Kodak
Coca-Cola
Samsung
General Motors
Xerox
Heineken
Fuji Film
Telstra
Schlumberger
John Hancock
Panasonic
TimeWarner
Visa

The above companies are sponsors of the Olympics in Beijing. If you care about the Tibetan people, boycott them. I certainly will.

Some of those I’ve never even heard of (Schlumberger, John Hancock). Another – Telstra – is little more than a name to me. All the others are known to me but I don’t use most of them. However, TimeWarner and Visa might hurt a little.

Visa – that probably goes without saying, but for this important cause, I’ll get by
without it.

TimeWarner – if I’m not mistaken – owns ICQ and the AOL Instant Messenger. Tough. I use ICQ all the time, despite reservations about the owners. AIM – well, I have a screen name, but I don’t use it.

You might say ‘that’s just politics’ or ‘why mix politics and sports’? Guess what? People in Tibet are dying. That’s not ‘just politics’. If you ask their loved ones or people who were shot at and survived, they probably won’t appreciate your distinction.

Wake up. Today it’s Tibet, tomorrow – who knows? Maybe your home is up next. There are no guarantees you’ll always stay safe.

For at least a year now, I’ve also been boycotting Yahoo and Google. If you don’t see why, here’s a brief explanation.

Yahoo – they helped Chinese authorites jail at least one journalist who wrote about democracy issues. Yeah. An innocent man is in jail, thanks to Yahoo. So, no Yahoo messenger or mail.

Google – they censor their search engine in China, so obviously I don’t want to use any of Google’s services. If you think it’s no big deal, ask yourself why. Is it ok to censor internet searches as long as it’s far away from where you live? Or is it just something you don’t care about?

In any case, I care and I say no thanks to Yahoo and Google.