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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Sports / Science Football and Islamic Solidarity

Posted by on Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 9:13 AM

BBC reports:

The Islamic Solidarity Games, due to be held in Iran in April, have been called off because of a dispute with Arab countries over what to call the Gulf.

The games federation in Saudi Arabia said the Iranian organisers had failed to address its concerns, particularly about the planned logo and medals.

These bear the words "Persian Gulf", but Arab countries, who call it the Arabian Gulf, reject the term.

The games had been postponed in October in the hope of striking a deal.


All well and good, but what is the real root of this problem? The name of the gulf? No, it's not that. The root can be found in another BBC report:

Scientists may have solved the mystery of how human hands became nimble enough to make and manipulate stone tools.

The team reports in the journal Evolution that changes in our hands and fingers were a side-effect of changes in the shape of our feet.

This, they say, shows that the capacity to stand and walk on two feet is intrinsically linked to the emergence of stone tool technology.

If it weren't for changes in our feet, which made changes in our hands, none of this football drama would be around today.

 

Comments (5) RSS

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1
This reminds me of how they cancelled last year's "How Berkeley Can You Be?" parade over political correctness and NIMBY concerns. *That* was the most Berkeley thing ever.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg…
Posted by capicola on January 19, 2010 at 9:34 AM
2
Wow Charles. Finally something happening in the middle east that you couldn't find a way to blame on Israel. Must be losing your touch.
Posted by I Got Nuthin' on January 19, 2010 at 10:03 AM
Foggen 3
Hey, here are two articles that have almost nothing to do with each other. I'll smash them together. Insight!
Posted by Foggen on January 19, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Charles Mudede 4
@2, the truth of the matter: given a choice between living in an arab country or israel, i would choose israel without a second thought.
Posted by Charles Mudede on January 19, 2010 at 10:35 AM
5
The Arabian Gulf just doesn't sing. Whereas The Persian Gulf rolls nicely off the tongue. Gonna have to side with Iran on this one.
Posted by Soul on January 19, 2010 at 4:52 PM

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