(One in an occasional series provided during the run-up to the ’08 Summer Games in Beijing, China. Archived posts in this series can be accessed by entering “Olympics” in the blog search box above).
As kids growing up in SoCal in the 70s, smog alerts were a common occurrence, particularly in September and October when some smog alerts actually kept us inside during recess. Once school let out, though, we’d run home and get our homework done so we could run around outside again to make up for all the pollutants that those kill-joys at public school deprived our lungs.
Anyway, it appears the athletes competing at the ’08 Summer Games in Beijing will be contending with similar problems as according to article here, the host city, on a typical day has airborne pollution that is 5 times above the World Health Organization’s standard of safety.
The effects of this pollution has already been experienced by athletes who have competed there in Olympic test events such as Colby Pearce a cyclist who developed bronchitis as a result: “When you are coughing up black mucus, you have to stop for a second and say: 'OK, I get it. This is a really, really bad problem we're looking at.” He got it, alright.
So while the Chi-comms might find it in their hearts to resist persecuting dissidents, Christians and Falun Gongers for the 2-3 weeks we’re all there, this pollution business will literally be a much more visible issue that won’t so easily be swept under the carpet.
As kids growing up in SoCal in the 70s, smog alerts were a common occurrence, particularly in September and October when some smog alerts actually kept us inside during recess. Once school let out, though, we’d run home and get our homework done so we could run around outside again to make up for all the pollutants that those kill-joys at public school deprived our lungs.
Anyway, it appears the athletes competing at the ’08 Summer Games in Beijing will be contending with similar problems as according to article here, the host city, on a typical day has airborne pollution that is 5 times above the World Health Organization’s standard of safety.
The effects of this pollution has already been experienced by athletes who have competed there in Olympic test events such as Colby Pearce a cyclist who developed bronchitis as a result: “When you are coughing up black mucus, you have to stop for a second and say: 'OK, I get it. This is a really, really bad problem we're looking at.” He got it, alright.
So while the Chi-comms might find it in their hearts to resist persecuting dissidents, Christians and Falun Gongers for the 2-3 weeks we’re all there, this pollution business will literally be a much more visible issue that won’t so easily be swept under the carpet.
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