Standing in the way of control!

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the big name countries that go to the Olympics, such as the United States or Russia, but have you ever thought about those countries that don’t have as much money for a team or only have a few athletes who qualify?My family has a tradition of picking one or two of the smaller countries that can only send one or two athletes to the games, and sort of “adopting” them for us to root for over the course of the competition.

This year I am going to be watching Itte Detenamo in weightlifting.  He is from the Republic of Nauru, the world’s smallest island nation at only 8.1 square miles.  GO ITTE!

Who are you picking?  Leave it in the comments!

Countries With 1 Athlete

Grenada - Grenada is a small Caribbean island northeast of Venezuela with a population of 110,000.  Their lone Olympian will be Rolande Moses, a Welterweight boxer who left Grenada at age 7, but still qualifies to represent his birth country.

Haiti - Another Caribbean country that is sending only one Olympian to the games to compete in boxing Ultimate-Fighting-Championship .  Azea Augustama will be contending in the  light heavyweight class, and is a former Golden Gloves In-Charity-a-Heavyweight champion.

Republic of Guinea - 67 kg Barry Mariama Dalanda will be representing the west African country on the woman’s team in Taekwondo.  The country has one of the largest mineral deposits in the world, but is considered one of the poorest because of instability in the region.

Republic of Nauru -The Republic of Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation at only 8.1 square miles. It is located northeast of Australia in the Micronesian South Pacific.  Their sole Olympic participant will be Itte Detenamo and he will be taking part in the weightlifting competition.

Republic of Niger - Named for the Niger River, Niger will be sending Lailatou Amadou Lele to contend for the gold medal in Taekwondo.

Republic of Togo - When you think of the sub-Saharan country, Judo is probably not the first sport that comes to mind.  However, that is exactly the sport the 81-kg Sacha Dananyoh will be participating in as a wild card.  (The site links to the official website of the country, which is in French)

Countries With 2 Athletes

Aruba - A Caribbean island nation that only measures 21 miles in length is sending two atheletes to the Beijing games.  Vis Fiderd will be participating in Judo and Jan Roodzant in swimming.

Bhutan - Located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains, Bhutan is sending two archers to the games for the seventh time.  Tashi Peljor will compete for the men in archery and Droji Dema for the women.

British Virgin Islands - Though they are a British territory, they attend the Olympics separately from Britain.  Both participants, Tahesia Harrigan and Eric Matthias will be participating in track and field.

Brunei Darussalam - A nation located on the northern coast of Borneo, Brunei Darussalam will be sending Maria Grace Koh for swimming and Mohd Yazid Yatimi Yusof for track and field.

Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste - More commonly known as East Timor, is an island nation located to the northwest of Australia.  Both of the country’s Olympic athletes, Mariana Dias Ximenes and Augusto Ramos Soares, will be participating in track and field.

Islamic Republic of Mauritania -The country is represented by Bounkou Camara and Souleymane Chabal El Moctar, who will be competing in track and field.

Principality of Liechtenstein - Covering only 62 square miles, and primarily known for winter sports, the Principality of Liechtenstein will have two contestants at the summer games.  Marcel Tschopp will be running the marathon and Oliver Geissmann will be in the shooting competition.

Republic of Botswana - A land filled with cattle and diamonds, they are sending two boxers to the summer Olympics.  Khumiso Ikgopoleng will be boxing in the bantamweight class and Thato Batshegi will be in the featherweight class.

Republic of Chad - A landlocked country in the middle of Africa, making it extremely arid, is sending two track and field athletes to the games.  Hinikissia Albertine Ndikert and Moumi Sebergue will be the two to make it this time around.

Republic of Sierra Leone - Located in western Africa, the Republic of Sierra Leone has a tropical environment and will be sending Solomon Bayoh and Michaela Kargbo to both participate in track and field.

Somali Republic - A eastern African country, they will be sending Abdinasir Said Ibrahim and Samia Yusuf Omar to participate in track and field.

Sultanate of Oman - Located on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Sultanate of Oman will be sending Allah Dad Al-Balushi to compete in shooting and Mohammed Al-Habsi in swimming.

All map images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

From: Mashable

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Olympic Games Beijing 2008 - Opening Ceremony
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Truly amazing

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Awesome!

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UPDATE: Read here first!

Eight people bought the $999.99 “I Am Rich” iPhone app before Apple pulled it from their store this week, reports the Los Angeles Times. “Six people from the U.S., one from Germany and one from France dropped a grand for the gem in the first 24 hours it was available.” The developer, Armin Heinrich, made $5,600 from those sales, while Apple made $2,400. I am currently developing an “I Am Now Richer” app to try to sell to Heinrich, since he’s got some extra spending money. [Los Angeles Times]

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Ok, in my previous post I mentioned that the teams participating in the Olympics were paraded on order of the Mandarin aplhabet. Ok, do some searching, find some articles and you will know how it works…right ? Wrong !

Read here and here about Mandarin and tell me it is easy to understand its working….

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As I am typing I have one eye on the tv watching the opening of the Beijing Olympics ‘08. I must say it is emotive scenery. I am waiting for Namibia to walk out but don’t know when since the teams are walking out in the order of the Mandarin alphabet. Brazil is parading now….

Sarah Brightman impressed with the Olympic anthem with some Chinese singer. Why does she always get these gigs….?

One word though, spectacular! I wonder if the thousands of dancers and artists are getting paid….

Pakistan now….

Cuba …..

Qatar has no females..

The sports anchors makes sure to mention which countries have never won medals…Why the hell is it Australian presenters doing the coverage…

Belarus now….huh? Brazil was earlier…must touch up my Mandarin…

India only has 57 participants….

Lituania….very green shirts

Ah we are close Niger…Nigeria, where is Nam?

Nepal…..team of 7…

Ghana…

Canada…I give up

I am thirsty gonna drive to get some coke… so that was my olympic live blog…

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No one escapes Dickipedia:

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of U.S. senator, presumptive presidential candidate, and Oprah panty-moistener Barack Obama. She is also a lawyer, terrorist fist-jabber, and a dick.More than anything else, Michelle Obama is a dick by association. That is, her dickery really isn’t based on who she is, but rather the roles she selects (e.g. glorified spokesmodel), and whatever crowd it forces her to come in contact with (e.g. the entire panel of The View, with maybe the exception of Joy Behar—maybe).

Critics often accuse both Michelle Obama and her husband of elitism, a charge she denies, despite the fact that they’re worth tens of millions of dollars, have appeared on the cover of every publication in the known world, and receive handwritten Christmas cards from George Clooney.

Obama herself affects the persona of a regular American working woman…with a Harvard Law degree. And fashion designers on retainer. And laser-whitened teeth. And Joe Scarborough talking smack about her Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Despite the fact that they don’t look all that much like each other, you can bet that many middle Americans would have a hard time picking her out of a line up if that line up also included Condoleezza Rice.

Family and education

Michelle Robinson Obama began nurturing a serious addiction to sleeveless dresses from her birth on January 17, 1964, a birthday she shares with fellow African-American role models Eartha Kitt, Steve Harvey, and Shabba Ranks (noted for such inspirational contributions to the nation’s cultural fabric as “Peanie, Peanie,” “Cocky Rim,” and “Love Punaany Bad.”).

Growing up in the South Shore area of Chicago, “The Second Dick City,” Obama attended Whitney High School. While at Princeton—alma mater of such time honored dicks as Aaron Burr, Eliot Spitzer, Donald Rumsfeld, and Ralph Nader—Michelle Obama majored in sociology with a minor in African American studies. Her brother Craig also attended Princeton, and was the fourth-leading scorer in Princeton men’s basketball history, which is kind of like being salutatorian of your prison GED class.

Michelle Obama graduated Princeton cum laude with a Bachelor of Dick Arts in 1985, before attending Harvard Law School, which, decade after decade since 1817 has devoted itself to turning out the dick cream of America’s dick crop, including Supreme Court Chief Dick John Roberts, disgraced former U.S. Dick Attorney General (or “Attorney Genital”) Alberto Gonzalez, and total Massholes Mitt Romney and Mike Dukakis.

She first met Barack as an associate at giant dickbag corporate law firm Sidley Austin, where she was originally assigned to mentor him for the summer. It was not long, however, before the two totally started officedogging. They married in 1992, and have two children, Malia Ann and Natasha. What’s more, they genuinely seem to love each other. If Barack Obama is elected, they may be the first First Couple to actually have sex with each other since the Kennedy Administration, and maybe even earlier.

 

Career

Like many dicks, Michelle Obama is a lawyer. Like many lawyers, Michelle Obama is a dick. This is a perfect example of the converse logical property of dicktitudinousness.

Far from a trophy wife—and let’s face it, really not bosomy enough—Obama currently works as Vice President for Community and External Affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals. This sounds like a made-up title. Since the presidential campaign began like three hundred years ago, she’s cut back on her hospital “responsibilities,” using the days to stump for her husband, spend time with her children, and fantasize about kicking the living snot out of “Obama Girl.” Naturally, she still earns a six-figure salary.

 

Political activities

Ever since her husband threw his dick in the ring, Michelle Obama has been one of Barack’s closest advisors and dutiful spokespeople. In fact, she has said that she brokered a deal in which her husband would quit smoking in exchange for her support. Of course, she didn’t say anything about chaw.

Being so publicly visible, Michelle Obama leaves herself open to intense scrutiny. Critics claim she is too frank in sharing anecdotes of Obama family life, such as her husband’s terrible morning breath and his tendency to leave his laundry on the floor. Others find it reassuring to know that even Barack Obama leaves a streak mark from time to time.

She also sparked outrage amongst conservative pundits—which, in all fairness, is about as difficult as giving Tommy Lee an erection—when she said “for the first time in my life I am proud of my country.” Interestingly enough, First Lady Laura Bush leapt to her defense, saying, “the really difficult part both of running for president or being the spouse of the president is [that] everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued.” Like anyone cares what Laura Bush has to say about anything.

Michelle Obama is noted for her love of hot cooter haute couture. In fact, she was named to Vanity Fair World’s Best Dressed List in both 2007 & 2008, which sounds impressive until you learn the list also includes The Beckhams, Kanye West, and Anderson Cooper.

 

Doin’ “The Bump”

On June 6, 2008, Fox News Channel anchor E.D. Hill touched off a crapstorm of controversy when she suggested that a friendly “punch it in” between Michelle and Barack Obama might be some sort of “terrorist fist jab.” Of course, Hill misconstrued the hand gesture. What it really meant was “Wonder Twins unite—form of Hillary Clinton’s worst nightmare.”

 

Don’t you think…

…it’s about time Michelle Obama wrote her own best-selling inspirational memoir?

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