And the Winner is .................

Syd-eney ... Ooops, I'm a few years late. Actually Sydney is still the winner, no matter how much China tries to claim that these will be the best games ever, they have lost the moral right to such a claim due to the fact they are not a free society and they encourage tyranny not only within their own borders but without too.

There are only a few nations that can rival the hypocrisy that is the "government" of China, and of course one of those is the current administration that has occupied the White House for the past eight years.

But I will not be watching the opening ceremony tonight, nor any of the actual games coverage if I can help it. Not whilst free speech is stifled and censored, not whilst people are being controlled and repressed in Tibet, not whilst people are dying by the hundreds of thousands in Darfur whilst the Chinese government props up and supports the government in Sudan, which is in turn aiding the genocide.

Sure, we can say "well lets forget the politics and just enjoy the sport" but sometimes it is through sport that politics can be influenced. China has reneged on many promises for these games already, and not only that but choosing to hold them in a city which is already suffering from bad pollution and lack of water supply.

Much is touted about the successful economic prosperity of China in recent years, but at what cost? Does anyone remember what happened in 1989? Probably not many modern Chinese as the events of Tienanmen Square have been "excised" from the official history books in China, and we will never know exactly how many people were killed.

I remember though, as it happened when I was 17 and studying "Power and Political People" in my final year at high school. I remember the lone man who stood in front of a column of tanks and for many minutes halted the Red Army in its tracks.

On this night when everyone else is "celebrating" what of those who died all those years ago? I am sure their relatives are not celebrating.

Another nail in the coffin of Australian TV

The other night I was watching TV, which is a pretty rare thing for me these days, as I have deliberately reduced my viewing habits to a bare minimum over the past few years, mostly helped by the complete lack of anything interesting to watch and my ability to download the television programs I really want from the internet (shhh supposedly its naughty to do that).

I came across an absolute abortion of a television show called "Hole in the Wall" on Channel Nine. I think I managed to watch about thirty seconds before I had to change it and watch an advertisement for tampons on another channel.

This "show" (and I hesitate to even call it a television show) was allegedly a game show where the contestants (c-grade celebrities dressed in appalling silver jumpsuits) had to contort their bodies to fit through styro-foam walls with shapes cut out of them.

Pure drivel, worse than Big Brother. But what is more scary is that it rated its pants off according to the story in the Age.

Oh good grief people of Australia, please prove to me that you are not moronic enough to regularly watch this complete dross next week. Send Channel Nine a message that we possess intelligence and want quality television!

Then again, this is the viewing public who think Sam Newman is funny, so I'm not holding my breath.

Winter means Wonderful Colds

Some random thoughts whilst I am at home convalescing with a rather heavy cold making me feel less than healthy. Ah yes, the true indication of winter is that you get a cold, mostly from other people on public transport or from fellow colleagues at your job (which I think was my downfall). Roll on "tele-commuting" which I'd be happy to do right now, only where I work has restricted remote access rules to the point unless I have a company laptop (and as a contractor I never will) I'm not going to be able to do that.

Job is going well so far, so is getting back into the daily routine of waking up early and catching the train. It is surprising that after almost three months out of that routine how quickly one can become accustomed to it again.

Random thoughts on current events:

- Why Geelong is barely represented on GoogleMaps "StreetView" function, come on guys, this is the second biggest city in Victoria!

- Our Federal Government's obsession with content filtering on the internet at ISP level. For a variety of technical and philosophical reasons I totally object to it. If parents cannot exercise control of their kids in their own home (it is even easier to control what they see on the internet than on TV) then they have no right to complain about the content on the internet. I am an adult, and the internet is not for unrestricted viewing. But it seems all you need to do is yell "our children need to be protected" and all logical argument goes out the window.

- Ditto the above for photography in general. We are now at the ridiculous stage that parents cannot take photographs of their kids at school sports. We are becoming a paranoid society and it plays into the hands of the stupid minorities and more sinister elements of society who get off on "controlling" the rest of us.

- People with stupid opinions, especially in public positions should keep their mouths shut. Notable mentions go to a certain Catholic Cardinal in Sydney who exhorted (by inference) Caucasians to procreate more and cast doubt on Climate Change being caused by human activity. Another notable mention is a certain "television personality" who made a fairly crass statement (inadvertent he claims!) about a female politician who is now in hospital due to obvious personal problems that may or may not have been compounded by what was said and the ensuing media coverage.