Triumph of the Olympic Swill
I hear-tell the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was an "awesome" and "beautiful" event.
I hope I don't offend or hurt anyone's feelings. I try to see the other side as well - and I concede that the Olympic Games in general aren't all bad, and even have a potential for good. However, I feel compelled to share some of my honest feelings. With all due respect....
I'm sure the opening ceremony was an awesome sight. The best scripted movies can be awe-inspiring - like the Hummer and Cadillac Escalade can seem like awesome vehicles, especially if you let the advertising be your guide and ignore their contributions to unnecessarily polluting, helping destroy our world, and keeping us in dependence (slavery) to fossil fuels.
I can't help but feel that McDonald's, General Electric, Coca-Cola, NBC and the other corporations who sponsor these Olympics are contributing to (and profiting from) a parallel form of destructiveness - making multimillion-dollar profits in collaboration with a murderous, civil-rights-repressing Chinese government - and making that profit-machine awe-inspiring and beautiful so we'll swallow it like a cold can of Sprite on a hot summer night.
Forget the imprisoned and tortured Buddhist monks. Forget the decimation of Tibetan culture. Forget the kidnapping of the Panchen Lama. Forget the persecution of Falun Gong practioners and other spiritual seekers. Forget the tanks aiming to mow down peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators during the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Forget it all, because Coke adds life, GE "brings good things to life," sports should be supported at all costs, and lest we forget, we Americans need some entertainment to go with our potato chips and Budweiser. Maybe we'll win some gold medals, too, so we can flaunt our alleged superiority. I wonder if competition trumps common sense in the land of the U.S. Mince?
Protesting showings of Leni Riefenstal's Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will in Holocaust-era Germany might have accomplished nothing, like protesting the Beijing Olympics might accomplish nothing. But does that mean folks like us should just say "fuck it," sit back and enjoy the show - support the filmmakers, the movie houses that show it, and by proxy the spectacle's Nazi producers - all the while allowing our heads to be filled with propaganda over and over again?
I can't help thinking of a Dead Kennedys song title from the 1980's: Triumph of the Swill.
I hope I don't offend or hurt anyone's feelings. I try to see the other side as well - and I concede that the Olympic Games in general aren't all bad, and even have a potential for good. However, I feel compelled to share some of my honest feelings. With all due respect....
I'm sure the opening ceremony was an awesome sight. The best scripted movies can be awe-inspiring - like the Hummer and Cadillac Escalade can seem like awesome vehicles, especially if you let the advertising be your guide and ignore their contributions to unnecessarily polluting, helping destroy our world, and keeping us in dependence (slavery) to fossil fuels.
I can't help but feel that McDonald's, General Electric, Coca-Cola, NBC and the other corporations who sponsor these Olympics are contributing to (and profiting from) a parallel form of destructiveness - making multimillion-dollar profits in collaboration with a murderous, civil-rights-repressing Chinese government - and making that profit-machine awe-inspiring and beautiful so we'll swallow it like a cold can of Sprite on a hot summer night.
Forget the imprisoned and tortured Buddhist monks. Forget the decimation of Tibetan culture. Forget the kidnapping of the Panchen Lama. Forget the persecution of Falun Gong practioners and other spiritual seekers. Forget the tanks aiming to mow down peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators during the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Forget it all, because Coke adds life, GE "brings good things to life," sports should be supported at all costs, and lest we forget, we Americans need some entertainment to go with our potato chips and Budweiser. Maybe we'll win some gold medals, too, so we can flaunt our alleged superiority. I wonder if competition trumps common sense in the land of the U.S. Mince?
Protesting showings of Leni Riefenstal's Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will in Holocaust-era Germany might have accomplished nothing, like protesting the Beijing Olympics might accomplish nothing. But does that mean folks like us should just say "fuck it," sit back and enjoy the show - support the filmmakers, the movie houses that show it, and by proxy the spectacle's Nazi producers - all the while allowing our heads to be filled with propaganda over and over again?
I can't help thinking of a Dead Kennedys song title from the 1980's: Triumph of the Swill.
I agree 100% life is beautiful as long as you live it with a closed mind and closed eyes. Take the blinders off and really take a look at what's going on in this world.....
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Thank you for finding this must-watch 5-minute video!
Mia Farrow calls on China to stop underwriting genocide:
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thank you for this and for reminding me i wanted to change my avatar for very personal reasons.
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Excellent avatar!
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fortunately, my stepmother is back home now, and i'm very grateful for that.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=261106515&blogID=420000304
this is pisses me off though.
not even all the athletes participating are amateurs. in tennis? psh. roger federer is the number one ranked men's player in the world. and he's SWISS! is this showing his neutrality, by being there playing?
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Cleveland's own LeBron James, too....
I'm sure he'd really suffer if we boycotted the Olympics.
Maybe if he boycotted, others would. And maybe the sports haves could do something to help out the have-nots. There are more important things in the world than medals.
Thank goodness about your step-mom.
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the williams sisters are there too and they both already have medals from australia.
wonder if they'll thank their god jehovah after each win, like they always do?
tian hong is very happy to be home.
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GLORY! As good as money....
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get a job with more pay and you're ok.
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http://my.earthlink.net/article/tec?guid=20080809/489d1640_3ca6_1552620080809759946895
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Oh, I know this is devisive...but so are Human Rights Violaters. All I can do is picture the footage of Hitler at the Olympics in Munich.
Scowling as our black American kicked ass.
Like Munich, we will one day too be embarrassed by our presence in Beijing.
I guess Coke and Micky D's can be the Leni Riefenstals of our generation.
But the the Bush regime has more in common with China's Human Rights then they do to anything even remotely Constitutiona or 'American.'
So, no, I don't think we should be there...regardless.
Are any country's boycottng?
Hugs,\
Suze
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I though of Munich, too. The Olympics there in the 1930s were defended as a means of getting Nazi Germany integrated into the world community - to hopefully make our world a better place. But they didn't do a damned thing to prevent World War II or the Holocaust. Thank goodness for Jesse Owens at least! His success went a long way toward discrediting Nazi propaganda outside of Germany. Didn't do much in Germany, though, where the fascists controlled the media.... And these 2008 Olympics won't do much to change China's repressive regime. But they'll make a lot of folks rich and keep a lot of folks entertained.
I don't know of any country who's boycotting.
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I do recall we boycotted an Olympics before in 1980--Moscow. Hadn't another hyper-Republican president just been elected at the time? Mr. Reagan, I presume, our fair prez's spiritual/political godfather?!?
I hate to admit that I don't even recall why we boycotted that one; I was having too much fun getting wasted at the elite Catholic university my parents scrimped and saved to send me and my sisters to at the time. But I imagine it was for some dark and dangerous cold war reason backed up by some ugly big business motives.
No doubt in 20 years we will discover the declassified reasons for why we boycotted that one and why we didn't boycott this one and it will all have to do with money, money, money.
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The official reason had something to do with the Soviets in Afghanistan. The same reason we gave arms and money to the Taliban back then, too. One decade's "freedom fighters" are another decade's terrorists. Hmm... much could be said on that one. Reminds me of when we supported Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war. Didn't mind him having any chemical warfare agents then....
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Pomp and pageantry... that covers up the blood of the people on who's backs these Olympics were created...
Sorry but I won't be watching...
Sorry for the athletes who have no other opportunity to compete .. it being once every four years...
But support is being complicit I feel... with Chinese policies.. and US support of Chinese policies.. end of story.
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I agree, Chris!
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It seems that there is a brutal war starting between Russia and Georgia and over 1,400 people have been killed. The Sudanese government is producing food and selling it while we send food to Darfur and it is being hijacked and sold while 2 million people are starving. Our economy has been tottering on the verge of recession and the candidates for the presidency are arguing about oil reserves and drilling. I think I'll just turn off my TV and maybe it will all go away. Duuuuhhhhh.
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No Elena... it will not go away by just shutting off the TV.. but it is a start. Not buying the products that promote and support the trampling of human rights.....is a start.. speaking out about it is a start.
But every good revolution or protest has to start somewhere. The civil rights movement started slowly with individuals exercising their rights and being jailed.. and then gradually grew and evolved int a larger movement that finally had an impact on the problem. I believe that that is the case here as well.. if you sit on your hands and do nothing.... than that is result you will get... nothing.
I will at least choose to not comply with the party line... it is a way for me to have a voice.
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The civil rights movement if I recall correctly was started with demonstrations of activists who actually DID something. Remember I live in a town that started the civil war. The abolitionist movement is well documented. For the history of Oberlin read Nat Brandt's book "The Town that Started the Civil War." It was the first college in the country to admit blacks and women. If you think turning off the TV is the beginning of a revolution, or not drinking Coke makes a statement, think again. That is really sitting on one's hands and doing nothing. Is it really getting involved? It is just talk and nothing more. What is the party line that you are not complying with? How are you not complying? Is your voice being heard anywhere except on My Space in a comment? Possibly not watching the Olympics and not buying the products that support NBC's commercials make a statement but if a tree falls in the forest can you hear it? Are the athletes from all the countries that compete in the Olympics supporting the Chinese and trampling on human rights?
I guess a lot of you think that is the case. I don't. I support the Tibetans directly by giving to their monasteries and have had their monks stay with me here in Oberlin. I can't do anything about the Chinese government and their human rights infractions but I am not against the Chinese people and there are a lot of Chinese and Japanese students here in Oberlin and it is well known that they are extremely talented musicians. They are not responsible for their government policies any more than you or I are responsible for ours. If things are to change in this world is is going to be by supporting the world leaders who can make a difference and by diplomacy. Support the Dalai Lama and forget the Olympics but remember do nothing and it is nothing.
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I have donated and supported to Tibetan causes for years Elena.. I am a member of Jewel Heart and I do not need to get on a soap box and ring my own bell about it everytime I make a comment on MySpace or John's blog... the way you do.
And if I recall there was a woman by the name of Rosa Park's maybe you might have heard of her... one lone woman who made an impact on the civil rights movement... by not giving up her seat on a bus... it was a small gesture that had far reaching consequences. Things like that are what start changes. Boycotts and protests of all sorts are part of it... I 'm afraid I will have to strongly disagree with you. I think not watching does have an impact. It affects the advertisers who sponsor them.. they track who watches and buys their products.
I don't know that I ever said not watching the Olympics was the only way to make an impact.. it is one of many ways to be heard.
Some times the sound of silence speaks louder than words....
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Also our governments are more corporate driven than ever before... they are the new government patrons world wide...big industry... they influence a lot of government policies.... and not just here in the USA... but abroad as well.. as Lady says further on in the comments...
The USA also has a dodgy inconsistency in the way it supports human rights... it seems to be dependent on economic and political needs rather than the pursuit of a real honest across the board international policy. They support in one place and turn a blind eye to abuses in another... because it is politically expedient to do so...
The world is money driven as it has been never before... most people are blind to how much power corporations really have now adays being international conglomerates... they have a srtrong influence on world policies.... that is what I see.
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Turning off one's TV does nothing? It does more than sitting there watching it, swallowing the swill and then broadcasting on the internet how beautiful the machine is and arguing with anyone who calls it a propaganda machine. Forget Nazi atrocities, because Triumph of the Will is a beautifully crafted piece of art? No one's saying you're in favor of the atrocities, Elena. But you seem to condemn our eager (though meager) efforts to do something, even with our voices, however small, while you applaud the NBC/Olympic/Corporate spectacle that feeds the Chinese government with revenue and respect. That's ridiculous to me. It's as though you're claiming that writing does nothing, and that only what you do matters. And writing doesn't matter? Did you forget Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and the countless Abolitionist pamphlets and newspaper articles that were perhaps the largest reason our public consciousness about slavery changed? They also made the election of Lincoln possible. And as a result, we gained an emancipation proclamation and overcame the specter of a slave-holding Confederacy.
Forget who's not doing what (we can all do more, myself included). Send Darfur's people $1,000, and (though a noble deed) it will be gone tomorrow. One could argue that raising awareness and fomenting protest can go an even longer way toward changing the public consciousness, building momentum for change, getting our politicians' attention, and actually accomplishing something significant. We may not all have money to send to Tibetan nuns - but we can do what we can. The fact is that by watching it, swilling Coke, et cetera, folks are not only not doing anything to change anything, they are also risk actively supporting the sponsors, propagating the lie, and perpetuating a hell for the oppressed. That's my opinion, as little as my opinion may be worth.
Attacking folks who are mad about it instead of attacking NBC and Coke who sponsor it? I don't get it.
And by the way, this is not MySpace.
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Please forgive me Chris and John for being what I am and saying what I think. I guess I rubbed you both the wrong way. I am not attacking either one of you. I hope your words, your efforts to stop the cruelties that the Chinese have done to the Tibetan, to raise consciousness of their disregard for human rights and express your opinions are great. By the way I am not watching the Olympics either and I don't drink Coke anyway or
go to McDonalds, etc. I just happened to tune in on the first night and although I hate what the Chinese have done to the Tibetans and their own people it wasn't on my mind while watching the athletes from all the nations in the world parade into the stadium on the opening ceremony. This wasn't exactly swill even though the Chinese government is altogether wrong in their treatment of human rights. Also I have the right to watch whatever I want and to read and write whatever I want to without being accused of backing those who are actually committing these evil deeds you are both so against. I agree with both of you. So get off your high horses and come down to earth.
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No need to apologize for being who you are and saying what you think, my friend. And there is no high horse here - I write from the lowest rung on the ladder.
You most certainly have a right to watch whatever you like, think whatever you like about it, and express your views here. I encourage that. I only responded to you because you brought up the subject on my last blog, which (although it's no big deal) had nothing to do with China and the Olympics. So I responded by saying what I felt as well. I didn't mean to accuse you of intending to back the perpetrators. I know you don't. But there are parallels. You admitted to being awed by the spectacle ("I am impressed so I don't even consider anything but the view"). And just as that awe makes one oblivious to the plight of the Tibetans, if only to the moment, I imagine Triumph of the Will made one oblivious to the plight of the Jews, if only for a moment. And that's in the interests of the oppressor. And the corporations' profits are dependent upon this obliviousness. And it's understandable. I've been awed by bullshit probably more than most people. Remember I preached in a fire and brimstone Baptist church as a teen. No high horse here... maybe a burro at times... lol. But I simply think it's unfair for the person who's swept up in the spectacle of the opening ceremony, as you admitted to being, to accuse those who refuse to be swept up in it of doing nothing (or less than you're doing - or being less enlightened) because they say fuck off to the corporate sponsorship and turn off their tvs.
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I don't have a lot extra to add here other than an approving ..... amen.
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I agree. Never before has an Olympic site been more controversial and contested, and you'd think the Olympic committee would have thought of all these things before making this very dumb decision to put what should be the world's most unifying event in a country that stands against everything the Olympics mean.
Between their communist rule, their human rights violations in their own country, their persecution of the Tibetans, their financial support of genocide in places like the Darfur region of Africa, and a whole slew of other crimes against the human race, I'm with you on the boycotting of the Chinese Olympics.
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I have conflicting thoughts. Certainly China is terrible. But I keep thinking, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." China doesn't have our continuous record of preemptive attack or our genocide of more n a million Iraqis. Their genocide was way back during the daze of the Cultural Revolution, tho I don't know fer sure how many Tibet or Taiwanese people they've killed. I am woefully ignorant in this domain.
Also worried that China is used by our polician here as the scapegoat for many things, diverting attention away from keeping our own house in order. Much of the human rights abuses regarding labor issues in China are caused by the US. For instance, China was going to allow trade unions in factories so that workers could organize & take collective action to try to improve their living conditions, but US corporations threatened to pull out of China and go exploit a different country's labor.
I think the US is more like Nazi Germany than China in the current era.
Still, it's a matter of priorities--like whatcha gonna gripe about first--and certainly I do not advocate support of the corporate sponsored Olympics there. Maybe the best thing all around would be for us to boycott Olympic sponsors such as Coca Cola & Micky Ds.
I generally think sports is used as a kinda beautiful spectacle to raise nationalist sentiment.
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I tend to agree that boycotting the sponsors is the way to go but there must be a way to let them know you're doing it.
I work in the college bookstore industry (no throwing rotten tomatoes, please!) A few years ago, the big movement on campus was boycotting clothing vendors that used unfair labor practices to produce their products. When you can get that kind of purchasing muscle behind a cause, you can get results. The vendors we used found companies that weren't paying their workers a penny a t-shirt that sold for $50 here in the states because it had a Brutus the Buckeye on it.
(And while it is a good thing that students are now demanding "green" items in their college stores, I don't doubt our vendors have gone back to their old cheap ass exploitative ways...)
Sorry to get so far off topic with my example but there needs to be a way to hit the Coca-Colas and the Micky-D's and the even bigger money guys in the pocket books and then there may be some change.
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"I think the US is more like Nazi Germany than China in the current era."
If that were the case, then we'd all be better off living in China, and I highly doubt that. Sorry, but that's a very broad and exagerated statement that I have to disagree with. In China (or Nazi Germany, for that matter), you wouldn't be allowed to make a statement like that against your country.
In the US, you are.
That's a big difference.
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China is a client state serving our aggressive capitalist disease.
We are agressors. We've killed two million iraqis over that past two presidential administrations. We may not be exactly like Nazi Germany was in all aspects, but there are incredible horrible similarities between what Germany did to other nations and what we are doing.
& we are losing our freedom of speech. Positions are marginalized or excluded in the media & limited to "free speech zones" outside democratic & republican conventions & speeches.
We're also scapegoating immigrants to a horrible, ugly extent. Men on the border of Mexico & the US have taken it upon themselves to go "hunting"--with guns--for immigrants on the border. We're also building huge detention centers and we imprison children of immigrants along with the immigrants. Ironic that there would be detention centers in land which we've stolen from Mexico.
This is what they're preparing for the Democratic Convention this year: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/13/10975/
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I totally agree with everything you said. But, do not forget about all the earthquake survivors that are in need. Could some of that money have gone to help give them shelter and food? Wouldn't ya think.
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this is the best comment so far. it makes me think of all the money being spent on sending the athletes to china and people in new orleans are still trying to get their homes back together.
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<|;-(
I'm on the sidelines...
21 questions and a Catch 22...
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91,000 people attended the opening ceremony. Just because I thought it very worthwhile watching doesn't mean I support the Chinese government's denials of human rights nor the terrible treatment given to the Tibetan Buddhists. I just don't think turning off NBC and not drinking Coke or Budweiser is going to make the slightest difference in this global event that so many countries are gathering together to
compete in the ancient ritual of the games. And by the way if Mia Farrow supports the people in Darfur I would like everyone to know that my son and daughter in law raised $10,000 for Doctors Without Borders in Darfur and they didn't make one penny from all their efforts to get people in Evanston to contribute to this. If you really want to make a difference it isn't enough to turn off your TV or boycott anything. Watching the Olympics is one
way to learn what is happening in this world. Also read everything you can about China, the world economy and all the issues because education and knowledge are what we need to combat the
destructive forces that are causing wars and death of innocent people on this planet earth. One very touching part of the opening ceremony was a little boy who accompanied the Chinese group. He was in the earthquake and is a national hero in China now because he survived and went back into his school where all these kids died and saved two of his classmates and is being honored for his bravery. He, I believe, is only 9 years old. You miss these human events and the interesting competitions of world athletes when you refuse to watch and think you are helping to fight for the Tibetans when all you are doing is see no evil, and shutting your eyes to the realities of this world. In no way are you making a statement or doing anything positive by turning off your TV.
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personally, i almost never turn the tv on anyhow.
if enough people get together and actually write sponsors and let them know that they're boycotting products, it can indeed make a difference. people are boycotting coca cola and McD's all over the world, not just here.
i'm sure the 9 year boy who survived the earthquake was special to see, but it also makes think of the movie "wag the dog".
and it's not just tibetans. what about north korea? amazing how quiet the torch passing got once it made to the DMZ there.
it's wonderful that your son and his wife raised money for doctors without borders. i send them a check every year.
all of this is very personal to me because my stepmother is from beijing and works for VOA and was in china when the earthquake happened. the stepmother i had before her was s. korean. so yes, these cultures fascinate me.
reading about them and learning is wonderful, actually doing something, no matter how small it may seem, such as boycotting kodak, DOES help. it spreads ripples, especially when the word is spread and others understand why you're boycotting and join you.
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One might also say: "In no way are you making a statement or doing anything positive by turning ON your TV."
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sounds like gil scott heron in this revolution will not be televised.
Yes Yes Yes
I agree emphatically!!!!!!
Well put jesus crisis!
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Yea for you for speaking your mind and the truth. I do take off my rose colored glasses when it comes to the political arena. I am boycotting the Olympics.
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i agree totally - participating in the chinese olympics is lying down with murderers.
but it makes sense because our government is a murderer, coke is a murderer, corporations are murderers.
like lie with like, and they all lie to the rest of us.
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Nice blog! I think you're at your best when you're all fired up. And I'm not watching the Olympics either.
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I'm not watching the Olympics because I think that watching sports on TV is a colossal waste of time.
Wouldn't we be all better off to get off our sofas and out of our recliners and go take a walk in the park and enjoy the beautiful day, get some exercise and participate in a sport of our own?
Rah, rah, for all the training and time the amateur athletes put into getting there. I wish them well, but I'm going for a bike ride!
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For all you couch potatoes and computer geeks, you have excellent advice, Pinky P.
I personally have too much to do to spend all day commenting on My Space. Peace and a good weekend to all.
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You are preaching to the choir, my dear.
We live in a democracy but it is a CAPITALIST democracy. Is the advertising money given to the Chinese government or is it going to NBC? Why is NBC sponsoring the Olympics? Why is there advertising anyway? Without advertising there would be no TV, no newspapers, no magazines, and even no internet. Think about who is to blame for the Chinese government being so hostile to their own people. Are we to blame? Perhaps we should just forget any trade with them, forget having anything to do with countries like Saudi Arabia for their treatment of women, etc. We had a terrorist attack in this country.
Other countries have terrorist attacks every day. Should we throw away our French wine because they were against the invasion of Iraq? We get all heated up over everything and think we are the most wonderful country in this world since we have a constitution. Yeah, go back to my blog from Australia and find the Phillip Adams article on the U. S. and its wars, racism etc. Other countries don't like what we are doing and when I was in Spain after Bush was re-elected I heard plenty from the Spaniards about what they think of us. They don't hate Americans, just hate the attitudes of our government. There is a lot wrong in this world and always has been. I think of the little monkeys who close their eyes, mouths and ears so they will hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. Can we just boycott evil? Will it go away if we do? We can protest and have millions of blogs damning the evil and the corruption and the hatred. Yes, Uncle Tom's Cabin and of course I did several years research on the Spanish Inquisition by the Catholic Church. Should I boycott the Catholics for this? Religious wars are in style right now. I have thought a lot about this all my life. I have opinions also and am not on my soap box or ringing my own bell on every comment as Chris puts it. I also am a thinking person and want to understand a lot more about the world we live in rather than contemplating my navel and being holier than thou with my ultra liberal views.
That is all I have to say on this subject..at least I hope. So try to get a sense of humor about what is going on and keep the aspidistra flying.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5mjN32G1iI
Don't wanna be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Well that's enough to argue.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Well that's enough to argue.
Don't wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information nation of hysteria.
It's going out to idiot America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Well that's enough to argue.
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and my favorite...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijtPhz8RnPw&feature=related
Say! Hey!
Hear the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame (Hey!)
The shame, the ones who died without a name
Hear the dogs howling out of key
To a hymn called Faith and Misery (Hey!)
And bleed, the company lost the war today
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday
Hear the drum pounding out of time
Another protester has crossed the line (Hey!)
To find, the money's on the other side
Can I get another Amen? (Amen!)
There's a flag wrapped around a score of men (Hey!)
A gag, A plastic bag on a monument
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday
hey!
(3,4)
The representative from California now has the flooor...
"Sieg Heil!" to the president gasman,
Bombs away is your punishment!
Pulverize the Eiffel towers,
who criticize your government!
Bang bang goes the broken glass man,
Kill all the fags that don't agree!
Trial by fire, setting fire
It's not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
This is our lives....
On Holiday!
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Thanks for those two mb... very appropriate...
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heh. i couldn't think of 2 more appropriate songs
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My final thought on this is.... if you have so many thoughts in this regard on the topic why not write your own blog. On your own page.......
And if you think it should be a humorous and "lightened" up sort of thing you could do that too..
It puzzles me your response does.. because you can go on and pontificate but then not like it when you get called on it by someone else... or if someone expresses their views or defends themt...curious...
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just read the news that the opening day fireworks shown on tv was a 3-d computer simulation - took a year to write. seems the chinese air is so dirty, they couldn't film the actual fireworks.
lies, lies, more lies, and the governmental liars that lick them.
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I am only trying to express my "free dumb" of speech like everyone else does and I admit I sometimes play the devil's advocate but it should make some sense.
Sometimes I feel that everyone just follows the leader and agrees with whatever idea or subject is brought up. I try to look at both sides and sometimes get rather cynical when I see opinions expressed that I cannot blindly follow without thinking them through. So if I "pontificate" or don't always agree it is because I see fallacies in certain arguments and try to pursue them in what I hope is a reasonable fashion.
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To some degree, I suppose we're ALL trying to express our "free dumb."
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LOL AND LMAO AND A BLOG A DAY KEEPS THE INQUISITION AWAY. ALWAYS READ BETWEEN THE LINES AND KEEP PUNNY, PRETTY PLEASE!!
PS. I just tried to write and lost it all when my #$%@$$ laptop went crazy.
So guess I'll just go pet my tiny cats.
I am not watching the boring, boring Olympics and I am not drinking Coke or Budweiser, or eating a Big Mac or writing on a Mac or dealing with anything complicated right now so I presume this will save the world from all tyranny and that the powers that be will get my message through the divine
genie that tells them I am NOT supporting the Olympics. LMFAOAROTF (got that?)
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I agonized for days what my position would be in this issue. I think that it is wonderful that the Olympic Games seem to draw people of all nations together to participate in a friendly competition. I think a lot of good comes from the Olympics, even, maybe even especially, when they are held in a nation whose government is a brutal and murderous system. Why do I think this? Well it's because too many people have a very short world view. They do not see much beyond their own back yard and are oblivious to the situations going on half way around the world. I think that these Olympics are a great opportunity to assess where China is right now in the world community, where it is going, and to expose the atrocities committed by the Chinese government. It's also a great opportunity to appreciate the differences between us as we come together to celebrate a common goal, competition in the games. The games have certainly opened up a forum for discussion about the government of China and what can be done about it. I do, however, agree with Lady. I think it would have been a spectacular denouncement of the government if the corporate sponsors pulled out, as Lady suggested, and we do have the freedom to boycott their products. I'm happy for the Chinese people that they are the hosts of the Olympics. Just like any other nation of people, they are proud of their country and they want to show off their nationalism. I don't think that any event that brings the world together in peace should be so discouraged. In fact, I don't think that the United States is so pure that it really has a strong standing to be condemning the actions of any other nation right now. We are seen as bullies who go where we are not wanted to advance our own agenda, not really caring about the innocent people who get trod upon along the way. I also believe in diplomacy and good will. I think that the Olympics is a wonderful opportunity to spread good will. For once, however, I do agree with George W. Bush, when he went to China and condemned the actions of the Chinese government.
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Actually Tara .. I agree with everything you've said here. About the Olympics, China , the USA, it's policies, etc...
But I think people need to stand up and do things even if it is in small ways... to effect change. I still believe many small voices make a great shout in the end.
My thought goes to a taoist phrase that you see sometimes, also have seen it in commentaries in the I-Ching as well... that a whole mountain can be worn away by water, drop by drop.. it just takes time. It's sort of an extreme anology.. not that we want to wait that long for certain changes to take place in our world or the political arena..... but the idea that something as small as dripping water can achieve an effect.. is the point. Also the idea of a buzzing gnat comes to mind... if we buzz around all the corporate sponsors long enough .. Because they are the ones running this nuthouse now a days... they will be annoyed and do something.. sometimes small things get peoples attention over time. And unfortunately in the world currently money talks.... no money .. no corporate profits... shareholders unhappy....chain of effect...
And as a response to Elena's last comment... you don't do these things sight unseen.. you DO write to Coke, and GE, and all the sponsors and you let them KNOW that they are not being watched and why... or what would be the point in the end.
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