Olympic Goodies

By Simon Elegant | August 1, 2008 | +

So I have just been to register at the Main Press Center and in the process was handed a nifty backpack with a bunch of useful stuff like media guides, bus routes etc. During these sort of jamborees reporters usually get given bits and piece by corporate sponsors and governments, most of it fairly disposable. One of the best things in the APEC pack I got years back in Hong Kong was eight rechargable AA batteries. Here’s what was included (some kind of computer cover, a transformer plug and a packet of postcards not shown) in the Beijing 2008 package:

DIT

As you can see, there’s a bunch of practical stuff, for once. There’s an Immediate Care Kit that includes sun tan lotion, insect repellent, band aids and hand sanitizer. There’s also handy portable fan, a pair of tiny binoculars, sunglasses, a flashlight. some sort of MP3 thingy and some coupons for free Macdonald’s burgers. Hmmm. Hard not to wonder how the Olympic official who put this together views reporters as he or she apparently thought we would be too dumb to come in from the sun, plagued by bugs, sweaty, hungry, dirty, self absorbed (earphones) and totally in the dark (flashlight). Actually, that may not be so far off the mark. :)

Related Topics: China

@TIMEWorld

Latest on Global Spin

Afghanistan May 21, 2012

Obama’s Afghanistan Problem: Neither Karzai Nor the Taliban Like the ‘Reconciliation’ Script

President Barack Obama huddled with President Hamid Karzai in Chicago on Sunday, urging Afghanistan’s leader to accelerate negotiations with the Taliban over a political solution to the longest war in America’s history. But the prospect for Karzai negotiating successfully with the insurgents is clouded by a question raised by Josef Stalin, on the eve of World War II, in response to the suggestion that he offer concessions to the Pope: “How many divisions does he have?” The Taliban now ask the same question about Karzai. And should the Afghan leader also ask himself the question, he might reach a similarly dispiriting conclusion. Karzai’s independent power base is minimal, as is his ability to influence the outcome of his country’s civil war absent direct U.S. involvement. And that gives neither Karzai nor the Taliban much incentive to cut a deal with the other.

Daily Briefing May 21, 2012

Must-Reads from Around the World, May 21, 2012

Spillover - Lebanon’s Daily Star reports on escalating violence inside the country after soldiers shot dead a prominent anti-Bashar al-Assad Muslim preacher Sunday. “The gravity of the incident… prompted leaders on both sides of the political divide to call for calm and restraint to prevent the country from sliding into sectarian strife as a result of a spillover of the 15-month-old uprising in neighboring Syria,” it says.

U.K. May 21, 2012

A Royal Party: Britain Celebrates 60 Years of Queen Elizabeth II

From parades to concerts, and even tea with commoners, 86 year-old Queen Elizabeth II is traversing the United Kingdom to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee.