Yup. Both effyoucat.com and kylemonson.com are blocked by The Great Firewall of China. I wonder if China just blocks all Blogger blogs by default? That’d be odd, since China and Google seem to be so cozy right now.
Anyway, next subject: did anyone else have mixed feelings during the Olympic opening ceremonies last night? The spectacle was amazing, to be sure. But all that my friends were talking about was how China can justify such an extravagance when so much of the country lives in poverty. Do they think the world will be blinded by pretty (and expensive) fireworks?
Also, the Chinese decision to revoke the visa of a US athlete/Darfur advocate a couple days before left a bad taste in my mouth. And the fact that China went back on its pledge to offer open Web access to visiting journalists. And then there was the parade of nations, which brought into sharp focus exactly how many nations are in dire straits right now, whether because of China-supported genocide (Sudan), impending war (Russia), complete lack of female athletes (Saudi Arabia and others), or alcoholism (Austria and Italy). (that last one was an ill-timed joke).
And then there was Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, North Korea…It’s a strange time for the world to gather to play sports in Beijing. Hopefully it does the world some good.
I’m going to watch some Olympics (go Team USA!) and then go to a Mets game. Brooklyn’s never had to crush insurrectionist monks or dissident journalists.
