The rain in Beijing falls mainly on the oblique.

[shadron]

An interesting juxtaposition, wouldn't you say? What has happened to good, old, reliable hard-nosed communism, anyway?

"Operation Beijing storm: rockets target rain"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080411/sc_nm/olympics_weather_dc_2

Zhang Qiang, head of Beijing's Weather Modification Office, believed her staff can fend off drizzle, but could be powerless in the face of a heavy downpour.

"I hope God will not send any storms to Beijing," she said.

[Safe-Keeper]

But.. but what if the clouds crash into the stadium?

[The Fool]

Powerless to stop a major storm? What a bunch of defeatists. Have they considered lining up a few million people to shout abuse at the clouds? These people can't think outside the box.

[Kopji]

I wonder if come August when terrorist threats will surely be on the increase - the cloud seeding rockets and planes flying around the Olympic events area is going to sound nearly as romantic as it does now.

[shadron]

Perhaps it is flying somewhat below the radar, but I was referring mostly to the words this Chinese government official is saying.

But I suppose we are so inured to hearing this sort of thing...

[Kopji]

The line about God? Hard to tell if it was a joke intended for the western audience or not.