Teammate of killed luger withdraws from Olympic race -

Reading - Teammate of killed luger withdraws from Olympic race -

WHISTLER, B.C.—The teammate of the luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia who was killed in Olympic training has withdrawn from the Vancouver Games.

Levan Gureshidze was on the official start list for the competition that began at the Whistler Sliding Center on Saturday night, a day after teammate Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training crash.

However, Gureshidze decided not to compete. Earlier, he had missed the morning's training sessions, during which he was seen at the track wearing a black armband.

A moment of silence was held at the track before the start of Saturday's competition in memory of Kumaritashvili, whose photo was displayed on the video scoreboard in the finish-line area.

A Romanian luger diagnosed with a concussion after crashing in a women's training run also withdrew from the Olympics on Saturday. Violeta Stramaturaru was briefly knocked unconscious in a wreck at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Thursday, less than 24 hours before the fatal accident.

Stramaturaru was not seriously injured, Romanian Olympic officials said, but was advised by doctors to withdraw nonetheless.

Read more -http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/765216--teammate-of-killed-luger-withdraws-from-olympic-race

Behind closed doors no cameras present, Obama signed law Friday the bill raising public debt $12.394T to $14.294T

Reading - Behind closed doors no cameras present, Obama signed law Friday the bill raising public debt $12.394T to $14.294T

Behind closed doors and with no cameras present, President Obama signed into law Friday afternoon the bill raising the public debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

The current national debt is $12.3 trillion. Check out the National Debt Clock, which tells you your share of that -- roughly $40,000 per citizen, $113,000 per taxpayer.

The bill also establishes a statutory Pay-As-You-Go procedure requiring that new non-emergency legislation affecting tax revenue or mandatory spending not increase the Federal deficit – in other words, that any new spending or tax cuts be paid for with new taxes or spending cuts.

A French farmer offers pots of cow dung by post for people who want to send a less than loving Valentine's day message -

Reading - A French farmer offers pots of cow dung by post for people who want to send a less than loving Valentine's day message -