What an outstanding, truly excellent review of Beijing Olympics Day 1 from Gary Kamiya! I believe it is the best I have seen; I shall be reading his "pressure cooker" column regularly.

I'm a native of a country (India) destined to win ZERO gold medals and very few medals of any other metal (perhaps there will be precisely ZERO of those too!! Well, we Indians actually invented the great and wonderful concept of zero, it is believed, though that is not quite why we are winning ZERO medals at these Olympics!) Anyway, I really have no interests in the medal tallies of any country: my over-riding and ONLY interest in this Olympics is just to see the Chinese leadership (and their supporters) utterly humiliated for what they've done to Tibet - and also to see GW Bush and his War Criminal Gang utterly humiliated (for what they've done to the world).

How can we make these wonderful things happen WITHOUT hurting or shaming these amazing athletes at the pinnacle of human physical prowess? - and also without hurting innocent Chinese and/or US citizens who do NOT support their leadership in their crimes?? Tough question. I've not figured that out; probably there's no answer to it.

Anyway, thank you, Mr Kamiya: please do keep in mind to carefully observe and bring to our notice anything that might take down the Chinese leadership and/or GW Bush.

-GSC

perhaps the most courageous athletes are those who have the worst nerves -- but who overcome them.

Consider Park Tae-hwan of Korea, whose last appearance in Olympic swimming consisted entirely of falling in the pool before the race even started, disqualifying himself.

Last night, Park fully rebounded from that ignominy, getting the gold medal in the freestyle 400- the same event where he'd made his previous slip.

That's what I'd call the full breadth of the Olympic experience.

Instead of countries fielding teams of athletes in the Olympics (like the Philippines has a chance against millionaire, roided-up 'athletes' from the USA), why not let the international corporations (who actually run the world & use governments as their puppets) field teams?

It would make for much more interesting & honest competition.

I can see it now----in the soccer finals, Microsoft vs Coca-Cola.

Good times......

Nice try, but you're no Jonathan Swift.

Seeing as how the two biggest Olympics contenders are China and the USA, two countries whose governments have made plain that they intend to continue using torture, why not just go ahead and add torture to the Olympics?

I'm sure the IOC would be down with it, since they obviously condone China's policies, or they wouldn't have encouraged the Chinese government to remove thousands of its own citizens from their homes in order to build an Olympic stadium.

Maybe a 500-meter Electrical Shocks to the Genitals, or a 100-meter Waterboarding event.

No, I won't shut up about this. It's a disgrace and an outrage, and it was from day one.

What a great line! (Ya gotta read the article.) Several other great expressions, as well. Keep it up for seventeen days, Gary, please.

FDR said: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The "fear" at the Olympics is not in the competition between nations, or the "fear" of not being gold medal winners. The fear is having Bush running loose in Beijing without a muzzle on. Now THAT'S fear. He has already told Putin what to do about the conflict with Georgia. He has already told the Chinese they should all attend Church. God knows what other ill-advised advice he has given anyone who bothers to listen to him. American taxpayers should "fear" that their tax dollars sent mama and daddy, wife and daughter over there on Air Force One. Who's minding the store? Cheney? Shudder.

I'd say the opening ceremonies showcased a country with endless manpower--disciplined manpower. It was a stunning and spectacular opening ceremony. Probably the best we've ever seen. Along with the unbelievable high tech was the obvious precision and discipline of the Chinese people. Whimsical moments were followed by Chinese soldiers goosestepping in synchronized marches--a subtle reminder of their power. Perhaps too subtle for many.

Please. Just send Bush and family home before he starts a war with China.