Don't forget Earth Hour

Don't forget to mark your calendars for March 29th! It's Earth Hour and we want complete darkness for one hour.

China and Tibet

Sorry for not posting in ages. State and National qualifiers for debate and speech have consumed my life this past month.

I am somewhat disappointed with China right now over the whole Tibet issue. Not to say that I necessarily support Tibet's self-autonomy or don't support it; rather, I am disappointed over China's mentality that it should "clean itself up" for the 2008 Olympics.

A) China shouldn't try to gain international kudos for the sake of its reputation; and even if it does..
B) China shouldn't be hypocritical and then hide the well-known secret that it selling arms to Sudan, which in turn is purported going to the pro-government militais carrying out the genocide in Darfur.

Ultimately, I want China to be pro-human rights and more liberal and free (not necessarily in the form of a democracy), and even though I know it will take time for China to change this way and will require much bottom-up reform, I still am disappointed by this entire issue.

I see the Tibetan revolt by the monks and people and China's reaction to the revolt as the epitome as China's failed policy of just suppressing issues and letting them worsen. Even though I think Tibet is part of China, China's reaction is not helping and gives more power to the rebels.