The Potemkin village of Beijing

- Plans to cleanse Beijing of smog not working despite previous closure of thousands of factories and banning automobiles.

- Water diverted from needy regions to prettify Beijing. Electricity too. Oh heck, no foreigners will see those rural peasants, so who cares if they go thirsty in the dark.

- China reneges on pledge to [...]

Protests cut short Olympic torch run in Paris

The torch was extinguished three times by pro-Tibet protesters. Authorities finally put the torch on a bus, canceling the rest of the route.

Doubtless the sclerotic government of China has no clue how to deal with this and will most assuredly do the wrong thing, making things even worse for themselves.

A major protest is [...]

London: Clashes along Olympic torch route

Dozens of arrests with attempts to extinguish and snatch torch. Chinese media showed none of it. The pro-Tibet meme has gone viral and worldwide.