Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Page 1 Consider (07/30)

  • Shanghai Surprise: By the time they arrive in Beijing, most athletes have resigned themselves to the possibility of undergoing a battery of tests for banned substances, like anabolic steroids and certain cough medicines. But some female athletes may find they are asked to submit to an entirely different examination -- one that will test whether they are, in fact, women. (This is one of the rudest things I've read in ages. Are they going to subject men to this too?) (NYT)

  • Doubles Match: Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg will team up for a special doubles event in November, possibly against the men who ended their famous Wimbledon streaks. Federer and Borg will face John McEnroe and either Rafael Nadal or James Blake at The Venetian Macau Tennis Showdown on Nov. 20 in a Tour of Champions event. This all sounds like a lot of fun, but seeing as Roger can barely beat Robby Ginepri these days, if I were him I think I'd be focusing my eye on another ball. (ESPN)

  • Golden Hangers: Commercial Closet Association, the nonprofit that educates the advertising industry on including responsible images of gays and lesbians in national ads, announced winners for their 4th Annual Images in Advertising Awards last night. A full list of winners and winning ads can be viewed here.

  • Friend of Linda R.: Supporters of a California ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage filed a lawsuit against California attorney general Jerry Brown on Monday. According to the Associated Press, Brown's office changed Proposition 8's ballot title and summary to say the measure seeks to "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original wording had simply defined marriage in California as a union between a man and a woman. (Advocate)

  • The Boy From Ipanema: Beach-stalking Duda Nagle. (Made in Brazil)

  • Alarming News: If black America were a country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with the AIDS virus, the Black AIDS Institute, an advocacy group, reported Tuesday. (NYT)

  • Goodbye 1913, Hello 200: Massachusetts moved closer to erasing a hurdle that blocked most out-of-state gay men and lesbians from marrying in that state. (Boston)

  • RIP: Dr. Julius B. Richmond, a former surgeon general and pediatrician whose work on cognitive development in poor children led to his being the first national director of Project Head Start, widely regarded as one of the most successful social programs of the last half-century, died on Sunday at his home in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He was 91. Richmond was a longtime friend of the gays, most notably in 1979 when he took a stand against the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was preventing gay people from entering the country on the basis of a 1952 law that barred entry to those "afflicted with psychopathic personality or sexual deviation or a mental defect." The law called for examinations by the Public Health Service. Richmond ordered the health service not to perform the examinations, noting that in his organization "homosexuality will no longer be considered a `mental disease or defect’" and pointing out that homosexuality was not determined through medical testing. Thanks, Doc, for standing up for what was right when it wasn't in fashion. May you rest in peace. (NYT)

  • 2 comments:

    Bill said...

    There may be more to the Gilles Simon loss and the Ginepri close call than a continuation of the slump. I didn't see the Simon match, but the commentators were saying yesterday that Roger was coming to the net like crazy. He came in a fair amount against Ginepri, too, and I noticed him change tactics toward the end of the first set and stand very close to the baseline. So maybe -- I hope -- the current form is a reflection of some long-term restructuring to better deal with Nadal.

    Unknown said...

    Considering how conservative China is about everything, it doesn't surprise me that they'd order this testing...I'm just surpised that certain nations will allow their athletes to be subjected to these tests, especially if the athlete is legally a woman in their country. Where's Professor Farnsworth when you need him?