Yao Kicks off Special Olympics Without Rain Suppression

Yao Kicks off Special Olympics Without Rain Suppression
from Yao Central

Well worth missing Media Day in Houston, Yao Ming helped kick off "the biggest ever" Special Olympics World Summer Games on Tuesday "for a record 7,300 mentally [sic] disabled athletes." I think the AFP meant "physically-disabled," but I guess the "mentally-disabled" shouldn't be excluded either. Whatever the case, the event was huge, presided over by none other than Chinese president Hu Jintao. In fact, our very own president... of movie catchphrases (and Governor of California), Arnold Schwarzenegger, was also there to help kick things off. It was a pretty big deal. Yao Ming Mania has tons of links and pics. There was, however, there was this one little passage in the AFP story that seemed a little odd, maybe its just cultural ignorance:

Shanghai is prone to rain in early October, and the city's "rain suppression squad", a unit of the city's Meteorological Bureau, was preparing for any downpour that might hit the venue.

Thirteen launch sites for rain-suppression rockets had been established in the surrounding provinces, according to Xinhua.

What the fuck is a rain suppression rocket?

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On Monday, the Chinese Nats lost 83-77 to CSKA Moscow, who's a good team in their own right, but still no National team. Yao Ming Mania has your pics.