JustErin said:

She looks like a robot. I know she's cute and all but she looks like a programmed pageant girl. Again, not her fault.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

I thought that too. Poor thing.

applekisses said:

You guys came to that conclusion from a pic?

Or did you actually see her 'sing'?
[Edited 8/12/08 13:11pm]

JustErin said:

I'm just commenting on the picture. She's glammed up. I think it would've been just as effective if they would've used the real singer in modest clothing, not all flashy.

applekisses said:

You guys came to that conclusion from a pic?

Or did you actually see her 'sing'?
[Edited 8/12/08 13:11pm]

JustErin said:

Oh no...it's just in the few pics I saw online. I missed the opening ceremonies.

These are the ones I thought looked a little pagenty:

applekisses said:

Awww...she's adorable.

applekisses said:

You guys came to that conclusion from a pic?

Or did you actually see her 'sing'?
[Edited 8/12/08 13:11pm]

JustErin said:

My sentiments exactly.

The second girl is absolutely adorable. It just doesn't sit well with me that the girl who DID sing didn't do it herself. I understand sympathizing with the girl that wasn't shown, but this doesn't mean the girl who did get selected is ugly or looks like a robot. She just didn't sing , so the entire thing delegitimizes this more 'open China' bullshit.

Imago said:

No one is saying that the girl is ugly (at least I'm not). Where did anyone get that impression?!
She's a beautiful little girl.
I thought her photos looked like pagent photos and that's all I said. I also sympathized with her because she was chosen on the basis of what she looked like - just as the other little girl was NOT chosen on the basis of what she looked like. I don't think kids that young should be subjected so such things. (AGAIN - JUST MY OPINION)

Man...y'all jump to some conclusions around here.

XxAxX said:

I know what you're saying - it's just the way you said it that made me laugh.
I couldn't believe the diversion of the water to Beijing from neighboring farms.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=...id=1429247

BEIJING (AP) - Plans to divert water to Beijing for the Olympic Games are shortsighted and will not ease the city's severe water crisis, a Canadian-based development policy group said in a study released Thursday.

Channeling water from neighboring provinces for an event billed as the "Green Olympics" is not a "fundamental solution," Probe International said in its report, compiled by a team of experts in Beijing who requested anonymity.

Such diversions are expensive and damage the environment, the report said.

"Whether diverting surface water or digging ever-deeper for groundwater, the underlying solution proposed is like trying to quench thirst by drinking poison," the report said.

It didn't say why the compilers had requested anonymity, although the Olympics are a highly sensitive issue and authorities have responded harshly at times to perceived critics of the games.

Explosive growth combined with a persistent drought for over two decades have drawn down Beijing's water table, meaning the city of 17 million people is fast running out of water.

Beijing has drained surrounding regions in recent years to supply its growing water needs, depriving poor farmers of water and encouraging wasteful consumption, the report said.

Workers have also dug a canal south of Beijing that is bringing water to the capital for the Olympics, an accelerated part of a major water transfer project that in two years will start delivering water to the parched north from China's longest river, the Yangtze.

Authorities say they know they have a problem. Beijing says it has spent around $3 billion since it won the Olympic bid in 2001 to build wastewater treatment plants, move polluting and water-intensive industries out of the city, and cut down on pesticide and water use by farms.

However, Probe International said that even with the ambitious Yangtze transfer scheme, Beijing will still have to rely on groundwater that is currently being pumped out faster than it is being replenished. It said groundwater makes up more than two-thirds of Beijing's water supply.

-----

http://news.nationalgeogr...ter_2.html
[Edited 8/12/08 12:11pm]

Imago said:

No one is saying that the girl is ugly (at least I'm not). Where did anyone get that impression?!
She's a beautiful little girl.
I thought her photos looked like pagent photos and that's all I said. I also sympathized with her because she was chosen on the basis of what she looked like - just as the other little girl was NOT chosen on the basis of what she looked like. I don't think kids that young should be subjected so such things. (AGAIN - JUST MY OPINION)

Man...y'all jump to some conclusions around here.

applekisses said:

No one said she was ugly, but they did say she was like a robot (and from a simple pic of her smiling!).

Comes off as people just wanting to bash the child simply because she is considered the prettier of the two. Not saying that this is people's intention...that's just how it comes off.

I don't see why any negative comment needs to be said about her at all.

But hey, that's just MY opinion.

applekisses said:

No one said she was ugly, but they did say she was like a robot (and from a simple pic of her smiling!).

Comes off as people just wanting to bash the child simply because she is considered the prettier of the two. Not saying that this is people's intention...that's just how it comes off.

I don't see why any negative comment needs to be said about her at all.

But hey, that's just MY opinion.

applekisses said:

I'm not jumping to any conclusions.

My use of the word ugly was not pointing out that somebody said that, although the robot comment could be said to be that.

What I was stating was that just cause one girl was rejected for the other doesn't mean there's something wrong with the other girl--I was just trying to state sympathizing with one should involve villainizing the other.

Don't jump to your own conclusions little missy

applekisses said:

well, i suppose that this is to be expected from china, land of the questionable manufacturing process. i mean, wasn't it just earlier this year we were reading about products that were made with stuff.... other than what they were claimed to be made from? for example - cardboard dumplings poison pet food, medication that is bogus, and etc.

XxAxX said:

A few years ago I read a story about some coats that were manufactured in China and sold at Burlington Coat Factory. They had a "fur" collar, which turned out to be dog fur.

XxAxX said:

A few years ago I read a story about some coats that were manufactured in China and sold at Burlington Coat Factory. They had a "fur" collar, which turned out to be dog fur.

JustErin said:

I agree with you. (So, HEY...we share that opinion! )
But, saying that her photos looked like pagent photos is not a negative comment about this little girl. Who would "bash" a child because she's "considered the considered the prettier of the two"? That's sick.

When I saw those photos I instantly though of many of the programs I've seen of pagents for small girls in this country and the stage mother syndrome. I also thought about all the attention that is being drawn to the physical appearance of these two small girls. It was upsetting because I believe that children should not be subjected to those things.
Hence, my comments.

applekisses said:

Oh, I take a comment about something 'looking pageanty' as a bash, it's certainly not said as a compliment. And it was said about her. So to me, it was a negative comment said about her.

Maybe people just do these things subconsciously because they want to root for the underdog but to do that they tend to knock down the one that is supposedly on top.
[Edited 8/12/08 14:14pm]

JustErin said:

Actually Cher said that years ago. That when you're on top people like to see you knocked down.

But then again, I didn't catch the entire interview and she was probably talking about sex.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Oh come on, no matter who they used she would have been all glammed up. Every country would have done the exact same.

I just don't get the robot comment. She's just a beautiful little girl smiling in that pic.

JustErin said:

Maybe I should've just meant pageanty. I'm not arguing that the girl is beautiful.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Yes, the girl is obviously beautiful. Nothing wrong with that, but the fact she was chosen for her beauty to present a phony performance makes her beauty appear that much more plastic & perfect. It's not fair to pick on her, but the whole thing kind of rings false, including her gorgeous smile.

NDRU said:

But it's not false. Her pretty little smile is real, as is her beauty. The only thing that was fake was her singing.

The knee jerk reaction to stick up for the little guy by picking on the one that's on top is a weird phenomenon to me...especially when it's a child.

But, oh well...that's just the way it seems to be.
[Edited 8/12/08 15:41pm]