This is from german “Spiegelonline”
It’s illustrating how the olympic torch had to be secured when traveling through Paris.
Translation
1 Torch Bearer & four olympic goons (Committee)
2 100 cops on inline skates
3 100 firemen on foot
4 65 motor-bikes
5 Security Company CRS, 32 vehicles and 160 goons
6 Escort, 16 vehicles
not shown on map:
one helicopter & three ships
Didn’t work very well hehehe
Ah, The Olympic ideal…
I guess China is finding out what the populace of the world think.
For a culture that values public respect - in that I mean perception, it’s a big black eye.
And the other black eye belongs to the IOC.
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
This is from german “Spiegelonline”
It’s illustrating how the olympic torch had to be secured when traveling through Paris.
Translation
1 Torch Bearer & four olympic goons (Committee)
2 100 cops on inline skates
3 100 firemen on foot
4 65 motor-bikes
5 Security Company CRS, 32 vehicles and 160 goons
6 Escort, 16 vehicles
not shown on map:
one helicopter & three ships
[/quote]
I think there is a message here…
WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling on President Bush to stay away from the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing this summer.
The Democratic presidential candidate cites the recent unrest in Tibet and questions about China’s relationship with Sudan.
The New York senator says: `The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership.’
She says Bush should not plan on attending the ceremonies `absent major changes by the Chinese government.’
Her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, said recently that he was conflicted about whether the United States should fully participate.
Score one for Hillary. Being “conflicted” about something is a luxury the president cannot afford.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Score one for Hillary. Being “conflicted” about something is a luxury the president cannot afford.[/quote]
Well, it seems to me as if every other head of state is sending the same message. Ambivalence is displayed by Spain, Sweden, Britain, France, Canada, etc.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be more worried about people who claim to hold The Truth. Being conflicted in these contexts sends the message to Beijing. We all know that nobody can afford to boycott the Olympics anyway, so it seems to me that it’s the best possible approach.
And just so you don’t misinterpret my position on Obama’s presidency, screw him!
Didn’t you know the Olympics isn’t about athletic competition? It’s about display of State power. That’s why we honor hard working athletes by playing the State’s national anthem when they “bring home the gold”. These competitions might as well be a full on military parade, a la Soviet Bloc.
All hail the State.
[quote]lixy wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Score one for Hillary. Being “conflicted” about something is a luxury the president cannot afford.
Well, it seems to me as if every other head of state is sending the same message. Ambivalence is displayed by Spain, Sweden, Britain, France, Canada, etc.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be more worried about people who claim to hold The Truth. Being conflicted in these contexts sends the message to Beijing. We all know that nobody can afford to boycott the Olympics anyway, so it seems to me that it’s the best possible approach.
And just so you don’t misinterpret my position on Obama’s presidency, screw him! [/quote]
Ambivalence is acceptance of China’s policies. People will long remember the presidents attendance and soon forget a statement that he is “conflicted”.
I do not see Hillary calling for a boycott of the games or any other extreme measures, simply saying Bush shouldn’t go and I actually agree.
I wonder if the protesters realize that the only thing these childish antics accomplish is inflaming Chinese nationalists and making things worse for the Tibetans and possibly everyone else. Probably not.
I do not necessarily agree, Etaco.
Peaceful demonstrations can hardly be exploited that easily.
The west is well advised to show that he is not amused by China’s Tibet policy and to freely let the people speak out. That said, I nontheless believe Hillary is desperately grasping for anything now.
Apparently, chinese special forces dudes were guarding the torch bearer, under unknown legal authority.
Athletes, like Sebastian Coe called them “thugs”, because they only communicated with snarling commandos like “stop” or “go, go” even going so far as correcting the runners posture by pushing his torch arm up (Konnie Huq).
“These men in blue puzzled everyone. Nobody seemed to know who they were. They acted like robots and I observed some skirmishing between them, olympia-functionaries and our police” [source: today’s Spiegelonline]
Is one of them Jet Li?
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
“These men in blue puzzled everyone. Nobody seemed to know who they were. They acted like robots and I observed some skirmishing between them, olympia-functionaries and our police” [source: today’s Spiegelonline]
[/quote]
Chinese Fascists?
Great.
Saw some news footage today. The guys in blue were in San Francisco when the torch arrived there.
These guys are huge asians!(according to some sources, at least 190cm)
video footage of this bizarre incident, foreign communist security in London guiding a britush athlete around, while a protestor nearly gets the torch
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
I do not necessarily agree, Etaco.
Peaceful demonstrations can hardly be exploited that easily.
The west is well advised to show that he is not amused by China’s Tibet policy and to freely let the people speak out. That said, I nontheless believe Hillary is desperately grasping for anything now.
[/quote]
Trying to put out the flame or wrest it away from the torch bearers qualifies as childish in my book and doesn’t put the cause in any better light.
To this, I agree.
[quote]etaco wrote:
Schwarzfahrer wrote:
I do not necessarily agree, Etaco.
Peaceful demonstrations can hardly be exploited that easily.
The west is well advised to show that he is not amused by China’s Tibet policy and to freely let the people speak out. That said, I nontheless believe Hillary is desperately grasping for anything now.
Trying to put out the flame or wrest it away from the torch bearers qualifies as childish in my book and doesn’t put the cause in any better light.[/quote]
Absolutely.
I’m watching how it goes in SF just now…protesters are clogging up the route, the torch is in some building now? Oh wait…now its out…they’ve turned around…
I think the torch carrier just got in a bus
Route has been changed…its cat and mouse. Disappointing.
GO TORCH GO!
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
These guys are huge asians!(according to some sources, at least 190cm)
[/quote]
Oh, yeah. The stereotype of the skinny, short, anemic-looking Asian man kind of falls apart when the Asian man in question eats meat and engages in combat training.
Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s piece on the Chinese goon squad.