Italians hold moment of silence for Israeli athletes murdered in Munich

Michael Ledeen old me of this beautiful deed Sunday but it wasn’t reported until now. From Michael Shimulovich of the Times of Israel:

Members of the Italian Olympic delegation held a moment of silence Sunday in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago. Some 30 individuals, among them athletes, the Italian Tourism and Sports Minister Piero Gnudi and the head of the Italian Olympic Committee, Gianni Petrucci, participated in the intimate ceremony.

Also in attendance were the Chairman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, Zvi Varshaviak, and the head of the Israeli delegation, Efraim Zinger.

The moment of silence was held at the entrance to the Israeli delegation’s residential compound in London.

Another Olympics Scandal: Boxing Judge Expelled After Fighter Awarded Shock Win in Bout Some Question Was Fixed

A boxing referee from Turkmenistan was expelled from the London Olympics on Thursday for his handling of a bout in which the result was overturned on appeal.

Boxing’s governing federation, known as AIBA, released a statement saying referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov “is on his way back home.”

The federation also suspended German referee Frank Scharmach five days for his decision to disqualify an Iranian heavyweight, and expelled technical official Aghajan Abiyev of Azerbaijan.

“I deeply regret that we had to take these decisions,” AIBA President Wu Ching-Kuo said. “However, our main concern has been and will always be the protection of the integrity and fair play of our competitions. I will take all possible steps to reinforce this.”

Both sanctioned referees made unusual decisions during Wednesday night’s card.

In a bantamweight bout, Magomed Abdulhamidov of Azerbaijan fell to the canvas six times in the third round against Satoshi Shimizu of Japan, yet still won a 22-17 decision.

Meretnyyazov allowed the fight to continue after each tumble, and he enraged the Japanese team by fixing the headgear worn by Abdulhamidov, who had to be helped from the ring after winning.

In fact, the CNBC announcers were so disgusted regarding the bout and its decision that they questioned the integrity of the sport.

Read and see more here.

Rush Limbaugh Slams UK Olympics Opening Ceremony as ‘More Socialist’ Than China

Obama to Olympians: You Didn’t Win That

Swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed the first gold medal for U.S. athletes at the London Olympics on Saturday. But Barack Obama has a message for Lochte, and other American medal winners: You didn’t win that.

“Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own.”

But what about all the hard work, all the training, that Olympic athletes endure to attain success?

“You think you’ve been successful because you work hard; a lot of people work hard.”

Maybe Olympic success is the result of smarter training?

“I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there.”

Sorry, America’s Olympic athletes; you didn’t win anything. You’re simply the end product of governmental policy.

“Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.”

Read more here.

SlumDog Olympics

A celebration of free healthcare, the trade union struggle, the battle for women’s rights and a fleeting lesbian kiss: the Olympics opening ceremony Friday did not shy away from weighty social issues.

Unsurprisingly, the show devised by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle drew accusations from the British political right that it had strayed into “leftie” issues.

Aidan Burley, a lawmaker from Prime Minister David Cameron’s ruling Conservative party, tweeted: “The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen — more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?”

He followed that with: “Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural crap.”

Several people tweeted their support for his comments.

Alastair Campbell, former British Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s communications chief, retorted on Twitter: “Brilliant that we got a socialist to do the opening ceremony.”

Cameron’s Downing Street office distanced itself from Burley’s comments, tweeting a message from the premier reading: “The opening ceremony has been a great showcase for this country. It’s more proof Britain can deliver.”

Burley was removed from his job as aide to the transport minister last month after attending a Nazi-themed stag party in a French ski resort.

Ahead of the show, Boyle — whose film “Slumdog Millionaire” won eight Oscars in 2009 — denied he was pushing a political agenda.

“The sensibility of the show is very personal,” he said.

Read more here.

President Obama gets kiss blocked by Michelle at USA v. Brazil game

Married Olympians: We Can’t Live Together During Games, But Gay Couples Can

An Australian Olympic married couple claims they have been prohibited from sharing a room in the London Olympic Village, even though gay couples are reportedly allowed to do so.

Olympic shooters Russell and Lauryn Mark told news.com.au that they are being discriminated against by officials.

“The stupid part of this, which I have argued to them, is that there are tons of gay couples on the Olympic team who will be rooming together, so we are being discriminated against because we are heterosexual,” Russell Mark told news.com.au.

Lauryn Mark additionally told the website that the Australian Olympic Committee has not helped them with their situation.

“Basically they said if we want to room together we need to check out of the village and go into a hotel at our own expense. It’s not feasible,” she told news.com.au. “I am very frustrated because in sport there are a lot of same-sex couples and it’s OK to be partners with someone of the same sex, but if you are heterosexual you are penalized.”

Nick Green, head of mission for the Australian Olympic Committee, told the London Evening Standard that the Marks are not being discriminated against.

Read more here.

Olympic athletes leak Village’s sex, drinking and drug secrets

Let the games — and the wild, drunken sex and debauchery — begin!

In the run-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics, which kick off July 27, a new book reveals just what goes on at Olympic Villages worldwide — and no matter the host country, it’s always a struggle keeping booze and condoms in strong supply.

According to the anonymously authored exposé “The Secret Olympics” — written by a former British competitor — organizers supplied 70,000 condoms to athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The stockpile ran out in a week.

While alcohol and drugs are banned at Olympic Villages, competitors often fill water bottles with booze and smuggle in weed and doping agents.

“When I’m there, I’m in two different gears,” says one female US Olympian, who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity. “I’m so focused that I see nothing else, or I’m partying my butt off.”

While officials don’t condone such behavior, they don’t condemn it, either — the only thing that matters, say those who spoke to The Post, is that the image of the Olympics remain unsullied.

Or, as the anonymous author writes: “What happens in the Village stays in the Village.”

Remember the worldwide outrage and disbelief when swimmer Michael Phelps — who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — was caught smoking pot out of a huge bong in 2009? Or, that same year, when a stripper named Theresa White came forward to say that Phelps likes threesomes and short girls, and that he “should get another gold medal for lovemaking”?

If Phelps were a major-sport athlete, none of those revelations would have been surprising.

Olympians, however, are held to an impossibly high standard.

“We could never be part of a reality show,” says the female Olympian. “The USOC [United States Olympic Committee] wants a particular image and brand.”

Olympic Villages are vast, pre-fab communities, divided into smaller subdivisions by nation. The United States’ area has a 24-hour McDonald’s, as well as sponsored beer halls: a Budweiser House and a Heineken House.

Read more here.

Anarchist group vows to wage ‘low level warfare’ on Olympics

An anarchist group has vowed to wage “low level warfare” against Britain, sabotaging financial institutions, transport, and the military in the lead up to the London Olympics.

The Informal Anarchist Federation has already claimed to be responsible for damaging railway signal systems which led to travel being disrupted around Bristol earlier this week.

They said their representatives had deliberately lifted concrete slabs beside the tracks to burn out signalling cables, on a route chosen to target Ministry of Defence employees.

The group, known as FAI, have now threatened to continue their “guerrilla attack” on the country, “disturbing the social peace” in a protest against the establishment.

Posting on anarchist website 325.nostate, the group said: “In the United Kingdom of clockwork control and domestication, we’re some of the ‘unpatriotic ones’ who find the 2012 Olympics, with the ensuing spectacle of wealth (when so many here struggle to feed themselves and their families), harmful developments and escalating police state, frankly offensive.

“But no union or movement calls our shots, and we have no inhibition to use guerrilla activity to hurt the national image and paralyze the economy however we can.

Read more here.