Alcohol and the Olympics

Yesterday, I discovered a few new things about myself. The first is an utterly practical realisation:

I cannot drink 1 x Bitter, 4 x Lager, 1 x Spirits and 1 x Wine + eat half of a Mushroom & Ham pizza and a plate of chips without throwing up. This information would be more useful, however, If I knew whether it was the alcohol or the food that caused such a tempestuous, vile outpour from the deepest depths of my stomach. It was probably the drink, But this is irrelevant - I simply cannot forego my end-of-night takeaway, so the two are pretty much joined together.

Secondly, I care a lot more about the Beijing Olympics than I thought. I am already an individual that has resolutely decided never to go to China - many of their policies on censorship and "freedom" are uncomfortably close to fascism(this is the natural viewpoint of a naive male that has grown up in Britain in the decedant 90s). China's viewpoints are founded on poverty and overcrowding, so it's natural that they would entertain a different political stance to us - however, the same could be said of pre-war Germany - poverty that was "Inflicted" by the non-germanic races was the founding influence of the Reich - or so I hear. The viewpoints within Germany quickly became a problem under a warlike leader. Luckily, the Chinese government only seems interested in internal rather than external compliance - so the current solution to the problem is to simply not go there.

This is not so easy you are holding a major sporting event there. However, up until recently I trusted that China would recognise that the Olympics were little more than an excellent tourism opportunity and an exciting sporting event. The way of the Olympics have always been to rise above international politics - rivalries between countries should be demonstrated by winning (cheating) in the sports field rather than in the streets or in the battlefield. I am beginning to have my doubts, however, as the Chinese authorities have announced a sort of "Cleansing" of Beijing of minority groups. They are taking the appearance of Beijing during the Olympics very seriously indeed - enforcing the "Correct" image through decidedly immoral means. Migrant workers are being forced to leave their jobs. People who have STDs are banned from the events. Spies are being employed to pretend to be Olympic goers and punish "Trouble makers". Moreover, China is also persecuting against those that "Are likely to cause trouble". This could be political dissidents, government members of freedom loving countries, or even members of any ethnic groups that Chinese culture doesn't approve of. This sporting event is now being used by China's government as an excuse for a free reign of fascism - and this worries me greatly.

I sense a disturbance in the force.