Face of Defense: Son Inspires Marine to Succeed

 

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Daniel Boothe
Special to AFPS 

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.:Inspired by his son, a noncommissioned officer here shattered the glass roof of his dream by wrestling his way to the top.  "It's pretty hard to be a single dad in the Marine Corps," said Gunnery Sgt. Ignacio Ramirezlazos, training staff noncommissioned officer for the Installation Personnel Administration Center. "I did it to set the example for my son and to show him that the patience and discipline wrestling teaches you will get you a long way." 
    Ramirezlazos's championship journey began in February 2007, after criticism from his son rekindled his childhood gold medal aspirations. Seven-year-old Marco was competing in a local tournament when his father expressed disappointment in his performance.
   "I remember telling him to stop slacking and give it more effort," Ramirezlazos said. "He had pinned the kid several times before, and was close to beating him again." 

After the match, Marco stopped, turned to his father and said, "You are not the one out there wrestling." Ignacio fell silent. From then on, Ramirezlazos said, he knew he would have to lead by example.   Ramirezlazos joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, and was now returning to the mat 15 years later. The former high school wrestler began competing at local tournaments and found nothing less than discouragement. "To tell you the truth, I didn't want to show up to the next match," he said. "I was wrestling college students that were fresh from high school." He pushed forward though, and spent a majority of 2008 competing at local tournaments, fine-tuning his techniques. At the urging of his friends, Ramirezlazos registered for the 2009 USAA National Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas the following year. He entered the 152-pound weight class and competed in the Veteran Freestyle and Greco Roman categories. Contenders were scored on the best of three matches. Ignacio lost his first match. With victory now unlikely and nothing to lose, he dominated his next opponent. Ramirezlazos continued into the finals, and after a riveting first-round rematch, he won the wrestling championship for his weight class. This win qualified him in both categories for the Olympic World Wrestling Championship competitions in Turkey and Sweden. Ramirezlazos was unable to attend the Olympic wrestling competitions, but the 34-year-old NCO is OK with that. Just being able to say he made it, he said, was enough for himself and his son. "It's awesome that my dad made it to the world championship," Marco said. "I hope one day I can make it there too." (Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Daniel Boothe serves at Camp Pendleton, Calif.)

Also watch the full Story on another link 

Rohbock Finishes Sixth in Olympic Bobsled Event

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:12:00 -0600

By Tim Hipps  Special to  AFPS


WHISTLER, British Columbia :  Army National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program bobsled pilot Sgt. Shauna Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka to finish sixth in the Olympic women's bobsled event Feb. 24 at the Whistler Sliding Centre here.

Rohbock, of Park City, Utah, finished 1.78 seconds off the winning pace at the treacherous, 16-turn venue with a four-run time of 3 minutes, 34.06 seconds in USA 1. Canadians Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse broke the track record in their first three heats en route to winning the gold medal in 3:32.28. Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown took the silver aboard Canada 2 with a time of 3:33.13. Erin Pac, 29, of Farmington, Conn., and Elana Meyers, 25, of Douglasville, Ga., claimed the bronze with a time of 3:33.40 in the USA 2 sled. "It wasn't the Olympics that I dreamed of for four years, but the U.S. got a medal today, and that's amazing," said Rohbock, a silver medalist at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. "That's awesome. That's all I want to see is the U.S. on that medal stand. I didn't drive the four runs to be on the medal stand and Erin did, so she deserves it. I didn't put together the runs to be on the podium anyway." Bree Schaaf of Bremerton, Wash., and Emily Azevedo of Chico, Calif., teamed to finish fifth in USA 3 with a time of 3:34.05. Although North Americans filled the podium and had five of the top six sleds, Team USA competitors struggled to find the fastest lines. "I figured it out a little too late," said Rohbock, who held the women's track record of 53.53 seconds prior to the games. "It would have been nice to have more runs on this track. You have two of the best drivers in the world, Sandra Kiriasis and [Cathleen] Martini [of Germany] are probably the best drivers in the world, and Martini crashed. So it's a very, very difficult track. It's just a tough one." Martini's driving mistake in the complicated 11-12-13 curve combination flipped Germany 2. Brakeman Romy Logsch was ejected from the sled and sent sliding down the track on her back. They were disqualified. "I feel like if I had 10 more runs I could have figured a lot of stuff out," Rohbock said. "Every run I was just trying something different. "That last run, I tried something different in 11 and almost dumped it," she added with a laugh. "It didn't work out, so I wouldn't do that again." Team USA bobsledders estimated that they made about 40 runs down the Whistler track, compared to 160 or more by the Canadians. "Definitely, home-field advantage gave them that edge, for sure," Rohbock said. "They drove four great runs. Every run, I was just trying something new, because what I did before wasn't working. We tried to figure some stuff out, and everybody put their two cents in during the week." By the same token, Rohbock found it interesting that North Americans were the primary beneficiaries of the track the Europeans found too tough to tame. "I think it speaks volumes how difficult the track was to have no Germans on the podium," she said. "They've dominated the sport since it started, really. For them not to be on the podium, I think, speaks volumes about the difficulty of the track." Despite the track's degree of difficulty that drew media scrutiny, the lady bobsledders expressed little fear of one of the most exciting rides of their life. "We're in the spotlight right now because of the Olympics, but there were 15 crashes when the World Championships were in Altenburg, Germany," Rohbock explained. "I separated my shoulder, and people were breaking their backs and stuff like that. It is in the limelight, and of course the tragedy that did happen here, that's horrible, but it does happen at other tracks, and nobody really hears about them. "Because it is the Olympic Games," she continued, "everybody wants to build it up. Our sport is dangerous, that's the down part of it, and everybody is aware of it." Rohbock represented the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program when she struck silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She delivered another worldwide boost of military morale from Whistler. "I'm in the National Guard," she said. "I definitely would not have the silver medal without them, and I wouldn't have had such an amazing year. I had a great season this year, and I've had amazing seasons leading up. "It's sad that one race defines you to the world, because this is all they really see," she added. "There are a lot of amazing drivers that didn't get on that podium today, and they've been amazing for years, and nobody will know this because they only see this one day." Although these likely were Rohbock's last Olympic runs, she is not ready to slide off into the sunset just yet. "I'd like to maybe end in Konigssee, Germany, next year," she said. "I race really well there. Maybe get a world championship, since I missed one in Lake Placid [winning silver in 2009]. It would be awesome to get a world championship on a German track, because I've won there before and I know I can drive very well there." So she's not ready to park the sled. "I don't think this year, no, but I don't know about four more," Rohbock concluded. "I don't want to say 'no,' because I don't want to be that person that says I'm done." (Tim Hipps works in the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command public affairs office.)

Related Sites: Special Report: Military Olympians

Journalist Captured in Somalia by Al-Shabab Must be Released, Says Amnesty International

Posted on 23 Feb 2010 at 10:11 PM


Washington : Amnesty International is calling for the immediate release of a Somali radio journalist held by the armed group al-Shabab, apparently after a report was broadcast alleging the group had killed a man in the Wanleweyn district.
Ali Yusuf Adan, a 47-year-old correspondent for Radio Somaliweyn, is being held by the armed group in the port city of Merka, in southern Somalia.

“Amnesty International fears for the safety of Ali Yusuf Adan, given the numerous human rights abuses committed by al-Shabab against civilians, including journalists”, said Erwin van der Borght, Africa director at Amnesty International. 

“Al-Shabab must immediately release him without harm, stop threatening journalists and respect the right of all Somalis to freedom of expression.”

Ali Yusuf Adan was captured on February 21 in Wanleweyn, a town northwest of the capital Mogadishu controlled by the armed group,

Al-Shabab has said that the journalist was held because he made a “mistake.”

In the past few months the group has imposed drastic restrictions on journalists in an attempt to stifle information in areas they control.

They have closed down radio stations, banned the airing of reports mentioning Somalia’s government and made intimidating statements against journalists.

Many journalists who fled Somalia reported to Amnesty International that they did so after receiving death threats from individuals claiming to be members of al-Shabab.

Nine journalists were killed in 2009 in Somalia; at least three of them were deliberately murdered.

Two radio directors, Said Tahlil Ahmed and Mukhtar Hirabe, were killed in Bakara market last year, an area of Mogadishu controlled by al-Shabab militia.

Although al-Shabab spokespeople have denied involvement in these killings, the group’s leaders have failed to publicly condemn attacks against the media and order their forces not to target journalists. 
Background

Al-Shabab currently controls vast areas of south and central Somalia, including major cities such as Merka, Kismayo and Baidoa, as well as districts of the capital Mogadishu.

The internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, which exercises authority only in part of the capital, is repeatedly attacked by al Shabab and other armed groups and has not been able to establish a national justice system.

Al- Shabab armed groups have grown out of the Islamic Courts Union, a movement that temporarily established control over Mogadishu and other areas in 2006.

The Islamic Courts Union was militarily defeated by Ethiopian troops who intervened in Somalia in late 2006 to assist the Transitional Federal Government.

After Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a former Islamic Courts Union leader, was appointed President of the TFG in January 2009, and Ethiopian troops left Somalia, al-Shabab and other armed groups have continued fighting against the TFG, claiming that it is allied to Western nations.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. 

Meanwhile the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is deeply concerned about the arrest of Radio journalist in Wanlaweyn district of lower Shabelle region on Sunday 21 February 2010. According to NUSOJ  the arrest follows a report filed on 20 February by the journalist about Al-Shabab militias who shot a man over prayer delay in Wanlaweyn. It is believed that this report might be behind his arrest.

Mystery of life

Some of us don't grow old gracefully, 


some are not so smart,

some are tall, large & big, 


some bald, some physically challenged.......!


It is good or bad...?


what we can do and what we should do when we feel ourself as a cracks or unfit or defaulter or unlucky etc...!


Ms Priya Deelchand suggests an extra beautiful way for all of us and also solves the mystery of life...!