There were much speculation about the possibility of American swimmer Michael Phelps breaking Mark Spitz' record of seven gold medals won in a single Olympics. True enough, he did not disappoint. He qualified for eight events (400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay, and the 4x100m and 4x200 freestyle relays) and won them all world record time, except for the 100m butterfly where he set a new Olympic record. Phelps, in the process of surpassing Mark Spitz' record set at the 1972 Games, matched and then outstripped the record nine career gold medals of Games icons Spitz, Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, and Larissa Latynina to emerge the greatest Olympian of all time.

Lightning Bolt Strikes Thrice

With the two-time world champion Tyson Gay eliminated in the semifinals, Jamaican Usain Bolt seemingly had only fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell to beat in the 100m sprint final. He looked around with only thirty meters left and realized that it was all clear; he breezed through and was still able to shatter his own record with 9.69 seconds. Four days after, he repeated the feat in the 200m final, breaking the 200m world record to achieve the first Olympic golden sprint double in twenty four years; and the first 100-200m victories at world record pace. Two days later, Bolt went on to capture his third gold medal running the third leg of the Jamaican 4x100 meters relay team.

Russian and Georgian Medalists in Symbolic Embrace

While sharing the medal podium, good friends and former teammates of the former Soviet Union, Russia's Natalia Paderina and Georgia's Nino Salukvadze embraced and kissed each other on the cheeks, setting aside the conflict between their two countries and providing a boost to the Georgian team that had considered pulling out from the Games a day earlier. They finished silver and bronze respectively behind China's Guo Wenjun following the dramatic women's 10m air pistol event final. Salukvadze expressed optimism, hopeful that the Games' ideals of peace would be an example for those watching. "If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did, there would never be any wars," she exclaimed. "After all, we live in the twenty-first century. We shouldn't really stoop so low to wage wars against each other."

Injured Liu's Pullout Shocks China

China's 1.3 billion population has been banking on Liu Xiang to defend his 110m hurdles Olympic title won four years ago in Athens. Liu, one of the major faces of the Beijing Olympics, has been bothered by his right Achilles' heel injury for six to seven years and was obviously in pain when he lined up for the race. He would limp down the tunnel of the Birds Nest stadium to a confused silence from the largely nationalistic crowd.

US Gymnast Ends China Run

China emerged as Games new gymnastics superpower after striking gold in both the men's and women's team events. But China's stranglehold on the sport would be broken by Nastia Liukin of the United States who won the women's individual all-around event, with Shawn Johnson, Liukin's compatriot, taking the silver to make it a one-two finish for the United States. The best the host nation could salvage was a bronze medal by Yang Yiling. The triumph somehow atoned for the US women's loss to China in the team event due to costly mistakes on beam and floor.

South African Amputee Inspires the Rest

The 24-year-old Natalie du Toit, who had won six medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, desires to inspire others to reach for their dreams after fulfilling her ambition to compete at the Beijing Olympics despite having her lower leg amputated seven years ago in a motor accident. Thus, she became the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games since 1936, and would finish sixteenth in the women's 10km marathon swim. Her participation prompted the eventual gold medal winner Larissa Ilchenko of Russia, to insist that du Toit merited a medal just for competing.

Australian Diver Prevents China Sweep

Matthew Mitcham of Australia qualified in second position for the 10m platform event final. With one last dive to go, he was ranked second, 34 points behind China's Zhou Luxin, having experienced mixed success in his first five dives. After Zhou made the worst dive of the final scoring a measly 74.80 points, Mitcham still needed a near perfect score of 107.30 to clinch the gold. His near-perfect final dive drew four perfect tens from the judges and attained 112.10 points, the highest single-dive score in the history of the Olympics. His win prevented China from achieving a clean-sweep of all diving events at the Games.

The Redeem Team Avenges Athens Loss

Following disappointments of placing sixth at the 2002 World Championships and settling for third place at the 2004 Games and the 2006 World Championships, the United States sent a twelve-man basketball team, dubbed the "Redeem Team," in an effort to reclaim the global throne that once belonged to them. The team, consisting of prominent NBA players, included Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard among others. The United States totally conquered Group B in pool play, crushing China, Angola, Greece, world champion Spain, and Germany by an average margin of 32.2 points. Then, the United States soundly defeated Group A's fourth place-finishers, Australia 116-85 in the quarterfinal matchup headed by Kobe Bryant's 25 points, and Manu Ginobili-led Argentinian team (the 2004 Olympic gold medallist) 101-81 led by Carmelo Anthony's 21 points. In the final battle for the gold, the United States defeated Spain 118-107 in a remarkably close game, with the Americans' lead reaching as high as fourteen points, and as low as two points with less than four minutes left to play.

Cancer Survivor Beats the Odds in Swim Marathon

The 27-year-old Dutchman Maarten van der Weijden was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, but returned stronger following his ordeal to compete at the 2003 open water championships before being crowned world champion over 25km in Seville earlier this year. He compared his gold medal triumph to his personal battle against cancer as he waited patiently for the leaders to set the early pace before a late burst saw him claim gold in a time of 1 hour 51 minutes 51.6 seconds.

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale

Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale just had a baby boy. You won't believe the name they gave him. They named him Zuma Nesta Rock. She named him after a video game. I know she liked the video game, but he's the one who has to live with the name. I shouldn't be surprised since they named their first son Kingston.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban recently had a baby girl. They named her Sunday Rose. She wasn't even born on a Sunday so I don't see the sense in naming her Sunday.

Ingo Rademacher

Ingo Rademacher and his wife had a baby boy. They named him Peanut Kai. I've heard of Peanut as a nickname, but never as a first name.

Jessica Alba and Cash Warren

Jessica Alba and Cash Warren recently had a baby girl. They named her Honor. When I think of the word honor, I would never imagine it being someone's first name.

Stevie Wonder and Kai Morris

Stevie Wonder and his wife Kai Morris had a baby boy that they named Mandla Kadjaly. I don't know if it has a special meaning, but it sounds crazy to me.

Joshua Morrow

Joshua Morrow and his wife named their younger son Crew James. Why torture this child with a name like Crew when the older son has a name like Cooper?

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin named their daughter Apple. Was she eating a lot of apples when she came up with that name?

Donovan and Linda Lawrence

Donovan and Linda Lawrence named their daughters Astrella Celeste and Oriole Nebula. Astrella could always change her name to Celeste, but what is Oriole going to do? Her middle name is no better than her first.

Shannyn Sossman

Shannyn Sossman named her child Audio Science. This has got to be one of the worst names on this particular list. Imagine growing up with a name like Audio Science.

Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof has daughters named Fifi Trixiebell, Peaches, and Pixie. Those poor girls. No wonder Peaches married a man she knew for one month. He was probably the only man she knew who didn't make fun of her name.

That's all for now. I'll write more in a future column. I'm sure there will be more strange names for us to laugh at.

“Barack O'Bama, maybe?”

The sound of Obama's name is beautiful to some, and peculiar to others. To prejudiced and other small thinking Americans, “Obama” is not just odd, but “un-American”, as the would be novelist of popular fiction may have seen. It might therefore have occurred to the Obama campaign that posing the name “Obama” with nearly each surname of the other Democrats on his short list for the Vice Presidential nominee created a further awkward sound. All but one of these names linked to “Obama” might have caused the concern that it would create a sort of sound and rhythm that might inspire laughter at best, and derision at worst, and not just amongst the electorate. Elements of the media would not refrain from getting into such a childish name game, thus causing another needless distraction from the issues which should elect America's next President, and Vice President.

I am supposing, perhaps in my own small mind, what effects “Obama”, matched up with the last names of most of his potential running mates, might have brought from small minds. How would “Obama” look and sound with the name “Sibelius”?, in reference to Kansas governor Kathleen Sibelius, considered by pundits to have been on Obama's short list.

Obama Sibelius?

That might sound like a conspiracy of too many foreigners trying to get control of the United States government. (Except to Americans of Greek or African descent, of course. However, when it comes to name preferences, what could be better than plain old John McCain? It goes with just about everything. And it's really “American”.)

He was a long shot, but then there was the retired U.S. senator from Georgia, Sam Nunn.

Obama Nunn?

What are they trying to pull on us here?, I can imagine some right wingers thinking, especially those who don't care for Catholicism.

Another on Obama's short list was Virginia governor Tim Kaine.

Obama Kaine?

That sounds vaguely threatening, and biblically so. Most “Evangelicals” would spurn that combo.

Then there was U.S. Senator Bayh, of Indiana. I have heard “Bayh” pronounced both as “bye” and as “bah” (as in, “Bah Bah Black Sheep”, as someone would discover, and pass along.)

Obama Bye?

There's a joke or too in that. Jay Leno wouldn't leave it alone.

Obama Bah?

If not open to racist “humor”, that one might seem a little silly, at least.

However, Obama has made his choice for VP, and it's a sound choice, too: Joe Biden.

And so we have: Obama Biden.

That sounds okay. Think about it. Maybe the name-phrase is already suggesting to some that Obama is now “biden” his time, as it were. Perhaps. Anyway, Obama Biden sounds “American”. Or at least “half-American”.

Obama Biden.

Sounds good.

And it's got rhythm.

History

Joe Biden received a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law. He is a Roman Catholic. His first wife and an infant daughter died from a car accident in 1972. His two sons were badly injured, but eventually made a full recovery. Latter he remarried Jill Tracy Jacobs, and had a daughter. His political career began in 1970 when he was elected to the New Castle County City Council. Then in 1973 he became the fifth youngest Senator in U.S history. Since then he has won every reelection to his Delaware Senate seat, making him the longest serving Senator in Delaware history. During his time in the Senate he has served on the Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on the Judiciary, and the Caucus on International Narcotics Control. Over the years he has chaired and co-chaired many of the divisions within these committees and has been instrumental or the author of many laws and acts. Some of Senator Biden's accomplishments include: The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act , Violence Against Women Act , RAVE Act, KIDS 2000 legislation, etc….

What Senator Biden Adds

So, what does he bring to the Obama ticket. First, he brings the foreign policy experiencethat Obama lacks. He can tout that he has been the ranking member and chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations. These titles have given him first hand exposure to foreign relations. In the 1990's Senator Biden made many trips to the Balkans and meet with Siberian leaders. He argued to lift the arms embargo, investigate the war crimes, and advocated for NATO involvement. Biden's argument was an instrumental element that convinced President Clinton to act on the human rights issues of the area. No doubt that Senator Biden has the references to go head to head with Senator McCain where Senator Obama does not. Second, he provides the age and white male factor. This year Senator Biden will be sixty-six years old. Therefore, he provides the “wisdom comes from age” contrast to Senator Obama's “fresh politics.” Third, Senator Biden has a son that is about to deploy to Iraq as a JAG officer (military lawyer.)

What Senator Biden Detracts

Now, what will he detract from Senator Obama's campaign. First, Senator Biden is going to have to do some major foot in the mouth backpedaling. Senator Biden at a Democratic debate: “This is not about experience. It's not about change. It's about action. Who among us is going to be able to, on Day 1, step in and end the war?” This quote along with many others directed at Obama's lack of experience and readiness are going to be hard to explain. Second, there is a stark contrast in that Senator Biden initially supported going to Iraq and Senator Obama's did not and has made that fact a key element of his campaign. Third, Senator Obama is running on a platform of change but, Senator Biden is a thirty year veteran of Washington.

Dirt

So what is the dirt on Senator Biden? In 1988 Joe Biden plagiarized a law review article while he was attending law school. Biden also had made claims to have graduated in the top half of his law school class, with three degrees, and on a full scholarship . Where as in actuality he graduated 76 th of 85, received two degrees, and had a partial scholarship. Then, in 1988 when Senator Biden was in the midst of his presidential bid, lightning struck twice. Parts of a speech were plagiarized from a previous speech by British politician, Neil Kinnock. Senator Biden when announcing his bid for the 2008 presidential race: “the first mainstream African American [candidate] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Many African American were offended by this comment. Senator Biden: "I've had a great relationship with East Indians in America. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking." This offended many Indian Americans.

My Theory

To sum it up………Senator Biden is one of the most experienced politicians out there, but also has a really bad case of foot in the mouth disease. . It would be hard to find a more vetted and well rounded running mate. However, the stark contrast between some of Obama's key platforms and Senator Biden's political decision history does not mesh well. The real question will be this: Can Senator Obama pull continue a “change” message while allowing Senator Biden to be the experience blow horn?

All around the world there are accidents involving the All Terrain Vehicle, there is no age limit to who dies, a seven year old girl in the UK in 2007 was riding on a public road and a 73 year old farmer in Australia died while using his ATV on his land for getting around. In June 2008 the saxophonist LeRoi Moore (The Dave Matthews Band) was injured he was riding a ATV and died in August 2008 as a result of the injuries.

LeRoi Moore

These bikes are ridden along seafronts in the Mediterranean by those wanting a good time, they are given as gifts by parents to children and they are raced in rallies around the world. Wherever they are used they should be treated with respect, how they are used should be considered seriously, these are vehicles no different than a car or a motorbike, they are lethal weapons if not ridden properly and the correct procedures are followed.

In the USA there is a group called Concerned Families for ATV Safety, they show a map of all the places in USA where a child has been killed on an ATV in 2008, this is the saddest map I have ever seen: Map

This map will also lead you to a page of the saddest stories, stories of the children, stories from the hearts that were broken.

Every country will have its own sad statistics list, they will have their own concerns, there will be campaigns to stop the ATV from being made, people will fight to keep the ATV, this will go on for years and deaths will still occur, why? Human nature, the human need for the thrill, the human attitude toward danger and the fact that rules get broken and ignored, even if all rules and regulations are followed accidents still happen, the best thing when buying an ATV is follow advice, ensure you buy a safe vehicle and drive safely.

A lucky survivor of a serious ATV/Quad Bike accident

The Villages at Loreto Bay is currently the largest sustainable resort community under development in North America. This $3 billion community in Baja California Sur, Mexico will create a series of seaside villages of approximately 6,000 homes on 8,000 acres along the Sea of Cortés. Loreto Bay serves as a model of sustainable construction management, marine conservation, wind energy, and estuary restoration.

“Sustainable development is a reality at Loreto Bay,” said Jim Grogan, president and CEO of the Loreto Bay Company. “We'll produce more energy from renewable sources than we consume; we'll harvest more potable water than we use; and there will be more biodiversity, biomass and habitat than existed when we started. We're proud to set this standard and hope that future developers in Baja California Sur will follow suit.”

Grogan's goal is to become an international model for how development can enrich an existing community while remaining economically viable. His vision of stewardship includes conservation, protection, enhancement, and regeneration that support the social, economic and environmental needs of the community.

“Our vision is driven by our belief in the future.”

Sustainable development at Loreto Bay not only includes a sustainable environmental and a sustainable economy, it includes the creation of a 5,000 acre natural preserve. The Loreto Bay preserve represents more than sixty percent of the total planned community. The preserve contains the Primer Aqua River and most of its watershed. The preserve will be open to organic farming, organic orchards, an organic nursery, trails for hiking, cycling and horseback riding and miles and miles of kayaking from the homes at Loreto Bay.

John Knows Georgia

Senator McCain is intimately familiar with the situation in Georgia and South Ossetia if his supporters are to be believed. I mean, the man's been there, people! Come on, if a guy has been somewhere and talked to a few of the people around there, he knows everything about it, right?

John Knows Iraq

Again, Senator McCain has been to Iraq several times. He's had his picture taken with the troops, walked around on the ground and knows the place like the back of his hand. He knows what's best for the Iraqis and what's going on in that part of the world because, dammit people, he's been there. Hell, he could probably even run the war in Iraq and Afghanistan without consulting his staff.

John Knows Israel

Senator McCain has been to Israel on several occasions and because of that we Americans can rest assured that simply his visits to Israel make him an expert on the subject of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I mean, the guy has been there right?

John Knows Economics

Senator McCain knows all about economics despite having said earlier in the campaign that economics was, “not his thing”. Since then, of course, Senator McCain has visited Economicstan and now is an expert in the subject.

John Knows Dirty Politics

John knows all about dirty politics. He, of course, has been the victim of it before. Who could forget the push polling in South Carolina? But, he'd never visited there before so he didn't know about it. However, once he visited ParisHiltonabad and compared his opponent to a rock star, now he has a real handle on what it takes to get down in the mud and wallow like Karl Rove.

John Doesn't Know…

About the number of houses he owns. Maybe that's just because he hasn't been to all of them yet. Because, let's face it, a person doesn't become an expert on something unless he has, “been there, done that”.

I am assuming, of course, that everyone realizes that Senator John McCain should be even more familiar with the number of properties he owns than he is with the situation in Iraq, Georgia and Afghanistan. If he doesn't know about his own personal finances and his own personal property, do we really trust him to handle the country's finances and property?

Think about it.

After Russia counter attacked the Georgians in the region of South Ossetia, they went deeper into the country to capture key points linking the east and west side of the country.

Their military presence is still being felt after they destroyed much of the central city of Gori and other cities along the east-west route. They have also captured the port of Poli and are going through its port facilities perhaps in search of weapons that might have been used to widen the conflict. Georgia is a sovereign nation; too bad it did not get into the NATO membership before the conflict otherwise the Russian would have thought differently from exasperating a conflict which could have ended with their capture of the so-called pro-Russian province of South Ossetia. Personally I don't know how pro-Russian that province is, but I do know that passports were given out to its residents perhaps to rekindle an animosity between Ossetians and Georgians? So who is the aggressor then?

But the reason we love the Olympics is the controversy that surrounds the competitions. Here is a place where the whole world will gather in a theme of unity but at the same time accuse other countries of cheating and biasness. Case in point; female gymnastics. From the underage claims to the dubious tie-breaking procedure to the knee landing being better than a two feet landing, we had one of the best Olympic moments. The media was ecstatic, churning article after article about China's Olympic conspiracy.

And then there was the moment when it was not the 29th Olympiad but the 1st Phelpiad. Okay, so the guy set 7 world records individually or otherwise, on the way to winning 8 gold medals. That in itself is remarkable. But when I tuned in to watch the Olympics and all that was on American T.V stations was Phelps live swims followed by Phelps re-runs, that story turned old faster that moldy bread. The glamour was lost and all I could think off was when do I get to watch real Olympics.

Another reason why we love the Olympics- We (or maybe just I ) will celebrate when an athlete (Phelps) does something remarkable, but complain when he (Phelps) becomes the Olympics, because there are thousands of other athletes we would like to see. Save the accolades until after the Olympics.

And the main reason we love the Olympics? The dubious sport activities. Trampoline! Really, trampoline. Maybe I just don't get it, but I watched both the men's and women's finals and still cannot figure out how 1 minute of that exercise is considered an Olympic event. And let's not forget the equestrian thing. Tried watching a few minutes of it and all I could think was that English royalty would be good at it. Too bad they don't compete. I wonder if it's forbidden by the queen.

My own personal reason for loving the Olympics? To find out how many athletes have changed citizenship for money. I still can't get over how many Kenyan runners are turning up for other countries especially Qatar and Bahrain. Although on the other hand, if a country offered me one million dollars and $1,000 every month for life just to get its passport, I would not think twice. But then again, my patriotism is somewhat misplaced. However, now that the IOC has decided to put a stop to country hopping, I will need a new reason to look forward to the next Olympics. Oh! I already have one. What will Phelps do next?

Happy Olympics!!