New York Times' Flawed China Coverage

It starts with the headline, and goes down from there.

Apparently, the New York Times thinks that the repression and brutality of the Chinese government has improved; the repression of free speech, access to information, and mass arrests notwithstanding. The Chinese government hopes for a politics free games - even if it means repressing the voices of those that might speak against them.

And that doesn't even get into the ecological nightmares created by the Chinese policies of economic growth at all costs and the subsequent massive efforts to curtail all economic activity ahead of the Olympic games so that the athletes can actually breathe comfortably.

It goes without saying that there's no way that the Chinese government will keep the harsh and restrictive bans on businesses and economic activities past the Olympics. So, don't expect the skies to be anywhere near as clean as they are now (and it's still not good despite a single good day today).