NBC Urged To Examine China's Record

DATE: August 1, 2008
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision_id=67272&item_id=67267

As the Chinese government welcomes athletes and spectators from around the world to Beijing, beautified with a staggering sum of $42 billion, the city is also leaving behind a trail of wrecked homes and evicted residents with inadequate or no compensation for their lost properties.

"Even as the whole world marvels at the dramatic transformation of Beijing, with its impressive and celebrated new architecture, we should not forget those who were made to sacrifice their homes to make this possible," said Human Rights in China Executive Director Sharon Hom. "As China aspires to be a responsible stakeholder in the international community, we should remind its leaders that the right to housing is intrinsic to a well-functioning civil society."

This month, Human Rights in China highlights the case of 76-year old Shuang Shuying (双淑英). (http://www.ir2008.org) Shuang, an evictions petitioner, house church activist, and outspoken opponent of the Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL) system, is currently serving a two-year term as the oldest inmate in Beijing Women's Prison for "intentional damage of public and private property."

In 2002, Shuang saw her home in Beijing demolished to make way for Olympics redevelopment. Having to relocate eight times since, she and her family are among the estimated 3.7 million people who have been forcibly evicted throughout China in the past decade for the sake of development. When she petitioned the government for compensation, she was beaten and detained. As she languishes in prison after protesting her son's detention, her family has suffered repeated harassment. Most recently, on July 2, 2008, her 88-year-old husband, Hua Zaichen, and other family members were tossed out of their home after police forced open their door with an 18 pound iron. In a letter to Human Rights in China, Hua said,

I lay on the ground, wet with rain from that evening, huddled in my quilt. I waited for dawn, hoping that China's dawn would come more quickly.

Human Rights in China's online resources relating to Shuang's case include her full profile, information about evictions in China, petitioners in China, and ideas about what you can do.

In the Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Olympics Campaign (http://www.ir2008.org), Human Rights in China has critically addressed some of the human rights challenges that governments, corporations, and other members of the international community need to engage more effectively.

Over the past eight months, Human Rights in China has highlighted the following cases and the human rights challenges related to their detentions:

January: Shi Tao and media freedom ( http://ir2008.org/january-about.php)
February: Chen Guangcheng and the rule of law ( http://ir2008.org/02/about.php)
March: Mao Hengfeng and petitioning ( http://ir2008.org/03/about.php)
April: Hada and ethnic minorities ( http://ir2008.org/04/about.php)
May: Yao Fuxin and labor rights ( http://ir2008.org/05/about.php)
June: Hu Shigen and June Fourth ( http://ir2008.org/06/about.php)
July: Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and ethnic minorities' access to education ( http://ir2008.org/07/about.php)

+++++++++++++++

About Human Rights in China (HRIC)
Human Rights in China (HRIC) is an international monitoring and advocacy non-governmental organization based in New York, Hong Kong, and Brussels. Founded in March 1989 by Chinese students and scholars, it conducts research, education and outreach programs to promote international human rights and advance the institutional protection of these rights in the People's Republic of China.

Human Rights in China
350 Fifth Ave Ste 3311
New York, NY 10118
212-239-4495
Fax: 212-239-2561
hrichina@...
http://www.hrichina.org / http://www.zhongguorenquan.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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email: tenant@...
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

#2042

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Sat Aug 2, 2008 1:46 pm
Subject: is this Olympics or Warfare? - says Beijing stadium designer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/02/china.olympicgames2008

#2043

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Sat Aug 2, 2008 3:03 pm
Subject: Iain Sinclair on Today program

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7524000/7524913.stm

It starts off with saying that Iain will explain everything he doesn't
like about the Olympic project, but what he actually says is that he
finds it exciting and fascinating observing the whole process.

They go on the Greenway and he gives an intriguingly inaccurate
description of what you could have seen before from that viewpoint.
There's mentions of �9m being spent on the 'Olympic Village' and
'some' locals not seeing any benefits.

#2045

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Mon Aug 4, 2008 5:54 pm
Subject: Beijing evictions protest

Mon Aug 4, 3:43 AM ET

BEIJING - About 20 people angry about being evicted from their homes
in central Beijing demonstrated Monday not far from Tiananmen Square,
saying the Olympics should not curb their legal rights.

Uniformed police quickly surrounded the residential street where AP
Television News video showed the group shouting about being kicked out
of their homes and not getting proper compensation.

"We don't oppose the Olympics. But it's wrong for them to demolish our
house. It's wrong," said protester Liu Fumei. AP Television News
footage showed her screaming and scuffling with women in civilian clothes.

The police officers did not interfere, but women who said they were
members of a neighborhood committee pushed and led the protesters away
from the area. Neighborhood committees are not officially part of the
government but work closely with police and other departments.

China is sensitive to any public criticism of the Beijing Olympics,
which begin Friday, and has stationed security agents throughout the
city to watch for signs of unrest. Demonstrations in and near
Tiananmen Square are rare and generally stopped quickly by police.

It was not clear where the protesters were taken, and whether they
were detained. A duty officer in the Beijing police news office said
he did not know what happened to them.

A large crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the protest in the
historic Qianmen district just south of Tiananmen Square, one of
Beijing's most famous landmarks where large pro-democracy protests
were held in 1989. Authorities cracked down hard on those protesters.

Monday's demonstrators were unhappy about being evicted from their
former homes in the area to make way for redevelopment. The area is
being rebuilt into a commercial strip with businesses such as Nike,
Starbucks and Rolex, and it is scheduled to open on Thursday.

"Developers shouldn't use the Olympics to take our homes. And we
cannot stop protecting our rights because of the Olympics," protester
Ma Xiulan told AP Television News.

Beijing carried out a $40 billion makeover in preparation for the
Olympics, and many older homes were razed as part of the modernization
campaign.

The protesters' complaints are not unique. Residents who are displaced
to make way for new development without being paid enough compensation
to buy new homes have protested in cities throughout the country.

#2046

From: Tenant <tenant@...>
Date: Tue Aug 5, 2008 5:49 am
Subject: Partners In Grime

lappert2001

Partners In Grime
By Sally Jenkins
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; E01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/04/AR2008080401942_pf.html

BEIJING

You only have to breathe the air to understand that these Olympics aren't about sport. They're about corporate profit, a propaganda stage for the Chinese government, and the moral collapse of the Olympic movement, but the very last thing they're about is excellence or the well-being of the athletes. The real interests, the real priorities, are in the air.

A haze the color of dishwater hangs over the billion-dollar advertising billboards of profiteers such as General Electric and Visa. The miasma that forms over the vaunted futuristic Beijing skyline makes the industrial-aesthetic high rises look like nuclear cooling towers. A smoke curtain lifts and falls, occasionally parting to reveal blue sky, as well as the workings of Chinese state power: Despite the fog, the China Daily said that it was "clear" Monday , and that the city is "green and beautiful." Very well then. It smells like roses.

Beijing has its splendors: ambrosial pear juice and duck skin in coarse sugar, ancient gnarled cypresses, bending willow trees, palaces with concealed courts, and sprawling districts in which nationalities blend into a worldly sauntering crowd. But the air is not one of those splendors. In fact, depending on which way the wind blows, it can seem as if the countryside is burning, or as if you are standing behind the tailpipe of a bus.

Athletes are threatening to skip the Opening Ceremonies because they're afraid the environment of the host city will sicken them or compromise their medal chances, and distance runner Haile Gebrselassie dropped out of the marathon because the fumes are too heavy for him to run that distance. The Chinese government has labored for years to clear the air in Beijing, with some success. But in the meantime the Games themselves have become polluted. No governing body truly interested in peak physical performance, in helping athletes to be swifter, higher or stronger, would have awarded the Games to a venue in which you can see the poisons in the air. According to Greenpeace's local director, Lo Sze Ping: "Beijing's air quality is not up to what the world is expecting from an Olympic host city. The sports teams have reason to be concerned."

So what is this Olympics really about? It's about 12 major corporations and their panting ambitions to tap into China's 1.3 billion consumers, the world's third-largest economy. Understand this: The International Olympic Committee is nothing more than a puppet for its corporate "partners," without whom there would be no Games. These major sponsors pay the IOC's bills for staging the Olympics to the tune of $7 billion per cycle. Without them, and their designs on the China market, Beijing probably would not have won the right to host the Summer Games.

Seven years ago, in controversially awarding the Games to the Chinese regime, the IOC assured us that a Beijing Games would be both beneficial and benevolent, and promote a more open society. Chinese officials, too, vowed that the Games would not only foster their economy but "enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights."

The clouded air is just the most observable sign of the many unfulfilled promises since then. If the society has opened somewhat, there has also been a specific crackdown on dissidents as a direct result of the Olympics. Thousands of people have been rounded up and jailed for expressing dissent -- right now a man named Hu Jia is in a prison just outside Beijing for "inciting subversion" because he testified via Webcam before the European Union that the Chinese government wasn't living up to its Olympic commitments. Hu is ill with hepatitis B and undergoing "reform" in Chaobai prison, while his family is under constant surveillance. The crackdown continued this week with the jailing of several farmers, and efforts to censor the Olympic media. Amnesty International estimates that half a million people are being held without charges here.

Anyone who believed the Chinese government would use the Olympics as an opportunity to become a human rights beacon and environmental model was either softheaded, or lying. Capitalism is not the same thing as democracy. China's interest then and now was the consolidation of state power via economics. The government is merely behaving as it always has.

But the bad air here has shown the IOC and its commercial sponsors in an especially ugly and damning light. They have been conspicuous cowards in dealing with Chinese officials, and maybe even outright collaborators, on every issue from human rights to the environment to censorship. The silence of IOC President Jacques Rogge in the face of the continuing dissident sweeps amounts to complicity. "In view of my responsibilities, I have lost some of my freedom of speech," he said last week. Rogge's idea of a solution to the thorny problems of these Games is to hope "the magic" will take over once they begin.

Most disgraceful of all is the fact that six of the 12 worldwide Olympic partners are American companies. This has to heart-sicken any patriot. These companies will reap the full exposure of the Summer Games, swathing themselves in the flag, and rationalizing that their business is helping uplift the Chinese people. Don't buy it -- or them. You should know exactly who they are: General Electric (which owns NBC), Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald's, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson. (The others are Canadian-based Manulife Financial; Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker; the French information technology services company Atos Origin; the Swiss watch manufacturer Omega; Panasonic; and Samsung.) When these acquiesced to the Chinese government's crackdown, and effectively accepted the censorship of the press during these Games, they fell into a special category of profiteers that Franklin Delano Roosevelt described in his "Four Freedoms" speech.

"We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests," Roosevelt said.

It's plain that the Chinese people have worked mightily to create a beautiful Beijing Games, from the elegantly manicured gardens to the whisked-clean streets, and that they are a source of immense national pride. No one could wish to injure that pride, and every one wishes them a successful Games. But the Olympics are not solely about the host, they are about all the participating nations, and the common goal of "preservation of human dignity." The moment it became apparent that the Beijing Olympics was causing a crackdown, and that basic Olympic values were being constricted rather than expanded, these Olympic partners should have spoken out, and threatened to withdraw if abuses didn't halt. When they didn't, it cast a permanent pall over these Games. Like the air here, the Olympic movement is struggling for a clean breath.

#2047

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 5, 2008 3:34 pm
Subject: The reality of the Beijing 'protest zones'

The Chinese authorities have designated 3 'protest zones' in Beijing
parks well away from Olympic venues, which require those wishing to
demonstrate to apply 5 days in advance for a rarely granted permit,
and with politically charged issues prohibited.
Here is what happened to someone who tried to apply for one of the
protest permits:


Protest-zone test case blocked in Beijing: Suzhou activist foiled in
making application (Josephine Ma - South China Morning Post)
August 3, 2008 1:07 PM

Copyright The South China Morning Post

Aug 02, 2008

A representative of more than 100 property owners from Suzhou was
detained and sent home yesterday when she tried to submit an
application to protest in a designated zone in Beijing during the
Olympics.

Ge Yifei , a retired doctor representing 140 owners from The Lakeview
luxury development in Suzhou Industrial Park, in Jiangsu province ,
arrived in the capital in the morning. She went straight to the
Municipal Public Security Bureau to file the application.

While she was explaining to an officer why she wanted to protest
several men claiming to be officials from the Suzhou city government’s
petition office rushed in and blocked her from leaving, according to
Yan Lin , a Lakeview property owner who had accompanied Dr Ge.

Mr Yan said he was let go only after he showed his identity card to
prove he was a Beijing resident, but Dr Ge was detained.

“The policeman on duty was telling her she should apply to the police
station near the protest zone. But he added that it was useless to
apply anyway,” Mr Yan said.

Dr Ge was later allowed to leave the police station, but the Suzhou
officials followed her, telling her they would see her out of Beijing.
She boarded a Suzhou-bound train last night.

Many of the owners Dr Ge represents are powerful businessmen, and they
have been at loggerheads with the authorities, which have sided with
developer Gasin (Suzhou) Property Development in a land dispute.

The developer started building in a recreational area that originally
belonged to Lakeview.

Lakeview property committee chairman Zhu Yongxi said they had decided
to file a protest after learning that officials had authorised protest
zones in three Beijing parks. He said he was deeply disappointed by
yesterday’s outcome.

“How could the Suzhou officials suddenly show up? They had to have
been informed,” Mr Zhu said. “We cannot voice our discontent through
legal means. It is fake democracy.”

He Bing , a professor at the China University of Political Science and
Law and the lawyer representing the owners, said the handling of the
application was unlawful.

“If they don’t approve the application, they should [accept it and
then] turn it down. These homeowners were not even given a chance to
submit their protest application,” he said.

The residents are not the first to report such difficulties. Du
Liangcai - nephew of Yok Mu-ming, chairman of the New Party in Taiwan
- said he had filed a complaint on behalf of a dozen Taiwanese
property owners to the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office.

“We are testing to see if the pledge [about the protest zone] is fake
or genuine by filing the application; it appears that it is a fake,”
he said.

Members of the Chinese Civilian Association for Safeguarding the
Diaoyu Islands, a group of anti-Japanese activists, asked Beijing
police last week if they could apply to protest in Ritan Park, but
were told no, according to one of the activists. One member was asked
to return to his home province, Hunan .

#2048

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 5, 2008 9:33 pm
Subject: Not all in Beijing are Olympic enthusiasts

Seems the economic benefits for many locals are turning out to be the
opposite:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/05/asia/beijing.php

#2049

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:38 am
Subject: Beijing�s Special Corrections Operation

Residents of Beijing have noticed their city growing smaller, rather
than larger, as the Olympics approach. This strange shrinkage is a
result of the pre-Olympics eviction of migrant workers and other
"undesirables," a months-long clean-up effort officially known as the
Peaceful Olympics Special Correction Operation. The precise mechanism
of the eviction process has long remained hazy, but a recently posted
essay in the Chinese blogosphere reveals a number of the details.

Originally published on the Chu Wangtai Legal Commentary blog in June
(and since removed from there), the essay starts with a report in the
magazine Phoenix Weekly announcing that Beijing planned to evict some
300,000 people living in underground apartments, partially translated
by CDT.

Like many cities in northern China, Beijing has extensive underground
structures originally built in the 1970s as bomb shelters in case of
war with the Soviet Union. Many of these structures were converted
into cheap hotels and makeshift apartments occupied by low-income
residents. As noted in the essay, people living underground in Beijing
include migrant construction workers, restaurant workers, domestic
helpers, sanitation workers, supermarket employees and small-time shop
owners.

The essay describes the case of one subterranean resident, a
restaurant worker named Ms. Wang, who makes 1000 RMB ($130) a month
and spends 40% of that on her rent.

Beijing has been trying to clear out these people on anti-terrorism
grounds since April, the essay says. In early June, the author visited
one underground hotel in the city's wealthy Chaoyang District to find
it cleared of people with tape reading "Chaoyang Office of Civil
Defense" pasted across the door.

     According to insiders, because such a large-scale closure and
dispersal affects a huge swathe of the population, the government's
policy on this particular control effort is "all action, no talk." In
some places, local government departments don't have the right to
close businesses and instead require an appropriate law or special
authorization from the People's Congress. But since security is the
top priority during the Olympics, the losses suffered by closed
businesses and evicted tenants can't be addressed until after the
Olympics are over.

     In mid-June, work will stop on most construction projects in
Beijing. When that time comes, an estimated one million migrant
workers will be encouraged to go home. Besides this, all restaurants,
karaoke parlors, teahouses and bathhouses under 1000 square-meters in
size will be closed down. With this, even more migrant workers will be
leaving the capital and returning to their villages.

     "The Olympics is a once-in-a-century event. Individuals who suffer
loses as result just have to deal with it. Right now, the interests of
the State is most important." These are the words that agents of the
Peaceful Olympics Special Correction Operation use to encourage
"troublemakers" to leave the city. But when tenants ask "Where I am
going to make a living these next five months?" they have no answer.
In the end, all they can do is quote from the eviction notice: "We
hope you can fully understand the importance, necessity and
seriousness of maintaining safety during the Olympics from a political
and general standpoint, and therefore proactively comply with the
Special Correction Operation."

According to the essay, all of Beijing's underground hotels and
apartments should have been cleared out by July 1st. Originally, the
evictions were supposed to neutralize three groups: terrorist
organizations, anti-China forces and people "dissatisfied with
society." As the author suggests, whether or not it takes care of
terrorists, the Special Correction Operation is almost certain to
cause the latter category to grow by the tens of thousands.

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/07/beijings-special-corrections-operation/

#2050

From: "David X. Pointier" <David_X._Pointier@...>
Date: Wed Aug 6, 2008 7:06 pm
Subject: 2012 security - lack thereof

David_X._Pointier@...

From latest (August 2008) Edition of Professional Security Magazine, an
article starting:

Risk from paln delays

Delay in security planning for the 2012 Games increases the risk of time
delays and cost overruns, t is claimed.

A progress report by the National Audit Office admits that limited
progress was made during 2007 ....


Meanwhile, it seems, security is being bolted on piecemeal as an
afterthought with little or not joined up thinking.  Well, there's a
surprise.

The mag is at www.professionalsecurity.co.uk

The NAO report can be downloaded, it says, at www.nao.gov.uk

Dave XP

#2051

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Thu Aug 7, 2008 12:51 pm
Subject: Hackney Wick-ed arts festival 8-10 Aug

Only just heard about this
features an 'arts olympics' and tours of the famous graffiti in the
locality - will Sweet Toof survive the games sanitising ?
How many of these places will disappear under apartment blocks with
'stunning views of the olympic park' if the threatened 'much-needed
investment in the area' materialises?

8 August - Grand Opening and Gallery Private Views
ELEVATOR GALLERY, The Tomorrow People. (PV 6pm-9pm)
MOTHER STUDIOS, Open Studios, (PV 6pm-9pm)
Queens Yard, White Post Lane, London, E9 5EN
THE WALLIS GALLERY, Eloise Fornieles, The Rite of Spring, (PV 6pm-9pm)
90 Wallis Road, London, E9
SCHWARTZ GALLERY, Shift � Reflections in Time and Place. (PV 6pm-9pm)
White Post Quay, 92 White Post Lane, London E9 5EN
THE TOP AND TAIL GALLERY, Mumbo Jumbo (PV 8pm)
55-57 Wallis Road, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LH
THE RESIDENCE, Hackney Wicked Museum of Revised History (PV 9pm-12am)
The Verger's Cottage, Eastway, London, E9 5JA

9 August
DECIMA GALLERY, Art Olympic Games: (Opening Ceremony 3pm-8pm, followed
by LIVE music until 2am)
Unit B16, 22 Smeed Road, London E3 2NR
Mother Studios, Oslo House, Maryland Studios, Decima, and Wallis
Studios will all be opening their doors for the duration of the festival.
THE GRAFFITI TRAIL: Maps available at all galleries. Guided tour Sat.
& Sun. with Simon Ould.
LIVE GRAFFITI PAINT JAM: organised by Onit Design. starts 12:00. 92
White Poast Lane. Participation by invitation only. Call Rueben on
07947 531867.

10 August
THE ART CAR BOOTY FAIR @ Wallis Road
Harry Meadows, Coracle Regatta (2pm along the canal)
Oslo House Film Screening on Roof Terrace
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL CLOSING PARTY @ The Lord Napier (10pm-4am �3)

#2052

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Thu Aug 7, 2008 1:16 pm
Subject: Hackney Wick-ed

should add that its Art Festival rather than 'arts' and the website is
www.hackneywicked.com
The coracle regatta sounds unmissable

#2053

From: Tenant <tenant@...>
Date: Thu Aug 7, 2008 2:46 pm
Subject: NBC Urged To Examine China's Record

lappert2001

This sounds all well and good, but the reader should understand that local NYC elected officials are doing this only because they are pandering to their consitituency in preparation for the local 2009 NYC elections. Moreover, they focus only on the Darfur issue. And while Darfur is important, they ignore the massive evictions and displacement created by China and (more importantly) enabled by the IOC.

The elected official mentioned in the report, Eric Gioia, was particularly ga-ga over the NYC 2012 Olympic bid. This is not an official who has showed much leadership and essentially helped to rubber-stamp many of Mayor Bloomberg's development mega-projects -- many of which came about or introduced during the Olympics mania -- and have helped to destabilize and destroy many NYC neighborhoods.

--------------------------------------------
Section: New York > Printer-Friendly Version

NBC Urged To Examine China's Record
By BENJAMIN SARLIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun | August 7, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/council-member-wants-olympic-balance-from-nbc/83314/

Elected officials and activists are challenging NBC to take a critical look at China's human rights record as the TV network broadcasts the Olympic Games from Beijing this month.

The major American television networks have not give adequate coverage to China's role in the ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, Council Member Eric Gioia said yesterday, noting that China sells weapons to the Sudanese government and is the country's largest purchaser of oil.

"NBC does not stand alone in not publicizing the crisis in Darfur, but NBC does have a unique opportunity to highlight China's role," Mr. Gioia, a likely candidate for public advocate, said at a press conference at the United Nations. "That is why during the Olympic coverage this should be something they are talking about."

The International Criminal Court moved recently to indict President al-Bashir of Sudan on war crimes charges.

Last month, protesters disrupted a taping of NBC's "Today" show to protest the network's handling of China and Darfur. Asked on Monday about the network's planned coverage during the Olympics, the show's producer, Jim Bell, told the Los Angeles Times that NBC is planning to "deal with the issues as they come" during the games and address questions being raised about the country's human rights record.

City officials have publicly condemned China's human rights record on several issues ahead of the Beijing Games. Mr. Gioia wrote a resolution last year in the City Council calling on corporate sponsors of the Olympics, such as NBC, to drop their support for the games. Council Member Simcha Felder in March called for a boycott of the games over Sudan, and Council Member Tony Avella introduced a separate resolution earlier this year calling on the International Olympic Committee to move the games from Beijing in response to China's treatment of Tibet.

As the Olympics approach, China also has drawn criticism for restricting Western reporters' access to the Internet and for revoking a visa yesterday for a former Olympic speed skater who planned to attend the games, Joey Cheek. Mr. Cheek co-founded Team Darfur, a group of athletes that have called attention to China's links to Sudan. Another member of the group, former Olympic swimmer Kendra Zanotto, has also been barred from attending the games.

The White House press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters yesterday that the Bush administration was "disturbed" by Mr. Cheek's treatment. President Bush reportedly is set to deliver a speech today in Thailand rebuking China for its policies on religious freedom and human rights.

#2054

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Thu Aug 7, 2008 5:56 pm
Subject: Re: 2012 security - lack thereof

worth reading this (Athens security) for a taste of what's in store -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58111-2004Aug11.html

it seems their security costs overran by 3x and were 6x Sydney's
Their US-built surveillance command centre (monitoring phone calls and
street corner mikes(!) as well as CCTV) cost $312m but was severely
delayed and only just completed for the games.

Athens security cost

--- In gamesmonitor@..., "David X. Pointier"
<David_X._Pointier@...> wrote:
>
> From latest (August 2008) Edition of Professional Security Magazine, an
> article starting:
>
> Risk from paln delays
>
> Delay in security planning for the 2012 Games increases the risk of time
> delays and cost overruns, t is claimed.
>
> A progress report by the National Audit Office admits that limited
> progress was made during 2007 ....
>
>
> Meanwhile, it seems, security is being bolted on piecemeal as an
> afterthought with little or not joined up thinking.  Well, there's a
> surprise.
>
> The mag is at www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
>
> The NAO report can be downloaded, it says, at www.nao.gov.uk
>
> Dave XP
>

#2055

From: "leedelta07" <leedelta07@...>
Date: Sat Aug 9, 2008 1:33 pm
Subject: ClimateCamp radio report on China

leedelta07

http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/radio

Saturday noon show

interesting report on Coal in China mentioning too a new law about
Environmental Impact Assessments, a dam project that was defeated...



and a video about Beijing by Journeyman Productions :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=L_WeIVP2ET0
<!-- look out for the sculpture in the garden -->

and elderberry champagne and cordial from East Marsh by Pudding Mill
River:
http://puddingmillriver.blogspot.com/

#2056

From: "leedelta07" <leedelta07@...>
Date: Sat Aug 9, 2008 2:39 pm
Subject: Re: Hackney Wick-ed

leedelta07

--- In gamesmonitor@..., "batswithbabyfaces"
<batswithbabyfaces@...> wrote:
>
> should add that its Art Festival rather than 'arts' and the website is
> www.hackneywicked.com
> The coracle regatta sounds unmissable
>
and perhaps for after the coracling,
Gilbert & George's idea for Bike Polo a event that featured in the
1908 Olympics held in Britain.
Sitting around London Fields Lido doing nothing competition, last
person to act sporty wins
Calum F. Kerr's Pole Vaulting over the Blue Olympic Fence
Alex Chappel's Olympic Kebab Eating Competition at the Olympic Kebab
Shop Hackney Wick
and more stuff at:
http://www.decimagallery.com/art_olympics.htm

and some Eton Manor history at:
http://www.residence-gallery.com/now.htm

#2057

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:25 am
Subject: Ken Livingstone enthuses about Beijing

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7550000/7550927.stm

He says he doesn't have any ambivalence about the contrast between the
glamour of the games and human rights issues...
"This is not an oppressive regime as far as the vast majority of the
population are concerned"

His final statement shows he's as vague as ever about the funding of
London's Olympics - "there's no way Boris will persuade the council
tax payers of London to cough up another 50p a week to pay for an
opening ceremony like that"

The opening ceremony is not paid for from council taxes, but by LOCOG
which gets its revenue privately from sponsorship and media rights.

#2058

From: "Richard Willmsen" <rwillmsen@...>
Date: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:30 am
Subject: Re: Ken Livingstone enthuses about Beijing

rwpjobs

There is a quite cynical article in today's Observer, but it makes a few good points about how we as a nation view the Olympics:

"on the whole, the Olympics are akin to a giant internationally sanctioned parents' race on school sports day, and who wants to watch that? Indeed, the Olympics has to be most boring, sprawling, least loved, most over-produced and expensive sporting tournament ever. And in 2012 it's all ours. It doesn't bode well. People are already complaining about the millions it cost to join the Chinese Olympics. Can you imagine the whingeing when we host the thing? By 2012, the Olympics will have been damned as a 'national folly', like the Millennium Dome, only with javelins. Everywhere, people will be moaning that they never wanted them in the first place. And while much has been made of the Chinese public being ordered to view their Olympics as the 'pivotal moment of their generation', I can't imagine them pulling that off here. Refuseniks and curmudgeons that we are, the British Olympics probably won't even rate as the pivotal moment of the fortnight."

Well worth a read.

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 7:25 AM, batswithbabyfaces <batswithbabyfaces@...> wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7550000/7550927.stm

He says he doesn't have any ambivalence about the contrast between the
glamour of the games and human rights issues...
"This is not an oppressive regime as far as the vast majority of the
population are concerned"

His final statement shows he's as vague as ever about the funding of
London's Olympics - "there's no way Boris will persuade the council
tax payers of London to cough up another 50p a week to pay for an
opening ceremony like that"

The opening ceremony is not paid for from council taxes, but by LOCOG
which gets its revenue privately from sponsorship and media rights.

#2059

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:34 am
Subject: Olympics may hurt China growth

The transport restrictions and factory closures that China has ordered
as part of its drive to clean Beijing's air for the Olympics could
lead to a dip in overall economic activity in the short term, some
economists say.

Hoping to cut down on smog during the Games, authorities have shut
down dozens of polluting factories in Beijing and neighbouring
provinces and are significantly limiting traffic in and out of the
city. It has also banned certain goods from being shipped for security
reasons.

Many economists have said that the effect of those measures would
probably be offset by factories in other parts of the country ramping
up production and by an Olympics-related boost to Beijing's tourism
industry.

But Hong Liang and Yu Song with Goldman Sachs said evidence was
mounting to the contrary.

''While the long-term economic impacts of the Olympic Games are likely
to be minimal, it increasingly looks like the Games' short-term
economic impacts are likely to be negative,'' they wrote in a research
note.

Liang and Song expect the measures to lead to a visible slowdown in
both production and consumption in August and September, to be
followed by a rebound in October after the restrictions expire. They
are due to end on September 20.

''Therefore, it will be difficult to get a 'clean' reading of the
underlying economic trend (as well as price trend) probably until
after October,'' they wrote.

Many economists expect China's economy to slow in the second half, as
weaker overseas demand and the stronger yuan drag down exports and
tightening measures at home dampen investment. Annual growth slowed to
10.1% in the second quarter, down from 11.9% in all of 2007.

''Giant distraction''

However, economists agree virtually unanimously that the end of the
Games themselves will not contribute significantly to any long-term
slowdown in the country's growth, as has been experienced by some past
host nations, including after the Seoul Games in 1988, Barcelona in
1992 and Athens in 2004.

Jonathan Anderson, an economist with UBS in Hong Kong, noted that the
impact of the Olympics on the overall economy was greatest in
countries in which the host city accounts for a relatively large
proportion of the overall population.

Whereas some past host cities have accounted for upwards of 40% of the
national population, that figure drops to 1.1% for Beijing, Anderson said.

''Our estimates for China put the impact of the 2008 Olympics far
behind the decimal point in terms of growth,'' he wrote.

However, the end of the Olympics could be good for the economy in
other ways, as that will allow authorities to shift their focus back
to the many other pressing problems waiting to be tackled, said
William Hess, greater China manager for Global Insight in Beijing.

''The Olympics have been a giant distraction when it comes to policy
making, and movement on issues such as energy pricing and power
shortages, rising producer costs and the plight of SMEs (small- and
medium-sized enterprises) is arguably overdue,'' Hess said. ''There
are still a lot of big issues out there that need attention.''

Reuters

http://business.theage.com.au/business/olympics-may-hurt-china-growth-20080811-3\
t57.html

#2060

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:28 am
Subject: Beijing denies right to protest in park

By Mure Dickie and Geoff Dyer in Beijing

Financial Times August 12 2008 03:00

Beijing police plan to detain for a month a resident who applied for
permission to hold a demonstration in one of the Chinese capital's
specially designated Olympic protest zones, a relative said yesterday.

The detention of Zhang Wei, who wanted to protest against the
demolition of her home by officials, is a stark reminder of the perils
faced by ordinary Chinese who challenge authority, even when they do
so according to government-set rules.

Beijing last month portrayed its unprecedented creation of special
protest zones in three parks as an expression of respect for citizens'
rights. But officials said all demonstrations must have prior
approval, which they appear unwilling to grant.

Police rejected the application from Ms Zhang and fellow residents of
Qianmen, a historic neighbourhood near Tiananmen Square. The residents
say officials illegally destroyed their homes to make way for a
complex earmarked for acquisition by Hong Kong-listed developer Soho
China.

Police took Ms Zhang from her home late last Wednesday for what
appeared likely to be a short detention. However, a relative said
police told the family she would be held in custody for 30 days for
"disturbing social order".

"She definitely won't be allowed out before the end of the Olympics,"
the relative said.

Police in Qianmen directed inquiries to the Chongwen District Public
Security Bureau, which directed them to the Beijing city Public
Security Bureau. The municipal bureau declined to comment.

The detention will fuel criticism over China's pre-Olympics crackdown
on dissidents and social activists. However, Beijing has made clear
western opprobrium counts for little against its determination to
ensure "stability" during the games.

A Christian activist who was detained on Sunday while on his way to
attend the same church service as President George W. Bush was still
missing yesterday, his brother said.

Hua Huiqi was stopped by security agents in black cars en route to the
Kuan Jie Protestant Church, said his brother, Hua Huilin, who was also
detained but released after a few hours.

Hua Huiqi, a member of an underground church, had been warned by
police "not to cause any trouble" but was determined to attend the
service. "I tried to talk him out of going but he just simply told me
not to get involved in his issue because I am not a Christian myself,"
his brother said.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0387b30-6804-11dd-8d3b-0000779fd18c.html

#2061

From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:31 pm
Subject: where are all the spectators? Andrew Gilligan on Beijing

juliancheyne

If they fought to get tickets why are there so many empty seats?
Andrew Gilligan

12.08.08�

Until now we've all been reporting that the Chinese are thrilled at their Olympics. From the snapshot conversations I've had with ordinary people, that's certainly been my view. But now, as better evidence starts to arrive, the doubts are creeping in. Where are all the spectators?�

We were told by the Games organisers that apart from a few football matches outside Beijing, every one of the 6.8 million Olympic seats was sold, and had been for weeks. We saw pictures of people fighting for tickets. This would not, it seemed, be the normal Olympic story where the early rounds and the more obscure sports struggle to attract interest.�

But this week, even in sports with a serious chance of glory for the nation, there have been hundreds, even thousands, of empty seats.�

At the women's archery, China won silver - but the stands at the Olympic Green Archery Field were only just over half full.�

Admitting today that he was "concerned about not filling the seats," Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee, confessed that Olympic volunteers had been pressed into service to fill up the empty spaces and "encourage atmosphere".�

And he offered what you might call the British Rail excuse. "I think it is due to a number of factors, [such as] the weather conditions - hot, humid and then rain," said Mr Wang. "�

The seats are sold out. Some people have tickets for the whole day but only attend the morning, afternoon or evening session." Sponsors and athletes' families, too, are blamed for not using their allocations.�

Over the weekend the rain was indeed heavy but Beijingers must be acclimatised to heat and humidity. And as for the sponsors - mostly Western corporations - there cannot be that many sponsors' guests in a country so far away from where the main corporate headquarters are.�

Mr Wang did not mention this, but it seems likely that the heavy hand of choreography and security that's settled on Beijing has done far more to put off would-be spectators than any thunderstorm.�

And there's one other explanation that went unmentioned: that in Beijing, the age-old Olympic discipline of spin is alive and kicking.�

It emerged yesterday that part of Friday's opening ceremony, the bit where 29 giant "footprints of fire" advanced towards the Bird's Nest, was faked. For that section of the programme, TV viewers, and those of us watching on big screens inside the stadium, saw pre-recorded, digitally created fireworks, not real ones.�

That worldwide TV audience was said, on the night, to have numbered four billion. This actually turns out to have been the total possible reach of all the stations carrying the broadcast. The actual audience was a rather lower one billion, five million of whom were in Britain.�

In a Games where, as we've been reporting, the entire host city has been turned into a kind of Potemkin Olympic village for the duration, with significant parts of its real personality suppressed, such untruths may not be surprising.�

But the sad thing is that the real bits of the ceremony were great: one billion TV viewers is still an incredibly impressive number and few, if any, previous Olympics have been total sell-outs.�

In its desperation to be seen as the most perfect Games in human history, Beijing 2008 may have held itself to a standard that it cannot truthfully fulfil and created conditions which work against a totally successful event. There really is such a thing as trying too hard

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#2062

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:37 pm
Subject: Re: where are all the spectators? Andrew Gilligan on Beijing

following the exposure of the computer graphics fireworks and padded
audiences, the child who sang "Ode to the Motherland" at the opening
ceremony (Lin Miaoke) turns out to have been miming to voice of a girl
who had a better voice but was considered insufficiently perfect
looking (Yang Peiyi) and would not have 'projected the right image' -

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20080812-81958.html

#2063

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:00 pm
Subject: Hong Kong 'Olympets'

Pet Olympics
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7552668.stm

#2064

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:08 pm
Subject: the traditional ticketing mess, Beijing style

Touts make killing on Olympic tickets despite empty seats
Tue, Aug 12, 2008
AFP


BEIJING, Aug 12, 2008 (AFP) - Foreign and Chinese touts are openly
selling tickets for more than 10 times their face value outside
Olympic venues despite the threat of jail, amid complaints about empty
seats at many stadiums.

The Games organisers have acknowledged that rows of empty seats at
sold-out venues are a problem they are trying to address, while
suggesting that sponsors and corporate give-aways could be responsible.

Just a few hundreds yards from the iconic "Bird's Nest" Olympic
stadium in northern Beijing an AFP reporter saw touts selling tickets
to a range of events.

The trade was taking place under the noses of passing police cars,
security guards and Olympic volunteers even though scalping is illegal
in China and the authorities have vowed to get tough on touts.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau said in March they had launched a
clampdown on touting and have announced arrests from time to time, but
sellers who spoke to AFP were relaxed.

"This is a complete free market," one American tout told AFP.

"We thought it was going to be really difficult and people were very
nervous for the first few days ... but once we realised the police
were not going to touch us, everyone flooded in.

"Now even the locals are comfortable here," he said.

AFP spoke to touts from Canada, Morocco, the United States and a large
number from Britain who had travelled to Beijing to scalp, many with
large signs around their neck offering to buy tickets in English and
Chinese. None would give their names.

"It is a sellers' market," one British tout said. "Touch wood, we have
not had any trouble from the police."

Two weeks before the Games opened the organisers announced that every
single Olympic event being held in the Chinese capital had been sold out.

When a final tranche of tickets went on sale last month police
struggled to control surging crowds of more than 50,000 people,
indicating the huge enthusiasm for the Olympics and the fuel for a
thriving black market.

Two tickets for swimming listed as 200 yuan (29 dollars) each were
offered for 5,000 yuan, while the American tout said he had sold three
tickets for the opening ceremony for 20,000 dollars each.

One Beijing resident, who has sold on spare tickets and leftovers from
friends, said demand was huge.

"I sold an opening ceremony ticket I won in the lottery for 800 yuan
for 7,000," he said, on condition of anonymity.

"But I saw some tickets to USA v China men's basketball going for 10,000."

And some people appear happy to pay.

Anton Harder, a Beijing resident and former ship broker, paid 2,000
yuan to a tout for tickets to the 110m final, one of the hottest seats
in Beijing as fans hope to see China's Liu Xiang pick up the athletics
gold.

"You have the chance to see the hero of China trying to cope with a
lifetime of pressure on him," Harder said. "I would have spent double
what I did to see it."

Wang Wei, the vice-president of the Beijing organising committee, said
the organisers were aware of complaints from sports fans over the
ticketing situation and empty seats, many of which had been allocated
to sponsors.

"I think we are also concerned about this," he said, adding he would
look into the issue of scalping.

He said tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies had been
imprinted with the buyers name in an effort to stop them being sold on
and that the number of tickets one person could buy had been limited
to thwart touts.

He also said that cheerleading volunteers have been shipped in to
Olympic venues to liven up the atmosphere at events where large rows
of seats remained empty.

#2065

From: letthegamesbegin@...
Date: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:15 pm
Subject: Protest Picnic at Hackney Handover, August 24

letthegamesbegin@...

Let the games begin: everything for everyone!

* 1pm Sunday 24th August in Shoreditch Park *

Join us for a protest pic-nic at Shoreditch Festival
( http://www.shoreditchfestival.org.uk/sunday24.html ) , where Hackney
Council will be marking the official handover of the Olympic Games from
Beijing to London at 2.30pm. This will take the form of a 1948-themed
street party: the last time the Games were in London.

Bring banners, sports equipment and food to share and consider dressing
accordingly.

Let the Games begin!

In four years the Olympic games will be held in London: no reason to
celebrate.

The 2012 Games will contribute to privatisation, inequality and
surveillance in our city. It will convert large areas of public space
into private ground, most of it compulsorily purchased. The Games rely
on volunteers working for no wages as well as workers in conditions
that will get worse as 2012 approaches. Already we have seen local
businesses closed down, allotment-users, travellers and tenants evicted
and amateur football pitches are getting destroyed (not to mention
everything else) for what are apparently 'everyone's' Games.

Feel free to contact us at letthegamesbegin@...

#2066

From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:13 am
Subject: (No subject)

juliancheyne

2012 Games 'must encourage more people to take up sport'

Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent
24.07.08

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The 2012 Olympics are failing to get people involved in sport, a report warned today.

MPs said there was no evidence that the prospect of the London games was encouraging more to become active and fitter - and said urgent work was needed to secure the "sports legacy".
Sports officials also spoke today of their concern at the failure of the London games to engage people in grassroots sport.
The head of the British Olympic Association urged the Government to "grasp the nettle" of delivering a legacy.
Chairman Lord Moynihan said "a lot of fine words" had not been matched by extra funding, improved facilities, school sports and clear targets to boost participation on the back of 2012.
He said: "We need to push very hard in the interests of sports legacy from these Games. The challenge for us as a host nation is to make sure there is a serious and long-lasting sports legacy for the kids of this country. I don't believe that we have grasped the nettle in that context.
"We have focused on the Olympic Park as a regeneration project and that is commendable but equally it is important that sport should benefit in facilities, in investment, in participation and in the number of hours in school.
"There are a lot of fine words out there but we need to deliver a legacy of being host nation in 2012."
His warning came as the Commons Public Accounts Committee warned ministers that the aim of Britain coming fourth in the 2012 medals table could distract from the Government target of getting two million more people involved in sport by 2012.
The legacy plan helped convince the International Olympic Committee to vote for London as hosts.
The PAC report made several recommendations to prevent the intended legacy becoming a flop. It said:
� Britain's 1,400 lottery-funded athletes should do more to promote grassroots sport.
� a government working group should be set up to analyse the chances of a grassroots legacy.
� the quango UK Sport should fund a study towards ensuring Olympic sports such as rowing, sailing and equestrian sports are viewed as less elitist.
Lack of facilities was also identified as a "barrier" to achieving the legacy. London suffered a chronic shortage of some facilities, especially in diving where 90 per cent of boards had been closed off by health and safety inspectors.
The PAC report Preparing For Sporting Success At London 2012 concentrated on the role of elite sports agency UK Sport which will receive �700 million towards 2012 medal success.
The report states: "There is a risk that, unless the activities of a wide range of public, private and voluntary bodies are properly co-ordinated, the focus on winning medals could distract the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's attention from encouraging ordinary people to participate.
"There is no clear evidence that elite sporting achievement influences people to take up sport in the long term, and Olympic medalists in certain sports such as rowing and equestrianism do not represent the make-up of the wider population, with a disproportionate number coming from privileged backgrounds."
The biggest single initiative to encourage participation has been free swimming for the over-60s, which is set to cost �140 million.
Olympics minister Tessa Jowell told MPs in a statement: "In June this year we published the Legacy Action Plan which sets out the long-term benefits we hope to stimulate through hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012, and how we plan to achieve them. This is unprecedented as no other host city has ever been at this stage of planning - nor so committed to a broad and sustainable legacy - this early in preparations."

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#2067

From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:16 am
Subject: fewer Londoners participate in sport

juliancheyne

London, Friday 15.08.08

Three men arrested in terror probe..... Women charged over honeymoon deaths..... Another record year for A-levels..... Jail for careless drivers who kill..... Lack of role models linked to gangs..... BA seeks transatlantic deal..... Briton's killers branded cowards..... 'Betting scam' link to killings..... Bale will not face assault charge..... Over 50s 'not given basic NHS care'.....

Drop: the number of people playing sport in London has gone down

Fewer people playing sport in Olympics city

Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent
25.07.08

The betrayal of our talent and our future

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The number of Londoners taking part in sport has declined since the capital was awarded the 2012 Games, official statistics reveal.

Figures released to Parliament show sports participation in London fell by three per cent last year - the equivalent of 160,000 Londoners dropping out.
The decline is in contrast to the target of raising participation by three per cent and is an indictment of ministers' claims that the London Olympics will get more people involved in sport.
The disturbing trend has been revealed in the Taking Part survey from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport which measures the proportion of people who played sport, including "low intensity" activity such as billiards and darts, at least once a month. The most recent figures are for 2006-07 with this year's statistics, due in December, expected to show sports participation is now flat-lining.
The Liberal Democrats Olympics spokesman Don Foster, who obtained the figures, said: "Despite the fact that people are getting less active all the time the Government appears to have effectively given up on its efforts to promote sport. What we're lacking is a properly coordinated strategy to get people who've dropped out of sport interested again. But that's hardly surprising when we seem to have a new government sports initiative every year."
The department said participation would be measured in future by stripping out "light intensity" sports. Under thatmeasure, levels of activity in London have fallen by one per cent to 1.15 million Londoners playing sport for 2006-07. By the same measure participation has risen by one per cent nationwide.
London suffers from couch potato syndrome, according to a separate survey, which provides the most comprehensive nationwide picture of active lifestyles.
The so-called "Olympic borough" of Newham has the least active population in the capital and the third lowest nationwide. Only 14.5 per cent of people there took part in moderate activity at least three days a week, the measure used by researchers for the 2006 Active People Survey commissioned by Sport England. The picture was almost as bleak in Barking and Dagenham (14.7 per cent) and two other Olympic boroughs, Waltham Forest (19 per cent) and Tower Hamlets (19.7 per cent). This compared to a London average of 21.3 per cent and a 21 per cent national average.
Newham said it was enjoying an Olympic dividend since the survey, especially among young people. Thanks partly to a �2 million improvement number using borough leisure centres had increased by 7,000 in the past year. A council spokeswoman added: "We acknowledge there is an issue in relation to encouraging more adults to change their lifestyle but we are addressing this, working with the local Primary Care Trust and Sport England."
The Active People survey will be used to measure the Government's aim of getting two million more Britons involved in sport by 2012 as a dividend of the Olympics.
Confusion has surrounded the participation agenda with responsibility being split between numerous departments. Ministers for health, work and pensions and transport have all been given the task of helping to deliver the sports legacy, though it is unclear whether extra funds and personnel have been allocated.
Meanwhile, officials are unable to say what - if any - progress has been made towards the two million figure, even though the scheme was launched in November 2006 by former chairman of Sport England Derek Mapp. Sport England, which remains leaderless since Mr Mapp quit last December, has been told to focus on delivering its one million target by working with the governing bodies of the major sports. It has also been told to cut by 25 per cent the postschool dropout rate in five unspecified sports.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: "Government is committed to encouraging people to do more sport. Exchequer funding has risen by over 800 per cent in the last 10 years to over �400 million a year. Nationally the number of adults doing 3 x 30 mins of sport and physical activity a week is on the rise and we will be working hard with Sport England and sports governing bodies to create a world-class community sport system by 2012."

Link to:

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#2068

From: "batswithbabyfaces" <batswithbabyfaces@...>
Date: Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:35 pm
Subject: Freud Communications masterminding the handover events

scary stuff

Freud to organise events celebrating Olympic handover

Freud Communications is behind a series of events that will celebrate
the handover to London as the next official host city of the Summer
Olympic Games.


Freud is working with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic
Games to erect a network of giant permanent screens, known as `Live
Sites', nationwide on 24 August. Each screen will broadcast the
handover from Beijing to London as host city.

Funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery
Distributor, the screens will be erected in cities such as Cardiff,
Middlesborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swansea and London.

In addition, the screens will broadcast coverage from the Visa London
2012 Party live, also organised by Freud, which will be attended by
40,000 people on 24 August. Tickets were allocated via a ballot and
the event will take place at the Mall. The party will be broadcast
live on BBC TV and Radio 2, with bands such as The Feeling and McFly
due to perform.

London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe said: "At approximately 2.30pm UK
time, on the afternoon of 24 August, the Olympic Flag will pass from
the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London in the Olympic Stadium in
Beijing, and the eyes of the world will turn to us."

Other activities taking place on 24 August include sport, music and
dance events and a mass singalong as part of Sing the Nation, a
programme that was set up by non-profit organisation Sing London, and
which aims to foster a spirit of unity across the UK through singing.
Regional choirs will perform at the big-screen sites, performing three
pieces and a national song that is being arranged by National Youth
Choirs.

http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/news/834741/Freud-organise-events-celebrating-Oly\
mpic-handover/

#2069

From: Tenant <tenant@...>
Date: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:35 pm
Subject: No medals for the IOC

lappert2001

No medals for the IOC
By Minky Worden
Friday, August 15, 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/15/opinion/edworden.php
International Herald Tribune

While the world follows the exploits of the China Olympics, journalists and athletes in Beijing have only limited access to what the world is saying about China. They can easily log on to any Web site covering the latest athletic feats, but may find their efforts thwarted if they try to read online commentary on the numerous human rights violations linked to Beijing's acting as host of these Olympic Games.

In spite of pledges of media and Internet freedom made to the International Olympic Committee while bidding for the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese authorities are continuing to block access to Web sites of some international human rights organizations, press freedom groups and overseas Chinese-language news Web sites. Reneging on promises to allow peaceful public criticism, Beijing is cynically using designated protest zones as bait to snare any would-be critics.

Before the Games began this summer, the president of the Olympic committee, Jacques Rogge, asserted that the IOC "carried out the only kind of diplomacy that works in China - silent diplomacy."

But what has this strategy achieved? The prelude to the Beijing Games was marred by a major crackdown on free speech and dissent, a massive sweep of "undesirables" from the host city, and increasing abuses of ethnic minority Tibetans and Uighurs. We'd likely know more if not for the government's failure to fully implement its own temporary regulations giving foreign media much greater freedom to work in China.

"We obtained a new law on the media," Rogge told Agence France-Presse in July. "For the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet."

Yet over the last two years, Human Rights Watch and other press freedom organizations have documented hundreds of incidents of harassment, detentions and even death threats to foreign journalists in China. And, of course, conditions are much worse for Chinese reporters, with China still the world's leading jailer of journalists.

An unnamed Olympic committee official admitted to The New York Times in July, "Had the IOC, and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions on people being able to enter China simply to watch the Olympics, or that live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square would essentially be banned, or that reporters would be corralled at the whim of local security, then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics."

So before the Beijing pageantry ends, the lesson is clear: Voluntary pledges cannot be enforced; there need to be permanent rights mechanisms in place to make sure Olympian promises match deeds.

The IOC is no stranger to creating new structures to deal with its failings. In the 1980s, major doping scandals led to negative headlines and the forced return of the Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson's gold medal. To save the Olympic movement, the IOC helped set up the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The corruption scandal that tainted the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City led to the expulsions and sanctions of some 20 Olympic committee members. The IOC set up an ethics committee in the wake of the public outcry.

In view of China's failure to follow through on its human rights pledges, Human Rights Watch has outlined to the IOC the need to create a committee charged with assessing the human rights records of bidding countries, particularly with respect to press freedom, an independent judiciary and labor rights. This body could then monitor the selected host country's progress toward improving its human rights record, just as the IOC currently audits sports venue completion. Such periodic rights audits in China would certainly have saved Rogge a lot of headaches.

This reform is urgent. The 2014 Winter Games were awarded to the Russian city of Sochi - only 15 miles from Russia's border with Georgia, where a deadly conflict with the future Olympic host erupted just as the Beijing Games began.

The Olympics-related rights violations well documented in China - forced evictions, abuse of migrant workers, repression of civil society - will almost certainly be replayed in Russia. But it could get even uglier: In Russia, journalists are not only harassed, they are sometimes murdered.

Before the final medal is awarded at the 2008 Games, the IOC could do itself a big favor by setting out clear and transparent human rights benchmarks for future Olympics.

Minky Worden is media director at Human Rights Watch and editor of "China's Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges."

#2070

From: mike wells <mikejwells@...>
Date: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:12 am
Subject: link. british waterways and development plans

mikejwells

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article1832318.ece

London based photographer and journalist

Reply | Messages in this Topic (3)

#2071

From: "rwpjobs" <rwillmsen@...>
Date: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:25 am
Subject: Re: link. british waterways and development plans

rwpjobs