The hypocrisy indeed does continue as the Olympic torch continues to wind its way through the planned route it was to take till the opening of the Beijing games. Protesters held at bay by throngs of Police and even banned from some countries. Where is the freedom of expression and the true vision of the games in this type of display? It is only for show with no actual virtue of the Olympics being upheld. China has suffered blow after blow in what they hope would be their breaking out as one of the world’s best countries to visit. Their crackdown on Tibetan Protesters, their extravagant spending whilst their people suffer from food shortages, no wonder even the athletes themselves are expressing non-participation. The games is supposed to bring about change and unity among man whatever color or flag they may belong to yet they oppose the move for freedom by their own people. The areas around the main venues in Beijing are swarming with police and military units ready to pounce at any form of activist behavior. The move of the government to make the torch-re-lighting ceremony a private one with only the authorized reporters and invited guests (mostly high officials of the Communist Party and Government) shows the mistrust they have in the people.
Their crackdown on computer hackers, who were convicted not of crimes towards other men but of crimes of larceny towards the motherland whom they hid profits from. Where is their sense of freedom they are showcasing in their billion dollar venues that have taxed the Chinese people leaving most of them without food and access to basic necessities? They even plan to control the weather on the opening day to prevent Beijing’s much criticized polluted air from marring the games. These are the socialist ways China must learn to part with if they are to partake in the move to become a global leader in all aspects of business. Their crackdown on the illegal toy factories that have caused much dismay in the rest of the world has done little to end the criticism they are being subject to. Much has to be opened as the games near and they are more than doors. Their entry into the global scene as an economic power means more than just plain ability to produce but the willingness to follow the norm of behavior the rest of us take for granted!

Greek and Armenian Priests slug it out in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, what’s gotte into these guys? There seems to be an in-born psychological factor that tells people who belong to religious groups that the other side is always the enemy and that they should never be allowed to interrupt each other’s activities or even partake in them as a matter of fact. The site is hailed by all Christians as one of the holiest of the holiest sites in the world, where Jesus is said to have been crucifiedyet they seem to forget the significance of the place. This is the state of religions today who once sprung from the same roots as they were in their early days. They worship the same saints and religious icons yet they opt to forego the solemnity of their activity to get a chance to be first in line for a visit. There seems to be no end to the battle between all sides when it comes to religion. Us troops fight Islamic fundamentalists, most of the Western world targeting the Islamic state of Iran, Jews against the Muslims of GAZA and as in this case, Christians after Christians when will it end?
The depth of hate in religion may have become too deep for them to forego differences and just show respect for the places they may be in. Where is their respect for common man who they are fighting against, where is the sense of one earth one man? These people would rather brawl on the streets than worship their faith for these types of incidents do show the ugly side of man, plain and simplehatred.
Last year during preparations for the same festival, they got at each other with brooms and stones which could be a good time to remind them that this is the preferred method of persecution of outcasts in the Roman times when Christians were so persecuted they were treated as criminals. Treat each others as criminals and you are like Mary Magdalene and the Romans with Jesus saying, “He who has not sinned throws the first stone!” Brand each other as criminals and both end up as plain thugs after each other and not for your beliefs. With these types of events, unity on this earth may be too far off and too much to promote. Imagine, Christians after fellow Christians who should have been united as one in the blood of Christ!!!!

Bummers galore for all the candidates, from equipment failures that sent Senator McCain not getting his speech on queue to Hillary’s delaying the releasing the financial statements of the family and now Barack’s calling of jobless Americans as “bitter” which he cites their primary reason for owning guns and turning to religion. They just keep rolling in and they will surely be the talk of many years to come in the political arena. The latest bummer by Obama has him saying that Americans (Pennsylvanians) turn to religion and guns due to bitterness that was not something you would want to say if you’d want to become president. The miss-spoken words were acknowledged by the charismatic speaker as being wrongly said and that he could have done better and many political analysts say it’s a campaign killer that might be enough to give Hillary the edge.
An attack on the right of Americans to bear arms and to practice religion is an attack on the Constitution of the United States therefore the country itself. The USA has been and is founded on the basic principles embodied on that piece of parchment from which all American laws are based. Attacking the fundamental body of ideals not only upsets those who were criticized but America as the Country. Owning guns can be simply for sporting reasons and religion may be the way people tend to find answers to problems no other material matter can solve. There are many reasons Americans are going through the economic crunch and turning his sights on religion and gun ownership may not be the best way to promote your political platform.
The philosophy of attacking the weaknesses of an opponent is hardwired in all of us and it is responsible for bringing out the best and worst in all of us. Let us just hope that whoever wins the race would have the political strategy to bring the faltering US economy that is very much in dire straights.

The troubles for Asia’s rising economy that has just begun entering the era of globalization and opening door’s China doesn’t seem to stop. Rumors of grave economic problems due to lavish expenditures in preparation for the Olympics this August 2008, the threat of boycotts from athletes and even the countries they represent and the problems associated with the current world food crisis that is being brought in by severe droughts and economic woes are not helping to boost their credibility as a capable Olympic Host. The preparations have been rushed so much that the fate of the people hangs in the balance. China, one of the world’s largest countries and the most populous one has been known to have local food shortages of their own in the past and dwindling supplies of rice are not doing the people any good. Civil liberties are strictly controlled like the internet and other forms of mass communication which are constantly patrolled and taken off the net or air if a hint of anti-government sentiment is sniffed. The recent crackdown on monks who cry for independence which they strictly controlled in terms of media reporting banning them form the hot-spots only letting them in after worldwide public outcry.
The problem of China as a liberated country that has outgrown its communist roots is far from over in fact it’s just beginning. The venues of the games have strict police control to suppress citizens from voicing out their opinions. Ceremonies have strict attendance for press and officials only due to threats of demonstrations. True the games gave millions new jobs but maybe for all the wrong reasons. The people suffer yet they construct lavish structures further draining the country’s lacking finances. China may be forced to open up more to allow more freedom and expression of views if they are to make the Olympics a successful one. The boycott movement is aimed to raise awareness of the hypocrisy that is manifested in their hosting the games which should be a sign of freedom and friendship among nations. Some nations have already voiced concern that their athletes are moving to boycott the games, not attending or representing their countries to signify their defiance to condone the atrocities that are still going on right outside the Olympic venue’s grounds.

Public support for the military effort in Iraq is waning, as it did during the Vietnam War. Get those men and women of the military home to their families and leave these people alone as they have to decide which turn they would want to make. May the results be good or bad; the legacy of the actions of these political leaders would be written in the years to come as they take their place in history and are forgotten as just another nightmare for all who were involved.
The very people who have promoted and gone against congress to present information regarding the need to go to war in Iraq have been grilled again and again with the same result that says there was no solid ground to go to war. The threat they have established which comes from the dictator Saddam is now being overturned with many western scholars and intelligence experts not finding any link between the events of 9/11 and Iraq.
That may be the last straw, and the American public is becoming more and more restless of the fact that America’s children are over there in the middle of nowhere trying to execute orders from a government that may have fabricated the justification for what they are doing. Even the CIA has admitted that thee was pressure from the White House regarding the evidence which was provided for congress that there was no solid irrefutable proof or truth to their claims. Lies, is all that is left and the elections of 2008 will be the deciding factor to determine if the war was right or wrong.

Many have suspicions on the said events have come up with several seemingly plausible reasons for this outcome. First, there might have been WMD found but were from the US itself (whether obtained legally or not) for the US supported Iraq and was partially responsible for placing Saddam in power as they supported his drive to throw out the radical leaders of past. Rumors of the US invading Iraq on grounds of the possible gains they could get from the oil rich nation commercially was also plausible (Iraq is the second largest producer of oil on earth before they were invaded). Many more conspiracy theories are out in the thick of the events that may have caused the war in Iraq and the reasons for their utter failure in getting in and out quick.

It may be too soon to say what the outcome of their invasion would become of in the next few years. The only thing that is sure is that Western soldiers are fighting a war they seem not to be winning. They gain ground today, only to loose it tomorrow to militants and whoever they find as enemies. Their changing tactics show the desperation in the military trying to shift policy, trying to get out of the battle; recruiting former Saddam military and police officials and personnel; allying themselves with previously tagged insurgent groups and militia; and many more. They have to get out and start considering the impact of their actions on the lives of the grunts who have to walk the thin line between life and death each and everyday. People still die everyday, some known and documented most are not. When will they learn to accept defeat and just admit plain and simple that they made a mistake when they invaded the country. They cannot make the world a safer place for all of us for they themselves have internal problems of their own back home. The statistics may be showing that their drives to reduce violence is having an effect yet lives are still being lost and families have to live with the fact their children died for a lost cause.

The loss of two Blackhawk helicopters and the deaths of almost 20 marines showed they had mistakenly planned a critical mission for a trivial one. Afghanistan which is a country they invaded to drive out the Taliban (which is hailed to be the terror organization that instigated the attacks of 9/11) in a war that defies western tactics. A people hardened by years of conflict with the Russians using some technology that they themselves supplied has proven to be hard to wipe out as they had planned. The cost of the war in Iraq is straining the resources of the United States, prompting them to call upon NATO, the European Union and the UN to provide resources for the continued war on the Taliban which no one seems to be winning. And now Iraq, which they have waged war upon twice ending in the capture of Saddam Hussein and the overthrow of his totalitarian military regime which was brutal to the bone. Current studies now show that there was no whatsoever link between Saddam’s Iraq and Al Qaeda which was their main battle cry for the main invasion of the country. The weapons of mass destruction they blamed, was the root of their attack on the country was nowhere to be found. Many accuse them of vested interests in their drive to go ahead with the invasion of Iraq, the first being justified by the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam’s forces.
Today, even the British and American forces in Afghanistan cry foul as their governments leave them to fend for themselves without the full support of their military whose focus has shifted to Iraq. British soldiers trying to defend ground they have fought and died for only to loose them the next day.

In today’s political war of the worlds, secularism is a dying cause for go anywhere and you find violations of such a law ever existing. In the Philippines, church leaders go out on the streets calling for the ouster of their president besides prominent political figures. In Burma, Monks march on the streets to promote better openness and to show the rest of the world that their government is not doing enough for the people. In the United States, most candidates avoid areas of religion though Muslims and other religions and races continue to be persecuted for their beliefs. The United States of America was founded on the principle of separatism between the church and the government and that is very much evident in the provision of the Constitution of the United States of America which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This basic principle defines the line between the people and their religion. There is supposed to be no racial or religious prejudice in the United States as the provision states but that cannot be farther than the truth. There are Americans who see America as for the American and that means all those decent form their forefathers who worked the land no other. 

The persecution of people because of religion has been raging wildly in the streets and minds of people from all over. Right after the attacks of 9-11, Muslims suffered greatly from such actions and people, sometimes friends have fought over such differences. Never mind the true stories of the people who lived and died during the event. Never mind the Jew who pulled out a Muslim on the street as they made their way out of the danger zone. Never mind the unselfish acts of heroism people showed during times of need that saw the world in black and white, life and death. 

The recent shootings in the US, highlights the problems with gun control that are now on the agenda of lawmakers to control and prevent further incidents. Most of the shootings come out of one thing, cultural breakdown that these teens misinterpret as if the video games they play were to be played out in real life. Jealousy, deceit, suspicion and many other reasons for these heinous crimes are blamed but in many cases mysterious due to the deaths of the actual perpetrators who do the same to themselves as they have done with their fellow students.

Liberty without responsibility should be considered a crime for I am sure that the founding fathers of America and the many other states would be turning in their graves if they see the current state of the freedom and liberties they have fought hard for and even died just to enable the next generations to live in peace. There seems to be no bounds to the problems the world is experiencing to date, industrial espionage, bid rigging and many other corporate crimes go unpunished in spite of well publicized ones that do get discovered. The internet is no place for those who love privacy and freedom for people who are after for your possessions are always on the lookout for freebies. P2P sites that defy local and international laws promote piracy getting companies to seek for better control over their businesses and rights as with the founder of one P2P site says, ‘I Take Because I can’. People want freedom yet when they get it they can’t seem to make sense of it

We as members of this worldwide community must re-think our view of freedom and liberty. Liberty that should come with responsibility and respect. Kids nowadays have little respect for others only focusing on their own needs. We should re-educate the people of the world that freedom should be prized and valued as a pearl, nurtured and treated right to remain beautiful and alluring to all. Responsibility should be partner to liberty, children should accept the consequences of the choices they make and stand up for them where ever on earth they may be. I love my freedom but sadly the next generation might see it only as a word they learn in school and not know it’s true significance in daily life. Knowledge is power and power is knowledge, so let us all help the next generations and hopefully the many more generations to come that the freedom they have has been product of blood, sweat and live of their forefathers who fought for them to enjoy life as they are and not as they should.

Many people are focused on China, as the 2008 Summer Olympic Games nears while asking tons upon tons of questions of how the said event would fare out. A huge success or a big flop for the billions of dollars of investments the Chinese government has spent the past few years creating another addition to its many tourist attractions. The event has been looked forward to by the communist state for it will open up China to the world as the premier place to be in terms of sports, tourist attractions and tourism is expected to boom even after the said games. The technological wonders of the new nest looking Beijing Olympic stadium, the ecological park surrounding it, the other venues that were put up just for the event that displaced thousands from their homes. Even the new Dragon shaped airport has been put up so fast that people are wondering why are the Chinese so engrossed with opening up their culture and borders to welcome foreign visitors which they have always eyed with suspicion and mistrust. 

China is still the communist state that was founded by Leader Mao when the Cultural Revolution swept the country and forged a solid Socialist state, so solid it has outlived it’s former partner and neighbor, Russia. The past posts have also discussed a rising problem with the Chinese, economy, industry and even the people itself, too much freedom at so fast a pace that it is defying explanation. Ever since Hong Kong was handed over by the British, the tight grip on the freedom of speech had to be gradually loosened so as to alleviate some of the criticism they receive from the rest of the democratic world. many generations of Chinese who have always lived under the wings of communism are now suddenly thrust into a world where they must decide their fate by themselves.