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Olympics 2008; Will China's Segway Storm Troopers be used for any reason during the Olympics?
No reports of this occurring found.
Background:
This question asks whether or not Segways will be used to quell any disturbance (terrorist or otherwise) during the games. If there are no reports of this action PRIOR TO the Closing Ceremonies, this market will settle as NO.
This market will suspend at 8:AM EDT, prior to the opening ceremonies.
For the purposes of settling this market as 'Yes', the Stormtroopers would ...
a) have to be deployed to an area of disturbance. (simply siting and watching for trouble would NOT count, even though that could have pacification implications.)
b) they would have to actively participate in a round-up of person(s), whether or not they fired their weapons or not, which means that they are 'rolled out' in support of other police forces.
c) if they are credited with an arrest for any reason AFTER 'rolling' beyond their assigned checkpoints, this would settle as 'Yes'. If they apprehend, arrest or shoot a person(s) while at their respective station (without 'rolling out), this in and of itself would NOT settle as 'Yes'.
d) if they 'roll out' to a trouble spot, and fire a weapon (in the air or otherwise), with or without making an arrest, this will qualify for a 'Yes' settlement. [added by nigeleccles at the request of question creator]
Settlement details:
As reported by a major mainstream news source of any nation.
Settled
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Yes |
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No |
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Suspend date: Fri 8th Aug 5am PDT Settlement date: Tue 26th Aug 6:56am PDTPrediction cut-off: Predictions on this question after Fri 8th Aug 5am PDT have been voided because they were made after the question could be settled
Initial likelihoods: Yes: 5%
Action history:
newsie
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: No reports of this occurring found.
Suspend date: Fri 8th Aug 5am PDT Settlement date: Tue 26th Aug 6:56am PDTPrediction cut-off: Predictions on this question after Fri 8th Aug 5am PDT have been voided because they were made after the question could be settled
more info...
Get widget!Predictions (96)
96 predictions
ryanj
destryComments (14)
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Great question!
;)
But, please spend your money. And don't forget to bow whenever you pass below a picture of our great leader. If caught without Mao's little red book, you might have to stay awhile.
I sure hope things relax at least a bit before the games get started.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcb_china/20080722/wl_mcb_china/theeightdontasksoftheolympics
The market asks " will be used to quell any disturbance ", which was meant to mean that the Stormtroopers actual 'put down' a disturbance. if the disturbance 'melts away' before they can take action, that would not qualify for a 'Yes' settlement.
"quell" being the actionable verb.
tr.v. quelled, quell·ing, quells
1. To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot.
2. To pacify; quiet: finally quelled the children's fears.
a) have to be deployed to an area of disturbance. (simply siting and watching for trouble would NOT count, even though that could have pacification implications.)
b) they would have to actively participate in a round-up of person(s), whether or not they fired their weapons or not, which means that they are 'rolled out' in support of other police forces.
c) if they are credited with an arrest for any reason AFTER 'rolling' beyond their assigned checkpoints, this would settle as 'Yes'. If they apprehend, arrest or shoot a person(s) while at their respective station (without 'rolling out), this in and of itself would NOT settle as 'Yes'.
d) if they 'roll out' to a trouble spot, and fire a weapon (in the air or otherwise), with or without making an arrest, this will qualify for a 'Yes' settlement.
Perfect! This is what I was thinking, thank you for going to the trouble of being explicit. I’ve been having some fun @ China’s expense calling attention to their zealousness for order and control at the games. Frankly I would be surprised if these fine chaps didn’t all become visible in formation, at some point, somehow. Example… let’s say the crowd goes **really** crazy and begins to **gasp** cheer for an athlete in a stadium, but not the formally sanctioned cheer… this could look like a threat to the authorities and they could easily wheel out a battalion of these low riders as a gentle reminder to sit down and shut up, then everyone would make nice and the problem would be averted, without the rollerboys having to take an aggressive/overt action, just showing up. It’s a bit like a defense attorney looking into the hallway outside the courthouse chambers, seeing a jury about to be seated and suddenly having a change of heart and recommending that the defendant settle, rather than go to trial. These soldiers look so crisp and uniform in their battle ready scooters, I suspect we’ll see them at some point, in formation, in motion. Hopefully no one gets hurt.
If they roll into a VENUE for the purposes of 'showing force', to remind cheering crowds, as you stated, that will NOT count as a 'Yes', unless they actually make an arrest (or worse), in which case this market would settle as 'Yes', as per item (c) in comment #8.
The many other police forces will be very visible in all the venues. I really don't think that you'll see the Stormtroopers within a venue, unless something terrible IS going on. To do so because of an unauthorized cheer would cause the Chinese to lose face. (what? your state police can't handle a cheering crowd?)
Hmmm. What if George Bush stands up to clap/cheer a Gold Medal winner? (This is against the rules, you know.)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/ap_on_re_as/oly_china_olympic_tickets
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26027195/
or NOT?
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