Recently I've been reading ...

… a bit about the Olympics, and the ‘b’ word. (That’s ‘boycott’ by the way)

I have to admit that I am moving towards a position of advocating ‘some-sort-of- boycott’; not only because of the recent developments in Tibet but also the Chinese role in Darfur.

Also consider,
A number of the arguments often used against such a move, are actually arguments in favour of such a move. (see Greg Baum’s article in The Age, referencing this article by Anne Applebaum)

when China won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games seven years ago, Liu Qi, president of the Beijing organising committee and the then Beijing city mayor, told the International Olympic Committee: 'If Beijing wins its bid to host the Olympic Games, it will be conducive to China's economic and social progress; at the same time, it will also make further progress on the promotion of human rights.'

Wang Wei secretary-general of the Beijing 2008 Olympic bid committee, backed him up: 'We will grant full freedom of the press to the journalists coming to China; they will be able to visit Beijing and other Chinese cities and cover any news event before and during the Olympic Games. We will also allow demonstrations.'

Four months before the Games begin, those promises look shattered. China's human-rights record remains poor. Environmental, trade union and human-rights activists suffer house arrest or imprisonment, only tried under the catch-all charge of 'subverting state power'. This so-called crime saw human-rights campaigner Yang Chunlin condemned to five years' imprisonment last week. China has seen little progress towards more freedom of expression; the country executes more people and arrests more journalists than the rest of the world combined. It routinely blocks foreign news to which the state objects and censors the internet. The conditions that existed in 2001 have not improved at all; in many ways, they have worsened. [The Guardian]

The below comment from Applebaum also intrigued me:
Perhaps, the question we should now be asking Is what would an boycott look like – some European leaders have already indicated that they will not attend the opening ceremony, and it would not be a stretch for athletes to do likewise.

the modern Olympics were set up with a political purpose: to promote international peace by encouraging healthy competition between nations. Hence the emphasis on national teams instead of individual competitors; hence the opening and closing ceremonies—since copied by other sporting events—as well as the national flags and national anthems.

The Germany water polo team is going to wear orange robes to show solidarity with the Tibetan monks. The New York Times has a piece about decisions some American athletes are making.

… another bit from Kristof in the New York Times,
His Wikipedia of hope article was just an inspiring read.

… a April fools prank
Maybe not the best, but I thought it was quite good