Olympic Games

i am not a barbaric flag waving patrot.
But i am human
R u?

When nine-year-old Lin Miaoke launched into Ode to the Motherland at the Olympic opening ceremony, she became an instant star.

"Tiny singer wins heart of nation," China Daily sighed; "Little girl sings, impresses the world," gushed another headline, perhaps in reference to Lin's appearance on the front of the New York Times. Countless articles lauded the girl in the red dress who "lent her voice" to the occasion.

But now it emerges that Lin was lent someone else's voice, following high-level discussions - which included a member of the Politburo - on the relative photogenicity of small children.

The recording to which Lin mouthed along on Friday was by the even younger Yang Peiyi. It seems that Yang's uneven teeth, while unremarkable in a seven-year-old, were considered potentially damaging to China's international image.

From The Sunday TimesAugust 10, 2008

Web users beat censors to attack ?'authoritarian' opening ceremony
China hasn't managed to suppress all internal criticism of the Games, with online opposition appearing on websitesMichael Sheridan, Beijing
WHILE the world marvelled at the spectacular opening ceremony in Beijing, a surprising backlash was materialising this weekend among Chinese internet users.

A significant number of those posting comments on some less closely censored websites said the ceremony had glorified authoritarian rule and one said it reduced individuals to "cogs in a machine".

Yesterday even the website of the People's Daily, the Communist party newspaper, recorded more readers criticising the event than admiring it, with some calling it "empty" and "boring".

While the majority of Chinese people reflected the positive global reaction to the ceremony, the openness of the online dissent was surprising given the government's draconian measures to crush any criticism during the Games.

China sent at least 58 citizens to labour camps for "reeducation" to stop them staging protests in Beijing, according to official figures. Eight more were given prison sentences and 45 others are awaiting punishment for daring to travel to the capital to raise their grievances.

All such protests were effectively stifled before Friday's ceremony but yesterday the work of Zhang Yimou, who directed the show, was subjected to unusually strong public criticism.

"The actors looked like a swarm of ants," complained Guo Yuquan, on Cat898.com, a popular website. "What was the idea? It was to consider people just as cogs in a machine. I think he got his ideas 100% from North Korea."

"This had nothing to do with the Olympics or sports or even Chinese classical culture," Guo Chen, a university professor, was quoted as saying in an interview with Kanzhongguo.com, another website.

There were protests yesterday at the equestrian events, which are being held in Hong Kong.

Human rights chants were heard during the dressage of Alex Hua Tian, the 18-year-old Etonian who is competing for the host nation.

I do. It's about making an evil regime look respectable.

A 7 year old girl with a voice like that is not beautiful eh? And so much so that a giant lie was constructed by state officials.

What a load of shite. Switch it off.

Maybe we won't next time now that we have seen where it leads when an unopposed elite can blow £40 billion on patting themselves on the back.

I think the IOC is the most corrupt unarmed organisation in the world.

Sport is the last thing on their minds.

Muhammad Ali threw his gold medal in the river when he saw the alloy underneath the varnish.