Make It Rain

It is estimated that there is a 50/50 chance of it raining on the opening day of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and a further 50/50 chance of it raining on the closing day.

China does not intend to take any chances with the weather, and is going to attempt to make it rain in the period before the games; thus reducing the chances of precipitation on the opening and closing days. Rain will also help clean up the air, in one of Asia most polluted atmospheres.

Chinese meteorologists believe that they can force rain in the days before the Olympics, via the unreliable "science" of cloud-seeding.

Good luck.

The True Cost of The Olympics

It is reported that Beijing intends to demolish 22 remaining "urban villages", which are home mainly to poor migrants, as it "cleans up" in readiness for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The villages will be demolished by the end of June 2007.

The destruction of the "urban villages" are part of the greening programme to "create a better environment for the Olympic Games".

Beijing denies that they are trying to force poor migrants out of the city before the Olympics.

Over the past 10 years, as Beijing maked ready to host the 2008 Games, many residents have accused developers of using violence to evict people unwilling to move.

Such is the price people have to pay, if they wish to host the Olympics. Sponsorship and advertising deals come before people's rights and liberties.

A Stonking Investment

In what can only be described as a "stonkingly large" investment, China has stated that it will invest $59.5BN in Beijing infrastructure during the 2006-2010 period.

The money will be spent on 2,400 construction and upgrading projects. The projects to ease city traffic, improve energy and water supply and improve the city environment will be completed before start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Beijing plans to have a state of the art international air service hub by 2008, which will be able to process 60 million passengers a year.

Beijing will also expand parking lots, and ensure that there will be a parking place for each motor vehicle in the coming five years. Beijing now has approximately 2.8 million motor vehicles but only 1.4-1.5 million parking places.

The Taiyanggong gas-firing thermal power plant will have been built by 2008, and heating pipes laid for the Olympic gymnasiums and surrounding areas. Electricity transmission projects for the areas will be completed, and construction will be speeded up on the Beijing section of the south-to-north water diversion program.

Beijing also intends to clean up rivers and lakes, and to improve the water quality.

Ambitious plans indeed.

Can the environment and the econmy afford them?

China Educates The Uncouth

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics draws ever near, the authorities in China are aware of the PR and image issues associated with the Games. Specifically, they are focusing their attention on the impression that their own citizens make on the rest of the world. After all, the best/worst ambassadors for a country are usually its own citizens.

As such the Spiritual Civilisation Steering Committee, the Chinese etiquette watchdog, has launched an education campaign to correct the embarrassing habits of Chinese tourists at home and abroad.

The Committee's "Campaign to Promote Civilised Chinese Travellers" will last until after the Olympic Games.

The Committee states:

"Currently, the behaviour of our country's tourists is not compatible with the rapid development of the tourist industry, nor with China's international standing."

The official Xinhua news agency has already quoted Singapore media reports of airline and hotel staff complaining about Chinese tourists spitting, talking loudly and being rude. That being said, Singapore has very high standards indeed with respect to behaviour in public.

The committee has highlighted a number of areas of concern including; appearance, hygiene, courtesy, the law, the environment and public infrastructure, as damaging "the image of China as a civilised country" and generating "widespread attention and criticism domestically and overseas."

The China Daily said:

"Many tourists clear their throats loudly and spit, take off shoes aboard planes and trains, squat and smoke in public places, and often appear uncouth."

Civil servants and state company executives will be targeted for training, the general public will be educated via the media and pamphlets distributed at public transport stations, hotels, travel agencies, tourist spots, schools and work places.

I would venture to suggest that other countries could also benefit from applying such an education programme.

China Bans Smoking

It seems that the anti smoking movement has even managed to score a success with one of the world's heaviest smoking nations, China.

It has been announced that for the duration of the Olympics, smoking will be banned; in the Olympic areas at least.

Beijing will ban smoking on public transport and indoor workplaces.

The Health Ministry said:

"Let a smokeless games provide healthy competition, a healthy environment and a healthy lifestyle."

The ministry said that facilities serving children would be the first to get a no-smoking ban.

Quite how they manage to enforce this in a nation of 350 smokers, will be anyone's guess!

The Sewage Olympics

New York has managed to host the Olympics, not the Olympic Games but the Sewage Treatment Olympics.

Four teams competed to win the 19th Annual Sewage Olympics. They performed simulated drills that included; retrieving someone from a manhole, testing air quality in a makeshift sewer, fixing a broken sewer pipe and repairing a waste treatment pump.

The event was sponsored by the New York Water Environment Association and the Department of Environmental Protection.

The winners this year were the Bowery Bay Boys.

It is good to see an Olympic event that actually adds value.

The Olympic Omelet

You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, or so the old saying goes. That certainly seems to be the case with the Beijing Olympics.

Beijing's mayor has called for a speeding up of the demolition of impoverished neighborhoods in Beijing, as part of preparations for the 2008 Olympics.

Mayor Wang Qishan told officials and construction workers that demolishing the dilapidated neighborhoods is an essential task this year, and that the work must be accelerated.

Beijing is undergoing a thorough makeover for the 2008 Games. It is estimated that the cost of refurbishment will top $40BN. This will cover the costs of new sporting venues, new roads and subway lines and the new build of residential communities in the suburbs.

One area of reconstruction is aimed at the poorer areas known as "inner city villages", there many homes have been built illegally and many of whose residents are rural migrants.

It is reported that about a third of these areas designated for destruction have been torn down, with the rest to be finished by year's end.

Wang is quoted as saying:

"This work is full of significance in strengthening the environment, building a livable city and realizing the strategic plan of a 'New Beijing, Great Olympics'."

Quite what the residents of these soon to be demolshed homes think is not reported. I assume that the corporate sponsors of the Olympics are happy with this non reporting?

Security Nightmare

The security issues surrounding the forthcoming Winter Olympics, which open in Turin later today, are proving to be quite a headache for the organisers.

Authorities are spending over $100m on security, with 15,000 police officers being deployed.

There will be a no-fly zone over the city, as 15 heads of state attend today's opening ceremony.

Yesterday the Olympic flame was diverted in Turin, to avoid protests over a planned local high-speed rail link and over spending on the Games.

The Italian government are focusing on two issues; the possibility of a Muslim protest about the Danish cartoons and a very aggressive series of demonstrations from Italian anarchists and subversive groups.

Two Nato surveillance aircraft will enforce the no-fly ban over Turin during the opening ceremony.

The torch relay carrying the Olympic flame around Italy has already been disrupted several times during its two-month trip.

Protesters say that tunnelling for the railway in the Susa valley, where some of the events will be held, will ruin the environment and release asbestos and uranium into the atmosphere.

One protester is quoted by Reuters as saying:

"These are dirty Games because they have spent huge amounts of money and we don't know what use it will be in the future."

The question is, are the Olympics now proving to be just too expensive and too disrupting to be held anymore?

Olympic Truce?

Jan Eliasson, the president of the UN General Assembly has asked that all countries attempt to live by the ancient Greek tradition of a two-week period of peace during the forthcoming Winter Olympics, which begin in Turin this Friday.

Eliasson issued a statement calling for "measures to ensure a peaceful global environment for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games."

In January the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, urged all warring factions to lay down their arms during the Games, saying that the Olympics offer a long enough period "for the protagonists and people who are destroying their own countries and killing each other to pause for a moment, look around them and see what damage they are doing."

Given the current situation in the Middle East, I don't see much hope of that.

One Planet Olympics

London, which is hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, is working with environmental groups WWF and BioRegional on the concept of "One Planet Olympics".

The theory being that global consumption, and pollution levels, need to be brought back within the Earth's ability to absorb the demands humans place upon it.

David Stubbs, head of environment for the London 2012 team, hopes that the idea will help people make the link between sport and the environment.

Quote:

"We decided that we needed something that gave us a vision to our proposals. We felt One Planet Olympics encapsulated a lot of the values of the Olympic movement and global environmental concerns".

Paul King, WWF's director of One Planet Living, said:

"If everyone around the world was polluting and consuming natural resources at the same rate we are in the UK, we would need three planets to support us".

Quite how these objectives will be achieved, given the fact that the Olympics is based purely on money, marketing and consumerism is difficult to see.

Beijing Looks for Ideas

It is reported that the Beijing Olympic organisers are seeking ideas to inspire a team designing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Games.

The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games will collect ideas up until July 31, committee officials told a press conference.

They are looking for ideas that could turn the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing games, which are to emphasize technology, the environment and peace, into "wonders."

Quote:

"The ocean-themed opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the one inspired by the ancient Greek mythology of the 2004 Athens Games struck high marks around the globe, and the world is anxiously waiting to see what Beijing, a center of ancient oriental civilization, will present during the 2008 Games,".

The ceremonies proposed "should help to spread the Olympic spirit, create a jubilant atmosphere for the games and a homecoming feeling for all the participants."

"The proposals should visualize the concepts of 'Green Olympics,' 'High-Tech Olympics' and 'People's Olympics,' and interpret the rich connotations of 'harmony' and 'peace' that the idea of 'People's Olympics' tries to convey to the whole world."

Any individual or institution can submit a proposal, but non-Chinese applicants must form "consortiums" with Chinese citizens or organizations, the committee said.

It said all applicants must sign legal documents for transfer of intellectual property rights, and there will be no payment given to those whose ideas are chosen.

Symbolism

Even though the Olympics 2008 in Beijing are still four years away, people are setting their minds to what should be the symbol for those Games.

I understand that three students, from Ningbo University, have started a campaign for the Tibetan antelope to be the mascot for the 2008 Olympics.

They have started a bicycle journey, with a banner proclaiming their support for the symbol; and are collecting signatures in support of their cause.

I understand that they have covered over 3500KM.

The antelope is on the endangered species list, and there is a campaign to protect it.

To read more about the antelope, and to see a very cute picture of one, visit Tibetan Antelope.

Banquo's Ghost

Here is an extract from the website of the Greek embassy in Washington USA. This was posted on the 21st of July 1997:

"...The president of the Athens 2004 Olympic candidacy committee, Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, told CNN on Friday that the Greek capital holds the prospect of a "virtually new city" as regards public transport, telecommunications, the environment, accommodations and sports installations.

"Most sports installations are already in place, and we have the financial guarantees for completing all additional necessary projects well before 2004," she added.

Replying to a remark that Athens faces difficult traffic problems, Ms Angelopoulou-Daskalaki said that any existing difficulties will be effectively met with large projects already underway, such as the underground metro, which she claimed will be ready in 1999, the city's new airport at Spata (scheduled for completion by 2000) and a number of circular roads. These projects, she said, will drastically change the situation regarding public transport in Athens.

Turning to the economic impact of the Olympics, she said: "we expect 130,000 new jobs to be created. The overall benefit will be huge..."

Regarding security, she said, "Greece is a safe country, as INTERPOL and other independent analyses show. We have one of the lowest crime rates in Europe, and moreover, what is very important is that no incident has taken place during any sports, political, or other event that Greece has organized"......"

I have come across an archived version of the Athens Games website from 1997. This contains details of their bid, and promises made regarding infrastructure etc, for the Games. You can visit it here Athens archive.

I am also trying to track down a copy of the Athens Bid Book, which is in excess of 600 pages, and details every promise made by the Greek bid committee in respect of their bid to host the Games in 2004. If anyone knows where I can lay my hands on a copy I would be very grateful.

There are copies held by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland, unfortunately they are under embargo; and cannot be viewed by the public for another 30 years.

I wonder why?

Multinationals 1 - Greek Government 0

It is the nature of life that it can, on occasions, throw up a few surprises. One such surprise relates to the forthcoming Olympic Games, which are being held in Athens.

It is reported that Greenpeace, scourge of multinational polluters throughout the world, have complemented Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Unilever for their contribution to the environment in respect of the Olympics 2004.

However, they have taken "a pop" at the Greek government's less than spectacular contribution to the environment. It seems that once the Olympic party is over, the Greek government is going to have a lot of cleaning up to do; in order to repair the environmental damage that the Olympic Games have inflicted on Athens.

One area that has been marked out for special criticism is the Olympic Village, which will house 2300 athletes, this does not use renewable or efficient energy sources.

To be honest that doesn't really matter, as the evidence suggests that Athens will probably be enveloped in power blackouts on a regular basis; thus saving dwindling energy resources and the environment.

On the "cosmetic front", the much vaunted trees and shrubs that were planted to "beautify" Athens, have died; they were planted out of season.

In effect the "third pillar", the promise that the Greek government made to protect the environment when bidding for the Olympics, has been ignored; as with everything, where an excuse is needed for failure, September 11th is being blamed.

Not good enough!

In my view, if they were unable to meet their promises, then they should have forfeited the Games.

However, the Greeks do try to spread the blame; they also accuse the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of failing, the IOC naturally refute any shortcomings.

That's the true Olympic spirit of competitiveness!

Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, stated yesterday that the Olympics would go ahead despite the bombings.

He added, cryptically, "Of course we keep these things under review".

Blair remains confident that the arrangements being put in place by the Greek authorities will provide a safe environment for the athletes.

That's alright then isn't it?