Dude! Joe's Jottings, Mostly Junk

The World's Fair : Beach Volleyball and the Public Understanding of Genetics:

But if a Jamaican wins a race and everyone says its because of genes, then why isn't anyone asking if American women have the Beach Volleyball gene? Why isn't everyone asking if the Chinese have the gymnastics gene? Why isn't everyone asking if the Kenyans have the non-skiing gene? Why are Kenyans so god-awful at nordic events? Why oh why could that be? Is it the non-skiing gene? Given the reasoning advanced in the comments to Razib's post, I'm left to conclude that this must be the case. And while we're at it, why isn't everyone asking if the Orioles have the bad-pitching gene?

I do note that - whenever American's win something, it must be due to hard work, personal sacrifice, and a bit of Good Ol' American Luck. Except when it's American technology, like the swimsuits, but that's still "America's system (in this case, pure get-ahead capitalism) just being better".

But whenever someone else wins, oh it's due to everything BUT the hard work of the athlete who really wants to win - it's the genetics, it's the intense state-sponsored training, it's the fact that they're paid for each medal, it's some innate advantage in the nation's geography or weather (nevermind that our athletes move to where the weather is suitable for what they do, often taking their families with them), or, well, they must be cheating in some way.  Or it's a sport that just "sucks" so why do we even bother with it.

It's never due to the idea that just like American athletes, the competitors from other countries just really, really want to win and work really, really hard to get there.  No, it can't be that.  There's no way the rest of the world can actually be just like us, right?

I don't know what's worse, that this egotism continues in the commentary and coverage, or that there's such a large portion in this country that still buy into that crap.

We have, this week, seen the ideal American in many contests, not least Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics individuals & all-around, women's soccer, several track&field events, and much more, including Bryan Clay who's actually doing damn well in the Decathlon.

But for all of those ideal Americans, I got two words that should flat-line those smiles and remind us what most Americans are really like: Bode Miller.

Stand tall.

Besides, sometimes positive genetics can have negative side effects, as this comment shows: Oddly, I now hear that in the US there is strong linkage disequilibrium between the genes for sprinting and not being able to hold a baton.. :)

On your marks, get set, Lego! Welcome to the Olympics where everyone's quick off the blocks | Mail Online:

As the world watches the Beijing Games, enthusiasts from Hong Kong have unveiled their own Olympics — built entirely from Lego.

More than 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 Lego people were used to create the display, by the Hong Kong Lego User Group.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics | Oksana Chusovitina, Interview Questions | NBC Olympics. A fascinating interview with the 33 year old Women's vault silver medalist, a former Soviet now competing for Germany (and she explains why...).

( cut for spoilers, though it's already been broadcast on nbc )

If you have DirectTV in HD, there's some special effects your remote can do to get info on all the DTV coverage.  Tune to UHD or MSNBC and wait a bit.