Olympics in Crisis?

International Olympics Committee President Jacques Rogge seems to have second thoughts about awarding the games to Beijing seven years ago: "It's easy to say now that this was not a wise and a sound decision." But are the Olympics in Crisis? “It is a crisis, there is no doubt about that,” says IOC President Jacques Rogge. Well that's solved! But how much of a crisis is it? In the United States, the Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop amid heavy security. Despite being treated like a visiting head of state, the torch traveled though San Fransisco without incident. "Last-minute changes to the Olympic torch’s route through the only North American city on its world tour helped it evade not only protesters, but also fans who lined up for hours waiting for a historic sight that never arrived." And now, it's off to Argentina. Meanwhile, in China... Buddhist monks disrupted a press tour of a monastery. The latest protest came as Tibet's governor said he was prepared for "Tibet independence activists to cause "trouble" for the Olympic torch relay when it passes through the Himalayan region on its way to Mount Everest next month." I'd say it's still quite a crisis... but it should make for a good documentary a few years from now.

If you are looking to prep yourself for an invasion by Olympic activists, you can pick up some stolen military equipment on E-bay and Craig's List. Be it a used suit to protect yourself from biological weapons to parts for an F-14 fighter jet, it can all be found for sale! Investigators said, "Although not all of the stolen property items available on eBay and Craigslist were sensitive, each item was purchased with taxpayer money and represents a waste of resources." Now you may be wondering what the government would do with some of this stuff... since we don't fly F-14s or reuse the suits anyways. I'm sure it's not a waste a resources to keep it laying around paying to store it in warehouses.

Science in Your Life

Today was a big "find" in understanding the world before us. In the plant kingdom, the world's oldest trees have been located in western Sweden. The spruces have been perched high on a mountain side for the last 8,000 years allowing them to avoid their natural predators... the lumberjack. Thousands of years before these trees came into being there was a poor baby mammoth who was recently found in Siberia. The mammoth was found frozen whole, with skin, internal organs and even internal structures intact! For a small fee, and a plane ticket to Siberia, you too can see her as she will be going on display soon.

Other things being dug up include parts of Stonehenge. A recent dig + years of study = belief that Stonehenge served as a religious center and a place of healing even before its famous "goal posts" were erected. Gee... I remember learning this when I was in school... how exactly is this news? Heck, it's even been the subject of comedy already!