Nothing says "Olympic spirit" quite like arresting activists. It's best that we provide a full spectacle and play along with the show or else the regime may get angry and heavens no, we could never have that. The activists are so extreme, they had the nerve to question poor construction in Sichuan where buildings collapsed during the earthquake, leading to thousands of dead school children. Obviously these are dangerous people.
When world leaders make the unusual decision to attend the Olympic opening ceremony, this is what they are condoning. Attending is anything but typical so leaders such as Bush made a specific change to stand by the leaders of China as props in their big theatrical display. What a bunch of stooges and lapdogs. Who would ever imagine a US President being a stage prop for communist China?
Back in 2002 while in South Africa, I remember reading a study by a local researcher who talked about the correlation between dams and earthquakes. When this terrible earthquake struck China and reports of damage to numerous dams was announced I immediately thought back to that South Africa study. Take a look at this BBC articlefrom 2002 about the link between dams and earthquakes and note the comments about the Three Gorges dam.
It's easy to understand China's thirst for energy as the country grows. The downriver impact outside of China along the Mekong (another massive dam project) has disturbed me because people in neighboring poorer countries live and breath the Mekong so any changes can have catastrophic results.
Even in China, the dams have caused problems beyond the well publicized issues of lost villages and forced relocations. Rescue missions for the earthquake victims were delayed due to remote locations, bad weather and an inability to send heavy supplies via riverboats, the more traditional method of transportation. Is there a connection between this massive earthquake and the series of dams in the region? In time we will find out. China has done an impressive job responding to this emergency but I hope that they take a fresh look at dams and their broad impact. Energy is only part of the debate and certainly not the only issue, as we are discovering.
Severe weather has slowed the Chinese rescue missions for the earthquake victims but from the media accounts, you have to be impressed with the all out attempts to send in aid. Compare this to neighboring Myanmar or even Bush after Katrina. Between the devastation and the weather it may be days before we know how many people may have perished.
A massive rescue operation yesterday struggled with heavy rain and aftershocks in the search for tens of thousands of people who remained missing following the devastating earthquake which struck central China on Monday.
As President Wen Jiabao toured the disaster area to oversee rescue efforts, the authorities said the death toll had reached 12,000 people in Sichuan Province alone. In some towns, there were more people missing buried under collapsed homes, hospitals and schools than found alive, raising fears that the death toll could soon rise dramatically.
In Mianyang 60 miles east of the epicentrre, 18,645 people remained buried under debris and survivors spent a second night sleeping outside in the rain, some under striped plastic sheeting strung between trees. The government ordered them not to return home, citing safety concerns, and posted security guards outside apartment complexes to keep people out. At least 4,800 people remained buried in Mianzhu, local authorities said.
China said on Tuesday 18,645 people were buried under debris in the city of Mianyang, neighboring Wenchuan county, the epicenter of Monday's devastating earthquake. Some 3,629 people had been confirmed dead.
During the Today Show, NBC superimposed a map of the U.S. over China to give a sense of how far the effects of the quake would have extended. It would have been felt from Maine to Arizona.
