Beijing 2008: Racism, Content Blocking, and More!



As Boilerdowd notes below, the Olympics are officially a joke at this point. I remember actually enjoying the Olympics and feeling some sense of national pride when we'd win things. But the International Olympic Committee has basically sucked that out of everything. Awarding games to cities that shouldn't have them, shuch as Atlanta, whose nominating committee lied about heat risks to..... oh, say, Beijing, a city in a country with human rights atrocities, air unsuitable to breathe, censorship that includes this here site and -- oh yeah -- communism.

This morning, I heard one more disgusting factoid that I hadn't heard until now, mainly because I've been ignoring anything Olympic-related. A co-worker of mine has an in-law who is in China working and he reported back that, even though not a lot is being made in the media, the bars around Beijing have been instructed not to allow blacks or Mongolians in.

Um, wait, what?

Shanghaist had this story a couple of weeks ago and they got it from the South China Morning Post. And that's.... that's just disgusting and horrifying. Shanghaist further updating the happenings here, and while there are some semi-official denials that this is true, it's not being flatly refuted and when you consider the controlling, propagandizing nature of the Chinese government, that's saying something.

I was already disinterested in the Olympics this year and I find it preposterous that that city and that country get to host a Games where the motto is "One World, One Dream." And now I'm already sick of it. Today was the first morning that Matt Lauer was parked in Beijing and as the Today Show began, there he is.... wait for it... on the Great Wall of China. Goodness, how cliched. And there's a beautiful view of the city... well, it's sort of beautiful. I mean, it would be beautiful if you could see through all the brown air hanging there.

I guess this will encourage fans being out of their seats...

Weekend Sports Notes (CMigrator copy 3)