Olympics @ MindSay



 

   
Riding the waves
Another day well spent with friends. Another outing with Tiffany and Jerry...always a good time whatever activity that involves! It was the Whitewater Olympic Trials at Charlotte, NC. Other events at the Whitewater Center this weekend included the Canadian Olympic Team Trials, the COPAC PanAmerican Championships, and the Americas Olympic Continental Qualifier.

There are LOTS more pics from the outing to still to post, but I couldn't wait to get up some preliminary shots to share before the weekend was over! The "embedd slideshow" feature from webshots is not the grandest...cuts off many of the shots, so you might want to click the link below to get a better view of the shots!

 
 
   
 

BIG BROTHER is in the building
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    Date Line April 17, 2008

Today, Jim Hightower (Free Speech News) commented on American supplied surveillance equipment being installed by China for the Olympics.  Seems there will be a camera in every nook and corner, every house of worship and public, or private, spot.

Our best and biggest firms are tripping over themselves in an effort to develop hi-tech computer analysis systems which can spot  individuals, or individual actions.  The analysis software will ensure that anyone who does something the State does not like – from chewing gum and dropping paper on the sidewalk, to the more anti-social behavior most people would abhor, even if tolerated as consistent with freedom and personal rights.  

Yep!  Going to the Olympics in China will result in a database of facts on everyone, of every nation foolish enough to want to see athletes do their thing.

That Americans are setting up the Orwellian Big Brother spy network  for China is going to slip under the wire.  But think “Homeland Security” and the domestic spying the GOP has promoted to date.

Think about the problems associated with testing new software and equipment.  Think about the cost.  Now imagine there is someone – a government. Shall we say – who is willing to foot the bill and provide a military to investigate anything flagged by the software.  Not only investigate, but give detailed reports and background data on the people identified as “problem makers”.

Hum.  Do you think that would make development of a spy system harder or easier, or ...?

What is developed in China will be applicable at home.  Cameras will appear in corporate offices – in the ladies WC and someplace near the water cooler.  Bosses will be able to tell when an employee is planning to leave the firm, or when the are stealing paper clips.  OR ... well they will know everything.  The government offices will, quite naturally, see these newly perfected devices installed.  Then they will go into the streets – replacing, upgrading, traffic cameras to the point where nobody can speak, or move, freely.

Big Brother has arrived.  China is footing the initial, and probably subsequent, development costs – the GOP is waiting to utilize what China has bought.  FREEDOM?  Wave goodbye.
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  Smiley   Smiley Smiley   Smiley Smiley
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My Thoughts Exactly
From Die Welt, via Der Spiegel:
"The Olympic flame is intended to demonstrate peace and solidarity among the peoples. In ancient times lighting the torch marked the period during which weapons were put down during the Games and acts of war were forbidden. The fact that it was the Nazis who reintroduced it in 1936 shows how susceptible such a symbolic act is to propaganda. China's dictatorship can't be compared with Hitler's regime. But one has to welcome the fact that demonstrators are now preventing the Communists in Beijing from using the torch relay to present themselves like Leni Riefenstahl did, with terrifying mastery, in her propaganda film 'Olympia.' The torch relay was intended as a triumph but has become a gauntlet for the Chinese -- and given their stubborn attitude in the Tibetan conflict, they only have themselves to blame."
That's right, you can't compare Hitler and China.  Hitler's socialism killed "only" 6 million, while communism in China has killed around 50 million. 

It was funny, though, watching all this Olympic nonsense the other day.  For some reason, I thought about "Olympia" and "Triumph of the Will."  There definitely is a similarity.  Anyone who is familiar with propaganda gets the correlation.

Never underestimate the corrupting influence of Marxism and socialism...it pollutes everything, no matter how sacred.
 
 
   
 

Samia & I in NYC (Nov) '07
CIMG2330.JPG hosted for free by ImageShack


    Taking a break form the usual posting about me and my running and me, me, me, I decided to instead post a little news on my girlfried: Samia Akbar. She's getting ready for her OWN Olympic shot next month in Boston. That's actually the only reason I'll be catching a red-eye from California (where I'll be starting next week) to Boston. In the meantime her training's been going well. She's racing a 1/2 marathon this weekend as a final tune up. It would definitely be fantastic for the two of us to make the Olympics later on this summer.
    Anyways Feel free to check out the video interview of her from their local NBC station. Samia in the news!
 
 
 

   
Will Some Countries Boycott the Beijing Olympics?
A brewing conflict in China has spurred French President Nicolas Sarkozy to imply that his country would consider a boycott of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  According to the BBC:

“When asked about a possible boycott on a visit to the south-western Pyrenees region, Mr Sarkozy said: "All options are open and I appeal to the Chinese leaders' sense of responsibility …

… China says 19 people were killed by rioters and accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting the violence.

The Tibetan government-in-exile says at least 130 people have died in a crackdown by Chinese troops and deny any role in the protests.

Robert Menard, the director of the media rights group Reporters Without Borders, said he had asked Mr Sarkozy for a meeting where he will press for a boycott of the opening ceremony, though not a boycott of sports events.”

The conflict with Tibet adds to other concerns about China hosting the games – such as how they might censor media, including bloggers, in their coverage.  Do you think anyone will step up and boycott the Olympics?  Should anyone?  
 
 
   
 

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