First, let me emphasize that I don’t believe or even suspect the 800m freestyle Olympic gold medal winner Kathie Ledecky is doping. Yes, she came from nowhere (ranked #55 in 2011) and had a huge one-year improvement (4.2%), but these aren’t unheard of for teenagers. For example, the 2004 200m backstroke gold medal winner, Zimbabwean Kristy Coventry had the similar trajectory … [Read more...] about Ye Shiwen follow-up: media scorecard (BBC & New York Times)
media
Ye Shiwen, the 16 year old dreamy girl superstar, and the ugly world
As a sports enthusiast, I follow a lot of less known athletes, of which some eventually became superstars, but far more just faded. A superstar example was Liu Xiang. I started following him in 2002 after he clocked 13.12” at age 19. It takes knowledge and experience to link up 13.12” and 19, and figure out the potentiality – or quite frankly just a lot of time waste … [Read more...] about Ye Shiwen, the 16 year old dreamy girl superstar, and the ugly world
An irony for Asia Society
An Asia Society piece here with three experts weighing in on the 15th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong. Winston Lord, Orville Schell, and Jeffrey Wasserstrom are all individuals we can respect. What struck me really, really hard was that they were talking about press freedom. Wait a minute! How about adding a Chinese perspective there, say, from Eric X Li? Then, … [Read more...] about An irony for Asia Society
The New Yorker throws stone in a glass house
In this recent article at the New Yorker, Evan Osnos insinuates Chinese companies ultimately cannot be trusted because their relationship with the government cannot be known for certain. His entire article basically boils down to the following: Part of the complexity about being a big Chinese company is that it’s not clear what information related to your relationship with … [Read more...] about The New Yorker throws stone in a glass house
President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, to Julian Assange, “welcome to the club of the persecuted”
Following is an interesting interview of Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, by Julian Assange. There are many criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, but what I find most interesting is Correa lamenting the fact he has to fight against moneyed interests within his own country who control the mass media. Assange asked about China being a replacement devil as source of capital. … [Read more...] about President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, to Julian Assange, “welcome to the club of the persecuted”