*clap clap clap* ++++ need i say more?!

Because the Olympics will do great things for China's economy. Some people think China doesn't deserve the honor of hosting the games, given their history of human rights violations.

Agreed. Can't we have a just few things where politics doesn't rear its ugly head?

Well, the Olympics brings in a ton of money. So it's not all so black and white. They are closely related whether you want them to be or not. The problem I have with the boycotting and fussing is that nothing can be resolved by yelling about the Olympics being there. The Olympics should have never been given to an area of the world with so much turmoil and so many human right violations. But it was, and we can't stop it. Instead of trying to stop the Olympics, I prefer to use the added exposure to educate others on exactly what Tibet is going through, and only if others are willing to talk about it. You can't force feed information to people and expect them to have an epiphany. People have to learn and absorb information at their own pace.

Publicity. People are hijacking the Olympics for their own personal causes because of the world wide publicity.

well maybe in a fairy story but these two have been intertwined for a long long time ..remember South Africa....remember Moscow..remember Zimbabwe all these were about politics and I am for a boycott of China's games ..if it was good enough for those other countries then its good enough for China to be treated the same

Well, first I'd say that simplifying it to 'HR stuff = politics' is questionable at best: by definition, human rights must affect every possible field of human endeavour, so there is at least some (small) nexus with sport.   More to the point, the Beijing Olympics marks an event at which the Chinese government will have significantly reduced (though, regrettably, still excessive) censorship powers by virtue of its international character, so it is easily the most effective event at which to protest anything to do with China.   Also, perhaps the most fundamental component of the Olympics is 'fairness' - as the largest sporting event on the planet, it must necessarily embody the spirit of fair play. China's government, on the other hand, clearly does not - its persistent persecution of dissenters, omnipresent censorship, etc. are in no way even compatible with the 'sporting spirit'. If the Games was *just* a contest of skill, this would not be a problem, but as a symbolic event of international significance, they clearly mean more than just that. Thus, Beijing hosting the Games becomes something which can be questioned in and of itself.

It's all about getting your message through in different mediums.

that is so true

well considering that the olympic games is the biggest sporting event in the world today, if u had a really big argument to put forward something that everybody can be made aware of that can pressure external economic fores to change then u'd want it at the biggest and most known world event ever, hence even though sport and poltics may be unrelated ... sporting events can provide the backbone to make u realise all the made in china goods that u have are made by sweat shop owners that beat peoples souls into submission jus so well u can put on a nicer shirt in the morning. and if u still think that the SPORTING EVENT should not be political , then its true .... ignorance is bliss.

If you think that the Olympics are about nothing but sport, I have a bridge and some swamp land to sell you. From the minute that athletes are identified by their country of origin, politics enters the games.

Scenario: You are watching a major sporting event, when a person staggers in front of you, bleeding from a wound inflicted by the police/soldiers of the country hosting it. He/she has been shot because they wanted to tell people how their families, friends, culture have been destroyed. You have the choice between continuing to watch the event or helping the person who is bleeding. If you help the person, you are going to be involved in politics. Even staunching their wound is a political act. Do you continue watching or do you help? After all, the athletes have worked hard to get to this event, and you have paid a lot of money to get there (all of which is helping financially and politically the country whose politics has caused the sufferings of this minority). If you keep watching, the person dies beside you. So, keep watching, by all means, but the blood is all over your shoes. The Olympics should NEVER have gone to China. Their political situation is not right. The general Chinese population AND minorities are oppressed and their rights denied, the environment has been raped, history destroyed even in the building of the stadiums. Return the Olympics to Athens permanently, and let the Olympic nations pay for the upkeep of facilities there. But, in the meantime, let the Tibetans, the Falun Gong, the Buddhists, the Muslims, the Christians and whoever use the games as a vehicle to peacefully protest against the wrongs done to them. Sports and politics are intertwined, always have been. Those who try to separate them do not understand the situation, or else simply don't want their interests interfered with...they are content to keep watching as the blood flows.