Kyle Brady: A Blog

I wrote something about the state of the Olympics in Beijing, China, and the IOC a week ago, and a followup, but since then there have been some answers to my questions, which I wanted to publicly note.

1. The IOC has apparently had enough of the public (aka “free world journalist”) criticism about ignoring certain *ahem* details about China, and they’re now fully investigating the age of the Chinese women’s gymnasts.  Not just doing a quick China-provided passport check, but the real deal.
2. Journalists inside the Beijing Olympic compound city are getting frustrated.  The daily press conferences, when they happen, are full of over-smiling Chinese government officials and oddly obsequious IOC representatives.  Not to mention that their questions are largely ignored, and used as “you’re not being very nice guests!” fodder.
3. If you want an inside voice on the Olympics and it’s very obvious problems that has a cynical and “take no prisoners” attitude, check out Marina Hyde of The Guardian.  She sounds alot like if I were writing full inside coverage of the events… which is awesome.

posted on August 23rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm by Kyle - Comments

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China, Human Rights, Lies

In a followup, of sorts, to my original post of outrage at the IOC and China’s ignorance/deceit/lies, I found two posts (via Valleywag) by someone who is a “privacy consultant” and digs up dirt for a living on people.

And he just happened to have investigated the “Chinese Gymnast Incident” for kicks and giggles.  Check out the original post, and his second foray into it.

In a nutshell, he finds that everyone is right.  Official Chinese documents (a spreadsheet that was public, and then removed for what I’m sure were “innocent” reasons) point to one of the female gymnasts being 14 years old.  Which is definitely less than the requirement of 16.

Since they’re used to “thinking” for their people, basic math should be easy…

I don’t want to seem like a broken record here, but there’s another glaring feature of China’s attempts to control reality:  after the investigator looked at the same results from within the Chinese Google, the results (and their cached versions) were quickly removed.

Google China has openly admitted that they filter results for the Great Firewall of China, but there had been no mention of limits, definitions, or reaction times.  The most disturbing part of all this is that Google bent to the Chinese will to help lie to the IOC and the rest of the free world… and did it in record breaking time.

And Michael Phelps wasn’t even involved in that record.

My conclusion?  Google China has the Chinese government more in their pocket (or maybe “in their throats” would be a better description of the depth of control) than they want people to believe.

And that’s just complete bullshit.

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Update (8/20/2008 2:45pm PST):  As if all the lies and deceit weren’t enough… 5 U.S. bloggers have been detained by the Chinese government, for reporting on some Tibetan protests.  And no-one saw this coming, right?  *sarcastic/angry wink*  See full details on RW/W

posted on August 20th, 2008 at 2:07 pm by Kyle - Comments

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China, Human Rights, Rant

I have many strong opinions on the state of China, how they deal with issues/people/truth, and the current Olypmics… but this article on the Chinese “women’s” gymnastics team sums up most of it.

Oh, the gracious land of the oppressed!

China believes the rest of the world is just as gullible, cow-eyed, and afraid to speak as their native population is.  So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone when they think problems are solved by just stating they are.

• Age verification of Chinese athletes with only Chinese created documents?  Check.
• Proving there’s no pollution, just “mist”, in Beijing by merely saying so?  Check.
• Destroying your people’s homes and building walls around others, for “state purposes” related to the Olympics, and then pretending like you didn’t… when the rest of the world has proof?  Check.

I love the Olympics, but the IOC has failed miserably.  Allowing them to be held in China was the first mistake.

• How could you even begin to believe all the promises made about the “progress” they’ll make before they’re held, when China hasn’t told a single truth to anyone in years?
• How could you even imagine that Beijing’s pollution problem could be fixed/magically go away in a few short years, let alone when the government pretends like it’s not an issue?

Exactly my thoughts, Mr. Artist.

Their second mistake is to turn a blind eye to all of this with the intent of not upsetting their gracious hosts.  Do some research and you’ll find some interesting stuff.

The IOC refuses to do anything about:

• Chinese “women’s” gymnastics team’s age issue
• the blatant lies about the levels of Beijing’s pollution
• the human rights atrocities committed in preparation for this Olympics (house demolition, house quarantines, indefinite jailtime for protestors/”the unharmonious”, etc.)
• journalistic freedom failure, thanks to watchdogs (both human and computer), the Great Firewall of China, and many other restrictions about what is “harmonious” and allowed

Probably what the state-sponsored toilet paper looks like.

It’s not like the world doesn’t have Internet connections, or watch non-Chinese media.  The IOC is playing a game of “let’s hope they’re really stupid”, and it’s not working.  Funny how China’s been doing the same thing for years…

posted on August 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am by Kyle - Comments

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China, Human Rights, Rant