Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Olympics 2012: Greece kicks triple-jumper Voula Papachristou off team for mocking African immigrants on Twitter


Papachristou also expressed support of far-right party in Greece; Greek Olympic committee says her statements run contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement

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UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012, 11:38 AM
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MATT DUNHAM/AP

Greece's Voula Papachristou, seen here in the European Championships in June, will not be competing in the London Olympics.

IS AMERICA CRAZY? TEN REASONS IT MIGHT BE


July 24, 2012



Mike Twohy 20041115[3]_opt.jpg
“Every country has, along with its core civilities and traditions, some kind of inner madness, a belief so irrational that even death and destruction cannot alter it.”
That was my colleague Adam Gopnik commenting the other day on America’s attitude toward gun laws. Having read some of the comments on my own post about President Obama’s failure to pursue more restrictions on the sale of firearms, I can only agree with Adam. When Bill MoyersKeith OlbermannMayor Bloomberg, and Rupert Murdoch are all in favor of something—in this case, tougher gun laws—and there’s still no chance of it being enacted, you can rest assured that forces other than reason and partisan politics are involved.
My only quibble with Adam is his use of the singular form: “a belief.” Are firearms the only subject on which Americans are, let us say, a little batty? I’m not so sure. Having lived here for almost thirty years, and having been a U.S. citizen for the past five, I am greatly attached to this country and admire many aspects of it enormously. But the dogged persistence of certain American shibboleths has always struck me as somewhat curious.
What are these shared convictions? I could go on all day, but here, for argument’s sake, are ten. Not all Americans subscribe to them, of course. In some instances, the true believers may amount to a small but vocal minority. Still, the popular sentiment underlying these statements is so strong that politicians defy it at their peril.

THIS WEEK IN FICTION: ZADIE SMITH


July 23, 2012


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This week’s story, “Permission to Enter,” charts the life of its protagonist, Keisha Blake, and her best friend, Leah Hanwell, neighbors in a housing estate in North West London, from the ages of four to twenty-one. Through a series of numbered vignettes, we watch Keisha’s progression through school and university as she and Leah gradually leave the estate and its expectations behind them. Why did you decide to use this format? Did you enjoy working within the boundaries of these contained sections?
Well, the story is an extract from a novel, and this sectional style only appears towards the end of the book. When I was writing the book I was trying to think about how we experience time. How it really feels to be in time. And the answer ended up being different depending on who or what I was dealing with. In Keisha’s case, she has this belief that life is a meaningful progression towards some ultimate goal—in her case, “success”—and this made the numbered sections the obvious choice. It was also an attempt to force myself into a new mode. I’ve always admired the idea of the “fragment,” but fragments are usually single-voiced—often a monologue of some kind. I can’t write in that singular way, it bores me. I think I wanted to see if I could make a fragmentary third person work. Finally, there is the simple time restraint of having a kid. Four hours a day is as much as I had. I didn’t have the time or inclination for sixty-page chapters. The idea of writing at any great length became absurd.