Quotes of the Day

Sports in Our Times
While it may be interesting that China is working hard to present itself as a benevolent power on the world stage, why do we ignore the cost of its goals [June 30-July 7]? When did it become acceptable for a 14-year-old girl to be taken from her home and forced to become a weight lifter? America didn't become the world's athletic powerhouse by placing athletes in servitude. It didn't search rural Alabama for Jesse Owens, take him from his home and tell him to teach Hitler a lesson. China needs to understand that it will never be a real power until its people are free to choose their own direction, that national pride comes from personal pride in a (freely chosen) job well done. We need to stop treating China like our precocious little brother and, instead, have it play by the West's rules: democracy.
Robert Rakoczy,
Hamilton, Canada

Although Hannah Beech's article underscores some important truths about young Chinese athletes, it is also a throwback to cold-war depictions of the Chinese as brainwashed "pawns of the state." When will TIME stop making value judgments and maintain a sense of cultural relativity? I grew up with many athletes in America who, just like the athletes in this article, have neglected higher academics to achieve success in sports. I've not only known but had coaches who are just as tough, if not tougher, than the coaches described in this article. And, oh, yeah — the "propaganda director" of Weifang City Sports School? I believe he would be called a public-relations agent in the U.S.
Samantha Chen,
Alameda, Calif., U.S.

Given that our unofficial national motto is "Too much sport is not enough," I am surprised that Australia and its games did not get much mention in your "Games People Play" issue. Polocrosse, a wild fusion of lacrosse and polo, has horses fitter than polo ponies and far more bruising action than polo does. Australian Rules, a cross between rugby league and Gaelic football, requires the utmost fitness, as there are virtually no stoppages and minimal reserves of replacement players. As for equestrian competition, when the Australian team won the three-day event over the killer course at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, it was rumored that they practiced by hunting kangaroos across barbed-wire fences.
J. Alice Hofler,
Sydney

Zimbabwe's Tyrant
The people of Zimbabwe are putting up with the impossible. The "army" which is brutalizing those who oppose Robert Mugabe [June 30-July 7] consists of drugged gangs backed by some of the most corrupt party élites, bureaucrats and military officers in the world. The interests of this crony class — not just Mugabe himself — will have to be addressed to achieve any sort of regime change. And once that happens, the culture of corruption and the self-serving cynicism of politicians will have to go.
Tjarda Barratt,
Elnora, Canada

This sham of an election brings into question the integrity of all nations that champion democracy and freedom. If Zimbabwe had colossal oil reserves, would we see this sort of timidity from the country's neighbors and the Western powers? Why do we let corruption and death run rampant in countries like Rwanda and Zimbabwe when billions of dollars and thousands of lives are spent in Iraq? The so-called overseers of human rights — from the U.S. to the U.N. — have little more legitimacy than callous dictators like Mugabe.
Daniel Kowbell,
Toronto

The outcry over Mugabe's role in wrecking Zimbabwe has come a decade too late. Unleashing a reign of terror on white settlers, Mugabe confiscated the farms of non-Africans, broke the land up into small, unproductive plots and distributed it to landless Africans. As a result, Zimbabwe's agriculture is in shambles today and its economy a well-documented ruin after years of prosperity. The West, however, said nothing about this theft of land, fearing that it would be "politically incorrect" to criticize racially motivated land reform. For too long Mugabe has piggybacked on the sentiments of those sympathetic to Africa's liberation struggle; he is in a sense the creation of Western liberals.
Charles Wukasch,
Austin, Texas, U.S.

Tibetan Buddhists, Divided
Your article "Tibetan Idol" makes it appear that Ogyen Trinley Dorje is universally accepted as the 17th Karmapa and, as such, is recognized as the undisputed spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage, one of the four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism [June 9]. The authenticity of the "prediction letter" you cite naming Ogyen Trinley Dorje as Karmapa has been widely questioned. In fact, he is one of two spiritual leaders who now lay claim to the title. The other, Trinley Thaye Dorje, also recognized as the 17th Karmapa, visited the U.S. in 2003 and currently draws crowds of thousands when he speaks around the world.
Suzan Garner, President, Siddhartha Foundation,
Santa Barbara, Calif., U.S.