http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/04/china.tibet.ap/index.html

Chinese Communist Violence against Tibet is continuing, Possible Suicide BOmbings By TIbetan Militants at Beijing are being planned.

Freedom Baby, Freedom, Nuff Said.

"... a growing sense in China that the Olympics is being used to vilify the host."

This sentence got chopped up. It should have read, "... a growing sense in China that the *threat of an Olympics boycott* is being used to vilify the host *for its treatment of the people of Tibet*."

A boycott of the Olympics is the last thing China needs or wants.

grumpyoldlady March 30th, 2008 7:58 am says:

"You're not comparing the killing of 1,200,000 Tibetans to the killing of seals in Canada, are you? "

It is so sad that CD is being used as a conduit to spread stale CIA lies. That figure of 1.2 million Tibetan dead was made up out of whole cloth by the CIA during the 1960's to gain world sympathy and support for the defeated Tibetan oligarchy, as was admitted recently along with numerous other lies about Tibet by former CIA operatives and state department officials. As historian Michael Parenti points out, the figure also defies simple logic:

"Both the Dalai Lama and his advisor and youngest brother, Tendzin Choegyal, claimed that "more than 1.2 million Tibetans are dead as a result of the Chinese occupation."36 The official 1953 census–six years before the Chinese crackdown–recorded the entire population residing in Tibet at 1,274,000.37 Other census counts put the population within Tibet at about two million. If the Chinese killed 1.2 million in the early 1960s then almost all of Tibet, would have been depopulated, transformed into a killing field dotted with death camps and mass graves–of which we have no evidence. The thinly distributed Chinese force in Tibet could not have rounded up, hunted down, and exterminated that many people even if it had spent all its time doing nothing else."

jude111 March 30th, 2008 7:22 am says:

"But so many "leftists" and "liberals" are being used by the Western governments"

There is a good term to describe these liberals on the left: useful idiots of US imperialism.

Anything about Taiwan as a province of the people's republic of china is definitely old hat.

Taiwan has NEVER been under the management or control or government of the PRC.

Dutch? Yes.
Ching Dynasty? Yes.
Japanese? Yes.
Martial law by KMT? Yes.
Democratic with a democratically elected president? YES since 1996!

Plus, those of you in China who insist that Tibet & Taiwan are part of China--All you are interested in is the geography of these places. You have no interest in or respect for the people of Tibet, Taiwan, or even China's own aborigines. Instead, you demonize or ridicule these people.

Of course, the USA in Iraq is no better--no interest in the Iraqis, only wants oil and artifacts.

Condi RIce? Well now he attacks african americans and women,

International Hydrographic Organization
International Seabed Authority
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
World Trade Organization
INTERPOL

[edit] Regional organizations

Organizations grouping almost all the countries in their respective continents. Note that Russia is member of both the Council of Europe (COE) and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), and Cuba is currently a suspended member of the Organization of American States (OAS)
Several smaller regional organizations with non-overlapping memberships.
Several non-overlapping large alliances. Softer colors indicate observer/associate or candidate countries.Europe:

European Union (EU)
Council of Europe (COE)
European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
European Patent Organization (EPO)
Western European Union
Eiroforum
European Space Agency (ESA)
CERN(CERN)
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission
Benelux
Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union
British-Irish Council
Nordic Council
Nordic Investment Bank
Organisation conjointe de coopération en matière d'armement(OCCAR)
Asia:

Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
East Asian Summit (EAS)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
Gulf Cooperation Council
Colombo Plan
Eurasia:

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
Eurasian Economic Community
Central Asian Cooperation Organization
TRACECA
GUAM
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
Africa:

African Union
Conseil de l'Entente
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Arab Maghreb Union
The Americas:

Organization of American States (OAS)
Union of South American Nations
Mercosur
Andean Community
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Central American Parliament
Rio Group
Cooperation System of the American Air Forces(SICOFAA)
Trans-Atlantic:

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone (ZPCAS)
Arctic Ocean:

Arctic Council
Indian Ocean:

Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)
Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
Pacific:

ANZUS
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Pacific Islands Forum
Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
Secretariat of the Pacific Community

[edit] Organizations with various membership criteria

International organizations that largely represent the independent states formed after the breakup of an empire. La Francophonie has overlapping membership with all three of the other organizations shown in the map.Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Commonwealth of Nations
La Francophonie
Comunidade dos países de língua portuguesa (CPLP)
Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)
Unión Latina
Non-Aligned Movement
Arab League
Organisation of the Islamic Conference
Advisory Centre on WTO Law
International Parliament for Safety and Peace (IPSP)

[edit] Financial international organizations
Bank for International Settlements
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Bank Group

[edit] See also
List of international organizations
International organisations in Europe
Supranationalism
Supranational aspects of international organizations
Supranational union
World government
Intergovernmentalism
International decoration
Environmental organizations
Trade bloc
Organizations with .INT domain names
List of international trade topics
Energie-Cités
Multilateral Development Bank

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_organization]

ANYTHING ABOUT TAIWAN, A PROVINCE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IS NOW OLD HAT ! Try again !

Hey ! Yanks !

Where is your freedom of speech ? I don't hear you !

http://jammukashmir.nic.in/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/opinion/18tue3.html?_r=1&st=cse&sq=tibet&scp=11&oref=slogin

http://www.freetibet.org/

Rebelnow -- May peace (11) find you as well

(HTML swallows all spaces after the 1st)

Namaste

____ ____
____ ____
____ ____
__________
__________
__________

my eyes aint green, they hazel

http://www.alarabiya.net/english.html

I would like to plyg the english languase online service of al araybia on line at CD. Thank you LG

Assalam Alikum

Ralph Nader, the perpetual & professional Presidential candidate. I heard Nader speak on Al Jazeera and, he is just a wishful thinker !

I love to gloat when I hear all your bellyaching against China and China has not ever invaded any other people in all of history; we have on the contrary assisted many dispossed nations in Africa & Asia and Latin America eleviate poverty.

Your lot can say whatever you like from sheer jealousy and those big green eyes; but who can dare to disclaim that the progressive policies of the People's Republic of China has lifted 400 million Chinese out of poverty in a matter of 20 years, poverty brought on by the sanctions on the communist government of China by the socalled west ? When has all of history seen any nation be it the USA or that Great Britain (not great anymore these days)SEEN SUCH A GLORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT BY ANY PEOPLE EVER ?

Let me say what most Chinese and Asians would say, that this bullshit about freedom of expression is nothing but a slogan that is in fact meaningless. In a whole of 5 billion peoples, HOW MANY OF US NEED THE PROTECTION FOR SPEAKING OUT OF TURN ? Just go look at your local library and note how many people have authored books and that will be how many who need to be protected from the government. Asia do not care for this American bullshit ! Who is Aung San So Chee ? Just a glorified housewife ! Glorified by the wes who awarded her the Nobel Prixe so that the west can polarise humanity.

The west is all about DIVIDE AND CONQUER, there is no other subtle tools for western deplomacy. Iraq is a case in point, you USA created the sectarian wars and expect to occupy Iraq for the time that there is still oil in Iraq. How noble is that. You have no humanity but you know and have that basic animal cunning to exploit human nature to stir division and for the purpose to steal Iraqi oil and when the wells are dry you Americans will leave Iraq for DEATH !

Just now I hear Condi Rice say to the Israelis that it is against USA policy to extent illegal settliment. this is like spitting in the face of the Arab world because if what she says is what the USA wants the USA can have over night be turning off the USA tap of US$6 billion in aid to the Israelis. The USA and your President Bush are all about saying meaningless words that has no content in those words.

Most of what is passed on CD is preaching to the converted. Who in China will even read CD ? You keep up a barrage of invectives and you think that you can move mountains ! Can you ?

Just one wrod is sufficient to make nonsense of what you claim. The USA & EU subscribed to the UN Charter and by the UN Charter both Tibet & Taiwan are inalienable parts of One China, DO WE TAKE WHAT YOU LITTLE PEOPLE SAY IS OTHERWISE ? Think because from what I read YOU SUCKERS TAKE YOURSELVES MUCH MUCH TOO SERIOUSLY !

Merkel, will be the first in line to say fuck Palestine, and suck Zionist cock.

I think China should be taken to task for its actions in Tibet, but boycotting the Olympics is a guaranteed non solution.

I do think that Angela Merkel's moral authority to criticize the Chinese is quite shaky. It is worth remembering that Angela Merkel is the leader of the Christian Democrats, a party that has a long history of opposing minority and immigrant rights in Germany. Her junior coalition partners the CSU is openly xenophobic with it's leadership boasting a totally unsavoury record of sprouting anti foreigner and anti immigrant utterances and legally challenging and opposing greater rights for Germany's minorities. If Angela Merkel believes in cultural rights for Tibetan Buddhists, then one is certainly entitled to ask, what about those of Germany's eight million immigrants whom Merkel and her political bedfellows routinely vilify and malign with gratuitous accusations of ``failing to integrate'' ?

carrasco1308 March 31st, 2008 1:55 pm Said: "Bravo! True leaders stepping up to the plate and boycotting the likes of China who does business with rogue nations for the sake of oil!"

That's a pretty ignorant statement isn't it. China doing business with "rogue countries for oil"... hmmm... doesn't the US do that? Saudi Arabia is a good example of that.

I'm quite shocked at the level of ignorance I've seen here at CD lately. Have all the dumb-asses come out of hibernation to spread their stupidity online?

Ah, this is such a load of crap... The "western powers" are just taking a kick at China for not going along with their Iran plans, and for beating the US/UK oil companies to the resources in Africa... This whole Tibet boo-hah-hah is just a reminder to China not to get out of line.

Also, don't feel all that bad for the little Tibetans. They're better off now than they were before China "invaded" when they were virtual slaves to the monks and ruling class. You can never trust the exiles because they're mostly the wealthy who lost their positions of privilege. It's all just a scam to distract you from the "west's" evils.

http://www.globalgreens.org/parties
World Greens

Ralph Nader on China
China & other dictatorships have no real free trade
I agree, there have to be some agreements [like the WTO] dealing with tariff barriers and other issues that really interfere with authentic comparative advantage. And by that, I don't mean dictatorially repressed costs such as in China or Indonesia, where global corporations go in the name of free trade, but there's no free trade because the workers can't organize and there's no market-determined cost. It's all dictatorial, repressed costs. This needs to be made more clear.
Source: Robert Kuttner interview in American Prospect Jul 2, 2000

http://www.gp.org/index.php

http://www.greenparty.org/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_(United_States)

Well, here is my take on matters, and it is bound to upset a few people.
1) I don't agree with China's treatment of the Tibetan people.
2) I don't agree with what the US/UK and other "coalition" allies did by instigating a war on Iraq.
So - if we decide to boycott the Beijing Olympics, then I don't see why the London 2012 games should go ahead.
I also think that European leaders such as Merkel, are unbelievably hypocritical, because they are at this very moment, trying to enhance economic relations between China and the West.
I do not believe that politicians should interfere with sport, and try to use athletes as pawns in some dirty game.
As Kem has pointed out, the comments from Coloured Majority and YapaYap are not needed, because they represent the extreme hate filled majority voice, and do not benefit any argument.
Perhaps the games should be returned to their "spiritual home" - Greece, and be limited to their original format, of running, jumping and throwing.

Bravo! True leaders stepping up to the plate and boycotting the likes of China who does business with rogue nations for the sake of oil!

Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a tooth. (Old Testament)

Karma, bobbalugatta, Karma

"the division of China by the Western powers in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries"

This sounds more like the jewish excuse to commit murder in Palestine. The Nazis killed some million jewish people so we can murder and slaughter anyone we please ... kinda like what China is doing right now.

I am amazed that there are so many at CD who are easily manipulated. As some posters have pointed out, if Merkel and any other European leaders gave a hoot about human rights they would boycott US products and possibly even sever diplomatic ties with the US for murdering hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to steal their oil (along with a vast number of other crimes committed in the past half-century). Almost certainly the Tibet rebellion was coordinated with outside forces to embarrass China, as they knew that China would not give in and the upcoming Olympic Games would provide an opportunity for some realpolitik games by the gangster Western nations. And the MIC's interests are well-served by any demonization of China.

How most in the US cannot see they are being manipulated is beyond me. I wish more in the US had read about the Opium Wars, the division of China by the Western powers in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries (making the Chinese second-class citizens in their own country), and the Boxer Rebellion and read more about Tibetan feudalism, as it existed before the Chinese invasion, in which the great majority of Tibetans were serfs for great landowners and a number of elite monks as the Dalai Lama lived in luxury and served as a figurehead, with his purported "divinity" used to convince the millions of serfs that it was a just society. And many of the male children of the serfs were forced to become monks at an early age, a good number of them being used as sex slaves by the elite monks.

The great majority of Americans have no clue about China and Tibet and are just expressing thoughts put into their heads by the corporate oligarchy and the MIC. How sad.

It has been a VERY long time since the Olympics were about sports. Consider the fact that Taiwan is not allowed to participate as Taiwan.

I've boycotted Wal-Mart for over a decade now. I boycott Wal-Mart because they undersell local businesses and jack their prices once they become a monopoly.

I've been on a 'Made in China' boycott or slowdown since about 2004. If it's 'Made in China,' I certainly reconsider buying it. This boycott started when I realized China had >500 missiles (currently >800 missile) aimed at Taiwan and that these missiles can just as easily hit Alaska or Hawaii or South Korea. China's history of human rights abuses were also a consideration.

I've been on a 'Made in USA' boycott since about 2005, when I realized my 'Made in China' boycott was inconsistent because USA's international policies (Iraq, case in point) were worse than China's international or internal policies. Of course, I'm not at all happy about increasing restrictions of personal freedom in the USA, either. So, in addition to my boycott of 'Made in USA,' I try to make sure I'm not earning enough to pay taxes!

Since, I can't survive without buying some things, I try to support local businesses and small businesses (especially those where I can talk to the owner). Most importantly, I try to buy for quality, not low prices.

So, Wal-Mart's government, China's government, and America's government may not listen to my votes or letters or protests, but maybe they'll pay attention to my dollar votes--especially if enough people use their dollars to vote the same way.

Love Angela Merkel and her devout attitude toward goodwill and kindness to human life. Here she is bagging the Chinese but on the other hand she openly supports the slaughter and de-humanisation of millions of innocent human beings in Iraq, Afghanistant and let's not forget the open Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Hypocrisy cannot get any better. I truly wonder how she sleeps at night.

Well I may be lady godiva but HILLARY AINT

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03142007/gossip/pagesix/hillarys_no_lady_godiva_pagesix_.htm

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jlkuphROwHY

Okay

I am curious, why it was just ME?

In that case, then

Please accept my humble apologies.

I'm pretty sure most know this, but for any besides at least one who may not know the meaning of the term, or word "hypocrite", and why it is very insulting to suggest another is, here is Websters definition of hypocrite.

Hypocrite:__One who plays a part, a pretender, one who pretends to be what he is not, pretends to be better than they are. Pious, virtuious, etc, without really being so. ___Hypocritical: Like a hyprocrite, not sincere.

In other words, a G-damn liar, and or a charlaton. It's an insult.

Hey, all 30 or so of you corrupt, charlaton guys and gals here who say you say you boycott the Olympics in China, or urge others to do so, ___ are (hypocrits),___ if you didn't boycott the LA Olynpics. That according to ~BRAITHWA 842~ who states that of ME. That opinion must be appropriate for all then.

Now don't get upset for being labeled a hypocrite if you didn't boycott the LA Olympics, because it's no big deal, no insult whatsoever. That opinion also according to ~Braithwa 842~.

Oh, and all of those who have said ~Riverman~ is an idiot, a detractor and a troll, myself included,__ are wrong. If any here were on that thread Monday and Tuesday, where about twenty or more were pissed off at him for his constant, spammed, long, stupid, disruptive and rude, anti-woman comments, you may recall it.

Now THUG? Hi there ~Lady Godiva~. Good question.

From Webster's, College edition: ___THUG:__A member of a former RELIGIOUS organization of India, who robbed and murdered in the service of "Kali", __ a god of destruction. Also, any assassin, cutthroat or ruffian. Notice how it's a so called "god" who makes the rules?

Lots of people act as gods, some even get elected, or buy or steal their way to high office. Some are white, some are not white, some are consumed with evil, ___ devils. They come in ALL shades of color and different "religious" beliefs.

@KEM PATRICK March 30th, 2008 10:23 pm

Calm down Kem, Nobody is picking a shit fight with you. Least of all me. So calm down.

Have a look at my entire comment again. A single line posting with no insults. If I hit the bullseye then I am sorry. I wasnt even taking aim.

As for being a troll, - Hi Kem, we often agree on things. Am I troll when we agree? Look, I dont think even Riverman is a troll, regardless of whatever he has said which upsets you. Would that be just disagreeing over Hillary? I will still post even if you call me a troll. Also I will still sometimes respond to your comments if I strongly agree or disagree.

Yes, when I re-read your original comment, nowhere did you explicitly say that you were calling for a boycott. And yet, in the context of a debate about boycotting, refusing to buy Chinese and not watching the Olympics on TV may or may not
constitute a boycott, but that sounds like a boycott to me, and why say it if you are not encouraging by example? I still think my original comment was fair, even if I completely fucked up on the dates. But if I am wrong, then it is still nothing to get upset about.

THUG?

Kick ass ZZ Top song

1983

BRING IT ON!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gAWBmXg1HOo

~BRAITHWA 842~ I'll reply to you just ONCE, for you to get a shit fight going here only detracts from the purpose of the article.

First, you ask a question of me, for no reason, as I had not stated I would boycott the olympics and by asking it, you imply that I'm a hypocrate. Why ME, when so many others here DID state they would boycott it? Are they immune from your snotty question?

You say you asked me, because I'm a "nice" guy and wouldn't get pissed. Stop your bull shit, any with an IQ of 75 can understand your question of me and the implication and an attempt to start some crap and disrupt this forum, which is what trolls do. So if you aren't one, don't act like one and then return with an "oh poor me, Kem is picking on me" reply and then not answer any points I made to you. __ Any who know me, or wish to go to the CD archives and read all of my posts can tell I'm no troll. ___ I'm not sure about you and furthermore, I could care less.

Well, maybe we're ALL devils ~COLORED MAJORITY~. ___ All humans.

Sorry to see you post such comments here, but since you have done so, I will respond. As I recall it, slavery, wars, cannibalism, child abuse, woman abuse, thievery, began in Africa, long before the WHITE man arrived there. The Africans sold slaves to the Arabs and Dutch. One famous freed slave from America, returned to Africa and went into the slave trade business.

There are "devils" every place, in every society, in almost every race. I never heard of it in the Aluet, or Eskimo race before they learned "Christianity". The word "THUG" for example comes from India. "Thuggies" in India were men who way-laid travelers, made friends with them, shared meals and then choked them to death with silk scarves.

In America in the early 1980s there were bands of Irish and French who lived along the Ohio river and did the same thing, only they also ate their victems. White cannibals,____ "devils".

I happen to know many white people who are NOT devils. I know some personally whom I suspect are. I have seen many whites, who definently are, such as Manson, Tim McVey, Hitler, Richard Geen, etc. Ever hear of any blacks, browns, yellows, or reds who were, or are? ___ I have.

We humans are all the same ~COLORED MAJORITY~, we are all born with the same red blood and the same ability to know right from wrong, a conscience and a soul. Those imaginary lines drawn on maps do not really exist. There are good and bad humans everyplace and unless you have a warped mind, or are so angry about the past history of what whites did to blacks, browns, reds and yellows here in American, then you know that is so.

I am impressed. I hope other prominent people will also take "silent" action to object to China's crackdown. The "Darfur" Olympics, as activist Mia Farrow has dubbed China's hosting of these games, might also become known as the "Crush Tibet" Olympics. America hasn't got the moral authority to lead any kind of protest boycott, but we should certainly follow.

Now we have somebody in here running his big fat yap with prejudice against who he calls "ordinalry old men" - somebody known as the Dalai Lama - Maybe this big yap individual is prejudiced against senior citizens, maybe this individual is prejudiced against Buddhists, maybe he is prejudiced against vegetarians,
"You say you want a Revolution Wel ALL RIGHT. We all wanna change the world. But if ya go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao. ya aitn gonna make it with anyone anyhow"

(Revolution - The Beatles)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dc0ozFbODI0&feature=related

The one thing white people are great at (other than starting wars, enslaving people, oppression, rape, stealing, corruption, insidiousness and manipulation ) is hypocrisy.

The western world loves to preach but never follow the principles they profess. White people live in a so called "democracy" yet cant even stop the evil that rich white devils in corporations and their white government commit all over the world historically and currently. Now they want to fix a problem far far away thats out of their control. I have to laugh. Where are the calls to boycott American white corporations that force slave labor upon the colored people of the world? White evil devils gain economically, politically and socially on the oppression, enslavement and suffering of the colored. Lets stop with the facade you white devils put on and overthrow your government before you point to the east. Stop worrying about the fact that China is getting uppity.

Like Malcolm X once said "I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands even if hes wrong than the one that comes up to me like an angel but is nothing but a devil"

The white man is nothing but a fucking devil. Always has been, Always will be.

@KEM PATRICK March 30th, 2008 8:10 pm
"Why do you select "MY" name for your snotty remark and insinuation?
You wish to start some personal grudge crap for some unknown to me reason?"

Not at all.

I just know you to be an amiable fellow who is clearly not about
to get offended and start flaming over just one jibe. I knew that if you did
not agree with my comment, you would simply explain why I was wrong.

P.S. Mind if I drop in for a cup of tea and share your troll office sometimes?

~BRAITHWA842~ I don't believe I said I would boycott the Olympics bud. Do you have a reading disability? Several others here have stated they would however, so why do you select "MY" name for your snotty remark and insinuation?

You wish to start some personal grudge crap for some unknown to me reason? ___ Shove it jerk, say Hi to ~Riverman~ while your shoving it, ask for his help if necessary, you obviously have his mentality logic and reading comp disorder. You may share the same troll office?

I said I was boycotting Wal-Mart and not buying any Chinese made goods. I also will not watch the Olympics on TV, I never have and have no desire to do so. Personally, I believe the athletes should be left out of ALL politics and let the games go on and without the media's bullshit fan fare, of which country has won the most gold medals. That's the primary reason I no longer watch it. Besides, I seldom watch any TV, except educational and some news, like Keith Olberman.

As I recall there was an American Boycott of the Olympics over the invasion of Afghanistan.

Call the networks. Tell them you are not watching a single olympic event. If enough people in the US do that, maybe, just maybe, someone will listen.
BOYCOTT THE GAMES at BEJIING

I meant "But NO human has rejected your post because of the content."

@KEM PATRICK March 29th, 2008 2:45 pm

I wont list the crimes of the USA, but Kem, you DID boycott the LA Olympics, did you not? It would be somewhat hypocritical not to have done so.

j clientelle

I have always been involved insports of one kind or another, playing, when I was young, then coaching, reffing, organizing competitions, training, ...all kinds, many of the sports I have been involved with in my community are in the Olympics.

I too have been put off by the use of international competitions by commercial and political bigshots.

But something that I enjoy, is that in spite of all the sleaze and abuse, most of the athletes come thru and perform to their best, and really do get to know each other. I still see exammples of courage, fairness and genius at these major competitions.
Actually, they often reflect what I have seen with kids I have been associated with in sports.

I commented above that I would rather that the bigshots wrestle out their power plays in politics and economics, rather than adding another level of abuse of the Olympics...and that includes the Dalai and his supporters.

Thank you, UN-common-dreams for your post. I appreciate your calm logic.

THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU WHITEMEN CHINA BASHER REALLY CRACK ME UP. I WATCHED AND LISTENED TO THE OLYMPIC FLAME HAND OVER CEREMONY AND I LISTENED TO THE RECITAL OF THE OLYMPIC OATH OF ONE WORLD UNITED BY THE FRIENDSHIP AND HUMANITY THROUGH SPORTS; AND I READ FROM YOU LOT BASHING CHINA IN THE MOST RABID AND CYNICAL AND TOTALLY HATEFUL WAY, SPITTING OUT CHIPS OF VENOM AND WHITEMEN'S HATE.

THE WHITEMEN'S WORLD IS STILL A BARREN WASTELAND OF HATE. YOU ARE STILL IN DENIAL TO A WROLD THAT HAS CHANGED AND YOU TOTALLY CANNOT ACCEPT THE CHANGE THAT CHINA TODAY IS THE USA'S BIGGEST CREDITOR AND JAPAN IS THE 2ND. YOU TURN YOUR BLIND EYE TO THE REALITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY; THE TRUTH THAT THE PENDULAM HAS SWUNG TOWARDS ASIS.

THE DALAI IS JUST AN ORDINARY OLD MAN; BUT YOU PUT HIM ON A PEDASTAL AND YOU THINK YOU CAN EXPLOIT HIS SIMPLE BEGGAR MAN'S IMAGE AND HANG YOUR HATE AROUND HIS NECK ! YOU WILL FAIL.

JUST TO RUB A LITTLE SALT INTO YOUR HATEFILLED ANGER, THINK TO YOURSELVES THAT NOT JUST 20 YEARS AGO CHINA HAD TO GO TO WASHINGTON, CAP IN HAND TO ASK FOR RENEWAL OF MFN, AND EACH TIME YOU DID NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVEL IN OUR HUMILIATION. THE WHEEL HAS COME FULL CIRCLE AND TODAY THE USA FACE A KNOCK OUT BLOW FROM YOUR MISERY COMPOUNDED BY YOUR INHUMANITY AND PROFLIGACY. YOU ARE THE KING WHO WEARS NO CLOTHES.

"Sports promotes peace";

The Ancient Olympics?

Promoted Pagan Religious Worship,

The Flavian Amphitheater?

Promotoin of the Sacrifice of
Christians and to a lesser extent
Jews to wild beasts

1936 Berlin,
1972 Munich,
1980 Moscow,
1996 Atlanta,
2008 Beijing.

Can you say "Third Reich"?
Can you say "Black September"?
Can you say "Invasion of Afghanistan"?
Can you say "Centennial Olympic Park"?
Can you say "Religious Intolerance exhibited by the Communist Party of Mainland China"?

Promoted or Elsewise.

http://www.ribbonomatic.com/matic/graphics/99827.html

"Bush will be there, you don't want to piss off anyone whom you owe nine trillion dollar$."

While it is true that China is one of the largest purchasers of U.S. Treasuries (which fund the Bush administration's padding of their friends bank accounts as well as the failure known as Bush's War) there are other larger holders of those bonds. The next larger creditor is Japan followed by Europe, Middle Eastern nations and even American citizens and banks.

AD -

"Where do people these damn outrageous figures about Tibetans killed by Peking, over a million. This sounds like hard line, knee jerk anti Communist hot air, paranoia."

Try reading something besides blogs.

Tibet (1950 et seq.): 600 000
Chinese occupation. (For the most part, it's already been included in the numbers above.)
Free Tibet Campaign [http://www.freetibet.org/info/facts/fact1.html]
Tibetans killed by the Chinese since 1950: 1,200,000
Died in prisons and labour camps between 1950 and 1984: up to 260,000
1959 Uprising: 430,000 died
K. in Reprisals: 87,000

Our Times: 1,200,000

Courtois: 600,000 - 1,200,000

Walker, Robert: 500,000-1,000,000 (all ethnic minorities)

Rummel: 375,000 democides inflicted on etnic minorities
... incl 150,000 Tibetans

Porter: 100,000 to 150,000.

Eckhardt:
1950-51 War: 2,000 civ.
1956-59 Revolt: 60,000 civ. + 40,000 mil. = 100,000

Harff and Gurr: 65,000 Tibetan nationalists, landowners, Buddhists killed, 1959

Small & Singer say that China lost 40,000 soldiers in Tibet between 1956 and '59.

Anti-Communist hot air, my ass.

After groveling to the Israelis and promising them millions of dollars, Merkel has decided to do one thing right.

Bush knows she's one of his right-wing, fascist lapdogs and war supporters; that's when he decided to give her a massage for a thank-you gesture.

Boycotting the Beijing Olympic farce and Chinese products should be a matter of personal conscience and not government policy. If enough people participated it would send a strong message to the criminal governments of both the U.S. and China as American corporate investment is very heavy in the Chinese slave labor police state.

Imagine that, we are pretending to have a genuine Olympics in one of the most undemocratic nations on earth ! Greece invented the concept of democracy !

After living and teaching in Tibetan exile settlements in India I can speak from experience that anything and everything we can do to bring about change on the Tibetan issue is a just action. They need our help and the Tibetan way of life and thinking has much to offer the world.

Like any form of imperialism, the occupation of Tibet is about control of land and resources, in short, money. We simply have to make it too expensive for China to continue to destroy Tibet and Tibetan culture.

Every time I purchase something I check the country of origin and avoid products from China. Anyone can do this as a personal choice. Do not watch the Olympics and avoid the products of all the sponsors.

KEEP YOUR KARMA CLEAN and boycott both the Beijing Olympics and Chinese products.

There are a lot of different issues all rolled up here. One is that the Chinese leadership is about to learn the hard way, that old saying (or maybe curse) 'Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." They are now in the spotlight and some of those holding the torches are not looking at Beautiful China or any of the other things the leaders might have wanted.

But the Chinese people are themselves not the enemy and a boycott would be as much of an insult to them, as it would be to the leadership. The Chinese people are less in control than we, US citizens, are. I think it would take a very long time to smooth over the emotions that would arise from such an action.

Then there is the question of whether the US and the other western nations complicit in the invasion and destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan have any moral standing to complain. We treat our native peoples efforts at independence and freedom as either a joke or with armed forces. Just ask Leonard Peletier or members of the long-standing movement for Hawaiian Independence, and then there are those of the Puerto Rican Independence movement, the Northern Marianas and on it goes. A boycott of an Olympics by the Chinese for these issues would not make much of a political impact here and given the press conditions, would make even less of a positive impact there.

Of course, it is always easier to point the finger at others. But in this case, if the USA were to invoke a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, one can see some possible downsides. Not the least of which is letting the Chinese leadership put the blame on the Olympics' failure onto the outside world. Thereby engendering a very large and invaluable sense of unity and support from inside the country. Add to that the possible increased inclination by Beijing to get rid of that trillion dollar reserve and the fallout from that becomes incalculable as the US could well consider that an act of economic warfare. Remembering that the neo-cons always had China as their ultimate target, this whole thing could end up a total disaster. And for what?

If the US had boycotted the 1936 Olympics, what would we have seen that would have been different, other than Jessie Owens not getting the gold? Would the invasions not have happened? Would the gas ovens and concentrations camps not have occurred? Would we have averted the war, not developed/used nuclear weapons?

It is late here (I live in (sort of) China, 17 or so hours off my old PST.) And sometimes coherency is in short supply at about now. I have only touched on a few of the issues. I guess my point is that I hope people will give this issue serious thought and to think deeply about the ramifications of their choices in such matters. Maybe we too should consider more carefully what we wish for.

This should interest many:

http://iidb.infidels.org/vbb/showthread.php?p=5195576

What great comments......what a rousing blog. And to yap and those others comsumed by hatred and blame, I quote from Howard Zinn's latest book, A Power Governments Cannot Supress......

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnicficently, it energizes us to act, and raises at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future in an infinite succesion of presents, and to live now as we think human being should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Kem, I am counting along with you.

"Sports promotes peace"; that seems to be one of the common threads I'm reading lately... But how can it promote peace, if it functions as an apparatus of the nation-state and is used for flag-waving and the promotion of "national unity" (see Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" if you want to know what I'm talking about). Yea, France is so "one" that, a few years after winning the World Cup, right-wing law-and-order Sarkozy wins elections by referring to blacks as "vermin" and riding a wave of intolerance (which he largely instigated).

China violating human rights?

Well that's as American as Apple Pie.
(Personally, I prefer the Apple Pie Policy.)

The US and the neo-cons prefer using proxies. But for really pillaging and plundering the treasury and the nation, there's nothing like "supporting the troops" with bad water, and inadequate equipment in a problem created by a war of aggression and occupation. Then you can back semis to the treasury nonstop.

Great news! Who'd want those assholes there anyways? The Olympics are about promoting sport and peace in the world. The "leaders" who would boycott the opening ceremonies don't fit either category.

When was the last time the Olympics was actually about showcasing the talents of athletes? I love athletes, but cannot stand how they are used as surrogates in all kinds of pissing matches and commercials, domestic and international. I do not care about the Olympics and would be fine if we never had them. Athletes would better spend their time helping children to get off the couch.

"We are the champions of the world". Grow up, boys.

Oh good...now those opening games tickets for the Polish, Czech and German delegations will be on e-bay.

(Hey...are some of these Europeans the same ones who pitched in on that rendition stuff? secret dungeons? kept it all a secret? Are they now interested in human rights? teh Czechs and Poles are in the bidding for missile defence bases, aren't they?)

Opening ceremony would be dancers and musicians, maybe some of those great fireworks displays. Artists and such are the easiest targets. Athletes are the next in the easiest of targets for this kind of stuff. Artists and athletes put a lot of themselves into their work, but don't have strong lobbies.
If these political leaders are serious about human rights somewhere, then they should say so with actions in the spheres of economics and politics...not in culture. You know, putting their money where their mouths are!

But, I guess pawns are called 'pawns'for a reason.

I'm less than perfect. Sometimes my humor is not as funny as I meant it to be. Once you hit submit, __ it's submitted.

Sometimes ~Yap's~ criticism is overly harsh.__ Yup.

I commend greenerthenthou for his/her post. Although, I think yap has criticized us as a whole for much what is done by our politicians, I ask for time for us to take hold of our/their faults/crimes. I've seen many from other nations attack us for what is going on in Iraq and not be so ridiculously ridiculed and chastised here as Kem did. The yap yap yap comment was totally uncalled for and a tactic I see often used by right wing media clowns like O'rally, Limbaugh, etc. I have often enjoyed Kem's post and always look forward to reading them. But must admit I'm blown away by that particular post being it seems out of Kem's nature.

Where do people these damn outrageous figures about Tibetans killed by Peking, over a million. This sounds like hard line, knee jerk anti Communist hot air, paranoia.

Angela Merkel, we want to "thank" for your thoroughly full of it BS about going to the Olympics in Peking. It ain't about a damn thing and won't accomplish a damn thing, but you could, if you were worth a damn push for sanctions at the EU against Israel for its many atrocities against the Palestinians. Hey, you just showed how phony you and your "Christian Democrats" are. Hey, you're right in there with that far right/loony right Nick Sarkozy.

kelmer -

"Will we see the same calls for a boycott of the Vancouver Winter Olympics over Canada's slaughter of seals?"

I hope that I'm misreading you. You're not comparing the killing of 1,200,000 Tibetans to the killing of seals in Canada, are you? Don't get me wrong, I love the seals, hate the seal hunt, but IMHO this is an unfortunate choice of example for making your point.

Hey "second and first":

When America gives its stolen land back to Mexico; when it leaves the colonized, occupied countries of Iraq and Afghanistan; when it finally honors all the broken promises to the Indigenous peoples of Northern America and returns its stolen lands; when its Company operatives all over the world stops dealing in arms, drugs and supporting rightwingers to destabilize societies; when it closes up its global gulags and military bases all over the world - then, perhaps, it can take the moral high ground.

Someone else suggested that the US, given its track record, is probably secretly funding the religious fundamentalists and secessionists - and I have no doubt about it.

The American economy is in the tank; the dollar is dropping. In short, the US is in a freefall. All it has is its military apparatus - and are getting their *sses kicked in Iraq and Afghanistan. The only solutions of the American ruling class is to destabilize its capitalist competitors - particularly China, since it's not too difficult to stir up the masses with subtle racist and xenophobic language.

I have no love for China, to be honest. I'm living here, and could go on and on about it. "Socialism with Chinese characteristics." Hahahaha. That's quite rich; especially since they are True Believers in capitalism. But so many "leftists" and "liberals" are being used by the Western governments.

Ask yourself: "What's the matter with this picture, when I'm on the same side as Merkel and Sarkozy et al?"

That's rich! Merkel and Sarkozy boycotting China would be like Hitler boycotting Mussolini. Wow, these two right-wingers must secretly be admiring China's crackdown on the religious nuts out West.

Hello playmates,

I'm not being flippant, when I say that the post I most enjoyed here, was Kem's comments regarding stars and the Milky Way...

Thankyou, o stargazing 'Old Timer' for introducing an important concept: that of the Vastness of this universe, wherein ::: the little blue orb we call Urthona (Earth) is but one tiny speck, hid deep within the unfathomably larger Creation...

We might argue till the cows come home about 'black being white', or about 'how many angels might fit on to the head of a pin', but in the longer run of things, what really matters the MOST??

Is it that one of us is right, -or wrong, ~~ or somewhere in between?

Or is what matters most, is that we tiny little midgets in this huge cosmos learn to get along with each other, and stop biting the ears off fellow creatures who, -(in our ignorance) we have adjudged to be somehow less worthy than ourselves?

In our immaturity, our spiteful arguments so often lead to harm and death. Such barbarism is unbecoming to creatures who are the 'children of a loving god' (-call it what you will).

_________________________

As to one countryman calling another any name, and the dishing of dirt: well, - let us now hear from *any one person* at Common Dreams who lives in a country which has never committed any wrongs.......

Will that person please stand up, - he or she who lives in such an innocent, un-besmirched continent?

~~ [ I don't hear much in the way of chairs scraping, as throngs leap to their feet!! ] ~~

The truth is, that we are *ALL* as 'guilty' as each other.

None of us has clean enough hands to adopt any moral high ground and lord it over others.
We *ALL* have to purify and clean up our inner, metaphorical 'Augean stables', which have accumulated levels of dung rising high up into the rafters!

-- and that applies as much to us as *individuals*, as it does to us as nations.
(And I very much include myself among the crew of tardy stable hands!)

The bottom line is, that we could very usefully stop slagging each other off, and begin (-as someone else here noted) attending to the 'beam in our own eyes' before focussing on the mote in our fellow's eyes.

Were we to do that, we'd find a more peaceful planet would come about that much sooner.

... Then we'd have more time to do as Kem does: sit out on the porch in peaceful contemplation of the big beautiful universe, - sure in the knowledge that our own little planet was now less racked with war and intrapersonal, internecine perturbation!

With love and kindness,

U-C-D

To rephrase Christ, "Let the nation that is without sin cast the first stone.". I don't like China's government and I try not to buy goods made there, but the US is guilty of meddling in the affairs of other nations all over the world.

And In return, The USSR Hypocritically Refused to allow their Athletes to the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984
___________________________

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2004/miracle.html

"Get The Puck out Of Afghanistan"

(Lake Placid New York, 1980 Winter Olympics)

(Miracle 2004)

______________

As thoutgh Reagan did not support Iraq during the 1980s

Only Natural. IRAQ Did not kindap Americna Sutdents, Nor Did Afghanistan, IRAN DID, Iran and Iraq have been enemies since the ancients.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/

______________

We better watch this front, its how a Chinese Civil War coudl get started, Tibetian uprising agaisnt China

And Over in China's Far West, They Claim Kashmir, Along with India and Pakistan, All three of these Claims are illegal and immoral

The China bashing is misplaced. The Chinese people are being exploited for their cheap labor and American capitalists are benefiting.

Yap is right and Americans and Europeans are hypocritical to worry about China's repression of Tibet, when the US, in particular, is busy slaughtering far more people than China is. Someone yesterday pointed out that Tibet was a feudal theocracy, so China could plausibly claim with more authority than the US can in Iraq, that it was modernizing Tibet.

I'm not defending repression by China. I'm simply pointing out that before you criticize the mite in someone else's eye, remove the log in yours. Or however that goes.

This Olympic thing has been done before, in 1980, when Carter hypocritically refused to let American athletes participate in the Moscow Olympics, to protest the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia when it was provoked by US support of the muhjadeen, as admitted by Zbigniew Burzynski, now advisor to Saint Obama. Now that the US and NATO have invaded Afghanistan, is it not particularly odious to sanctimoniously criticize China?

People train for years to be in the Olympics, (which is supposed to be a place where athletes from all over the world compete without politics involved), and their government can lay waste to their dreams to further some devious agenda? That aint right.

yap.chongyee, please, oh man please, shut your YAP! My goodness you'd think the Department could afford better script writers, they could use those preferable to their typing cadence. Whether they prefer an English accent from a person that speaks Cantonese or Mandarin, Cantonese being so much smoother in sound to the ear.
To attend or not to attend an Opening Ceremony, means nothing. Although true, the Olympics is founded on the spirit of the Athelete not Politics, times have changed, INDEED.
The Dalai Lama was to become the Dalai Lama without his knowledge or consent, he remained as a humane peaceful man throughout all trials, turmoil, murders, such a young boy he was.
With the yap guy, sorry, I've never seen an Asian, whether Chinese, Tawainese or Vietnamese use a period between the normal one symbol name and the latter 2 symbols? I don't know. I will never purchase a product from China or Wal-Mart, Gazillionaires and theives of women with TBI that has to kept being told her 18 year old boy is DEAD over and over. I understand many policies contain this legalese, as Olbermann put it , "You just couldn't let this ONE get by, could you?". She was awarded $417,000 and has to pay back $470,000 for the medical bills, HUH???

Correction for the last paragraph of my above post: Wherein it starts, "If his books worth not worthless, then he would not pretend that he can deal ...", it should be "If his books were not ...".

There are probably some other typo. errors in the post, but I'll just clarify this above one.

These empty gestures only amplifies the hypocrisy of the leaders of these so called free societies.

How many of these leaders would have decided to boycott the ceremonies if the games were held in the US given the illegal and unprovoked invasion and ongoing atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan?

ok but whatever happened to Darfur? remember them? a protest was-is afoot to label these the Genocide Olympics because the Chinese will not let anyone stand in the way of the goons in Khartoum. they say hey we're not killing anybody, but in truth they are. they got the oil (always oil ain't it?) in southern Sudan where the indigenous population have been pushed out of their homes Mia Farrow i think is sort of leading this. If they want to boycott in honor of Tibet, ok, but they could at least mention Darfur. meanwhile,the genocide continues

http://www.miafarrow.org/genocide_olympics.html

As of only a few days ago, CFR run news groups changed from reporting out of "Lhasa, Tibet" to "Lhasa, China".

As of this posting, any mainstream articles that mention this boycott have yet evaded my searches, there seem to be none.

The general, former use of speaking about, "protests in Tibet," or, "Tibetan independence," and so on, have been changed into things as, "China's Tibet problem". Read this as, "Don't be rude and stare, it's China's little problem, and their military is there to 'help' them deal with this evil band of terrorist monks."

Powers in this nation have already written off Tibet to cultural extiction and military rule.

Your're probably correct ~CoCo~, but he seems to stir it up a great deal and is an obvious American hater. Of course that's not uncommon since Bush, come to think of it.
BTW. I have proof of that New York office.

Hey 45 minutes and we go sit out on the deck and count stars in the Milky Way. I'm up to 500,000, got about three inches counted so far. Several trillion to go. Did you know Earth is in the Milky Way?

KEM PATRICK

whereas i agree with your observations on 'infiltrators' i do believe yap chongyee is a genuine poster. i also believe he is malaysian. that's neither here nor there. but this yap.chongyee has shown up on several occasions now and judging his knowledge of international events, i doubt if he is a neo-con. neo-cons aren't that clued up or clever..................

There is a group of Neo-Cons based in New York City, there could be others, but these people share an office and they sit at computers using any of several code names and blog on progressive sites such as Common Dreams and do all they can to disrupt and annoy, start arguments and attempt to divide the regular bloggers, and take over a thread which they have screwed up.

~Yap~ MAY be one of those, ~Riverman~ I suspect is, and now a new one named ~ZEPHYMDIINBURG~ who first blogged at CD yesterday on another article,has Riverman's identical M O. They often select and attack a blogger who comments frequently here, one who is retired and has the time to do so.

Their obvious goal is to cause friction and disgust and turn people away from this site. Keep an eye out for them, they may be few but they use several different code names and switch from computer to computer. It may have been set up and financed by Karl Rove types.

Yappy, "our beloved Communist Party of China". Yeah Right. You're just a hack spouting off stupidity, I seriously doubt that you are even Chinese.

puddintane can't even understand very simple English ! I said that Angele Merkel is self righteous in taking the moral high ground because the German people are rabid racist of the worst kind; and what can be better proof of the pre-disposed racist blood lust of the German people than the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis. Only a bloody fool like this puddintane can read what I said as equating Nazism with our beloved Communist Party of China.

Too bad that you just can't understand simple English, and it is such a waste of time to clarify what I said.

China staged the Tibet violence as well as the hijack attempt from a 19 yo Uighur girl from Xinjiang region.

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-3-28/67906.html

Both are considered terrorist incidents in China, and the timing is so close to one another only a Coincidence Theorist could believe they were spontaneous events.

Why would they do such a thing? Same reason we do it. They learn quickly, glad we export our knowledge in how to control peoples opinions, just attack your own people and call those who did it terrorists. The Olympics have been a good excuse to increase security against "terrorism" and the local papers have been harping on the homegrown terrorist threat during the Olympics for over a year now.

But some might think there are too many risks for China to do such a thing.
They want the Olympics to go off well, right?

First of all, they understand that none of their major trading partners are going to boycott them. Maybe some foreigners won't go to see the games, freeing up some tickets for the locals. Maybe some foreigners will not be able to go to Tibet as a side trip, when demonstrations would have been most likely. Those are positives.

Now, one thing you have to understand about the Chinese, is they rely on the spirit of nationalism to keep their people under control. Talk of independence from Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan infuriuate the people and unite them. Thats good for China's government.

What about boycotts by European leaders. Perfect for China. The Chinese still get hot and bothered over the Europeans exploitation of them over 100 years ago. Such disrespect being shown by foreigners simply because the government tried to suppress the terrorism of those advocating independence smacks of a double standard, and will get them all hot and bothered, and will unite them further.

Imagine they say, a hispanic group in California deciding they want independence and start rioting. If that happened in Bushs term we would be dropping bombs on LA like we are doing in Basra.

Lest we forget the 1936 Olympics. Hitler and his jewish policies were being widely reported. Even so, The 1936 summer Olympics had the largest representation of nations participating than in any other previous Olympics, including the US.

We did boycott the 1980 Olympics over the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan. This was an invasion we desired, and induced by financing and arming insurgents to destabilize the government before the Soviets invaded (not after). None of the European nations boycotted in 1980. They won't boycott China either.

Quite a bit of hysteria and shouting here.

But: " I think China should call off the games in August and the Chinese people should start seriously boycotting European luxury goods, Hollywood culture including, Disneyland and stop touring Europe and U.S. and Canada. "

This is a very thoughtful statement. The Chinese "growth" is a surreal and compulsive imitation of western industrial materialism. My acupuncture doctor visits China every few years and each time he returns to the USA he is saddened that China is becoming more and more America every day. Like the historic period when the Chinese were addicted to opium traded by the British, they are now addicted to Disney culture and other superficial material illusions.

Tibet had preserved into the 20th century a unique Buddhist culture that has much to offer the so-called civilized world. It would be in the best interest of China to adopt a kinder and more tolerant attitude towards Tibet and allow Tibetan culture to flourish once again.

In the meantime, encourage Chinese capitalists to change and BOYCOTT EVERYTHING CHINESE !

yap.chongyee seriously distorts the argument by equating Germany's past behaviour with China's present behaviour. Granted, that Nazi Germany, or more properly the power structure ruling Nazi Germany, committed atrocities. Does yap.chongyee insist that every country in the world *other* than Germany has the "right" to commit similar atrocities, presumably so that they can "catch up?" Who gets to pick the victims?

In the meantime, those leaders of Nazi Germany who bore greatest responsibility for the Nazi crimes were put on trial and punished for them, some paying the ultimate price, and the Nazi Party itself was banned. The present German government has apologised to the world, and to the innocents killed, harmed, and/or dispossessed by its predecessor, and has made monetary reparations as well.

Does yap.chongyee plan for this result in China's case? While most of the leaders are no longer with us, the State Party that organised the invasion of Tibet, and other lands, is still in power and I heartily support yap.chongyee in any future call for its utter dissolution and banning, in the interest of fairness and justice.

Bush, Blair & Brown: The 3 B's - none of which have composed their own music but regurgitate the same dissonant tune of their "overlords", over and over again.

How f-king boring!

KKKlinton Kem 2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/28/AR2008032802866.html

Why cant the women stay at home where they are needed?

And Why must the Democrats trowl out Racial hatred Like I think his names are Hussein Osama, I think his first Name Is Barrac..

KEM for PREZ!

"The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics."

Kudos to Chancellor Merkel. Gordon Brown, unfortunately, is a Tony Blair clone........what a disappointment he has turned out to be - in many ways!

Don't rely on the GREAT part.

KEM -- I'll second the nomination !Kem Patrick is the great wit from the west