The 2008 Olympics

08/08/08 What an interesting date and it won't be back for another 100 years. What memories will we make today? I don't kow about you, but today is the day that I will be deciding whether or not its worth it to watch the Olympics. Though this won't happen too often (this is a writing blog after all), I think its time to step on the political soapbox. The politically incorrect one that is. I want to challenge you to think about the Olympics and what it stands for.

In ancient times, the Greeks would stop all wars and fly the white flag for the Olympics. It was a time of unity and peace. Even today, countries come together to celebrate, and yes to compete against each other, but outside wars and barriers are supposed to be left at the door. I say supposed to because that is not often completely accomplished. Many countries have used the Olympics in the past as a political platform for good or bad. Unfortunately, China, the host country this time, is doing this and I would that it is for bad not good. The Communist government is trying to convey an image of a united China to the world. The sad part is that they are trampling all over the Chinese people to do it. China is a hotbed of human rights violations. They are murdering their own people through their policies and laws. You must have heard recently on the news or in the papers about the protestors both foreign and native.

Several groups of foreigners protested about human rights violations and once group even set up a banner proclaiming that "Christ is King" (Amen to that!). They were removed and sent back to their hotels. And what about the Tibetan monks who staged a protest as well? They were also just sent away. What most people don't realize, since we live in a country that has free speech, is that these reactions were lenient compared to the usual methods employed by the Chinese government. Usually any foreigner who dares to speak out against the government is deported immediately and their Visa revoked. They could be permanently banned from ever entering China again. Same happens with those who take on the dangerous job of preaching the gospel to the Chinese people. And as for any native protestors. . . Ever wonder why there are so few willing to speak up? Imprisonment awaits them at the very least. And that includes interrogation and perhaps even torture. They also face the very real possibility of being branded a traitor and executed. The Chinese government does not want the world to see this. But that is not all. There is no religious freedom at all. One has to attend the State Church or be punished. To be a Christian is a "crime" punishable by death. It is even worse for those who are caught teaching other to preach the Gospel. These are just a few of the multitude of human rights violations that China's government has committed.

Should we condone such actions? If we turn a blind eye to the situation and do as China's governement has urged and "Don't use the Olympics as a political platform" we are condoning it by our very indifference and apathy. We have to take the stage and make a stand. Some have said that President Bush should have boycotted the Olympics, but I am of the opinion that words will speak louder than actions in this case. President Bush needs to tell the Chinese government that if they continue with the violations of the Chinese people, then the US will not continue in it's support of China. Taking our business and our money elsewhere would be a drastic step only used as a last resort. I hope it would never come to this. Surely the UN would step in before it came to that. But I do firmly believe that it is our duty to use the Olympics as a political platform and use it to pressure the Chinese government to put an end to the violence and persecution.

It still have to decide whether to watch the Olympics. I hardly watch it at all when it's on anyway because I'm really only interested in the results of the lesser known sports. The Dressage, Jumping, and Eventing competitions are the ones which capture my interest as I love anything to do with horses. The question is now, what will you do?

Until next time!

Writing Updates

Yes I'm back. Two blog posts in one day. That has got to be a record for me. I had originally thought to combine this with the other post today, but I felt that it wouldn't work too well as the content is totally different. I haven't updated anything about my writing since the beginning of June. I've been meaning to do this for a few weeks now, but something called a job has been keeping me busy and tired.

Yes I did finally manage to get a job at long last. I'm working at the local amusement park. Well, local isn't really the appropriate word, nearest would describe it better. I find it amusing that I have now worked at two of the most "cool" hanging out places for teens-the mall and an amusement park-and now I am rather indifferent to both. They don't hold any charm for me now. Not that they had much charm before. Anyways, I've detoured. I was going to talk about my writing.

The anthology fell through because 1) I didn't get Houses of Enemies finished in time and 2) The Old Has Passed Away... (which I did send to them) wasn't what they were looking for. I still need to get a move on and submit the latter to Andromeda Spaceways. It just might have a chance there.

With the starting of a job, my work on Adventure at Anwar started back up. I think I've added another 1,500 or so words to it. I have to estimate because I still have some stuff to type up onto my laptop. I've been writing on the job again like I did last summer, only there's not as much time to do it this time around. However, a few hundred words here and there do add up over time.

I have a new contest on the horizon. I'm really excited about it because it is for homeschoolers (and their parents and college age homeschool alumni). It has 20 different categories. The only draw back is that there is an entry fee. It's $5 for the first entry and $3 for each additional entry. I'm interested in 4 of the categories. Novel, Novel Cover, Blog and Blog Post are the ones I'm interested in. I may have 1 or 2 more that I may look into in the Short Story categories. However I would have a lot of work to do between now and October 21st. That's when all the entries have to be in by. if I was to do it, I'd send in the first 10,000 words of Adventure in Anwar for the novel category, this blog would double for both the Blog Post and Blog categories. I just hope I don't forget about it what with being so busy with school. I'll try to remember.

Speaking of school, it starts on the 18th, well classes start the 19th but I move in the 18th. Less than two weeks to go! And I just started packing today. Typical.

By the way, both of these posts today were written at work!

Until next time!