Half way there!

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5/29/08

I had an interesting discussion at lunch today. A group of my friends and I were discussing the Beijing Olympics that are coming up soon. There is a graffiti sign with someone with the Olympic torch and a gag over their mouth on the street I take to class. I absolutely love the Olympics! I love that it is a time where countries come together to compete and interact peacefully, in most cases. I will not be watching the Olympics this year. I cannot support a country with such a record of human rights abuses. I hate that the US is even going. There is a runner who said he refuses to go because the air pollution there is so bad that if he runs, he will destroy his lungs and will not be able to run again. I heard that China is working to correct that by making it illegal to drive their cars during the weeks preceding. That will not make up for the years they have been corroding their environment.

I am going to tie this in to class material now. Hitler used the Berlin Olympics in the same way I think that China is going to use them. They are inviting people to see how these countries to show off what they can do, and showing off the success of their policies to the world. Questionable things are swept under the rug, not to be discussed. I really think that if the United States took the lead and boycotted the Olympics others would follow. I wonder what would have happened in the world if some country had taken a stand against the Berlin Olympics. I think it would have been a huge blow to Hitler and his rise to power. I wonder what we are going to regret by going to Beijing.

On to class today. There was a lot of questioning about whether or no Justice Jackson was an adequate choice for the job. I cannot think of any reason why he should not have been chosen. He was a justice in the Supreme Court, he worked in various government capacities and did a good job being considerate of how new of an idea this kind of court system was. I think he was an excellent choice. I have no idea who else was up for this position, but I believe he did the best job he could under the many odd circumstances that were surrounding the trial.

Something we talked about that I found particularly interesting was the fact that in reality, Russia could not have been tried. No one had the power to punish them for their crimes. The ideas that trials are all about power was something I had never thought of before but it is very true.

Another idea that really made me think, was how would the Allies have tried Hitler if he had still been alive? It would have been a completely different trial and I believe in a secret place. There were too many people who still hung on his every word who would try to free him, and too many who hated everything about him and would want to kill him. Plus, the court and place where he died would have probably become a pilgrimage site for those who believed in him. It was probably best that he killed himself and the Russians burned his body in his bunker. The issues that would have arisen would have been incredible. However, by that time he was a shadow of his former self. He had Parkinson’s disease, was on medicines of every kind, and lost that charisma he had been known for. I still think studying that case would have been amazing.

Things to remember: Make sure you have your bag hooked on your leg or on your lap when sitting and in front of you while walking (one of my friends had her bag with EVERYTHING in it stolen last night), flip flops are always necessary so bring them so you don’t have to buy them, naps are not for the weak, they are for those who know how to take care of themselves, air conditioning is vital and needs to be everywhere oh my goodness I miss it, Subway abroad does not embrace Jarrod, sometimes you really need to stop somewhere with American food, and half way done is a good and bad feeling…

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