No Cars. Factories Closed. Skies Clear. Gasp.

You know, if the smog that pollutes your sky does not clear after you

• get rain
• order half the cars off the road
• close all of the polluting factories

then you have a problem. Of course your skies are going to clear if you do all that. Duh!

Normally smog-plagued Beijing bathed in blue skies and sunshine on Saturday in just the sort of weather the Chinese pray will grace their Olympics and banish athletes' health fears six days before the big start.

Experts attributed a rare day of fine weather in the Chinese capital to overnight rain and — finally — the impact of strict anti-pollution measures such as ordering half the cars off the road and closing smoke-belching factories.

The funny part? It took "experts" to attribute the rare day of weather to those factors. Experts. It's amazing what experts see that everyday people don't. I wonder how many of those "experts" were laying on the beach wearing the latest swimwear on that "oh so beautiful" day?

I'm not an expert, but I bet if they allow the factories to re-open, and the cars back on the street, the pollution will return immediately. Well, if it doesn't rain that is. Ugh.