Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.
*I seriously cannot stop watching this video. Nice to know that the Manning family has a great sense of humor.
*Horror roll: embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (also known by his sexting name, Carlos Danger) doesn't know how to quit; NY Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, is the guy at the party no one wants; the Napoles family, through their counsel, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, threatens Rappler with a poorly written demand letter and Bikram yoga founder is accused of rape, sexual harassment and racism.
*Tennis players dominate Forbes list of the highest paid female athletes. The WTA is indeed the leading women's sporting organization in the world.
*Want to encourage more people to read? A little creativity can go a long way.
*Forehand Policy's resident mascot, Ryan Gosling, is in the shortlist to play Batman in Man of Steel 2.
*Roger Federer, who is celebrating his birthday today, could be ranked as low as #7 by the time the US Open starts later this month.
*Probably the greatest power couple of all time.
*Cristiano Ronaldo has been on a charmoffensive lately. I honestly have no snark on this. Keep it up, dude.
*Andy Murray and Jennifer Lawrence continue to be adorable.
*Filipino marketing executive Jonathan Yabut is Apprentice Asia's first winner. Highly successful Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes definitely hired the right person for the job.
*Diplomacy 101
As revenge for this Snowden mess, Obama should stick to the summit with Putin, but staff it entirely with flamboyant gay dudes. #takethat — daveweigel (@daveweigel) August 1, 2013
Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the 5 people who read my blog) might find interesting.
*I humbly submit the above video as evidence as to why women tennis players deserve equal prize money. Oh. Hi there, Gilles Simon. Who's the most popular out of the four of you there? (Video courtesy of @OnTheGoTennis)
*Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and probably the best cyclist that ever lived, is going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport that he dominated after refusing to defend himself from allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. This early 2011 investigative piece from Sports Illustrated
sheds some light into the issue and even hints at a grand deception on
the part of Armstrong and his entourage to cover-up his long-term doping. After reading this article, I can't help but compare Armstrong to Tiger Woods,
another superstar who spectacularly fell from grace after being
involved in a sex addiction controversy, and how far celebrities and
their handlers would go to appear "clean", deceive people and cover up any negative publicity. I know that
Armstrong is revered more than Woods mainly because of
his work with Livestrong but, after reading SI's article, I can't
help but still feel betrayed. I love sports and admire athletes who
work really hard and sacrifice a lot of things just to be able to
compete and be the best that they can be. It's a shame when they cheat
by relying on performance-enhancing drugs and don't do the hard work
that other athletes do. It's also unforgivable when they act out like Mafia bosses and ruin the lives and career of people who dare expose them as frauds.
*Here's a nice Strong is Beautiful campaign photo featuring Ana Ivanovic from the WTA. I can't help but feel emotional (you know how we tennis fans can be) after reading the following tagline: "Strong is…never giving up the struggle to be as great as you know you can be. Strong is Women’s Tennis."
It's no secret that I'm a big Ana Ivanovic fan (just run through my
previous posts) and, of course, I know very well how enormously talented
she is and how hard she works to get back to where she once was before
the slump happened (Grand Slam champion, former world no. 1). It just
sucks big time that her results since late 2008 have not been
commensurate to her abilities. I still hope against hope that someday
she will somehow recover what she lost during her long slump (e.g.
ranking points, a couple of titles, Queen Bee locker room status,
endorsement deals). Thanks for keeping the faith, Hitler.
*How hard is it to be a wannabe Secretary of State or Foreign Affairs Secretary? Just ask Steve Walt.
*Vladimir Putin doesn't have a sense of humor. Another post from Steve Walt:
Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the punk band Pussy
Riot got sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism," all because
they had
the temerity to poke some harmless fun at Vladimir Putin and made the
mistake
of doing it inside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now there's a real threat
to public order! And the government's lame response is revealing:
throwing young
female musicians in jail is like taking out a full page ad in the
world's
leading newspapers announcing "We are afraid of independent thinking and
have absolutely no sense of humor." In a world where success
increasingly depends
on tapping into the energy, imagination, and initiative of the
citizenry, Putin
is telling young Russians to be dull and conformist. I think he's also
betraying a profound sense
of insecurity: when a three-person punk band is a threat to society, you
know
that the government has lost all perspective. He's got Madonna ticked off too, although I'm not sure that matters all that much.
*The Philippines lost a good public servant last week. While a lot of tributes have been written about DILG Secretary and multi-awarded former Naga City major Jesse Robredo, this piece written by Patricia Evangelista is probably my favorite. RIP, Sec. Robredo. Your brand of leadership will surely be missed.
Marat Safin is a former tennis world number 1, winner of two Grand Slam titles and Roger Federer's could have been greatest rival. The guy has also been voted several times as the Sexiest Male Tennis Player in TennisReporters.net's Readers' Poll. (The website actually had to retire him and Ana Ivanovic from the poll for winning for five straight years.) Just late last year, he was also able to secure a seat as a representative at the Russian Parliament.
Even if Marat is still with Putin's United Russia Party, there are no permanent friends in politics and I think he could still very well be the male Katniss Everdeen of Russia for the following reasons:
3) He's willing to fight for you. Just look at the black eye and cut eye on this photo. He also smashes rackets when pissed off and frustrated. Don't we all like our leaders with a bit of a temper?
