The Torch

As some of you may know, there are a lot of people currently a little peeved about the 2008 Summer Olympic Games being held in China. This is something that has come more to the forefront after highly effective, and disruptive protests in London and Paris. These protests caused a last minute change of route in San Fransisco in order to keep the flame away from protesters attempting to extinguish it.

Now, granted, the situation in Tibet, is a little messed up. And, yeah, China is kind of an asshole about these things, and the rest of the world isn't too cooperative. Look at Taiwan for goodness sake, the UN and the US, as of last I checked still haven't recognized them as an official country, but simply as a rogue province. But, whatever. People want to protest about human rights violations in Tibet, that's fine. I think they're doing a pretty good job of it, since they chose a highly visible, and universally recognized symbol to attack as representative of their cause.

However, and sorry it took so long to get here, what makes me mad is THIS. An article about the repercussions the protests are having on the ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS of the CORPORATE SPONSORS of the Torch Relay and the Olympics. Specifically focused on in the article are Coca-Cola and Samsung. Can we talk about negligent journalism here? I'm pretty sure the main issue in this matter is human rights violations by one sovereign nation unto another. The word oppression comes to mind. Subjugation, perhaps. And yet, Alana Samuels of the LA Times thinks it's prudent to write about how these protests are hurting corporations that make millions of dollars at the expense of man kind. Someone needs to be protesting these corporations for human rights violations.

Ok, sorry, it's just that when I read the article I got a little pissed. Because it's ridiculous.

So, what you're here for:
Alana Samuels and her article get 1 Beard for being ridiculous.
The Olympic Torch gets 6 Beards and A Mustache for being what it is.
The Summer Olympics get 5 Beards because there is no bobsled, hockey, or downhill speed skating.
China, gets 1 Beard for fuckin' everything up.