Topic: News: CAIR Seeks Hijab Rights for Banned Georgia Muslim Woman Weightlifter

[Shaun Le Conte]

It is not a ban in that should she be willing to follow the same rules as others, she'd be able to lift. I already said I also don't like those rules.

Nobody wants to say it, but at this point she hasn't lost much by being denied the ability to lift at US Nationals. From what I have seen of competition results, she has a ways to go to be competitive at the national level.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Shaun, would it be a "ban" if everyone in the USAW was required to have sex with the ED in order to compete? I agree with your semantics, but the fact remains the USAW sucks, is a nice little club for nobodies, wimps, and wannabe dictators.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Let me put it this way. When someone comes up to me in a bar to play a game of pool, I always set the rules first- not that this is a common example for me but makes the point. Personally, I don't care if we play ball in hand or whatever rules generally so if someone has a strong inclination, I agree. Now, if they demanded I take a drug test for pot, stop drinking my beer, change my shirt because they don't like what it says- we aren't going to have that game. The same is true for weightlifting. If someone wanted to come over to my platform and challenge me, which has happened on occasion in the past, my concern for groundrules wouldn't extend to what clothes they were wearing, unless I was convinced they would help them lift more weight, which I think is a non-issue with weightlifting, aside from the silly and counterproductive press-out rules and locked knee rules. I also wouldn't care if they wanted to smoke a joint or drink a beer while they lifted, or between lifts, or whatever. I might consider their bodyweight and even form an opinion on their use of PEDs, might even just ask if they use anything. If they did, I might or I might not compete. But, in any of these civilized sporting examples, there is NO authoritarianism necessary nor should it ever be necessary. If a rule is not generally accepted, it should either be abolished, changed, or a new organization without it should be formed and the old one should collapse into irrelevance.

[Shaun Le Conte]

I am with everything you wrote in the paragraph above. More of this straightforward writing could convince many people.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Its nearly impossible to write straightforward arguments when debating irrational, emotional, usually ignorant, and sometimes flat out stupid authoritarians, which compose a large portion of the powers that be in the usaw. Really, as I said I think in my first post in this thread, the real issue boils down to the government protected monopoly privilege given to the IOC, IWF, USOC, and USAW on the word "Olympic" which they truly have NO legitimate ownership claim over. Void those monopoly grants and you open the sport to competing organizations, which would be a massive breath of fresh air. :)

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43527580/ns/world_news-americas/

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/28/155104.html

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/weightlifting-group-allows-woman-wear-hijab-unitard-competitions-134033332.html