davidsmeaton.com

sometimes you find amazing photos on the internet. most are just from regular people who have a gift for finding the right angles and the best shots. i saw this shot a while ago, but i was reminded of it again recently. it’s a great photo taken by a guy called scott stulberg. you can see the rest of his gallery at http://asa100.com

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why did the icc agree to give this country an olympics???

more scary shit coming out of china thanks to a documentary about the effects of the one child policy. apparently it’s illegal to register the birth of a child if the parents are unwed. that means couples who have a baby out of wedlock are forced to bribe an official, pay a massive fine, or sell the child on the black market.

it just gets worse and worse … and there’s nothing being done about it.

the full story is here … people are buying and selling babies to try and get a boy, who would guarantee a better life for the parents … and the demand for babies is so high, that 70 000 children go missing every year, as black market trading steal babies from their homes to meet demand.

in my opinion, china is one of the most evil countries in our time. not only do they harbour militant states like north korea and burma, but they annexed tibet, were responsible for the north/south korea split, and the list of human rights atrocities are endless …

and how do we reward them??? 2008 beijing olympics … what kind of fucked up world is this?

a small online movement called free-burma.org got my attention this week. and they’re proclaiming october 4th as ‘international bloggers’ day for burma’. so, why am i posting a photograph of an amnesty international ad against china? well, i see this as an issue with many points. all of the atrocities in burma are being ignored by the global community just as much as they were 19 years ago when students rose up against the burmese government. the junta has been in control of burma for too long and nobody’s doing anything about it.

america has claimed more sanctions, but american companies like chevron are still making millions. france deplores the violence, but refuse to move their own petrolium companies from burma. the uk has also been vocal and are the second largest investor in burma. japan? asked for a mere apology, which they got, after a japanese citizen was killed. thailand? singapore? nothing …

burma still holds seats in asean and the un. neither of these seats have been taken away or threatened.

what about india? the home of ghandi and the refuge of the dalai lama … well, india is an embarrassing representation of a ‘democratic’ nation. and they’ve even been supplying burma’s military with weapons and training.

so, that leaves china. a country which i’m growing increasingly hateful towards. the chinese are brazen about their attitudes in international politics. their annexation of tibet barely registered in the global community. china also harbours north korea and burma’s military governments, defending them against criticism or retribution by america or the united nations.

china is a horribly hypocritical nation. they’re claiming to do so many wonderful things … and they’re claiming to clean up their country ahead of the olympics. while on the other hand, china continues to oppress freedoms and support the bullshit in nations like burma.

if the icc stepped in tomorrow and threatened to cancel the beijing olympics … or if a dozen powerful nations (america, england, france, germany, australia, canada and a few others) threatened to boycott the olympics, china would toss north korea and burma out into the cold. china only has china’s own interests at heart … and they continue to support despotic regimes while it suits them to do so.

if china was as civilised as they’re pretending to be, burma would be a free and democratic nation today.

support a free burma by visiting free-burma.org …

even though the demonstrations seem to have been quelled, the stories coming out are that monks have been killed, locked in their monasteries, or harassed into submission. this photo from the media shows the monks as their rallied together to protest against burma’s ruling military junta. the result was swift action and international condemnation.