Amy Cooper
Cadel: a true hero
Like all his fans, I wish Cadel Evans had won the Tour de France. No-one deserved it more than this great sporting champion.
The brawlers, show ponies and cheaters who grab so much of the attention in high-level athletics could learn a lot from the star cyclist. He embodies the most fundamental sporting values, including courage, integrity, determination and fairness. He's modest and gracious in both victory and defeat, on and off the bike.
I wanted to pay tribute to Cadel this week not only for his achievements in France, but also because I devote so much space on this blog to condemning people who suppress truth and deny human rights I felt it was time to draw attention to some of the good guys who defend those ideals. Cadel is one of them.
For many years now he's been a staunch supporter of the Tibetans' cause, lending both his profile and his wallet to their fight for religious and political freedom. He and his wife Chiara support a Tibetan child and proceeds from the Free Tibet socks and T-shirts on his website www.cadel.com.au go towards education for Tibetan students. Cadel also hasn't been afraid to be photographed in a Free Tibet shirt and he spouts none of that self-righteous nonsense about politics and sport being mutually exclusive - the excuse other high profile athletes use for not speaking up on behalf of the oppressed. He will of course be going for gold at the Beijing Olympics and we should feel very proud to have him there. Maybe he'll use some of his bravery and doggedness to make a peaceful statement about human rights in Tibet. I hope so.
Meanwhile, if you want to make your own peaceful statement about China's oppression of Tibetans, you can do so easily and effectively on August 7, the eve of the Games' opening ceremony. Join the greatest light protest on earth by lighting a candle wherever you are to symbolise your support for freedom. Even if I'm out reporting on a function, I'll have my candles with me.
An even easier way for everyone - and a perfect opportunity for the athletes in Beijing - to show support is with a hand gesture (and no, it's not the one I often feel like making at inconsiderate motorists and Chinese government officials). The clever campaigners from T for Tibet suggest a simple but immediately recognisable T signal you can make anywhere to show you care.
The more we all use this signal, the stronger its symbolism will grow. If you bump into me around town, please use it as a greeting. If we're in a bar, I might even buy you a drink in return.
- by Amy Cooper at 09:36 PM
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Oppression gets cute n'cuddly
I'm sure I wasn't the only one who laughed nervously at those recent photos of Chinese Olympic police patrols riding on Segways. It's like seeing Robert Mugabe on a spacehopper.
The image of those gun-toting heavies trundling along on one of the daftest modes of transport ever invented sums up perfectly the preposterousness of the whole Olympics spectacle: a grim dictatorship trying to present a cute and cuddly face to the world. It's funny but also appalling, like a really bad horror movie.
Apparently the Segways are handy for soldiers because they move faster than feet and the self-balancing mechanism stops you from wobbling when you're trying to mow down unarmed protesters. They also cause people to laugh so uncontrollably they can't run away, so you don't waste bullets firing at a moving target.
I can't deny it - they've given us a giggle where gags are few and far between. And it's not the first time Segways have brought comic relief to an unpopular regime. Remember how we all laughed when George Bush fell off the tumble-proof machine back in 2003? It proved a useful temporary distraction from his unpalatable foreign policies. Perhaps if Saddam Hussein had spent more time zooming round the corridors of his kitsch-chic palaces on a Segway he might have won the hearts and minds of his people instead of ending up on a YouTube execution video.
Anyway, I'm waiting to see what happens when the Chinese Segway squadron tries to give chase up a flight of stairs. Like the Daleks in Doctor Who, they'll have a bit of trouble with that. And as Tibetan monasteries tend to have lots of stairs, it's highly likely to happen.
Meanwhile, when they're not riding joke scooters, the Chinese paramilitaries are working on bringing sexy back to oppression. For those of you who loved Hitler's hot little moustache and Idi Amin's come hither gaze, here's the latest genocide heartthrob: Second Right Brother.
He's one of the blue-tracksuited crew of Chinese heavies you saw manhandling protesters and intimidating runners on the Olympic torch relay (he's named after his position in the ranks: second on the right from the torch). Labelled 'goons' and 'thugs' by officials and commentators, these 'protectors of the sacred flame' were one of the more unpleasant features of the whole blighted roadshow. They were also revealed to be members of the same PAP (People's Armed Police) responsible for shooting at and beating unarmed Tibetan protesters during the unrest in that region earlier this year.
Still, even brutality needs a poster boy and Second Right Brother (which already sounds like a rap name, so he'll probably do a CD too) has fan sites all over the internet filled with pledges of love from adoring Chinese girls.
Next week, I'll be reporting on the 100 Hottest Serial Killers and a brand new Olympics event: the psychopaths' tricycle race.
- by Amy Cooper at 10:15 PM
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