Unbroken to the End

Louis Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran who survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps, has died. He was 97.

Full piece here.

Enjoy Your Snow Day -Snow Related Links

Enjoy your snow day, y'all. Here are some interesting snow-related links for you to kill some time with while you're holed up.

1. Canadian Ski Coach Helps Russian Skier in Awesome Sportsmanlike Fashion. In case you forgot what the Olympics was all about.

2. How Much Snow It Takes to Close School Where You Live. A handy map for you school-age kids.

3. 95% of the Global Warming Models Are Wrong. No kidding, huh?

Today's snowy post brought to you by redheads with guns in the snow.

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

That's all I got for today. See you after the snow melts.

Top Headlines Thread (Russian Toilet Instructions Edition)

FRIDAY!

Here's a look around at the top five headlines I'm seeing today:

1. Jay Leno Says Farewell to the "Tonight Show": After a long run, he's finally leaving. I've seen plenty of criticism of Leno from people who say he's really dull, but I always thought he was pretty funny. My guess is he'll find some way to keep telling jokes for a living.

2. Charleston School of Law to Possibly Merge With the College of Charleston?: It appears that the State Legislature gets the final say on whether the Charleston School of Law can be sold to a private group, and that's not a sure thing. Accordingly the College of Charleston is looking into it. Law Schools can be quite a cash cow, since they don't require much overhead and rake in tuition dollars.

3. SC Legislature has Bill to Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks: If I remember correctly, this was the same thing proposed in Texas that (by her opposition) propelled Wendy Davis to the forefront of national politics. Could we see a similar phenomenon here in South Carolina? If so, which state legislator is the most likely to be the face of the opposition to this law?

4. Four Ways Obamacare Hurts Millennials: Spoiler alert -- Young people are helping pay for the older, sicker people's coverage.

5. Want to Buy a Gun? Be Glad You Don't Live In Massachusetts: Hey, it could be worse. I hear China has some pretty tough restrictions on guns as well.

Yeah, yeah yeah...the Winter Olympics are starting, too. I guess that's news. The real news is all the problems that are going on with the logistics. Russia is weird, though. Here is a sign that is above toilets in Russian Hotels

 What's that on the bottom left? Do some people fish in toilets? Is this a Russian thing? I also like the bottom right one. Is that guy doing "air drums" on the toilet with a beer bottle?

That's all I got for some Friday AM links.

Back to the Routine: Tuesday Headlines

The long weekend is over, campers. Back to work. Looking around the headlines, here's what I'm seeing this morning:

1. IT'S ACTUALLY COOLING. If you bought in to the global warming nonsense, I have some bad news for you.

2. WE MIGHT HAVE OLYMPIC WAKEBOARDING. Seven sports (baseball-softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu) are vying to replace wrestling as an Olympic Sport.

3. CAROLINA VS. CLEMSON? The NCAA Baseball Tournament field is set, and Clemson will be in South Carolina's Regional.

4. INSPIRATION. Memorial Day in 90 photos.

5. TAKING SIDES. Looks like the EU is ready to start arming the Syrian rebels.

Enjoy your short week. I know I will.

IRS Taxes Olympic Athletes

Did you know that athletes who win medals also get monetary awards? Clearly, the IRS knows about it. The IRS takes about a third of what the Olympics awards each US athlete.

Summer Olympic Events (SEC Style)

As usual, EDSBS is so full of win. A taste:

Triathlon: Shoot protected game fish with unlicensed handgun. Swim away from state game and wildlife officials. Steal children's bike when you reach shore. Ditch bike, run until caught. Competitors ranked on "Total Distance Before Tasing."

There's so much more. As is customary at EDSBS, you come for the original post, you stay for the comment section.

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies

I thought they were pretty "meh". Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare opening was kind of cool, but it went off the rails into a weird acid trip involving a giant Voldemort, a skit about texting, and then it ended with an old Paul McCartney who was actually a sad, old version of himself.

Speaking of sad, old people: I wasn't the only person who was unimpressed with the opening ceremonies. HRH Queen Elizabeth looked downright grumpy all night. I would have thought that she would have enjoyed being the host to the world, just like her father was in 1948. Coming after her big jubilee, I would have expected her to have been happy to let London shine. However, this was her face the entire night:

Just try to relax and enjoy your evening, ma'am. It's a party.

USA Olympic Teams Train With Navy SEALs

Oh, so you Olympic athletes thing you're tough, right? Not so fast my friend.

If told beforehand about the demands of the training, most athletes "probably would have been out, right out of the blocks," one of the SEALs says. 

As it is, only 18 of the 41 athletes who begin the session are still in it at the end, four hours later. 

"What was the hardest part? Getting over being cold," finisher Amanda Clark, a 2008 and 2012 Olympian, says. "When the shivers started to take over and somebody next to you is saying that it's their time to step out, just trying to calm the body back down, know that there's probably a chance you're going back in the water — and that it's going to end when they say it's going to end."

I bet it is a little bit of a shock for Olympic athletes to train with SEALs. Probably for the first time in their training, they're being told that the team is more important than the individual. I think this training is going to pay off big time in the mental toughness of our athletes.