Stifling smog could postpone cycling road race

Shocking.

Ugh, I'd hate to be one of those athletes.

amiine - 2008-08-08 3:13 PM  I began reading your post but you lost me after I saw your avatar!

I'm going to have a "if you weren't at the Jazz house" guess who's lips those are contest.

It had better be on because I'm getting up extra early to watch it!

But really, why did they even choose Beijing knowing full well that it has a major problem with pollution?

Makes their whole apology to the people of China for those track cyclists a total ironic situation.

The IOC f-cked up from the outset by picking this place, but "he with the most money (to throw at the IOC) wins" ........

I don't get what the big deal was with wearing masks?  Maybe I'm missing something but I can't see how it was offensive.

Any given day it's going to effect people differently. I think a lot of the "favorites" are in trouble.

Might even make for a good year for an American to win a long distance event  

Yeah, I can't believe it caused such a big stir when they wore those masks.  If I prepared most of my life for the Olympics and I had a mask made available for me to wear in a polluted city, I'd wear it and not apologize for it!

Apologize to the Chinese people??  Why???  Especially when they do it themselves.  (Scroll down about 2/3rds of the way through the thread).

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1922176;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;

If simple heat and humidity caused "fog," then Tampa would be invisible for about 6 months out of the year.  My old stomping grounds of Atlanta would disappear from August through September too.  Although, with the pollution I've seen there since the mid-90's (compared to 80's), Atlanta may actually disappear from view soon due to smog.

In the IOC's reports at the time they were selecting the host for the '08 games (those reports are available to the public online), they talked a lot about creating an environmental legacy....

Done and done.

Did them mention good or bad environmental legacy?

And have they really done ANYTHING to clean it up? Shutting down some factories for a couple of weeks (and we know they're just gonna start them back up again) doesn't count.

I wasn't saying that they did create an environmental legacy (because they obviously have not), just saying that that appeared to be one of the main reasons those chose Beijing. Although, I haven't looked at that stuff in a long time, it's just what I remember most from reading through it.

C'mon L, don't be naive .......... it is all about who throws the most money at the IOC.  China has tons with all their manufacturing and it is all "government" controlled, so can go wherever they deam it.

The Internet and phone service is not even close to being up to speed to support the games.

What a clusterf-ck this Olympics is turning into.

1.) Giving up baby girls for adoption since you can legally only have 1 child (or worse killing them).
2.) I heard one of the rules they had for citizens is anyone with a mental illness should stay inside during the games. wtf?

(again, I am no chinese expert but with things like this if they really happen them getting offended over someone wearing masks is not all that surprising).

My last time in Hong Kong was 4 years ago and the pollution was a problem for me. I had been going there since 91, and from about 99 on it's gotten worst and worst as the Guang Dong region exploded with factories and population during the 90's.

As for a problem with masks, over half the population wears them!

Doesn't look good for tomorrow either, then there's good chance of rain to cleanse the air early next week!

Been to China many times (2 passports with extensions filled) in the Guang Dong region (Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou cities). Some of the human being "things" I've seen begging for money outside the train station at the Shenzhen / Hong Kong border and also at the port terminal in Guangzhou is beyond words.  I'm talking disfigured people and people with mentality issues here.  Then there's the childern.  But you cannot give money to one soul or you will immediately be inundated / hounded by beggars.   They've improved it a lot since the 90's but you still see things.  I'm sure this is what the officials are referring to in regards to "mental illness".