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JohnnyMack
3/26/2008, 10:00 PM
Should the U.S. of A. boycott these games?

Why or why not?

Discuss.

Soonerus
3/26/2008, 10:00 PM
No...

royalfan5
3/26/2008, 10:01 PM
No. It would be an empty gesture. IMO

JohnnyMack
3/26/2008, 10:02 PM
No...

Nice job backing up your argument you dillhole.

Harry Beanbag
3/26/2008, 10:03 PM
No. Boycotts are lame.

SeattleOUstudent
3/26/2008, 10:03 PM
We wont boycott. Not unless there are mass-killings.

Now Prezzy says he will go to the opening ceremony. France's Prezzy says he aint goin.

Whet
3/26/2008, 10:03 PM
yes, for the health of the athletes...... and, since Mexico will not be sending anyone to China, we would not want appear ungrateful to our neighbors!

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:04 PM
Yes. If we decide to, much of the west will probably follow suit (many have already voiced the idea) and it will embarrass China on a global scale and perhaps force a change.

Soonerus
3/26/2008, 10:04 PM
Nice job backing up your argument you dillhole.

Is that a yellow or red ??? let us know...

Harry Beanbag
3/26/2008, 10:05 PM
Yes. If we decide to, much of the west will probably follow suit (many have already voiced the idea) and it will embarrass China on a global scale and perhaps force a change.

What change was forced the last time we boycotted the Olympics?

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:05 PM
Is that a yellow or red ??? let us know...

DOUBLE STANDARD!!!!!1





























:rolleyes:

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:07 PM
What change was forced the last time we boycotted the Olympics?

True, but I really think that if we did this, we wouldn't be alone. China desperately wants to be accepted, and this kind of international shaming might do the trick. It would at least let the poor Tibetans know that there plight is known worldwide.

JohnnyMack
3/26/2008, 10:07 PM
.

JohnnyMack
3/26/2008, 10:08 PM
Is that a yellow or red ??? let us know...

http://watersecretsblog.com/archives/teflon.gif

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:08 PM
http://www.holscot.com/images/TEFLON1.gif

is you had replaced one 'l' with a 'c' and the other right next to it with a 'k', then not even DuPont would save yer arse

Soonerus
3/26/2008, 10:08 PM
What is funny is, I responded "No..." with no supporting verbiage just to see if some fish would bite...mission accomplished...

birddog
3/26/2008, 10:10 PM
no, black lung builds character.

mdklatt
3/26/2008, 10:10 PM
Mexico will not be sending anyone to China

That's because all the Mexicans that can swim are in Texas.

:texan: :pop: :twinkies: :chicken:

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:12 PM
That's because all the Mexicans that can swim are in Texas.

:texan: :pop: :twinkies: :chicken:

Boooo!

:D

Vaevictis
3/26/2008, 10:15 PM
True, but I really think that if we did this, we wouldn't be alone. China desperately wants to be accepted, and this kind of international shaming might do the trick. It would at least let the poor Tibetans know that there plight is known worldwide.

IMO, it won't do the trick. It will make them dig in their heels even further.

It might be the right thing to do as a gesture towards Tibet, but there's nothing we're willing to do that is going to get China to back off of Tibet.

royalfan5
3/26/2008, 10:25 PM
Honestly if this was going to be a big issue, it should have been brought up when they were awarding the games. It's not like China has changed suddenly or invaded Afghanistan or something.

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:34 PM
Honestly if this was going to be a big issue, it should have been brought up when they were awarding the games. It's not like China has changed suddenly or invaded Iraq or something.

:D

I made myself sad:(

Ike
3/26/2008, 10:40 PM
Should we? Sure. Will we? hell no. At least not as a nation. First off, as much as we like to complain about human rights stuff in China, we've shown historically that we aren't concerned about it enough to **** them off.
With the amount that corporations here have invested in the Olympics, we'd be costing them a lot of money if we boycotted them. There's just no way we have the spine to do that.

Sooner_Havok
3/26/2008, 10:41 PM
Should we? Sure. Will we? hell no. At least not as a nation. First off, as much as we like to complain about human rights stuff in China, we've shown historically that we aren't concerned about it enough to **** them off.
With the amount that corporations here have invested in the Olympics, we'd be costing them a lot of money if we boycotted them. There's just no way we have the spine to do that.

Nicely put. :pop:

Stoop Dawg
3/26/2008, 10:57 PM
There are more productive ways of influencing China than boycotting a sporting event.

That said, my problem with this incident is not necessarily just the violence and treatment of the protesters. The thing that should be the most embarrassing for China is the fact that they find it necessary to censor the events to their own population.

Hey China, why do you censor the news and lock down internet access for you own people? Is it because your government is such a piece of **** that if your citizens knew what was going on the in the world they would toss you out on your ***? Must make you feel pretty good about yourself, huh?

mynameisjoe
3/27/2008, 12:52 AM
Another reason why they should have given the 2008 games to Toronto (who came in 2nd in the voting). Only controversy would have been the PO'd Torontonians complaining about traffic.

Anyways, no, we shouldn't boycott the games. It was a mistake the last time, and it would be a mistake again.

Ike
3/27/2008, 01:01 AM
While I do agree that boycotting doesn't really do anything to affect change, I also believe that participation does nothing to affect change either.



IMO though, a stronger message would be sent if individual athletes decided to boycott. I don't think many will because athletes for the most part just want to do what they've been training all their lives to do, but if any of them do, I'll give em some green spek.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/27/2008, 01:07 AM
Another reason why they should have given the 2008 games to Toronto (who came in 2nd in the voting). Only controversy would have been the PO'd Torontonians complaining about traffic.

Anyways, no, we shouldn't boycott the games. It was a mistake the last time, and it would be a mistake again.It sure got us a lot of medals in 1984, when the Ruskies retaliated, and didn't send a team to Los Angeles. Man, did our freestyle wrestling team ever kick a*s!

Sooner_Havok
3/27/2008, 01:29 AM
I am just surprised that they got the Buddhists fighting back. I mean really, they one religion in the world that has never started **** with anyone for any reason, and China feels the need to crush them?

Chuck Bao
3/27/2008, 04:41 AM
Yes, definitely.

But, I agree 100% with Ike on both points: 1) a boycott will not happen because of US corporate interests and 2) the best chance is with individual athletes to boycott the games due to China’s failure to recognize human rights, self autonomy, representation and democracy.

Smart man, that Ike.

If enough athletes decide to boycott the Olympics, it would definitely embarrass China.

That is a huge sacrifice to ask of athletes who have devoted their lives to training for their sport.

I realize that that sacrifice could also be called hollow, as other posters clearly pointed out that it will not effect any change in China’s policy of crushing and degrading of the human spirit for the sake of national interests.

On the other hand, the modern Olympic ideal is the individual and drive for excellence and competition. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be about national anthems and flag raising and waving.

Until the Olympics gets that part right, it is going to be political.

Unfortunately , the US is the biggest part of this problem. Without the national pride and flag and anthem, the ratings may not be so high on it, nor the corporate sponsors.

China is just playing the game and they will do it exceedingly well.

A friend and I were talking about this yesterday. Tibet freedom protestors are sacrificing their lives now and, to their credit, they’re doing it at the optimum time to get international exposure. And, they are also sacrificing their family and friends because China is going to come after them hell on wheels after the Olympic games are over.

Athletes with their medals proudly around their neck should keep that in mind after all of the flag waving stuff is over.

Curly Bill
3/27/2008, 09:15 AM
The legacy of lost opportunities from the 1980 boycott ensures that it won't happen again. Let the athletes go be athletes and let the politicians worry about China and it's political & human rights record.

Chuck Bao
3/27/2008, 11:29 AM
The legacy of lost opportunities from the 1980 boycott ensures that it won't happen again. Let the athletes go be athletes and let the politicians worry about China and it's political & human rights record.

You are getting warmer, but not yet close. The key thing is drop the whole nationalistic pride out of it. Then, let the athletes be the athletes without the politics.

frankensooner
3/27/2008, 11:37 AM
I wouldn't want to be making China angry right now since they own hundreds of billions in US treasury notes. ;)

colleyvillesooner
3/27/2008, 11:37 AM
I'm going to be in CHina again this summer and I was hoping to end my trip with a jaunt through Beijing for the games. Maybe not now though...

colleyvillesooner
3/27/2008, 11:39 AM
What is funny is, I responded "No..." with no supporting verbiage just to see if some fish would bite...mission accomplished...

So you baited huh?

Tsk, Tsk...


* Flamebaiting, including in signatures and avatars

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109770

Probably just another yellow for you. :D

shaun4411
3/27/2008, 11:48 AM
why? what's the point? people have trained and prepared for this event their entire lives. this isnt a political event. the us government isnt being represented here.

StoopTroup
3/27/2008, 11:53 AM
I say we go over there take all the medals and show them how great we are.

Then afterwards the US can pass a law that boycotts Corporations who are farming out jobs to China.

shaun4411
3/27/2008, 12:06 PM
i hope the basketball team shows up

SoonerBOI
3/27/2008, 12:41 PM
Should the U.S. of A. boycott these games?

Why or why not?

Discuss.

No. Our country may be in conflict with a myriad aspects of Chinese policy, government, or leadership, but the Olympics are definitely not the proper place to make a demonstration of our disapproval. Boycotting violates the entire spirit of the Olympics, which is to put aside our differences and gather together in an international event that fosters goodwill, unity as well as healthy competition.

Stoop Dawg
3/27/2008, 01:30 PM
I wouldn't want to be making China angry right now since they own hundreds of billions in US treasury notes. ;)

China shouldn't want to make Americans angry right now since we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the cheap crap they make over there.

Oh, you want to cash in your t-bills? Hmmm, I think we're gonna hafta raise some tariffs to pay those off. Let's see, imports from China, those sound good. What? That's gonna hurt sales of your goods? Hmmm......

Howzit
3/27/2008, 01:33 PM
No.

They might make us pay back all that money we're borrowing early.

soonermix
3/27/2008, 01:42 PM
yeah for women's beach volleyball

Ruuuuuufus
3/27/2008, 04:01 PM
http://www.marriedtothesea.com/032708/olympic-diving-team.gif

Chuck Bao
4/18/2008, 09:13 PM
I'm thinking about protesting the Olympic torch relay in Bangkok this morning. It is supposed to run 11km from Chinatown to the Grand Palace.

I've already made a few signs and it will take another hour to get the photo shop to blow them up to sign size.

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/freetibet1.gif

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/freetibet3.jpg

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/freetibet2.jpg

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/freetibet5.jpg

This one I stole from:

http://www.tibetanfreedomtorch.org/

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/tibet-olympics.jpg

If anyone has better ideas, I would appreciate them.

The Thai police have been warning for a week already that anyone protesting will be either arrested or deported.

So, I don't know if it's worth the risk or not.

The whole thing is probably over anyway. They’ve probably changed the time and did it at 6am or something. That would be a moral victory, well in my view.

Jerk
4/18/2008, 09:19 PM
Thermite, Chuck. Thermite. Look it up.

If the Chinese dude standing in front of the tank in 1989 would have had a thermite grenade, bye bye commie tank. Place it on the hatch and light it, it gets 4,500 degrees, and will melt through anything. Google/youtube 'thermite;' An effective weapon against leftists in tanks, and can be made with hardware store materials.

Burn alive mother******s. That's what I say.

RacerX
4/18/2008, 10:52 PM
Is dickweed an internationally understood term?

RacerX
4/18/2008, 10:53 PM
I'm ready for the Olympics to be done, as in no more Olympics.

Jerk
4/18/2008, 10:56 PM
Is dickweed an internationally understood term?

Nope. The only commonly understood language is violence.

Chuck Bao
4/18/2008, 11:12 PM
I agree with your sentiments there, Jerk, and I did look up Thermite. But, I wasn't really going for that blowing up tanks angle.

And, RacerX, I plugged in Dickweed into an online English-Chinese dictionary and you are right. I got nothing.

I did get this for penis 名 阳物 and this for head 名 头, so I'm making some last minute changes to my signs.

Thanks.

tommieharris91
4/18/2008, 11:20 PM
I wouldn't want to be making China angry right now since they own hundreds of billions in US treasury notes. ;)

That would be $1.4 trillion, and most of that is held in cash.

Chuck Bao
4/18/2008, 11:25 PM
Is that a long British trillion or a short American trillion?

Oh nevermind! It's already too much and if they want at least half of that back, they can't start pulling it out now.

We got 'em by the short and curlies.

Okla-homey
4/19/2008, 06:08 AM
Boycott schmoycott.

IMHO its absurd for anyone to boycott the darn Peking Olympics who resides in, represents or leads a country whose retail store shelves literally sag under the weight of all the Chinese manufactured goods. Put another way, most of the people getting all worked up over the Peking Olympics buy and possess an awful lot of stuff made in the PRC.

Thus, I call any proposed Olympic boycott "the Peking Duck" because it ducks the only real way to get the PRC's attention over their alleged human rights abuses while somehow making the boycott-er feel better.

Form over substance.

You wanna get China's attention? Boycott Chinese made goods. And Wal-Mart.

olevetonahill
4/19/2008, 06:14 AM
Is that a yellow or red ??? let us know...

He didnt say dikhole ,
Pay atention :D

OUWxGuesser
4/19/2008, 11:29 AM
I am just surprised that they got the Buddhists fighting back. I mean really, they one religion in the world that has never started **** with anyone for any reason

Tibet is actually a pretty whacked situation, and way more complicated than what the "Free Tibet" peeps want to admit. Do people realize the buddhist monks ran a society with slavery? The llamas were the masters. It's also known they have beat people in order to get them to pray, etc. China came in and took control, and removed the Llamas from power stopping the slavery. They've actually pumped a boatload of $$$ into the region to a) "educate people" and b) enhance services. Of course nothing is one-sided. China historically has a pretty bad record, and we're all aware of their media censorship.

Regardless, boycotting would be stupid. I work with a few Chinese, and they're no different than any of us. Blame the gov, not the people.

Frozen Sooner
4/19/2008, 11:32 AM
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/other/llama/Llama4.jpg

STOP HIS REIGN OF TERROR!!!

yermom
4/19/2008, 12:15 PM
Boycott schmoycott.

IMHO its absurd for anyone to boycott the darn Peking Olympics who resides in, represents or leads a country whose retail store shelves literally sag under the weight of all the Chinese manufactured goods. Put another way, most of the people getting all worked up over the Peking Olympics buy and possess an awful lot of stuff made in the PRC.

Thus, I call any proposed Olympic boycott "the Peking Duck" because it ducks the only real way to get the PRC's attention over their alleged human rights abuses while somehow making the boycott-er feel better.

Form over substance.

You wanna get China's attention? Boycott Chinese made goods. And Wal-Mart.

pretty much. it's pretty hollow to gripe about this and then buy their $.99 plastic crap from Wal-Mart

i'm boycotting anyway, because the Olympics are teh lame

Jerk
4/19/2008, 02:24 PM
pretty much. it's pretty hollow to gripe about this and then buy their $.99 plastic crap from Wal-Mart

i'm boycotting anyway, because the Olympics are teh lame

Me too. Except the pole vaulting girl. I'm going to check her out.

GottaHavePride
4/19/2008, 03:11 PM
I like the Olympics.


Not as much as I like the World Cup, but still.

Chuck Bao
4/19/2008, 05:20 PM
I can’t think of one single item that I own that was manufactured in China. So, that’s not my issue. But, I understand that it could be yours, Homey.

American consumers are always free to boycott merchandise from any particular country and for whatever reason whether rational or irrational. The Olympics do not change that.

My issue is that China craves international respect and acceptance while refusing to grant basic rights to its own people and occupied territories. They are hijacking the Olympics and the Olympic ideals as a form of propaganda. Of course, they are not the first to do that and it certainly is not on par with the ’36 Olympics in Berlin. But, they are taking it far beyond what we’ve seen in recent Olympics, in my opinion.

Why else did they set up this massive international torch relay? I think it has backfired terribly for them and I’m glad to see that. And, I wanted to participate in my own small way. I didn’t go, by the way.

I am a big sports fan and that is why I post here. I love watching the Olympics, particularly track and field. I’ve stated it before and I will state it again: I wish the Olympics were free from politics and nationalism.

Even though the international propaganda is not working, domestically it is. What I’m hearing from several sources in China is that nationalistic pride is being whipped up to near fever pitch. I want to be clear: this is not red book waving Chinese communism, but welling support for extreme right-wing Chinese nationalism.

China is not post-WWII and newly industrialized Japan and Korea. China has a very big chip on its shoulder.

Come August, I predict the Chinese national anthem will be playing a lot.

I predict that US TV audiences will increasingly tune it out.

After the Olympics, I predict that China takes stronger measures to eliminate the freedom fighters in Tibet.

Stoop Dawg
4/21/2008, 10:09 AM
You wanna get China's attention? Boycott Chinese made goods.

I have to admit that I'm not 100% certain how to do that. When I look at the pretty box on the shelf, how do I know where it was made?

Mjcpr
4/21/2008, 10:10 AM
I have to admit that I'm not 100% certain how to do that. When I look at the pretty box on the shelf, how do I know where it was made?

About 99% of the time, that pretty box will have words to the effect of: MADE IN ________________. With ________________ being where it was made.

YWIA

Chuck Bao
4/24/2008, 09:31 PM
The Olympic torch relay went from Thailand to Malaysia to Indonesia and the Australia.

Of course, Australian are the consummate sportsmen and previous hosts of the Olympics, but they even got a bit chaffed at the Chinese track suits accompanying the torch.

Funny that.

And, I was a bit surprised to see New York Times' Nicholas D. Kristof's take on similarities between US and China.

Some of you may agree or disagree and if that's the case I hope we agree to disagree.

Essentially, he said that China’s problems are rather similar to America’s - an obliviousness to how one’s own country is perceived abroad, a nationalistic people who are sometimes blind to the power of nationalism on the part of others (e.g. Iraqis and Tibetans), lousy leadership in the center, and a tendency to take steps intended to preserve national security that end up undermining that security.

I don't know about that, but the Olympics, like it or not, is turning into a pretty big political issue.

Stoop Dawg
4/25/2008, 01:37 PM
Essentially, he said that China’s problems are rather similar to America’s - an obliviousness to how one’s own country is perceived abroad, a nationalistic people who are sometimes blind to the power of nationalism on the part of others (e.g. Iraqis and Tibetans), lousy leadership in the center, and a tendency to take steps intended to preserve national security that end up undermining that security.

Yeah, but our obliviousness is based on pride and arrogance. China's is based on media censorship. ;)

Chuck Bao
4/27/2008, 05:02 AM
This is the editorial in yesterday's Nation newspaper. I think they have a good point.

I think this thread is more political than sports. Since it has recently been moved, maybe I should start a new thread in OT.


China must not overdo its olympic push

Branding critical nations 'enemies' will only end up further isolating country

Published on April 26, 2008

Whenever China's population of 1.3 billion is mobilised, it is capable of shaking the whole world. Thus the country's voice has been strong in its condemnation of protests against it holding the Olympic Games in August. The Chinese have also come out strongly against what they describe as biased Western media reports about the Tibet issue. Of course, in China it is impossible to hold a protest without the government's authorisation. When throngs of people protested against Japan over its interpretation of historical events a few years back, everyone knew that the government had a hand in the protests. However, the Chinese protests over the Olympic Games in recent weeks have been a different matter.

Ordinary Chinese people are very proud that their country is hosting the Olympics in August, and they want to ensure that everything goes smoothly. To them, this is a glorious moment for China to host the highly popular games.

So it is not surprising that they tend to see the world divided into two groups. The first are those who support the games and whom it considers friends. Likewise, they deem anybody who is pro-Tibet or critical of China to be a common enemy without any further scrutiny. The Chinese are very clear with this delineation and there is no middle ground.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, US President George W Bush adopted a similar approach - saying countries were either America's friends or its enemies. As the US has learned painfully over the past seven years, such views can be dangerous and end up resulting in more enemies than friends, especially in developing countries. Allowing for no middle ground is a recipe for making enemies.

In the future, China could face the same dilemma. The anti-Chinese protests in London and Paris have already inspired a strong sense of patriotism among the Chinese people. They have boycotted French products and their outlets for supporting the Tibetan cause, despite denials by those concerned. If this trend continues, the pro-China campaigns could backfire and cause further damage to their country's image and reputation - a development that they do not wish to see.

After the Olympic Games, China's profile in the world will have increased. There will be more public demands for greater freedom, more transparency and access to information. The Chinese people want their country to be a responsible stakeholder in the world. They want respect when they travel overseas. They have better lives, they travel, they see different worlds and they want a better China.

In the end, the Chinese authorities have to realise that it is always harder to manage public sentiment against its own government than against foreigners. Even though foreign press often fails to report on small public demonstrations throughout China every year, news continues to be spread by local media and word-of-mouth of local discontent and rallies, which could surpass 10,000 incidents.

Finally, there are growing number of Chinese people living around the world. Some of them are students who studied abroad at the beginning of the "Four Modernisation" agenda in 1978 and have not yet returned home. Others prefer the Western atmosphere and take up residency overseas, returning home from time to time. These people have showed up in past weeks to support the Olympic Games. These overseas Chinese are independent thinkers and they know what is going on inside their country. They also have dreams of their future China. They could protest again in the future but this time not in support of the games but rather they could aim for a more open and democratic China. If that happened, it would be a real test for China.

Moreover, Chinese "netizens" have been very active in organising and stimulating debates and calling for support against Western reports on the Olympics. They have so far lashed out at the Western press but they seldom examine the content of local vernacular press when they report on Tibet and other important issues. In the future, these netizens will probably focus more on domestic developments and act like "lighthouses" to spotlight pivotal issues affecting China's rise and its people's well-being.

Scott D
4/27/2008, 09:15 AM
Boycotting is lame, and like others have said it won't make much of a difference, other than the medal count. 1980 was a mistake, and 1984 by the eastern bloc was a mistake. The Olympics shouldn't be political, but it always ends up that way. There are better and more visible ways to protest China's human rights issues while in China than a boycott could ever do. Also, if countries went around boycotting countries that at some point haven't been guilty of human rights violations, the Olympics would be non existent since even Switzerland has done some heinous things.