Olympics Open with Spotlight on Chinese Culture
(Away from worldwide pro-Tibet protests)
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Blood Olympics 08-08-08
Preliminary transcripts: Tonight, far from the opening ceremony, the Olympics are prompting thousands of Tibetans to protest what they refer to as the "blood Olympics" as thirteen-hundred Tibetan refugees are purportedly... [Listen to latest NPR audio]
Protest Zones, in theory, at least
The Chinese government has designated three Beijing parks for approved protests. Would-be demonstrators must apply at least five days in advance. Expect plenty of open space in those parks during the games.
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National Public Radio (NPR)
Morning Edition, August 8, 2008 · Beijing is ready for the Olympics. That's what organizers said Friday, hours before the opening ceremony, which began at an especially auspicious time: 8:08 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month in the year 2008. Eight is a lucky number in China.
The festivities began with a chain of fireworks from Tiananmen Square in central Beijing to National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, on the northern edge of the city. Details of the ceremony have been "a closely guarded secret," NPR's Howard Berkes, who is in Beijing, tells Renee Montagne.
Ceremony watchers won't see dancing cross-dressers or a lawn mower drill team, which performed in Sydney in 2000. There won't be cowboys and Mormon pioneers, as there were in Salt Lake City in 2002. And no half-naked Greek gods, like in Athens four years ago.
"Olympic hosts like to celebrate the unique aspect of their culture," Berkes says. "And for the Chinese, this is an opportunity to introduce the world to a China that many Chinese believe is maligned and misunderstood."...
In the past two days, Berkes says, the security presence in Beijing has increased. There are soldiers with metal detectors, guards with bomb-sniffing dogs, and dozens of soldiers with riot shields. About 100,000 police and soldiers are on duty in the city....Amid pollution, protests, and impressive pomp and circumstance, the curtains rise Friday on the XXIX Summer Olympics in Beijing....
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While athletes settled into the high-rise residential apartments of Olympic Village,
protesters staged demonstrations elsewhere, criticizing China's human rights policies at home and abroad. For the next 16 days, the world will be bombarded with a similar mixture of diplomacy and sweat. Thousands of athletes will compete in an array of sports....
Read full NPR story.
Olympics put NBC in Bind:
Will News Division Cover Protests?
By David Folkenflik
Morning Edition, August 7, 2008 · NBC has a lot at stake in the 2008 Olympic Games. That includes the reputation of the network's news division and its bottom line. Its position is complicated by the fact that NBC's role in the Olympics is one of observer and partner.
There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important.
(MovieclipsCOMINGSOON) Perseus embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, who has been targeted for capture by his traitorous son, Ares, and his brother, Hades. Five years after his first adventure, Perseus rules Argos with Andromeda at his side and a newborn baby as their heir. But in the shadows lurks Calibos, the cursed "demon" thought dead now out for revenge. Not only the Greeks but ancient Indians and Buddhists believed in the lore of the titans (asuras) and demigods (devas), who mated humans. A collective or archetypal memory of advanced alien visitors, Annunaki or Nephilim, who descended from space to establish empires in ancient pre-biblical lands of Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and the mysterious East. Teaser. The same theme was explored in the films "Immortals" (with beautiful oracles) and "Thor" (about Nordic space aliens). PROMETHEUS: A team of explorers (with Charlize Theron) discover a clue to the origins of humankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. A movie by Ridley Scott.
(AllBallsEntertainment) Can't get enough killing with your extra large popcorn? Ultra-violence is the playground of a sexually repressed society. So if you haven't gotten enough of war-glorifying movies (that quietly normalize empire), how about films with real soldiers as actors and the US military winning Hollywood's help to find recruits for the US/MIC's wars abroad and spying on the homeland? Here is the ultimate testosterone-poisoned movie event of the year: Sylvester Stallone (Rambo), McGarnical (The Simpsons), Chuck Norris (Texas Ranger), Arnold Schwarzenegger (aka "McBain," failed California governor), Ashton Kutcher's dad (that bald guy, Demi's ex), and every action star with, inexplicably, the exception of Buddhist Steven Seagal.
The "Zen of Surfing" we understand: The effortless beginner's mind is easy to relate to. The waves do the work. There are already Buddhist trainee-monks (novices) who skateboard. But the asphalt does not cooperate. There is a lot of effort in pedaling and turning, flying off steps and landing hard. But it has now gotten a bit easier to gain jhana (zen) while wheeling through the city.
Boys' toys are the instruments of cultural indoctrination: novices in the totalitarian military-dictatorship that is Burma/Myanmar (Woutertje010/Flickr.com).
NAGANO (Kyodo, 1/1/10) The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, may stir yet more controversy in his antagonism with China, this time by a plan to visit Zenkoji Temple in the city of Nagano next June, according to his Tokyo liaison office. The Buddhist temple drew attention last April after it declined to serve as the starting point of the Japan leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay due to the Chinese crackdown on Buddhists in Tibet. According to the liaison office, the Dalai Lama sent a Buddhist statue to Zenkoji in November 2008 and the temple invited him at that time. He plans to hold a service for world peace at the temple and give a lecture in the city.
Caste permeates Indian society, even today. But its influence most often lurks beneath the surface. Since I have been writing about Hinduism for Comment is Free, I have been inundated with comments asking about the caste system. Some people have been curious, others have just about fallen short of demanding my blood. I am – pardon the refrain – no expert on religion...It may surprise some to learn that I actually don't remember hearing any open elitist statement until I was in my early twenties. 
The National Bhikkhu Front leader, Ven. Dambara Amila Thera, said yesterday that “Bhikkhus for Democracy” had taken a decision to support presidential candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka in order to establish democracy in the country. “The main goal of the country was to defeat terrorism; Gen. Sarath Fonseka has achieved it. The establishment of democracy is the next goal of the country,” the Elder said.
MacArthur genius grant recipient Shen Wei (Ernestine Ruben)
