China and the International Olympics Committee are making extreme efforts of course to ensure a successful 29th Olympiad this summer in Beijing.

The efforts go beyond building stadiums and setting the stage for a mega-event watched worldwide.

For the past several days, the efforts have involved securing the Olympic torch against protestors.

Previously, efforts involved announcing a plan to eliminate traffic and shut down industry in Beijing to improve air pollution for athletes during competition.

Today, the latest word from Beijing is preparations by Chinese meteorologists to pre-drain the rain from clouds predicted to drench the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics there on Aug. 8.

Dozens of staffers will work to fire rockets and cannons containing silver iodide at approaching clouds to make them rain, pre-empting a 47 percent chance of precipitation during the ceremony. The chemical concentrates moisture to create rain. China claims to have succeeded in a similar effort to force rain to clear a wicked dust storm in 2004.

If the Chinese weather manipulation succeeds in August, it will surprise the U.S. National Research Council, which issued a report in 2003 stating that there was no convincing proof that so-called cloud seeding works.

But the Fresno-based Weather Modification Association has said the NRC’s report was faulty and held their standard for evidence too high.

As for human rights in China, things have gotten worse as a result of the impending Olympics, according to the Christian Science Monitor, which offered a good overview yesterday of the current human rights situation in the PRC.