Olympic Committee can bring positive change in China
This article by Amnesty International maintains a hopeful undertone that the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will prove to be a catalyst for China to address human rights violations.
Amnesty Internation is hopeful that the Olympics will pursuade the Chinese Government to end violations like the ones shown here: http://photo.minghui.org/selected-En/u_persecution/212217836431.htm
I’m highly suspicious of this nonsense.
Amnesty International is wearing a blindfold.
The version of China visitors will see when they visit the Olympics makes me think of those novelty photo studios where they dress you in vintage clothing and work a little makup magic…and flash! Snap! Suddenly you’ve got a vintage collectible photo. Just because you look like a badass gunslinger and your wife is dressed like a stereotype saloon whore doesn’t mean you’re not still the squishy white doughboy you were before you put on a costume.
When the World Fair came to New Orleans, they gussied the whole town. Tourists were so thrilled to go to the World’s Fair site, steeped in cajun history (an absolute fraud) and then walk around the French Quarter (another smoke and mirrors fraud) and then go home with a warm fuzzy feeling that they had enjoyed a genuine cultural experience. Some tourists really do believe they’ve experienced the “real deal.” But realism and tourism make poor bedfellows.
When there are major events in New York City, the NYPD systematically gathers up the homeless people and CARTS THEM OFF!! There’s an old airfield way out in the middle of nowhere. The NYPD will grab these poor homeless guys and dump them off at that old abandoned airfield. If it’s freezing cold or blazing hot, it just doesn’t matter. There is no sympathy for the destitute in a world that loves the shiny crack of silver and gold more than it loves its own people.
When New York brass wants a spit-polish, they do what they need to do to maintain a temporary artificial shine. The same artificial shine will glow from Beijing.
The Olympic games don’t last very long. The Chinese government is aware that the Olympic games will be a boost to their economy, as well as giving them a chance to flex their muscles to the ooohs and ahhs around the world. So if China needs to release people who have been assigned “re-education through labour” and they need to officially “end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,” they’ll do what they need to polish away any small divot that might tarnish the shine. If you want to visit a fantasy version of China, go to the Olympics.
If you want to experience the *real deal* up-close and personal, here's a quick 5-step plan:
1. borrow a couple of pictures from this website: http://www.faluninfo.net/torturemethods2
2. Now take your borrowed pictures and blow them up to make 20” x 30” posters.
3. Take your posters and stand along the main road heading towards the Olympic games.
4. Hold your posters high in the air. Yell and wave your posters at passing traffic.
5. In about 2-3 minutes, you will experience authentic Chinese culture. It'll probably hurt A LOT! But it will be real and it's sooo worth it.
Boycott the Olympic Games!
Boycott Torture!
BOYCOTT CHINA!
8 comments:
You got me on this one, Michael. It's hard to take, but all is not as it seems. I put Faluinfo.net on my favorites and will return there soon. Please consider taking the Human Rights course taught by Bill Hamilton during your MALS journey.
When I visited China in '06, there were Falun Gong protesters on the streets every day. They were quietly protesting - silently sometimes. But still, I was impressed that they were there. It was the China Trade show - with very heavy Western attendance. China has made some giant baby steps in the right direction. Hell, we are torturing people. The world is evening out. Not good news for US.
Mike, why are you grumpy?
Thanks Lisa. I thought about taking Bill Hamilton's Human Rights course. I probably will somewhere along the way. I have to be honest with you, I'm a little reluctant. I already fire off angry letters for every abuse under the sun. If Bill Hamilton's course really gets into it...well, you know. I'll get into the fray because I have to. When I saw grotesque violations against humanity, I used to sit around and howl, "why the hell doesn't somebody do something?"
Somewhere along the lines I changed my howl to, "I AM somebody...and I bloody well WILL do something!"
In response to K R, I am incredibly envious that you had a chance to visit China. I've been slogging around in my head the idea of going over there and teaching for awhile.
Why am I grumpy...?
I reckon I'm grumpy because I'm still foolish to cling to the promise of America. Maybe it's all a big grotesque lie and I should just let it go. But the promise means something to me.
It's right there in plain sight. "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
And the promise of America frames the very spirit of freedom right from the beginning with the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.
I reckon I'm grumpy because the promise of America is a lie. And The People don't care because they've been intoxicated by materialism and greed.
Instead, you should ask yourself why you ARE NOT grumpy.
Take this small life assignment my friends. Going forward in your life, never ever turn your back when your heart tells you to rush in like a bull. Never hesitate to take up the torch for someone unable to take it up for themselves.
Oh, I'm plenty grumpy - actually terrified is more the feeling. But I feel hopeful as well. I'm hopeful because we have record numbers voting in primaries today. I've taken on that life assignment, and gotten very involved in my community politically. I'm voting any which way I can to preserve our personal freedoms in this country, and to try to promote a leader who isn't deluded - either with his own visions of personal grandeur, or with a direct line from that 'Creator' - the one and only word that I wish had been left out of our Constitution. Discerning said leader is mostly a crapshoot. I can see China's point in wanting to keep "superstitions" out of the public consciousness. One of the costs of the freedom is collective, vocal stupidity. My personal assignment is leading with my mortal deteriorating heart to speak the truth to people who I think might care, and who won't set me on fire with my own torch. I'm ready to burn.
Karen and Michael - Y'all take me to places I didn't know about and am now happy I went. Well, not happy, but grateful. The words of US "sacred" documents have been duplicated in countries and UN proclamations since their inception, but they are only words. As Karen says, the US tortures TOO! So, for me, it's futile to cling to the promise of America, because it is not the only country on Earth. If we move on to talking about a "Creator" then we need to expand the boundries of greatness beyond California, NC, Texas, and Dakota.
Corrections section: I need to clarify that I saw the Falun Gong protesters in Hong Kong, not mainland China - big difference. Much more tolerance in HK.
Mike, k.r. is right - you are grump. But I am inclined to agree that Amnesty International is wearing a blindfold. I have given money to them in the past and get email from them (I'm nice enough to not label it spam). Such organizations need optimism. I guess I'm grumpy too - or at least skeptical. Steve
spread that grumpiness around Mike! I agree with you that there just aren't enough people paying attention these days, and I fear it may soon be too late. Keep the people focused on the inane and they won't notice the sleight of hand. Take Lisa's advice on the Human Rights course- you'll discover that we're all ingredients in this big old bowl of toxic soup.
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