IR Blog Post #4- Swimming World Magazine - Protection Committee

Earlier in the week, USA Swimming created a committee for athlete protection. They realeased the names of the eleven memebers who will be a part of the Athlete Protection Committee. These members are all volunteer, and represent different groups of people. They will be working to make sure that the policies and protection program for sexual abuse scandals are effective. The committee includes experts on the issue of sexual abuse, olympic athletes, as well as coaches. The olympic athletes include a former olympic swimmer, Margaret Hoelzer, and for olympic cross-country skier, Nina Kempell. Also, a survivor of sexual abuse, director of the Child Welfare League of America will be members of the committee. I was wondering, how the people who will be representing the committee were picked? Also, did a significant event happen in order for USA Swimming to create this committee, or did they just want to create it?


http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=3064&mid=8712

This website just provides additional information about the new committee. It also describes the members as well as the importance of the issue they are protecting against.

IR Blog Post 3- Swimming World: Tom Dolan Invitational Featuring the Fran Crippen Memorial Mile

The Curl-Burke Swim Club in Virgina hosted the 2010 Tom Dolan Invitational swim meet. At this invitational meet, the mile long race will be dedicated to Fran Crippen. The race will be open to the 13/14 age groups, as well as the 15 and over age group for both males and females. The race to honor Fran Crippen was named the Fran Crippen Memorial Mile. Fran graduated from the University of Virgina, where he was a captain of the swim team. Also, he graduated from Germantown Academy. Fran was dedicated to the sport of swimming, especially open-water swimmer. He volunteered his time to help younger kids, and aspired to be a part of the U.S Olympic team.

I want to find out the results of the meet. As well as, How much money the event raise for the Fran Crippen Foundation.

Growing up in the area, The Crippen family is a well-known family in the swimming world. When Fran died a month ago, many questions were raised about the cause of death and how someone could die at such a large event. I found an article, that was published after his sudden death during the FINA Open Water 10 km World Cup. This article provides background information on Fran's death, which is the inspiration for the Fran Crippen Memorial Mile event at the Tom Dolan Invitational Meet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/swimming/news/story?id=5718372

IR Blog Post 2- New York Times Books: C.I.A Agents ,Blowing Their Own Cover

This article is a book review of the book, "The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture." This book was written by a former spy who goes by the name Ishmael Jones. The C.I.A has sued him for writing the book. They are accusing him of revealing secrets that he agreed to keep confidential. Also, they claim that he did not recieve the proper approval for publication. After word got out that the C.I.A has sued the author, the Amazon ranking for the book have increased since the release of the book in 2008. Jones fights back against the C.I.A's claims, saying that except for a few paragraphs, the censors he submitted his manuscript to, approved it. Also, this review talked about the recent trend of former spies sharing their experiences.

The article said that most of the money for secret intelligence efforts goes to the C.I.A. I was wondering where the rest of the money for secret intelligence efforts goes?

Also, I want to know what long term effects these memoirs will have on the C.I.A.


This article described how most memoirs, like Jone's talk about requirements for getting hired for the C.I.A. On a "How to" site, I found out what it takes to become an agent for the C.I.A. I find it funny that for such a secret agency, the information about how to get in, is so public.

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-CIA-Agent

IR Blog Post 1- CNN: China's aid for North Korea

This article discussed the current tensions in North Korea. Part of the reason for these tensions, deals with the recent deaths of South Korean's during a military drill. But, North Korea is insisting that the South provoked the attack after shells from their military drill landed in North Korean waters. In order to keep peace between the Korean Peninsula China wants to have an emergency meeting with the six-party pack. The six party pack includes the countries- United States, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, and North Korea.


After reading the article, I am still confused about the six-party pack. China said they wanted to have a consultation with the other members about the growing tensions, yet they also stated that this does not mean a resumption of the six party talks. I just did not understand what it meant to consult them but not resume the talks.

Also, the article said the six-party talks were put on hold in 2008. I am curious to why the talks were put on hold.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Fresh-US-South-Korean-War-Games-Under-Way--110929494.html

This link is to a website that discusses South Korea's view on China's proposal to intervene. South Korea rejects the proposal from China to intervene with the North/South Korean tensions through multi-national talks.

IRB Websites

current events/politics- cnn.com
Books, arts,- http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html
entertainment- swimmingworld.com

PDN- 11/15/10

I guess I do not realize how much I actually read online, but I do a substantial amount. Every day I probably read three hours worth of online material. I read news articles for current events, ads on websites, Face book posts, and e-mails. I also read homework assignments, or discussions on the Moodle site. I follow a blog called post-secret, which posts secrets sent in on postcards from people.