So is super star Athlete Liu Xiang like the Greek Warrior Achilles, invincible but for his heel, his only weakness that would make him fall?

What an incredible PR bonanza, isn’t this a lot better than racing and ensuring multi millions of dollars of endorsement! Like everybody else I was looking forward to the hurdles, but not only was it disappointing, it was impossible to believe! If he was already in pain prior to the race, why did he even bother to try, he cannot use drugs to dull out the pain.

I am not the only one who is suspicious and the forums are lively on debate on this topic.

The conspiracy saga rages on from Corporate intent (Nike is involved) to just personal failure. Somehow, I hope I never find out because it would be too much to bear for a Nation who has had its biggest glory moment. Liu Xiang statistically did not have much of a chance to win Gold, infact some question if he would even qualify! The Nike argument comes largely because of the profit share that is made between Athlete, Coach and the association and Liu Xiang is certainly a gravy train right now in sponsorship. Now that he will be likened with Achilles, it may look even better, or so it might be hoped.

As quoted:

What a day! Even if it won’t last for that long…China leads not only in Gold medals by a stretch, but also it leads the total tally of medals ahead of the United States!

If there is ever a chance that China could beat the US as the country with the most decorated athletes, this is the one on home ground! Unfortunately for China, the US in their last olympics went home with 102 medals, 36 of them gold vs. China with 32 gold but only 63 overall medals. The surprise is that this year Russia looks like it is no longer as a Federation, so its medal count evaporated from pervious years.

Beijing 2008, the time China has been waiting for!

After seven years of preparation, billions of dollars of investment, and a mammoth effort to clean up Beijing’s polluted skies, Chinese Olympics officials say they are staging one of the greatest Olympics ever.

The 29th summer games began at 8:08pm Beijing time on Friday – an auspicious time and date in Chinese culture which regards the number eight as lucky.

Details of the opening ceremony had been kept a closely guarded secret, but producers had promised a show that will "amaze the world".

"We have prepared for the Beijing Olympics for seven years and now we are ready … we are very confident indeed that we will stage a successful Olympics," Sun Weide, spokesman for the organising committee, told reporters.
"Of course we hope that these will be a great games, even the greatest."

The day also saw thousands of Chinese couples getting married on one of the most auspicious dates in several years – 08/08/08.

"This day is very meaningful for us because finally the Olympics are here," groom Peng Zhonghua, 23, told Al Jazeera as he signed his wedding vows with his smiling bride at a central Beijing marriage bureau.

The couple said that like many Chinese they planned to spend the evening at home with their families watching the opening ceremony.

Authorities have urged Beijingers without one of the 91,000 tickets to the opening ceremony to watch it at home, rather than try to travel to the Olympic green in the north of the city.

In an effort to avoid congestion, officials announced earlier this week that Friday would be a public holiday.

Hong Kong star Andy Lau waves to fans as he arrives at Beijing Capital Airport on August 5, 2008. The capital airport has become a destination for star-chasers as celebrities arrive one after another to watch or volunteer for the Olympics. Monday alone saw the arrival of more than a dozen Hong Kong stars, 163.com reported

and below some Olympic coke bottle art in Beijing too!

Kung Fu film star Jackie Chan Monday admitted that he acted in a porn movie 31 years ago, responding to a report revealed by Hong Kong media, Information Times reported Tuesday.

"I had to do anything I could to make a living 31 years ago, but I don’t think it’s a big deal, even Marlon Brando used to be exposed in his movies," Chan said. "The porn movie at that time was more conservative than the current films," he said.

Hong Kong netizens tipped local media that Chan was in the porn movie "All in the Family" in 1975, with a porn movie star who was famous at that time.

The Hong Kong made movie, directed by Zhu Mu, was defined as a comedy. Dean Shek, Tien Chun, and Sammo Hung were also co-stars.

Photo: ifensi.com

The folks at Sanrio are hosting an incredible event in Hong Kong called Hello Kitty Black Wonder which is also advertised here in Sanriotown.

The general mission is to rescue Hello Kitty and Daniel in a series of clues and games that herald a little bit of Alternate Reality Gaming. It is actually like a theme park really but in a gothic, dark sort of halloween way.

The video above I got from Sanriotown, some slideshows of the event.

The Graphics and design is funky, some pictures from Apple Daily.

Here’s poor Daniel in Jail, you have to go rescue him! Looks sort of cowboy western like.

Special items are also on sale and looks like they are selling quickly!

Kowk Chun-wai changed his plea yesterday and admitted publishing 84 pictures of female stars in sex acts with entertainer Edison Chen Koon-hei by posting hyperlinks to them.

He was warned he would probably go to jail.

Kwok Chun-wai, 24, is one of three people charged in relation to the celebrity nude pictures scandal that gripped the city early this year.

With the support of his parents and friends, Kwok appeared calm when he pleaded guilty in Kowloon City Court to three counts of publishing an obscene article by posting the internet links on January 29 and February 6.

He originally denied the charges in another court on June 3.

Principal Magistrate Andrew Ma Hon-cheung said he would likely impose a jail sentence, noting the offences were serious and had occurred on several occasions.

They can attract a maximum fine of HK$1 million and up to three years’ jail. Kwok was remanded to July 24 for sentencing, pending a background report.

The court was told Kwok had first downloaded the celebrity sex pictures from the internet and saved them to a file storage server, http://w13.easy-share.com, and later posted 25 hyperlinks on the Hong Kong-based adult discussion forum http://new-3lunch.net to direct Net users to the site and allow them to download the images.

Prosecutor Hayson Tse Ka-sze said that of all the posted hyperlinks, police found that only five led to celebrity sex pictures, Of the pictures, 84 ruled obscene by the Obscene Articles Tribunal on April 23 were cited in the charges. Some of the images showed oral sex.

Police arrested Kwok on February 10 at his Ngau Tau Kok home.

Barrister Ody Lai said her client had not realised the seriousness of his actions. What had motivated his offence was the community interest that had already been sparked [many similar pictures had already been posted on the internet] and a statement relating to them published in a Chinese newspaper by the Emperor Entertainment Group on January 28.

The group claimed the pictures were fake, the court heard.

The court was told Kwok was a hard-working employee with a good work record who had started a logistics degree at Caritas Francis Hsu College in January.

He was very remorseful over what he had done, Ms Lai said.

The celebrity sex photos sparked a huge controversy in February when hundreds of explicit pictures of Edison Chen and female celebrities were distributed by e-mail and messaging systems.

The photographs were of Chen with purportedly Canto-pop star Gillian Chung Yan-tung, actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, former actress Bobo Chan Man-woon, model-actress Rachel Ngan Wing-sze, former singer Candice Chan Si-wai, 2001 Miss Chinese International contestant Mandy Chen Yu-ju and Vincy Yeung Wing-ching, niece of entertainment tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing.

Gillian Chung and Edison Chen have since made public apologies in relation to the pictures.

Chen is expected to return to the city in October for the trial of the remaining two people charged over the incident.

The first man arrested in relation to the scandal, Chung Yik-tin, was freed on February 15 after charges against him were withdrawn.

Techcrunch has an interesting article on Google supporting and assisting the arrest of an Indian Man for saying he hated a prominent politician. More details on this story here entitled Techie held for posting derogatory messages against Sonia Gandhi on Orkut.

To quote from Techcrunch:

He was then charged under section 292 of Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act because he created a profile and then posted content in vulgar language about Sonia Gandhi in the community. If he’s convicted, he can be imprisoned for up to five years and may have to pay a fine up to Rs one lakh.

Now what is interesting is that for a democracy like India there appears to be no free speech issue issue for arresting a pan who said he hated a politician.

The Express Indian times said this:

Interestingly, the person who formed this community is not guilty as per the law. The police said that hating Sonia Gandhi is a personal opinion of the person who formed the community and having a personal opinion about someone is not an offence as per the law.

So he may not even be technically in breach as the law says he is entitled to a personal opinion.

So why is he charged and arrested?

Isn’t India a democratic country?

When China arrested people such as Shi Tao the media was abuzz, Yahoo was taken, in part, to congress on this, lots of reactions took place. The world was against China and its government, lots of protests took place. Yahoo was called a moral pygmie for supporting China by US Politicians because of this.

Don’t get me wrong, both is wrong, neither China or India should be arresting people for expressing their personal opinions or their free speech rights.

But the Internet has little  news about Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid from Gurgaon in contrast. Shi Tao in contrast was prominent news including the BBC.

China is not a democratic country yet, it is communist and has laws against certain areas of free speech and media. That they are not  agreeable to some, if not most is not my point, I agree that China needs to open up more and become more democratic which it is slowly embracing. What I find awful is that when a democratic country does the same thing, the world turns a blind eye. WHY?

Because you embrace ‘democracy’ therefore it is ok to break your own fundamental values? Countries that are called communist do not?

A dangerous polarization is taking place, like as was mention in this Pro-China or Anti-China video about the infamous torch relay.

China is viewed as simply bad no matter what it does, and if the media and individuals continue to display China poorly without recognizing that there are other aspects you will make us more suspicious. You will make us wonder more about your hidden agenda to hurt us. Are you afraid of China? Why can a perso be arrested in a democractic country for violations of free speech but not in China? What would happen if someone blogged "I don’t like Hu Jintao?" in China, it would be more than a mere footprint of online news, it would take the world by storm, Google would be asked to come in to congress to explain their actions like Yahoo did.

But for Rahul, he doesn’t seem to matter, because he is from India, or because India is "democratic" and endorses the western view of free speech?

Does the world really think China wouldn’t notice this type of treatment and be understanding of it? What does one really hope to achieve other than further polarizing and segmenting the chinese? If it was the intent of western media to garner sympathy and support for creating a more open society in China, your recent display was anything but.

China’s most devastating earthquake in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people on Monday, with the toll likely to soar as authorities struggle to reach casualties in large areas cut off from relief. The earthquake that hit China’s southwestern province of Sichuan killed 8,533 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, citing the provincial government.

The epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake was in a mountainous region about 100 kilometres from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, a bustling city of 10 million.”The road started swaying as I was driving. Rocks fell from the mountains, with dust darkening the sky over the valley,” a driver for Sichuan’s seismological bureau was quoted by Xinhua as saying, as he was driving near the epicentre. The quake hit in the middle of the school day, toppling eight schools in the region. Chemical plants and at least one hospital were also flattened, trapping many hundreds, state media said. About 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble of a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan. Local villagers had already helped dozens of students out of the ruins and five cranes were excavating the site as anxious parents looked on, Xinhua said.”Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help,” the agency said. Nightfall, severed communications and blocked roads have hampered rescue efforts and the death toll was likely to rise significantly.Many buildings flattened An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County alone, state media said. As many as 10,000 in Beichuan were feared injured and 80 per cent of the buildings there had been destroyed, Xinhua said. There had been more than 300 aftershocks, state television said. Beichuan’s population is 161,000, meaning about one in 10 residents were killed or injured. The county is a part of Mianyang city, and about 160 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chengdu. Hundreds of people were buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said. About 6,000 people were evacuated, Xinhua said, adding that more than 80 tonnes of highly corrosive liquid ammonia had leaked. Hundreds of people were buried under rubble in Shifang in Sichuan as several schools, factories and dormitories collapsed during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said. Hundreds were also buried under rubble in a collapsed hospital in Dujiangyan city in Sichuan. The quake’s epicentre was in nearby Wenchuan, a mountainous county of about 100,000 people, but its force was enough to cause buildings to sway across China and as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok. The Sichuan plain is one of China’s most fertile agricultural areas, but it relies heavily on an irrigation system linked to the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan flood control works. Which means the quake could exacerbate inflation, already running at the fastest pace in 12 years. The quake is also the worst to hit China in 32 years since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died. It has come at a bad time for China, which holds the Olympic Games in August, and has been struggling to keep a lid on unrest in ethnic Tibetan areas and the heavily Muslim northeastern Xinjiang region. The US Geological Survey said on its website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov) the main quake struck at 02.28 HK time at a depth of 10 kilometres. In Beijing and Shanghai, office workers poured into the streets as the tremor hit. In the capital, there was no visible damage and the showpiece Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium was unscathed. ‘All-out’ rescue effort Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu and President Hu Jintao ordered an “all-out” rescue effort, Xinhua reported. Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People’s Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said. But a landslide had blocked a mountain road leading to Wenchuan, preventing troops from reaching the scene, state radio said. In Washington, President George W. Bush said the United States was ready to help.”I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today’s earthquake. I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy.”The United States stands ready to help in any way possible,” Mr Bush said in a statement. At least 45 had died in Chengdu, Xinhua said, citing an official with the local seismological bureau. Another 600 people were injured, 58 of them critically, in the sprawling city.Some 57 have been confirmed killed in northern Shaanxi, 48 in northwestern Gansu, 50 in Chongqing municipality, and one in Yunnan province, Xinhua said, citing the national headquarters of disaster relief.”); document.write(tmpText); China’s most devastating earthquake in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people on Monday, with the toll likely to soar as authorities struggle to reach casualties in large areas cut off from relief.The earthquake that hit China’s southwestern province of Sichuan killed 8,533 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, citing the provincial government.The epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake was in a mountainous region about 100 kilometres from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, a bustling city of 10 million.

“The road started swaying as I was driving. Rocks fell from the mountains, with dust darkening the sky over the valley,” a driver for Sichuan’s seismological bureau was quoted by Xinhua as saying, as he was driving near the epicentre.

The quake hit in the middle of the school day, toppling eight schools in the region. Chemical plants and at least one hospital were also flattened, trapping many hundreds, state media said.

About 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble of a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan.

Local villagers had already helped dozens of students out of the ruins and five cranes were excavating the site as anxious parents looked on, Xinhua said.

“Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help,” the agency said.

Nightfall, severed communications and blocked roads have hampered rescue efforts and the death toll was likely to rise significantly.

Many buildings flattened

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County alone, state media said.

As many as 10,000 in Beichuan were feared injured and 80 per cent of the buildings there had been destroyed, Xinhua said. There had been more than 300 aftershocks, state television said.

Beichuan’s population is 161,000, meaning about one in 10 residents were killed or injured. The county is a part of Mianyang city, and about 160 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chengdu.

Hundreds of people were buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said.

About 6,000 people were evacuated, Xinhua said, adding that more than 80 tonnes of highly corrosive liquid ammonia had leaked.

Hundreds of people were buried under rubble in Shifang in Sichuan as several schools, factories and dormitories collapsed during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Hundreds were also buried under rubble in a collapsed hospital in Dujiangyan city in Sichuan.

The quake’s epicentre was in nearby Wenchuan, a mountainous county of about 100,000 people, but its force was enough to cause buildings to sway across China and as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok.

The Sichuan plain is one of China’s most fertile agricultural areas, but it relies heavily on an irrigation system linked to the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan flood control works.

Which means the quake could exacerbate inflation, already running at the fastest pace in 12 years.

The quake is also the worst to hit China in 32 years since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died.

It has come at a bad time for China, which holds the Olympic Games in August, and has been struggling to keep a lid on unrest in ethnic Tibetan areas and the heavily Muslim northeastern Xinjiang region.

The US Geological Survey said on its website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov) the main quake struck at 02.28 HK time at a depth of 10 kilometres.

In Beijing and Shanghai, office workers poured into the streets as the tremor hit. In the capital, there was no visible damage and the showpiece Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium was unscathed.

‘All-out’ rescue effort

Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu and President Hu Jintao ordered an “all-out” rescue effort, Xinhua reported.

Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People’s Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said. But a landslide had blocked a mountain road leading to Wenchuan, preventing troops from reaching the scene, state radio said.

In Washington, President George W. Bush said the United States was ready to help.

“I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today’s earthquake. I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy.

“The United States stands ready to help in any way possible,” Mr Bush said in a statement.

At least 45 had died in Chengdu, Xinhua said, citing an official with the local seismological bureau. Another 600 people were injured, 58 of them critically, in the sprawling city.

Some 57 have been confirmed killed in northern Shaanxi, 48 in northwestern Gansu, 50 in Chongqing municipality, and one in Yunnan province, Xinhua said, citing the national headquarters of disaster relief

Japan called for calm but braced for trouble with tight security on Friday, as low-key protests began ahead of its leg of the Olympic torch relay, following emotional scenes at other venues around the world.The global torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August has provoked protests against China’s rights record, especially in Tibet, as well as patriotic rallies by Chinese who say the west has vilified Beijing unfairly.

The flame is meant to transmit a message of peace and friendship, but its journey has been largely turned into a political event and the torch has been granted the sort of security usually reserved for state leaders.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura called for calm ahead of Saturday’s relay in the central Japanese city of Nagano, a former Winter Olympics site.

“I hope this torch relay will take place peacefully in an atmosphere where everyone can celebrate,” he told a news conference in Tokyo.

In Hanoi, Vietnam state-run radio reported that a US citizen of Vietnamese origin had been expelled on accusations of planning anti-Chinese protests at next week’s Olympics torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City.

Reclusive North Korea, for its part, vowed to “astonish the world” with pomp, ceremony and safety during its stage of the relay on Monday, Chinese state media reported.

“North Korea has fully prepared an Olympic Games torch relay in Pyongyang that will be high-quality, outstanding, safe and successful,” China’s official Xinhua news agency cited a North Korean official as saying.

The flame’s arrival in Nagano was greeted by right wing activist trucks roaming the streets, displaying hugh Japanese flags and blaring “go away”.

Yellow T-shirt-clad supporters of the Falun Gong religious group, outlawed by Beijing, marched down a Nagano street with a brass band and yellow banners.

Dozens of people carrying pro-Tibet and Japanese flags later marched near the City Hall, blaring “Nagano City, cancel the torch relay now” as two vans of riot police trailed them.

“It’s an embarrassment for Japan. To host the torch relay is the same as supporting oppression in Tibet,” said Atsushi Matsuoka, 37, who worked for a publishing company.

Kunihiko Shinohara, head of Nagano’s relay organising committee, tried to reassure ordinary Japanese who would be taking part in the relay. “I know some of you are worried, but we will do our best to ensure safety,” he told them.

The torch will be guarded by up to 4,000 police, media said, with riot police and another 100 regular officers set to shield torch-bearers in two rows, shrouding the runners from sight.

They will be joined by two Chinese “flame attendants”, although Japan has made it clear that their participation in security would not be welcome after criticism of the paramilitary guards as heavy-handed in protecting the torch elsewhere.

Spectators will be barred from the opening and closing ceremonies on Saturday in Nagano.

“The people of Nagano were so looking forward to cheering on the relay, but everyone is disappointed because no one will be able to see it,” said Nagano taxi driver Michie Higuchi.

About 2,000 Chinese students from across Japan were expected to travel to Nagano carrying Chinese and Japanese flags and wearing matching T-shirts to show support for the relay.

More than 560,000 Chinese nationals live in Japan, official figures show, making them the second largest group of non-Japanese after Koreans. Many are students.

Pro-Tibet groups were to hold a prayer service early on Saturday for all those killed in recent unrest in Tibet before the relay on Saturday at the historic Zenkoji temple, which earlier withdrew as the kick-off site for the event.

The pro-Tibet groups would then congregate for a peaceful protest near the relay.

China has called the global torch relay a “journey of harmony” but the flame has become a magnet for anti-China protests. In London, Paris and San Francisco, torch bearers were jostled by anti-Beijing protesters as they ran.

The demonstrations stirred nationalistic sentiment in China, and prompted calls from some Chinese to boycott foreign businesses. In the last leg in Canberra, more than 10,000 Chinese Australians staged a huge pro-Beijing rally.

The International Olympic Committee’s athletes’ commission said in a statement it was saddened the torch relay had ‘not had the peaceful passage it deserves”.