Lap Timing

I wonder who gave the idea to the Tibetans to launch their agitation against China a few months before the Olympics are scheduled to commence in Beijing.

It truly was/is fantastic timing.

Wonder if the Indians had something to do with it. Perhaps they gently prodded the Tibetan refugees (largely settled in India) that this was as good a time as there ever was. The world will be watching unlike these past several decades when they didn't give a f**k (as usual).

The Commonwealth Gamhes are to be held in Delhi in 2010. Will China return the favour? Could they end up prodding Pakistan to prod the Kashmiris into organizing protests and as such, cause some serious embarrassment to the central Indian government?

Are Tibet and Kashmir even related in any way?

Perhaps China's problem is that its rise coincides a little with the fall of eminence of some parts of the West. The West does express itself a lot though, doesn't it!? And not all of it is necessarily introspective. According to those representing the West, their slowdowns in economic growth (read obesity) are largely the fault of oil-starved China and India who seemingly want to strip the Earth bare and leave nothing for our fat brethren due somewhere West. Obviously, China and India wish to deprive the vibrant West, particularly America, of its rightful consumption of stupendous amounts of energy.

And while the Western xenophobe loudmouths keep ranting away, the Chinese xenophobe loudmouths remain largely quiet. It may have something to do with the lack of freedom to freely express themselves about political matters in general. It may also have to do with the fact that not all of those Chinese loudmouths who do have official sanction to fire away are fluent in English. Or French. Or German. Or Redneck for that matter.

They did have a lot to say about Mr. Spielberg though. Yup - that's right - Steven Spielberg. Apparently, he was part of the Beijing Olympic committee. Sometime ago, he decided to resign from whatever capacity he seemed to be working in. It was admirable, righteous and courageous - all at the same time. You've got to agree with him that the Chinese were wrong to not interfere in Sudan to help put an end to the genocide (which was his stated reason for resigning from being involved with Beijing 2008). It's natural for the Chinese to get pissed off at Spielberg for his principled stance. They don't care about people dying anyways. Not like the West does.

Of course, Spielberg doesn't have to defend his reasons for not "pulling out" of the United States after the USA declared war on Iraq on the basis of fabricated evidence, i.e. lies. He also does not have to defend US foreign policy of propping up brutal regimes such as the Saudis and the Pakistani military (until recently), rescued the Kuwaiti autocratic regime, helped arm to the teeth Afghan militia and also (surprise! surprise!) does not interfere in Sudan on humanitarian basis. And he absolutely does not even have to defend his joining up with the Chinese in the first place for Beijing'08, despite perhaps being aware of their excellent human rights record (in particular their lovely restraint at Tiananmen Square). How dare you suggest that Steven Spielberg take a moral stand on that issue as well? He's Spielberg man!


There is a moral at the end of it all, certainly for India (and perhaps for most other developing nations around the world):

Don't bother hosting the Olympics, India. It's just a monumental waste. Not because everyone thinks you are poor and stuff, and that your air and water is so very dirty and polluted. Not just because it would be a perfect excuse for eminent Western economists to allude to that endearing, oft-repeated stat of mysterious, mythological origins that more than 50% of India still lives on less than a dollar a day and yet they wish to spend billions of dollars in hosting the Olympics. Especially not because they think:
"C'mon now! This has gone on for too long. What's with you hosting the Olympics and all? Shouldn't you be out begging on the streets, speaking in your funny accents and smelling funky? Besides, what do you expect us to do when we get there? You seriously don't expect us to sleep in thatched huts in the monsoon and crap in the open fields, like the rest of you, with those snakes and man-eating tigers around, do you?! And anyways, I'd hate to have a tiger pounce on me when I'm in such a compromising position. That's some scary sh*t!"

No. The number one reason why you shouldn't bother holding the Olympics India...

Ya obviously don't care enough about it to win a frikkin' medal!