And no, it's not because I get lousy reception on my cable-free TV. Although had I wanted to watch, that factor would have bummed me out considerably. I also realize that one person not tuning in will have no impact whatsoever, but I feel it's the only thing (short of writing letters to the editor I suppose) that I can do. Why China was picked to host is beyond me for starters, and their abysmal record of human rights alone should have prevented that (sadly, their equally poor record of animal welfare/rights didn't get much attention), but the main reason for me is that I think the money spent on the Olympics is a colossal waste regardless of what country is hosting. I believe the figure China is spending is about $20 billion. Twenty billion! Are you kidding me? For an event lasting less than a month? Good grief. Think of how much good could be done with that kind of dough. Cleaning up the environment and helping to eradicate child poverty are but two things that come to mind right away. They say that you can tell where your true priorities lie by looking at where you spend your time, and your money. So do we as individuals and nations really want to see mega dollars used like this?
What do you think?
AMEN! ... Interestingly, not even an hour ago I had mentioned to Nick that no one seems interested in protesting against China for any of their many, many horrifying abuses against animals. I had no idea that they are spending so much money on these games. And I was too busy to follow much of what has been happening, but I did hear about the little girl who sang the Chinese anthem at the opening ceremony. The girl who was seen singing was actually lip-syncing. The girl singing was told, to her face, that she was not attractive enough to be seen, but they would use her "perfect" voice. Wow. And they did it at the last minute. Told the singer, I mean. She's like, 10 years old. What a bunch of #*$#&*(*#)%#-ers! ... You know, with all the doping scandals and such that dog every Olympics, it is not realistic to think that anyone takes all of this seriously enough to warrant any country spending any significant amount of money on it. That is my opinion. And I'm sticking to it. ;) Snort!
Posted by: Krissa | Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Yeah, I'd heard about that little girl too. To her credit she was gracious about it, but I thought the whole thing was sickening.
I have to admit here that I've certainly watched the Olympics in the past, and have gotten caught up in both the hype and spirit, and could even see it being held every year in the same place in order to avoid the monstrous cost involved (not to mention the displacement of local area residents every time), but the way it's conducted now, no. It just doesn't justify the cost.
Posted by: think outside the piggy bank | Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 09:49 PM