2008 Beijing games to be the worst ever! Yay or Nay?

[Only The Lonely..]

Well folks, in light of the Olympics happening in a mere number of days it's time to reflect on just how wise it was to select China as the host country.

What are your thoughts?

[Only The Lonely..]

China holds public execution
3 killed for plot to disrupt Olympics

By: Edward Cody | The Washington Post

Updated: July 20 at 12:20 AM CDT

YENGISHAHAR, China -- Shortly after dawn on July 9, the local government here bused several thousand students and office workers into a public square and lined them up in front of a vocational school. As the spectators watched, witnesses said, three prisoners were brought out. Then, an execution squad fired rifles at the three point-blank, killing them on the spot.

The young men had been convicted of having connections to terrorist plots, which authorities said were part of a campaign aimed at disrupting the Beijing Olympics by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, an underground separatist organization here in the vast Xinjiang region of western China. The group has long fought for independence on behalf of the region's Muslim Uighur inhabitants.

The public execution of the men was a dramatic example of the massive, unforgiving security operation that has been mounted in China to protect the Beijing Games from what Communist Party authorities describe as an urgent threat of violence and anti-government protest.

"Especially as the Beijing Olympic Games draw near, a range of anti-China forces and hostile forces are striving by any means and redoubling efforts to engage in trouble-making and sabotage," Yang Huanning, a vice minister of public security and an anti-terrorism specialist, said in a declaration to the Public Security Bureau's newspaper.

With the Games three weeks away, the precautions already have proved so sweeping that some observers question whether the sense of fellowship and fun that is supposed to accompany the Olympics can survive. Alongside the crackdown against Muslim extremists here in Xinjiang, for instance, have come new visa restrictions, multiple roadside checkpoints, reinforced pat-downs at airports and subway stations, and raids on bars popular among foreigners. The result has been an atmosphere of coercion, not celebration.

On Thursday, China issued a manual advising the public what to do in the case of a terrorist attack, according to state-run media. The manual included guidance on how to respond to 39 scenarios including explosions, kidnappings and shootings, and attacks involving chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, China's leaders have extended the scope of their concerns to include peaceful political protests. In public and private comments, Chinese officials have seemed just as determined to prevent pro-Tibet demonstrators from unfurling banners in front of television cameras as they are to head off hotel bombings by Muslim extremists, according to Chinese specialists and foreign diplomats.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau warned recently on its website that any demonstration must have prior approval from authorities, in effect banning anti-government protest.

Aware of the misgivings about overkill, Chinese authorities have said their top priorities must be to guarantee the safety of Olympic athletes and spectators, and to prevent political protests from ruining the display of international harmony long promised to the Chinese people. If the resulting security measures seem heavy-handed to some foreigners, they have said, it is only because of a failure to understand the stakes involved.

"A safe Olympics is the biggest indicator of the success of the Games," Xi Jinping, a member of the party's elite Politburo Standing Committee, said in a recent speech.


-- The Washington Post


"A safe Olympics is also the biggest indicator of the positive reflection of our nation's image."

Ma Xin, a government security expert who is part of an Olympic advisory team, said security must be tight not only because of the threat of violence but also because thousands of foreign dignitaries will be on hand, including President Bush, and could become targets for international terrorist groups such as al-Qaida.

Added Liu Jiangyong, a national security specialist at Qinghua University's Institute of International Studies: "The more China wants to show hospitality, the more it should pay attention to security issues."

[Only The Lonely..]

Algae consumes sailing site..

Source: Boston Globe

[Only The Lonely..]

Beijing struggles to clean its air

By: Stephen Wade | Associated Press

Updated: July 20 at 12:20 AM CDT

BEIJING -- Beijing's Olympic shutdown begins Sunday, a drastic plan to lift the Chinese capital's gray shroud of pollution just three weeks ahead of the games.

Half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads and many polluting factories will be shuttered.

Chemical plants, power stations and foundries left open have to cut emissions by 30 per cent -- and dust-spewing construction in the capital will be halted.

In a highly stage-managed Olympics aimed at showing off the rising power of the 21st century, no challenge is greater than producing crystalline air for 10,500 of the world's greatest athletes.

"Pea-soup air at the opening ceremony would be their worst nightmare," said Victor Cha, director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University.

Striking venues and $40 billion spent to improve infrastructure cannot mask Beijing's dirty air.

A World Bank study found China is home to 16 of the 20 worst cities for air quality. Three-quarters of the water flowing through urban areas is unsuitable for drinking or fishing.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has repeatedly warned that outdoor endurance events lasting more than an hour will be postponed if the air quality is poor.

Under the two-month plan, vehicles will be allowed on the roads every other day depending on even-odd registration numbers.

In addition, 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles -- aging industrial trucks, many of which operate only at night -- were banned beginning July 1.

Five days after Sunday's traffic ban goes into effect, special Olympic traffic lanes will begin operating until Sept. 25, a plan that has been used in previous games.

Beijing is setting aside 265 kilometres of roadway on which certified Olympic vehicles will be allowed to move from hotels, Olympic venues and Athletes Village.

To further ease congestion, employers are being asked to stagger work schedules. Public institutions will open an hour later than normal and two new subway lines scheduled to open Sunday should also bring relief.

The plan to clean the gray air seems to match the high-security tone of the games, which will be policed by 100,000 officials.

Razor-wire barriers and soldiers standing at attention guard the outskirts of the Olympic Green area and the Chinese have even installed ground-to-air missiles near one Olympic venue to protect it from possible attacks.

Security, tight visa rules and inflated hotel prices seem to be keeping foreigners away.

Many nightspots near Olympic venues are being closed by security officials, who say the games are under threat from Muslim extremists in China's western Xinjiang region.

Beijing organizers are also in a protracted showdown with TV broadcasters, who are seeking free movement and reporting during the games.

China's communist government seems to fear being embarrassed during the games by pro-Tibet activists, local dissidents or critics of China's human rights policies.

The gigantic experiment to curb pollution could still go wrong.

Veerabhadran Ramanathan, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, said unpredictable winds could blow pollution into Beijing despite factory shutdowns in the city and five surrounding provinces.

Ramanathan is leading a multinational research project in tracking Beijing's pollution before, during and after the Olympics.

"Reducing the local emissions is going to reduce the local pollution, but is that sufficient to help the athletes breath cleaner air? This is going to depend on the winds," he said.


-- The Associated Press

[Only The Lonely..]

Source:


China slams 'vile' London Olympic torch protest
Posted Mon Apr 7, 2008 3:01pm AEST
Updated Mon Apr 7, 2008 2:58pm AEST

Thirty-five pro-Tibet protesters were arrested amid chaotic scenes along the 50km route of the relay. (AFP)
China has denounced protests that dogged the Beijing Olympic torch relay through London, while state media announced impending trials of people accused of rioting in the Tibetan capital.

Protesters opposing a security drive in Tibet and demanding the mountain region's independence turned the London leg of the torch's journey into an obstacle course of angry disruptions - not what China wanted for its "journey of harmony".

At least 35 people were arrested and the wedge of police guarding the Olympic torch at one point were forced to hustle it on to a double-decker bus when about 100 protesters tried to seize it.

Chinese state television focused on the larger crowds of well-wishers who lined the route and British sports celebrities holding the torch, showing nothing of the protests.

But an official quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency was bluntly angry.

"Today a tiny number of Tibet independence elements sought to disrupt the relay of the Olympic Games sacred flame through London," said an unnamed spokesperson of the Beijing Olympic Games torch relay office.

"We strongly condemn this vile behaviour."

Tibet's capital Lhasa was hit last month by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule that gave way to deadly rioting on March 14, and since then security forces have poured in to reimpose control there and in other restive Tibetan areas.


Protest magnet

The Olympic flame is expected to remain a magnet for anti-Chinese protests ahead of the Games in Beijing, with campaigns aimed at Tibet and also at Sudan, where critics say Beijing has not done enough to help stop deadly strife in Darfur.

Chinese officials have accused Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, of organising the unrest to press for independence ahead of the Beijing Games in August and have vowed to come down hard on rioters and protesters.

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly denied the accusations and said he wants true autonomy, but not outright independence, for Tibet.

The first group of suspects accused of deadly rioting will soon go on trial in Lhasa, the China News Service reported, citing officials.

Prosecutors have sent 17 people for trial on charges of "arson homicide". An official cited said the accused would "receive the harsh sanction of the law".

Police said last week they had caught more than 800 people involved in the Lhasa violence and 280 others had turned themselves in.

China says 19 people died in the Lhasa riot, but representatives of the Dalai Lama say some 140 people died in the broader unrest across Tibet and nearby areas.

The Olympic flame arrives in Paris on Monday before crossing the ocean to San Francisco, both places where the atmosphere is likely to be tense.

- Reuters

[Only The Lonely..]

Source:

[Only The Lonely..]

"China holds public execution 3 killed for plot to disrupt Olympics"

Aware of the misgivings about overkill, Chinese authorities have said their top priorities must be to guarantee the safety of Olympic athletes and spectators, and to prevent political protests from ruining the display of international harmony long promised to the Chinese people.

I guess it's pretty easy to have peace and harmony when everybody has a gun to their head.



Does anybody else see any parallels between the two Olympic games?

[401_King]

im just looking forward to the marathon. i expect a slow time cause of the air quality.

[Wooster]

^ Unfortunately, the world's top marathoner pulled out of the event citing that he feared his career would be ended by running it through the pollution. He's still doing the 10K however.

[Coldrsx]

I personally believe that the China of the world will do a very GOOD job of hosting this event.

[mr.x]

China will do an outstanding job at hosting the 2008 Games in a few weeks.


1) Some issues should have never been brought to the Olympics....such as politics. This is a sporting event, and it's a shame that the Tibetan protesters used the torch relay to get their platform out. I could understand a peaceful protest, but what happened a few months ago was just ridiculous. Did they ever think about the athletes?

When people brought in politics to the Games, we saw the Munich terrorist attacks. Then a few decades later, the boycott on the Moscow Games accomplished nothing except hurt athletes.

2) The algae problem at the sailing site has been resolved....it has been entirely cleaned up.

3) Air quality issues will be resolved when hundreds of high polluting factories are shut down for two months starting today. And in the coming weeks, Beijing will be banning cars from the road for the duration of the Games.




Definitely the best opening ceremonies yet (pics from one of eight dress rehearsals):

[AndrewJ3D]

Worst Olympic ever after the one held in Nazi Germany was the Atlantic Olympics. That was such a commercialized mockery of the games.

Skip ahead to the 2 minute mark and listen to the broadcasters go on and on about pick-up trucks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po9AV...eature=related

I think Greece, for a country with such a tiny population did an excellent job.

Compared with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzrqHaHiu8g

[mr.x]

^ and Atlanta was the Centennial Games!!! >_<



Some really outstanding openings of the opening ceremonies, must sees:

Athens Opening Ceremony (first 10 mins):
• Video Link



Sydney Opening (first 10 mins):
• Video Link

[SHOFEAR]

When people brought in politics to the Games, we saw the Munich terrorist attacks. Then a few decades later, the boycott on the Moscow Games accomplished nothing except hurt athletes.

So then China wanted the Olympics because of the Chinese masses love sailing, beach volleyball, archery, equestrian and softball?

Chinese politics brought the games to China and Chinese politics will make it a complete disaster.

Oh well, either way I win. I either get to watch good athletics, or I get to humor myself watching this gong show unfold.

[SteelTown]

I thought China banned fireworks?

[SpongeG]

the olympics aren't what they used to be

good luck to them but they are just another sporting event no more special than anything now other than the opening and closings

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by SHOFEAR

So then China wanted the Olympics because of the Chinese masses love sailing, beach volleyball, archery, equestrian and softball?

Chinese politics brought the games to China and Chinese politics will make it a complete disaster.

Oh well, either way I win. I either get to watch good athletics, or I get to humor myself watching this gong show unfold.

Well....when anti-seal hunt activists, First Nations groups, and poverty activists start protesting the 2010 Games at home and pull the same antics on the 2010 torch relay, you may want to think that over again.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Some issues should have never been brought to the Olympics....such as politics. This is a sporting event, and it's a shame that the Tibetan protesters used the torch relay to get their platform out. I could understand a peaceful protest, but what happened a few months ago was just ridiculous. Did they ever think about the athletes?

But guess what Vancouver will be facing in 2010? Aborigionals from across Canada are planning protests just in the nick of time for the Olympics to bring their platforms on issues to the rest of the world in an attempt to make Canada look like a bunch of barbarians. Whether these protests are peaceful or not remains to be seen.

You just can't win with anyone.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Greco Roman

But guess what Vancouver will be facing in 2010? Aborigionals from across Canada are planning protests just in the nick of time for the Olympics to bring their platforms on issues to the rest of the world in an attempt to make Canada look like a bunch of barbarians. Whether these protests are peaceful or not remains to be seen.

You just can't win with anyone.

As if we haven't already pampered them? Sure, this nation's founding fathers did horrible things to the aboriginals centuries ago and it lasted up until WWII with those schools but that was then and they need to wake up. They need to start using all the money we give them productively. I mean, even my university application form asks whether or not I am of aboriginal ancestry.....we've already given them so much. And with the 2010 Games, there has been a ton of First Nations inclusion with many aspects of the OCOG.

As well, I highly doubt angering the Canadian public and government officials will further their cause.....there will be backlash.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Well....when anti-seal hunt activists, First Nations groups, and poverty activists start protesting the 2010 Games at home and pull the same antics on the 2010 torch relay, you may want to think that over again.

Why would he have to think that over again? It would make perfect sense for those groups to protest the Olympics. SHOFEAR is right on. If the Olympics were nothing more than a sporting event, countries wouldn't be spending billions of dollars on them. China wanted these Olympics because they wanted to enhance their international image, and they seem to have failed so far.