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To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (22517)	2/15/2002 7:05:24 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62549

OT Fabulous news for those marvelous Canadians: Sale and Pelletier awarded Gold!!!!(02-15) 12:28 PST SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Canadian skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were awarded a gold medal Friday, and the judge at the center of the biggest judging scandal in Winter Olympics history was suspended for misconduct. The highly unusual decision allows the Russian pair to keep their gold medal, which they narrowly won during Monday night's free skate program. Sale and Pelletier are expected to receive the medal Thursday, before the start of the women's program. Meanwhile, the International Skating Union indefinitely suspended Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge who says she was pressured by her own federation to give the Russian pair the gold. "She acted in a way that was not adequate to guarantee both pairs equal condition," ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta said. "We have declared misconduct. "The investigation is not concluded, but we have got enough evidence to take the first decision." The French judge told the ISU she had been "submitted to a certain pressure" from her federation and had signed a statement about how she reached her vote, Cinquanta said. There was no evidence of Russian involvement, he added. "This pressure resulted in putting this judge in a condition not to give the gold medal" to the Canadians, Cinquanta said, refusing to give further details about her motivation for voting for the Russians. "Justice was made," Pelletier said. "It's a good feeling." Sale said she hopes the investigation goes even further. "For the future of our sport this has to be fixed," Sale said. "The truth still has to come out." The IOC executive committee voted 7-1, with one abstention, to accept the gold medal recommendation from the skating union. "We took a position that is one of justice and fairness for the athletes," said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee. Russian member Vitaly Smirnov abstained from the vote, while He Zhenliang of China voted against the recommendation, according to an Olympic source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation criticized the IOC's move. "This is an unprecedented decision that turned out to be a result of pressure by the North American press, and turned out in favor of the fanatically loyal" fans, Valentin Piseyev told Russia's NTV television. "You have seen how the public reacts to even the tiniest mistakes of our athletes, and how they absolutely don't notice when the Canadians fall or when the Americans fall." The controversy began when Sale and Pelletier were beaten by Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia in a 5-4 vote that surprised many observers. The Canadians skated flawlessly while the Russians made a few technical errors. The decision allowed the Russians to extend their streak of winning gold in the pairs in every Olympics since 1964. It is the fourth time the IOC has awarded a second gold medal. "We hope it doesn't happen again," Rogge said. The move came just hours before the case was to be heard by an international arbitration panel for sport. That hearing was canceled. Since Monday, there have been reports that Le Gougne was pressured to cast her vote for the Russians. On Wednesday night, Didier Gailhaguet, the head of the French Olympic team, told The Associated Press that Le Gougne had been "under pressure, which pushed her to act in a certain way" when she voted. But he maintained the pressure did not come from his federation. The ISU had planned to review the scoring at a meeting next week, but the deal Friday allowed the matter to be settled in the swift manner the IOC had urged. Canadian officials said all along they didn't want the Russians stripped of the gold medal, but they believed Sale and Pelletier also should be rewarded if evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered. In a previous case, the IOC in 1993 awarded a second gold medal in synchronized swimming from the Barcelona Games to Canada's Sylvie Frechette. The IOC's executive board agreed that Frechette was placed second because of a judging error and should be awarded a gold. The decision came after the Canadian swimming federation protested because a Brazilian judge was not allowed to correct the 8.7 score she mistyped into her computer. The intended 9.7 would have given Frechette the gold. The IOC's decision did not affect Kristen Babb-Sprague of the United States, who was originally awarded the gold and kept her medal. ©2002 Associated Press Breaking News SectionsInternationalStateSportsFinancialEntertainmentNationalObituaries

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (22517)	2/16/2002 1:49:58 AM
From: Tomato	Respond to of 62549

> ANGERED BY SNUBBING, LIBYA, CHINA SYRIA FORM AXIS OF JUST AS EVIL > Cuba, Sudan, Serbia Form Axis of Somewhat Evil; Other Nations Start > Own Clubs > > Beijing (SatireWire.com) - Bitter after being snubbed for membership > in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China, and Syria today announced they > had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would be way > eviler than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush > warned of his State of the Union address. > > Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new axis as > having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are Just as > Evil... in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. > "Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're > the best." > > Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, > although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of > Evil. > > "They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. > > "An Axis can't have more than three countries," explained Iraqi > President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In > World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So > you can only have three. And a secret handshake. Ours is wicked cool." > > THE AXIS PANDEMIC > > International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, > as within minutes, France surrendered. > > Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in > what became a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan, and Serbia > said they had formed the Axis of Somewhat Evil, forcing Somalia to > join with Uganda and Myanmar in the Axis of Occasionally Evil, while > Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the Axis of Not So Much > Evil Really As Just Generally Disagreeable. > > With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs > filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called > the Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be > Asked to Host the Olympics; Canada, Mexico, and Australia formed the > Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Nasty > Thoughts About America, while Spain, Scotland, and New Zealand > established the Axis of Countries That Be Allowed to Ask Sheep to Wear > Lipstick. > > "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do," said > Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell. > > While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps > making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axes, > although he rejected the establishment of the Axis of Countries Whose > Names End in "Guay," accusing one of its members of filing a false > application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the > charges. > > Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but > privately, world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (22517)	2/16/2002 1:57:03 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 62549

Karen, Re: FRENCH JUDGE GIVES TALIBAN WIN Now that does it. Totally insensitive to the needs of the time delayed American audience. Why'd you want to give away the punchline? Sheesh. The Americans don't understand demographics, they don't understand geopolitics, they don't understand the threat of internal corruption and you have the gall to advance this sort of information? Good grief. Haven't you clearly seen how the system has plugged leaks and castrated reporters like Seymour Hersh at the New Yorker? Haven't you seen how there is absolutely no possibility that the Rupert Murdock or Steve Case crowds are going to actually present any real facts to the American public? Presenting joke reportage of a phantom war. And yet you have the gaul to GIVE THE FINAL SCORE? Sacre bleu! Where's that French skate judge. We could use here here in the "bad new"(TM) U.S.A. She's got job credentials that are useful to the powers that be. Misbegotten as they are. Incredible as well. We are the world's joke. Should we laugh or cry? -R.