Opinion: Ex-Olympic discus champ turns gaze to games timeless spirit of truce
July 19, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
Olga Fikotova-Connolly (Photo courtesy of the author.) I am writing in appreciation of the countless hours of thoughts and labor by the Tokyo Olympic committee and experts in every trade dedicated to organizing and staging the upcoming Olympic Games. The sweat of your hands and hearts will turn into healing rain, washing away doubts and discouragement. I also express gratitude to the United Nations General Assembly for displaying the United Nations flag alongside the flag of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a sign of the Olympic Truce. It is a perceptive and courageous decision, because today s world needs peaceful events as urgently as the ancient Peloponnesians in Greece did millennia ago.
THE Christmas cards have continued to flood in from the region’s politicians. An interesting trend this year is the DIY card. Stockton South’s Dari Taylor leads the way in this regard with the placing of a jaunty Santa hat on a picture of the Houses of Parliament. It’s amazing what you can do a bit of desktop publishing software, as Ms Taylor acknowledges with credit on the back of the card to “A Taylor Christmas Design”. Mick Henry, the leader of Gateshead Council and also the North-East Assembly, introduces a personal touch by providing the photograph for his card.