Hell, YES! If I recall correctly, it sure stopped... 
Hitler and the Nazis in 1936!
Posted on 03/16/2008 6:40:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BERLIN (AFP) - International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach said a number of top athletes were considering boycotting the games in China over the bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet.
Bach told Bild am Sonntag newspaper he understood the athletes' concerns about the situation in Tibet but said he was advising them to participate.
"They will realise when they assess the situation that it is better to make an appearance than to stay away. That is a symbol that will be noticed by the public," he said.
Asked if human rights had been a concern when Beijing was selected to host the August Games, Bach said the IOC believed the intense focus on China would have a positive effect.
"We are of the opinion that the Games will help China open up. But we cannot solve the problems that UN secretaries general have not been able to solve for generations," he said.
"The Olympic Games can foster change and be a catalyst for a solution but they are not a panacea."
Bach said the current debate over China reminded him of the discussions before the US-led boycott of the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He urged an end to the violence in Tibet.
"We call on both sides to reject violence," he said. "I hope there will be a peaceful solution."
The newspaper quoted German athletes expressing doubts about China as the host for the Games.
"I have considered whether I can compete in China under these conditions," equestrian Ludger Beerbaum said. "We will surely discuss the issue amongst ourselves here at the tournament in Dortmund (running until Sunday)."
Javelin thrower Christian Obergfoell said the Games were her first priority but that her impression of China had worsened with the latest developments.
"I had been asking myself the whole time why they gave the Olympic Games to China," she said.
"After Tibet, my feeling will not be any better."
The unrest in Tibet followed three days of protests by hundreds of monks in Lhasa, India and elsewhere around the world marking the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
The Tibetan government-in-exile has said 80 have been confirmed dead in the Himalayan region, contradicting the Chinese official report of 10 fatalities.
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Sunday condemned the violence but said the Beijing Olympics should go ahead, rejecting calls for a boycott by Tibetan exiles.
“They will realise when they assess the situation that it is better to make an appearance than to stay away. That is a symbol that will be noticed by the public,” he said.
Or maybe they just don’t want their lungs to be black when the games are over.
I will be boycotting the Beijing Olympics as a spectator.
What the heck did they think would happen by giving the Olympics to China? Hugs and kisses?
Hell, YES! If I recall correctly, it sure stopped... Hitler and the Nazis in 1936!
Tiny Tibet has awakend the conscience of humanity, at least for a moment.
I wouldn't miss them at all if they didn't happen and maybe, just maybe the incredible resources spent in building all of these special purpose, essentially single-use venues every four years will go towards real development of sorely lacking infrastructure in places like China.
It won't take much to make atheletes stay home. Here is China exporting under the upper part of the permanent brown-grey cloud of coal dust and industrial air pollution.
After canceling their 2008 season, if the Olympics are boycotted, you may be able to buy NBC from GE for $2 per share.
With the weapons in place today we can hope this is not a replay of 1936.
It won't take much to make atheletes stay home. Here is China exporting its poisoned air to Japan.
Beijing is under the upper part of the permanent brown-grey cloud of coal dust and industrial air pollution.
They simply were not ready for this. The games should be called off now.
Maybe the athletes of the world can do more that the politicians can.........or are willing to do.
Bump.
The athletes have the power and ability to make a big statement and possibly force China’s hand.
I hope they do
Here is the English Football Team giving the Nazi salute they were demanded to give by their own government and football league at the 1938 Olympics.
So the big question is "What honor do you win, at the price of your honor?"
I wonder how many of these English footballers died later, fighting the Nazis? I wonder if any of them did. That is about the only way they could have regained what they lost.
For a shiny piece of worthless metal.
Translation: Athleats are concered they will not be able to conceal their doping in the wake of the Balco exposure and “clear” being now detectable.
IOW this is a CYA excuse.
That's because you don;t understand the motivation
The Status of any given family is raised not by who has the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The host demonstrates their wealth and prominence through giving away goods or by burning the resources accumulated for the event. Dorothy Johansen describes the dynamic: "In the potlatch, the host in effect challenged a guest chieftain to exceed him in his 'power' to give away or to destroy goods. If the guest did not return 100 percent on the gifts received and destroy even more wealth in a bigger and better bonfire, he and his people lost face and so his 'power' was diminished."
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