<p>Another article shedding some light on the opening ceremony:</p>
<p>[China’s</a> Olympic ceremony features sacrifices - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports](<a href=“Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports”>Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t understand the comparison.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yep, too much politics. This is why the Olympics should NEVER have been turned into competition between nations when the modern games were started. If there was no “medal count” there would be a lot less obsession about national results.</p></li>
<li><p>I disagree with your characterization of the Salt Lake City Winter Games. As you say, judging is always suspect in figure skating, gymnastics, diving and any other sport that can’t be measured objectively. Other than that, no one accused under-age Americans of competing with bogus documents, no one in the US tried to ban all political protests for the games, no one in Utah tried to shut down all industry to create the illusion that air pollution isn’t a problem, the government of Utah did not unilaterally displace thousands of people to build infrastructure and venues, no American government controlled reporter access to athletes or the Internet, reporters and athletes moved freely where they wished, no one kept thousands of “participants” in the opening ceremonies in near-prison conditions for months, there was no Milli Vanilli singer at the opening, and no American athletes were taken from their families at the age of 4 to attend training camps (although I understand this is “voluntary” for some value of that term). So, no, I don’t think the Beijing games are just like any other, unless you want to go back to 1980 or 1936. No American games has been anything like as jingoistic as any of the totalitarian games.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The Chinese just have a slightly different value system and world view. What ever happened to honoring diversity and all that crap?? Or is that just for cute little countries/peoples with some odd habits?</p>
<p>I saw a news report this morning that nearly 50 Olympic athletes had either failed drug tests before or during the games. That’s about 1% of participants who were sloppy in the doping and got caught. If you figure (hand waving here) that half of participants don’t have much reason to dope, this is 2% of the possible druggies who got caught. Let’s wonder how many more didn’t get caught?</p>
<p>Barrons – :)</p>
<p>Are you implying that the Chinese aren’t cute, Barrons?</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>The Olympic nationalism is not a modern invention. It was that way in the ancient times too. It’s true that the ancient Greek athletes competed as individuals and not as members of official teams sent by their city-states. But nevertheless, everyone was acutely aware of who won and who lost, where they were from, and which city-states had a good showing at the games and which ones didn’t. The only reason there wasn’t a medal count was because they didn’t give medals in those days.</p>
<p>And when the newly-crowned Olympic champions returned home they were showered by the government with cash, prizes, awards, honors, exemption from taxes, etc. because of the honor they had brought to their cities. Olympic nationalism was rampant in those days. We merely revived the tradition.</p>
<p>From today’s NYTimes–this is horrifying–why are we there?</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/sports/olympics/21protest.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/sports/olympics/21protest.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>As anyone here knows, I am always ready to question the actions of our own government when I think it is behaving unjustly. Recently, the city of NY had to pay millions in a lawsuit because of the unjustified arrest of protesters at the GOP convention. That action was wrong, too, but the difference was that no one went to labor camp, and we have a court system which righted the wrong. And most importantly, though our free press too often gives up its own freedoms, if it chooses to, it can and will write about cases like this one.</p>
<p>In China, I doubt anyone is reading about Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying.</p>
<p>
</p></li>
</ol>
<p>well, the truth is Salt Lake city, Utah should never been awarded the honor to host. There’s nothing there, who would go there, really! The only reason they won is because of the bribery scandal. This is even worse than Beijing being awarded the summer games. At least they put the effort to clear the air, to stop pollution… Salt Lake city had to bribe to win the IOC. Tons of people were arrested because of this, which is worse, seriously! </p>
<p>There were also protests against rodeo as an olympic event because it’s cruel to the animal. There were actually bribery in figure skating to a French judge. Others included unfair judging from the judges in short tracks. The korean and russian were filing protests and were about to pull out in the middle of the olympic and many other scandals / controversies. </p>
<p>No one kept thousands of opening ceremony participants as prisoners. In fact people applied to be chosen and felt honor to be chosen. Of course the performances in the opening ceremony have to be kept secret until the opening night. It’s like that everywhere. And the opening ceremony is a show, the point is to make it look good. What would you think people’s reaction when they see a girl with missing tooth. Would they say that China has no better girls out of 1 billion to not ruin the ceremony? </p>
<p>I’m not trying to defend China or anything because they have nothing to do with me. Truth is, every bad things that America accused someone of doing, we did it. You think we never sent underage gymnasts to compete in the Olympic? yes, the rule was different back then but what difference does it make to the body of the kid at that age? </p>
<p>Be aware of what you read. There are plenty of anti-chinese newspaper out there. Their information is not reliable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not even in the same ballpark, which is why your information and opinions are not reliable.</p>
<p>how is that not in the same ballpark? because summer vs. winter? lol
The point is people in America often criticize why the Olympic was awarded to China to host when its condition is so bad. Well, at least the effort is there to eliminate those bad conditions. America did not shutdown factories, clear up things because there’s nothing in Salt Lake. Plus they bribed the committee so there’s no point to do anything else to win the bid. It’s the same thing, people argue why China is so bad and they let China host the olympic. Well, Salt Lake city is bad too why did they get to host? The information is not me throwing out, it’s the truth. You can look it up. And of course, you don’t have to trust or agree with any opinion.</p>
<p>Chaoses, just not interested in engaging with you. I am an extremely well-informed person and I find your defense of China to be so much in opposition to my values that you’re just not someone I’d like to have a conversation with.</p>
<p>Have y’all been reading about the rehearsals for the opening ceremonies - many 16 hour rehearsals; one 51 hour dress reheasal in driving rain, where the partipcants got no sleep, no shelter and little food?</p>
<p>Missy, I did see that and I was horrified to read about the young woman who was paralyzed after an accident.</p>
<p>All you are saying is that the Olympic organization is prone to corruption and that the SLC organizing committee was involved in bribery. I don’t care about that. I do care about official governmental action that deprives citizens of what should be basic human rights, and turns a major metropolitan area into a Potemkin Village – where a thin veneer of “niceness” covers a brutal totalitarian regime. No comparison.</p>
<p>As for your opinion of Salt Lake City, that is irrelevant. It is a popular gateway to the ski areas in the Wasatch Mountains, and millions visit there every year. I’m not a big fan of SLC either, but that doesn’t matter. I also don’t plan to visit Beijing. I didn’t attend, but the games looked pretty much like any other Olympics – I think they went off fine (with only the usual judging scandals). I don’t remember anyone accusing the US of faking birth documents for athletes, putting protesters in work camps, or restricting reporter access to communications tools.</p>
<p>I do remember the US recently waged war based on a set of lies, a lot more serious than supposedly restating birthdates at the Olympics. I also remember the US forbidding military personnels taking photos at the prisons, after the torturing at Abu Ghraib was revealed, a lot more serious than restricting reporters to communications access at the Olympics. And based on the Patriot Act, the US can also detain any suspects without due process of law, a direct violation of human rights and our own Bill of Rights. You don’t want to throw stones in a glass house. :-)</p>
<p>There are indeed legitimate criticisms of the Chinese government on human rights. But simply complaining about Chinese working harder is just ridiculous. Those Olympics performers are volunteers as do many other Chinese working overtime for a better living.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is fine. But like I said, I’m not defending China or its government or whatever, don’t get it wrong.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>washdad
That is true, but my information about salt lake is not irrelevant. Those are not my Opinions about SLC, those are facts. They are not irrelevant because they show the bad side of a story too. My point is there are bad sides to everything. It’s not fair and it’s hypocritical for us to be doing that and criticize others. It’s not fair for the Chinese athletes to being called “medal machines” or “robots created by the government” when they trained hard their entire lives. </p>
<p>I bet you more than half of us here did not know a bribery scandal in the winter Olympic 02 Salt Lake city. On the other hand, everybody walking around with a cellphone talking to our friends like we KNOW those gymnasts are underage. Why? because we receive one-way-information. And whenever we see something oppose our believes, we ignore it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Then, perhaps, your posts aren’t being received as you intended.</p>
<p>[International</a> Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin’s age - Times Online](<a href=“http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece]International”>The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines)</p>
<p>The IOC is launching an investigation into the age of He Kexin.</p>
<p>Good. And the other two?</p>