In case you missed the opening ceremonies or just want to relive 5,000 years of Chinese history

I said that since he's stated that he's boycotting watching the games, how can he offer commentary on them?

must've been inconvenient to reply to the correct post.

Good questions lynn, and a much more interesting read then the spat between sheenaspleena and

I really do believe the games are a good thing, and that most countries dont spend a disproportionate amount of their GDP on the games so that doesnt concern me so much. Its really their choice how they spend their money. My problem doesnt stem from China being IN the games rather it is their HOSTING of the games. Its been used as a propaganda tool for the Chinese government, and rather than making things better it has in some ways made things worse. There has been a massive crackdown to keep order going into the games, people have been forced to drasticly change their lives to cut down on the smog so people from out of town do not need to deal with pollution. Reducing pollution is a good thing, but keep in mind that 5 minutes after the last spectator leaves they will allow the factories to reopen and the cars to hit the road.

My problems with the Chinese government started when I encountered a Tibetan Monk , in a writing class of all places, and I started talking to him. Ive never waved the flags with them in Harvard Square, and Im not Richard Gere, I havent converted to their religion or given them any money. It just made me think, for myself, about what we are willing to put up with in order to lead our comfortable lives. Anyone who reads my posts knows Im a conservative, follow the rules, 9-5 , white guy, so its not like Im a hippy or anything.

As for the Russians and our own recent transgressions I have to partially agree with you. What Russia is doing all around its borders seems insane and is not fully justified. My boycott doesnt extend to them because they are not hosting the games, just participating, its as simple as that. In addition the Russians dont care if I hate them, the Chinese government actually does care what we think of them, otherwise they wouldnt be doing the Olympics. Also I get the impression that this Russia/Georgia thing comes down to controlling territory where oil and other natural resources travelthrough, which in turn could mean this is and has always been about controlling resources. I dont condone what the Russians are doing but at least I can make some sense out of it, its a simple power grab, kind of like Saddam and Kuwait in the early 90's. I dont believe Tibet is sitting on field of coal or resovoir of oil or has anything that the Chinese really want control of , other than the people. Once again killing people to get something doesnt make it right, it just makes it more logical.

As for the U.S. and our recent wars , I voted for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2008. I have effectivly been boycotting the Republicans since 1999 when Bush took the primary (I had voted for McCain in that primary, in retrospect it would have been just as bad, so one mistake!) I took action against those who I feel started out war in Iraq. China doesnt have a two party system for me to choose from, so if I hate the decision there is no other group for me to fall back on like you can in a real democracy. The party is the state , the state is the party, no seperation. At least in the US if you truely disagree with the Iraq war you can pick people who will end it, apparently we have chosen not to do that over the past several years, but at least we had a choice.