Olympics: smile, or be arrested

August 9, 2012 — xanthippa

This is from the ‘it would be funny if it were not actually true’ files…

A man was actually arrested during an Olympic event because he was ‘not smiling enough’.

Never mind that he has Parkinsons’, and thus stiff facial muscles:  the idiocy of the Olympic oppression has no bounds…

A father with Parkinson’s disease was arrested as he watched the Olympic cycling road race because he ‘failed to smile or look like he was enjoying himself’.

Mark Worsfold, a martial arts trainer and former soldier, claims that he  was thrown to the floor and handcuffed just as cyclists passed by.

His worried wife Nicola only found out he was being held after she reported him missing when he did not turn up for their daughter’s ninth birthday party.

Ah, yes – this defines the Olympic phenomenon , as it does all other forms of totalitarianism!

Posted in politics, society. Tags: , , . 1 Comment »

Can we get rid of the Olympics now and for ever – please?

August 3, 2012 — xanthippa

As if the misogyny and sexism which permeates the Olympics were not enough…

(Where are the men’s synchronized swimmers?  Where were the women ski jumpers?  Why are women not permitted to compete as equals, but are relegated to second-class competitions? Gender apartheid is wrong and immoral – always and everywhere, including in athletics!)

As if the excusing of animal cruelty in order to cater to delusional beliefs were not enough…

(The Femen have it right:  the next Olympic sports likely to be introduced are stoning and speed raping!)

As if the clear corruption of the IOC were not so blatant (and thus did not render all ‘judged’ sports meaningless)…

But the fascism that are the very foundation of these ‘games’ is so appalling, it is beyond belief that it is tolerated!

And, yes – a government or, as is the case with IOC, a government-empowered organ – selling commercial monopoly rights to the highest bidder and then rigorously enforcing them is the very definition of fascism…

Why are we still tolerating this?

Why are we normalizing this form of corporate thuggery?  Why is this unholy alliance of international racketeering with corporate entities given government protection?

Shame on us all!

Posted in corruption, society. Tags: , , , , . 1 Comment »

Winning back our liberty: the ‘commercial’ threat

December 16, 2009 — xanthippa

Commercial encroachment on the freedoms and liberties of Canadians is a very real and immediate threat to us all.  Yet, this is hardly ever seriously discussed among the ‘core’ of conservative and pro-freedom thinkers.

Why?

It seems that the ‘government’ types and ‘corporate’ types of freedom fighters (in our current, non-violent use of the expression) do not talk much – even regard each other with a significant degree of suspicion.  This could, perhaps be because they usually come from such very different backgrounds and usually do not share common educational base or many leisure-time interests.  Even their language is so different, they don’t ‘get’ each others’ message.

That is a pity, because each side is only getting a part of the picture….  and, what was that thing about ‘divide and conquer’?

John Perry Barlow, the co-founder of Electronic Frontier (and a former lyricist for ‘The Grateful Dead’) has very perceptively analyzed the corporate threats to freedom of speech in his 1994(!) article, The Economy of Ideas.

“Notions of property, value, ownership, and the nature of wealth itself are changing more fundamentally than at any time since the Sumerians first poked cuneiform into wet clay and called it stored grain. Only a very few people are aware of the enormity of this shift, and fewer of them are lawyers or public officials.”

Barlow explains how, traditionally, people protected their ‘ideas’ through physical control over the means of expressing these ideas:  a book is a tangible object which can physically be controlled, an inventor ‘owned’ the ‘idea’ in the form to holding the right to produce objects which made ‘use’ of this idea in the very particular product she/he invented, and so on.  The ‘idea’ itself, once expressed, was ‘in the public realm’ and everyone had access to ‘learn it’:  that generates progress.

This has all changed:  now, ideas can spread without a physical vessel one could control, it is now ‘the ideas themselves’ which are the valuable bit.  Barlow makes the case that corporate interests will, if allowed, protect their investment in their ‘ideas’ and that could involve significant curbing of our freedom of expression.

He wrote this in 1994 – and what he warned of is already coming true.

‘Protection of their intellectual properties’ has permitted, for example, the entertainment industry to successfully lobby governments to legalize really, really invasive ‘digital locks’ on their ‘products’.

Here is just one such example, where the corporate world is permitted to treat its customers as criminals by default, and curb their individual rights in the name of protecting their product:

Far from being simply a mechanism to prevent copying, these ‘digital locks’ often include ‘executable code’ which, without the computer owner’s knowledge or permission, install themselves very, very deeply into the computer (at times, removing the ‘lock’ may damage the computer on which it had been installed), search all the files on the hard drive and report all this information, via an internet connection the ‘lock’ itself initiates, back to the company that put the lock on.

This, ostensibly, is to make sure that there are no other ‘stolen files’ on the computer. In reality, it permits that corporation full access to every program, every bit of data, every file, every picture on your computer – and the laws that permit the corporations to install this on your computer without your knowledge do not, even a little bit, address what this corporation may or may not do with all the stuff it found on your computer. That is, frankly, quite frightening!

But that is just the tip of the iceberg – in just one industry!

Please, don’t call ‘Godwin’s law’ one me now, but, I will mention ‘THE OLYMPICS’!

Everyone just shrugged their shoulders and blamed ‘The Chinese Government’ for the zeal with which the names of any business which did not pay protection money was not ‘an Olympic Sponsor’ were covered up:  from sticky tape over faucet brand marks to sheets covering the name of a nearby hotel.  The media treated it as some sort of a ‘cute Chinese thing’. But, it was not a ‘Chinese thing’, nor was it ‘cute’!

It was an IOC (International Olympic Committee) thing.  The IOC claims that without this draconian censorship, it could not make money.

SO!?!?!?!?!?!

Why should anyone’s desire to make money outweigh people’s rights and freedoms?

But, that was China – it could never happen here!

Well, actually…

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics are an example in how corporate interests strip people of liberty!

The IOC has demanded that Vancouver create a ‘buffer zone’ around the Olympic Venues where all speech, signage, logos, symbols and any other means of communication be strictly controlled.  And, since it’s ‘The Olympics’, the various levels of government complied.

They passed a series of bylaws which not only made it illegal to display the brand-name of a ‘non-sponsor’, but also where any sentiment which was not ‘celebrating the Olympics’ was forbidden from being expressed!  Public and private property!

Oh, and driving on some public roads would also be illegal for mere ‘citizens’ (similar ones are planned for the 2012 Olympics:  that makes it a pattern, not a ‘cute Chinese thing’)….and if you happen to own an aerial sight-seeing company – well, you’ll be forbidden from earning a living, because it ‘needs to be controlled’ during the Olympics, too.

If, for example, you were to put up curtains which were made of a fabric that said ‘Olympics Suck’ in your window, you could have ‘officials’ enter your property and remove the offensive curtains, without a warrant and without your permission:  then, you could be charged a financial fine ($10,000 per day) or tossed in jail or both!

This is Canada?

Under pressure, the Vancouver city council has attempted to soften the harshest bits of these oppressive laws:  at least, the bits that look the most oppressive.  But, I don’t know how much of an improvement the latest version of is….  Now, they have pretty much handed the right to decide what forms of expression will and will not be censored to ‘The Olympic Sponsors’ – the corporations propping up this oppressive organization!

If this is not an ‘Olympic Sponsorship Scandal’, I don’t know what you could possibly call it.

Some people say that it’s not that big a deal – that it’s only a temporary limit…  They miss the point:  nobody must ever have the right to put a limit on the freedom of speech, the most basic of our rights without which none of the others are possible.  If someone can put a ‘temporary limit’ on it, then someone else can put another ‘temporary limit’, and another, and another…and before we realize it, the ‘limit’ will be a permanent one….

Yes, these are just two ‘highly visible’ instances….but, there are too many to document is a simple blog.

John Perry Barlow maintained that the biggest threat to freedom of speech in the future will be from ‘corporate censorship’.

I think he is right.

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Posted in freedoms, opression, politics, society, technology. Tags: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments »

Just imagine all the … oppression?

October 14, 2009 — xanthippa

We are used to being able to display our political views on our property.  During elections – municipal, provincial or federal – we are used to being able to display a sign on our front lawn, or in our window, which proudly proclaims which candidate we are supporting.  One election, my in-laws each supported a different candidate:  and proudly displayed two political signs on their front lawn!

Now, imagine a place where doing this:  displaying your political views (either on your front lawn or inside your window) would earn you a $10,000.00 per day fine… and 6 months in jail!  Plus, the police would have the power to come onto your property, inside your home, and remove the ‘offensive’ sign.

Where is this place?

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – 2010!!!

We are used to being able to protest – publicly – for or against any cause or issue.  Sure, we ought to get a permit and obey rules of public order.  That is the civilized way to do it.  A government has the right to regulating the ‘HOW’ – but only in the respect that the protest does not interfere with public order and safety (like, say, shoving your kids into the middle of a busy highway, to make your point…).  It does not, and MUST NOT, have the right to regulate THE SUBJECT of any protest.

Now, imagine a place where all protests regarding a specific subject were 100% banned!  A place where people were forbidden to express a specific, non-violent, non-hate-mongering point of view!  Where any expression whatsoever which contravened the ‘official line’  was forbidden.

Where is this place?

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – 2010!!!

Any and all signs (including private ones!) which ‘do not celebrate’ the Olympic Games are banned.

Any protest which might mar the festivities is banned.

Any commercial ‘in, on or above’ the official venues – but whose sponsor had not paid the incredibly high IOC ‘sponsorship’ extortion money (and, they only allow for one ‘sponsor’ in a particular field:  if you are a small, local business – how will you compete with the multinationals?) … any such sign is, predictably, banned.  (Consider a scenario where you have two restaurants in one building:  one sells Coca-Cola, the other a small, local gourmet-made-in-small-batches Cola – and both have neon signs advertising their beverage of choice.  If the business below became ‘official venue’ of the Olympics, because ‘their’ drink became the ‘official sponsor’, that business would be allowed to display their signs and attract customers.  The business above would be forced to remove or cover up their sign (at their own expense) and would not be allowed to even try to attract customers….  Some law!)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, non-IOC approved ‘voice amplification equipment’, from private boomboxes to megaphones, are – banned.

These are the rules which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is imposing on Vancouver while it is hosting the 2010 Olympic games!

Oh – and while they’re at it:  they have exclusive ownership of such specific words like ‘winter’ and ‘2010’ !

OK – I have been a very vocal critic of the Olympic Games.

For a long time, I have ranted on and on that this abomination ought to be abolished.  And, prior to the Bejing Olympics, I have written about it.  Now that they are being held in Canada, I have not changed my mind.  To the contrary:  I wish this corrupt and corrupting organization stayed out of my country!

In addition to my objections to the Olympic Games on that  whole unbelievable institutional corruption basis, I also object on the grounds that it degrades sports and diminishes the spirit of sportsmanship.  Sports are supposed to be about being healthy:  healthy body, healthy spirit and all that.  A balance in life.

Yet, today’s top athletes push their bodies way beyond the point of what is healthy!  In their attempt to be the best of the best, athletes do thing to their bodies (both legal and illegal – but, I am focusing on the ‘legal’ bit here) way past what is actually healthy or good.  From microfractures in many bones – including the spine (like, say, gymnasts whose pursuit of Olympic ideals delays even the onset of their puberty by years, if not a decade…a summer sport, true, but it is just the tip of the iceberg) which spell a future racked with arthritis to pushing their tendons and muscles well beyond their healthy limits.  In a very real sense, we have taken what ought to be a healthy hobby and turned it into a self-destructive, government-funded job.  No more, no less…

And as for sportsmanship….please, don’t make me laugh!

It is no longer about a friendly sports game!  Winning is now a matter of national pride!  How many medals a country wins – or looses – somehow becomes a measure of the whole nation’s worth! No, not how they treat each other, not how well they treat and educate their kids, not how good their economy or how excellent their science programs.  No.  These things no longer matter.  In a very real way, Olympic athletes are turned into weapons in a war!

But, those are not the reasons for this particular rant.  No, my fear here is about something much, much greater than some public funding of private hobbies or glorification of physical self-mutilation…  I speak of nothing less than our freedom of speech!

The IOC – an organization which has, over and over and over, been demonstrated to be corrupt to its core – is now in charge of what free citizens of a supposedly free country may – or may not – express!  On their private property, none the less!

If I am still not making myself as clear as I ought to (and, I do know that is my weak spot), let me approach it from a different angle…

Some people have experienced how the ‘Patriot Act’ south of our boarder had, in the name of security, taken some serious ‘liberties’ with the American citizens freedoms (pun intended), as guaranteed them in the US constitution, see how the ironically named Human Rights Commissions are trampling over real human rights in Canada (and other places, too), and  fear that ‘governments’ are a serious threat to our freedoms in general, freedom of speech in particular.

Others have pointed to the oppressive copyright laws – the ones which treat all consumers as criminals, before any evidence is even gathered – and other corporate ‘protections’ will be the greatest  threats to our freedom of speech and expression to us in the future.  Frankly, I agree with this point of view:  the evidence is overwhelming…

In the Olympic Games, the worst aspects of both of these are rolled into one:  there is a political body which is suppressing all opposition to itself, silencing all criticism of it.  At the same time, this same political body had sold exclusive rights for commercial activity and advertising to a select group of large multinational corporations and is willing and able to persecute any and all small businesses (or, indeed individuals) who refuse to submit to its ‘regulations’.

There is a word which defines collusion of government with big business in order to control the marketplace and silence opposition.  That word is fascism.  By definition.

And I, for one, do not want any fascism in Canada!

UPDATE: Canadian Centre for Policy Studies launches Free Speech petition:

We the undersigned call on lawmakers at all levels of government in Canada to: A) Examine all legislation within their jurisdiction intended to protect and promote human rights, and

B) To amend said legislation to remove those provisions that prohibit or otherwise limit the free and sincere expression of opinion.

(via BCF)

Posted in freedoms, opression, politics, society. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

What do Olympics and DRMs have in common?

October 1, 2008 — xanthippa

Freedom of speech is so important, it is fundamental to freedom in a society.  The threats to freedom of speech come in many shapes – some from government (like the Canadian Human Rights’ Commissions and similar organizations), some from religious leaders, others from corporate interests.

After all – he who controls what and how ideas are communicated has a great amount of control of what and how people think.  And how they spend their money.  Power and money – it’s that crass.

John Perry Barlow wrote, in an article The Economy of Ideas which appeared in Wired in 1994:

The greatest constraint on your future liberties may come not from government but from corporate legal departments laboring to protect by force what can no longer be protected by practical efficiency or general social consent.

Barlow was speaking of things which we have all seen to happen.  From DRM laws, which are based on the idea of ‘every customer is guilty of being a potential pirate, don’t bother with a defence’, to some serious weight being thrown around by the Olympic committees, we are experiencing true and real erosion of our freedom of speech and expression with the sole aim to further corporate interests.

Don’t think so?

If someone from ‘the government’ tried to control what people wore to a sporting event, we would scream ‘censorship’.  Yet, Olympic organizers get away with it – if your T-shirt displays a logo of a non-sponsor, you are asked to remove it, wear it inside out, or – I know this happened at the Athens games – you are handed an official Olympic ‘logo cover’ thingy you have to stick over top of your ‘unapproved’ logo.

This is all in the name of ‘protecting their sponsors’!

Want to drink water from a non-sponsor’s bottle?  Not at the Olympics….

Is your hotel, near the Olympic venue – and visible from it, not a sponsor?  Well, then its name will have to be covered up during the games by the official Olympic ‘sign cover’.  (In Beijing, all logos, even on water taps and toilets, from non-sponsors were covered up by sticky tape.)

And we all know how much the IOC is intent on ‘protecting’ freedom of speech from the nice deal they struck with the Chinese about censoring all ‘non-sports relevant’ internet sites.  Their attitude is best exemplified by this answer, given by BOCOG speaker Sun Weide, when asked why access to all sites about Falun Gong religion….keep in mind, the question was why was the access censored:

“I would remind you that Falun Gong is an evil, fake religion which has been banned by the Chinese government.”

But all this is just a tip of the ice-berg.

The IOC – and its various local minions – have been busy little beavers indeed.  If you think the Beijing one (BOCOG) was in Communist country and therefore much more oppressive than most, think again.  Look at what is already happening in preparation for the Olympic Games in Vancouver (VANOC) in 2010!

  1. Bits of the Canadain National Anthem are being TRADEMARKED by the Vancouver organizers.
  2. Other words, like ‘winter’, ‘2010’, ‘games’, ‘medal’, ‘gold’ and many more are also being trademarked by VANOC. 

Usually, these would be just too general to be registered – but that does not worry the Olympic committee.  While back, they got a law passed (I understand that there is a similar law in the USA), Bil C-47, which makes it OK…

You may think that it is really just meant to protect the sponsors, that the IOC would not abuse this to hassle legitimate businesses, right?  You might want to discuss that with the many businesses that have the word ‘Olympic’ in their name – even Greek restaurants, in Greece…or ones on ‘Olympic peninsula’ in North America.  They might be able to explain why they keep receiving letters from the IOC lawyers, telling them they are in violation of a trademark…

Freedom of speech indeed… 

From DRM laws which assume all of us are lawbreakers and must be handcuffed (digitally) lest we steal what we see, greedy corporate interests, to corrupt, money and power grubbing international organizations, we are increasingly finding our freedoms eroded, one little bit at a time.

And isn’t it a coincidence that both the ‘Olympic marks’ Bill C-47, which allows unprecendented powers of censorship to the Olympic Committee, and the ‘movie piracy’ Bill C-59 both received royal assent on the same day?

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Yet another reason to skip the Beijing Olympics

May 21, 2008 — xanthippa

As if continuing to opress its population were not enough!

As if forcing women to undergo ‘abortions’ against their will were not enough! 

As if China’s continuous disregard for the environment were not enough!

As if its exploitation of Africa were not enough!

After all – all these things could not possibly outweigh our desire to ‘not dissapoint our athletes – or so we have been told by so many apologists…. 

Now, we have another reason for not going to the Olympic games in Beijing.  And this one actually poses danger to the athletes – and all the spectators – themselves!  No, not just the smog, or something equally long-term.  We are talking about real, immediate, physical danger.  And not just to them alone, but to everyone back home when they return, especially the kids.

What, do you say, could this be?

The National Post has an interesting article about the outbreak of the infectious hand-mouth-foot disease (HMFD) in China!  According to CDC, HMFD can be caused by several different viruses, some of them mild, some potentially deadly, especially to children.  The National Post article says this outbreak is caused by EV71, of which the CDC says:

“Another cause of HFMD, EV71 may also cause viral meningitis and, rarely, more serious diseases, such as encephalitis, or a poliomyelitis-like paralysis. EV71 encephalitis may be fatal. Cases of fatal encephalitis occurred during outbreaks of HFMD in Malaysia in 1997 and in Taiwan in 1998.”

This disease can be spread by such innoculous means as cutlery not washed in hot enough water (CDC).  It is usualy only serious for children and people with weakened health, but strong adults (like, say, athletes) can become infected without becoming symptomatic, and spread the virus for several weeks (like, say, when they return home to their kids).

In other words, the athletes and millions of Olympic spectators could become infected, without being symptomatic.  Most visitors and athletes would likely fly home – and airplanes, with their re-circulated air, are perfect incubators for infectious pathogens… ask any nurse! Once home, all these people will celbrate, hug and kiss their kids, relatives, friends….get together to show photos and talk….

This sounds like an ‘ideal’ way to spread this disease!

Oh, but China would take all precautions to contain the infection, right?  Ask world’s leading experts to help them do all it takes to protect its own citizens as well as Olympic athletes and visitors?  Right?

As luck would have it, Taiwan is seen as having some of the best expertise in containing this disease – they have successfully done it two times recently!  Nice and close – except that…  China is not willing to accept help! 

Not only has it refused Taiwanese experts entry, it has also banned Taiwanese journalists.  Its own official newspapers are not exactly forthcoming with information on the epidemic…  Nice to see how well they are handling it…their traditional way of deny, deny, deny!  No problem here!  Yeah, and you expect us to trust any assurances after this, too?  Some track record!

It would be foolish to allow people to attend the Olympics in the midst of a deadly epidemic (and children in China have died during this outbreak already).  Or, in the least, governments which allow its citizens to travel to the Beijing Olympics MUST, as a matter of national health policy, establish quarantine areas where anyone returning from Beijing will have to be detained for several weeks, until any danger of spreading the disease has passed (both athletes and visitors).

Now, this is a thoroughly NON-POLITICAL reason not to go to this Olympics! 

It would not be a political boycot.  Rather, it would be a prudent and responsible policy to prevent the worldwide spread of a disease that kills children.

Will THIS be enough to make the world do the right thing?

Posted in freedoms, opression, politics, science, society. Tags: , , , , . 1 Comment »

Abolish, not boycott

April 10, 2008 — xanthippa

This morning, a talk-show host on the radio was going on about teaching the moral leeson of the Olympic Spirit to our children….  It made me think:  what exactly are the ‘morals of the Olympics’?

Since we live in modern days (and in order to not get into actual wars fought inside the Olympic stadia while the races were on), let’s just look at the morals displayed in the modern-day Olympic Games. 

The logical place to look is at the governing body, the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  Just a quick ‘Google’ for ‘IOC Scandal’…and the first five searches yielded scandal stories written in 5 different years:  2004, 2000, 1999, 2002 and 1998 respectively.  Either, they have a LOT of scandals, or their scandals are big enough to drag on for years….  Bribery and misconduct are among the charges.  A fine example of ‘moral’ behaviour by the individual members of the IOC…

Yes, you may say, humans are not infalliable.  At least their aims are good!  Well, look at their stated goals on the Wikipedia page.  I will list them here, translated from ‘bureaucratese’ (in which I am fluent) into ‘common-sense’ English (caution – this is my interpretation, and might differ from the way the IOC might wish you to interpret them):

1.  Promote ‘ethics’ and ‘fair play’ – that is, if the Russian figure skating judge promises to the French figure skating judge that if she gives the Russian pair the highest marks, they’ll give the French ones high marks in individual skating, by gosh, that Russian judge had better keep his word!

2.  Give money to our subsidiary organizations.

3.  Make sure EVERYBODY celebrates (gives money to) the Olympic Games – that is, us.

4.  World peace – you can pay for it through us!  Send money to P.O. Box…

5.  Protect the ‘Olympic Movement’ – yeah, and poo-pooh people who criticize us!  They’re probably just jelaous of our cash!

6.  Same as point 5, but in different words:  we really don’t want to stem the flow of cash!

7.  Promote women’s sports and equality of all men and women.  That is why we’ve imposed sexual apartheid in all competitions – the pretty little things would stand no chance against us big strong men!

8.  No doping – unless we’re paid off to change the tests first.  Just today, we’re taking an American runners’ medals away – so make sure you pay us enough!

9.  Protect the health of athletes:  that is why we make sure that the levels at which these athletes compete will cripple them from arthritis by the time they’re 40.  And, the smog-filled places we hold the games, well, the health effects of smog are exaggerated…

10.  Oppose commercialization and politicization of athletes.  Really, we mean it!!!!  Never mind that the Olympic Games are plastered with sponsor ads.  We can prove the politicization bit, though:  the accomplishments of the athletes themselves are recognized – not their home country….except for all the anthems and flag-waving and keeping track of medals by country and…  Just, never mind this one!

11.  Home countries should pay the athletes to train, so we can make money off their performances.

12.  Promote sports – through our subsidiary organizations only, so the cash can keep flowing!

13.   The decision of where future games will be located will be made based on the latest political buzzwords, as well as bribes financial contributions to our movement (yeah, not the ones to us individually).

14.  Leave a good feeling with the host country/city – i.e. we will be gracious in accepting the bribes culturally enriching presents from our hosts.  In the name of the Olympic Spirit, of course…

15.  Politicize sports, brainwash kids to it – it doesn’t count when we do it.

16.  Give money to our minion subsuduary organizations.  Keep the cash flowing!!!

Oh, my, these are some ‘morals’!  Are we sure this is not a religious cult in its own right?  All that talk about sending money, and the ‘Great Olympic Spirit’, and promoting themselves…  However, I fail to understand why anyone would want to teach this – as a ‘good thing’ – to their kids!  Just a bit more decay, and the IOC will be as ‘moral’ as the UN!!!

Perhaps calling for the boycott of the Beijing games is not the best course of action:  perhaps we have to scrap the whole thing!  Starting with the Beijing games…

Posted in human nature, philosophy, politics, religion, society. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Athletes vs Human Rights

April 9, 2008 — xanthippa

When you put it this way, many athletes might feel kinda baaaad…

Many people are justifying ‘not boycotting’ the Olympic games in Beijing by calling attention to the plight of the athletes:  these people have trained and sacrificed, to be at the pinnacle of their form, so they could perform at these games!  Denying them the chance to go could dash their Olympic hopes forever, because it is unlikely that most of them will be able to remain at their highest performance level for four years.

So, what should one say to an athlete who has perhaps sacrificed a lot, instead of investing in a career and a home, they have invested in training and now it will all be for naught?  I have an answer! 

Get a life!

Sports are a hobby!  It is something we do for fun and pleasure – and to keep ourselver healthy.  It is ‘self-care’. 

How do I know it?  Because if I want to buy a membership in an athletic club, go swimming in a public pool, ride a bicycle, play ball on a sports field – I have to pay for it!  Just like I have to pay for my haircut, my facial, my manicure… and these are also necessities for a competition!  A different competition, to be true, but a completition based on physical attributes, their training and presentation!  Except that the other beauty contests are nowhere near as politicized as the Olympic Games are, were, and always will be.

Are you getting angry yet? 

Good!  You should be.

Comparing the preparation and dedication necessary to compete at the Olympic games to those of a beauty contest is ludicrous (though some little girls might differ).  Yes, beauty contestants also need it – but the degree of magnitude is somewhat lower.  Importance, and all that…

Now imagine the degree of dedication it takes to stand up for human rights against an opressive, callous, arrogant giant like the Peoples’ Republic of China!

Yes, a few degrees of magnitude greater than the athletes need to get ready for the Olympics!  

So, now, perhaps you can understand the anger that decent people feel rise up within them when someone worries about dissapointing the athletes… or places their desire for self-validation above the very survival of a peoples threatened with genocide!

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Olympics, Politics…and other ‘-icks’

April 8, 2008 — xanthippa

To boycott or not to boycott – that is the question!

At least, that is the question on everyone’s mind.  But why?

So many people who wish the Olympics to go on ‘as usual’.  “Don’t drag politics into the Olympics!’ they say.  “The athletes have trained hard for this pinnacle of their efforts – most will not stay in top shape for the next Olympics!”  “The athletes have two great moments:  when they perform, and when they walk into the Olympic Stadium behind their country’s flag during Opening Ceremonies – you cannot deprive them of this!”  “What would boycotting the games accomplish?”

What a load of dingo’s kidneys!!!

 Let’s take a closer look…

1.  Olympics in the ancient times 

From their inception, the Olympic games were about politics and reilgion!  And there were wars fought over who would control the games – and reap the political benefits from doing so.  Yes, the favour of various deities was vied for, but that would be in the form of real polititcal advantages for the host city-state.

So, for all those people loudly shouting that ‘politics should not be dragged into the Olympic games’ – politics was why they were started!

Of course, if you really want to be true to the ancient Olympic spirit, you will only run 2 footraces for naked men and 2 footraces for 16 women…. Oh, and all the participants must be able to speek Greek.

Ah, but those were just them silly ancients!  We are so way above dragging politics into the modern Olympic games!  Yeah, right.  Pull the other one!

2.  Modern Olympic Games

Why were the Modern Olympic Games revived?  Well, in a nutshell, because the French could not get over loosing the Franko-Prussian war – and thought this would be a political payback.  Some very cynical people (and I would never endorse this point of view myself – I simply report it, since people are questioning the ‘politicization’ of the games) have claimed that the French could not win the war… but they thought that if the discipline was running, they just might excell.  So they decided to put on a running race…  The ancient Olympia was just found by archeologists, so the idea presented itself – and the first games were symbolically placed in Greece.  Legitimacy through tradition, and all that political stuff.  But, to drive the French political agenda, the very next one went to Paris…

Ah, but it was not political after this!

Yeah, right.  And water is not falling from the skies when it rains!  In the interest of brevity (!), let us look at just one example:

Twenty two countries boycotted the Montreal Olympics in 1976, not because Canada did anything, but because they allowed in athletes from New Zeland.  And what did the government of New Zeland do, that was so very terrible?  Nothing.  Just some New Zeland athletes dared to play sports with a country whom these twenty two countries thought (correctly) to be oppressive.

Yes, let us review.  Canada did not opress anyone.  New Zeland did not opress anyone.  But, some athletes from new Zeland took part in a sports event (not paying attention to politics) with non-opressive athletes from an opressive country, and other athletes from New Zeland, who were never part of that sport, were going to the games in Canada… so the Canadian games were boycotted.  That would make Canada, the host, three degrees separated (if not more) from the opression itself.

Gee, I wonder what would have happened if Canada had actually opressed someone…..would have been very lonely games!

So, what country was it, that got Canada boycotted, because one of their visitors once played with them?  What was that country’s crime?  Ah, it was the racial opression in South Africa!  And the racially opressive practices of the South African government of those days truly were deplorable.  Targetting a portion of a country’s population, and brutally opressing them, because of their ethnicity!  Shame, shame, shame, shame!!!

Yeah, that is soooo very differen than the situation today:  OK, so China is targetting and brutally opressing a portion of their population, because of their Tibetan ethnicity… but, well, this is China!!!  They have all the money, and unlike South Africa, we want access to their market and their cheap stuff!!!  Yeah, and the Tibetans are so annoying – represented as they are by that Dalai Lama:  always smiling, preaching non-violence and wanting people to get along!  Sheesh!  And who trusts a religious leader without any major scandals under his belt, anyway???

 So, why is Archbishop Desmond Tutu (another one of them holy men without a major scandal – unless you consider the Nobel Peace prize a scandal – like the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu has one), the one man who truly peacefully laboured for the end of opression in South Africa, why is he supporting the boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games? 

Could it be that he is colourblind?

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