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Thread: 2008 Beijing Olympics

  1. #301
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    never mind

    So we're keeping those Uighurs in GitMo because if we let China have them back, China will torture them...
    Chinese Muslims' release into US blocked for now
    By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
    Thursday, October 9, 2008
    (10-09) 05:14 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

    A group of Chinese Muslims set to be freed into the U.S. this week from Guantanamo Bay found their freedom stymied yet again after a simple government plea: What's a couple more weeks or so in jail after nearly seven years?

    That in essence was the Bush administration's argument to a federal appeals court in a 19-page emergency request that maintained there would be only "minimal harms" if the detainees were to stay at Guantanamo a while longer.

    Late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed, halting the 17 men's release for at least another week to give the government more time to make arguments in the case.

    The appeals court set a deadline of next Thursday for additional filings, when it will be left up to the judges to decide how quickly to act — and in whose favor.

    "Our hope is that the Court of Appeals will not stand in the way of justice," said Jason Pinney, a lawyer representing the detainees. "After seven years of unlawful imprisonment, it's time for these men to be released. The government should not be permitted to continue down this path on interminable delay."

    The three-judge appeals panel that halted the detainees' release included Judges Karen Henderson and A. Raymond Randolph, both appointees of the first President Bush, and Judge Judith W. Rogers, who was appointed by President Clinton.

    The appeals court's move comes after U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina on Tuesday made a dramatic decision ordering the government to free the detainees by Friday. Urbina said it would be wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the detainees, known as Uighurs (pronounced WEE'gurz), since they are no longer considered enemy combatants.

    "We are pleased that the Court of Appeals granted our request for a temporary stay, and we look forward to presenting our case," Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said after the appeals court issued its one-page order.

    The Bush administration had asked the appeals court to block Urbina's order no later than Wednesday. The detainees were scheduled to arrive in Washington early Friday and appear in Urbina's courtroom for release to local Uighur families who have agreed to help them settle into the United States.

    The government said the detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba had admitted receiving weapons training in Afghanistan and were a national security risk.

    The Bush administration also said it was continuing "heightened" efforts to find another country to accept the Uighurs, since the detainees might be tortured if they are turned over to China.

    "There are extensive efforts. We oppose the idea of their release here," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Wednesday.

    In Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said: "Some people may worry whether these people could be tortured in China. I believe this is biased. China is a country under the rule of law, and forbids torture by any Chinese authorities, be they judiciary or public security."

    Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but has since balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.

    Uighurs are from Xinjiang — an isolated region that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations — and say they have been repressed by the Chinese government.

    The Uighur detainees were captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001.

    China has long said that insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang. The Beijing government has repeatedly urged the U.S. to turn the Uighurs over to Chinese authorities.

    "We have raised our position to the U.S. and we hope they will take this position seriously and repatriate these 17 people to China shortly," Qin said Thursday.

    The Uighurs' case is among dozens currently being reviewed by federal judges after the Supreme Court ruled for a third time in June that foreign detainees at Guantanamo have the right to sue in U.S. civilian courts to challenge their imprisonment.

    Emi MacLean, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing many of the detainees, called Wednesday's decision a major blow. After telling the Uighurs they would be freed, lawyers will now have to tell them "their detention is once again indefinite."

    "It's hard to believe there is any sense of justice in a situation like that," she said.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  2. #302
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    So why not just treat these guys as any other refugee status claimant. Assess if there is veracity to their request for refugee status. Assess if they pose a REAL threat to the stability of the nation they want to take refuge in. If they face a serious threat of persecution and do not pose a threat than let them stay. If this is not the case send them to China. Keeping them in a concentration camp isn't right though.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  3. #303
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    SimonM, that's so unAmerican

    In our country, if we label you as a terrorist, we can hold you. Of course, if Canada or the UK would like to take them, be our guest...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #304
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    In our country, if we label you as a terrorist, we can hold you. Of course, if Canada or the UK would like to take them, be our guest...
    I second that!
    ("other types" may yet be negotiable)

  5. #305
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    Welcome to Art Terminology 101

    Do you know what a diptych is? It's two thirds of a triptych.

    Here's a triptych:
    Panel 1
    Panel 2
    Panel 3

    Here's part 1 of a diptych:
    Wushu is Now (Almost) an Olympic Event by Anthony Roberts

    Part two will appear in our next issue, on the newsstands December 4, 2008. To quote the ever irascible lkfmdc "YOU MUST RUN OUT AND BUY THIS ISSUE" Don't worry. This thread will pop up again to remind you when the time comes.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  6. #306
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    In our country, if we label you as a terrorist, we can hold you. Of course, if Canada or the UK would like to take them, be our guest...
    I bet China would take 'em.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  7. #307
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    The time has come

    Beijing in their own words: American Athletes Reflect on the Wushu Tournament Beijing By Elly Duchamp, 2009 January/February.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  8. #308
    I must say I was quite suprise to see these articles being printed in your magazine.

    But I guess since Tiger Claw is probably the major source of money for the WKF Athletes that this didn't sit well with the owners.

    can we expect more "hard fact" based articles in future?

    common it feels great doesn't it?

  9. #309
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    Nice to know we can still surprise you, ngokfei

    Our charitable branch, the Tiger Claw Foundation, is happy to support martial artists on many levels. We were proud to support the athletes of the U.S.A. Wushu (Taolu and Sanshou) team at Beijing and made sure that every dollar of our support went directly to them. As part of our sponsorship, we asked all five members to tell their tales. It was the best reporting we could get for this historic event, not from the sidelines, not even from ringside, from inside the rings.

    I was very happy with the way the piece turned out in the end.

    We always strive to have are facts as hard as possible. In fact, we all practice Iron Facts here. We bang our facts against mung bean filled bags and rub liniment into them daily.
    Last edited by KFQ Admin; 10-09-2009 at 01:34 PM. Reason: wrong product url
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  10. #310
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    lol i just found this picture and i have to post it for its complete awesomeness

    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  11. #311
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    Nice ttt Lucas

    With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, this seems strangely appropo.
    Why Fake Snow Is Filling Beijing's Bird's Nest
    By Chengcheng Jiang / Beijing Friday, Dec. 04, 2009

    In August, soccer giants Inter Milan and Lazio met here for the Italian Super Cup final. In October, a luxurious retelling of Puccini's opera "Turandot" came through for a week-long residence; in November, Formula One stars Michael Schumacher and Jensen Button zoomed around in a rally car race; and next month, thousands of tourists are expected to flood in when the doors are thrown open on a new wintersports wonderland.

    No, this is not some Italian alpine retreat — this is Beijing's iconic Bird's Nest Olympic stadium. Eighteen months after the most ostentatious Olympics of all time, the organizers of the Beijing Games are finally facing a reckoning as they try to figure out how to keep their prized centerpiece stadium in the black. It is a quandary that has been faced by almost every other Olympic host city: how to ensure your gleaming new stadium doesn't become a municipal albatross after the two-week Olympic fiesta leaves town. But in Beijing, which does not boast a regular calendar of large-scale sporting events at the best of times, the problem is even more acute. (See pictures of what becomes of Olympic stadiums.

    This time last year, none of this was a problem — the venue simply filled itself. Upwards of 50,000 tourists swelled in every day, shelling out over $7 (RMB 50) apiece just to get into the novel structure — and much, much more to pose for pictures alongside the official Olympic mascots or to stand at the medal podium itself. For the first few months after the Games, the daily operations cost of some $30,000 (RMB 200,000) was easily matched with ticket revenue.

    But as Beijing Olympic fever faded, so has interest in its crown jewel. The early plan for the stadium was that it would become the home base for Guoan, Beijing's local soccer team and the current Chinese league champions. But even that team, arguably most popular in the country, seldom attracts more than 10,000 spectators a game, and the team backed out of an agreement to move their meagre fanbase into the 90,000 seater stadium before the Olympics even started. China's struggling national soccer team fares little better in the spectator stakes. (See pictures of the Beijing Olympics.)

    The empty seats have left CITIC Investment Holdings, the private management company that ran the Birds Nest, scrambling for other activities to draw the crowds and pay the bills. The result has been a hodgepodge of bizarre offerings. Alongside the rally cars and operas, the Birds Nest has also hosted a mass Tai Chi exercise event and a pop concert by kungfu legend Jackie Chan.

    "Happy Snow and Ice Season," kicking off Dec. 19, is the latest get-rich-quick scheme. The program will see the stadium transformed into a frosted extravaganza, complete with a ski-slope, ice rink and 3.7 square miles of artificial snow that is heralded to be one-and-a-half feet deep. There's a lot riding on all that fake fluff; the winter sports park is also the first initiative at the Bird's Nest since the venue came under new management in August. The challenge of maintaining the stadium as a viable and profitable initiative evidently proved too much for CITIC, which quietly offloaded its management rights back to the government just 12 months into a 30-year contract.

    Observers speculate that it will be easier for the Beijing government to arrange its own permits to organize the kind of ambitious programs that could keep the stadium out of the red. CITIC is rumored to have abandoned at least one project after state interference in the process. "The government believed it would make a greater profit by running the venue itself," the former deputy general manager of the stadium was quoted as saying after the handover, after he had left his own position. As he told the state-run China Daily, "There was no freedom for me, so I had to quit." The stadium's new managers now hope that the nation's prized Bird's Nest won't be fated to be an empty one.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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