*Ø* No Olympics level playing field

How much longer will these dreary Olympics be on?

It will be so nice when the news tells us what's really going on in the world instead of playing another interview with some puffing athlete. Most galling of all, of course, is the constantly repeated myth that when a rich country like Australia wins "gold, gold gold", there is some sporting fairness in the achievement. It's a lie as big as the obvious canard that says that competition between people and nations engenders brotherhood.

There is, of course, no level playing field in international sport. Australian athletes are supported by huge taxpayer-funded institutions; most countries have no chance of matching that largesse. And when people with full bellies beat hungry people, what is the cause of national pride? Two thirds of the world's population don't stand a chance, and hungry people have other things on their minds. That makes international sport sound like a cheating game to me.

A radio station in Senegal is offering listeners a 50 kg sack of rice if they can catch and kill 50 kg of locusts (source). Maybe the Olympics corporation could consider adding events like that.