My own Olympic FAIL

I made no secret of my boycott of the Beijing Olympics - it was a no-brainer for me.  Somewhere along the way since that summer in 2008 my disgust with the International Olympic Committee along with the state of the economy, and a handful of other reasons, I surmised that the ethical thing to do would be to boycott all Olympic Games, so that's what I did. 

Now I find myself regretting that decision.  I would have loved nothing more than to watch the men's game tonight and be part of the celebrations. To be specific I would have loved nothing more than to take my younger brother into Toronto so he could be part of the celebrations too. That could have been his birthday present and it's something he would have enjoyed very much. 

I happened to be in Toronto the last time we took home hockey gold.  The celebration on the street was unlike anything I'd experience before, or since.  The atmosphere was pure euphoria and good will.  It was an incredible thing to witness, people brought and creating that kind of energy.  Just to be clear I am always moved when people come together in a positive way.  I was on cloud 9 when 200 people came together in Oakville to stand up for democracy.  People coming together strikes a very deep chord inside me, I'm just wired that way I guess.

I wrote an essay about the Toronto celebrations for my undergrad Popular Culture course, and I was really proud of it.  It was very well written and I was pleased with the way I captured the euphoric atmosphere that night.  My TA eviscerated that paper on the single basis that I had allowed myself to buy in the the euphoria that night. She told me I would have received a better mark if I'd identified that the reason for the euphoria was nothing but bullshit.  Like only simple minded folk would think the win was worth celebrating.  She thought I should be above that sort of thing.  And because I hadn't been above that sort of thing she thought less of me and I started doubting myself.

Intelligence is one of the qualities I admire most in others.  In this case I let a person I considered intellectually superior make me ashamed for not sharing her view on the topic.  And when I read people I respect denouncing the Olympics and Nationalism that insecurity came flooding back. Are there valid concerns about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? Absolutely.  An astonishing amount of money was spent at a time we can least afford to spend it, and homelessness in Vancouver has actually increased since the games were announced.  I think we can be cognizant of  those issues and share what we know and still enjoy what's worth celebrating about the Olympics.  Like Gold in Women and Men's hockey.  I'm thrilled for the players and the fans, and I'm trying not to care who knows it ; )  

logic FAIL

I read a post on an anti-BSL string on Facebook, the author argued that wearing faux fur is no better than wearing real fur, except there's no cruelty, because it still looks like fur and thus promotes the idea that it's ok to wear fur.  That's hands down the stupidest argument I've ever read in my life.

To say that faux fur is just like fur "except for the cruelty", well that's a BIG exception to most of us. If we apply this logic to BSL, one could argue that owning a pitbull is the same as owning a fighting dog, "except for the cruelty", because pitbulls look like fighting dogs thus owning a pitbull promotes dog fighting. FAIL.

Say we stick to applying that logic to consumer products rather than companion animals.  One could argue that eating meat substitutes like veggie chilli or veggie burgers is the same as eating chilli with ground beef, or beef hamburgers, "except for the cruelty", because it looks like meat and is used in place of meat thus vegetarian meals promote eating meat. FAIL.

I'm all for people having different philosophies and convictions but before publicly bitchslaping someone by claiming that his or her choice or position is unethical, which this poster did to another poster, make a sensible argument, ok?

People > $

We have a responsibility toward one another. Even during a recession. At this year's G8 summit, HIV-AIDS was not even mentioned. The G8 leaders have already acknowledged that the human cost of HIV-AIDS in poorer countries is catastrophic. In 2005 they pledged universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010. In many parts of Africa entire generations are being wiped out by AIDS. It's easy to turn a blind eye to what's happening on the other side of the world when so many are facing difficult times in North America. But the issue of universal treatment is obviously one of life or death. You can read more here

It's a jungle out there!

I went back and forth on whether or not I should post this. I'm sure it's not great for my karma but it's so RANDOM and I thought some of you might like to know what we gals are subjected to in the world of online dating (and no, it's not all bad). This is the profile of someone who contacted me recently. Um, maybe you should just read it.

In My Own Words

Okay first of all. Stop lying to yourself.

You all say you are looking for Mr. Right lol
But yet you always find yourself with Mr. Wrong

Time to wake up

Your on here searching for the exact same thing
that brought you here in the first place. The fact that
you can not find the right guy that will treat you with
respect for more than one night.
So stop lying to yourself and thinking that the next
guy that's flexing his muscles or fixing his hair will be the one.

Sure you can close this profile and keep searching
through endless photos of pretty boys with nothing
more to offer than a boring ride in the sack. Really I
won't mind you will just be proving my point.

But the fact that you are still reading this means you
are actually thinking about what I said and your intrigued
by what I might say next. So i suggest you read on
and maybe you will see someone that will make you fall
in love with him every day and show you the true
meaning of romance and passion.

Now I admit i may not be the best looking guy
and personally I don't try to be who I am not
What you see is what you get.

I am just a guy, with a big heart, a great sense of
humor, a passion for adventure, romance, trustworthy,
loving, honest, caring, loyal, thoughtful, a great cook,
intelligent, funny, secure,
and a big teddy bear when you just need a hug.

So when you are ready for a real man and to
have the greatest adventure of your life, together
just send me a mail.

A tad presumptuous, yes? So - if I'm getting this right - we're all sluts with low self esteem who will throw ourselves at the first pretty boy that comes along, pretty boys will never be interested in anything other than sex and we should stop being so superficial and shallow and give this big teddy bear a chance. Does that sound about right? I should also note that our "teddy bear" is standing beside his red Mercedes in his profile picture, and the model is part of his username. FAIL.

So why post the profile? Because as soon as I was able to get past being shocked I started feeling pretty angry. What misogynistic bullshit. He's either assuming women are used to being treated with disrespect or he's targeting women who are expecting to or afraid of being used by men, which is even worse.

He's not doing his own gender any favours either. So if a man is attractive he's got nothing to offer (other than a shag of course)? I know a lot of great looking guys who are also amazing people. Some of them are reading this! You know who you are ;)

But according to our friend, if a woman wants a man who will be nice to her she's got to settle for someone like him. And if she's not interested that means she's superficial, right? Whatever you say Mercedes boy.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain....

I decided to boycott the Beijing Olympics a few years ago. The oppression of the Tibetan people and the intentional erosion of Tibetan culture will, according to the Dalai Lama, eventually give way to truth and peace. I want to believe that. There are only a few things that have ever made me feel as hopeless and defeated as the tragedy of Tibet, which continues to play out day after day. Those feelings only last a moment - the impact is felt much longer. The idea that defeat may be inevitable, or to put it another way, that restoring Tibet's autonomy may be impossible, is deeply unsettling. I'm usually comforted by my own faith that injstice will be set right. When it comes to Tibet I can't find that faith, so I'm comforted by the Dalai Lama's assurance that injustice is always impermanent.

Interestingly the Dalai Lama would not have us boycott the Beijing Olympics. This is in keeping with the Buddhist principal of non-violence or non-harming. Athletes who have trained and stuggled and sacrificed shouldn't become casualties of the Chinese government, directly or indirectly. Yet I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch the games, and even as I continue to boycott I can't help but hear about the Chinese government's attempts to mislead, deceive and oppress .

China has a fascinating history and when the 2008 Olympics were awareded to Beijing, for better or worse, the Chinese government was given an opportunity to shine and promote its country and showcase its rich culture. Instead it concerned itself with phony fireworks, quieting protesters, and finding a "cute" child to lipsynch at the opening ceremonies. The Chinese government is not content to let its country's merits speak for themselves. And whatever credibility they had has been completely blown out of the water. The government wants to control how it is perceived and it will mislead and deceive in order to maintain that control (suddenly the Chinese government does not sound much different than our own). This certainly isn't a case of style without substance because there is enough "substance" in China's culture and heritage for 10 Olympic games. Yet the government plots and plans and puts on a show designed to convince the world that it is The Great and Powerful Oz , all the while hoping desperately that the world will "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"... It needn't worry because as usual, nobody calls it out on its bullshit. I mean REALLY calls it out.

So where does that leave it? Where does that leave us? Where does that leave Tibet?