Beijing Olympics

[Maengelito]

However, its not like you're going to die in a day from breathing air in China and its also not like wearing a mask for 30 minutes in the airport is going to do anything. If they truly thought that the mask from what I can see in the picture is going to filter anything smaller than saw dust and didn't do it as a display of their concerns for pollution then I weep for them.

A lot of cyclists racing are professionals... this is how they make their living. If there was a concern that it would impact their performance, which it seems very realistic that there is, then who can blame them? They don't get the right to preserve their performance just to make a bunch of facists happy? Screw that.

Again, I'm not saying that they shouldnt be concerned about the air they breathe and preserving their health, but if that really was their concern, do it in a fashion thats actually effective.

[Maengelito]

If the athletes wanna come in wearing dead presidents masks

lol, with guns a-blazing!

[Ginger]

To be fair, you don't know that they were/weren't doing in an effective manner. The article didn't mention inputs from other a sources stating that a lot of athletes are staying off shore as long as possible, and it certainly didn't say "they took the masks off when they left the airport." Not to mention, nobody's said 'the masks don't do anything' except Maeng, the Air Quality Control Expert

[Ginger]

If the athletes wanna come in wearing dead presidents masks

lol, with guns a-blazing!

[Evan]

And yes Rex, I dont know what you meant by that comment of Western Propaganda, but good lord its awful.

there couldnt possibly be any propaganda from a controlled media and communist government!
its those westerners who have it all wrong!

[D_Eclipse9916]

And yes Rex, I dont know what you meant by that comment of Western Propaganda, but good lord its awful.

there couldnt possibly be any propaganda from a controlled media and communist government!
its those westerners who have it all wrong!

lol.
Trust me, you guys should know me, that I of all people was one of the most ethnocentric people. After seeing the conditions there and seeing their propaganda too, its actually surprising to see that Western propaganda is worse, its just not as direct. I learned a lot and it definitely changed my views significantly. I am definitely not saying China is better than the US, its just China is not nearly what the Western propaganda shows it is.

[CaptainHenreh]

I am definitely not saying China is better than the US, its just China is not nearly what the Western propaganda shows it is.

[Maengelito]

To be fair, you don't know that they were/weren't doing in an effective manner. The article didn't mention inputs from other a sources stating that a lot of athletes are staying off shore as long as possible, and it certainly didn't say "they took the masks off when they left the airport." Not to mention, nobody's said 'the masks don't do anything' except Maeng, the Air Quality Control Expert

Well, if they were apologizing then I can assume that they probably took the masks off or they wouldnt be sorry, would they? I also dont claim to be an air quality expert but I'm just using basic logic which tells me that any air handler, especially one at an international airport will probably have an air filter atleast for particulates. Unless I missed the huge technological jump on air filtering, I think that those masks are probably not the latest and greatest for maintaining clean lungs and that competitive edge. Duct tape and plastic wrap are what they need. :mrgreen:

[G.Irish]

And yes Rex, I dont know what you meant by that comment of Western Propaganda, but good lord its awful.

there couldnt possibly be any propaganda from a controlled media and communist government!
its those westerners who have it all wrong!

lol.
Trust me, you guys should know me, that I of all people was one of the most ethnocentric people. After seeing the conditions there and seeing their propaganda too, its actually surprising to see that Western propaganda is worse, its just not as direct. I learned a lot and it definitely changed my views significantly. I am definitely not saying China is better than the US, its just China is not nearly what the Western propaganda shows it is.

I think you'll find that the American perception of any other country is not the reality, sometimes by wide margins. The level of spin and propaganda is of course correlated to the current relations between the countries but also tends to be strongly tied into how cultural different they are from us. Conversely, a lot of other countries have distorted views of America as well.

[HAULN-SS]

DJ were you in rural china, or where?

[ScottyB]

DJ were you in rural china, or where?

i'm curious on this as well.

my wife is friends with, and works side by side with, alot of Chinese grad students in her lab. they are from eastern, developed China and talk about how much easier it is to breathe here (and Atlanta isn't exactly vacation for your lungs).

the majority of my companies products are produced in Shenzhen, China as well and engineers that visit come home hacking for a few days.

not hating too much on China (wouldn't have a job without them) but my perception of things is a bit different.

[Mike]

wearing a mask is 100% warranted... shit, a good portion of their citizens fucking wear them!

and the revoking of cheek's visa? this is quickly turning in to a shit-show.

really? Out of the over 14 cities and 3 months I stayed in China, I literally saw one chinese kid wear a mask. One, out of thousands. The scene your imagining of China is quite different than the reality of china. Welcome to Western propaganda.

i'll admit, i haven't been to china. i was basing my claim on japan, which i think we can all agree is very similar to china... a good amount of folks in japan where them... if they're sick, if they're germaphobes (sp?), if they're concerned about pollution... i don't know. my point was that seeing people wearing masks in asia isn't too out of the norm. i find it hard to believe china is completely different in that respect than japan... i know korea is the same as japan too.

[Mike]

But I agree that the Chinese shouldnt get butt hurt over it.

EXPECIALLY when they admit there is a problem by shutting down traffic in the city leading up to the olympics.

[Apoc]

which i think we can all agree is very similar to china...

That's like saying the US is very similar to Mexico. The two countries and cultures, which do share some similarities, really are aren't that similar. China and Japan has the "asian culture and history" but beyond that, their modern societies are opposite ends of the spectrum.

[Mike]

i know that. i didn't word it properly. leave it to you to jump on it.

the face mask thing is a very asia thing... they're both in asia. that's all.

[Apoc]

the face mask thing is a very asia thing... they're both in asia. that's all.

I think that's just a Japan thing save the SARS epidemic and when they're sitting in traffic.... and that's kinda the point.

[Mike]

as i said before, i know it is a korea thing too. if it's not a china thing, that's cool. i admitted i generalized, i may have been wrong in doing so. are you happy yet?

[Apoc]

Yes!!1

[D_Eclipse9916]

as i said before, i know it is a korea thing too. if it's not a china thing, that's cool. i admitted i generalized, i may have been wrong in doing so. are you happy yet?

Maybe he got angry because its very well known (not to americans though) that the Japanese and Chinese HATE each other and are not alike at all (context here) culturally.

[WRXtranceformed]

Fuck that, I wouldn't have apologized. Those people are professionals and are way more in tune with their bodies than any one of us. With that much on the line I'd take every precaution to protect myself too. I'd tell them to suck my dick while I'm passing them at the finish line.