al, while I often disagree with some of either their tactics or strategies, as I do here, I never refrain from pointing out how important I believe their roles have been in bringing matters of injustice and racial cross road issues to the forefront of the American consciousness. And I continue to salute them for that.

But in this case, maybe it would have been more effective and a better approach if Jackson and Sharpton had instead devoted their efforts to reaching out to wealthy Black figures such as Dick Parsons, former Chairman of Time Warner, and Kenneth Chenault, top executive and likely soon to be Chairman at American Express, and Jerry Rice, former NFL star, and others in that category and have them form a new group and pool their resources and have them outbid the Limbaugh group in a competitive heads-on competition, the kind that has really been a hallmark of America's free enterprise system which rewards competitive success, and the very same kind of competitive success we seem scared to allow to take place with our likely to be very costly refusal to include a government option in the health care reform legislation - we really do need that government option to make that plan work.

If you don't like the Limbaugh group make-up, then capitalize on the strong anti-Limbaugh fervor and form a new group with some core wealthy minority participants and then maybe open up small slots for average Americans who want to protest Limbaugh by buying into a competing group.

And as for the NFL, we have the Rooney rule, which requires teams to interview African-American coaches before hiring a new coach, and we should continue to encourage the NFL to reach out with affirmative efforts to bring more Blacks and minorities into the management ranks, and front office ranks, and ownership ranks.

But it seems to me we can't have it both ways. If we can have the NFL go out of its way and make extra outreach efforts to get more African-Americans into all ranks of participation in the NFL, even with some added leverage provided to some of these candidates, and I support that fully, then we can't also look at the other end and deny some mainstream Whites or others from at least having some equal participation opportunity when they could not be disqualified for any reasons other than people don't like their political views.

That is just going too far. But let's continue to do what the NFL is doing to promote more minority participation, and if that means real affirmative action, I support that. But let Limbaugh make his bid with his group, and then boycott his radio show, and express your disapproval, but don't prevent him from even participating in the bid effort with no universally supportable condemnable activity on his part.

And as for the argument that 70% of NFL players are Black - so what! Since when have African-American wealthy athletes been willing to take stands on important social issues where they might have made a difference? Michael Jordan openly supported Bill Bradley for President primarily because he was a basketball player who was a close friend of Jordan's - not because of Jordan's commitment on the issues. In fact, the whole attitude of Black players was best summed up by Jordan himself, when in response to a question as to why he didn't get involved in political and social issues, he responded - "Republicans buy tennis shoes too." So there you have it.

And if Black players say they don't want to play for a team owned by Rush Limbaugh, I say - Oh Yeah - where were you when the owner of the LA Clippers basketball team, Donald T. Sterling, was accused of racial discrimination in not renting to Blacks in some of his apartment buildings. I have been waiting to condemn wealthy Black players who were on Sterling's team and never took a stand, or refused to play unless that egregious activity was corrected. Those actions hurt far more than Limbaugh's ranting - and you know what, and I'm just taking a guess - but if Limbaugh owned any apartment buildings he probably would insist they didn't discriminate in any way - that would be just like him. So don't give me that "Black players in the NFL" argument - when they are prepared to stand up for themselves and use their exalted place in society to better that society, then I'll stand up for them.

The fact is, since Jackie Robinson in the 50's and 60's, and the "gloved hand" demonstration by the Black athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic games, Black athletes have gotten less active and concerned about political and social issues in direct proportion to how much more wealth they are accumulating on the field.

The deed is now done, and Limbaugh is out. But how much better do you feel about that - and wouldn't you feel a lot better if instead of him being forced out, we proved just how much progress has really been made in America by seeing an African-American group formed that included Black athletes, and professionals, and wealthy entrepreneurs and businesspeople, and that group outbid the Limbaugh group. In that scenario, Limbaugh loses fairly with no greater prejudice of action shown towards him than would be shown to anyone else trying to participate in the ownership bid. And all of us win. In the current scenario that actually did play out, yes Limbaugh loses, but so do we as well. We can do better!

Carl Jeffers is a Los Angeles-and Seattle based columnist, TV political analyst, radio talk show host and commentator, and a national lecturer and consultant. E-Mail: cjintel@juno.com.

'Rio Won The Bid ...Chicago Did Not Lose': Former USOC Chief

2009-10-14T21:10:47Z

NEW ORLEANS — The ousted CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee said changing leadership and strained relations with international Olympic officials were "far secondary" factors in Chicago's failed bid host the 2016 Summer Games.

"The headline should be: Rio won the bid. Chicago did not lose the bid and Chicago did not lose by bidding," said Jim Scherr, whose forced resignation in March upset leaders of the various American Olympic teams.