Tonight marks the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a celebration of the competition and camaraderie that will define the coming days.

When you’re watching keep an eye out for the US flag bearer Lomong Lopez. Lopez has a pretty amazing story, he was one of:

the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan, not only was rescued from his Kenyan refugee camp by a U.N. program that sent him to live with a family in upstate New York at age 16, but also qualified for the U.S. team in the 1,500 meters and inspired his Olympic teammates to elect him their flag bearer. [LATIMES]

One issue facing Lomong is his personal connection to Sudan and thus Darfur and China’s perceived human rights violations in that area. He is a member of Team Darfur and wants to bring attention to his former homeland. When his fellow activist Joey Cheek was denied access to China earlier this week, Lomong expressed his disappointment but also his Olympic pride:

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You may have noticed quite a bit of information flowing from this website concerning the city of Beijing and the problem of pollution leading up to the Olympic Games, but by no means is this problem limited to China’s capital city. As the city itself has been working to clear the air around the area the games will be held, high-polluting factories haven’t simply shut down around Beijing - they’ve been moved to outlying regions.

The Washington Post reports that when China was given the Summer Games back in 2001, the government immediately went to work reducing pollution around Beijing. But the main goal, it seems, has not been to reduce pollution around the country. One such example from the article:

As recently as five years ago, [one] region about 125 miles east of Beijing was a resort, and its sea overflowed with pike, flounder and carp. Now there are few fish, and it’s a rare day when Zhang, 53, can see the sun through the smoke. She can tell the direction of the winds from the color of the soot blowing by her home. The gray iron deposits come from the southern steel mills, while the white powder comes from chemical factories, and black dust from coal and coking plants.

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U.S. swimmer Amanda Beard defied a Chinese ban and unveiled her nude PETA ad in Beijing. Former Olympian Joey Cheek, meanwhile, got his Via revoked in advance of a trip to urge China to bring peace to Darfur.

U.S. Olympian swimmer Amanda Bear just became the latest in a long line of celebrities to pose nude for a PETA (animal rights) ad.

Chinese officials had earlier prohibited her from unveiling the photo indoors (”for security reasons”), so Beard merely moved the procession outside. Security officials didn’t press the issue.

I guess China didn’t want to risk another international incidient — not when it’s trying so hard to make sure no Olympian mentions the word “Darfur.” (Just today it revoked the Visa of Ex-Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek, who intended to travel to China to urge Beijing to promote peace efforts in Darfur)

takepart visiting AmandaBeard.net for ways to take action on animal rights (yes, there are more photos, too.)

takepart by visiting the takepart wiki to take action on Darfur

Foreign athletes at the Bejing Olympics may have to compete in uniforms like these if China doesn't get its pollution under control

Bejing just announced a new set of anti-pollution measures aimed at staving off the concerns of Olympic athletes who aren’t too thrilled by the prospect of competing in uniforms made for Ebola outbreaks.

The Summer Olympics in Beijing are just about three weeks away, and to attempt to lower pollution levels as much as possible before the games start, China is removing half the cars on the road.   The Associated Press reports:

Under the two-month plan, half of the capital’s 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets on alternate days, depending on whether the license plate ends in an odd or even number.

The plan came into effect yesterday, apparently creating slightly clearer skies and lighter traffic.   In addition to the traffic limitations, China is adding 3,000 busses to the roads by the time the Games start, which will increase the daily bus capacity from 12.5 million to 15 million people.   Beijing has also opened new subway lines, which are anticipated to carry 1.1 million people every day during the Olympics.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Everything I Know About Climate Change, I Learned in the Fifth Grade by Martin Musatov

When Torture Is Condoned, Is FISA That Shocking? by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

Baltimore Woman Turns Tragedy Into Art

Why Don’t We Do More to Stop Global Warming?

* * *

Andy Kondrat:

Foods You Should and Shouldn’t Buy Organic

Paper or Plastic? The Environmental Impact

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Jon Popham:

The Energy Independence Bill: A Filibuster Odyssey

“Bruno” Fools Mossad Agent

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Gina Telaroli:

While Iran Tests Missiles, Test These 5 Iranian Films

Mao’s Out, Time to Capitalize On the Olympics

The Chinese have taken Chairman Mao, the founding father of Chinese communism off of their 10-yuan bill and replaced him with a picture of their new National Stadium. While there aren’t a lot of these new bills being made and they are supposedly just for the duration of the Olympics I can’t help but see this as another sign of China’s crumbling communism.

What would the kids in La Chinoise think?

Joking and 60’s cinema references aside, I’ve been watching the cinema of Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke a lot lately. His quiet meditations on where China is headed politically and spiritually seem to be backed up by practical stories like the 10-yuan redesign everyday.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Arrested in Development by Wendy Cohen

Is Google Making Us Dumber? by Blair Golson

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Nicole Hughes:

Top 5 Ways to Green Your July 4th

Greenopia: Eco-Guides For Your City

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Andy Kondrat:

Hypermiling Contest Winner Gets 124 Miles to the Gallon

Rise in Fuel Prices May Lead to Dirtier Energy Sources

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Jon Popham:

Red Tide in Yellow Sea Threatens Olympics

Mercedes-Benz Ditching Gasoline Cars by 2015

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Giulia Rozzi:

46664 Concert: Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela

Denise Richards Likes to Share

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Gina Telaroli:

Top 10 Movies for the 4th of July: For Patriots and Cynics!

The Radical and Beautiful Journey of Wall-E

A red tide in the Yellow Sea off the coast of China is threatening events planned for the 2008 summer Olympics.   The massive algae bloom, shown left, threatens to prevent the scheduled Olympic sailing regatta from taking place as scheduled less than six weeks from now.   Chinese state media has reported that a third of the waters needed for the competition are currently covered with algae.

Residents of the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao (home of Tsingtao beer) are being mobilized by the government to try and clean up the mess before the coming Olympic games.   An estimated 20,000 citizens have either volunteered or been drafted to clean up the shoreline while more than 1,000 boats are pulling algae out of the Yellow Sea.  

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The potential effect of China’s pollution on the 2008 Summer Olympic Games is becoming more and more obvious, as the world record holder in the men’s marathon stated a few months back he will not compete due to pollution, and now the woman’s world record holder says that the pollution could force her to wear a mask when not competing.   Yesterday, Paula Radcliffe stated that the use of a mask while in Beijing may be necessary to help keep her asthma in check.   In an interview with BBC Radio, she said,

“I think the biggest factor is going to be runny eyes, runny nose and sore throat after the event - and if things go according to plan in the race, I don’t particularly care. The biggest thing for me is to make sure my asthma is under control - which it is - and minimise the effects of pollution in the lead-up to the race.” [news.scotsman.com]

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