Monday, August 4, 2008
Olympics
I am not a sports fan.
I know - I know - that makes me a bad person, or un-American, or something. That's pretty much old news to me. But I am not happy that the Olympics will be starting so soon. What's left of watchable TV will shrink even further. I will be reduced to watching the Game Show Network practically all the time.
But more importantly, I will never understand why The Powers That Be chose Beijing for the site of the games. Aside from the fact that China is totally out of step regarding human rights, which does not, to my mind, fit comfortably with the ideal of good sportsmanship, etc. - just look at the place. Air quality is atrocious - not exactly ideal for the athletes. And to deal with that (superficially) they are cutting down on how often their citizens may drive their cars; they have shut down factories in the area, depriving owners of profits and workers of jobs; and in order to build the Olympic Village to begin with, they simply pushed their people out of their homes and off their land. According to Amnesty International, human rights violations in China have actually increased since they were awarded the Olympics.
Nice.
Once again, politics rears its ugly head.
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9 comments:
Yes, well said! And did you happen to catch on CNN last night the segment they did on how China has and is still "preparing" its children to become Olympic athletes? Some are barely out of toddler-hood and they are being forced, manipulated (physically and mentally) by the State and unfortunately their parents, too. Anything less than gold is losing, and they must do this for the glory of the State blah blah blah. But the camera told the real story, tiny children with sad eyes, grimacing in pain as they are forces to exercise. It was like a sweatshop where they had to spend endless hours turning out training exercises instead of cheap goods. It was absolutely horrific, total child abuse.
I also wondered why China was chosen for the games, Bobbie. The politics is/are bad, but the air quality is worse. How can the athletes preform at the top of their abilities??
I do like the Olympics, though. I seldom watch any sports except tournament basketball and golf when Tiger is playing, but the Olympics hold my attention always!!
I would like to know if the I.O.C.
members had a hidden agenda for choosing China over the other countries that applied.
It couldn't possibly be (shh) larger bribes could it?
Bear((( )))
uh... me neither.. and yes, when olympics start, it means less tv.. however.. with the advent of cable, there's so much more to choose from! i've been obsessing over the food channel lately so that helps... it fills the void!
I am not a sports fan either and seldom watch any sports on television. I, too, like to watch the food network. I do watch University of Kentucky basketball sometimes.
Bobbie, Dianne is right, I am so happy we 'found' one another .. I am adding you to my blog list ...
I am not a sports fan either .. and I know I wont be watching any of it .. I fill in the void with my two fav soaps (DVR'd)and we watch The Daily Show (also DVR'd) and a lot of HBO stuff ... very little network stuff this summer at all .. thank the gods for TNT's The Closer and Saving Grace .. and Monk on - I forget what channel.
:-Daryl
It has to be a political move that China was chosen. And given their civil rights record, why would we even participate?
Just browsing blogs and came by yours. I like your refreshing perspective. :) And, by the way, I'm 22 and don't care for competive sports either. And I married a carpenter who doesn't care for them! Crazy isn't it? How lucky am I!!! I don't EVEN know how I could have survived sitting and watching sports on tv with my husband. LOL
Looks like there are a lot of you who don't like sports any more than I do.
And oh, I DO LOVE the Daily Show.
And yes, I'm sure money was exchanged to secure the award.
Spring, thanks for stopping by. I went to your blog and could not find a place to comment about the really beautiful butterflies. Love them.
Deb, I did see that program.
Did I ever tell you how I found your blog? Your name is the same as that of my son-in-law's sister. I thought it might be hers. I'm so glad I did find you. Your blog is wonderful.
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