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Beijing 2022


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1 hour ago, StefanMUC said:

Nothing, really absolutely nothing, that a totalitarian regime does to create a „perfect“ image should leave a good impression on anyone, at least from democratic countries. Otherwise you‘re just complice to their crimes when you fall for cute mascots etc.

If you apply that logic then you would not be buying anything that is made in China, do you not purchase anything made in China then?

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Ah, that argument…

You know, I‘d love us to be less dependant on Chinese suppliers for many reasons, but reality is it cannot easily be avoided.

But while I sometimes need to buy a new phone/dishwasher/whatever, I don‘t need to buy merchandise glorifying the biggest propaganda show of that regime.

And I don‘t need to sit in awe about a (after all not so) spectacular opening ceremony just because a totalitarian regime can put on a better show than a democratic one that needs to take into account public reaction instead of silencing it.

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4 minutes ago, StefanMUC said:

And I don‘t need to sit in awe about a (after all not so) spectacular opening ceremony just because a totalitarian regime can put on a better show than a democratic one that needs to take into account public reaction instead of silencing it.

Neither do I. I already publicly stated here how disappointed i was with the ceremony and that i was not a fan.

Anyway, i respect your decision not to buy anything from these games, please respect mine to buy something. End.

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54 minutes ago, TorchbearerSydney said:

Well after this we have France, Italy, USA, USA/Japan/Canada, Australia......a good run of democracies..... 

We discussed the vulnerability of those democracies elsewhere already (Trump, Le Pen/Zemmour, Salvini…).

Interestingly, none of the future hosts held a public vote before getting the Olympics. I wonder why…

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6 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

Got proof of that?

I dunno, Beijing’s looking pretty second rate to me. 

Just my intuition

Also I understand your point about beijing looking second rate, but the futuristic venues mixed with commentators praising host city makes it hard to have a bad impression about beijing, even after watching the Big air venue or the snowless mountains china is still doing a good job of hosting the games. But anyway if olympics always do something for olympic hosts, (being democratic or non-democratic countries) is making everything look better than what it really is, sportwashing, part of the business anyway...

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Speaking of the panda, interesting article on how it went “viral”

‘Viral’ Bing Dwen Dwen helps China write the script of the Games

in case it’s paywalled, some quotes:
 

Quote

 

But Bing Dwen Dwen is not all that he seems. It has been “going viral” on Twitter – a site that is not accessible in China but has developed a remarkable affection for the chubby mascot. At one stage it had more tweets than the opening ceremony, the Winter Olympics as a whole, and Chinese topics like Xinjiang and Uighurs.

Where were all these bursts of love for Bing Dwen Dwen coming from?

From users like Dianna50973442, Jessica77025679 and bot47305224. Curiously, few of the thousands of accounts tweeting daily about their love of #BingDwenDwen had sent messages before the Games. The cuddly panda with a vision of “together for a shared future” had compelled them into spreading the Olympic message.

Cute, ambitious and with a win-win spirit, Bing Dwen Dwen has all the attributes of a star. But he also has one key advantage, an army of Chinese government accounts fuelling his viral rise.

Almost 20 per cent of the accounts sending 30,000 tweets about it were created in the last month. Another 15 per cent were started last year.

Bing Dwen Dwen is not just a mascot, he is a symbol of a cute and clean China.

But the tactic also reveals a media relations campaign that is colliding head on with Western ideals of transparency

 

 

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LOL at some of the posts here.  I'm as much of an Olympics nut as anyone, but China isn't getting a cent of my money from anything Olympics that they're selling.  Yes, I am watching as much of it on TV as I can.  But I can do that and not be complicit in China's human rights abuses if I don't adjust my spending habits.  So I'll sleep okay at night on that basis.

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Hmmmm. Admittedly I haven’t seen the ski jumping, which is supposed to be the showpiece venue, but as for the rest, pretty underwhelmed - bland at best, downright ugly at worst (looking at you Big Air). Not to mention the thin tracts of white in between barren swathes of snow-less brown at the alpine venues. I don’t count the Birds Nest - that was the vanity leftover from 2008 and is only the ceremonies venue - which apart from having what I’ve heard was the greatest floor in history didn’t seem to impress many.

Edited by Sir Rols
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12 minutes ago, StefanMUC said:

Well well well…nothing to see here either…

Vlad already on the phone to Fencing 1976 I guess.

On the contrary, this is rapidly turning into one of the biggest story of the Games.

If the court finds that a member of the so-called “clean” athletes reperesenting the ROC in the gold medal winning teams figure skating team has broken some sort of doping rule, then what are the implications for allowing anyone from the ROC competing in future Games?  What are the implications for the Russia Olympics ban being extended? Are there any?

If ROC is disqualified, then USA and Japan will be elevated to the Gold and Silver medals respectively.  Whoever came 4th will get the Bronze.

We’ll see how this “legal issue” plays out.    

 

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Hang on...

"The situation is complicated even further because, under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, Valieva is a "Protected Person".

That means as "an athlete who at the time of the anti-doping rule violation: has not reached the age of sixteen" Valieva cannot officially be identified if she is guilty of an anti-doping violation."

 

So, such teenage sensations may fully compete, but get special treatment regarding doping violations?

I can fully understand the reasoning behind that, but then it would also be more appropriate to have nobody under 16 compete in the Olympics (World Champs, whatever) as they need this special protection.

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