Most everyone, no doubt, has read stories about Chinese authorities intimidating journalists, restricting Internet access at Olympic media centers, and other various reports of violations of Beijing’s supposed promise to allow freedom for the international press during the Games. You’ve…

Most of the 1 billion people who watched the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing — 15 percent of the world’s population — were awed by the grandeur of what was described by the NBC announcers as the most spectacular opening ceremony…

Somewhere in this great land of ours, we suppose, are men and women who stare at the gray-tinged photographs of the Beijing Olympics and think of what have might been.

What if that inversion layer hadn’t settled over Donora, Pa., that day in…

Let the games begin. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. The paralysis of smog. The terror of the secret police. The anxiety of a closed society pretending be open.

Welcome to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which begin officially…

With the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games only 9 days away, I’ve compiled a roundup of stories that give some indication of what to watch for as the games begin:

Air pollution: This is undoubtedly the biggest concern leading…

The very first Olympic torch relay was conceived by Carl Diem, the organizer of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and staged by Joseph Goebbels, head of the Nazi propaganda machine for Adolf Hitler. Sadly, it went off without a hitch.

The world…

“May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.” Pierre de…