Word: smog
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...SMOG of international political idiocy descends upon the Los Angeles Olympics, cries have arisen that it's time to extinguish. Baron de Coubertin's torch once and for all. Such arguments strike an increasingly responsive chord, indeed, the last Games to be left unscathed by the non-athletic tug of war between rival states took place in 1968. Since then, we've seen the massacre of 11 Israelis in Munich, the African boycott of Montreal, the U.S. no-show in Moscow, and now, the big nyet from Chernenko and Co. Nor do prospects for the future look good...
Even for a city that has learned to live with fear and blood as easily as other places cope with traffic jams and smog, the battle was terrifying. There was no warning as the gangs of Muslim militiamen, many dressed in civvies and cloth masks, swept into West Beirut to fight the Lebanese Army soldiers. The dreaded chatter of automatic rifles cleared the streets, trapping thousands in homes and offices. Those who dared peek from behind curtains or doorways saw flashes of chaos: a gunman scrambling madly, a car ablaze, someone shouting something to somebody out of sight...
...kind of medal this week will be the Americans' first. But back at the Olympic village, Mojmilo, the atmosphere has been clearing. After the snow dropped (18 in. in town, 49 in. on the mountains), the smog eased, and American athletes found less need for the purifying "air ecologizers" the team had packed. "I've been spending a lot of time in my room," says Rosalynn Sumners, whose most important week is finally here. "The air's O.K. there. But the only problem is that I've had too much time to think." When...
...will be interesting to see how the world's athletes are able to compete in the Los Angeles smog...
Even California's fabled weather-no one had yet heard of smog-refused to cooperate. Olympic committees from northern countries complained that their athletes could not compete in the heat of what they assumed was a desert climate. Nonsense, replied the boosters, Southern California is moderation itself. And to prove it, they set out thermometers during the first part of August 1931, on the dates on which the competition would be held a year later. To their consternation, a heat wave sent the mercury climbing past 100°F day after day. The results were quietly consigned...