Don't Boycott the Olympics (or Ceremony)

I don't give a flip about the Olympics anyway. Effectively my apathy has the same effect as a boycott. Olympic basketball is the NBA anyway, Olympic baseball is the MLB, Olympic Soccer is FIFA/Professional Soccer. The other sports, Olympic Hockey, that's the NHL, eventually the skiing and and so on are X Game people. Just another avenue to promote professional sports. Who cares who the fastest runner/swimmer is ? We saw the steroid abuse across all sports in the last 20, 30, 40 years, it is what it is !

Besides, Tibet stands in the way of inhuman rights and Wal-Mart. Everything we hold near and dear in America. Tibet needs to be assimilated back into China. Really, a bunch of Tibetan monks standing in the way of progress and the new world order. They continue this road, might as well add them to the endangered species list like spotted owls. This will be interesting though, the Jews/Israel were put on that list from WW II and the holocaust. Since America has a deep financial interest in/with China, do we save Tibet like the Jews ?

Frizzle's right. The money is king when it comes to the Olympics.

This Blog will tell you things about the Tibet that was liberated by China.

News Checker: Dalai Lama, A Hero in the Western World

(If the Nobel committee finds out about all that, they will probably want his peace prize back)

Those pictures are probably from the propaganda museum the Chinese government has set up in Lhasa, with diorama's of monks torturing serfs. Ninety percent of the tourist visitors to Tibet are Han, probably most of them believe it, and think it justifies their rule. I don't see any credibly connection with any of that with any cruelty by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. A cup made out of a skull was something that was kept around.

I have read quite a few historical contemporary first hand accounts of visitors to Tibet before Chinese rule, I don't recall a mention of flaying. Sir Charles Bell, the British commissioner to Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan for the first quarter of the 20thc, said that the Tibetans governed themselves more decently than did the Chinese themselves. Also that the Chinese were much crueler to subject and 'inferior' peoples. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama came close to abolishing the death penalty entirely.

Ritual use of human bones does not necessarily mean the person was cruelly treated or purposely killed. They were used for material for cups, jewelry for ritual dancers, and trumpets. Similar to a Momento Mori in European culture. A reminder of the impermanence of the earthly vessel. I'm a bit skeptical about the use of human skin for drums. The bones would have been from a highly respected person, probably a Lama, not an unknown. They would have been passed down over many generations, and used in ceremonies.

The Tibetans, like the Zoroastrians, practice 'sky burial', the corpse is dismembered, the bones are pounded up and mixed with barley flour, all is fed to vultures. I would not want to witness it. I would be glad if my remains or those of my loved ones were put to some practical use, such as feeding birds. Our practices of inhumation or cremation waste a lot of resources.

Even if some of it were true, it does not give the PRC the right to rule and exploit Tibet as a colony. The present issue is the present behavior of the CCP dictatorship.

If you would like to read some first hand accounts of the cruelty of the PRC in the first quarter century of their rule over Tibet, I suggest 'In Exile from the Land of Snows', John Avedon, 1984.

Did you read the discussion that followed those historic pictures Kali?

I am in China at the moment. There are two sides to every story. A lot of Chinese people have become enraged at the dishonour shown to the Chinese Olympic torch and quote the manhandling of a handicapped Chinese Paralympian in Paris. The Chinese Government is trying to keep a lid on the demonstartions and anti French sentiment.

I wouldn't mind the debate, but the free Tibet slogan just emphasizes how little most Westerners know about the history and issues. I have this vision of all the Fox News brigade who couldn't have pointed to Tibet on a map a month ago, now saying "Fuck Yeah - Free Tibet".

Conditions in China today and incomparable to the repulsive rule endorsed by the Dalai Lamas pre '51. If you want to support monks who ritually drink wine mixed with human blood out of human skulls. That's just dandy. Whistle away on your thigh bone flute.

I wonder how they did that without gagging? (are you sure you don't have them confused with the Aztecs?)

So, someone there directed you to that website?

People outside the PRC have access to a variety of sources, while the people of the PRC are raised with only their own government's propaganda.

True, many westerners grew up with the Shangri-La and Lost Horizons mythologies. Some get beyond that. People do readily take up causes that don't cost themselves anything. (Tibet, the 'western treasure house' has about 40% of the mineral resources under the PRC's control)

I am aware that the PRC media tries to present themselves as victims. People should not hurt their feelings by mentioning their occupation of Tibet. I have come across some unbiased reporting by Chinese in Hong Kong. I think trying to portray the Olympic Torch relay as something sacred is quite overblown. The blue track suited Chinese torch guards have themselves manhandled torchbearers.

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly asked that demonstrations be non violent. The PRC should thank him, rather than inventing lies about him. They just make themselves look silly and shrill.

I came across a report about a student in the US who was offered $40., lunch, and transportation to demonstrate against the visit of the president of the ROC.

Our Olympic team will not be boycotting the Olympics and our swim team will kick arse in the pool yet again.
Everyone knows that Australian's have to swim fast to avoid the sharks and the crocs! Slow swimmers get eaten.

Beware of Thorpedoes.

YouTube - Tibet: The Truth (A Political History)

Forwarded to me by my friend who was at Tiananmen Square.

How dare do you post contrarian thought, much less the other side to the story amongst the "there is no argument" logic that permeates the Etc Etc thread??? (sarcasm awry)

If ya'll hate China so much, quit buying any shit made in China. Boycott any and every store that carries their goods, etc...

nah, it's more convenient to partake in buffoonery, and draw attention to myself and find sort of public validation in sprinting after an innocent torch bearer.

Yeah, when it comes to Tibet, all most people envision is a Brad Pitt movie, how noble and romantic.

Prosperity and dignity? How prosperous have the Tibetans and Ouigours become since their ''liberation'' and since the arrival of millions of Han colonists in search of oil and rare metals? Should the Tibetans and Ouigours be proud to be oppressed and dispossessed?

Nothing China has done so far has made me change my mind. I still say that we should boycott the Chinese Olympics and all Chinese-made products. Let all of us tell China that it's wrong to treat people like vermin.

Good luck in boycotting all Chinese products. Some things are only made in China these days because we've shipped almost all of our manufacturing over there. Even pharmaceuticals rely on certain components that are only made in China. The way the market works is that no matter what you buy, chances are that there are parts inside that were made in China.