Olympic Torch ceremony boycott...

[schmalts]

Anyone seen this? what are your thoughts?

You know i will tell mine
GET OVER IT... too fricking bad the big bad Nazi's had the idea and made it happen.. because it became a tradition and a damn great ceremony for the Olympics. I would bet that 99% of the actual protesters were not even born before WW2. Maybe we should remove Nazi Germany from our history books as well.
Quit living in the past folks.. The ironic thing is they had a blurb about it on the CBS news at dinner, and in the very next commercial here was some actor sitting next to an original VW bug for a VW commercial. Anyone know who was the big promoter and brain child of the original Bug?? Yes Hitler was the main man behind the making of the bug. Should we tell everyone who owns a bug to send it to the compactor for destruction because it may offend a jew? WHAAAAAAAAAh

 

[A-con]

Nazi's ?
The protesters I have seen & here about are protesting because the Olympics are being held in China, and China is a major violator of human rights and is currently crushing an independence movement in Tibet. They (Chinese) are arresting, beating and even killing the relatively peaceful Tibetan Buddhist.
Of course, protesting the Olympics isn’t going to do anything, they should have protested the Olympic committee way back when China was being considered.
I tend to side with Tibet, I wish China would leave them alone. Admittedly I know very little about the whole subject other than watching the movie “7 years in Tibet”.

 

[A-con]

Ironically, most of the protesters are themselves Chinese. Probably from Taiwan. I would suspect the Taiwanese would sympathize with Tibet. Did you see the crazies that climbed into the suspension system of the golden gate bridge and hung a sign “Free Tibet”. Really pissed off S.F.P.D.

 

[TLC]

Schmalts, didn't you hear what ole nancy p has come up with for a protest? she has decided not to boycott the olympics, just the opening ceremonies. that will teach all them chinamen. great idea nancy, good job.

 

[BigHornRam]

Nazi's? You crack me up schmalts!!!!!!

So is Dangerous Dave going to be in the 6 pm news tonight? What say you Dave?

BTW Hillary also is pushing Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies. After all the crooked shit between the Clinton's and China over the years, to now proposes this? Unbelievable!

 

[BigHornRam]

I think I found out why DD will be protesting today!

By JULIANA BARBASSA and MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writers
1 hour, 6 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - The Olympic torch's round-the-world trip is the longest in Olympic history, and is meant to highlight China's rising economic and political power. But on the torch's sole North American stop, activists are also calling attention to the Olympic host's human rights record.

As runners carry the torch on its six-mile route Wednesday, they will compete not only with people protesting China's grip on Tibet and its support for the governments of Myanmar and Sudan, but also with more obscure activists. They include nudists calling for a return to the way the ancient Greek games were played.

Local officials say they support the diversity of viewpoints, but have heightened security following chaotic protests during the torch's stops in London and Paris and a demonstration Monday in which activists hung banners from the Golden Gate bridge.

"We are trying to accomplish two goals here. One is to protect the right to free speech and the other is to ensure public safety, and here in San Francisco we are good at both of those things," said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The torch is scheduled to travel a route hugging San Francisco Bay, but security concerns could prompt a last-minute change. Already, one runner who planned to carry the torch dropped out because of safety concerns, officials said.

The flame was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival in San Francisco on Tuesday. It began its 85,000-mile journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing on March 24, and was the focus of protests from the start.

On Tuesday, hundreds of activists carrying Tibetan flags gathered in United Nations Plaza, a pedestrian area near City Hall, to denounce China's policy toward Tibet and the recent crackdown on protesters there. They then marched to the Chinese Consulate.

"This is not about us battling the torchbearers," Lhadom Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, told the crowd outside the consulate. "This is about the Chinese government using the torch for political purposes. And we're going to use it right back."

The day of protests culminated in an evening candlelight vigil for Tibet, with speeches by actor Richard Gere and human rights activist Desmond Tutu, who called on President Bush and other heads of state to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing.

San Francisco was chosen to host the relay in part because of its large Chinese-American population. Many residents spoke out Tuesday to ask for calm and express their pride that China was chosen to host the summer games.

"We are begging for five hours of peace," said Sam Ng, president of the Chinese Six Companies, a prominent benevolent association.

Ling Li, 29, who immigrated from China's Guangdong Province eight years ago, said she was disappointed that this pivotal moment in her country's history was being marred by demonstrations. She said Tibet is a rightful part of China and its quest for independence should not be part of the Olympics.

"If I support the Olympics, of course I don't support the protests. This is the first time China has had the Olympics. We should be proud of this," she said.

In Beijing, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the body's executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the international leg of the torch relay because of the demonstrations. He said he was "deeply saddened" by the previous protests and was concerned about the relay in San Francisco.

"We recognize the right for people to protest and express their views, but it should be nonviolent. We are very sad for all the athletes and the people who expected so much from the run and have been spoiled of their joy," Rogge said.

Pro-Tibet activists and other human rights groups said they had encouraged their supporters to protest peacefully.

"We can be effective without (disruption)," said Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a spokesman for Save Darfur. "Disrupting tomorrow's ceremonies couldn't possibly embarrass Beijing any more than their disastrous Darfur policy already has."

Still, law enforcement agencies prepared for the worst. The Fire Department will have ambulances along the torch's route, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department will have 50 or more extra deputies on patrol, and vans will be available to haul away arrested protesters.

The FAA has restricted flights over the city to media helicopters, medical emergency carriers and law enforcement helicopters and airplanes, such as those the California Highway Patrol will use to monitor the torch's route. The CHP has also increased the number of officers on the ground.

After San Francisco, the torch is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries before arriving in mainland China May 4. The Olympics begin on Aug. 8.

___

Associated Press writers John Marshall, Amanda Fehd and Stephen Wilson contributed to this report.

 

[BigHornRam]

Now that I know where schmalts comes up with his informed opinions, I would like to know why they picked San Franfreako to represent the US in the Olympic Torch ceremonies?

 

[schmalts]

Bigwhore, you must be young, there were protests long before the China deal. And other protesting it other than the Human rights for Tibet.

"Ten burning questions about the Olympic torchSo who was to blame for Sunday's chaotic parade in London? Will it make any difference to Tibet? And why was Denise Van Outen asked to carry the sacred flame? Patrick Barkham has all the answers
Patrick Barkham The Guardian, Tuesday April 8 2008 Article historyAbout this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday April 08 2008 on p10 of the Comment & features section. It was last updated at 00:01 on April 08 2008.
Police officers restrain a protester during the relay of the Olympic torch in London. Photograph: Ian Walton/PA

Why have an Olympic torch relay?

The modern torch relay was invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Organisers hoped that carrying the flame from Greece to Germany would help link the Nazi regime to Olympian ideals. Masterminded as a piece of media theatre for Hitler by his propagandist Josef Goebbels, it was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl. These days, it is just as potent a piece of PR for the Olympic brand and its sponsors, who have embraced the relay for its marketing clout. The Athens games in 2004 were the first to feature a truly global torch relay and the British leg came in June that year as London was bidding for 2012. The capital's crowds cheered politely and everyone behaved themselves."

Has there been trouble in the past?

Protests against the torch have been rare but there have been inventive stunts. Before the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, a student pretending to be an Olympic athlete and carrying a torch made out of a burning pair of underpants inside a can on the end of a chair leg presented it to the mayor of Sydney and fled before anyone realised he was an imposter. The hoax was to protest against the "reverence" towards the flame despite its Nazi origins.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Schmalts sure has some amazing things to get his panties in a wad about.....

 

[smalls]

Am I missing something here Schmalts... where are the parallels between current torch run protests and Nazi Germany?

Did someone throw away the cap on the bottle of scotch again?

 

[noharleyyet]

There has been specultation that the female Russian 400 meter sprint relay team were shaving their runway 'staches in protest.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

John

 

[schmalts]

Guys, there is nothing to do with the Chinese protest, But I have seen that some are still bickering about the Germany part of it, that is my whole point. Germany are the ones who first made up the big torch run gig, and there are still some saying it should not happen because of the WWII ties. My main post was about the people who still protest the torch run for the German reasons. It is still happening and the Chinese boycott talk are bringing it to light again.
A boycott is useless. USA and a bunch of other countries boycotted the Russian held Olympics in the 1980 era because they invaded Afghanistan, and still that war dragged on for close to a decade. Now we look back, maybe we should have supported them?? LOL, now we are there fighting the same thugs that we were supplying weapons to to defend themselves from USSR.

 

[BigHornRam]

schmalts,

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Don Peay thinks you're an idiot. Honest.

 

[JB]

schmalts,

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Don Peay thinks you're an idiot. Honest.

LMAO
it's called "aggressive ignorance".

 

[smalls]

schmalts,

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Don Peay thinks you're an idiot. Honest.

ZING!

 

[AZ402]

Schmalts sure has some amazing things to get his panties in a wad about.....

According to mtmiller he goes commando.........

 

[schmalts]

Cmon Bigwhore, admit it that you never knew that Nazi Germany were the first to do the torch deal, and probably didn't know the Hitler ties with the VW bug either
After all, you do think SFW is a great thing too....

 

[BigHornRam]

Actually schmalts, the guy that came up with the torch idea, wasn't a Nazi. He was German however, and came up with the idea for the 1936 Olympics. That hitler had ties to hippie wagons and bugs doesn't surprise me. Has nothing to do with the torch protests though.

 

[schmalts]

yea, It's amazing what you can Google up when someone points you in the right direction isn't it Bighorn?