Reaching Young Voters

Here is an interesting video recently posted to YouTube and other websites by TruthThroughAction.org.

Definitely a humorous video whose goal is to reach voters from approximately the 18-25 age demographic. The video is appropriately titled Blue Balled. I know I enjoyed it and just had to share it.

Lost & John Stewart

As a Lost fan I found this video from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart hilarious. I just had to share it.

Strangely Appealing

The summer months feature many a new program. Due to the relatively low cost to produce, these programs are typically from the reality or game genres. Take a look at the promo below. I must admit that I can't wait to see it. On June 24th I'll be catching the premiere episode of I Survived a Japanese Game Show!

Narrowing Down the Field - 2016 Short List

One day after writing about how I’d like to see the 2016 Summer Olympic Games go to a country that has never hosted the Olympic Games before, one of the cities I mentioned has been eliminated from the running.

Today the International Olympic Committee cut the list of bidding cities from seven to four. Not making the short list were Prague in the Czech Republic, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Doha’s bid was history making as the first Middle Eastern city to ever make a serious bid.

Still in the running are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. These cities will now need to prepare more extensive bid books and prepare for site visits by members of the International Olympic Committee.

Now for a bit of prognosticating: which city of these four has the best chance at being granted these games?

Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympics before – in 1964. Japan also hosted the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. They have proven that they can successfully host the Games. But the biggest strike against them is Beijing hosting this year. If the Beijing Games in a success it is predicted that China will make a bid for the 2018 Winter Games. This might cause the IOC to not grant the games to Tokyo because they would not want to have three Olympic Games in that area of the word in a relatively short period of time. Also, members of the IOC has gone on record stating that they would like to broaden the range of cities that host the Games – even though London is going to be a repeat host with the 2012 Games it is believe that the IOC will go for a city in 2016 that has never hosted before.

Madrid’s biggest strike against it is that the 2004 Games were held in Athens and the 2012 will be in London. Will the IOC want to go again to Europe so quickly? It does help that Madrid is one of the major European capitals that has never hosted a Games (though Barcelona did host in 1992). It also is a big plus that Madrid placed third in the voting for the 2012 Games.

Chicago stands a better than decent chance in getting the 2016 Summer Games. The United States has not hosted a Summer Games since 1996 in Atlanta or any Olympic Games since the Winter Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Another plus for it is that United States corporations play a big part in the financial status of the IOC. With 20 years between Summer Olympic Games in the Western Hemisphere, some would say that this area of the word is due. Biggest strikes against Chicago – The 2010 Winter Games are being held in Vancouver and some doubt Chicago’s ability to host such a huge event.

Finally we have Rio de Janeiro. The Olympics have never been held in South America or Africa. The president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, has said that he wants to see the Games branch out to these continents. In 2007 Rio successfully staged the Pan American Games, which demonstrated its ability to host such a large sporting event. Not much in the way of negatives when it comes to Rio.

I believe that the final decision will come down to Chicago and Rio de Janeiro, with Rio having a slight advantage due to the desire to bring the Olympics to South America. I think it’s Rio de Janeiro’s to lose, and if they can put together a pretty decent bid book and put on a good show when member of the committee visit then they will have the Games clinched.

New Hosts but Old Prejudices

We are currently 65 days from the Opening Ceremonies of the 29^th Summer Games emanating from Beijing, China. I for one am excited and can’t wait to see these ceremonies as they are broadcast on NBC on August 8, 2008.

I love when a nation that has never been allowed to hold an Olympic Games before gets the opportunity. I’m curious to see what kind of a spin they put on it, including what they do with the pomp and circumstance of the opening and closing ceremonies. While this hasn’t happened very often in my lifetime, I do remember the games held in Seoul and Barcelona thinking how wonderful it was that these countries and its citizens finally had the opportunity to host the biggest sporting event on the calendar. While I get the similar feelings when a city gets to host that hasn’t hosted before, when a country hosts that has never had the opportunity before it truly seems almost magical.

And when following the bidding process I’m always rooting for that underdog country to break through so that they can host their first Games. While they don’t always have the most feasible bid, I still think that given the opportunity most of these countries could step up to the plate and make a wonderful spectacle of their hosting. In looking at the bids for the 2016 Summer Games, which will be decided on October 2, 2009, While as an American I can’t wait for another Games to occur on U.S. soil so that I may have the opportunity to attend, I can’t help but hope that the Games goes to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil or to Doha, Qatar. Not only would this be the first opportunity for the Games to be held in their country but it would be the first time that any Olympic Games were held in South America or Africa.

With that being said, and acknowledging the excitement that I have for the upcoming Games in Beijing, the first ever in China, I am disheartened by some of the materials that have been put forth for the volunteers that will be working at the Games. More specifically, the language that they use to instruct their volunteers about how to handle encounters with athletes during the Paralympic Games which immediately following the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Here are some translated excerpts from these manuals, as taken from an article on ESPN.com.

First they label the paralympic athletes and disabled fans as a “special group” The manual states that they have “unique personalities and ways of thinking.” This statement alone is enough to make someone realize that their descriptions of these athletes will not be positive.

The manual suggests that though athletes who are blind are “introverted. They have deep and implicit feelings and seldom show strong emotions.”

In discussing physically disabled individuals, the manual states that these individuals “are often mentally healthy. They show no differences in sensation, reaction, memorization, and thinking mechanisms from other people, but they might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability.” These individuals are labeled as being “isolated, unsocial, and introspective. They usually do not volunteer to contact people. They can be stubborn and controlling. They may be sensitive and struggle with trust issues.”

Volunteers are also instructed to not “stare at their disfigurement.”

Then, apart of this manual, the Beijing Organizing Committee set forth some rules of conduct and policies about who will be allowed to attend the Games. Barred are individuals who have contagious diseases and those who have “mental diseases.” The problem with this is that they do not specify what kinds of diseases to which they are referring.

While I am excited about having the Games in China, I only wish that they showed more tolerance and understanding. While I would hope that having such a rich international presence in their country might cause some change to occur, I unfortunately do not believe that it will have any long lasting effects.