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Oh,for starters: 1. Ending the link between the monarchy and the Church of England.(Only a small minority of British people now profess to being practicing Anglicans so this link is now an historical anomaly). 2. Allowing the monarch the same freedom of religion as the rest of us and so abolishing the present ban on members of the royal family becoming or marrying Catholics (although actually they can but they lose their place in the succession if they do).This is a logical consequence of getting rid of 1. 3. Ending male-discriminated succession so that hard-working types like Princess Anne don't keep getting pushed down the line of succession in favour of free-loading younger brothers and every other boy baby they happen to pop out! Sexual equality is becoming the norm in the rest of Britain so why should the royals be exempt?? 4.Transferring the monarch's residual constitutional powers to Parliament,such as the command of the Armed Forces and the right to declare war etc.Yes I know these powers are,in practice,exercised by the Prime Minister on her behalf but they should now be the prerogative of our elected representatives in name as well as deed! There are others but I don't want to stray too far from the topic of this thread.But every time some back-bench MP tries to initiate change or even discussion on the above lines the government keeps coming back with the excuse that it's all very complicated and would require the assent of every other Commonwealth monarchy before they could do anything blah blah blah! Which is why I want to restrict dealings with the monarchy to the country on whom it has the most relevance....ie.the UK!!

I think this problem is going to surface so long as you retain a Head of State who resides in another country more than 3,000 miles away! Someone asked the question earlier if Canada retains the British monarchy mainly because it symbolises your distinctiveness from your all-powerful neighbour to the south.I'd be interested to hear from the Canadians on here if they agree with that observation? If so,surely there must be other symbols to assert Canada's distinctive nature?? As a Brit,I am continually astonished that proud,independent countries like Canada,Australia,New Zealand etc. continue to keep the Queen as your Head of State.I understand that she is there mostly because none of you can agree on an acceptable way of replacing her (as yet).But where there's a will...there's usually a way isn't there? Personally,I wish you'd all give her the boot as politicians here are fond of using her multi-monarch role of various Commonwealth countries as an excuse to delay implementing some long overdue reforms to the monarchy and its role here in the UK.Well its too difficult,they say,because we would have to get the consent of all the other Commonwealth monarchies first...blah blah blah! Bullshit! Get your own Head of State so we can start bringing our's more up to date and we don't have to have any more discussions like this about whether she should be opening your Olympic Games!!!

I'm currently having trouble loading the web pages on this site.Sometimes they go agonizingly slowly and can take up to a minute or more before they load.Sometimes they just freeze and I keep having to hit my refresh button to get things moving,not always with success.For instance,it's just taken about 30 seconds to get into this particular Forum and when I tried to make a post a few minutes ago,it threw me out altogether although thankfully it allowed me to save the text first! I've experienced trouble with this website in the past but in a different form.I've tried adjusting my browser to no avail but it only seems to be this website that gives me any trouble so I'm not convinced it is the browser.Is it just a problem for AOL subscribers like me? Is anybody else experiencing problems like this? Any advice anyone can give me will be gratefully accepted! (PS. I wonder how long it will take me to post THIS?).

AP article in today's Yomiuri Shimbun: Amnesty International accuses China of increasing abuses in run-up to Olympics By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) -- China's preparations for the Olympic Games have so far not included promised improvements to civil liberties and the International Olympic Committee must step up pressure on Beijing to deliver on its pledge of guaranteed press freedoms, activists groups said Tuesday. Chinese authorities have violated pledges made when bidding for the games by heightening abuse and surveillance of political and religious dissidents, jailing journalists, and closing publications focusing on social development, human rights group Amnesty International said in a new report. With just one year before the games, time is "running out for the Chinese government to fulfill its promise of promoting human rights as part of the Olympics legacy," Amnesty's secretary-general, Irene Khan, said in a statement. "Unless the Chinese authorities take urgent measures to stop human rights violations over the coming year, they risk tarnishing the image of China and the legacy of the Beijing Olympics." The Committee to Protect Journalists said when the IOC awarded the 2008 Olympics to Beijing seven years ago, it had promised to ensure that reporters could report freely in China. Under a regulation announced last year, foreign reporters can travel and conduct interviews in China without asking for government approval from Jan. 1 until mid-October 2008. The temporary freedoms do not extend to local Chinese journalists. The group called on the government to free 29 journalists currently jailed in China and to loosen restrictions on local reporters. It also called on the IOC to pressure China more aggressively on press freedom issues. Amnesty's report comes on the heels of one issued last week by Human Rights Watch, which also said the Chinese government had failed to live up to promises of greater human rights, instead clamping down on domestic activists and journalists. Amnesty's release came as six activists were detained Tuesday after scaling down a part of the Great Wall with a large banner that read "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008," the London-based Free Tibet Campaign and Students for a Free Tibet said in an e-mail statement. Activists say China is using the Olympics to underscore its claims on Tibet, which is says it has ruled for centuries. But many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time. Chinese communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951, and Beijing continues to rule the region with a heavy hand. On Monday, police detained journalists at a rare protest in Beijing staged by a free-press advocacy group that accused the Chinese government of failing to meet pledges for greater media freedom. The detentions, which came during a visit to Beijing by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, followed the unfurling of posters depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs by members of Reporters Without Borders on a pedestrian bridge outside the headquarters of the Beijing Olympics planning committee. The Paris-based group said China continues to restrict press freedoms and lock up journalists, political dissidents and activists who publish on the Internet - despite pledges to liberalize made when bidding to stage the games. The Beijing Olympics, which begin Aug. 8, 2008, are a huge source of pride for China. In bidding for the games back in 2001, Chinese leaders promised International Olympic Committee members that the Olympics would lead to an improved climate for human rights and media freedom. Chinese officials have been eager to spread good news about the country's fevered preparations, with all venues except the iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium to be finished by the end of the year. Numerous government agencies have been announcing their Olympics-related achievements, from meeting tree-planting goals to setting up a network to monitor for potential disease outbreaks. Etiquette campaigns are afoot to stamp out bad manners like jumping ahead in line, spitting, littering and reckless driving. A campaign to teach English in preparation of the 550,000 expected foreign visitors targets everyone from cab drivers to grandmothers. LINK:

AP article quoted in today's Yomiuri Shimbun: Australian athletes will be told to stay away from Beijing Olympics until the last minute By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) -- Australian athletes will be staying away from next year's Olympics until the last minute, hoping to avoid any filthy air and food problems in the Chinese capital. Australian IOC member John Coates, after meeting Tuesday with heads of other Olympic delegations and Beijing organizers, called Beijing's choking pollution "a prevailing worry for most of us." "We will be not recommending a long period in China before the games," Coates said, a day before the countdown clock on Wednesday reaches one year until the games open. "That only is going to increase the possibility of respiratory or gastric illness - particularly if you are not living in the village." Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic Committee, said his athletes would be going to China four or five days before their first events. "They (Chinese organizers) are very, very conscious of it," Coates said. "They knows it's a concern to the IOC. All we can do is trust that they will do everything possible." He said Beijing officials told him that plans were underway to ban vehicles from Beijing's streets, perhaps as early as next week. This would coincide with several weeks of test events in Beijing. "They said cars will be coming off the road for a trial period," Coates said. Tuesday was another smog filled day in the Chinese capital, greeting IOC President Jacques Rogge and hundreds of Olympic officials on hand for Wednesday night's celebration in Tiananmen Square. "It certainly doesn't look too good here in downtown Beijing," Coates said. Coates said he was less concerned about food safety next year. On Monday, Beijing officials said global positioning satellites and other high-tech devices would be used to ensure food safety at the Beijing Olympics. "The IOC pays very special attention to the quality of food in the Olympic Villages," Coates said. "We don't expect that to be a problem, but we will still be advising our athletes to eat in the village, not in local food stores. Be careful with bottled water and take every precaution." LINK:

Forget Celine...what about..... S H A N I A ! ! !

I think the Russians have got a bit carried away with Olympic fever! I can understand the enthusiasm of a city like Moscow for wanting the chance to bid for these Youth Olympics but I feel they need to be realistic and realise that,in the larger context,Russia has already just been awarded a major Olympic event and I doubt that the IOC will want to hand them two such prizes in short order! I feel that these Games are ideally suited for some of the smaller cities and countries who are never likely to stage the full-blown thing to become a part of the Olympic hosting experience.And I have a strong feeling that the IOC will be looking in this direction too particularly to stave off criticism from some quarters that it only seems to be currently awarding its events to the bigger,richer places!

Did it? I had the impression that it was a tradition for the flame to visit each of the 5 continents.Okay then,but I still like the idea.To me,it's just so symbolic of the 5 rings and the worldwide appeal and relevance of the Olympics. Of course each Games is going to be of more practical relevance for the city and country that have been chosen to host them.And each Games reflects something of the flavour and tradition of said host city.It is supposed to be a two-way process isn't it with the Games being used to showcase the host city to the world and maybe provide some much needed regeneration (eg.London 2012) while providing the world (and more specifically the IOC) with a worldwide event that will enable the best athletes anywhere to showcase their talents and make themselves and their countries bask in the glory of their Olympic success.And we look forward to the day when cities from each of the 5 continents will be eligible to host because we look forward to seeing a Games that reflect the flavour of each continent and not just the favoured 2 or 3 as is current,while all the time providing an exciting sporting festival for the rest of the world. After all,if we treat each of the Games as just a parochial Asian or European affair depending on where the host city is located,then why not just invite athletes from that continent to compete and ignore the rest? But that's not what the Olympic movenment is supposed to be about,is it? I must say I find it a little strange to be defending the worldwide nature of the Olympic movement to an enthusiastic and knowledgeable veteran of these boards like yourself.I confess to being a bit of an internationalist and idealist at heart which is what I like about the ideals of the Olympic movement no matter how far the reality may fail to match!!

Hmmm...but it is not just 'an Asian games' is it? The Olympics are a world-wide sporting event that belong to every continent not just the one in which they are being staged.I actually approve of the tradition of the flame touching the soil of each of the 5 continents.The Olympic symbol is made up of the 5 rings after all!

Same here.Just tried it and it keeps starting and stopping as if it has to keep loading each frame separately.Frustrating!

Er..no.Last time anyone looked,Everest was still the highest peak on earth.I haven't heard that it has shrunk or that K2 has grown since they were last measured. The World's 14 Highest Mountain Peaks

Throughout China's long history,whether it was building the Great Wall or putting into practice Chairman Mao's insane political and economic policies down to constructing venues for the Olympic Games,human lives have always been expendable. Manpower has always been plentiful and cheap in China,individual human rights few to non-existent.The good of the State overrides ALL other concerns.Individuals only count insofar as they contribute to the good of the State or else they are tossed aside with almost casual indifference! T'was ever thus in China and will not likely change much in the forseeable future.China is not like the West and we should not lightly forget that! Something for us Westerners to bear in mind...the untold sufferings of the thousands of forgotten ordinary people who will have toiled away for meagre returns and,in many cases,have sacrificed their lives in order to raise the magnificent edifices that will form the backdrop to the glittering spectacle that will be the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008!!

I thought for a moment BOCOG and VANOC had swapped Games! I voted 'good' as everything seems to be running smoothly as far as I can tell! In fact I've voted the same way in all 3 polls and for much the same reason.

After trailing Beijing in the first three rounds of voting,Sydney finally won by just two votes in the fourth round! Incidentally this was the second lowest margin of victory for a winning city.Guess which one was the lowest..? Yep,Melbourne beat Buenos Aires by just one vote to win the 1956 Olympics! Too bad for the Chinese I guess...ahaha......!

At least we can see where we're going when we want to take a flight somewhere!!

Provide free plastic umbrellas for anyone who has a ticket to enter the stadium?

Not really,not unless Britain becomes a one-party,totalitarian dictatorship like China.Then it can spend as much money on the Olympics as it wants,chuck people out of their homes at a moment's notice to make way for the venues,order as much cheap,non-unionised labour as it needs,and do all this without having to worry a jot about public opinion or newspapers asking awkward questions!! London will have to do it the democratic way and that means learning from the likes of Sydney or Athens.They got there and so will London!

That's the problem in a nutshell isn't it? The IOC won't use the threat to strip Beijing of the Games and the Chinese know this all too well! I can understand the great difficulty the IOC would face if they tried to take the Games away to a large extent,but all the same,there's nothing to stop the IOC leadership raising its concerns with the Chinese leadership over these issues and adding its voice to any political pressure that governments may wish to apply.And it could add its concerns through its own official media outlets too! But all we seem to be getting are these mealy-mouthed and dismissive comments and it just adds up to an image of the IOC hypocritically burying their heads in the sand and cynically refusing to do anything ! And it gives plenty of ammunition to those who attacked the IOC for awarding the Games to Beijing in the first place on the spurious supposition that this will somehow automatically make them behave better and improve their Human Rights record because they would now be in the glare of the world's spotlight.Instead,the reverse seems to be happening! You would think that after the experiences of Berlin 1936 and Moscow 1980,the IOC would have wizened up by now and insisted on a sustained improvement in human rights record first before deciding to award the Games to a powerful,totalitarian dictatorship!

I don't know about anyone else,but I've begun to get the impression that Rogge and the IOC don't really intend to do much about this for all their talk and promises! Every time anybody,whether it is Amnesty International,Chinese Human Rights activists or even respected Olympians like Matthew Pinsent talking about possible abuse of child athletes,tries to warn the IOC leadership about what is or may be going on there,it seems to me that they are fobbed off with some dismissive remark by Rogge and/or one of his spokespersons and told not to exaggerate!! I have the grim feeling that the Chinese leadership are getting the same impression and are becoming increasingly bold in their crackdowns and repressions because they have concluded that on these issues that maybe the IOC is just a paper tiger!

Errr...I think I'll just stick with the 'Vin' thanks!

An update to the connection problems I've been experiencing.When it last happened two days ago,I finally received an online Crash Analysis report from Microsoft.It advised me to disable my Add-Ons which I proceeded to do.(You do this by clicking on the Tools Menu and then clicking on Manage Add-Ons). I proceeded to disable them all with the exception of an Anti-Virus programme and,so far,it seems to have done the trick at least so long as I use browsers other than AOL.Why the problem should have occurred mainly with THIS website or why AOL still gives me the odd problem,I have no idea! I am monitoring how it goes for the next few days and,if I don't experience further problems,I will try to isolate the offending Add-On by re-enabling them one by one until the problem starts again.If I can isolate the culprit,I will report it here and to Microsoft. I will report back further for the benefit of anyone else who may encounter this type of problem.

I'm not sure if they are related either.As I say,it started soon after I replaced my hard-drive and upgraded my processor and re-installed the AOL software a couple of weeks ago! I contacted an AOL technician the other day and when he went into this website he remarked on the number of adverts and pop-ups and implied that they might be the problem.He advised me to install an Ad-ware programme to block unwanted adverts and told me to re-set my web settings (I already employ a block on pop-ups).The technician said he would run the website on his own computer to see if it caused HIM any problems and he promised to get back to me if it did.He hasn't got back to me so far.At first,I thought his suggestions had cracked the prroblem for me but after a few hours,the same thing started happening again and even more frequently! At the moment,I am trying out the theory of NOT blocking the "Do you like Tony Blair?" advert that automatically comes up when I log on to the website.I've just minimized it out of site,rather than closing it as I normally do.So far so good....we can only see.I'll keep you posted (if the system will let me!)

Dear GB Moderator I am currently experiencing problems with staying on the website.I can access it okay but once I start searching and posting it keeps throwing me out and breaking the internet connection (I have AOL Broadband). I only seem to be experiencing the problem with THIS website. Everything else seems fine.I have anti-virus and anti-spyware programmes running and have run computer fixes galore and none of them indicate any problem with any connexion or software.I can't think what else to do! Has anybody else experienced this kind of problem with the website do you know and,if so,how did they tackle it? I recently replaced and upgraded my processor and have re-installed AOL software several times.But the same thing keeps happening. As a paid-up premium member,I will be grateful for any advice you can give me!! Thanks in anticipation. PS.I'd better keep this short before the system throws me out again!

It does seem to make a mockery of the IOC's avowed aim to put the interests of the athletes above all! I wonder what the reaction of the Athletes Commission (headed by Sergei Bubka?) has been to all this and how has Rogge managed to explain this decision to them??

"Hong Kong’s Health, Food and Welfare Secretary, York Chow, told a press conference that in the event of a bird flu outbreak, equestrian events being held in Hong Kong as part of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games could be cancelled." Where could they be held? Would Stockholm be prepared to help out again,like they did for Melbourne in 1956? Seems questions about a possible outbreak are now being asked by the Chinese themselves,not just in this forum?