A week ago - I reported on Beijing's last-ditch efforts to curb smog in anticipation of the upcoming Olympics - by shutting-down factories, limiting the number of vehicles on the road, and so forth and so on.
But, the surge forward to clean up the environment has been to no avail, according to reports out of Beijing over the past forty-eight hours.
A huge cloud of smog still hangs thick and ominous over the horizon - obscuring the dazzling new superstructures built to impress the world - and posing a potential threat to Athletes due next week to participate in the games.
In fact, Olympic Officials have expressed their concerns that the quality of air is less than standard and may be a hazard to the health.
A Greenpeace Campaign Director - Lo Sze Ping - blamed the bad air on what he characterized as a - "develop first, clean up later" - approach by the Chinese Government which has obviously backfired.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, it was reported that smog around the Stadium is "unhealthful for sensitive groups".
The Chinese Government - which won the games on the provisio the environment would be "cleaned up" for the Olympic Festivities - has issued a statement in which they flatly allege they have reached their commitment to make sure the air quality is satisfactory for the Games.
Beijing Environmental protection official (Du Shaozhong) asserted to the press in recent days that seventy-percent of the days were able to boast acceptable levels of pollution or an improvement over last year's figures by twenty percent.
However, some are pointing fingers at the data, and accusing Chinese Officials of fudging the figures.
For instance, Steve Q. Andrews - a U.S. Environmental Consultant (who analyzed Beijing's figures) - alleges that two air monitoring stations in congested parts of the downtown sector were dropped from the Government's calculations for the air pollution index and substituted for monitors in the outskirts of the city.
Notwithstanding this kind of obvious skullduggery, those in-the-know claim that China does not even measure ground-level ozone levels which are a major component of smog, according to scientists in the field.
Andrews got a little ballsy and griped,
"They are manipulating the way they measure and what they measure so much that you cannot say the air quality is improving."
As athletes vow to wear masks during the games, China has been forced to look into novel ways to clear the air. For one, they are exploring the idea of artificially inducing rainstorms to dissipate the smog.In the final analysis, it all appears to boil down to Karma, in my estimation.
Until China stops violating "Human Rights" and denying Monks "Freedom of Speech", and being "negligent" about the environment, their country will continue to face the wrath of God by virtue of floods, famine, earthquakes, poison air, and the like.
China must commence with a spiritual cleansing now - and pray, ultimately, for forgiveness - or face continued ongoing hardships to her detriment and well-being as a Nation.
What do they say?
Confession is good for the soul!
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