Beijing Update

Every day I hate the Olympics more and more. And every day China looks more like crazy commies aiming only to control and manipulate anyone in their rule. First we hear that the media’s internet access will be restricted, now athlete’s visas are being revoked and denied for no worthwhile reason.

Smog Update

It seems like every piece of news surrounding the Olympics is about the incredible amount of pollution in Beijing but despite monumental efforts to clean up their smoggy city, Beijing won’t be pristine anytime soon. I feel bad for the athletes forced to compete in the outdoor events, especially the endurance events like cycling and the marathon.

Photo ©: AFP Photo and Cyclingnews.com

Upon arrival to Beijing, a group of USA track cyclists wore black facemasks to protect themselves from the smog in the Chinese capital city. The fact that these athletes were verbally reprimanded by Olympic officials for “offending” the Chinese just shows how spineless and ignorant the Olympic committee and the international community can be. Everyone is so worried about political ramifications of offending the almighty China. Obviously if this is the case then the Chinese shouldn’t have been allowed to host the Olympics in the first place.

Now I understand that speaking as an American I may sound hypocritical in my criticism of the Chinese because the U.S. was founded on the backs of slavery and the genocide of Native Americans, but with that aside, China’s human rights violations still are relevant and should not be ignored. More news has surfaced this morning, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports, about olympic gold speed-skating medalist, Joey Cheek, not being allowed to compete based on his advocacy and involvement against the atrocities in Darfur. Because China is heavily involved in the region, economically and politically, they don’t want someone to come into their country and speak out against the war. Basically, China doesn’t care about human rights, and anyone promoting peace and equality is not going to be allowed in China and be a representative of that peace.

The International Olympic Committee is spineless. Dispiccable. Irresponsible.

They are supposed to protect athletes. Instead, the IOC is being easily manipulated by Chinese authorities.

On a lighter note, Paris Hilton really zinged John McCain with her mocking ad in response to his attack on Barack Obama. Link

Oh shit!

So that was taken right before hurricane Katrina hit the mainland in MI. If I saw that cloud descending upon my town I would be out of there asap.

Thanks to Cafe Glace for posting these pictures.

Beijing

I personally think the Olympics are a much hyped money-making scheme that has lost all of its charm and nobility in the past 20 years but allowing China, with its countless human rights and current environmental violations, really takes the cake. Not only has China been committing cultural genocide on the Tibetan people for the past 60 years, but also their heavy manufacturing with its unregulated emissions and constant pollution is harming their population and contributing to that little problem we like to call Global Warming. The worse part is that China is so heavily embedded into the global economy that if an entire country decides to stand up, protest the Chinese Olympics, and not send their athletes, China could and probably would take that as a direct insult with political and economic consequences down the line. So, by granting the Chinese to hold these summer games, the international community has been strong-armed to send their athletes, thus ignoring the atrocities the Chinese commit on a daily basis.

Who would have thought that only about 15 years after the Cold War we would be sending our athletes to a Communist country to partake in an international meeting between the world’s best athletes in a gesture of peace and friendly competition.

Oh yeah, here’s a picture of the gray haze over National Stadium in Beijing taken on June 19th, courtesy of USA Today:

Future President?

Come on, let’s be serious.

Quick Update

Seeing that my blog is named after an Albert Hammond Jr. song, I just thought I would share that his new album, Como Te Llama, has been leaked on the internet. I do not host files but simply by searching “Albert Hammond Jr. Como Te Llama rapidshare megaupload” will get you the album download in no time.

For all of you law-abiding, record store purchasers, the album is due out next Tuesday July 8, 2008.

Real Emotional Trash

In this day and age where American Idol determines who is on the radio and the likes of David Archuleta and Clay Aiken get million-dollar record contracts, it’s not often when a new album comes along and makes me forget about all that bullshit. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks’ 2008 album, Real Emotional Trash, is one of those albums that really impressed me with its ability to keep you attention despite Malkmus’ tendency to create longer songs with multiple guitar solos and long instrumentals. The title track of the album, lasting over 10 minutes, never loses its focus and has the right combination of vocals, guitar, instrumentals, and dynamic changes keeps the listener’s attention and really rocks. I know Malkmus has been around since the ’90s as he was in the indie rock band Pavement and has had earlier albums with the Jicks and by himself but I guess it’s better late than never to find out about some good ol’ fashion rock music.

And for some audio, here’s Baltimore:

Monday

Just because gas prices are $4+ a gallon doesn’t mean inventors need to come up with zany electric vehicles that are borderline useless and downright stupid. I mean, who the hell wants a gyroscopic part segway, part motorcycle creation that, according to this article caused the inventor a “crash that chipped a kneecap”? Surely there are more reasonable ways to get around that don’t involve risking your life and looking like a complete asshole (see above).

3 More Seasons

I don’t watch a lot of television due to the fact that most of it is Survivor spin-offs in the form of Dancing with the Stars or some crappy dating show but I do watch The Office (US and UK) and a few other respectable programs. EIther way, Steve Carell, who plays Michael Scott, just signed on for 3 more seasons of the hilarious NBC comedy. It’s just one of the many reasons I love Scranton, PA.

Microsoft

I don’t pretend to know anything about windows or microsoft in general but this picture from the Drudge Report is pretty funny.

It’s a good thing Bill Gates is quitting Microsoft. He needs to see a doctor ASAP. I dub thee the Hunchback of Silicon Valley.

For the record, I’m a Mac user.

Future First Lady?

So the Drudge Report is one of the finest news collection websites out there so I’ve started to post pictures from the front page. Yesterday I posted some looming clouds over the Capital Building in Washington, DC. Today, I grabbed a photo of the potential future First Lady of the U.S.A., Cindy McCain:

A bit scary, though. I don’t know if I want to look at her, or for that matter, John McCain’s mug for the next four years.

I don’t really know why it’s relevant to show a picture of Mrs. McCain but I guess in the spirit of showing nominees’ wives, here’s probably the best looking could-be first lady:

Yeah on the right, that’s Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s wife, Elizabeth. Either Dennis Kucinich is short or his wife is freakishly tall. But regardless, nice work Dennis.