…that concern has been mirrored by several top world class endurance athletes who have stated publicly that they may not compete & also by the fact that a good number of national teams are basing training camps outside china during the olympics w/ the intent to import athletes to the games one day before their respective events…

…rogge wishes to not get into a political pissing contest regarding human rights issues via the games but read his statements & it’s clear where his heart lies…

…& chinese authorities in their infinite wisdom have once again attacked the dalai lama for “sabotaging the event & spreading rumors” despite the fact that his holiness has personally offered his support to china’s right to host the games…
…while supporters have expressed a need to boycott the games the dalai lama himself finds that to be too radical an approach…
…if you understand anything of the nature of this man, you will know his concern is w/ people, not politics & posturing…

…as for your concern about incurious, uncritical people not paying attention to world media & not having a clear picture of reality, perhaps you’ve mistaken this blog for some others you may subscribe to…
…the dragon is not hiding anymore…we’re seeing her smoke & fire…we just wonder the source & direction…

1 - The food is the best in the world (even US expat-pats in the city will agree).
2 - As of March 2nd, Beijing has had seven weeks of uninterupted blue sky. We’re no longer in 2001 and China does actually improve when it comes to pollution, contrary to what is the case in many Atlantic states.
3 - The net is lousy, yes, but that’s merely a question of traffic capacity. Remember, China is now the world’s largest net-consumer. And they all know how to come about the firewalls.

But to be more serious: The Chinese are smarter than you think, and they are not afraid of criticism. I am convinced, that OG will show us all that there is another way of handling complex politic issues than the simple minded present US approach.

And contrary to what you get to know from so called un-biased Western media, Chinese actually support the Chinese Government to a larger extend than is the case in let’s say Europe. The Government is not a bunch of bad guys, it’s actually an assembly of highly educated people with strong and well-developed visions on how to ensure that a population of 1.3 billion can get a better life.

Unfortunately for the West, the majority of yes, the West will be unprepared to meet the challenges when China becomes more than the factory for the rest of the world.

The reason: Too many uncurious and wise persons who believe uncritically in their own media and lack a full scope of reality.

And no, I’m not communist - far from that. And yes, a number of hum rights violations do occur like in UK, France, Sweden, Russia, Saudi, Denmark, Korea aso. And US.

I have, however, come to realise, that China is indeed more than a predudice founded on longgone fear. In 21st century, she will what US was in the 20th century - for good and bad. And noone is arguing about that. Because it’s already a fact.

…i did enjoy your food story…quite funny…glad to see ya cleaned up your eating habits…

…anyway, beyond the human rights violations, china seems to be a country trying to make up for lost time, & despite the lip service paid to concerns like the environment, i remain skeptical regarding so many of her issues…

The road race sounds interesting though. At least the part where it’s so hilly it wouldn’t come down to a sprint. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bettini win again, but I hope DiLuca doesn’t. I can’t remember, was the trial that they did last summer the same length?