The Freedom Bulletin

Following is my summary of the first week of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Note that I tend to be biased toward my favorite events.

Figure skating:
The winner of the men’s competition, Yevgeny Plushenko, was no surprise, and I thought he deserved his gold medal. Evan Lysacek’s long program was excellent, and he could have won the gold if he hadn’t had the flu during the short program. I also thought Johnny Weir, the other American did well. It’s too bad neither American won a medal.
Not surprisingly, the Russians won the pairs competition as well. I thougt Americans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin deserved a medal for their unprecedented throw triple Axel.
The women’s figure skating ought to be interesting, as there are a bunch of excellent young American skaters. It’s too bad that Michelle Kwan couldn’t compete, but her replacement, Emily Hughes, seems likeable and talented. I hope she’ll follow in the footsteps of her older sister, gold medallist Sarah. I also like Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner.

Speed skating:
Congratulations to Chad Hedrick, winner of the men’s 5000m, Shani Davis, winner of the men’s 1000m, and Joey Cheek, the winner of the men’s 500m and the second-place finisher in the men’s 1000m. I support Davis’s decision to sit out the team pursuit in order to focus on the individual event. Although it would have been nice to race with his teammates, there was nothing wrong with Shani’s decision to save his strength to win individual glory. The 1000m short track race was disappointing. Apolo Anton Ohno won the bronze medal, finishing after the two Koreans. It seems that they didn’t cheat this time; Apolo merely had bad luck, just like he did in the 1500m. I certainly hope he wins his remaining individual event, the 500m. The short track relays promise to be good as well. The U.S. men’s team, including Ohno, Anthony Lobello, Alex Izykowski, J.P. Kepka, and Rusty Smith, who made a crucial pass near the end of the semifinal, qualified for the final. Unfortunately, the U.S. women’s team did not qualify. The relays seem chaotic at first, but are fun to watch. Skaters start each leg of the relay with a push from a teammate instead of receiving a baton.

Snowboarding:
The Americans dominated the halfpipe. Congratulations to Shaun White and Danny Kass, as well as Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler. The snowboard cross, new to the Olympics this year, was awesome to watch. Although Lindsey Jacobellis’s fall was disappointing, Seth Westcott won the gold after a great race in which he passed the Slovakian snowboarder near the finish line.

For the results in all the other events, as well as pictures, videos, and biographies, go to http://nbcolympics.com. I am looking forward to Week 2 of the Olympics and hope to be able to post more up-to-date news.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have been unable to post in the Bulletin for a few days. How infuriating that the past week has been exceptoinally news-filled!

As you most likely know, Neil Entwistle was arraigned on Thursday, February 15 at Framingham District Court. The arraignment lasted for only two minutes, and Entwistle remained silent, entering a not guilty plea through his lawyer, the renowned Elliott Weinstein. As Neil was being driven to court, an obnoxious lady in a passing car yelled, “Burn that baby killer!” There were more obnoxious people outside the courthouse, including a woman who screamed “Murderer!” and a man who asked Neil if he missed his daughter and then called him a “sick animal.”

As guards led him to the courthouse, Entwistle wore a bulletproof vest and chains. He had a black sweatshirt under the vest, as well as gray sweat pants which may have been prison-issued, and black shoes. His light brown hair was parted down the middle as usual, and his eyes were described as dark brown. During his brief court appearance, Neil refused to make eye contact with his slain wife’s family. He seemed expressionless and aloof for most of the two minutes, but his eyes darted around the courtroom a few times, and he seemed to follow every word that was said. For a brief moment, he glared at prosecutor Michael Fabbri as he requested that Neil be held without bail. This request was granted, and Neil was taken to the Middlesex County Jail, where he now has a cell on the 17th floor. According to his booking report, he is six feet and one inch tall and weighs 200 pounds. It seems that the jail uniform is light gray, and Neil’s first dinner in jail consisted of beef stew, turkey, mashed potatoes, cereal, milk, and Kool Aid. The food actually sounds pretty good!

Neil has been meeting with his lawyer in preparation for his next court appearance, a probable cause hearing on March 15. This date is historically significant, as it is not only Andrew Jackson’s birthday, but also the date of Julius Caesar’s assassination. Only time will tell if the Ides of March will bring good or bad luck for Mr. Entwistle.

For more information on the Entwistle case, visit the Boston Herald. Another interesting site is the blog of a Boston Herald journalist whose most recent post describes a brief encounter that he had with Neil Entwistle.

It is about 6:15, and Neil Entwistle is now in Hopkinton, about 5 minutes away from the police station.

Update: It is now 6:20. Neil just arrived at the police station and got out of the police car inside the garage. The garage door closed just as he was getting out, so I caught a glimpse of him again. The police will take his fingerprints and take a mugshot, and after about an hour he will be taken to a holding cell, where he will spend the night.

At about 9:25 this morning, accused murderer Neil Entwistle was handed over to U.S. marshals at a British airport. He was then flown in a U.S. government plane to Bangor, Maine, where he went through customs. The plane stopped in Bangor in order to drop off another prisoner. Entwistle’s plane left Bangor at about 4:45 eastern time and arrived at Hanscom Air Force Base at approximately 5:20. He was taken out of the plane and transferred to a police car behind a hangar so that it would be harder for the media to follow him. However, while watching CBS news I was able to glimpse him for a few seconds as he walked about 100 feet from the plane to the police car. His head was down and he seemed to be wearing a black sweater or jacket and kakhi pants, although it was difficult to tell. A few minutes passed between the time when the plane stopped and the time when he came out, and there was also a delay of a few minutes after he got into the police car.

A caravan of state and local police is driving Entwistle to Hopkinton, where he will spend the night at the town’s police station. At 2:00 tomorrow he will be arraigned at Framingham District Court. The prosecutors plan to ask that he be held without bail, and I bet the judge will grant their request.

More chaos occurred at Saddam Hussein’s trial toady, as the former dictator cursed at the judge and yelled, “Down with Bush!” Saddam was wearing his slippers, and his half-brother, also a defendant, was wearing his pajamas and had to be dragged into court by guards. Today prosecutors made their strongest attempt yet to tie Saddam and the co-defendants to human rights violations, as they entered important documents and put Saddam’s former aides on the stand.

I would also like to comment briefly on Vice President Cheney’s hunting accident, during which, as most Americans know, he shot his friend Harry Whittington, who is now in stable condition. The accident seems to have been mainly Cheney’s fault. Although Whittington failed to identify himself to Cheney as he approached, Cheney should have been aware of his surroundings before shooting. However, I don’t hold it against either of them. Cheney and Whittington are close friends, and the accident was merely an unfortunate act of fate.

So far, today hasn’t been a very good day for the U.S. Olympic team. As most of you know, Michelle Kwan withdrew from the games after injuring herself during a warn-up yesterday. Even worse, American speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno stumbled during a qualifying heat for the 1500 m and is now out of the running in that event. Prior to the mishap, Ohno was a favorite to win the gold. One inspiring story from today is that of Frode Estil, a Norwegian skier who won the silver medal in the men’s pursuit after falling in the first seconds of the race and beginning the race dead last. Congratulations to all the winners from today and yesterday, including American snowboarder Shaun White (the Flying Red Tomato), American speed skater Chad Hedrick, and Canadian skier Jennifer Heil. Also, it was amazing to watch Rena Inoue and John Baldwin land the first throw triple Axel ever in international competition. It’s too bad they’re only in sixth place. That’s all for now; I will try to post as soon as I hear any notable new developments.

Because I have been a fan of Dakota Fanning, I recently learned that she will be in the next issue of Vanity Fair. What’s disturbing about this is that Fanning will be pictured wearing extremely adult clothing such as high heels and strapless dresses with low necklines. She is also posed in rather mature poses. It seems to be inevitable that all children grow up and become inappropriately sexualized, but it is still infuriating and disappointing when it happens. Fanning had an exceptionally glorious, innocent image as a little girl, and it is a shame that she had to lose it. It seems that the old Dakota exists no more, but I will always remember and cherish her in my heart.

Gay clothing designer Jim Ford was the art director for the issue, and destroying Fanning’s innocence was not his only atrocious idea. Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson posed nude for the cover of the magazine! If that’s not tasteless, I don’t know what is. Vanity Fair is supposed to be a culture magazine, not a pornographic one! Well, I guess that shows what the world’s culture is coming to, and it certainly doesn’t make me very hopeful. Anyone who thinks that this is art is dead wrong. Naked people are ugly, no exceptions. I have decided that without innocence, there can be no beauty. Art is innocence, and innocence is art!

“These are such beautiful people,” said Ford,” Beautiful women, who doesn’t want to see this?” Well, the Imperial Leader certainly doesn’t.

I won’t give a link to the cover because I consider it indecent, but you can click to see the pictures of Fanning.