My Decision to Boycott the Beijing Olympics

So I've been getting a bit of grief from a few people for choosing to boycott the Olympics this year. I'd like to defend my position. The most common argument I've been getting is that not watching the Olympics won't bring the Tibetan people any closer to autonomy or independence and therefore it's just a waste of time - I may as well just watch them and enjoy it. This, I believe, is a completely bogus argument. But let me start from the beginning and give you all a short (ish) history of Tibet and the injustices that went on there in case you don't know much about the situation.
Tibet rests on the borders of Nepal, India, China, and Bhutan and is the highest country in the world but it won't be found on most contemporary maps because of China's claim on the country. Tibet became a protectorate of China in the early 18th century but until 1949 enjoyed de facto independent status and kept its language, culture, religion, government, and it paid no taxes to China. However, in 1949 the Communist party invaded Tibet under the guise of liberating the people. Tibetan Buddhists are traditionally extremely non-violent and those defending Tibet were equipped with muskets and bows and arrows.
In May of 1951 a 17-point agreement was signed by the two governments. This agreement stated that Tibet would formally recognize Chinese sovereignty for the first time in history, but would still enjoy complete autonomy. The Chinese government would not interfere with Tibetan relations at all unless it dealt with international affairs or the defense of Tibet.
This agreement was quickly violated by the Chinese and in 1959 a Tibetan uprising was brutally suppressed by the Chinese and the Dalai Lama (the political and spiritual leader of Tibet) was forced to flee for his life. He hasn't been back to Tibet since. Since then, the Chinese government has (except briefly during the 1980s) used tactics such as ethnic cleansing and forced assimilation to eradicate the Tibetan culture, language, and religion. Ethnic Chinese have poured into Tibet turning Tibetans into an ethnic underclass. Over 1 million Tibetans have been brutally murdered since the Chinese invasion, many of them monks and nuns.
With the decision to hold the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, protests around the world have erupted and Tibet has been at the head of these protests. Tibetans are being repressed, kidnapped, tortured, and killed all so China can get rid of any opposition that would deface their growing reputation as a world power. In addition, the Chinese people aren't able to access unbiased information regarding this subject because of the regulation of the media by the Communist government.
Basic human rights have been violated for decades in this and other regions of the world by the Chinese government, and to me, the decision to hold the Olympics in Beijing says that the world (or at least the Olympic Committee) is either choosing to ignore this fact or stating that it is alright. Neither of these messages are messages that I want to support. And for those of you who decide to watch the Olympics because you want to support the athletes or even just because you like watching the Olympics, I think that's a great thing to do. I only ask you to look a bit into the controversy. Not only in Tibet but all over the nation of China.
So yes, my choice to not watch the Beijing Olympics probably won't take Tibet (or Taiwan or Xinjiang) closer to true autonomy or independence, but maybe if ratings go down enough, a message will be sent to the Olympic committee and even China that this kind of brutal governance is absolutely unacceptable. You never know what event may spark revolution.

Tired, hyped up, and listeing to the classics

Good news! I found out today that the huge research project that was due this Friday they 18th is now due next Monday the 21st! A whole 3 more days to work on it! Although it's not so good cause now I've been wasting time again... still, I got a lot done today. I'm feeling better than I was - not good mind you, but better.
So about half an hour ago I left my friends' apartment (played Guitar Hero III - totally addicted now) and when I left I was actually pretty tired. Then I got home and for some reason got into this really weird mood. I turned on Erasure and Styx and now that mood has escalated to no chance of me going to sleep in the near future. I just hope my music and singing isn't carrying over to my roommates' rooms or the guy in the bedroom right under me. It's been a long time since I've listened to this stuff and it's a good reunion so far. I remember several years ago sometime in 9th or 10th grade Styx came and played for Novell. It just so happened that my dad worked there at the time so he took me. Oh man it was great. My dad, me, and a bunch of drunk 48 year olds. It seriously was an awesome concert though. Styx is actually coming to Logan this summer (July 4th) but I probably won't make it. If I die seeing Styx only once I'll be ok with that. Twice would be better, but once is ok :P
"Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto, for doing the job nobody wants to! And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto, for helping me escape to where I needed to!" Man, I'm such a nerd.
Crap. I just remembered a history paper I have due tomorrow at 3... Oh sigh. May 1st. It'll all be over May 1st at 10 AM...

Renewed Intentions

How great it is to be chilling on a Sunday evening when I should be working on a project... I've been thinking a lot about starting this blog up again and here we go at last! Hopefully I'll be more regular although I doubt I'll get anything else posted before the 18th. I have a massive research project that I'm working on with a friend and we've only begun the research. That's due this Friday and the day before that I have a massive test in my Buddhism class so needless to say this week is going to kill me. I guess that's a good place to pick up - school. This school year has been intense. I've only taken 12 credits each semester but they've been tough 12 credits. Last semester I took 4 (count them) 4 political science classes. Never do that. This semester I'm only taking one (Trade Ethics) but I'm also taking a ridiculously time consuming African history class and a super tough Buddhism class. Then a sociology of religion for my minor but that's cake. The Africa and Buddhism classes I'm taking just for fun and I'm glad I chose to do that. They're both very interesting and I've learned a lot.
The Trade Ethics class is probably one of the best classes I've taken thus far in my schooling. It's really very interesting and I've gotten such a huge picture of the world before that I didn't have. With this class were were able to spend 5 days in Washington DC and 5 days in New York City over Spring Break. That was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I heard so many awesome lectures and got to see and do some awesome stuff. Granted, I did miss my best friend's wedding because of it, but I'm glad I decided to go. Plus the morning we left (March 6th - my 21st birthday mind you) I got to meet Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords. If you don't know who they are look them up on YouTube. They are absolutely hilarious. I have both of their autographs and a picture with them. Best birthday present ever!
There's only 2 weeks now until finals and good grief I'm excited. I only have 1 comprehensive final this semester and 1 non-comprehensive final (plus one medium sized research paper on top of the one very large research paper) so after the 18th I should be fine. It's just this week that's going to kill me. But I am super excited for the summer. As of right now I have two options ahead of me: either move back home to Orem or spend the summer in Shanghai with my sister Cecily and her husband Mike working. Freak out right? If I do end up going to China it'll be the end of May until whenever I decide I want to come back. I'd for sure get here in time for school. Of course, there is the possibility that if I do go to China I'd end up as a political prisoner because of my anti-Communist and pro-Tibetan protests. I don't know for sure yet, but I'll keep you posted. It would be an incredible experience but I'm also excited to just move home again. This will be my last summer as a college student and probably the last time I'll live at home. My sister Sara and her husband Jacob are currently living in my parent's basement apartment so it would be awesome to be able to hang out with them all the time. Plus Sara is pregnant so it would be cool to be with here for a few months during that process. Speaking of being pregnant - I'm not - but my sister in law Leith is! She's due in June and I can't wait! Tamsine Jane Christensen. Tamsine because Leith is South African and it's a popular name down there so it fits. Jane because that's the name that my brother liked the best with Tamsine. Although he may change his mind because he doesn't want anyone thinking he named her after Jane Austen.
Alright. Time to start working on real life now. Hopefully I keep up with this blog.

Various July Activies

Another month is almost half way through and that means that school is drawing ever closer. But let us dwell on happier things. Or more amusing at least.
First of all let me tell you about my "I-think-it-may-have-been-a-date" with my friend's roommate. Tuesday we went wake boarding and everyone was staying on the lake till dark. I didn't want to stay that long so I was planning on leaving early and my friend's roommate asked if he could get a ride because he needed to be back at his apartment by 8. So we're driving from Newton to Logan and I had Wincing the Night Away by the Shins playing. I heard him doing that delay hum people do when they are pretending to know the song playing. I had a guess as to what he was up to so I asked him if he knew who The Shins were. He said he didn't know them by name, but if these guys were The Shins, he'd heard a lot of their stuff. Which is oddly strange since you kind of have to know The Shins by name to hear a lot of their stuff. They aren't the most well-known band (although they're for sure in my favorite 3). To shorten the story a bit I'll just give you the gist of the dialog. "Aren't these the guys that sing Message in a Bottle?" "I don't think so..." He then started singing Sting's Message in a Bottle. "Nope, that's Sting." Honestly! Even if you don't know who The Shins OR Sting are, it's practically impossible to get them mixed up! Anyway, coming back into Logan he asked if I wanted to go to Quizno's really quickly - his treat. I thought sure, free food, why not. But then he acted as if it was a date. Opening the door, asking me about myself, trying to make me laugh, talking himself up... it was kind of interesting. I asked a friend about it later that night and he said, "yep. I'm pretty sure that kid snuck in a date." I feel used.
Last Saturday I went tubing down the canal up Logan Canyon with some friends. It was the first time I had been down that one and as I sat down in my tube at the beginning I flipped over backwards, hit the back of my head against the rocks at the bottom, and did a complete backwards somersault in the water. But not all the way in since it's about 2 1/2 feet deep. But the rest was amazingly fun. We're going again this Saturday and a few more guys are coming with us. I'm pretty excited about them coming cause they are freakin hilarious. I've been hanging out with them lately and they always make for good times.
Other activities... still looking for a job which sucks a pickle. Trying to remember to do my church calling (Second Counselor in the Relief Society - totally unprepared for that). And wasting my days away reading Lord of the Rings and trying to decide what to do with my life. When I worked 30 hours a week I enjoyed being bored but now that I don't work at all... I'm ready for a change. Maybe that's why I died my hair burgundy last night. Oh. I also saw the midnight showing of Harry Potter. I went with a group of 23 I think but only sat with 3 others in the second row. Those who got there before us didn't do a good job of saving seats. Before the movie started this kid from the USU Bookstore was having us play a Harry Potter trivia question game and my friend and I were about ready to shoot him in the leg.

Days Off

So let me tell you a story. This happened exactly a week ago today. I got fired. First time ever. But it's ok cause I really wasn't that good at the job anyway (which, oddly enough is why I got fired). I guess I'm just not cut out for the scientific/saudering computer boards business. Lots of places are hiring and I've been applying all week so it's all good. I actually had an interview this morning and all the guy told me on the phone was that it was on the second floor of the clock tower in Logan. He didn't tell me the name of the company or anything. I got there and the only office on the second floor was closed and I had left the paper with his phone number at my apartment. I also got a call from Smith's Marketplace but I'll probably have to turn that down because they'll make me work on Sundays and that's not something I'm willing to do. There is one on campus job that I really hope I get. It's with the Education department and the job is temporary. It'll end after fall semester which is perfect for me since I'll be going to DC for an internship anyway. Plus it's $8 an hour so not too bad at all. That's what I was making at my last job. So yeah. I'm not too worried. I'm just bored from sitting at home for the past week. I tried to donate plasma the other day but you need a good vein in both arms and I only have a good one in my left arm. Lame. Oh well though. C'est la vive.

It's June!

So I'm very much aware of the fact that I'm the only person that visits this site. Consequently, I haven't added anything for over a month. However, I decided that it's a bit like a journal and since I've been slacking off in that area lately, I'll keep going with this. Although I have no idea how often the posts will be. Oh well.
I am officially very not much a fan of Sean Hannity. Not that I ever was. I'm just forced to listen to his radio show now. In the production room where I work KSL 1160 is the only radio station we get and when my boss is working back there with me he likes to have the radio on so I get to listen to Mr. Hannity 3 hours a day. I get quite upset at him probably more often than is healthy. And I'm not super liberal either. Maybe for Utah I am, but out in the world I'd probably be considered a moderate. And yet still I agree with pretty much nothing he says. Some day I'll email him and vent all of my frustrations. The happy thing is when my boss isn't back there I can turn the radio off.
(Now this really is turning into a journal). For family home evening tonight our ward went up Logan canyon and had a bonfire. It was funny cause first we went up green canyon but there was a car that had rolled over so the caravan of about 13 cars all headed up to second dam. That was all full so again the caravan took off and ended up just past third dam. It was a fun little treasure hunt. Power D did an awesome job of coordinating. Very happy occasion - the guy I have a slight crush on was there and I totally talked to him. Big accomplishment because in addition to being ridiculously shy, I'm an 8th grader when it comes to liking guys so I don't really talk to them if we're not already friends. But I talked to him tonight so I'll have at least that to tell Krista when she gets back up here from her month long vacation at home. My job was to have a story for her when she got back. Granted, talking to him once isn't quite a story, but it's better than nothing! You can tell how insecure I am about this by the fact that I haven't typed out his name even though I really am the only one who reads this. Oh the frustrations of being a 13 year old trapped in a 20 year old body when it comes to liking boys...

Done and Done

This morning at 9:30 was my last final and I am completely thrilled. I'm sitting at work right now waiting for it to be 5 so I can go home and sleep or read a book I want or even just sit outside doing nothing. I'll probably start moving into my new apartment too. But the complete joy that comes with being done with school is awesome. I'm switching up my jobs on Monday too and I'm happy for that as well. I'll miss where I work now, but it'll be nice to have a change. And of course, to make more than $6.50...

Finals Woes

Finals are steadily approaching and as they get nearer and nearer, students (of course including me) are getting less and less sleep. The library is open till midnight and the computer lab in the TSC (taggert student center) is open 24 hours. I have been taking advantage of those two facts the last two days and will continue to do so. My paper hasn't progressed yet, but I've got just about all of the research done. Plus my professor (thank goodness!) gave us an extension till next Wednesday. Happy, happy day. But I need to get it done before then because the final I'm most worried about is on Wednesday as well. My goal is to have this paper done by Sunday at the latest so I can still have time to study for that final. Plus find a couple hours for my other two which are on Monday and Tuesday. But this one on Wednesday is going to be nasty to study for. We'll have some short answers/fill in the blanks and maybe 3 long essays on the exam. My professor gave us a study guide for the essays the other day and there are 11 potential questions on there. 11! So I'm going to stop writing on blogs and researching and writing my paper.

Supid Paper

School is getting ready to end and that means major papers for me. One got finished yesterday (good riddance), but I've still got a few more. 2 one pagers (those will take about 3 minutes each), 1 three to five pagers (that will be a bit more difficult, maybe an hour or two), and one 10 pager. Ug. I had a topic all ready and articles I was going to look at, but then I realized that I really have not enough interest in the topic to do a research paper on it. The topic was implications for the US if China were to rise to a great economic and military power. At this point in my life, I don't have a whole lot of interest in military affairs. I'm more of a human rights person. That's why I changed my topic to the validity of China's claims on Tibet. I've always liked researching Tibet, but right now I'm just not excited for any of it. The paper is due on Friday and I have only barely begun the research. Sigh. This should prove to be interesting...

House Seat for DC

Yesterday was a great day for citizens of the District of Colombia. The House passed a bill giving DC's representative a voting seat. One problem - it may not have enough votes to pass in the Senate. The way the bill would work (as I understand it) is one new seat would go to DC and one new seat would go to Utah to balance out the new Democratic vote. 437 House seats would exist until the 2010 census when the total number would go back to 435 and the seats would just be rearranged according to population like it is every 10 years. (Just FYI, Utah will get a new seat in 2010 if they don't get one with this bill).
So why all the controversy? Why is it going to be hard to pass in the Senate? Frankly, I don't know. Those who oppose the bill are arguing that the Constitution only allows for the states to have representation in Congress. Granted, that is what the Constitution says: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." But it's not like the Constitution hasn't been radically changed before...
"The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand" Utah has one representative for about every 820,000 people.
"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." Other persons of course referring to slaves.
So why can't we amend the Constitution to let the District of Colombia have a voting seat? After all, the census estimates 550,521 live in DC as of 2005 while the same year it was estimated that Wyoming had a population of only 509,294. How is it that over 550,000 of citizens of the United States don't have a voice in Congress? Some argue that the founders of this nation didn't intend for DC to have representation because it isn't a state or part of a state (let's ignore the fact that DC wasn't established when the country was founded). But my personal belief is that is was the intention of the founders to make sure everyone had a voice in Congress. That's the whole point of a Representative Democracy. By not giving DC a voting seat we'd be going against one of the most fundamental principles this great nation was founded on.