this blog is going political

i have thus far refrained from using my blog as a political soapbox. when i tell people i blog, most assume that it is about all things politics, due to my interest in politics and to the fact that blogs are most often associated with political issues. i originally wanted mine to be different. however, as the olympics near, i cannot help but express my outrage and feelings over the chinese and their callous and systematic, and also rather ignorant, way of hosting the olympic games. i have just read the latest story in a string of them: that the chinese government has denied a visa to a winter games athlete wanting to enter the country to cheer on fellow members of "team darfur," a group of athletes who also happen to be activists against the sudanese government's genocide in darfur. the sudanese government is heavily supported economically by the chinese government, thus their reasoning in denying this athlete a visa. i also read today of how the chinese pull children out of their villages to rigorously train for the olympic games under the close eye of a propaganda minister (really??) and a coach. their every word is scrutinized by these officials, and when interviewed by reporters, all answers relay back to their sport; their is no diversion. china, i promise we won't think less of your athletes' abilities if they just happen to have other hobbies than ping pong. china has also torn down homes and businesses in order to beautify the path to the games and of the torch. they have also told their citizens how to behave around foreigners, with some of the most ludicrous rules including to not wear more than three colors at a time and to wear dark, not white, socks. they are so taking it overboard. what they should be doing instead is improving the things about which the world does care, like the elimination of the genocide in darfur and the suppression of the tibetans. many have railed against the committee who chose china to host the games, saying that it should not be held in a communist country. well, sorry, but the soviet union and even hitler's germany hosted the games. in my opinion, this is the best thing that could have happened for for those wanting to shed light on the situation in their country. while china may think that we are checking out their crumbling structures and socks, our eyes are set on their failure to put humans at the top of their priority list.