Iran Says Olympic Logo Spells ‘Zion’
London’s much-maligned logo for the 2012 Olympics is a bit of a Rorschach test, as large numbers of people have claimed it resembles everything from a swastika to Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act. Now Iran has logged a formal complaint and is threatening to boycott the Olympic Games, as word spreads that the graphic in fact reads, “ZION”, the Guardian reports. (To me, it is clearly the Twin Towers collapsing.)
In a formal complaint to the International Olympic Committee, Tehran has called for the graphic to be replaced and its designers “confronted”, warning that Iranian athletes might otherwise be ordered to stay away from the London Games.
According to the state-backed Iranian Students News Agency, which is frequently used to convey official pronouncements, the letter says: “As internet documents have proved, using the word Zion in the logo of the 2012 Olympic Games is a disgracing action and against the Olympics’ valuable…
Northern China Hosts Robot Olympics
Walking, running and even dancing robots have been competing at the International Robot Olympic Games in China:
Emergency Shipment of Condoms Headed to Olympic Athletes
I realize this story is being posted a little late; nevertheless here’ s an interesting story by John Shumel writing for Vancouver Now:
Rowdy curling crowds; spontaneous street parties; public drunkenness. You don’t have to look far for evidence that the crowds at Winter Games in Vancouver know how to have a good time.
And, as if anymore proof is needed that a wild Olympic atmosphere permeates B.C.’s largest city, now there’s an apparent condom shortage. That’s right. As you read this, an emergency shipment of condoms is desperately making its way across Canada to the West Coast city.
Health officials in Vancouver have already provided 100,000 free condoms to the roughly 7,000 athletes and officials at the Games. That’s about 14 condoms per person. But as of Wednesday, those supplies started running dangerously low. So naturally, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research decided to step and make sure there were no hitches…
Wall Street’s Love Affair with Curling
Good to know these folks can take a break from destroying this nation’s economy. “It is like drinking merlot,” said one trader. See a video below on what the heck curling is. Eric Dash writes in the New York Times:
Wall Street trading is often described as a blood sport. But inside the great investment houses, the sport of the moment is, of all things, curling — that oddball of the Olympics that is sort of like shuffleboard on ice.
This slow-poke game, which originated in 16th-century Scotland, has captivated the Type-A world of Wall Street almost by accident. CNBC, whose market chatter is the background music on trading floors, switches to curling from Vancouver shortly after the closing bell. And so, after a day of braying for money in the markets, traders are winding down with curling. It is, fans say, a bit of after-market therapy. Curling is so slow and drawn out that it becomes mesmerizing.
“It is like drinking merlot,” said Douglas A. Kass, the president of Seabreeze Partners, who got hooked on Olympic curling a few years ago via CNBC. (Read More: New York Times)
Tom Brokaw Explains Canada To Americans
From a pre-recorded short film, narrated by Tom Brokaw, that aired on NBC prior to the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver:
Man Arrested for Using Olympic Torch to Light Up
Think it was just a cigarette, but I guess you can’t mess with the Torch:
Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border, Grilled on 2010 Olympics?!?
Posted on Democracy Now!:
While traveling to Vancouver, Canada to speak at the Vancouver Public Library at a benefit for community radio stations, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and her two colleagues were detained by Canadian authorities. Amy was questioned extensively about the speech she intended to give; their car was gone through by armed border guards, and their papers and laptop computers were scoured. The armed interrogators were particularly interested in whether she would be speaking about the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Here the report from CBC News:
