After watching part of an episode of an NRK show I’ve decided that I won’t watch the Olympics. Maybe it has to do with what they talked about on the show, or maybe it was how a mighty country like China strong-armed a small country into teaching them the ways of cross country skiing.

Oh with a little salmon on the side of course, soo they can brag about having both Norwegian salmon & being taught how to ski properly. As I now see it the IOC is a highly corrupted body of countries. By awarding China a Summer & a Winter games within a decade of each other. The IOC is saying the same thing as Qatar, whitewashing both countries to over shadow what takes place to minorities & Muslims in the countries. In Qatar it’s been the

treatment of the workers building the stadiums in China it’s the relentless pursuit of a person’s inner communication & thoughts. By none other than person to person surveillance. Neighbors telling on each other et cetera. Not to speak of the “special” app that athletes are being forced to use while they compete in the games.

China is a surveillance state & a country that jail people for independent thought & religion. Something I am no longer ok with. When one hosts the Olympics, it should be in a country like New Zealand or Finland. Somewhere where human rights abuses aren’t what’s being swept under the rug or glossed over with the promise of Gold medals & recognition. When people are being mistreated right by where the Norwegian coaches China hired to teach them how to ski.

When I was in college I got a minor in Asian studies & I often thought that I’d go visit China, but no longer. The glitter has fallen off & the gloss has all but disappeared. All I think of are the people that have lost their right to speak & to think freely without punishment. No thanks. I’ll watch the next Winter games & will skip this one. Skiing may be in our DNA but that doesn’t mean we “have to” teach it to a country like China.