Free Tibet -- Olympics in the crosshairs

From the Washington Post:

The uprising in the remote Himalayan region lasted for barely more than a day. But it generated a worldwide swell of concern. Now, the Games -- intended to be a festive coming-out party for modern China -- could become a dramatic reminder that the Communist Party still relies on Leninist police tactics and Orwellian censorship to enforce its monopoly on power.

"Leninist police tactics and Orwellian censorship to enforce its monopoly on power"

Exactly right. Maoist Communism is built on a brutal sacrifice of the individual in favor of the state. The Olympics cannot, in any way, give this evil entity any right to puff out its chest on the world stage.

Fact: China made promises to clean up its act as a condition for being awarded the games.

Fact: China has changed nothing.

Fact: The International Olympic committee has done nothing to hold China to its promises.


"Leninist police tactics and Orwellian censorship to enforce its monopoly on power"


So what's the next step?

Individually: Boycott -- Buy ZERO, nada, no $ from any sponsor of the Olympics during the games. No IBM, Coke, McDonalds, etc. while the games are on. Send them letters explaining why. Also, watch your government and the media and demand that they take the proper action also.

As a country: Virtual boycott -- Limit use of your flag and your national anthem. Allow athletes to compete, but do not "endorse" games with our symbols. Our flag and anthem represent freedom's triumph over tyranny. Ask instead for a moment of silence to remember all those who died so we can have the freedom to pursue sports.

Media: Balance the reporting. Report on dissidents, Chinese repression, and lack of freedom during the games. WHEN China responds by trying to control or expel reporters, make that the story. If a reporter is banned for reporting on dissidents, pull two sports reporters. Make the Chinese attempts to control the press result in a blackout of coverage of the Olympics. When Chinese officials show up at ceremonies to bask in spotlight, give accurate biographies including the human rights crimes they have overseen (repression of demonstrations, torture, etc.)


"Leninist police tactics and Orwellian censorship to enforce its monopoly on power"

Don't forget this. We don't need to respect these jokers, we don't need to be distracted that their culture is different, we can judge this and condemn it. Humanity DEMANDS that we judge and condemn this!

We live in a free society; if this was China, I would be arrested for writing this and you would be blocked from reading it. History will judge us harshly if we do not stand up for the freedom of our Chinese brothers and sisters against their evil government.


"Leninist police tactics and Orwellian censorship to enforce its monopoly on power"

Liberals v. Conservatives: Who really cares about the poor?

An interesting debate! The fact is, Conservatives oppose government programs for the poor, but privately give money to charities. Liberals support government programs for the poor, but don't echo those values in their personal spending.

This is from a George Will column today that points out these facts:

Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than conservatives.

If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings:

• Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

• Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.

• Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.

• Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.

• In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.

• People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Brooks demonstrates a correlation between charitable behavior and "the values that lie beneath" liberal and conservative labels. Two influences on charitable behavior are religion and attitudes about the proper role of government.

This comes on the heel of reports that Obama gave only 1% of income to charity between 2000 and 2004, although that has gone up significantly in the last two years.

My grandparents were a working class household that raised me to believe "giving begins at home." What do you think?

Somebody tell Joe Girardi to grow up!

The "No-Class" Yankees have fully embraced their "Low-Class" leader and played down to the level of a bush-league team today. In an exhibition game against the Devil Rays, the Yankees intentionally threw at a batter in the first inning and in the second inning had a "spikes high" slide that cleared the benches.

On Sunday, [Yankees Shelley] Duncan had dropped a hint that the Yankees might match the Rays' intensity on the basepaths.

"What it does is it opens another chapter of intensity in the spring training ballgames," Duncan said, referring to the home-plate collision. "They showed what is acceptable to them and how they're going to play the game, so we're going to go out there to match their intensity -- or even exceed it."

"There's going to be no malicious evil intent in terms of carryover, but it just adds a different type of fire to your gut when you play that team because you understand how they're playing the game and what their mind-set is," Duncan said Sunday.

Follow this link to the ESPN story that contains the above quote and look at the picture. It contains a Gene Puskar/AP photo of the play. This is not a "high slide", this is left foot firmly planted, metal spike first, in the groin of the Tampa Bay player. The photo clearly reveals Duncan's mindset and it IS malicious and evil.

The story reports:

But Girardi also said he didn't want the Yankees retaliating against the Rays in future games.

So what is it Joe? Are you lying, or have you already lost control of your crybaby team.

For those that would pause to defend Joe, just watch the YES Network archive film from a few years ago when Joe was the catcher. It makes it clear he used to admit that sliding in spring training was not evil, especially when the catcher chose to block the plate and take away other options.

You know, its not often I side with Don Zimmer. But he is right in this case that Joe needs to grow up and set a positive rather than negative example for his Bronx Blowhards. After all, they have an idiot owner that will only make it worse.

Perhaps the dumbest thing about this is, when you play in one of the toughest divisions in baseball, it is always nice to have a bunch of games against a team that sleepwalks to a 50-110 record. That is, until you are dumb enough to make them mad and they start circling the calendar. Mark this prediction down: the Rays will win the season series and those extra losses will keep NY home in October.

Deciphering the Notebooks of History

Slate has an interesting article on deciphering the notebooks of politicians, authors, pastors, and other historical figures. Like Artist's sketchbooks, these give a critical insight into how the finished speech, sermon, story, or poem was developed.

But problems such as bad handwriting, shorthand, abbreviations, and even writing English words with a Greek alphabet contribute to a complex task in which errors are pounced upon. Scholars often are forced by budget cuts to enlist graduate students. On the plus side, they are more likely to use Google to catch bad translations; the the negative side, the "keyboard" generation has little exposure to modern cursive writing and struggles to read an 18th or 19th century hand.

The screen shots of famous journals make the link worth reading.