Settlement Reached in Medi-Cal Drug Dispute
Congress Overrides Medicare Veto
Fighting a Killer — American Diabetes Association
Ted Ruhig: Stay Active to Delay, Prevent Life-Limiting Loss of Physical Abilities
Day Trips: Judging the Top 100 Western Movies
Senior Health: Seniors Should Utilize Vaccinations to Prevent Illness
Dutch Treat: Sweet, Sweet Donuts: Essential to the Good Life
Along
the Boomer Trail ...
China Makes Bulldozing Beijing New Olympic Sport
By
Dick Methia
China’s
government, those communist mandarins in their thousand dollar
Armani suits, have added bulldozing to the list of Olympic events
this summer. To make way for a spanking new park near Olympic
stadium in Beijing, the people’s government is evicting
more than 500 villagers from their homes. The simple brick houses
are an eyesore, wholly out of character with the glitz and glam
of the new China’s opulent Olympic display.
A stone’s throw from the home sites being bulldozed, the government has
already opened Forest Park, double the size of New York’s Central Park.
The poor residents of what used to be known as Yang Shan Village are being hauled
away like so much trash to make way for still another park, this one with a luxurious
marbled entrance.
Villagers expect that as soon as the Olympic flag is lowered, the new Yang Shan
Park will be bulldozed again, this time to make way for a few hundred pricey
condos.
The government’s bulldozing squad, contracted to a filthy-rich Beijing
realtor, claims villagers have been given “adequate compensation.” Sure!
The same realtor is selling his nearby condos to the newly well-heeled Chinese
bourgeoisie for over $250 per square foot. By contrast, village residents are
being offered a princely sum of $57 for their modest homes, built on land that
has been in the family for untold generations.
Pressure is mounting on President Bush to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies
to protest China’s general bad behavior of late. The fire-breathing dragon
has trampled Tibetans, toxified our toys and even tinkered with our medicines.
Adding insult to injury, Chinese bigwigs failed to accomplish the one overarching
objective they guaranteed the Olympic Site Selection Committee — protecting
the world’s athletes this summer from Beijing’s poisonous air.
So far, the leader of the Free World says he’s going to Beijing this August.
Bush insists he will be more effective if he speaks to the commie autocrats in
private. Staring into their eyes the way he did his old buddy, Vladimir Putin,
Bush believes presidential eyeballing will strike terror in the hearts of these
Beijing bullies.
After this behind the scenes eyeball thrashing by Bush, we should expect the
people’s government to free Tibet, clean up their production lines and
restore to their rightful lands the poor villagers of Yang Shan … right?
Jesus of Nazareth warned that the poor we will always have with us. He neglected
to warn us against rapacious realtors, their government goons and lame lame-duck
presidents.
I suppose we have no right to complain if China’s chickens have come home
to roost. Ever since Dick Nixon and his pal, uber-diplomat Herr Kissinger, re-established
friendly relations with the communist behemoth, we’ve been eagerly waiting
for the Chinese to adopt our Western ways. Now they have. The Shanghai skyline
juts higher than midtown Manhattan, Beijing air makes L.A. smog smell positively
healthy and Chinese real estate moguls make Donald Trump look like Mother Teresa.
You can read more of Dick Methia’s work at www. AlongtheBoomerTrail.com.
He can also be e-mailed at Dick@AlongtheBoomerTrail.com.
This page and its contents ©2008 Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
