This should take you there...



http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=3037da3b-7226-41d2-ac7e-6c7092aebb6a







sunsh9, Aug 9, 08 08:52

I am positive you may have found these by now.



NBC coverage and china tv coverage



[url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=3037da3b-7226-41d2-ac7e-6c7092aebb6a][/url]



[url=http://www.cctvolympics.com][/url]

sunsh9, Aug 9, 08 09:40

i understand the olympics is a chance for all countries to unite under the flag of sport. but i wont be watching it this time round. the chinese government need to get their house in order before our heads of state start flying in to watch fireworks. too many innocent people dead, in prison or living in fear. have you seen the execution buses that scoot about china providing efficient and mobile murder to people who step out of line? if not go have a look on google images. i just can't understand why the world is ok with china hosting the olympics. I really hope all chinese people will be free to express themselves in the very near future and that the innocent will be released to play sport and maybe take part in the olympics themselves someday.



no disrespect to anyone who is watching it, its just that i feel sad when i see our european politicians rubbing shoulders with chinese leaders who see organisations like amnesty international as a threat. that's never a good sign by the way...
manics1984, Aug 9, 08 13:41

Great to see your comment, manics. I have no hostile feelings at all towards the Chinese people, but having the games in China at this time sends a totally wrong signal, and has not much to do with the intended spirit of the games.



Free Tibet.
thomas11, Aug 9, 08 15:11

Right on, Thomas! 
Translator, Aug 9, 08 15:51

OK, I understand about people's disgust with the Chinese government; their politics and way of running their country. But as I see it (I am in no way justifying the Chinese) England and America (I am English) and many other countries also have their dark and sordid side, as I see it there is no country that is perfect, no government that has got it sorted. Ok maybe in western countries we have freedom of speech, equal rights and other things that come with democracy, but what about poor education and health systems, poverty that exists in these countries whilst our governments spend billions and billions on weapons manufacturing, space exploration, nuclear development, invading a certain country on a whim, with no viable evidence, against the resolution of a treaty they are supposed to be supporting; all of these which do not profit the starving, sick, dying, homeless members of our nations.



So China has a lot to sort out, despicable things that must be changed, but so do we. we may have a more privileged life, freedom, but are our governments really any better, in all honesty?
DJ_Symcard, Aug 9, 08 16:11

DJ Symcard, you make some excellent points regarding how stupid and greedy the governments of the west can be. we elected them, we are responsible for them.



but to answer your valid question, 'but are our governments really any better in all honesty?' the answer is clear, simple and unequivocal - YES. Yes because, as you point out yourself, we have that right from which all other rights grow and which allows us to question and challenge the evils of our leaders - freedom of speech. For example, when the olympic torch was being booed and demonstrated against in paris nothing appeared in the state controlled newspapers in china. when jon simpson of the bbc recently went to china he was shocked to find how violent the police were with people who dared to complain against the government. if you go to the bbc website everyone you can hear the police screaming at an old lady and beating a man who went to complain to the local government office about his sister being in a labour camp. Labour camps, harrassing old women and beating up innocent men. a simple fact of life in china,every day. no freedom. no free press. violence against innocents. So yes, our quality of life is vastly superior to that of the chinese people and thus one cannot begin to compare our governments with theirs. and by the way, i really appreciate your comments, thats the whole point of us living in a democracy, we are not obliged to agree with each other. we are free.
manics1984, Aug 9, 08 17:47

navigation, Aug 9, 08 20:07

After having read all your concerns, I would say if you see what happens in China now, you will understand that hosting the Olympic in Beijing is not a bad thing.

Most of the chinese people are allowed to express ourselves. This is more a cultural difference.

As China is still a developping country ,there, for sure, quite a number of areas that need improvement and these changes woun't happen over one night. Patience :)
navigation, Aug 9, 08 20:13

Agree with your comments.

As about the chinese government: all I can say is that as a Chinese, I think the majority of the chinese people are happy with how the government  runs our country, the US way or the UK way may not be the best solution for China.
navigation, Aug 9, 08 20:18

Ok so there is one man's account, maybe a couple of people have seen this, but can you prove to me that this is the everyday life occurrence of every single chinese citizen? have you seen this for yourself or rely on what the media tells you is fact? I don't doubt that these things happen, but whether they are an everyday reality or just isolated events needs to be explored. we must be so careful when it comes to extracting truth from the media. Let's put this into another perspective:



During G8 manifestations here in Switzerland, people were beaten by the police, screamed at by the police, people were seriously injured by the police (when a protestors rope securing him to the bridge was cut) You can capture that on camera, print it in news papers, take other isolated events and make a documentary on how freedom of speech is forbidden in Switzerland - Does it make it true? no, it's just isolated events presented in a way where people who do not know much about Switzerland can be led to believe how human rights in Switzerland are abused.



Another example, my mum called me from England concerned because she had heard on british news how Switzerland was going to be throwing all foreign people out of their country!!! where did this fact come from? british media's exaggeration on the issue over the UDC black sheep poster.



We need to be wise as to what we see and we believe to be true in our so called "free press"



If you can prove the things you claim to be reality in China as fact and a true reflection on chinese life from witnessing it your self from everywhere you have been in China, then I will accept it, otherwise you're just another person relying on second, third or fourth hand biased information
DJ_Symcard, Aug 9, 08 20:48

These posts raise wonderful questions, important issues. And perspectives.



I confess that I am confused on these issues. I think and reflect on them, sometimes a lot. I can't seem to get anywhere close to any simple answers, or even complicated answers. I feel lost. I add the following to my confession - Reading you all, learning your perspectives helps (or confuses me further!, which is a good thing :-)). So, either through this forum or privately, I would love to read your thoughts.



May be, one of these days, I should post a summary of my confused reflections on these matters.



Meanwhile, the opening ceremony did succeed in showing me the cultural history and richness of Chinese people, that they too are and have been in the pursuit of the good and beautiful and feelings that makes life a joy, that rest of us can learn a lot from them as well.... etc etc!



Thanks sunsh9 for the links.

colorado, Aug 9, 08 20:50

Again, exellent points raised by everyone.



As regarding the questions directed at me as to whether i've seen, first hand (with my own eyes), the chinese government committing acts of violence? the answer is no.



And for the second question, can i prove that the report i saw on the bbc is representative of a large body of the chinese population? on this one, yes, i believe i can. but only again by relying on other sources of information, such as amnesty international and le monde diplomatique, etc. as an example here is an excellent report here on the plight of china's rural workers, all 200 million of them (on amnesty's website) http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/chinas-growing-underclass-20070301





its a personal thing, but i can't let it go at a 'cultural difference'. there's right and wrong, simple as that. it would be a terrible crime if i somehow took control of the glocals website and blocked all posts that disagreed with me. that would be just plain wrong. and lets see how many tibetan people regard china's special brand of politics as a question of media interpretation, isolated incidents or as an example of a cultural difference.
manics1984, Aug 9, 08 21:36

It is this kind of "reasoning" that led (and continues to lead) some people to believe that the U.S. was/is not torturing detainees in Guantanamo Bay, that monks are not being killed in Burma by the Chinese-backed junta, and that people are not being oppressed aroung the world -- yes, even in Switzerland.  

Yes, Jesse Owens did well in Berlin and became friends with Lutz Long, a German olympian.  That did not stop the Holocaust and it did not stop lynchings in the southern U.S. 

The sports boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era did indeed do much to raise global public awareness of that government's oppression of the majority.  But sport cannot and should not bear the entire burden for changing a nation's foreign policy.

Of course it is important to make the distinction between the people of a country and the government.   And yes, it is important to be skeptical about what one reads in the press.   But unless one has an extensive cirlce of international acquaintances who are extremely well travelled and informed, one needs to make judgements about global situations and make adjustments accordingly.

That said, the Olympics are almost always a great spectacle.  Bread and circuses, bread and circuses. 
Translator, Aug 10, 08 00:34

I think Jesse Owens is a particularly good example of what sports do, at least in a short- to midterm timeframe. He was incredibly successful in Berlin 1936, was a big star for the Germans - and what good did it do? Three years later, Europe was turned to ashes by the same people that had cheered for Owens. And back home, he had to take the freight elevator to attend his own reception at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, according to Wikipedia.
thomas11, Aug 10, 08 02:34

I'm a Chinese. I just want to say, I enjoy this game very much. Beijing Olympic openning ceremony amazed me. I really appreciate all those people who created this great and creative artwork behind! As a Chinese, I am happy and proud of these artists. And it's nothing about politics.

For those who criticised a lot about China, really thanks for your worry about it.  If you are so interested in this country and really cared about it, just go and see this country by yourself. By your own eyes and ears. And listen to the voice coming from inside of the country, not just from outside...
ta1021, Aug 10, 08 15:24

You see Tibet with your own eyes, because traveling there is extremely regulated and under surveillance. I've seen the big refugee camp in India, where new people still arrive all the time. Would you tell them, having left their home behind, walked for days or weeks through the mountains, having risked being shot at the border, that they don't yet have realized that all governments are equally bad? What nonsense.
thomas11, Aug 11, 08 00:13

it filtered out my emphasis - first sentence should be "You cannot see Tibet..."
thomas11, Aug 11, 08 00:14

Interesting article in the Yedioth Ahronoth



Horror show in Beijing



China’s fascist tendencies, as displayed in opening ceremony, should concern us all



Yehuda Wegman

Published: 08.10.08



The fireworks and show at the Olympic stadium in Beijing Friday made it clear that the opening ceremony was a production on behalf of a regime showing fascist tendencies, on all this entails. In an era that is characterized by historical ignorance combined with obsessive focus on the “here and now,” it would be advisable to make the public aware of the dangers to the Free World represented by the ceremony.



In the not-so-distant past we saw regimes that were able to produce stunning shows based on the movement of thousands of people with inhuman precision. The last two such regimes were the Nazis and the Communists. The perfect obedience to orders and the complete precision of the performance that were used to produce giant displays by these regimes were the same ones that enabled them to embark on wars or engage in domestic “purges” that killed millions of people and brought great destruction.



We should keep in mind the very short road from the grandiose productions and the totalistic value system they represented to concentration camps in Germany and the Soviet Union.



Shows where the individual is no more than a small cog in a giant machine that operates with stunning accuracy are a well-known indication of a regime that conditions its citizens’ right to exist on them being obedient servants of the regime’s and ruling class’ needs. Such regimes have no room for diversity of opinion, political parties, and freedom of expression which constitute the basis of the part of the world that refers to itself as “free.” History taught us a frightening lesson about the conduct and terrible demise of such regimes.



The Chinese regime chose to display its power and impress the entire world with a show based on thousands of gymnasts and dancers who moved in harmony that imitated a giant monster, which changed its shape and colors constantly. The event conveyed a message of complete control not only over the bodies of the thousands of participants, but also over the bodies and souls of the millions of people living outside the Chinese stadium.



The opening ceremony on behalf of the Chinese government conveyed a clear message – this is a regime whose value system must arouse great suspicion before we applaud and praise its performance. The excited viewers would do well to ask themselves about the human and government motives that led organizers to put on a show that, based on historical lessons, may be referred to as the “Beijing horror show” in the near future.

The organizers of the next Olympics in London are advised not to try to compete with the 2008 opening ceremony in Beijing. A different kind of show, one that would emphasize the human values of the democratic British regime, would distinguish it from the totalitarian Chinese regime as it chose to present itself at the opening of the Olympic Games – this would be an incredibly important and balancing message to the billions of viewers worldwide.





Colonel (Res.) Yehuda Wegman is an expert on military doctrines and IDF history
Casuistik, Aug 11, 08 00:21

Hmmm your last post casius, i find the author to be very biased and interpreting what he wants to believe, maybe the author would have preferred all the gymnasts to be out of sync, and a shambles.



Although no one can disagree with the atrocities performed by the Chinese government in Tibet, this debate is not about Tibet, but about how the Chinese treat their own people and life in China, Tibet is another can of worms altogether, if we were to debate the two subjects on this thread I think it would become even more confusing.



I don't believe anybody intended to state that all governments are equally evil, just point out where there are those who's values and operation do not fit into our own, no government is perfect, and can all be condemned one way or another. I believe boycotting China, attacking them and shouting out all the bad things they do is going to bring about a change, but rather interaction, trust and a positive relationship needs to be built until they can come to a place where they allow other nations to have an input into how they choose to run their country. We have no right to point at and judge other nations when we can't even take care of our own nations. How can we shun them for the way they treat their poor and needy, when our own poor and needy need help? How can we condemn them for executing people they regard to be criminals in their own society when the US executes their criminals, of course the way they do this is not the same as the US, but still how can we point at them and judge them for the same imperfections that can be found in our own nations? A wise man once said, remove the plank from your own eye before pointing at the splinter in someone else's.



True China does some terrible inhumane things, but it's not through telling them how evil they are that are going to change things.
DJ_Symcard, Aug 11, 08 00:39

[quote]Hmmm your last post casius, i find the author to be very biased and interpreting what he wants to believe, maybe the author would have preferred all the gymnasts to be out of sync, and a shambles.



Although no one can disagree with the atrocities performed by the Chinese government in Tibet, this debate is not about Tibet, but about how the Chinese treat their own people and life in China, Tibet is another can of worms altogether, if we were to debate the two subjects on this thread I think it would become even more confusing.



I don't believe anybody intended to state that all governments are equally evil, just point out where there are those who's values and operation do not fit into our own, no government is perfect, and can all be condemned one way or another. I believe boycotting China, attacking them and shouting out all the bad things they do is going to bring about a change, but rather interaction, trust and a positive relationship needs to be built until they can come to a place where they allow other nations to have an input into how they choose to run their country. We have no right to point at and judge other nations when we can't even take care of our own nations. How can we shun them for the way they treat their poor and needy, when our own poor and needy need help? How can we condemn them for executing people they regard to be criminals in their own society when the US executes their criminals, of course the way they do this is not the same as the US, but still how can we point at them and judge them for the same imperfections that can be found in our own nations? A wise man once said, remove the plank from your own eye before pointing at the splinter in someone else's.



True China does some terrible inhumane things, but it's not through telling them how evil they are that are going to change things.[/quote]



It should have read is not going to bring about a change
DJ_Symcard, Aug 11, 08 00:41

If you have beauty in your heart, others in your eyes will be beauties. If you have evil in your heart, others in your eyes will be evils.  The ceremony is just an event to celebrate the Olympics and to let the world to know more about Chinese culture and history. 

You can criticise the government, but please respect the people. The word "China" is not just a government, but include the whole nation. I feel so so sad when some people say "boycott China"...

to manics1984, if you know how the Chinese rural workers live 20 years ago, you will have a total different view on those reports. You pick up one moment of the fact, but you don't know the whole history of the fact, then you could have misunderstanding.
ta1021, Aug 11, 08 01:27