The Beijing Olympics

So here we are slash dang bang in the middle of the 2008 summer Olymics which just happen to be taking place in Beijing , China . Great stuff , you might say !

Wonderful , yes the inaurguration ceremonyof the 29th modern games was just awesome ! From the symbols of 8 to the circle and the square , from the scroll and perhaps turning over a new leaf ? to the yang and yong ( I'm sorry I've perhaps got the spelling wrong ! ) . I personally was really impressed ! What about you ?

Anyway have a look at the following videos to see really how impressed we should be , or are 'they' trying to pull the silk , oops sorry it should be wool , over our eyes once again ?

The Place and infrastructure .


The British team and general atmosphere .

The Olympic torch , and protesters




The Torch on the Great Wall .




Dope or No Dope ?




Tibet activist on the phone !




Smog and other environmental problems !




Taste , lost in translation !

All of these were taken before anything got started ! So it seems that many groups are using the occassion to criticize China's human rights record , its politics in Sudan as well as at home and its approach to birth control and other 'narrower' topics such as animal cruelty ( view the picture at the top in which the American Amanda Beard , twice Olympic gold medalist , speaks out against cruelty to animals ) , abortion , Tibet . .....................

Certain groups have already begun attacking and others have warned they are going to .

At a minor level the field hockey player , Ravi Kahlon says he wants to challenge the identity issue and is going to wear his turban , thus proving that you can wear a turban and still be Canadian !

We can clearly see that today , as in the past , dissidents want to speak their minds as they did in 1968 in Mexico and in 1980 in Moscow . However what might be different here is that the Chinese , for the moment , can't seem to put a lid on it !

The number one question I'm asking myself is , 'Is this really the spirit of the Olympics ? '

From what I learnt in school , a long time ago , I would have said a definite 'No' ! From the very beginning in Ancient Greece it seems the games , a religious gathering , were supposed to be held in a respectful way promoting fair play, no cheating and an honest spirit .

I am sure that Baron Pierre de Coubertin ( 1863-1935 ) who re-established the modern international sports competitions in 1893 would have agreed . However in digging a bit deeper in to the games one finds that they have always , in the past as well as in modern times , been used to put forward certain political idealogical ideas !

What happened in 1936 with Jesse Owens ? Hitler refused to shake his hand to congratulate him because he was black ! The games he was hosting were supposed to be showing the superiority of the Ayrian race and when black athletes began winning certain events you can imagine how peeved he felt ! Poor man , he should have kept his silly ideas to himself !!!!!

Everybody knows about the closed fists of the Black panther sympathizers in the 1960s and what dreadful things happened in Munich in the 1970s ?

Even in the Ancient games things apparently weren't always rosy ! Log into the following site to find out more :
">Linkhttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/

So from past to present the games have often been disrupted by political , social and economical concerns . Let's hope that this year the sporting events themselves will hit the headlines rather than external events . Ready , steady , go !!!!!