[Author's Note: I originally wrote this in June of 2008, but feel this post still describes my thoughts on the Williams Sisters. I was reminded of it after seeing Venus Williams shockingly knocked out of Wimbledon's Quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-3 to unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova.]

“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves – a special kind of double.”

–Toni Morrison

"It's like a celebration of being who you are, of being yourself - no judging."

Video of German Coach Joachim Löw eating boogers and sniffing his armpits. You know you want to see it. But it just feels wrong. Go ahead. I won't judge:

Bukit Lawang is a village in North Sumatra, on the edge of the jungle. The Bohorok River plays a central role in village life, providing a place to wash bodies and clothes, to cool down during sweltering days, and to have a little fun, running smallish rapids on tubes and in rafts. The village exists almost entirely due to tourism.

SOUTH AFRICA - Due to the lack of leadership shown by U.S. President Barack Obama, the United States was knocked out of the World Cup by Ghana, 2-1. It was a tough, back-and-forth game that went 30 extra minutes to decide a winner.

Still, the onus for the lost must go on Obama, who did not attend one World Cup game, due to some oil thing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some are saying, however, that this is yet more proof that Obama was, in fact, born in Kenya, as Ghana is an African nation. Stop being such a sheeple and read between the lines, people.

--WKW

Flavia and The Fretful Porpentine have recently led some terrific discussion threads about how often students describe female professors as "intimidating" when those professors are behaving pretty much the way their male colleagues do.

WASHINGTON – In a controversial 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned and modified the Internet’s infamous “Godwin’s Law.”

The Law formerly stated: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision.

From a South Africa newspaper, which is apparently overcome with schadenfreude.

Remembering Mike & Christine.

As injury time was running out, Landon Donovan buried a goal to send the U.S. past Algeria, 1-0. With the win, the U.S. advances to the 2010 World Cup knockout round. Two thoughts:

If you aren’t with us, you’re against us.

If the French National team managed to accomplish one thing during the 2010 World Cup, it was too reinforce every negative stereotype against France.

If you tune out the upcoming storm of spin, distraction and hype, what just happened is very simple: a general whose strategy has failed has tried to tie the Commander-in-Chief's hands by running to the press. McChrystal's goal was to create a political situation inside the Beltway in which the President would face problematic amounts of criticism if he changed either the unsuccessful strategy or the unsuccessful commander.

As South Africa desperately looks to score enough goals to advance in the World Cup, here’s a look at the tie-breakers used by FIFA for Group stage play. Courtesy the CS Monitor:

Two teams advance out of every four-team group. The first and most obvious decider is points (three points for a win, one for a draw).

Of course, outside of the French team, soccer players rarely smash into a wall and burst into flames.

On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 men and allowing millions of gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Almost immediately the call went out to him. Yet there was no reply.

This is your America on Oil: