Brooke Bellah (more Make up)

International:

Osama bin Laden's brother, Salem bin Laden, recently won a bet.  He bet that he could get four Christian women from four different Western countries to marry him--all at the same time.  He was trying to prove that if you had money, you could buy anything in the West.  The girls (one from France, one British, one American, and one German) were promised a life of luxury, and none of them refused his offer.  However, after they accepted he dismissed them.

Opinion:

As much as I hate to say it, I somewhat agree with Salem.  But I do not think that being able to get anything you want for a price applies only to Western countries.  Money has played a role in every war, and every major historical event.  It's a powerful thing; not a Western failure, but a human weakness.  The saying money cannot buy happiness is not true.  It can buy temporary happiness, but it cannot buy real joy.

A new swimsuit, the LZR Racer, is the latest buzz in the competitive swimming world, but it may be banned from the 2008 Olympics.  The swimsuit was created by Speedo and NASA and was introduced just six weeks ago.  Already it has contributed to 16 world record performances.  Some say, however. that it gives athletes an unfair advantage because it creates buoyancy in the water. Speedo said "We are conducting a thorough investigation but are confident this is not endemic to the LZR Racer suit."

Opinion:

As a person who has been swimming her whole life, this story is important to me.  If there is a new suit out there that decreases drag by 5% (like Speedo claims it can) then you better believe every competitive swimmer will be buying it--especially when a 5% decrease could mean the difference from third place to first. If the suit does create buoyancy, then I believe this would create an unfair advantage.  Body form and technique is what creates buoyancy in the water, and wearing a suit that does this for you would be comparable to steroid use in baseball.  It would take away from the sport.  But if it does just create less resistance, then it should be allowed at the Beijing Olympics.