Olympic Torch Used to Ignite Tibetan Protestors!

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I'm proud of the protestors in London and Paris. They extinguished the flame three times this morning. A French Green Party official was arrested carrying a fire extinguisher to a rally too, lol. The Parisians are so good at protests. They've been tearing up cobblestone streets since Kind Louis I.

 

The protestors were expecting to be set ablaze as part of the protest right?

 

Yeah the French prove that all you need is manpower when it comes to resisting the government.

 

Id bet extinguishing the tourch in the acient times would call for the death penatly.

 

Well, the protesters didn't actually put out the torch. The french police did to hide it from the protesters. But at least they did something.

And the onion has never failed, hilarious.

 

And does anyone know where the torch is going next?

 

probably end up getting flown around the world hehe.

 

It's funny how people claim that the Olympics is separate from state and international politics, yet cite the Nazi Olympics gleefully as an example of otherwise.

You know, how people say that it's important to support the sports, the participants, and ignore the political issues from all the countries involved. My sister said that yesterday and it pissed me off. She didn't even know that Tibetans were protesting.

Especially because the Chinese are quite adamant that this long Olympic torch route is to be a symbol of their newfound power and economic might. Nothing involving international participants on such a scale can be free of politics.

And let's not forget ...

Not about politics indeed

polecat - as far as I know they are carrying the torch across all the countries in between France and China.

 

All we need is one entire nation to say "no" and this will blossom. I read that the captain of the India Football Team has already refused to participate in torch ceremonies. I'd think India would have more reason than most to protest.

 

I think it's going to Australia next, to the capital Canberra. Reports are that the police are gearing up for big protests there too.

I wish it would come to New Zealand, our government just signed a free trade agreement with China yesterday, and AFTER signing decided to bring up their human rights issues - weak. There'd be pretty big rallies here if the torch did come. Well, big by kiwi standards, lol!

Of course none of this makes the news in China, their press is so tightly controlled by the Communist Party that everyday Chinese are only presented with these heavily edited scenes of a triumphal torch ceremony. Imagine everyone boycotted the torch march, the cameras would just show this lone guy running down a deserted street.

 

and to think, if we'd boycotted the olympics, this particularly beautiful photo would never have happened.

 

yeah, because their society has such a great track record.

 

Yes, they have a scathing record of human rights violations, particularly where women and neighboring countries are concerned. But they have a large population and are a sporting nation.

On the other hand I won't be surprised if many Muslim nations boycott just by virtue of participation by the US.

 

lol. yup. the whole point was to set all our individual fuckups aside for a while. the usa ain't so fucking great.

 

There are actually several runners in the USA who qualified for the Olympics, but turned the offer down.

They turned it down because the pollution in Beijing would take a toll on their lungs, and they decided not to risk the adverse effects of breathing the smoggy carbon-filed air and weaken their lung capacity and health.

 

yup. totally reasonable.

 

burn...BURN!!!!

burn the monks

 

I agree, but I also think it's reasonable for any athlete to abstain from participating in the Olympics for any reason whether it be their political motivations, their religious beliefs, or whatever.

It is a privilege to attend and to excel in your sport in front of the world, but there are other matters that are perfectly acceptable for people to withhold their support of the Olympics as an organization.

I support any form of peaceful protest, and this is no different for me.

 

and i support any show of support that transcends political borders.

 

Show being the loaded word, yeah.

I hear you KC. But it's terrible that China isn't even covering the News on what's going on in regards to the Olympics. For all we know, people living behind the Great Wall, watching the Torch ceremonies are seeing a reflection and a sense of Chinese pride and respect. The average person in China has no knowledge of Tibetan protests. Hell, they can't even use Google, give birth to twin girls or spit without their Government's intervention.

Unfortunately, it's their Government that has decided to host the events, organize and accommodate the very organization that has the potential to transcend political borders. It's only fair for people to criticize Chinese Democracy. Whenever it's supposed to be coming out on shelves.