I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.  Never go against me folks, cause I’m right 99% of the time.  Days ago, I predicted a gluttony of Beijing follies.  Low and behold, a big one already.  How does murder sound?  Get ready for more.  I’ll keep the post going.

American killed at Games was coach’s father-in-law

BEIJING, China (CNN) — A Chinese attacker stabbed to death the father-in-law of a U.S. Olympic coach and seriously wounded the American’s wife and a Chinese tour guide before killing himself, the International Olympic Committee said Saturday.

 Todd Bachman, seen in a 1995 photo from KARE-TV, was stabbed to death Saturday in Beijing, China.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minnesota, were attacked at the Drum Tower, an ancient monument in downtown Beijing, the IOC and Chinese authorities said.

Barbara Bachman’s injuries are “serious and life-threatening,” an IOC statement said. The tour guide’s condition was not immediately clear.

Todd Bachman was the father-in-law of U.S. Olympic men’s indoor volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon. McCutcheon’s wife, 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s indoor volleyball player Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, was with her parents when they were attacked, but she was not hurt, the IOC said.

The Bachmans were not wearing apparel that identified them as relatives of members of the U.S. delegation at the time of the attack, the IOC said. Watch where Americans were attacked »

Explosions kill two in northwestern China

Several explosions rocked a county in northwestern China early Sunday, killing at least two people, state-run media reported. The explosions, which occurred between 3:20 and 4 a.m., blasted the 400-population Kuqa County in China’s remote Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, which borders Tibet to the south, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

They came less than a week after an attack in the same region killed 16 police officers and injured 16 more, forcing authorities to step up security.

Authorities had tightened security in the Xinjiang region with increased security checkpoints on roadways and around government buildings, schools and hospitals after Monday’s attack in the border city of Kashgar, also known as Kashi. Watch how the region has become volatile »

In that attack, two men crashed a dump truck into a group of police officers before throwing at least five homemade explosive devices into their barracks.

Police arrested both attackers and identified them as two Uighur men, ages 28 and 33, Xinhua reported.

Police suspect a terrorist plot behind the attack.

The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, also called East Turkistan, is home to a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority. Uighurs in Xinjiang are supposed to enjoy regional autonomy, as guaranteed by China’s constitution, but some seek independence.

Olympic girl seen but not heard

BEIJING, China (CNN) — A little girl and her song captivated millions of viewers during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. But what they saw was not what they heard.

 

 

 

Lin Miaoke was the darling of the Olympic opening ceremony, but it turns out she was lip-syncing.

 

Games organizers confirm that Lin Miaoke, who performed “Ode to the Motherland” as China’s flag was paraded Friday into Beijing’s National Stadium, was not singing at all.

Lin was lip-syncing to the sound of another girl, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was heard but not seen, apparently because she was deemed not cute enough.

“The reason was for the national interest,” said Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s musical director, in a state radio interview. “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. … Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects.”

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

“We had to do it,” he said. “We’d been through several inspections. They’re all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change.” Watch a Chinese official defend the move »

Few who watched the Olympic ceremony realized the deception. “Tiny singer wins heart of nation,” read the headline in Tuesday’s China Daily newspaper.

“Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old but she is well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance,” the article gushed — without mentioning she never sang a note.

But as word has gotten out on the Internet, some Chinese bloggers are outraged.

“If you’re not good-looking, no matter how well you sing, you’ll not be onstage. Do you know you’re twisting a wholegeneration?” read one comment.

 

 

 

Another said, “If foreigners found out, they’d think we can’t even find a girl who is good at both.” iReport.com: Share your Olympic spirit

As for Yang Peiyi, she’s been quoted as saying she was honored to have had a role in the opening ceremony, even though few realized just how big her part really was