It truly amazed me that China received the nod for holding the Olympics. They passed up some terrific sites for this smog-filled, totalitarian state.
Unfortunate, but hopefully the athletes will make the best out of it regardless.
Posted by MisterOpus1 at June 2, 2008 12:17 PMThanks for the great article.
As an aside, here's a quick illustration of the power of language:
U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report.
Now, what if this was a report about another country -- say a country that was universally loathed by US media. Oh, maybe Iran or North Korea. Then the choice of words might be different.
Elite U.S. military commandos at Guantanamo Bay allegedly beat up and tortured political prisoners at the request of members of Chinese spy agencies who had come to the island concentraion camp to ....
Funny. Same story, very different connotation.
Remember, by any objective standard Guantanamo is a concentration camp (not a death camp -- there is a distinction). The men imprisoned there are either political prisoners or prisoners of war.
Posted by Anonny at June 2, 2008 03:18 PMWhew... what a sobering read Turkana.
Posted by Seven of Six at June 2, 2008 07:35 PMMy worst fears are coming true. Sobering indeed.
Posted by Judith#1 at June 2, 2008 07:38 PMWe are such hypocrites. If there is a buck to be made, we are first in line.
Posted by Judith#1 at June 2, 2008 07:41 PMThis is what "victory" in the Cold War looks like.
We have met the enemy and he is us. The Communist police state we were supposedly victorious in opposing has become our own state.
The clincher is our managed news -- there's no news in our Pravda On the Hudson, and no truth in our Ivestia On the Potomac.
Posted by mmeo at June 2, 2008 08:23 PMActivists hacked the Olympic website!
Go watch @ http://www.peking2008.com
modern conservatism under Bush has become a traitor to all the Republic stood for
but boot-licking right-wingers (like pants pissing peter) will still rise up on their hind legs to cheer on the destruction of their own liberties
Posted by gay veteran at June 3, 2008 05:38 PMBelieving that either Republicans OR Democrats created this is just another polarization to get the public to fall into the police-state trap. Open your eyes and do what's right, and not because your corrupt political party said so!
Posted by Concerned! at August 17, 2008 08:32 AM