The Compressing World

It sure has been a long time since I've posted. This should be surprising between all the reading I've been doing, the Whitney Biennial, the Armory Show, the Murakami exhibit.

While these events keep my interest, the larger world has been compressing into a narrow scope and I'd like reflect on them. No one reads this thing, so I'll let it be my open soapbox.

The China Issue
The protests in China and everywhere the Olympic torch travels has been big international news. Every video I see of a protester leaping towards the Olympic torch I go breathless, hoping the flame goes out. China views these protests despicable, claiming that politics shouldn't get in the way of this sports event. This, in my mind, makes the political workings of China more obvious.

Nazis Germany was the first country to come up with the torch idea. It was a political move intended to display Germany's power and place in the world. Can we imagine it's any different for China, the world's new superpower? We have a rich communist country which covers up any bad deeds, has deplorable human rights, and supports governments that engage in genocide. China has not only done questionable things to Tibetans, but they're trade partners with Sudan. They help fund the genocide in Darfur.

With China being so unapologetic, why isn't there more outrage? It certainly doesn't help that China not only helps Sudan, but our Iraq War is being put on credit from the Chinese government. Bush doesn't want to slam his main lender when we can't pay them off.

It's clear to me that the only way we can, in a local sense, clean our hands of this mess is to speak up and learn more. We shouldn't buy so many products from China, though with our dollar dropping value Chinese goods won't be as cheap as they used to be. I would like to see America boycott the Olympic Games Opening, though a full boycott would be excessive and unfair to athletes who normally don't get much attention. If anything, we should be participating and engaging in subtle rebellion. We should win metals and, while being on our podium, speak a message that deplores inhumanity. That's what the Olympics should represent.

Details on the "Genocide Olympics" / New York Times "Monks Disrupt Media Tour in China"

The ??? Years War
The slippery slope of the Iraq War continues. Commander Petraeus, despite being in this battle for five years, has absolutely no idea how long it will take before we can reduce our troop numbers. By his plan, he needs forty-five days before he can even begin to think about what to do in Iraq. Then, after a "period" of reflection, he'll be able to assess what is happening in Iraq and create a strategy for.... who knows???

Again, people should be angry. If it takes months to figure out the most broad strategies, we have a horribly bureaucratic military. It seems as though the United States were able to do so much more with so much less in World War II.

Meanwhile, Iraq has close ties with Iran. Iran is enriching uranium.

The world is small, confusing, largely self serving and wrong. I can't stop watching it and hope for some opportunity to engage and change it. Perhaps I need to get involved in politics.

Petraeus analysis and detail on NPR.