Stop Giving Bela Karolyi An Outlet For His Hate-filled Rants

NBC and the United States need to stop giving Bela Karolyi an outlet for his hate-filled rants against the Chinese gymnasts and China.

Karolyi accuses Chinese of age-old problem

BEIJING – Perhaps the most famous case of an underage gymnast – the current Olympic age minimum is 16 – occurred back at the 1991 world championships.

North Korea entered a girl who, while certainly capable of spins and flips, looked painfully slight and terribly young. Still, the documentation checked out and no one was truly sure until she happened to flash a big smile which revealed … she was still losing her baby teeth.

Bela Karolyi, the Vince Lombardi of women’s gymnastics, tells that story just like he tells all of his stories about underage gymnasts – using mock humor to convey the disgust.

He’s been railing about underage girls in gymnastics for decades. Now he fears the United States women’s team is about to be victimized by them

The Americans must compete against Chinese girls who, while “officially” being old enough, sure look awfully young. Consider 4-foot-6, 68-pound Deng Linlin. Or Jiang Yuyuan, who checks in at a strapping 4-7 and 70 pounds.

“They are using half-people,” Karolyi told the Associated Press. “One of the biggest frustrations is, what arrogance. These people think we are stupid.

“We are in the business of gymnastics and we know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. You don’t have to be a gymnastics coach to know what they look like at 16.”

A number of U.S. media investigations have shown that Deng is one of three Chinese team members who previously had ages listed on various documents that would make them as young as 14 during this calendar year.

However, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) merely requires a government issued passport as proof of age. China produced one for each member of the team.

“All passports are valid for all gymnasts competing in the Beijing Olympic Games,” the FIG said in a statement. “Stringent control measures are taken at the time of athlete accreditation for all official FIG competitions. Further, all athlete ages for the Beijing Olympic Games are consistent with the FIG records for all past FIG competitions.”

In Sunday’s preliminaries, China took a lead over the U.S. in the team competition that concludes Wednesday morning in Beijing. Karolyi is convinced the Americans are being cheated. He wonders out loud if the Chinese packed diapers. He mocks passport accuracy since it is the Chinese government that issued it and says such forgery has been common around the globe for decades.

Besides, why not trust his lying eyes?

The Chinese look so young they may still watch “Dora the Explorer.” The team’s average height and weight on its listed roster is a mere 4-9 and 77 pounds.

By comparison, the smallest American gymnast is Shawn Johnson, a 16-year-old who checks in at 4-foot-9 and 90 pounds. The U.S. average is 5-foot and 107 pounds, which might qualify as obese by Chinese standards.

Maybe they are doping.

“What kind of slap in the face is this?” Karolyi asked. “They are 12, 14 years old, max. And they line them up for the world … and having the government back them?”

In China’s defense, there are other tiny gymnasts. Japan’s Koko Tsurumi is 4-7 and 75 pounds. Russia’s Ksenia Semenova is 4-6 and 77 pounds. Japan’s team average is just 4-10 and 82.5 pounds.

Younger and thus smaller gymnasts may have an advantage in a number of disciplines. Age limits were enacted by FIG for the safety of the athletes.

Karolyi is an NBC commentator and no longer has an official role with USA Gymnastics. However, his wife Marta is the team’s coach and the athletes train at their Texas ranch.

He’s been against age limits for years, preferring to let anyone of any age to compete. FIG says it has no plans to change its age limit, nor should it. Karolyi is wrong on this one; sending out little girls whose muscles and bones haven’t fully developed is not the proper answer.

Asking for more than a meager passport – which, since the government issues it, is obviously quite easy to control – is a long overdue change. Not that anything would completely eliminate cheating.

No one knows for sure whether the Chinese are simply tiny or eviscerating the rules and putting their athletes in harm’s way in pursuit of gold.

USA Gymnastics can’t do much at this point. Officially, it has no statement and reminds that Bela Karolyi doesn’t work for them. Marta Karolyi was pretty clear about what she thinks, though.

“We are ready to take on any team,” she deadpanned. “Overage or underage.”

Sniping is about all she can do. Unlike doping, there isn’t a test to determine someone’s age. It’s not like cutting into a redwood tree and counting the rings.

Maybe they can ask Deng Linlin to smile wide for the cameras.

Now that the China has beaten the US for gold in Women's Gymnastics, Bela Karolyi still isn't shutting up. Last night after the women lost, he was interviewed by Bob Costas. He said that the right decision was made on the floor last night. But, China didn't legally win the gold because the girls were underage.

This man needs to shut his mouth. He is in no position to be saying anything. I've never liked the guy because he has such a big mouth. What I found out makes my dislike of him extremely justified.

Check this out about Bela Karolyi.

Károlyi's career as a coach has been saddled by controversy.

While still in Romania, Károlyi came under fire from Romanian officials due to his score protests and conduct at several international meets, including the 1980 Olympics. His school in Oneşti was originally shunned in favor of Bucharest's Dinamo club; Károlyi had to battle the Romanian gymnastics federation to get Nadia Comaneci and his other athletes named to the 1975 European Championships and the 1976 Olympic team.

In America, Károlyi's training methods have been roundly criticized. Some of his former athletes, including Kristie Phillips and Erica Stokes, have stated publicly that Károlyi was verbally and psychologically abusive during workouts. Károlyi's constant critical remarks about weight and body type were said to drive some gymnasts to develop eating disorders and low self-esteem. Some gymnasts, such as Phillips and 1988 Olympian Chelle Stack, have noted that they were compelled to continue training and competing even when coping with serious injuries such as broken bones. In one interview, Dominique Moceanu, one of Károlyi's final proteges, noted: "I'm sure Bela saw injuries, but if you were injured, Bela didn't want to see it...You had to deal with it. I was intimidated. He looked down on me. He was 6-feet something, and I was 4-foot nothing."

Károlyi was also said to strictly monitor his gymnasts' food intake: Moceanu, for instance, stated that at meets away from home, gymnasts were limited to consuming as little as 900 calories a day. Even Károlyi supporters have admitted that at certain competitions, his gymnasts ate so sparingly that members of the men's gymnastics team smuggled food to them in their hotel rooms.

What's worse? Supposedly lying about somebody's age, or starving athletes, making them train and compete with injuries including broken bones, and being abusive?

There's a reason that this man (and I use that term loosely) has been banned from being on the floor at the Beijing Olympics. His wife should be banned too while we're at it!!

There is no proof that China lied about the ages of the gymnasts. NBC needs to stop giving him time on the television. Those with half a brain know damn well that nobody would be bitching if the US team hadn't fucked up last night and actually won the gold medal.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHINESE GYMNASTS!! YOU DESERVED THE GOLD!!

Olympic Opening Ceremony: A Combination Of Spectacular Imagery And American Ignorance

For once I would like to see the host country of the Olympics do the announcing for the Games. If it weren't for my desire to blog about the Opening Ceremony, I would have had my tv on mute last night. The ignorance from Matt Lauer and Bob Costas was typical American ignorance that we see and hear at every Olympics. What do you expect? I, for one, would like to see respect being shown for everyone including the host country. But that would require someone to actually know the meaning of the word RESPECT.

Some comments that I found totally disgusting were the following:

"Iran has been a long time antagonist" - This comment was made I believe by Matt Lauer when the Iran delegation made its way into the stadium during the Parade of Nations.

"Hugo Chavez is a 'blustery' president" - I'm not sure which ass said this. This comment was made when the Venezuela delegation made its way into the stadium during the Parade of Nations.

"He changed the time zone to a half hour ahead of NYC. That's weird!!" - This comment was made about Hugo Chavez during the Parade of Nations. Again, I'm not sure if it was Lauer or Costas who said this. The ridiculous thing about that comment is that they clearly accept on face value the equally ridiculous changing of Daylight Savings Time by the U.S. Congress for the exact same reason that Hugo Chavez changed his time zone.

"So much for the Olympic Truce in this case!!" - This comment was made by Matt Lauer I believe when the Russian delegation entered the stadium during the Parade of Nations. This was made in reference to the current "war" taking place between the countries of Georgia and Russia. My questions to Lauer would be simple. Has the United States called a truce in Iraq? How about in Afghanistan? Has Israel called a truce with the Palestinians? The answer is HELL NO!! We have not, and Israel has not. Yet, Lauer feels the need to comment on the "Olympic Truce" when talking about Russia and Georgia? Pot, meet Kettle!!

Lauer kept saying that he shouldn't be talking about politics because the Olympics are not about politics. Yet he felt the need to be ignorant and snarky, and bring up political issues every chance he got.

"Would you look at that!! The boy speaks a little English." - This comment was made after a reporter interviewed Yao Ming who was holding a 9 year old Chinese boy who survived the earthquake in China back in May. Instead of focusing on the amazing story about this child, Bob Costas had to make the comment about the child speaking English.

This child's story is amazing. He survived the earthquake that killed 20 of his classmates. He dug himself out of the rubble, and went back in to save two of his classmates. When people asked him why he did that, he said that it was his job. He was a hall monitor, and it was his job to help his classmates.

Rather than praising this heroic child, Bob Costas apparently felt the need to basically mock him. Yes, he said thank you and thank you very much to the reporter. Yes, he spoke ENGLISH. And Bob? What's your point? I would like to point out that his ENGLISH was EXCELLENT!!

I will move on to other observations.

George Bush: Could the man be more disrespectful? During the performance portion of the Opening Ceremony, he wasn't paying any attention. He was shown on camera talking to Putin. If he had to express his love to his "soul mate", he should have either taken it elsewhere or waited until the ceremony was finished.

During the Parade of Nations, Bush was once again shown on camera. This time he was shown slumped in his seat with an expression of boredom on his face, his leg bouncing up and down, and he kept looking at his watch. What's the matter George? Was it past your bedtime?

When the delegation from Iraq made its way into the stadium, the camera cut to Bush again. The man looked as though he thought that he was the reason that they were there. I was totally expecting them to cut to him when Iran came out. But they didn't.

On a better note, the ceremony was amazing!! There really are no words to truly describe what it was like watching it. From the drums to the lighting of the torch, it was spectacular!!

I loved some of the outfits from various countries. I especially enjoyed a lot of the outfits from the African countries. From the vibrant colors to the plaids and design, they were by far my favorites!!

The outfits worn by the U.S. sucked. The women looked like old men golfers from the 40's or 50's. Perhaps, maybe even from the 30's. Hell, give them a pipe and they would have looked like Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island. I saw better outfits on Project Runway when the designers had to create a look for the Opening Ceremony. Of course nobody actually wore these outfits, but they still looked a hell of a lot better!!

If you missed it, you missed an amazing show. Check out some of the images from the Olympic Opening Ceremony courtesy of Boston.com.













China put on an amazing show. Congratulations!! I look forward to seeing everything!! If the Opening Ceremony was this good, I can't wait to see the Closing Ceremony!!

China & The 2008 Summer Olympics

For the next two weeks, I will be spending time blogging about China and the 2008 Summer Olympics. I will be giving my reaction to the winners and losers, and much more.

Since When Does Bush Care About Insulting People?

Since when does Bush care about insulting people? I'd really like to know the answer.

Bush: Olympic boycott would insult Chinese

TOYAKO, Japan (CNN) -- President Bush on Sunday defended his decision to attend next month's Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, saying that to boycott "would be an affront to the Chinese people."

Speaking to reporters ahead of this week's summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Japan, Bush said he did not need to skip the ceremony to show his position on religious freedom and human rights in China.

He said if he failed to attend the Games it would "make it more difficult to be able to speak more frankly with the Chinese leadership."

Bush said he would raise concerns when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Olympics, but he was also "looking forward to cheering the U.S. athletes." He said it was good for them "to see their president waving that flag."

Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also said he would attend the opening ceremony despite concerns about human rights in China that prompted some other European leaders to boycott the event.

Bush and Fukuda took questions from reporters at the picturesque lakeside resort of Toyako on the northern island of Hokkaido, where the G-8 summit will begin Monday.

Bush said he and Fukuda discussed the United States' recent decision to lift some sanctions against North Korea and remove the communist nation from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terror.

Bush assured Japan that the issue of North Korea's past kidnappings of Japanese citizens will not be ignored by the United States. He told Fukuda that he was "fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue in your country" and that "the United States will not abandon you on this issue."

North Korea has admitted to abducting 11 Japanese citizens -- to teach its spies Japanese language and culture -- but had insisted the abduction issue was resolved.

Holding a book about a young Japanese girl abducted by North Korea, Bush said as the father of two girls he "can't imagine what it would be like to have a daughter disappear."

Bush said North Korea's recent destruction of a water-cooling tower at its now-defunct nuclear facility and its declaration outlining its plutonium program are positive steps, but there are "more to be taken."

Lifting sanctions would not weaken the pressure on North Korea to be forthcoming on the abduction issue or in nuclear negotiations, the U.S. president said.

Bush said North Korea remains the most sanctioned nation in the world and that "delisting did not get rid of their sanctions."

Fukuda, who is chairing the G-8 meetings, said global warming would be high on the agenda but that he could not predict what might result from this week's talks.

Fukuda said he believes the United States "has not lost its sense of direction" on the issue.

"Our views are gradually converging," he said.

Bush said the United States "will be constructive" in the global warming talks "but if China and India do not share that same aspiration, we're not going to solve the problem."

Bush said the United States and Japan leads the world in research on clean technologies. He said Japan's advances in battery technology will some day mean that Americans "will use batteries in cars that look like cars, not golf carts."

As world leaders began arriving for the summit, more than 1,000 people protested in northern Japan against the event. Demonstrators urged leaders to take urgent measures to stop global warming, grant indigenous people greater rights, combat world poverty and battle discrimination.

Soaring oil and food prices and possible steps against Zimbabwe were also likely to be high on the agenda at the summit.

With fewer than 200 days left in his term, Bush says he will press other G-8 leaders to follow through on their commitments from earlier summits, but has warned there is nothing he or anyone else can do in the short term about oil prices.

Bush's main economic goal at the summit may be defensive, said David Gergen, former adviser to presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

"What's essential in this summit for George W. Bush is to make sure the world economy does not spin downward," he said.

Bush has downplayed what he and other G-8 leaders can accomplish on the economic front. "One thing we need to make clear when I'm with our partners is that we're not going to become protectionists, that we believe in free trade and open markets," Bush said Wednesday.

A former administration official who served on the National Security Council under Bush says the G-8's purpose is not to come up with quick solutions.

"This is not a meeting of heads of state that leads to a treaty. It's really kind of public opinion shaping and trying to get people to agree that issues are important," said Michael Green, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Why start worrying now? All this administration has done is insult people and other countries. All of a sudden he's concerned about insulting China?

This has absolutely nothing to do with insulting China. This has everything to do with MONEY!!

If he doesn't want to go to China, don't go!! I'm sure they would be more than happy if he wasn't there!!

Stone Calls Earthquake Karma For Chinese

Just when you think you've heard it all, you're proven wrong. Sharon Stone decided to let her jaws flap in the breeze.

Sharon Stone Calls Chinese Earthquake "Karma"

When is a natural disaster a good thing? When the afflicted country commits human rights violations -- at least according to Sharon Stone.

Stone gave an interview while on the red carpet at Cannes this weekend in which -- after recounting all of China's atrocities -- she wondered, "All these earthquake and stuff happened and I thought, 'Is that karma?' When you are not nice that bad things happen to you." My name is Sharon!

Sharon went on to say she has come around and no longer thinks the death of over 60,000 people is cosmic payback. "Basic Instinct 2" is a whole other story.

Really? When people tend to run their mouths, they're usually saying exactly what they think. How much do you want to bet that this sudden change of heart has everything to do with $$$$$? She's afraid that people will boycott her, and she'll lose $$$$$? No? Yeah right!!

If the earthquake in China was "karma" for human rights violations on the part of the Chinese government, the United States will have "karma" until the end of time.

************************************UPDATE************************************

Sharon Stone films have now been banned in China. Hmm, I guess "karma" came back to bite her on the ass!! Hopefully other countries and companies will do the same. I know that I won't be watching any of her shit, not that I actually watched movies that she was in to begin with!!

Nancy Pelosi Is Completely Worthless And Delusional

Nancy Pelosi is completely worthless and delusional. Big shocker there!!

Pelosi calls on Bush to boycott Olympic opening ceremonies

(CNN) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Bush should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games in Beijing this summer to protest China's human rights record.

"I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," Pelosi told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview to air Tuesday morning, according to the ABC News Web site. "I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do."

Pelosi said she does not think U.S. athletes should boycott the games themselves.

"I believe a boycott of the Beijing Olympics would unfairly harm our athletes who have worked so hard to prepare for the competition," she said in a statement last week.

President Bush has said he intends to meet with China's president during a trip to see the Olympic Games in Beijing, which start on August 8. Bush didn't elaborate on what issues he might bring up, but his administration has accused China, a major U.S. trade partner, of human rights abuses.

Other world leaders have wrestled with whether to attend the Olympics.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he may skip the opening ceremonies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she will skip the Olympics. Britain's Prince Charles said in January he has "no plans to attend the ceremony."

Pelosi has been a vocal critic of China's crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tibet.

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi told reporters during a visit to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Dharamsala, India, on February 21.

Dharamsala is the center of the Tibetan community in India, where many Tibetans fled after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

"The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world," Pelosi added.

In a statement from her office on Friday, the California Democrat encouraged people to express their views in San Francisco next month when the Olympic torch passes through on its worldwide trek.

"I support the rights of individuals and groups to make their views known about the actions of the Chinese government."

China launched its torch relay Monday in a controlled ceremony in front of invited guests at Tiananmen Square. The torch will be taken on a 130-day journey around the world in what is said to be the longest torch relay in Olympic history.

Students for a Free Tibet, a Tibetan exile group, said its protesters will challenge police as the flame moves through 23 cities on five continents before returning to China, where it will be taken throughout the nation on the way to opening ceremonies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang has said that the games should not be politicized.

"We hope to enhance mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation with other peoples through the Games," Qin said in a statement on the ministry's Web site. "We must follow the purpose of the Olympics and not politicize the games."

Allow me to explain something. The United States has NEVER had the "moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world". The United States has never and will never have a leg to stand on when it comes to the issue of human rights. Nancy Pelosi and anyone else who thinks otherwise is delusional.

"I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," Pelosi told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview to air Tuesday morning, according to the ABC News Web site. "I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do."

So in other words, let's be disrespectful and start more shit around the world. Right Nancy? Is that what you're suggesting?

The Olympics have nothing to do with politics, and politics should be kept out of this. The point of the Olympics is to bring people together from all over the world to compete against each other in sports. It is also about bringing people together in peace for two weeks, and putting aside our differences with the hope that maybe we can learn a thing or two from each other. It is not about China and Tibet, or China and Darfur, or anything else!! Clearly Nancy Pelosi and others don't get it!!

Pelosi said she does not think U.S. athletes should boycott the games themselves.

"I believe a boycott of the Beijing Olympics would unfairly harm our athletes who have worked so hard to prepare for the competition," she said in a statement last week.

Really Nancy? How exactly would a boycott on our part "unfairly harm" the athletes? If they decide to boycott the Olympics, it's their own damn fault. It's not unfairly harming them. If they're not willing to speak out against a potential boycott, they have nobody to blame but themselves for not going to the Olympics.

Pelosi has been a vocal critic of China's crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tibet.

In a statement from her office on Friday, the California Democrat encouraged people to express their views in San Francisco next month when the Olympic torch passes through on its worldwide trek.

"I support the rights of individuals and groups to make their views known about the actions of the Chinese government."

Are you encouraging violence Nancy? There's bound to be some violence!! There always is!! Again, she doesn't get it. But, I'm not surprised.

This is coming from a woman (and I use that term loosely) who encourages people to express their views about China. Yet, she doesn't encourage the people in this country to express their views of this government. She doesn't encourage people to speak out against the human rights abuses perpetrated by this country all over the world, and in this country. When people pleaded with her to start impeachment proceedings against the thugs in the White House, she basically told us to FUCK OFF. When people pleaded with her to help get our troops out of Iraq, she basically told us to FUCK OFF.

This bitch doesn't give a fuck about anyone but herself, and what she can get out of something. She sits on her throne like she's the fucking queen, and everyone else can go to hell. She deserves to be dethroned because she's completely worthless and delusional.

If I had the money, I would buy tickets for myself and my family to go to the Olympics in China. I would spend every penny I had in CHINA.

If the United States wants to start shit by boycotting the Olympics, they can go right ahead. It will just be yet another reason why this country is disliked by the rest of the world. We're the biggest hypocrites on the planet. We don't know the meaning of the word PEACE. We're so full of shit that there will never be enough toilets on Earth to contain it!!

Don't Go Blaming China

Don't go blaming China for the latest product recall.

One Million Simplicity Cribs Recalled
CPSC Says Failure in Drop Side of Cribs Can Trap and Suffocate Infants

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today a voluntary recall of about 1 million Simplicity cribs because of design failures that could result in infant deaths.

The drop side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants, according to the CPSC.

At least two infants, a 6-month-old and a 9-month-old, have died in Simplicity-manufactured cribs that had older-style hardware in which the drop side was installed upside down, according to the CPSC.

The CPSC is aware of seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs, and is also investigating the death of a 1-year-old child in a Simplicity crib with newer-style hardware in which the drop side was installed upside down.


The commission warns parents and caregivers to check all Simplicity cribs to make sure the drop side is installed right side up.

The recalled Simplicity crib models include Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N' Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves the following Simplicity cribs that used the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio.

The recalled cribs have one of the following model numbers, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760 and 8996.

The cribs, which were made in China, were sold in department stores, children's stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 and $300.

As an immediate precaution, consumers should check to see if the drop side is installed right side up. To do this, check to see that the slightly rounded rail with the decorative groove is installed at the top, and that the plain rail is on the bottom. Next, consumers should make sure the drop side is securely attached to the tracks in all four corners.

Do you want to know why I say not to blame China for this latest recall? I don't blame China because according to the Simplicity website (the crib company), all of their products are designed, engineered, and tested in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. What does that say to me? That says to me that had they actually done the PROPER testing on these cribs in the first place, they would have caught the problems before the crib ever made it to China to be manufactured. Had they done the proper testing in the first place, children would not be DEAD right now!!

Read on about this story!!

Missteps delayed recall of deadly cribs

Despite 55 complaints, seven infants left trapped and three deaths, it took years for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to warn parents about 1 million flawed cribs.

Photographs taken of Liam Johns' crib by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office clearly show where it came apart.

The drop rail had detached from its plastic track, creating a gap through which the 9-month-old boy slipped feet-first. Instead of falling to the floor, Liam got his head stuck between the rail and the mattress. Trapped in a hanging position, the boy asphyxiated.

Liam's April 2005 death prompted an investigation by a federal watchdog agency and a family lawsuit against the crib's manufacturer, Simplicity Inc.

But the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission didn't warn parents across the country about the potentially fatal flaw in Simplicity cribs--not after Liam suffocated, not after more complaints about the crib rails and not after two more infants died.

Once the Tribune began questioning the company and the agency this month, a massive recall of Simplicity cribs followed.

On Friday, the CPSC took action on 1 million cribs, including the model that the Johns family used for Liam. It is the largest recall of full-size cribs in the agency's history.

In its Hidden Hazards series, the Tribune has documented how the understaffed and sluggish CPSC fails to protect children from dangers in toys and other products. The paper's examination of Simplicity's popular cribs underscores that, even in the aftermath of a child's death, the agency can fall short in its watchdog role, leaving children vulnerable to a documented hazard.

Interviews and records show that the federal investigator assigned to Liam's death failed to inspect the crib in his initial inquiry and didn't track down the model or manufacturer.

"We get so many cases," the investigator, Michael Ng, said in an interview this month. "Once I do a report, I send it in and that's it. I go to the next case. We could spend more time, but we are under the gun. We have to move on."

Only last week, after inquiries by the Tribune, did Ng return to California to find the crib. It had first been held as evidence by sheriff's police and later was put in storage by a lawyer retained by the family.

Even with the recall, it remained unclear why it took so long to address the problem. The CPSC often gets bogged down in negotiations with companies over recalls because fedx eral law limits its powers and its ability to disclose details of its investigations into dangerous products.

Nancy Cowles, a child-product safety advocate and executive director of Kids In Danger, called for congressional hearings to look into the delay. "Was it because the CPSC has no power and the company was able to stall?" she asked.

When first presented with the Tribune findings this month, Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for the CPSC, said the agency could not comment about Simplicity. "We have more than one investigation open, and that's why I can't answer any questions," she said.

In announcing the recall Friday, the CPSC blamed a flawed crib design and hardware that allowed parents to install the drop rails upside down, which can cause the rail to detach from the frame. The agency said it was aware of seven non-fatal cases of infants being trapped and 55 other cases of drop-rail problems.

It also linked the Simplicity cribs to three deaths but did not release the names of those children or the dates of the fatal accidents.

One of those children was Liam Johns, records show. Another was 6-month-old Edward Millwood, who died in November 2006 in Georgia. The third was 8-month-old Royale Arceneaux, who died in February in Houston. All three children fell between the mattress and a separated drop rail.

The drop rails in those deaths had been installed upside down. But the agency also found two incidents in which correctly installed drop rails failed to work properly.

Ken Waldman, president of Simplicity Inc., said in an interview Friday that the company makes safe products and works closely with the CPSC to fix any problems. He would not say why the recall did not occur earlier.

"This is the thing to do and that's why we decided to do it now," he said.

The Aspen 3 in 1, once Simplicity's best-selling crib, accounted for the bulk of the recall. About 600,000 of those models, which are no longer made, were recalled.

It was the same one the Johns family chose for Liam.

Reached at her home in Northern California, Nicola Johns, Liam's mother, began to weep when she learned about the recall.

"I feel like there is a stone or weight off my chest," she said. "So many kids' lives can be potentially saved because they took the right action finally.

"Nothing will bring Liam back, but if this saves one baby's life, it will mean so much to me."

Haven or danger?

A baby's crib is supposed to be the safest place in the home. It's considered a haven, the one place where the parents of a child, whether a newborn or a wriggling infant learning to roll over, can leave their babies for hours at a time without worry of harm.

That's why parents were so upset and contacted the CPSC when they began to notice problems with the drop rails on their Aspen 3 in 1 cribs. That model had features allowing it to be converted into a toddler bed and later a regular bed as a child grew.

According to records obtained from the agency through the federal Freedom of Information Act, the first complaint to the CPSC about a drop-rail problem with the crib came in July 2003 from a woman in Meridian, Miss. It involved the rail suddenly falling down, but not separating from the crib.

A CPSC investigator tried to find the crib in December, five months later. By then the woman had returned it to the store for a refund. The crib was gone, according to a copy of the investigator's report.

The investigator then called Simplicity. "During our conversation, the customer service representative for Simplicity indicated that the manufacturer is aware of some issues with drop sides of this model crib. He said that all cases of which [the company] is aware have involved improper assembly of the drop side by the consumer," the report said.

Then, in February 2004, a mother complained about a more serious drop-rail issue: separation from the crib. Julie Heath, who was living with her husband at the Ft. Stewart, Ga., Army base, reported to the CPSC that an hour after she put her 5-month-old daughter into the crib, she came into the nursery and found that one end of the drop rail had come loose. She said she also contacted Simplicity.

"I called the company, and they said it was no big deal," Heath said in an interview. "They said there were no problems with it. I thought it was scary and wondered if there were any kids who were hurt that they weren't telling us about."

Heath said she ultimately got rid of the crib and instructed her husband to put it into a trash bin in separate pieces. "I see them [Simplicity cribs] a lot at yard sales on the base," she explained. "I was worried if we just left it out that someone would pick it up and some baby would die."

Many of the parents who complained about their Simplicity cribs weren't worried just about their own children. They also wanted action to avert tragedy for other families.

The drop rail on the Aspen 3 in 1 owned by Christina Zimmerman of Bloomington, Ind., separated from the headboard of the crib the day after New Year's 2005. The thought that her son could have fallen through the resulting gap terrified her, and she contacted the CPSC.

"It had a huge gap," Zimmerman said. "I thought my son could fall through or get his head stuck in there."

She said she returned it to the store where she purchased it. "I stressed to them--I don't know how the procedure works, but these need to be removed from the shelf. I thought it should be taken off the market."

Zimmerman said she was saddened, but not surprised, to hear of Liam's death.

"I have five children," she said. "I was just afraid something like that was going to happen. You don't think just about your child. "As a mother, I don't want anyone to lose their child like that. I can't imagine how [Liam's] parents feel."

Nicola Johns put her son Liam to bed about 8 p.m. on April 11, 2005, in their apartment in Citrus Heights, Calif.

She last checked on him about five hours later, just before she and her husband, Chad, went to bed. She was roused by her 2-year-old son, Logan, around 6:30 a.m. and got up to make breakfast.

"I went in to check on Liam and I couldn't see him at first," she said. "When I walked closer, I could see he was hanging. I lifted him up by his arms. He wasn't breathing."

Paramedics worked on the boy, but he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

According to police reports and a lawsuit filed by the family, sometime in the early-morning hours, one end of the drop rail on Liam's crib had come off its track.

Liam, who could sit up with pillows behind him and was just learning to roll over, either rolled or slid feet-first into the opening. His head was caught between the rail and the mattress.

A coroner's office investigator photographed the crib and notified the CPSC. Sheriff's police impounded the crib while they conducted a death investigation. Child welfare authorities temporarily removed the Johns' other son from the parents' care while they investigated.

The CPSC dispatched investigator Ng. When he went to the sheriff's police, he was told the crib was in the evidence room and couldn't be examined while the investigation was pending, according to his report.

Ng noted in his report that the coroner's investigator had failed to record the correct model number of the crib but did record the Graco brand name. Mistakenly believing that Graco had manufactured the crib--it was made by Simplicity under the Graco brand name--Ng went to Graco's Web site.

"A search of ... www.gracobaby.com did not reveal any models similar to the crib involved in the incident," Ng's report stated. A superior reviewed it on July 29, 2005, and in the box calling for a model number put "UNKNOWN."

Three days later, after sheriff's police determined that Liam's death was an accident, the crib was released to the family.

In an interview, Ng acknowledged he did not follow up to try to determine the crib model.

Asked if he would have gone back to find the crib if a supervisor had requested, he said: "Well, that's possible. But that didn't happen."

As a result, Liam's death was not linked to the Aspen 3 in 1.

Charles Kelly, a San Francisco product liability attorney, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family, alleging the crib was to blame. "The dangers of the crib included the risk of the drop side becoming loose from the plastic track," the lawsuit read in part.

The suit was settled out of court earlier this year. As part of the agreement, Kelly said, lawyers for Simplicity required that the terms be sealed.

Complaints pile up

After Liam's death, more consumers filed complaints with the CPSC about problems with the drop rails on their Aspen 3 in 1 cribs.

Lisa Smith of Sherwood, Ark., told the agency in October 2005 that her 10-month-old daughter had fallen to the floor between the drop rail and the mattress after the rail detached.

"I was out of the room for about 40 minutes and I heard a thud," Smith said in an interview. "She was screaming. My child rolled against it and rolled right on through."

Smith said she tried to contact Simplicity, but the company never returned her calls. "I stopped using the crib," she said. "It was dangerous, and it could have killed my child."

The CPSC sent out an investigator. Smith said she told him, "A child could have been suffocated."

A year later, the Millwood family in Georgia had no idea a crib could pose such a danger.

On Nov. 19, 2006, Robert and Amanda Millwood went out to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary and dropped off their 6-month-old son, Edward, at his aunt and uncle's home in Woodstock, Ga.

The aunt put the boy to bed in a Simplicity Nursery-in-a-Box crib. It was a new crib purchased six months earlier, and her husband had put it together.

She would later tell police that Edward fussed for a while but eventually fell asleep in the crib. She left the nursery door open just in case the boy cried out during the night.

At 6:45 a.m., she got up to check on Edward and found him hanging by his head between the drop rail and the mattress.

The drop rail, which had been installed upside down, cracked open at a joint and separated far enough from the crib that the baby slipped through feet-first and suffocated.

This past February, 8-month-old Royale Arceneaux was found suffocated between an improperly installed drop rail on a Crib N Changer Combo in Houston.

"The parents had no idea it was installed upside down," said Mark Weycer, a lawyer for the family. "That was a death sentence for their child."

The Millwood and Arceneaux families both filed lawsuits against Simplicity.

On Saturday, CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said the agency was reinvestigating Liam's death and would open an investigation into a fourth death in a Simplicity crib just this past Wednesday.

Two-year-old Serenity Bergey was asphyxiated in Boca Raton, Fla., in a Crib N Changer Combo. The child's mother, Connie Bergey, said drop-rail hardware had broken and the rail was being held by duct tape.

"CPSC is deeply saddened by each one of the deaths involving children in Simplicity cribs, including the tragic death of Serenity Bergey just last week," Wolfson said.

The CPSC issued Friday's recall with a strong sense of urgency. Wolfson stated bluntly that parents should keep their children out of the cribs until they are examined for flaws or fixed.

Cowles, the consumer advocate, also emphasized the high stakes in such a recall. "We don't want another baby to be harmed," she said.

She was left to wonder, however, why it took so long for the cribs to be recalled, dating back to Liam Johns' 2005 death.

"Two-and-a-half years is not acceptable," she said. "There is no room for tolerance in the safety of a crib."

I don't blame China at all for this. The company Simplicity lied to the consumers. When a consumer called to complain about the crib, she was told that "it was no big deal" and there was "nothing wrong with the crib" despite the fact that the company knew that there were problems. To say that they didn't know is ridiculous!!

The CPSC failed on so many levels, and the excuse that they give for the failure just blows my mind. What they're essentially claiming is that because they have so many cases to investigate, they don't have the time to do a complete investigation. It's total bullshit. You would think that because a death was involved here that they would go to great lengths to investigate, and get to the root of the problem. But even a death didn't do a thing to kick the investigation into gear.

Should the Chinese manufacturers feel horrible about what happened? Absolutely!! But, the blame is not and should not be on them. They were given the product by Simplicity. No doubt they were given the materials and instructions for the product by Simplicity. Once the cribs were built, they should have been inspected by Simplicity to ensure that they were safe. Simplicity clearly didn't do that!! Had that been done, lives could have been saved.

The fact that Simplicity would place the blame on the consumer by saying "all cases of which [the company] is aware have involved improper assembly of the drop side by the consumer," totally disgusts me. Simplicity needs to own up to their responsibility in all this. They need to accept blame for their lies, and negligence. Quite frankly, that company needs to be shut down and should never be allowed to operate ever again. The blatant lies and negligence is beyond any comprehension. Clearly Simplicity does NOT live up to what is claimed on its website. Clearly Simplicity is only interested in passing the buck to China when it is SIMPLICITY'S product that has failed, resulting in the deaths of too many children. One death is too many!!

"Genocide Olympics"

The United States is once again acting like the biggest hypocrite on the face of the Earth. This time, it's about China and Sudan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 100 U.S. lawmakers sent China's President Hu Jintao a letter on Wednesday warning of "disaster" for the 2008 Olympic Games if Beijing fails to do more to stop carnage in Chinese ally Sudan's Darfur region.

Really? Is that a threat? How the whole Darfur situation is China's problem is beyond me. It's interesting how the U.S., and these lawmakers are trying to wash their hands of any responsibility. They talk about genocide in Darfur, yet they don't do a damn thing about it. No, it's China's problem because they're the biggest trade partner with Sudan. BIG DEAL!! It's not China's and only China's responsibility to speak out against the genocide in Darfur. Every country, man, woman, and child has an obligation to speak out against the genocide in not just Darfur but every place where it's happening. Everyone has an obligation to step in and try to stop it. But no, it's not the responsibility of the United States. It's only China's responsibility.

"It would be a disaster for China if the games were to be marred by protests, from concerned individuals and groups, who will undoubtedly link your government to the continued atrocities in Darfur, if there is no significant improvement in the conditions," said the letter.

Yet another threat? Are you going to fly in people that you picked to protest? Are you going to purposely ruin the Olympics in Beijing? In case you've forgotten the purpose of the Olympics, maybe you should refresh your memory. The purpose of the Olympics is for people from around the world to come together for two weeks to live and compete side by side in peace. The purpose is not to deliberately sabotage the Olympics that are being hosted in another country. That's the problem with the United States. They have no respect for other countries.

Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the U.S. Congress and a staunch critic of authoritarian states, noted there were calls in some quarters to boycott what some activists have been calling the "Genocide Olympics."

Nice one!! The Genocide Olympics? These people are absolutely sick!! Why don't we refer to the Super Bowl as the Slaughter Bowl? Let's change the Stanley Cup to the Slaughter Cup. Or maybe the next time the Olympics come to the United States if they ever do again, we can fly in people to protest the United States for its immoral, illegal slaughter of 600,000 plus innocent people in Iraq and thousands more in Afghanistan. I'm sure by the time the Olympics do return to the United States, we'll still be in Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of innocent people who have been slaughtered at the hands of the United States will likely be in the millions. We'll have moved on to invading a few other countries by then too.

If the United States wants to be a hypocrite, be my guest. But have enough class and respect to leave the Olympics out of your hypocrisy. These people disgust me. They're cowards!! They display their hypocrisy for all the world to see by threatening China. Yet, they don't even have the balls to stand up to the Resident of this country on Iraq. They just let the slaughter continue.

They need to stop acting like they give a damn about the people of Darfur. If they truly cared enough to stop the genocide, they would have already stepped in instead of blaming China for doing nothing while they do nothing.