I’d give the old farts running the show another decade or so before it blows-up in their faces.

Interestingly, the recently deceased Alexander Solzhenitsyn had something to say about such predictions as long ago as 1979.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm

[T]he blindness of [western] superiority continues in spite of all and upholds the belief that the vast regions everywhere on our planet should develop and mature to the level of present day Western systems, which in theory are the best and in practice the most attractive. There is this belief that all those other worlds are only being temporarily prevented (by wicked governments or by heavy crises or by their own barbarity and incomprehension) from taking the way of Western pluralistic democracy and from adopting the Western way of life. Countries are judged on the merit of their progress in this direction.

However, it is a conception which develops out of Western incomprehension of the essence of other worlds, out of the mistake of measuring them all with a Western yardstick.

Solzhenitsyn asserts that cultural and especially religious traditions determine cultural developments rather than the march of liberal materialism, which he predicts will destroy itself.

Like Orwell, there are many Solzhenitsyns, those of the Left and the Right, that appear to be somewhat contradictory.

The entire linked 1979 speech is well worth perusal.

However, the IOC must be collectively considering to which cities they award games in the future. While it would be reasonable whatever the circumstances to expect it will be quite some time before Beijing got the Summer Games again, any other awarding of the games to China would now be a lot less palatable than it was in 2001.

Problems with the torch relay, internet access, athletes being effectively muzzled, and the bad-PR by association should make the IOC take into account these things in greater magnitude than it did when it awarded the games to Beijing. But I don’t trust them one little bit.

Seriously though folks, did anyone really believe that the hosting the Olympics Games would change anything?

That was never going to to happen. The only thing that is going to change China is the Chinese people themselves doing something about it.

And so they will. Eventually.

I’d give the old farts running the show another decade or so before it blows-up in their faces.

In regard to Gosper, I seem to be the only one saying it, so I’ll keep going until someone notices. For the last decade prior to the collapse of Apartheid the one thing that stood between South Africa and democracy was Shell. A mere threat to abandon their running of the UN Sanctions program would have brought the South African government to its knees, or at least the bargaining table.

Gosper was only head of Shell Asia Pacific, not the whole world, but he should be very glad the War Crimes tribunal’s ambit doesn’t cover corporate sponsors.

Or better still, convert to Xanity. They’ve got it all over you Coms when it comes to censorship.

“He’s telling Mr McClelland to get stuffed … That’s exactly what he’s done,” said Dr Haneef’s lawyer, Rod Hodgson.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/afp-rejects-haneef-request-20080801-3omg.html

Gosh.

AFP won’t release Haneef documents: Keelty

‘despite calls from the Federal Attorney-General to do so…(the) AFP could not release its submission without the permission of British police.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/01/2321714.htm?section=justin

Censorship…:)

They should be grateful if they haven’t made repression worse there. Of course, they probably have. But that seems to be par for the course.

I’m soooooo over the Olympics. I endured them in Sydney and have been deranged about them ever since. I’ve got no idea why people would think the Olympics would bring freedom of speech to China, when it didn’t even solve Sydney’s public transport debacles.

Perhaps they’ll have a wonderful opening ceremony? Not that I’ll be watching.

Yes but you will have to wear a scarlet “P” (for pervy) on your t-shirt when your out in public…its for the kiddies….so you know its a good idea….

http://corporate.olympics.com.au/index.cfm?p=44

How high would the heap of corpses have to be before corporate sponsors refused to have their logos on view when a koala-clutching moppet weeps to “Advance Australia Fair”?

The IOC are expert matchmakers between totalitarianism and the market.