Masks?


This is just dumb. First, it's a slap in the face of the Chinese and the pride they as a nation are justifiably taking in hosting the games.

Two, as the Times notes:

The Chinese and the International Olympic Committee, including Arne Ljungqvist, chair of the I.O.C. medical commission, have repeatedly said that athletes were not at risk because of the air quality here.

During a previously scheduled news conference Tuesday night, Ljungqvist dismissed the athletes’ actions as unnecessary.

“I don’t see the need for it, honestly,” Ljungqvist said of the masks, although he noted that some athletes with respiratory conditions may need to wear them.

So, unless all the American cyclists have respiratory conditions then there just isn't any need. Don't American athletes have any sense of political propriety, or rather just good manners?


Sean Paul Kelley August 5, 2008 - 8:03pm
( categories: Olympics )

when I smoked Carltons years ago, I told folks they were the next best thing to breathing air. I had come down from Camels.

That attitude would go a ways in Beijing.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

mauberly August 5, 2008 - 9:17pm

as a training regimen.


“I despise ideologues masquerading as objective journalists.” - Bill O'Reilly, March 30, 2007

Mark August 5, 2008 - 9:26pm

Dan Patrick interviewed Charles Barkley today and Charles pretty much said what you did. He added, "if two weeks in Beijing kills you, then you had bigger problems." Plus he gave a shout out to Obama.

monkey knife fight August 5, 2008 - 10:02pm

I was in Beijing 20 years ago....it was awful then. I can only imagine what it is like now. The Chinese were wearing masks back then. Have any of you all been to Beijing lately? I don't blame them at all for wearing masks...now, black masks, that's another issue. A few days in Beijing nearly killed me...I came back to the states sicker than I'd ever been in my life with bronchitis.

jtruett August 5, 2008 - 11:28pm

wear masks if they are sick as a way of being polite to others and not spreading the illness.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 1:07am

Many Chinese do wear masks for reasons of air quality. Others wear them not to avoid spreading illness, which their cotton mask wouldn't in any event, but to avoid catching illnessess.

Blackburn August 6, 2008 - 8:57am

I was in Beijing in June. Air was not great but it certainly wouldn't kill me and, if I were in better shape wouldn't slow me down. And I tend to bronchial problems.

hvd August 6, 2008 - 7:58am

My brother-in-law, who runs 10 miles most days when he's home in the U.S., was there on business last year. He said his lungs physically hurt just to try to breath normally from all of the pollution in the air. He said his lungs sort of seized up and spasmed. It took about three weeks back in the U.S. before he could breathe normally again.

I remember a similar experience I had during a particularly bad smog alert in Los Angeles, and it was breathing slivers of glass into my lungs.

I just can't believe we're even entertaining the idea of pumping more oil. We need to be staging a worldwide Manhattan project, a summit of all nations, to developing clean alternatives now

Manny_Fromm August 7, 2008 - 3:53am

the air was better then than it had been when I visited in 1999 and in 2001.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 1:08am

The country that Mexico City is in? That Mexico?

*shakes his irony meter, listens sadly to tinkling sound within*


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 6, 2008 - 1:20am

"First, it's a slap in the face of the Chinese and the pride they as a nation are justifiably taking in hosting the games."

That seems like reason enough to do it. Most of what the Chinese government has put its greasy fingerprints on smells to high heaven. If the cycling team weren't wearing filter masks, they should just as well wear clothespins on their noses. The bastards might be pleased as punch at hosting IOC's Fascist Fest 2008, but the blood and excrement on their hands won't wash-- nor should it.

The Chinese should be harried by the Uighurs, shamed by the Tibetans, defied by the Taiwanese, distracted by Falun Gong, disgraced by the world environmental movement for the unfolding disaster taking place there, and called out by the civilized world for their tradition of continuous overlapping abuses and atrocities. What they shouldn't be is host for any international event of respectable standing.

chalo August 6, 2008 - 3:54am

Sean, are you joking?

Manny_Fromm August 6, 2008 - 5:35am

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 7:39am

Why are you chiding the athletes? If they believe that their health is imperiled, or that their performances will be diminished, you think that they should suck it up, "be men" (or women), be passive and take it?

I don't understand why your anger is directed at the athletes.

They've been training for years for this moment, and this is their livelihoods. The Olympic Committee is a bunch of corporate whores who clearly don't care about the lives and health of the athletes. It's too bad that the athletes don't have a say in where the games are to be, but they don't, and taking precautions seems a small statement and concession for the huge money that's going to be made off these people.

Manny_Fromm August 7, 2008 - 3:42am

behavior in Barcelona against the Angolan National team. His behavior was deplorable. Sometimes manners really are a good thing. What's so bad about just having nice manners, a little sensitivity?

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 7, 2008 - 3:54am

These athletes have nothing to apologize for.

According to Daily Kos and Sports Illustrated, the US Olympic Committee made 200 of these masks, and distributed them to athletes:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/selena_roberts/08/06/beijing/index.html?eref=T1

Even if they didn't, these folks are CYCLISTS... and lung capacity is ESSENTIAL to winning. There is a strong correlation between winning races, and the ability to absorb oxygen into the lungs. Its not like they pissed on the Chinese flag, or were openly obnoxious. They were protecting their most valuable asset in an unknown region. Also, as clearly mentioned here, they probably saw other Chinese wearing masks, so they had no way of knowing it was some kind of artificially manufactured taboo.

A little black mask makes the Chinese freak out? How brittle can they possibly be???

If the whole goal of the Bejing Olympics is to make china look like a "grown up nation," then they got a long way to go. The Chinese who demanded an apology are nothing but a pack of Orwellian dicks who use thuggery and whining to get their way... To them, perception is more important than reality, and they don't want any reality invading their fantasy land.

Lets call a spade a spade, and move on.

--
http://bexhuff.com
Of COURSE you can trust the US Government! Just ask the Indians.

bex August 8, 2008 - 5:02pm

They were wearing the masks in the air conditioned airport for crying out loud. What don't you folks get about how rude and conspicuously unnecessary it is to don masks in an air conditioned building?

The only alternative explanation is that Americans are so xenophobic as to be afraid that either the Chinese aren't up to air conditioning their brand new world class airport in an effective manner or that the risk of catching Chinese cooties would persist even in such an indoor environment.

hvd August 8, 2008 - 7:17pm

What don't you folks get about how rude and conspicuously unnecessary it is to don masks in an air conditioned building?

So... an athlete's body is not his own? Why not let him decide what is and what is not necessary to protect his lungs? Or we could appeal to the scientific evidence about how bad pollution is... but that too would "offend" the brittle Chinese, because they failed to clean it up like they claimed:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7506925.stm

I'm sure it offended a lot of Germans when America sent Jesse Owens to the 1936 Olympics... Should he have just stayed home because successful black people "offend" the Fascists? Or maybe he should paint his body white to please his Aryan hosts?

Don't you see how stupid this whole "I'm Offended!" treadmill is? I, for one, am hopping off.

--
http://bexhuff.com
Of COURSE you can trust the US Government! Just ask the Indians.

bex August 8, 2008 - 7:41pm

is all about oxygen uptake. I can imagine that ANY pollution in the lungs would impede Olympic performance. It is a fact that China did not meet the IOC air standard requirements by a high margin. You have an obvious bias that the Chinese can do no wrong, and that 'national pride' trumps human rights and health concerns, but I'll tell you that an Olympic athlete will do what they need to be healthy for their sport and likely are not to worried about national pride when they are breathing filthy air.

Scotjen61 August 6, 2008 - 7:41am

Defending SP (and myself parenthetically) no one here has ever said that the Chinese can do no wrong. We would, however, expect that the more reasonable amongst you China haters could allow them the same room to continue improving what they do in much the same way as you allow those other paragons of freedom and democracy (lets put in U.S. and U.K.).

hvd August 6, 2008 - 8:03am

do no wrong. For proof I would point you here and here and that's just an appetizer. I have serious issues with the Chinese, having seen what horrors the perpetrate first hand in Tibet and East Turkestan. So, I think you ought rethink some of your statement.

That being said, I do have an enormous amount of respect for Chinese the world over, even on the mainland for what they have acheieved this century. The good, I dare say, might outweigh the bad, although the environmental devastation makes it a really close call.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 8:40am

Are you arguing that "the Chinese government and International Olympic Committee" mentioned in the selected quotation are disinterested judges of whether a given level of pollution is harmful to athletes? Wearing masks may be over the top, but before ripping into American athletes for bad manners did you at least Google "Beijing + pollution"? In any event here are just two of many sites that might merit a look: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7506925.stm and http://www.pyongyangsquare.com/beijingair/.

Blackburn August 6, 2008 - 9:21am

Beijing several times. I stress the word 'several' not to mention other cities in China with air problems much, much, much worse than Beijing.

I'm not dumb. I know what of I speak. Might do you some good to look around at my experience in traveling before making unwise assumptions.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 10:08am

First, apologies if you thought the above post's title referred to you; it refers instead to the first line of your post calling the athletes, or at least their wearing of masks, dumb.

As for Beijing's pollution, other cities no doubt have bad pollution, but I trust that you aren't basing your comparisons among various cities on the anecdotal evidence gleaned from just a few short visits. Chinese cities, Beijing among them, still dominate the world tables (16 of the top 20?) in terms of air pollution, at least according to the World Bank. Beijing's air has admittedly improved somewhat over the last decade, though sadly the exploding number of cars in the city threatens those modest gains, but it's still bad by most standards. Whether the air is a danger to the athletes during the Olympics is clearly the subject of debate. I'm just suggesting that the Chinese government and IOC aren't exactly disinterested parties in that debate.

Speaking of assumptions, before touting your knowledge of things China (or anywhere for that matter) based on a few trips to the country, you might consider that someone else might have actually lived there 'several' years. You might think it presumptuous for someone to claim expertise on things Texas based on 'several' trips to Dallas, no?

Blackburn August 6, 2008 - 8:31pm

well founded and I don't dispute them. At the same time, I understand an athlete's need for health and Beijing is NOT ideal. Again, no argument.

My beef was with the propriety of the whole thing, the signal lack of manners it showed. I guess it's my Asian manners rubbing off--as opposed to those I've gotten from growing up in Texas. I just found it insulting to the Chinese what the athletes did and I felt it uneccessary. And it was dumb. A little forethought, like, hmmm, maybe I oughta wait til I get out of the way of the press til I put this on? Just a little forethgouth is all it would have taken.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 10:44pm

certainly not something that merits an apology to Bocog, however 'voluntary' or not. Waiting until they got to the village, however, if they indeed insisted on wearing masks, might have been the better part of valor.

Then again, the athletes aren't run-of-the-mill guests in China, they're participants in an international athletic event that China fought long and hard for the privilege to host, and I would emphasize privilege here. China didn't invite these athletes, they won their places through hard work and grueling competition. Nor did the athletes have any choice about going to Beijing if they wanted to compete in their possibly one chance at Olympic glory, the IOC made that decision for them years ago. (I will note that at the time Bocog promised that there would be clean air during the Olympics.) All things considered, I would lean toward giving the athletes a break, and not worry too much about the host's often prickly sensitivities.

This episode has sadly highlighted that for all too many, most particularly the Chinese government, these Games have become more about China and the Chinese than the athletes. Now, the athletes may have lost out long ago to crass commercialism and IOC corruption, but one can still cling to the ideal.

Blackburn August 7, 2008 - 1:22am

As I am in the medical field, I tend to approach this from the potential health hazard standpoint and fully agree with Blackburn.
A cyclist was pointed out as an example. The amount of air he or she would use, or a runner would use, in full exertion is probably double or triple our normal (activity) intake, and at a much more rapid rate.
Do this multiple times in a day and you are going to be in bad shape when all is finished.

For me the point is health safety. And the atheletes are just doing one of, I am sure, many prudent things, when your sole objective is to win the race, yes.

Food for thought. Thanks, Bb

Bb August 7, 2008 - 2:00am

They were wearing the masks in the air conditioned airport for crying out loud. What don't you folks get about how rude and conspicuously unnecessary it is to don masks in an air conditioned building?

The only alternative explanation is that Americans are so xenophobic as to be afraid that either the Chinese aren't up to air conditioning their brand new world class airport in an effective manner or that the risk of catching Chinese cooties would persist even in such an indoor environment.

hvd August 7, 2008 - 9:06am

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 7, 2008 - 10:48pm

Air quality forecasts for Beijing are available here.

When looking at these maps, it is worth bearing in mind that the air pollution index is not defined according to WHO standards. The WHO air quality standards can be found here, but basically, it turns out that air quality defined as 'excellent' according to the index is essentially meets WHO standards, while anything above 100 (ie 'slight' or higher pollution) is above the interim WHO targets.

The BBC has also been keeping an eye on the particulate levels, and their story is here.

From the data, I would say that it is not unreasonable for athletes to be concerned about the air quality, and if people are offended by athletes wearing masks, then they should be more offended by the poor air quality that people who live in Beijing have to put up with (remembering that the air is of course currently much cleaner than it usually would be).

sean August 6, 2008 - 9:23am

'You never want to go to someone's house and cause embarrassment'

* Andy Bull in Beijing
* guardian.co.uk,
* Wednesday August 06 2008 10:46 BST

A US Olympic cyclist arrives in Beijing. Officials may relocate endurance events if smog levels become dangerous. Photograph: Yves Herman/ Reuters

Four American cyclists who arrived in Beijing airport wearing facemasks to protect against air pollution have apologised to the Beijing Olympics Organising Committee (Bocog) for any offence they have caused. The athletes, world keirin champion Jennie Reed among them, were said simply to have been overly concerned about the extent of the air-pollution problem.

"They have written letters of apology to Bocog," said the United States Olympic Committee chairman Jim Scherr, "and they now understand that it wasn't in the best judgement." It was made clear that the athletes had not been forced to apologise, but had done so of their own volition "upon realising how what they'd done had been perceived by the host nation".

Wearing masks through the airport was certainly over the top, but then two of the athletes even wore them on the plane. "Why we wore the masks is simple: pollution," Mike Friedman, another of the masked athletes, told the New York Times. "When you train your whole life for something, dot all your i's and cross all your t's, why wouldn't you be better safe than sorry? They have pollution in Los Angeles, and if the Olympics were in Los Angeles, we would probably wear these masks, too."

When pressed, the USOC confirmed that they had actually issued the athletes with the masks "at the request of the national governing bodies". Around 200 of the USA's athletes are believed to have brought a mask with them. "We're not chastising anybody for wearing a mask," Scherr continued, "and we would not forbid athletes [from wearing masks] if they felt it was in their best interests to do so."

more

Tina August 6, 2008 - 9:30am

Don't American athletes have any sense of political propriety, or rather just good manners?

I thought the Olympics was about sportsmanship?

Lesly August 6, 2008 - 3:41pm

Frankly, I'm a bit shocked Sean-Paul.

Your post reads like a knee-jerk response to the photos and defending the IOC/Chinese stance before even looking at the facts on the ground.

Yes, it is great that you've been to Beijing many times before. So have I, and last time it was during a clean weak in fall. Shanghai was much more polluted (particulates in my nose EVERY day there). But that is just anecdotal evidence.

Please, please, do a little research before attacking the athletes.

The PM10 is currently being measured (as it is cheap and easy to do so) and it is way off the scale of acceptability. And that is PM10... the big stuff! The EPA is moving to PM2.5 as a standard for particulate measurement. Is anyone measuring on that scale in Beijing?

Please note that this is just particulate matter... rocks, dust, that sort of thing. With the desert blowing in, Beijing is stuck with it no matter what.

I haven't seen anyone putting out numbers on the real pollution-type of dangers.

If you want to talk pollution, let's not look at the Gobi dust in the air, lets look at the really unhealthy stuff such as CO, NO2, S02, and O3.

Who is measuring those right now? Pardon me if I'm curious about seeing some numbers from monitors who are a little less partisan than the IOC or CPC.

dot_txt August 6, 2008 - 7:05pm

already apologized. My point has been made. And if you read any of my previous posts on the Chinese you'd realize this was far from a knee-jerk reaction. Sometimes it is just better to behave well and show good manners.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 7:16pm

out of fear they would not be allowed to compete.

Scotjen61 August 7, 2008 - 7:47am

From Sports Illustrated:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/selena_roberts/08/06/beijing/index.html?eref=T1

The USOC made sure the cyclists understood this breach of guest etiquette by scolding them to tears, eliciting an official apology from Michael Friedman, Sarah Hammer, Bobby Lea and Jennie Reed

Yeah, nice... the Chinese turn the thumbscrews because of some manufactured "insult" to show how tough they are... then demand concessions. And the USOC plays the puppet.

Why did the USOC so quickly turn on the very athletes they are supposed to represent? Conspiracy theories are budding:

There was also another, perhaps far more important, reason for the USOC to play nice with China: fear of retribution for criticizing the Beijing Games. The Americans are already on edge about the medal count, knowing they could fall short of expectations and short of China, and would not want to compromise the outcome of any event by agitating the hosts. It may sound far-fetched, but this is the Olympics, home to French judge scandals in ice skating and doping cheats worldwide.

Yikes...

Seriously, how many of you have done business in China? This is standard operating procedure for bureaucrats. Pretend to be insulted about something, forcing the dim-witted westerner to fall all over himself trying to let you save-face.

I'm ashamed that the USOC didn't learn how to handle this kind of crap before it happened. Mark my words: this will not be the first "manufactured insult" that China will demand an apology for.

--
http://bexhuff.com
Of COURSE you can trust the US Government! Just ask the Indians.

bex August 8, 2008 - 5:11pm

Some of these particles just stay in your lungs, or wherever they get into, once they enter your system. That could happen even with short exposure times, apparently (though a lot about this is still not known). If the levels were well above what is considered "healthy" in the US (I have no idea if they were), then one cannot really blame them, since their careers and performance depend on being in optimal physical shape.
We should remember, however, that anybody living near a busy freeway in the US is exposed to unhealthy levels of these particles.

creativelcro August 6, 2008 - 9:48pm

BBC takes and posts measurements of PM10, along with a picture, every day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7506925.stm). The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau post daily reports of PM10, as well as SO2 and NO2 levels, in various areas in and around Beijing on their website (http://bjepb.gov.cn/air2008/olympic.aspx). And yes, the readings differ markedly.

Blackburn August 7, 2008 - 12:34am

The levels reported by the BBC are quite high. On some days, almost 300 (08/04). I'd probably wear a mask on those days if I had to walk around. On the 5th, when the US athletes were using the masks, it was just above 100. If it was just to go from the plane to a shuttle bus, probably wearing a mask was excessive.

creativelcro August 7, 2008 - 10:57am

i can tell you're not a top flight athlete, SP. you can tell if you are one; even a little crap in the air can depreciate performance, and at Olympic levels, that makes all the difference. i was a star sprinter in my day, and when the difference between gold and silver is .01 sec, every last thing you can do to perform better than the competition counts, and anything that shaves off your speed/ability is to be deeply resented, if it's unnecessary or the result of human failing.

i think you're totally off base here, given the photos i've seen of chinese smog and pollution. i wouldn't want to try to break a world record there either. gross. there's nothing wrong with pointing out that unregulated growth and environmental destruction are, you know, bad.

chicago dyke August 6, 2008 - 10:16pm

not knowing about the egregiously poor air quality. Either you come to compete under the existing conditions or stay away. The masks don't help and the athletes certainly aren't going to wear them while competing. If you don't want to compete under these conditions stay away, don't embarrass the host country to no good end. The cyclists made a bad decision for which they have rightly apologized.


“I despise ideologues masquerading as objective journalists.” - Bill O'Reilly, March 30, 2007

Mark August 6, 2008 - 10:33pm

Nobody showed up in Beijing

not knowing about the egregiously poor air quality. Either you come to compete under the existing conditions or stay away. The mssks don't help and the athletes certainly aren't going to wear them while competing. If you don't want to compete under these conditions stay away, don't embarrass the host country to no good end. The cyclists made a bad decision for which they have rightly apologized.

As for my athletic prowess: I was an avid runner, even marathons, before I blew out my back in a car wreck in Tibet coming down from the Everest base camp. So, I know about athletes.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley August 6, 2008 - 10:46pm

you're a runner and you don't think smog and air quality make a difference? um, ok. and as for the whole "you showed up, deal with it" argument, well, it's not like the athletes have a choice about where the olympics will be. that's left to the corrupt IOC and national pols looking to make political hay off sports and hype. what are they going to do, say no to the professional and athletic opportunity of a lifetime, the very event that could literally determine if they can survive on what they could potentially make in endorsements? throwing away a lifetime's worth of effort? of course they're going to go whereever the olympics are held; it's up to people like us to pressure governments to make sure they don't have to sacrifice themselves anymore than they already do already for purely political purposes.

cmon, SP. given a choice, would you *want* to run a marathon in mexico city? downtown LA during an ozone action day? these olympics? or would you want to run thru the streets of someplace with strict air quality regulations? and again, you distance people never did quite get just how much the little stuff matters to the sprinting classes. it really does matter: the temperature, humidity, the nature of the material of the track, wind...yes, these things matter to distance runners too, but for sprinters, it's life or death, or rather, the difference between having a chance at breaking records, beating your key opponents, that sort of thing. think about it...01 seconds separates some of these folks. it's hard to even perceive that unit in your mind, and your body has to make or break that mark for you.

it does make a difference, and it's not good to run in smog. i just can't believe you think being nice to the chinese gov't is more important that pointing out, even as an "ineffectual" or "rude" or "stupid" protest, that the air quality there sucks. that's just simple fact, and it has an impact on many billions more people than just some visiting athletes. isn't their right to breath clean air worth highlighting, in any way that gets real attention? i guess not. 'saving face' is what counts.

chicago dyke August 7, 2008 - 12:19am

starting from the assumption that saving face has the same negligible value it does in America. A lot of people are looking at this situation and trying to process it through their value systems. Saving face in Chinese culture can be above life and death. You simply cannot use American cultural algorithms here and expect to get anything except gibberish as output. You will *not* get insight into what's really on the table here, you will be flying blind.


"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch August 7, 2008 - 1:36am

how much of this is genuine insult, and how much is artificial insult? How much of this deserves a genuine apology, and how much of it is flat-out manipulation?

The American athletes do not understand Chinese culture, nor should they have to... this is the Olympics, not the UN. As a result, the Chinese will inflate as many insults as much as possible, to elicit as many formal apologies as possible, to try to look "big."

--
http://bexhuff.com
Of COURSE you can trust the US Government! Just ask the Indians.

bex August 8, 2008 - 5:18pm

Face it, s-p:-)


"The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy" - Bob Herbert

nymole August 9, 2008 - 10:23pm

Beijing air 'safe for athletes'

Concerns over air quality have persisted in the run-up to the Games
Beijing's air quality poses no risk to athletes' health, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has told reporters.

One day before the opening ceremony of the Games, Mr Rogge said proper checks were in place to protect competitors.

He also warned that poor visibility could be caused by high humidity as well as pollution.

But a BBC reading on Thursday suggested Beijing air quality was far below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

The BBC reading put levels of particulate matter (PM10) at 191 micrograms per cubic metre.

This far exceeds the WHO target of 50 micrograms/cubic metre, and also exceeds the WHO target for developing countries of 150 micrograms/cubic metre.

'No danger'

"Of course we prefer clear skies, but the most important thing is that the health of the athletes is protected," Mr Rogge said in the news conference.
Mr Rogge said events could be moved if weather conditions dictated

He said there was "absolutely no danger" to the health of athletes taking part in events that last less than one hour.

But he said if the pollution was bad, events which lasted more than one hour could be shifted or postponed.

Detailed 72-hour forecasting services provided to Olympic authorities would allow events to be moved according to climatic conditions, he added.

Mr Rogge urged reporters to distinguish between fog and pollution - a point, correspondents say, often made by Chinese authorities.

"The fog, you see, is based on the basis of humidity and heat. It does not mean that this fog is the same as pollution," he said.

Concerns over air quality have persisted in the run-up to the Games
Beijing's air quality poses no risk to athletes' health, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has told reporters.

One day before the opening ceremony of the Games, Mr Rogge said proper checks were in place to protect competitors.

He also warned that poor visibility could be caused by high humidity as well as pollution.

But a BBC reading on Thursday suggested Beijing air quality was far below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

The BBC reading put levels of particulate matter (PM10) at 191 micrograms per cubic metre.

This far exceeds the WHO target of 50 micrograms/cubic metre, and also exceeds the WHO target for developing countries of 150 micrograms/cubic metre.

'No danger'

"Of course we prefer clear skies, but the most important thing is that the health of the athletes is protected," Mr Rogge said in the news conference.
Mr Rogge said events could be moved if weather conditions dictated

He said there was "absolutely no danger" to the health of athletes taking part in events that last less than one hour.

But he said if the pollution was bad, events which lasted more than one hour could be shifted or postponed.

Detailed 72-hour forecasting services provided to Olympic authorities would allow events to be moved according to climatic conditions, he added.

Mr Rogge urged reporters to distinguish between fog and pollution - a point, correspondents say, often made by Chinese authorities.

"The fog, you see, is based on the basis of humidity and heat. It does not mean that this fog is the same as pollution," he said.

BBC

Tina August 7, 2008 - 6:04am

that some respiratory problem a year later was caused by a short exposure to high levels of polluted air there? They could not. So, the statement that there is no danger is empty, like any unfalsifiable scientific theory.

creativelcro August 7, 2008 - 11:08am

August 9, 2008

By JOHN BRANCH and JULIET MACUR
BEIJING — As Olympic and city officials continued to defend the air quality here, athletes were faced with the decision Friday of whether to attend the opening ceremony in the thick smog and, if they do go, whether to wear a mask to combat the pollution.

Matt Reed, a triathlete for the United States, said he would wear a mask during part of the opening ceremony, but was cognizant of the attention it might receive.

Earlier this week, four cyclists on the U.S. team wore masks when they arrived at the airport, then were scolded by the United States Olympic Committee for embarrassing their Chinese hosts. The cyclists subsequently issued a written apology through the U.S.O.C.

“I won’t wear it walking out,” Reed said after a workout at Beijing Normal University on Friday morning. “But when we’re standing there not doing anything, on the field, I’ll wear it.”

On the long-awaited day that these Olympics officially opened, the sky was smoggy and the local air quality rating was 94, well above the limits in the United States. Still, anything below a 101 qualifies as a “Blue Sky Day” here, according to the standards set to monitor air quality for the Olympics.

Local environmental officials said at a hastily organized news conference that they were happy with the air quality here, after so much effort to clear the air for these Games.

“We have gone through a very extraordinary process to improve its air quality and we have achieved outstanding results,” said Du Shaozhong, deputy director and spokesman of the Beijing municipal environmental bureau.

Du said Beijing had met the World Health Organization’s international standards of air quality, which was what the Beijing Olympics organizers had promised the International Olympic Committee in 2001, when the city was awarded the Games. Later, Du said that the city had met the standards set in 1999, not more updated standards that include measures of tiny dust particles that cause most of the pollution here.

On Thursday, Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C.’s president praised Olympic organizers for their efforts, which have improved the air in this city by implementing measures like shutting down coal-burning factories or reducing cars.

John Coates, the president of the Australian Olympic Committee, on Thursday was among the first Olympic officials to acknowledge the smog at the Olympic Village was caused by pollution — and was not simply fog from the high humidity.

“I don’t know how you reverse some of these things,” Coates said. “Let’s hope that’s one of the legacies of these Games, that the realization of the damage that’s been done and will continue to be done unless they are more careful.”

For the time being, athletes are left to deal with the air, which was gray on Friday when five of the six American triathletes arrived from their training camp in Cheju, South Korea, to take part in the ceremony. They will leave Beijing again on Saturday morning, returning on Aug. 15. The women’s triathlon is on Aug. 18, and the men race on Aug. 19.

None of the American triathletes plan to wear the masks during the actual races, but will wear them as much as possible while they are outside. They wore them while walking around the athletes’ village and while riding buses to and from the American training center, where they stayed indoors to train.

more

Tina August 8, 2008 - 6:21am

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