48 replies to this topic

[favreauk]

I don't know where else to post all of the stories regarding the total suck of China. Along with cheating gymnasts, lip sync girls and police forcing bars to sign pledges of promise to not serve "black people", now we find our gold medals aren't actually gold, and could potentially lead to death. Go China, you rock.

"China's impressive haul of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics was tarnished somewhat today when it was revealed that "abnormally high levels of lead" were found in the first-place medallions.

The medals, which were supposed to be made entirely of gold, were instead found to be composed of 99% lead alloy and coated with a gold-colored lead-based paint.

The shocking revelations roiled the Olympic complex today and sent officials looking for answers from the Chinese manufacturer of the medals, the Wuhan One Hundred Percent Gold Medal Corporation.

"We are trying to determine how exactly so much lead got into those gold medals," said a spokesman for Wuhan, China's largest exporter of gold medals. "Until we do, we are urging all first-place athletes not to lick, taste or suck on their medals."

http://www.huffingto...d_b_118664.html



(the fact that this story isn't true in no way diminishes the suck of China. I just figured it was a good first post to lead any real stories.)


Please, feel free to add any stories you find....

Edited by favreauk, 18 August 2008 - 08:16 PM.

[Fishercat]

Heh, amusing. I was definitely fooled on the first read through, although the 99.9% was kind of a tip off.

Edited by Fishercat, 13 August 2008 - 05:59 PM.

[Tito's Pullover]

Wuhan One Hundred Percent Gold Medal Corporation

I approve of this company name.

[Reverend]

In case anyone is interested in the real life version that this guy may well be alluding too--he's usually pretty savvy:

Link

Well, one of them, and certainly the most prominent for legal nerds.

[favreauk]

The mystery of the half-filled stands at many events at the 2008 Olympic Games has been solved, according to Chinese internet users, who say it is the result of a policy to prevent the gathering of large and possibly uncontrollable crowds.

They claim ticket sales to the public were secretly restricted. Blocks of tickets went to government departments, Communist party officials or state-owned companies, which have quietly obeyed orders not to hand them out. “People are so angry because they slept all night outside ticket booths and got nothing and now they see this,” said one blogger, Jian Yu.

Official explanations eroded swiftly because internet insurgents have rapidly identified cracks in the perfect facade constructed for the Olympics.

http://www.timesonli...icle4547323.ece

Edited by favreauk, 18 August 2008 - 07:09 PM.

[favreauk]

The Chinese Communist regime repressed news of a tragic fall that left the lead dancer for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games paralyzed from the waist down.

Dancer Ms. Liu Yan was seriously injured during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies on July 27. Anger swelled in Chinese internet forums after news of the accident—not posted until August 6—was hurriedly removed by censors.

Pressed by reporters at a news conference in Beijing the day after the opening ceremonies, director Zhang Yimou admitted a dancer had been injured but did not name Ms. Liu. On August 11, the dancer’s devastating injury was confirmed by Mainland Chinese media, and photos of the hospitalized dancer appeared online.

Ms. Liu, 26, fell more than 3 m when she leapt to a moving platform controlled by People’s Liberation Army soldiers, according to accounts of the incident published Monday in the Yangzi Evening News and online. The platform moved before she could plant her feet, web postings say, and Ms. Liu fell to the ground, landing on her back.

http://seattletimes....1_dancer15.html

Edited by favreauk, 18 August 2008 - 07:15 PM.

[favreauk]

BEIJING: Another section of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony has been exposed as faked - the children supposedly representing the country's 56 ethnic groups were in fact all from the same one, the majority Han Chinese race.

The children accompanied the soldiers carrying in the national flag at the most solemn moment of the ceremony. They were dressed in costumes associated with the country's ethnic minorities, including those from troubled areas such as Tibet and the muslim province of Xinjiang. Such displays of "national unity" are a compulsory part of any major state occasion.

http://www.telegraph...g-ceremony.html

Edited by favreauk, 18 August 2008 - 07:06 PM.

[Fred not Lynn]

BEIJING: Another section of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony has been exposed as faked - the children supposedly representing the country's 56 ethnic groups were in fact all from the same one, the majority Han Chinese race.group.

I am shocked, SHOCKED that elements of fakery and deception were used in the presentation of a theatrical production!

[Cuzittt]

Fav-

Could you put up a link for these pieces?

[ossie schreckengost]

yeah, we get it.

china 39 14 14
usa 22 24 26

lol boo hoo

[WoburnDiaspora]

yeah, we get it.

china 39 14 14
usa 22 24 26

lol boo hoo

I highly doubt American concerns about Chinese government shenanigans have anything to do with the medal count.

Perhaps, the blatant dishonesty has offended our sensibilities.

[Ananti]

No, you don't get it at all.

Maybe this will put it in perspective:

Germany 33 26 30
USA 24 20 12

Edited by Ananti, 18 August 2008 - 06:12 PM.

[CaptainLaddie]

I highly doubt American concerns about Chinese government shenanigans have anything to do with the medal count.

Perhaps, the blatant dishonesty has offended our sensibilities.

Losing two world wars will make a man very jealous.

[favreauk]

Linked them.
Sorry, I forgotted about linking cause I'm new to the world-wide internet.

Edited by favreauk, 18 August 2008 - 07:14 PM.

[amh03]

Where are those posts from, Fav? As I'm reading them, I'm assuming that's not your writing - would you please source them?

Edit 2 - thanks for the links.

Edited by amh03, 18 August 2008 - 07:54 PM.

[Tokyo Sox]

yeah, we get it.

china 39 14 14
usa 22 24 26

lol boo hoo

Anybody catch that Team USA basketball game yesterday? I forget who they played but it was a doozie.

[favreauk]

I highly doubt American concerns about Chinese government shenanigans have anything to do with the medal count.

Perhaps, the blatant dishonesty has offended our sensibilities.

Absolutely. I don't particularly care where we are in the medal count, but I've been shocked by a lot of these stories coming out.

[amh03]

I don't know...as I read those articles, and as sad as the story of that dancer is, I still don't see how they separate out China in sucking...heck, all governments lie to their people...even our own country does that. How do these support the title of this thread, which, by the way, I don't agree with. Maybe the Chinese government sucks...but I wouldn't say that China sucks.

[DannyHeep]

I don't know...as I read those articles, and as sad as the story of that dancer is, I still don't see how they separate out China in sucking...heck, all governments lie to their people...even our own country does that. How do these support the title of this thread, which, by the way, I don't agree with. Maybe the Chinese government sucks...but I wouldn't say that China sucks.

To your point we could make this list for any country. There are indeed 2008 reasons China sucks, as well as 2008 ways the USA sucks, and 2008 ways Denmark sucks etc.

[Fred not Lynn]

I don't know...as I read those articles, and as sad as the story of that dancer is, I still don't see how they separate out China in sucking

I wonder how many workers died building the venues? Or at the factory your TV was made at?

Those who oppose the Chinese government will jump on EVERY negative story that comes out of these games as if a negative story never came out of an Olympic Games before. There's the party line as told by the Chinese government, there's the anti-China line as told by the hard-core haters of the Chinese government, and somewhere between the two, there's the truth.

[favreauk]

I don't know...as I read those articles, and as sad as the story of that dancer is, I still don't see how they separate out China in sucking...heck, all governments lie to their people...even our own country does that. How do these support the title of this thread, which, by the way, I don't agree with. Maybe the Chinese government sucks...but I wouldn't say that China sucks.

Fixed it

I am notoriously lazy when it comes to thread titles. The less I have to type, the happier I am.

[Tony the Pony]

yeah, we get it.

china 39 14 14
usa 22 24 26

lol boo hoo

Ha ha

The medal count here in the US deals with total medals won, so the USA is still number one, baby - but only here.

lol boo hoo

[amh03]

Fixed it

I am notoriously lazy when it comes to thread titles. The less I have to type, the happier I am.

Shorthand is good...but I guess I read stuff like that and just bristle because we (the US & it's government) are just as guilty of the same (or very similar) things. What's worse a lip syching girl or Marion Jones, albeit that's not the government's doing? What's worse - squelching an article about that poor paralyzed dancer or weapons of mass destruction? And I know...I do know, the Chinese government has a horrendous record on human rights. What's going on to repress dissidents is epic in its horror. But, they're not alone in that hell.

Ah...I'm just going to go back and watch volleyball....V&N type topics get my blood boiling...

[DannyHeep]

Ha ha

The medal count here in the US deals with total medals won, so the USA is still number one, baby - but only here.

lol boo hoo

I'd call it a split title.

[favreauk]

I didn't intend for this to be a political topic. I just wanted a general dumping ground for stories about the Olympics that weren't merely event results. I have found myself fascinated with stories coming out of China and thought others might be as well.

[amh03]

I didn't intend for this to be a political topic. I just wanted a general dumping ground for stories about the Olympics that weren't merely event results. I have found myself fascinated with stories coming out of China and thought others might be as well.

Then that's my error...sorry for dragging it down this path...."why so serious amh?"

[DJnVa]

BEIJING: Another section of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony has been exposed as faked - the children supposedly representing the country's 56 ethnic groups were in fact all from the same one, the majority Han Chinese race.

I don't think Costas said that they were from all the groups, merely that they were dressed to represent all the ethnic groups.

Of course, they *should* have done it so they had one from each.

[amh03]

I don't think Costas said that they were from all the groups, merely that they were dressed to represent all the ethnic groups.

Of course, they *should* have done it so they had one from each.

Oh, here I go again - why? Those children are actors in that production. Their personal ethnicity is irrelevant to the theatrical production. Should the group have been dominated by boys because there are fewer girls in China than boys? Should the distribution mirror the gender statistics of current day China?

Edit - spelling

Edited by amh03, 18 August 2008 - 08:58 PM.

[slidingsideways]

Not the Chinese government here, but the National Indoor Stadium has no air-conditioning and is reportedly sweltering inside. This tidbit of news came from a fan who sweated through a few events in there. I recognize that it's very American of me to expect air conditioning in a huge stadium.

[Ananti]

Oh, here I go again - why? Those children are actors in that production. Their personal ethnicity is irrelevant to the theatrical production. Should the group have been dominated by boys because there are fewer girls in China than boys? Should the distribution mirror the gender statistics of current day China?

Edit - spelling

Because the purpose of the production is to demonstrate the government's party line that China is made of many ethnic group who are all getting along under the leadership of the government that treats all ethnic groups equally.

When the reality is that the Chinese govt is essentially completely Han in ethnicity and minority groups (with Tibetans being a main example) are not treated well at all. The only people in Chinese who believes the "unity" line are the Han Chinese, the other groups all know it to be a lie. So a production featuring this false "unity" of the the ethnic groups but only made of actual Han people exposes how fraudulent it is.

I mean what if in 1984 you had South Africa staging a production about how Whites and Blacks gets along and found out later the blacks were actually whites in make up, you don't think that would warrant a reaction?

Edited by Ananti, 18 August 2008 - 09:34 PM.

[Tokyo Sox]

Oh, here I go again - why? Those children are actors in that production. Their personal ethnicity is irrelevant to the theatrical production. Should the group have been dominated by boys because there are fewer girls in China than boys? Should the distribution mirror the gender statistics of current day China?

They "should" have had one from each if the article Fav originally cited is accurate:

The official guide to the opening ceremony said that the children did not just represent but "came from" China's ethnic groups.

"Fifty-six children from 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster around the Chinese national flag, representing the 56 ethnic groups," it said.

...bolding is mine. If they really did claim that they had 56 kids of different ethnicities, then this is flat out bullsh*t. But this is exactly the kind of thing that could very very easily have been slightly mistranslated, picked up by Western media, and blown way out of proportion. It's possible it's a language mistake. Who knows.

That said, for the record, my money is on intentional lie & huge load of bullshit. And if that's the case, this is very different than lip-synching, or acting as part of a theatrical production. The real problem is that China doesn't think there's a problem with saying, "don't worry ethnic minorities, you don't need a voice, we'll speak for you."

[mclusky]

Shorthand is good...but I guess I read stuff like that and just bristle because we (the US & it's government) are just as guilty of the same (or very similar) things. What's worse a lip syching girl or Marion Jones, albeit that's not the government's doing?

In the U.S., Marion Jones is in prison as we speak for perjury related to her steroid use. In China, if you were a Chinese reporter investigating Chinese athletes for doping or fraud, you would be in prison. Big frickin' difference.

[amh03]

In the U.S., Marion Jones is in prison as we speak for perjury related to her steroid use. In China, if you were a Chinese reporter investigating Chinese athletes for doping or fraud, you would be in prison. Big frickin' difference.

So, reporters don't got to prison in the US, do they?

A TV reporter was convicted of criminal contempt Thursday (11-18-04) for refusing to say who leaked him an FBI videotape of a politician taking a bribe — the latest in a string of cases in which journalists have been threatened with jail for protecting a source.

Link

...this is exactly the kind of thing that could very very easily have been slightly mistranslated, picked up by Western media, and blown way out of proportion. It's possible it's a language mistake. Who knows.

You make a good point on the translation...

[Tokyo Sox]

So, reporters don't got to prison in the US, do they?

You are really throwing some red herrings out there AMH. Yes the US is guilty of many things, past and present. And yes, reporters in the US have gone to prison. But the circumstances surrounding those arrests, and say, these arrests are just totally different.

btw the pic came up as a red x, but I looked up the link. Classic.
edit: now the pic works!

Edited by Tokyo Sox, 18 August 2008 - 10:33 PM.

[mclusky]

So, reporters don't got to prison in the US, do they?
Link

Man, that's a stretch. You're talking about a situation in the U.S. where reporters are sometimes jailed because they are trying to assert a special right of immunity to testifying (as any other citizen has a responsibility to do). Whereas in China you get imprisoned for the much more serious crime of reporting the truth (or attempting to).

But whatev, props to the Chinese government. All the naysayers are people are just jealous because they won more medals than us.

[amh03]

You are really throwing some red herrings out there AMH. Yes the US is guilty of many things, past and present. And yes, reporters in the US have gone to prison. But the circumstances surrounding those arrests, and say, these arrests are just totally different.

How is it a red herring? The post I responded to was basically trying to say that China's system is all bad and the US (in contrast) is all good. They created an example that a reporter could go to prison in China for seeking the truth and I found an example where a reporter in the US was imprisoned for basically seeking the truth (and trying to protect their source). How exactly is that a red herring?

Look, I'm not defending China's system. I'm merely pointing out that the US (and a whole bunch of other countries, for that matter) is guilty of many of the same things. But no thread was started about the 2008 ways in which the US sucked before the Salt Lake Olympics and I highly doubt we'll be seeing a thread about how England sucks before the London Olympics.

Full disclosure - this isn't an academic debate for me. I've got 2 nieces who were born in China and are being raised here in the US. The oldest is reaching the age where she's going to be dealing with kids in school who pick on her for being different. And some of them will be mean because she's from China. They'll have heard their parents saying "China sucks" and will repeat it. I want her to know that there is much for her to be proud about when it comes to her heritage. When she's older she can learn about the reality of political power, oppression, etc. wherever it occurs.

btw the pic came up as a red x, but I looked up the link. Classic.
edit: now the pic works!

Now it's completely gone...damn...it was funny. I get a real kick out of some of the translations.

[DJnVa]

Oh, here I go again - why? Those children are actors in that production. Their personal ethnicity is irrelevant to the theatrical production.

Simply put? Because it would have been pretty cool. I don't really have a problem either way, unless of course they lied about it.

[Fred not Lynn]

But no thread was started about the 2008 ways in which the US sucked before the Salt Lake Olympics

Oh, I bet there were more than a few such threads on a variety of different message boards...maybe not THIS one, but I'm sure they were out there.

[Tony the Pony]

But no thread was started about the 2008 ways in which the US sucked before the Salt Lake Olympics

I'm sure you meant 2002 ways, but that's kind of academic as the Salt Lake organizers waltzed out all those authentic and ethnic tribes of Indians

[Fred not Lynn]

I'm sure you meant 2002 ways, but that's kind of academic as the Salt Lake organizers waltzed out all those authentic and ethnic tribes of Indians

Which was especially ironic because most people in Utah believe that the Indians rejected Jesus and killed the lost tribe, or something like that...

Edited by Fred not Lynn, 19 August 2008 - 01:45 PM.

[Myt1]

How is it a red herring? The post I responded to was basically trying to say that China's system is all bad and the US (in contrast) is all good. They created an example that a reporter could go to prison in China for seeking the truth and I found an example where a reporter in the US was imprisoned for basically seeking the truth (and trying to protect their source). How exactly is that a red herring?

Because no one is allowed to withhold that kind of information. The reporter was not at all imprisoned for basically seeking the truth.

Look, I'm not defending China's system. I'm merely pointing out that the US (and a whole bunch of other countries, for that matter) is guilty of many of the same things. But no thread was started about the 2008 ways in which the US sucked before the Salt Lake Olympics and I highly doubt we'll be seeing a thread about how England sucks before the London Olympics.

You're really not, though. You're pointing out that the US, or individual Americans are guilty of very different things. It's sort of like saying that a murderer really isn't that bad because there are lots of people who commit battery. The relativism of, "All bad things are equal," is a weak crutch.

[Ananti]

Exactly, any attempt to draw moral equivalence between the US and China is either hopelessly naive, willful ignorance, or something worse.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Yeah, I think this qualifies as big time suck.

Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.

The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.

Here's a picture of the enemy of the people herself.

[The Napkin]

Sure she looks frail but put her at a bus stop and I guarandamntee you she'll manage to push her way past 20 people and be the first to board.

[Ananti]

Classic Chinese government trick, set up official channels of protest to pretend that you're open to criticism, when the real goal is to draw out the malcontents so you can deliver the hammer.

[Myt1]

Just like those damn fingercuffs. They're so inviting.

[Lukiewerle]

From the same NYT article referenced above:

According to Xinhua, the state news agency, 77 people submitted protest applications, none of which were approved. Xinhua, quoting a public security spokesperson, said that apart from those detained all but three applicants had dropped their requests after their complaints were “properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.” The remaining three applications were rejected for incomplete information or for violating Chinese law.

The authorities, however, have refused to explain what happened to applicants who disappeared after they submitted their paperwork

Yikes.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

[gaelgirl]

I am sure the people who disappeared are just hanging out with Tank Man and the rest of his Tiananmen Square buddies.

I was fairly disgusted when the Olympics were awarded to China, and I remain disgusted now. My only hope at this point is that Rogge decides that chiding Usain Bolt for over-celebrating isn't nearly the most important thing he can criticize and instead of the usual pronouncements of what a wonderful Olympics it has been, he delivers a pointedly and brutally critical address that praises the innocent citizens of China but condemns the Chinese government's disgusting lack of respect for basic human rights. In Chinese. On live Chinese television. He doesn't even need to go beyond the scope of the Olympics. He can talk about their horrible athletic concentration camps, their falsifying of records and blatant cheating, their opression of the citizens of Beijing and their lack of care and concern for the workers who built the facilities or were asked to perform at the Opening Ceremony. Then he can declare these games the greatest clusterfuck of all Olympic games, then get Bolt and a few other sprinters to carry him off in an attempt to get out of the stadium before being arrested or killed.

[Fred not Lynn]

I was fairly disgusted when the Olympics were awarded to China, and I remain disgusted now. My only hope at this point is that Rogge decides that chiding Usain Bolt for over-celebrating isn't nearly the most important thing he can criticize and instead of the usual pronouncements of what a wonderful Olympics it has been, he delivers a pointedly and brutally critical address that praises the innocent citizens of China but condemns the Chinese government's disgusting lack of respect for basic human rights.

All you could possibly hope for is for him to say something like, "Our Chinese hosts have done a competent job in organising these Games"....which translated from Olympic-Speak means, "Holy shit what a cluster-fuck, I'm glad that's over and we never have to do this here again".

I liked it better when if Sammaranch said anything other than that the Games were the "Best Ever", he meant that they totally sucked.