Beijing 2008

I always thought that one of the reasons China embraced a modified form of Communism was because her leadership, or at least those with long range vision understood that China would have to be dragged into the modern world against her will, and Communism was the most direct route to modernization. Now a blink or two later, the nation of China is to be applauded for hosting the 2008 Olympics, keeping (almost) everyone safe, and showing tourists the sights and sounds of Beijing, popular, and completed - just in time - tourist attractions.

Now that the 2008 Beijing Olympics are over, and the foreigners are heading home, I am guessing a different side of the Olympics will start to be revealed. A country that has had its doors closed to the world by choice for so many centuries finally opens them, at least for a few days in a very controlled way, control being a key concept.

Over one million ‘volunteers’ helped with the Olympic games. I wonder who’s definition and criteria was used to determine exactly what volunteer means in this particular context? I am thinking the tweaked definition of ‘volunteer’  has a certain twist to it, perhaps similar to, “I did not have sex with that woman…”

According to dollarsandsense.org over one million people have been displaced by Olympic construction and other building needed for the games to be hosted.

Now that the 2008 Olympic games are over, the more than one million people left still standing post construction who were lucky enough to become ‘volunteers’ will be told to find work immediately or leave Beijing.

Now that the Olympics are over, those 1.5 million cars of the three million plus cars in the Beijing area that were banned from driving three weeks before the Olympics may be allowed to return to the streets once again.

I think in a land where a million people is not worth mentioning as a million people are of little importance inside China’s borders. Numbers that are not much more significant in ratio than the number of Americans who suffered from the measles outbreak in the last year from lack of simple immunization compared to the population as a whole.

However, for myself, one million ‘volunteers’, the estimated million plus no longer welcome migrant labor force, forced labor, and convict labor, made me to stop and think about what was accomplished in such a short time, and at what price? This is a staggering amount of people to contemplate. They all came from somewhere else and they all have to go somewhere else.

Where do a sudden almost three million displaced and migrant work force find work? For many of these people, new factories that specialize in churning out every conceivable product using cheap to machine, and preferably discarded materials. Many of the displaced people will probably ‘volunteer’ to work at these factories.

All in all, I do not know what I think about China and the Olympics. If the effort needed had taken twenty million people to complete, it would be done far easier in China than almost anywhere else on earth. I have not yet determined when a certain number of people compared to the whole population becomes significant.

No one wants you healthy besides you

I was talking with someone today and the subject of doctors came up. I volunteered that doctors belonging to HMO’s have no interest in helping someone become healthy. The person I was talking too added more fuel to my thinking.

In his opinion a HMO doctor is more concerned in keeping you coming back for appointments, medicine, treatments than they are in helping you to become healthy. Those of us with medical coverage are the gravy train for doctors belonging to HMO’s he said. A healthy patient has no need to see a doctor. A healthy patient is an empty food bowl from an HMO’s point of view. I had to agree….

That led me to thinking what other agencies or organizations do not want the best for me. The police department came to mind. They are in a unique position in our lives. They are sworn to protect us, but if we are too safe, there paycheck is at risk.My insurance company sure does not mind me having a car accident. They might be a little peeved if my house burned down, but a car accident is just the cost of doing business for them. If the accident is my fault, that is even better because my rates will be raised and they will recoup their losses faster.

Some of the grocery stores do not have my health in their best interest. If they did, they would be more particular about the fruits and vegetables they sell me, and the quantity of steroids and antibiotics that are in the meat they want me to buy.

The vending machines I mat buy a snack from are not interested in keeping me as a long term customer. Neither is the local corner chain gas station/convenience store. If they did, they might offer something nutritious for em to eat. Instead the criteria for what they sell is shelve life and simplicity.

When I was in the military, I doubted they had my long term health as their main interest. They wanted me healthy in case we wet to war and I had to go fight, but that was a short term investment for our government. Most choices in the dining halls were floating in butter. It was almost impossible to eat without ingesting more grease and butter than was healthy for a human unless one ate lettuce without anything on it.

The television networks have no interest in keeping me healthy. Healthy people are active people, and active people spend less time watching television and buying unhealthy food from the people paying for commercials. Ever notice how beer drinkers and pizza eaters on television are very healthy looking people?

And he list goes on….

The view down here…I can’t see that high

Have you ever wondered exactly why you get turned off by those people who believe with their last breath that it is their sole mission in the world to convert you to their belief system? You know the type, whenever the opportunity arises, they never miss a beat exclaiming a proclamation about whatever it is they believe, and how it happened according to their belief system. They go on and on, dropping comments like a dog with diarrhea, and no matter how many times you say enough, or say you do not want to hear it, they just do not seem to hear you.

Another interesting thought along these lines is when people pray for some type of change in their life, or the life of someone they care about. If the change is good, it is surely an act of God, but if there is no change, or the situation becomes worse after praying, then it is either God is ambivalent to their prayer, or worse, something bad has taken control of the situation.

I was thinking of these things today. Actually I was thinking about someone praying and the result of whatever they pray for happening. Both types of people are quick to acknowledge a specific higher power as having heard their request and intervened in the situation. Of course, what else could it be than the intervention of a specific higher power?

In these cases, it is never a case of being on solid ground asking any of these types of people how they know what they claim is true. How do they know that a specific higher power intervened, fixed a situation or cured someone? There is no proof other than the word of the person doing the proclaiming. And they have no proof who or what if anything extraordinary happened.

When these events occur it is a no win situation to comment or question them. They have their belief, and nothing is going to shake them loose from the top of the tree they are perched on. No power on earth is going to budge their faith in the slightest, or make them for an instant think that something other than the power they prayed too indeed changed the situation to their liking.

For me, I can not even comprehend such a magnificent powerful entity, let alone think they would entertain any inkling to do my bidding upon a few seconds of prayer request. Such is the power of faith and the failure of thinking. It is easy to have the faith of a mustard seed, it is impossible to comprehend something well beyond my comprehension. Yet some who are occasionally around me manage to do it every day, without a second thought – lucky them.

It is usually my problem

When I look over my life, and I see a problem, I blame the world.

As time goes on and I mull over my problem, still blaming the world.

It eventually becomes clear that the culprit at the bottom of my problem,

is me.

I do not know why I go through the repetitive circle of a problem, blaming,  and realization.

Maybe some day I will start at the end and go from there…

Abuse Bowl aiming for new record

One of the dark secrets of American Football is in progress

The beer and liquor companies are counting their record profits from the week

Men have been planning for weeks how much they will drink and eat

Men have been planning for weeks how aggressive they will be

In the confines of their homes and apartments

Setting new records on many separate fronts including abuse

As a record number of woman and their children will be slapped around today

over one Team or the other; real men they are

Only some of the abused women and children will be permitted to go to the hospital

Almost all of them will be forced to lie about what happened

Isn’t it fun….

Playing with semantics at heaven’s gate

I had a dream I died and went to heaven.

But the gate was closed.

I asked St. Peter what was up, why couldn’t I get in?

St. Peter paused for a second, and then told me I made a poor showing of my life.

I said to St. Peter that I did the best I could with what I had, and the tools I had to work with.

St. Peter smiled, and said yes, that is why I was human.

And the door to heaven opened and I stepped inside the gate.

Choices for your day

This is experience suggesting a small change for your day?

No matter what you have planned or what you are doing right now

There are only two possibilities for you

You will wake up tomorrow, or you won’t

Everything else is of small importance unless you are wasting the moment

In the world view the number of people that know you exist is tiny

A century from now, that number will be zero.

Make good choices while you can.

Living in the present

Living life is like spending money

You have to decide where to do it

You can live in the past with old memories

You can live in the future waiting for things that may never happen

Or you can live for the moment, which is all we really have

Living anywhere else is throwing good money after bad

American Irish and death

When someone dies, everyone is sad except the Irish, they now have an excuse to party

When an Irishman does not know all the facts, it does not stop them from telling a great story

Later on they will fist to cuffs over what the truth is

Being only half Irish, I know some of the stories are hard to believe

The truth is never what happened, only how it is remembered

That memory changes with the number of tellings

Have a drink with Murphy at his grave, he was a good man

and he’s probably thirsty by now

I won’t tell you where they put the body, so the wake could continue

You would not believe me anyway….

It is really not all about you

It is all about me. Its me first. I want. I need. I must.

How many times a day do I hear this in my interaction with other people?

I imagine over half the conversations I enter into consist of listening to someone telling me about them.

Do they really think I care?

If you want to share, I will listen.

Otherwise I have something worthwhile to do….