Diplomacy, Diversity, and Human Rights: Beijing 2008

In 1980, along with several other nations, the United States chose to boycott the Olympic Games in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. The move, a political one by President Jimmy Carter, was due to the fact that the United States did not want to attend in a Communist nation, which they viewed as a violation of human rights, not having a democracy. With talk of boycotting the Games in Beijing, China this summer, I wanted to look at the issue from both angles.

In terms of international unity, attending the Olympic Games would be a smart move. Putting aside petty issues such as politics to enjoy and celebrate the talents of people from almost every nation is a mature thing to do. So what if certain countries want to run their nation differently? The United States cannot tell other countries to do. At recess it is called bullying, internationally it is being a relentless superpower. What is funny is that Yale nerds who become politicians were likely bullied in school...but this is not a psychology article. I'll save that for another time.

Back to Beijing though. Before I bring in the whole issue of Tibet, I'd like to point out the negatives of the Olympics in China in general. For one, the Games, like many places in the world, are not held in just one city. Due to space and terrain, there are generally several locations within driving distance of the main center. This was the case with the Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy.

In order to even have space to build large stadiums and hotels for athletes and fans to stay in, the Chinese government chose to use a policy I like to call "Habeas Corpus on Steroids" to kick people out of their homes with one days notice and then begin construction on these sites. In one situation, two million people were left homeless and displaced over a twenty-four hour period. Smaller cases in the same vein have occurred all over northeastern China. Flagrant human rights violations!

Then there's the issue with Tibet. The United States should understand well what it is like to be mistreated by another nation, and then revolt to become independent. Or so I wish. Tibet wants to be free of Chinese rule, and because of the way they are treated, countries that support Tibet will choose not to attend. As an American citizen though, I'm curious as to whether or not our athletes will be allowed to attend. There is certainly an interest and support for Tibet based on bumper stickers, and the sold out speeches by the Dalai Lama himself in places such as Ann Arbor, Michigan.

So I'm left confused. Grow up and accept diversity in government systems? Or break the silence with action in the belief of human rights violations? This all being if the recent earthquake did not level everything.

Michigan Weather Won't Likely Get The Detroit Lions To Do This...

After an unbelievable loss of 48-0, the Austrian Rugby Team stripped down completely while chanting in the streets of Vilnius, Lithuania. Loads of people at a cafe across the street got up to take pictures and cheer them on. Police were less amused, but the show, likely brought on by post-game drinking only lasted a few minutes. I think is past time I move to Europe. I think the link is enclosed, otherwise type it in to youtube yourself.

Also Born on May 11th

I always enjoy reading in the paper which celebrities have the same birthday as I do. By far, Salvador Dali is my favorite. So as a birthday tribute, I thought I'd write a little bit about him. He was born May 11, 1904, and sadly died January 23, 1989, shortly before I was born. Perhaps we're too eccentric to occupy the earth at the same time?

His best known work is called The Persistence of Memory, which was completed in 1931. He is mostly known for his bizarre paintings, but also worked in different mediums with Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock.

Another Bullshit Vaccine Brought to you by the FDA

Seriously people, don't get this vaccine. And I say people because it will no longer just be targeted to women and young girls, but boys as well. Why might you ask? Considering it is trying to prevent Cervical Cancer and men don't have cervixes? Well, now they would like to convince you that by having intercourse, men can get this virus and they get sick and blah blah blah. This is bullshit. Just so you know.

Now I'm certainly not a doctor. I failed the dissection portion of ninth grade Biology. Dr. Mercola, whose website should be attached to this article, is a doctor. Listen to him.

For those of you who are not link-friendly or medical-savvy, here's a summary of what it says. There are over one hundred forms of HPV, and Gardasil can only protect from less than ten percent of those forms if at all. You are more likely to be injured in some form than be protected. People suffer seizures, blood clotting, some sort of syndrome I've never heard of, and numerous other things. People can get a fever shortly after they receive the vaccine, and quite a few women have severe nausea. One twelve year old American girl suffered from paralysis, and an Austrian woman actually died.

Let's go a little further. Anti-smoking ads are always telling us what are in cigarettes, so let's do the same for Gardasil. It contains some sort of Aluminum that has quietly been proven to cause Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and MS. It also has something in it that, thanks to lack of animal rights, we know causes infertility in lab mice.

Lastly, there are no long-term effects, because researchers just did not bother to spend enough time looking into that. Welcome to the downsides of capitalism everyone. Only force things onto people when it makes the rich pharmaceutical companies richer, and the rest of us who are required in some states to receive it, to pay $400 and become sicker.

Chelsea Clinton: An Interesting Upbringing

All of this election buzz has people wondering, will it be Clinton or Obama? Regardless of which Democrat gets the nomination this August, my mind goes back to a question I would ask Chelsea Clinton if I ever get the chance to meet her. What is it like spending your young adult years campaigning for both of your parents to be President of the United States? Children all across the country are accustomed to having a politician parent in the spotlight, but both parents? Both running for the highest office in our nation and becoming one of the most powerful people in the world? Hmmm...I don't have much else to say. However that question is looming in my mind.

Chelsea also has quite impressive credentials herself as a graduate of Stanford University in California. I'm excited to see what is in store for her as well.

WWJD?

Various branches of the media are covering the drama of the first openly gay bishop. Gene Robinson is an Episcopal Bishop in New Hampshire and has been "out" since the 1980's but was only serving as a minister. Now as a Bishop, there is quite a bit more controversy wrapped around him and his story.

Many people have chosen to leave the Episcopal Church or join a conservative movement called "Anglican realignment." If they don't agree then ok. They join millions of other people throughout the world that do not like homosexuality. However, what really bothers me is that this morning while watching "The Today Show," he shared in an interview that he has received death threats from fellow Episcopalians.

Shocked, I took a moment to think it over and wanted to ask those people, What Would Jesus Do? Just like the saying on those bracelets that get passed out at churches. Would Jesus threaten to kill someone because they were different from him? For those people out there who like to quote the Bible directly, let's recap on a few stories from The Bible. Jesus was friends with lepers, the outcasts of his time. He also befriended Roman tax collectors and prostitutes. Some people believe Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. Some historians, including myself, would argue that she was actually his soulmate, and the men who wrote The Bible knew that she was important but wanted to downplay her importance because she was a woman, so they gave her a "dirty label."

In addition, I think that like other extremist religious movements, using the Bible to justify hatred of gays will slowly die out. Less and less people still believe that they can use The Bible to justify racism. It is quite sickening that a country that is supposed to be a "melting pot" is still so segregated. Calling myself a Christian simply cannot be an option until I see less hypocrisy and more people treating other in the way that Jesus would have. In the meantime, I am extremely disappointed and only have the best wishes and admiration for the very courageous Bishop Robinson.

Wal-Mart Goes Green?

I actually had to make myself stop laughing the first time I saw the commercials about Wal-Mart "going green." I can't make any sense of it. Of course it has to do with marketing. However being environmentally-friendly was important to me prior to it being a fad.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that more and more people are choosing to take their own reusable bags to the stores, but Wal-Mart? I mean, are we serious? I'd like to think back to the list I made in my head on this year's Earth Day about earth-friendly things that I support or incorporate in my life. As a big coffee drinker, I make it a point to get my regular cups of coffee from places that are fair trade. I have a reusable bag for groceries. I try to make use of various objects that are basically useless by themselves, but quite fun for making jewelry; generally colorful rave-friendly jewelry I can give as little gifts to friends.

Now I'm side-tracking as my next thought was the liberation of a certain substance, but back to Wal-Mart. In order for a product to be fair trade, it requires that the laborers working to produce the product are treated fairly. No human rights laws are violated, people are paid enough to survive etc. And no China, allowing people to get messed up on Crystal Methamphetamines and become slaves of your economic system does not count. I would get over it if it were an organic substance, but its not.

Then I must of course express my feminist disdain for the place. Even if the rest of it was not a complete disgrace to progressive-minded Americans, they still only put cameras in their parking lots to monitor union activity. What about having one of the highest rates of people being kidnapped and raped in their parking lots? Attention redneck women! Do not park your RV in their parking lot overnight! It is not safe like they claim it to be!

So I think my conclusion is that if "going green" is going to be the trend, then there is no room to continue human rights abuses.

To Pierce Or Not To Pierce?

So with my birthday fast approaching this May 11th, (which is brutally the same day as Mother's Day AND a Sunday meaning there isn't much to do) I was thinking of continuing the tradition of getting a piercing. I started out with the less scary rooks and traguses. Which by the way do not hurt to anyone who is considering getting them. The conch was only semi-painful and nose piercing hurt more to take out than to put in. Now my latest and greatest (and more daring) endeavor in body modification may perhaps be the tongue web. The picture to the left displays it. I personally think it looks cool, and it would be easy to hide in my work situation. I am told that it would also be less painful than my most recent piercing which is a dermal anchor over the center of my collarbone.

In thinking about it, I cannot help but thinking about all the comments I have gotten about the ones I already have. Thinking back to Women's Studies on Art and Culture my first semester of college, we discussed body art and modification. What it means to each person, both the wearer and the viewer, the artist and the critic. As many times as people have made positive comments or compared me to "The Raven" in my love of shiny objects, I have also received just as many negative comments. "Masochist" and "born in a storefront" were the strongest. These are the types that make me consider my reasoning deep down.

In a victim mindset, in a world driven by certain expectations of looking "normal," am I hurting myself just to hurt myself or rebelling against a set standard? My mind is in a constant revolution after all; a flurry of new ideas. I certainly wouldn't call myself a rebel without a cause, or wake up and say, "I want to put myself through an immense of pain due to self-hatred." perhaps sub-consciously I do have those thoughts. I cannot rule it out, however I still find that I like looking at piercings on other people. I find that they bring a certain uniqueness, and as a pacifist, I could not stand the thought of another person inflicting pain on themselves. I found myself back in the cyclical art of conversation with one's self. No wonder the world is round. So why didn't people figure that out until 1492? Oh wait, that is western closed-mindedness. Here you go, humanity, I'll give you a little credit back.

Recent Encounters With "Strange" People

Despite frustration with my job at times, I must say that I love the diversity I encounter due to the fact that it is customer service oriented. For the size of the city I would also say it is quite diverse ethnically and by socio-economic class. I've met some of the kindest people at work, and also the rudest, most hypocritical ones. Yet, the ones that stick out the most are the ones that are the most peculiar.

For example, one woman comes in almost everyday of the week with two small girls and buys a random assortment of items. She is rarely there more than twenty minutes. I always ask myself if she has OCD, or is very forgetful. She is very quiet and soft-spoken and I then think perhaps she just needs a reason to leave her house each day. Everyone needs to "get away," but some people do not go as far as others. Former President Theodore Roosevelt went all the way to Sub-Saharan Africa after choosing not to run for a third term, so maybe the store down the street is like Sub-Saharan Africa to some people?

One man has been known to hang around and talk people's ears off for hours at a time. He has a voice I cannot seem to place, but I am constantly expecting him to finish his sentences with a Canadian-style "eh." "This coffee sure is good eh?"

The other day I discovered that the trend of wearing one's pajamas in public has gone beyond those born after 1980. People in their forties now sport dinosaur pajamas and an assortment of other patterns, but I will give them credit for being fully covered. But still, it just seems awkward.

Then again what do I know? I thought it was fun to dress in drag. It also took me awhile to realize that other people find that strange. However just as I believe in reincarnation, I believe everything is cyclical, and perhaps my thoughts on people being labeled as "strange" will go out of style. Lots of things to do. Slavery, New Kids On The Block, corsets...well sort. That all depends on the crowd you roll with.