In my opinion, the protests in London and Paris were great.

China wants to use Olympia for promoting itself. All this is just a huge image campaign. This is why we should remind people on how cruel that regime is and how little it cares for human rights.

Human rights are more important than the olympic torch.

Turning a chinese PR campaign into a PR disaster is good.

This is not about sports. Sports is what you do at home, not what is on TV. When I go dancing with my friends, that is sports. When I sit in front of the TV, it is not. I will not be watching the Olympics. When IOC representatives talk about it all being "only about sports" they lie - it's all about money.

This is not out of disrespect for the athletes, but I cannot tolerate China using the Olympics as image campaign for being an equal member of the international community. All the new stadiums and so on - they're trying really hard to give the impression of a new china - when they actually have not changed at all.

We need to signal China that if they want to be treated equally, they need to adhere to the same standards as all others - respecting human rights is the bare minimum, free elections and democracy are the next important step then.

P.S. Please also do not buy Olympia swag. It's reported to be manufactured at less than half of the minimum wage even in China! It's pure exploitation!

Note that I'm talking about a consumers' boycott, not an athletes' boycott. I do think that the athletes go there for the competitions.

P.P.S. I don't think the Olympic games are fair anyway - I believe that many athletes are using doping (just the detection methods are insufficient). Otherwise we would not see new world records each year. And I believe the IOC is corrupt and maybe actually criminal; all they actually care about are their revenue streams, not the sports either.

P.P.P.S. This blog is representing my own opinion only. Therefore it does not have or need a comment function. Use your own blog if your opinion differs.