URLs du Jour

2008-08-20

  • China shows its willingness to tolerate dissent:
    BEIJING — Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.

    The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.

    I believe the NBC folks will be too busy covering Beijing’s Hip-Hop Grannies to pay much attention to Wu Dianyuan or Wang Xiuying. Sorry, ladies: Meredith Viera will not be interviewing you!

  • In other Olympian news, Michael Phelps will soon get his physiognomy on boxes of Kellogg's … well, now they're called "Frosted Flakes of corn", but your blogger is old enough to remember when they were proudly "Sugar Frosted Flakes." Not everyone's happy about that.
    Olympic legend Michael Phelps will appear on boxes of the Kellogg's brand sugar cereal, drawing sharp criticism from health experts worried about the message he'll be sending to children across America.

    "I would not consider Frosted Flakes the food of an Olympian," said nutritionist Rebecca Solomon of Mount Sinai Medical Center.

    "I would rather see him promoting Fiber One. I would rather see him promoting oatmeal. I would even rather see him promoting Cheerios."

    I'm not gonna argue too much with a nutritionist, but: a cup of Cheerios is 110 calories, and nearly everyone puts sugar on them. A cup of Frosted Flakes will get you 143 calories. That's not a big deal.

    And—you'veprobablyalreadyseenthisbut—Michael's on a 12,000 calorie per day diet. Although it's said he usually has grits for breakfast, if he's sentimental about Tony the Tiger, he's probably got room for a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

  • And speaking of Michael, I doubt he's making any money off this T-shirt.


Last Modified 2012-10-11 3:41 PM EDT