Tdaxp has a round up of Olympic protests around the world.

Now, I have no problem with protesting the Olympics and I most certainly enjoy watching Chinese officials going out of the way keep everyone under wraps and suck the fun out of the games.

My question is, “In the eyes of the Chinese people, why should they believe in your cause?”

While the concept of human rights seems obvious to Westerners, it’s different for the Chinese, since they are commonly the very people accused of being human rights violators.

The point is not whether the Chinese are complicit in human rights violations (they are), but whether protestors are making a case to the Chinese that what they are doing is wrong.

Based on the round-up… not really. The point of protest is to convince others of your position, not feel good about sticking it to the man.

I spend a lot of time criticizing the Chinese government and its people for its treatment of North Koreans. But given the chance to tell them in their face, I better be more engaging and less embarrassing.

Sorry for the lack of posting, but a flood in my area and the events in Virginia Tech has disrupted my week so far. I would like to make a brief statement about the shooting. By now, 33 people is dead and nothing we can do could bring them back. What we could have or should have done is not important. It’s time to look to the future. I think my blog has emphasized not dwelling in the past but to deal with the present and the future.

So I hope we learn that as free individuals we must stand up to the many faces of evil, whether it that is Kim Jong-Il or Cho Seung-Hui. Take it from defectors that voluntarily return to North Korea whether to help feed their families or spread the faith. If we must die, we must die knowing that evil men do not rule over us unchallenged.

Please pray for the victims and the obviously very sick shooter.

I’m reading the BBC report on the 7 women that arrived in Thailand and I have not felt so much anger since watching 9/11 unfold on the television. This passage got me the worst

Hanah is just 21. She described chronic stomach pain as a child when her family were reduced to eating dumplings made from tree-bark.

From the age of 15 she tried to escape seven times, her young age apparently saving her from severe punishment when she was caught and sent back.

During these escapes she was separated from her parents, who were also trying to flee.

21, that’s my age. While I’m typing in the comforts of a University computer lab, Hanah is in a Thai prison uncertain of her fate while a coup is going on in the rest of the country. While I spent my summer at home or at the beach, she is traversing across China and Laos, battling the elements and hiding in the shadows.

Worse, both countries are willing to send her back to North Korea to die without hesitation. All I could do was to get as many people to hear their story. Is that all I’m capable of doing?

There’s a lot of pent up rage from reading such stories. Frankly, writing on a blog does not alleviate that. My hope is that anyone reading this could do more for these refugees and thousands of others still hiding in China and Southeast Asia than I could. I hope one feels the same way as I do.