Glen Mills just forwarded this one:
Olympic nightmare: A red tide in the Yellow Sea
BEIJING: With less than six weeks before it plays host to the Olympic sailing regatta, the city of Qingdao has mobilized thousands of people and an armada of small boats to clean up an algae bloom that is choking large stretches of the coastline and threatening to impede the Olympic competition.
www.iht.com/.../china.php
Then there was this:
Olympics clean-up Chinese style: Inside Beijings shocking death camp for cats
Thousands of pet cats in Beijing are being abandoned by their owners and sent to die in secretive government pounds as China mounts an aggressive drive to clean up the capital in preparation for the Olympic Games.
www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Olympics-clean-Chinese-style-Inside-Beijings-shocking-death-camp-cats.html
This was early on, but it sounds like they will have as much as half the amount of cars on the road by banning all government workers from driving:
Olympians air a gripe about Beijing
March 12, 2008
Matt Reed was 1,500 meters into the last segment of the triathlon when he found himself gasping for oxygen. His legs were still pounding away at the pavement, his body pumped up after cruising through the swimming and cycling contests, but his lungs were shutting down.
The 32-year-old triathlete from Boulder, Colo., blames air pollution for triggering his asthma attack during the September track meet.
articles.latimes.com/.../fg-olyair12
Why did they pick beijing...?
Agree. From a political, human rights, and environmental standpoint--a giant dump (in which you can still see undigested pieces of corn, smells of a stagnant pond, and clogs your toilet).:dunno:
Thousands of pet cats in Beijing are being abandoned by their owners and sent to die in secretive government pounds as China mounts an aggressive drive to clean up the capital in preparation for the Olympic Games.
Why did I have to read this? That is terrible.
Agree. From a political, human rights, and environmental standpoint--a giant dump (in which you can still see undigested pieces of corn, smells of a stagnant pond, and clogs your toilet).:dunno:
That's actually a good reason to have it there. What better way to draw international attention to the the issues you mentioned.
The pool is indoors. The meet will go on.
Could be worse...... how about a bomb blowing up at the Olympic village.
Or hostages taken. Yes, it could be far worse. Hopefully some good will come of the spotlight being aimed upon China's shortcomings.
As for pollution, just now in 2008 China caught up with the U.S. in the pollution statistics
Are you kidding? China's air and water are far dirtier than in the US.
That's actually a good reason to have it there. What better way to draw international attention to the the issues you mentioned.
And, in fact, lots of attention has been drawn to various issues, some of it bad, some of it good.
Skip
