April 16th 2008
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Life, News, Politics
Several blogs today report on a current trend with the popular instant messaging program MSN/Windows Live Messenger. 
Chinese internet users are adding a “love China” icon to their screen names in support of their country and in protest to perceived Western bullying seen in recent Olympic protests.
From SushiPanda, linked above:
Over half of my Chinese-Chinese friends on MSN have put the badge on their contact names, in defiance of all the anti-China bullying that they’re undoubtedly reading about in the Chinese newspapers, watching on the Chinese news, and scouring over on the hundreds of blogs and BBS’s peppering China’s cyberscape and devoted to propping up this country’s national pride.
I’ve no problem with patriotism, within limits of course, but we all know that information is manipulated in an unprecedented way in China and it’s a shame that the people - the good people of China - don’t realise why foreigners do protest. It’s nice to see that Chinese internet users can rally together like this, but just a shame they seem to have a misguided view.
February 11th 2008
Life, Politics
When it was announced that China would be hosting the 2008 Olympic games, I was quite literally disgusted. Since then, China has built (and is still building in some cases) the facilities for the summer event. This has come at a cost to both the population and the government. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have been forced out of their homes. Dogs have been dragged off the streets. Murdered in front of their owners. Homeless people have been kicked out of Beijing. Builders are working under conditions Health and Safety here in the UK would have a field day with. All because the Chinese government want to present an image of Beijing that satisfies western ideals. Just so that we feel comfortable going there.
Today, the Daily Mail and several other papers report that British athletes are being forced to give up their right to freedom of speech in order to compete. It honestly makes me sick. I’ve always said we should boycott these Olympics. I still believe this. Why are we supporting China? They’re still a communist dictatorship.
What are your views?
July 24th 2007
Blogging, Politics
I don’t know about other people but I’m getting seriously pissed off at Russia and it’s president who is so paranoid about his image and his country’s image that he has to display acts of ’strength’ and ‘macho-ism’ more often than using money to do things that actually benefit people other than high communist government officials.
It seemed that we were all fine when Russia’s president threatened to launch nuclear-capable missiles at us and now we are not even flinching as Russia puts forth its territorial claim to the Arctic. Personally, I’m alarmed and annoyed by yet another show of how greedy and naive the Russian government is. Russia is a country of over 17 million square kilometres - the largest country by area in the world - and has one of the worst poverty situations in the developed nations and now wants to stamp its ugly claim on the Arctic and the North Pole.
Cold Control
Historically, no country owns the North Pole and the countries surrounding the area are limited to a 200 mile economic zone around their coasts which is theirs to claim and defend. The United Nations wrote a clause into the agreement that all of those nations signed that said if they could prove that the Arctic continent was an extension from the continental plate they are on. Russia has been gathering evidence to support their claim that an area of the Arctic, including the North Pole, is actually such an extension.
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June 9th 2007
Blogging, Life, Politics
When I was listening to the news the other day, I could not believe what I was hearing. I thought the news was replaying a clip from cold war era. Russian President Vladimir Putin was threatening to aim potentially nuclear weapons at sites around Europe because some countries had agreed to play host to American anti-missile and radar sites. If it’s his aim to piss off most of the world, he’s succeeded. I’m going to allow myself some less than appropriate language here and say to mister former secret agent; where the hell do you get off threatening Europe with missile attack? Have you been in a coma for the past sixty years? Mr. Putin, why are you so against a defence system for Europe and America? Is it because it’s America’s system? I don’t understand you, Mr. Putin, why don’t you want me to be safe from the evil in the world? Well, enough of those common words. Let us enjoy a read and discuss the implications of America’s new ‘defence’ system.
Big-Arse America
If you haven’t been keeping up with America’s expanding international presence lately then you may not have heard about their growing plans to set up an anti-missile defence system around Europe and their own territory to combat what they think is a real and growing threat from ‘evil’ countries like Iran and North Korea. Their system involves a number of radar and missile sites throughout Europe - one radar site is located here in the UK. Mr. Putin’s outrageous comments came after it was announced America wanted to place sites in Poland and the Czech Republic - former Soviet states and signatories of the Warsaw Pact.
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Chinese internet users are adding a “love China” icon to their screen names in support of their country and in protest to perceived Western bullying seen in recent Olympic protests.