- The Olympics may happen only once every two years, but the
stripping of medals from Olympians disgraced by positive tests for
performance-enhancing drugs is a year-round sport that never fails to
entertain. The World Anti-Doping Agency and International Olympic Committee
always have their hands full keeping up with test results dating back multiple
Olympics and this week, the IOC got around to stripping two wrestlers and a
weightlifter of Olympic medals for doping with anabolic steroids at the 2008
and 2012 Games. Not surprisingly, all three came from the general vicinity of
Russia, which essentially emanates cheating from each of its greasy pores. One
who had his prize ripped is Uzbek wrestler Artur Taymazov, who won a gold medal
at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He’s joined by Ukrainian wrestler Vasyl
Fedoryshyn, who won silver, and Russian weightlifter Svetlana Tzarukaeva, who
won silver at the 2012 London Games and also was asked to give her medal back. Tzarukaeva’s
disqualification is a sadly hilarious one because it follows the original
winner, Maiya Maneza of Kazakhstan, being disqualified last year for doping and
that means Canadian lifter Christine Girard is in line to be upgraded from
bronze to the gold medal for being third in results but first in integrity. The
IOC stores doping samples for 10 years and due to improved techniques that can
detect the use of steroids going back weeks and months, rather than days, has
reanalyzed more than 1,000 samples from Beijing and London and imposed a total
of 65 sanctions on Olympic athletes from the Beijing Games as a result. It’s a
vivid reminder of the fact that if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying and
at sports’ highest levels, the reward always outweighs the risk……..
- After six months without, Morocco finally has itself a
government once again. After six long months of deadlock that had stalled the
economy in the North African nation that’s considered a key U.S. ally in the
region, Moroccan King Mohammed VI has appointed a new coalition government that
consists of 39 ministers, state ministers and state secretaries, and includes
nine women. This new crew is steeped in favoritism and nepotism, as key
defense, security and religious affairs posts were given to people with no
party affiliation but who are close to the king. This crew, which will attempt
to undo whatever damage was done by not having a working government the past
six months - though the United States seems to get by with that same problem
much of the time - is headed up by Prime Minister Saâdeddine El Othmani, whose
moderate Islamist Party of Justice and Development won the parliamentary
election in October. The country remains a monarchy and one that blends a
Muslim base with Western influences in cities such as Casablanca, but it
remains to be seen how El Othmani, who was named last month to end a protracted
crisis that had left the country without a government, can take charge and make
sure that a small nation on the continent’s northwest corner can turn its
fortunes around…..
- What’s the best way to audition for one of the biggest,
edgiest rock bands in the world without getting overly anxious? Ask Slipknot
drummer Jay Weinberg, who has been hitting the high hats for the metal band
since 2014, but admitted that he didn’t know he was auditioning for the band
when he first met them. Maybe he should have put two and two together at some
point, but as Weinberg tells it, he had no idea he was flying to an audition.
“I got a call to come out and audition for something, I wasn’t told what it was
going to be, but just like ‘can you please come out to L.A. and audition for
this thing?’ he said. “With no other information other than that, and it was
like ‘well yeah, why wouldn’t I go check that out? What’s the worst thing that
could happen? I get a free flight to L.A. y’know?’ I’m never gonna say no to
some rabbit hole that’s gonna present itself, unless there’s like, some true
conflict.” Weinberg recalled being told to go into a room with a drum set and
it was only at that point he was informed that he was about to audition for Slipknot
right then and there. He then went through ‘Before I Forget’ and ‘Duality’ and
apparently those went well, because from there he and the rest of the group
were able to go into more depth. Three years later, it appears that it’s worked
out to be a good match………
- Scandal….for the people with the special stamps who can
certify that your used car purchase from Kenny on North Main Street in the
amount of $4,000 is legit and that the title has properly changed hands. Yes,
the shady world of public notaries has been exposed in North Carolina, where a
state lawmaker who called on the secretary of state to resign because records
showed her office allowed more than 320 nonpermanent residents to become public
notaries over the past nine years. Republican Rep. Christopher Millis has now
filed for the impeachment of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, penning a
nine-page letter to her office detailing his concerns and requesting she step
down immediately. Millis claims that there are over 320 notaries commissioned
by the secretary that did not meet the requirements of state law or the stated
requirement on the secretary’s own notary application, including one individual
slated for final deportation. Marshall’s spokesperson shot down those claims,
arguing that this is “simply a rehashing of the political attack used by my
opponent in the recent election.” She’s hiding behind the idea that the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security has authorized the specifically mentioned
notaries to work here lawfully, so she has done nothing wrong and has nothing
for which to apologize. The spokesman added that “in this cause the executive
branch defied the law and did so in a manner completely masked from the public
and the legislature,” so Marshall is swinging back and this has to be the most
anyone has ever given a damn about public notaries in the long and storied history
of the notary industry………
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