Doing the impossible...

Math Nerds Rejoice As U.S. Population Hits 314.159 Million

From the department of utterly meaningless yet charmingly geeky milestones (it’s a larger department than you might think) comes word that the United States’ population on Tuesday hit 314,159,265, according to the Census Bureau’s population clock. As all math geeks know, that’s pi times 10 to the eighth, rounded to the nearest whole number.

Pi, for those who have forgotten or repressed their middle-school geometry lessons, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The census bureau, bless its heart, saw fit to put out a brief news release marking the occasion. It reported that we reached the milestone shortly after 2:29 p.m. eastern today. The timing is not precise, since the population clock is an estimate rather than an exact count. (It assumes one birth every eight seconds, one death every 14 seconds, and one net migrant every 46 seconds.) But pi is an irrational number anyway, so who cares.

"This is a once-in-many-generations event… so go out and celebrate this American pi," Census Bureau Chief Demographer Howard Hogan said, probably not off-the-cuff.

What other statistical serendipities should we be on the lookout for in the coming years? God help us if our population ever hits Avogadro’s number…

Source: Slate

Americans miss the best of the Games

If you've been mesmerized by the drama, like millions of other viewers watching coverage of the Olympic Games, you have heard the most heroic, inspirational stories of athletes reaching the pinnacle of international competition. Or, at least you think you have.

The truth is American viewers are missing out on the best of the Games.

Coverage of the Olympics in the United States understandably focuses on American athletes. That is as it should be, but not to this degree. By concentrating mainly on Americans' stories, the NBC network is depriving U.S. viewers of some of the most fascinating, moving and exciting aspects of the Olympics.

How much have you heard, for example, about Guor Marial, who marched in the opening ceremony under the banner of "Independent Olympic Athletes"?

Marial became a marathoner after running for his life since he was a young boy in Sudan, growing up in the middle of one of the deadliest wars of the 20th century. He learned to run as he fought to escape from those who killed his siblings and relatives and later kidnapped and enslaved him. Imagine such a story of tragedy and redemption, from slavery to triumph.

His life is a most unbelievable odyssey, culminating at the Olympic Games. His parents live in a village with no electricity or running water. He hasn't spoken to them in years and hopes someone will get word to them to try to get to a television to watch their son.

It's fine to cheer for the Americans, but how about a cheer for Marial? There's one who deserves to become a star -- and one who should have NBC's cameras following him.

His is not the only fascinating story at these Games.

American viewers are interested in the performances of American competitors. There's nothing wrong with that, and there's nothing wrong with NBC producers offering profiles, even fawning ones, of the hometown athletes. But the U.S. public is missing out on what truly makes the Olympics special.

The only time network viewers hear about other athletes, it seems, is when there are suspicions of doping or other violations, which could potentially help Americans. It would seem the rest of the world is there only to serve as the rivals Americans require to conquer the podium.

No question, the United States has brilliant, talented, exciting competitors; everyone wants to see them. But in hundreds of hours of coverage, there should be room in the spotlight, time in the schedule, for the rest of the world.

In NBC's telling, it's all about Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, about American gymnasts and swimmers, and soon enough about American track stars and, ultimately, about crowning the few who will grace the Wheaties box, who will sell us Subway sandwiches and Gatorade, Nike sneakers and Snickers chocolate bars.

It's about manufacturing heroes because, in a truth we all know, too much of it is about making money.

Behind the cynicism and the commercialism, however, the Games really do have the power to inspire. There truly is a history of toil and drama behind every athlete. That's because the Olympics are full of heroes, but they're hardly all Americans. (Although a remarkable number of them do make their home in the United States.)

Every athlete has a story, and there are almost 15,000 athletes at London 2012.

In addition to the rivalries at the pool and the very touching images of U.S. athletes' parents suffering and celebrating in the stands, we would all gain from hearing more about, say, Tahmina Kohistani, the lone woman in the Afghan delegation, who endured threats and taunts to keep her out of the Games. Because some people in some countries, including hers, are convinced that sports are no place for women. In Afghanistan, people have been killed for helping girls learn to read and write.

Kohistani deserves a gold medal just for making it to the Games.

Criticism of NBC's U.S.-centric coverage of the Olympics is nothing new. Overly nationalistic narratives and neglect of non-Americans are chronic problems, which attract attention every time the Olympics roll around. From the veteran sports writer Frank Deford to everyday viewers, many complain. As one blogger says, "Watching the Olympics in the U.S. is no fun because the only thing you can watch is Americans winning."

American viewers, I have no doubt, would cherish the opportunity to learn more about the first women to compete for Saudi Arabia, Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and Sarah Attar, who represent a country where women are not only banned from participating in sports, they're even banned from watching sports events in major stadiums.

The Olympics would have given NBC an unparalleled chance to receive permission for a glimpse into the secretive North Korea. We could have learned about the mysteries of training in the Hermit Kingdom for the two North Korean medal-winning weightlifters, Kim Un Guk and Om Yun Chol.

Learning about how many hundreds of hours Lochte spent at the pool, or how many pairs of shoes he has in his collection is fine. But just think what more we could be discovering.

Does it have to be this way? Is NBC just doing what viewers want? I don't think so. I believe Americans would relish the opportunity to find out about many other fascinating individuals competing at the Games.

During my days at CNN, politics caused the United States and the Soviet Union to boycott each others' Olympics. CNN founder Ted Turner, my former boss, decided to create his own Olympics, staging the Goodwill Games over a span of 16 years. CNN producers and camera crews traveled the world to produce profiles of the men and women who would participate in Ted's most excellent sports adventure. The profiles were unforgettable.

Americans may be missing out on some of the best of the Games. Fortunately, the rest of the world is not. As Afghanistan's Kohistani said, "there are a lot of Afghan girls and women [who are] watching me and they hope that one day they shall be [in my place]. And I am going to open a new way for the women of Afghanistan."

One day, perhaps, Americans, too, will have the opportunity to gain inspiration from athletes like her, whose journey deserves more attention, even if she does not compete for the USA.

Source: Frida Ghitis, CNN

London Olympics by the numbers

The Olympic Games have grown dramatically since 1908 when they were first held in London.

Then just a little more than 2,000 athletes -- nearly all of them men -- competed for 110 gold medals.

But this summer, more than five times that many athletes, 10,500, are expected to compete for 302 gold medals.

All gold medals, however, are not alike.

The ones that will be awarded over the next two weeks contain just 6 grams of gold. They're mostly silver.

A century ago, the gold medals were entirely gold.

As the 2012 Games get under way, here are some other interesting facts and figures to consider:

London

Two -- The number of times London has hosted the Summer Olympics previously. They were in 1908 and 1948. London was scheduled to host the 1944 Summer Olympics, but they were canceled due to World War II.

37 -- The number of women who competed in the 1908 London Games

4,862 -- The number of women expected to compete in 2012, according to official Olympic data culled by The Guardian.

9 million -- The number of tickets sold for the 2012 Olympics.

80,000 -- The number of seats in London's Olympic Stadium.

$775 million -- Estimated cost of London's 2012 Olympic Stadium (£500 million). It is built from only a 10th of the total steel used to build Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium in 2008.

$15 billion -- Estimated amount of money spent by Great Britain to stage the entire Olympics.

Medals

2,300 -- The number of medals that will be handed out during the London Olympics.

1.34% -- The percentage of gold in an Olympic gold medal today.

1912 -- The last year that Olympic gold medals were 100% gold.

0 -- The number of gold medals awarded at the first modern Olympics in 1896. The winners actually received a silver medal instead.

History

27,974 -- The number of Olympic medalists from 1896 to 2010. This includes the Winter Olympics.

43 -- The number of events at the first modern Olympics in 1896. Fourteen countries participated in the competition in Athens, Greece.

302 -- The number of events at the 2012 London Olympics in 26 different sports.

Four -- The number of countries that have competed in every Summer Olympics since 1896. Those would be Greece, Australia, Great Britain and Switzerland.

18 -- The number of medals won by the most-decorated Olympic athlete, Russian gymnast Larysa Latynina. Latynina competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. Nine of her medals were gold, five were silver and four were bronze.

16 -- The number of Olympic medals won by the most-decorated American athlete, swimmer Michael Phelps. Phelps has won 14 gold medals, eight of which came in the 2008 Games.

Three -- The number of summer sports in which the United States has never won an Olympic medal. They are badminton, table tennis and handball.

13 -- The age of Marjorie Gestring when she won a gold medal in diving in 1936. The American is the youngest gold-medal winner in Olympic history.

62 -- The age of Sweden's Oscar Swahn when he won a gold medal in shooting in 1912. He is the oldest gold-medal winner in Olympic history.

Source: CNN

The true meaning of patriotism

Recently I publicly debated someone who said Arizona and every other state should use whatever means necessary to keep out illegal immigrants. He wants English to be spoken in every classroom in the nation, and the Pledge of Allegiance recited every morning. And he wants to restore every dollar of the $500 billion in defense cuts scheduled to start in January. "We have to preserve and protect America," he said. "That's the meaning of patriotism."

For my debating partner, patriotism is about securing the nation from outsiders eager to overrun us -- whether they're immigrants coming here illegally or foreign powers threatening us with aggression.

But there's another meaning to patriotism that may be more important. It's joining together for the common good -- contributing to a bake sale to raise money for a local school, volunteering in a homeless shelter, paying our fair share of taxes so our community or nation has enough resources to meet all our needs, preserving and protecting our system of government.

This second meaning of patriotism recognizes our responsibilities to one another as citizens of a society. It requires collaboration, teamwork, tolerance and selflessness.

But too often these days we're not practicing this second form of patriotism. We're shouting at each other rather than coming together -- conservative versus liberal, Democrat versus Republican, native-born versus foreign-born, non-unionized versus unionized, religious versus secular.

Our politics has grown nastier and meaner. Negative advertising is filling the airwaves this election year. We're learning more about why we shouldn't vote for someone than why we should.

Some elected officials have substituted partisanship for patriotism, placing party loyalty above loyalty to America. Just after the 2010 election, the Senate minority leader was asked about his party's highest priority for the next two years. You might have expected him to say it was to get the economy going and reduce unemployment, or control the budget deficit, or achieve peace and stability in the Middle East. But he said the highest priority would be to make sure the president did not get a second term of office.

Our system of government is America's most precious and fragile possession, the means we have of joining together as a nation for the common good. It requires not only our loyalty but ongoing vigilance to keep it working well. Yet some of our elected representatives act as if they don't care what happens to it as long as they achieve their partisan aims.

The filibuster used to be rarely used. But over the last decade, the threat of a filibuster has become standard operating procedure, virtually shutting down the Senate for periods of time.

Meanwhile, some members of the House of Representatives have been willing to shut down the entire government in order to get their way. Last summer they were even willing to risk the full faith and credit of the United States in order to achieve their goals.

The Supreme Court has opened the floodgates to unlimited money from billionaires and corporations overwhelming our democracy, on the bizarre theory that corporations are people under the First Amendment. Congress won't even pass legislation requiring their names be disclosed.

Some members of Congress have even signed a pledge -- not of allegiance to the United States, but of allegiance to a man named Grover Norquist who has never been elected by anyone. Norquist's "no-tax" pledge is interpreted only by Norquist, who says closing a tax loophole is tantamount to raising taxes and therefore violates the pledge.

True patriots don't hate the government of the United States. They're proud of it. Generations of Americans have risked their lives to preserve it. They may not like everything it does, and they justifiably worry when special interests gain too much power over it. But true patriots work to improve the U.S. government, not destroy it.

But these days, some Americans loathe the government -- and are doing everything they can to paralyze it, starve it, and make the public so cynical about it that it's no longer capable of doing much of anything. Tea Partiers are out to gut it entirely. Norquist says he wants to shrink it down to a size where it can be "drowned in a bathtub."

When arguing against paying their fair share of taxes, some wealthy Americans claim "it's my money." They forget it's their nation, too. And unless they pay their fair share of taxes, America can't meet the basic needs of our people. True patriotism means paying for America.

So when you hear people talk about "preserving and protecting" the nation, be warned. They may mean securing our nation's borders, not securing our society. Within those borders, each of us is on our own. These people don't want a government that actively works for all our citizens.

Yet true patriotism isn't mainly about excluding outsiders seen as our common adversaries. It's about coming together for our common good.

Credit: Robert Reich, Newsday