However, as the days have passed, more and more questionable moments have come to light - some more egregious than others. And I'll merely post a summation of what has gone awry in China, in no particular order and with no more emphasis on one than on the other. Another disclaimer: I am not trying to pick on the Chinese, but sometimes when a country decides to host the Games, that particular country may feel compelled at times to go beyond the rules of what is reasonable in order to perform "as expected" (however that is defined), and China is no exception. And when I say the Chinese, I am not attempting to generalize (a huge mistake, most of the time!) but rather pointing to those Chinese in charge. And so presented here are several of those questionable moments:
1. During the Olympics opening ceremony, it has been reported throughout many blogs and news media that the Chinese decided to pull of a "Milli-Vanilli" by allowing a more-photogenic Chinese girl to lip-sync while the true singer (described as "not cute" enough for the ceremonies) laid low away from the ceremony. I suppose that's one way to enlighten our children about priorities. For more information on this, go here. The pictures of the girls are below. To the left is the faker, and to the right, the true star.
2. There is also the infamous fake fireworks (digitally-enhanced, in fact) during the Olympic ceremony. For more on this, go here.
3. One of the most egregious moments is the perhaps potentially-paralyzing mishap that occurred during one of the practices of the Olympics ceremony. Of course, we expect such mishaps to happen, but the outright decision to cover up this accident in order not to sully the ceremony is ridiculous. For more on this story, go here.
4. Again, another story related to the Opening Ceremony: Apparently, a group of young dancers who were presented during the Ceremony were supposed to represent the 56 different ethnic groups in China. In fact, however, all of the children came from one ethnic group, and perhaps it's no surprise that they came from the majority ethnic group - the Han Chinese race. Go here for more information regarding this.
5. And, not to be taken lightly, the buffoonery has even extended into the actual games, with several reports alleging that the Chinese women's gymnastics team, who are to be compiled of women at least 16 years of age, included individuals under that age. Even I (and anybody, for that matter) could've told you these girls were under 16 (see their pictures below). For more on this scandal, go to the NY Times report, Yahoo report, or the Huffington Post report.
Again, this is not to pick on the Chinese, for they are not the only ones. I suppose this is what happens when countries are placed in such an international spotlight. We've already reported questionable moments by the Spaniards. And, of course, the Americans (this time, the media and government) have caused many to raise their brows: it has been reported that the stabbing death of a US volleyball coach's father-in-law was not the only death, in fact. According to this report, a Chicago woman by the name of Ann Dewalters was killed in China, and both the Chinese and US governments have not announced this death, nor has this death been explained in any way.
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