China and the Olympics - Re-thought

The issue of China hosting the Olympics collides with the issue of China annexing Tibet leading to ethical dilemmas which are not easily solved. Boycotting Chinese goods punishes people who have no freedom to elect their Government. However it does starve Govt. income which it recieves in the form of taxes. The issue of quality control with regard to consumer goods lies with the retailer in my opinion. So if Fisher and Price sells toys with too much Zinc then one should not buy Fixher and Price, irrespective of whether the goods are made in China or not. China did send a powerful message to adulteres by sentencing their drug chief to death. This really is proprganda more than anything else. It's also barbaric.

Can a citizen of free choice, reason ethically, why the Olympics should be boycotted ? I believe she can. The issue lies with the politisisation of sport. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter believes that they do. I was hesitant to to think so untill two incidences related to the Olympics have changed my mind. The opening ceremony was awash with cultural propoganda, the same culture and history that the communist supressed. The bullshit display of 'harmony', all the while China causes 'disharmony' to it's neighbours, provides arms for the genocide in darfur, not to mention the slow but steady 'wipe-out' of the tibetan culture and peoples all in the name of a cultural revoltuion. The controversy surrounding Sonia Gandhi's attendance, instead of India's PM or President, to the Olympic games. Though why she chose to go is a mystery to me, ( it may be the wake up call that Manmohan Singh requires to finally cut himself free, especially after the current crisis in parliament). Did Manmohan Singh snub the invitation, did India's reps choose Sonia Gandhi, and what is the meaning of this, if anything at all ? The way these things are viewed, in the light of Politics, the way the dialogue is structred; it is enevitable that sports and politics should collide. After all the ancient Olympics were all about settling national status without going to war.

However, boycotting the Olympics, refusing to consume products from sponsors of the olympics, sets a precedent of boycotting all those products that are associated with companies that encroach on civil liberties, everywhere. This is a slippery slope, where the lines are drawn arbitrarily depending upon one's source of information.

For the meantime, I have to see how to avoid the following companies...

Finally we are able to wade through the bullshit

Boycotting the Olympics or boycotting the opening ceremony punishes amateur athletes. If you want to punish China then I suggest you stop using cheap Chinese goods to prop up your consumer based economies... if you can't do that then please stop fucking around with this boycott bullshit. This kind of rubbish does nothing to forward the cause of an autonomous Tibetan zone within China... or does it ? If the US economy had some clout, then I can imagine this kind of sabre rattling would work. However, lets face it... the US needs Chinese goods more than ever. The consumers need to write letters to the CEO of each company, whose goods they consume, and state categorically that they will boycott their goods if they continue sourcing from China. Now that's a boycott, these political stunts are garbage. Of course ppl aren't going to actually stop buying the goods, but that's the kind of sabre rattling that works. The mob has to rise for anything to happen.

The 7 am post on blah blah blah

I have returned from my friend's wedding, and I must admit there must be some degenerative changes in my liver which has forced me to sleep for the last few days endlessly. Ok for a medical doctor to be saying such nonsensical things is tantamount to negligence but let's face it, I'm being funny and this isn't a legally established forum for medical advice.

What is going on these days ? There is Kevin 07 currently in Australia. For those of my imaginary readers that know where Aussie land is, I desperately want labour to win, to I regain some self respect in what used to be one of my favourite countries. No disrespect for the US, but a population of 20 million, coal or no coal, exports to 'Chindia' or not, cannot afford to go the US way as far as privatisation is concerned. Howard and the liberal shave systematically sold the country to the highest bidder, and the benefits of our booming economy are in the hands of non-Australians.

The conspiracy against Sub continental cricketers continues. Murali didn't make his record amidst and media blackout, that's right, media blackout. Shane Warne seems to forget that he owes his record to Murali who didn't come to Australia, in 2004, he would've overtaken Warne's tally then and could easily have beaten Walsh's record before Warne. However, his recent immortality post retirement affords him to forget his past and now that he is such a celebrity who can do no wrong, he doesn't see any problems in raking the mud against Murali, that too during a series which is named after both of them. Some one should tell him that it's poor form to make comments like that, during an inaugural series, but lets face it, Australians aren't one for tact, and the Australian cricket team as successful as it is, isn't the best at being gracious losers, or gracious for that matter. Gilchrist is an exception, maybe the bowler Clark(e ?).

Call Symonds a monkey and its racism, call Murali a monkey and it's friendly banter, I'm sure you get the idea. The problem is that no one can beat them right now. Anyway, call Symonds a monkey and he plays better, call Murali a 'chucker' and he avoids the country... Mental strength, the sub continental players need to develop a bit more of it, I think.

It's like the US, no one in the world can say or do anything against the US, or won't, for whatever reasons. The same way no one can beat the Australians, and as much as Australians love their cricket, 20 million Australians can't compete with 1 Billion third world Indians in revenue generation. I just wish the Indians didn't realise that and actually beat Australia for a change. However, pigs don't fly, at least not in India, not yet :)