Get that torch - new challenge

As you can see by today's news the tibetians are making protests and trying to stop the Olympic torch from moving along its path. This looks like it going to go on through the course of the next 130 days. I'm sure there will be some protesters right here in LOS (one torch bearer already said she doesn't want to carry it). So we should get some interesting anti-China - Pro-Tibet news from this tradition.



I feel Tibet should be free but at the moment I don't have plans to join the protest along the path. It would be kind of an interesting act to try out. I've never publicly protested against anything despite having lots of opinions on things. Holding up flags along the route of the torch can make a difference. If someone were brave enough they could even got for the torch.

Watching the protesters going wild running around the police make it look kind of like a game of sorts. What do think about protesting by holding up a flag or lying down in the streets covered in blood as one woman did. have youever done something like this? Would you consider it again? Would you hold up a Tibet flag to make a statement against the Chinese government?

I have never protested anything and I'm not about to risk getting tossed out of this country for waving a Tibetan, Chinese, Thai or any other flag.

I frankly don't care much about Tibet ... or Myanmar. They're China's problems.

^ And the problems of the people in Tibet and Burma.

But I agree with you.

We should stay out - just like Iraq.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

Holding up flags along the route of the torch can make a difference

---

How?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

have you ever done something like this?

---

Yes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

Would you consider it again?

---

No

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

Would you hold up a Tibet flag to make a statement against the Chinese government?

---

No

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

Would you hold up a Tibet flag to make a statement against the Chinese government?

---

Sure.

Sounds pretty harmless.
Wouldn't go far out of my way though.

Well, holding up a flag makes a statement. That's better than nothing. I guess your participation,Bob in the past may have resulted in no change for the cause you were protesting for.


Those who protested against Thaksin eventually encouraged the generals that there was some support form the people here for stopping him. I'm not saying all people would support a coup but the generals could see that a lot of people hated Thaksin too.

Protesting can cause change at times. Opinions get heard. Sometimes that's the only time they get heard.



I'm not saying I am going to get involved because to be honest I am just a lazy f0ck. There are those who talk and those who do. Most of the time I am just talk the talk.

The Olympic Games is a sporting event designed to bring athletes of all nations together in the spirit of peace,unity and sportsmanship.It should remain as such and not be marred by politics,violence and protests.

The torch will pass through HK April 30 but no mumblings about Tibet,Taiwan from the laowais here and staging protests against the games.Try holding a Tibet or Taiwan up in China and you'll be put away for a very long time.

The Olympics should not be the stage for bringing the world's attention political or religious disputes.

Some background on violence at the Olympics:

The most controversial Olympics were the Berlin Games of 1936. The IOC had voted in 1931 to hold these Games in Berlin, before IOC members could have known the Nazi movement would soon control the country.
When it became known in the early 1930s that under the rule of the Nazis, German Jewish athletes were being barred from the 1936 German team, in violation of the Olympic Charter, many Americans demanded a boycott of the 1936 Games. The boycott movement failed because Avery Brundage, head of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) at the time, was convinced by German officials that Jewish athletes would be permitted to try out for the German team. In fact, only two Jewish athletes were named to the 1936 German Olympic team, and both were of mixed religious backgrounds.

There have been several boycotts of the Olympics by various countries. In 1956 the Egyptian, Lebanese, and Iraqi teams boycotted the Melbourne Games to protest the invasion of Egypt by the United Kingdom, France, and Israel that had occurred earlier that year.


Major boycotts of the Olympics occurred in 1976, 1980, and 1984. In 1976 many African nations demanded that New Zealand be excluded from the Montréal Games because its rugby team had played against South Africa, then under the rule of supporters of apartheid, the official policy of racial segregation followed in that country from 1948 to the early 1990s. When the IOC resisted the demands of the African countries with the argument that rugby was not an Olympic sport, athletes from 28 African nations were called home by their governments.


The issue in the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games was the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 by the USSR. Although American President Jimmy Carter forced the USOC to refuse the invitation to attend the Moscow Games, many other NOCs defied their governments’ requests that they boycott the Games. Once Carter acted to spoil the Moscow Games (62 nations did boycott the Games), it became clear that the USSR and its allies would retaliate with another boycott at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Although Romania did send a team to Los Angeles, 16 of the USSR’s other allies boycotted the Los Angeles Games.


From the 1940s to the 1980s, the IOC also had to deal with the political problems caused by divided nations. One dilemma concerned the Chinese Olympic team, after the political division of China in 1949 into the People's Republic of China on the mainland and the so-called Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. In 1952 the IOC decided to invite teams from both the mainland and Taiwan, but this decision led to decades of boycott by the government of the People's Republic, which did not send a team to the Olympics until the Lake Placid Games in 1980.


Another political issue arose in 1949, because of the formal political division of Germany that year into East Germany and West Germany. This division created the question of whether there was to be one German team or two. The IOC tried to solve this problem by insisting on a combined German team. Negotiations lasted several years, and this solution was first tested at the Melbourne Games in 1956; it lasted until the Munich Games in 1972, for which two teams were formed.


There continued to be two German teams until 1992, by which time the countries had reunited. The IOC also had to cope with racial segregation in South Africa. The IOC voted in 1968 to exclude the South African team from Olympic competition in order to bring pressure on the government to give up its policy of apartheid. The South Africans were not readmitted until the Barcelona Games in 1992—by which time apartheid had been discontinued.


Violence has also occurred at the Olympic Games. In the midst of the 1972 Munich Games, the Olympic movement experienced its most tragic hour. A band of Palestinian terrorists made their way into the Olympic village (where athletes from all nations are invited to live during the Games), murdered two members of the Israeli team, and took nine hostages. When the IOC, meeting in emergency session, learned that a gunfight had broken out and that all nine hostages were dead, along with five of the terrorists, the Games were suspended for a day. The IOC’s controversial decision to resume the Games that year was endorsed by the Israeli government.

Year Host Countries (includes both summer and winter )

1936 Germany https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

1940 Japan https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2007/10/66.jpg Finland https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2007/07/91.jpg Switzerland https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2007/07/96.jpg Germany https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif



Olympic Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





So they had the Olympics in 1936 and 1940 and then how many million people died? Many people should have protested a bit more at that time?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

I frankly don't care much about Tibet ... or Myanmar. They're China's problems.

---

hmmmm, problem lies there, dont it?

I think it's a good slap in the face for China.

China has a very big face to slap.Politics and sports should not mix.

^, ^^ yeah.

^^^ um, yeah, I think. Whaddayou saying? They're regional issues.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

The most controversial Olympics were the Berlin Games of 1936 BLAH BLAH BLAH

---

please quote your sources when you steal their text....
Olympic Games å�Žå®�MBA是国内最早ã€�师资最强ã€�æœ�åŠ¡æœ €å¥½ã€�规模最大的MBA考å‰�培è®[at]机构.MBA,MB A培è®[at],MBA辅导,MBA考试,MBAé�¢è¯•,MBA试题,MB A论å�›,mba考试大纲--Powered by w3cweb.com

Sorry, it's from HHMBA.com a Chinese website.

This is from a guy called 'angrychineseblogger' Rhetoric, Red faces and Retribution - angrychineseblogger - @ 20six.co.uk he offers an insightful look at the issues surrounding Tibet and China's reaction.There was a blog from him about the Olympics but it's been blocked :(

I will be boycotting the China Olympics by not buying any Olympic-related memorabilia.


I will encourage my sons to watch the Games on tv, and remind them that
(1) 'winning' requires dedication of effort;

(2) genes prevent a person from excelling at every sport, but do allow the potential of excelling at some (Indian sharpshooters come to mind);

(3) athletic prowess is inherently a 'selfish' achievement, and needs to be balanced with some contribution to society (beyond entertainment and motivation of youngsters)


I will also start a grass-roots campaign to eliminate identification of national origin of athletes. If the Olympics are meant to be about the best athletes, then their citizenship does not matter. Spectators at events and home are free to root for their native sons and daughters, but the world will be spared the jingoistic and divisive political medal tallies, and hopefully future boycotts and demagogic manipulations.



Now stepping down from my high horse...:)

Well I'm going to the opening ceremony of the Olympics.Peace to all!

Zip you could also denationalize football and rugby teams as they promote violence and hooliganism why stop at the Olympics? Asia Games?
Let's see ,why have a FIFA World Cup?How about the Grand Prix,that's a sport too and countless other tournaments,tennis,golf etc.

Advocate that no sport will display the nationality of the athlete that's a really good move.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

^^^ um, yeah, I think. Whaddayou saying? They're regional issues.

---

aint that what most of europe said abt nazi germany?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

the People's Republic, which did not send a team to the Olympics until the Lake Placid Games in 1980

---

So China now saying that politics has no place in the Olympics is a bit hypocritical, isn't it?

Quote:

---

the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, an exiled group, said "at least one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition" after People's Armed Police fired on the crowd.

Chinese policeman killed as Tibetan unrest goes on - washingtonpost.com

---

As long as China continues to "fire on the crowd" they can expect a less-then-convivial Olympics torch-relay through Llhasa...

Fklkaldk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rattanaburi

Well, holding up a flag makes a statement. That's better than nothing. I guess your participation,Bob in the past may have resulted in no change for the cause you were protesting for.

---

Flagwaving didn't change anything. Creative use of the media, direct action, both violent and non-violent, and damage to state pocketbooks changed things. Marching and flag waving are just ways of making people feel like they're doing something when really they're doing nothing very much. At best I'd say that protests offer encouragement to those suffering or doing real actions, in that way they're good but they're not an effective way of creating real change. A (non-violent) attack on the Olympic podium during the opening ceremonies, waving Tibetan flags, would be a good stunt but anybody who tried it would probably be shot before they got within a 1000 metres of it, still, as long as it was on live international TV it'd still be a good action - until people changed channels and forgot all about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

.Politics and sports should not mix.

---

Marshmallow-minded gibberish. Politics is just a name for how groups work together, everything in human life is political. People who think that somehow politics is separate from other aspects of life have no understanding of what politics is. Sport is and always has been intensely political, there has never been a time when sport hasn't been political and there never will be. The Olympic Games, and other international sporting events, are substitutes for battles between countries and arouse the same emotions as actual battle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

.Politics and sports should not mix.

---

Marshmallow-minded gibberish. Politics is just a name for how groups work together, everything in human life is political. People who think that somehow politics is separate from other aspects of life have no understanding of what politics is. Sport is and always has been intensely political, there has never been a time when sport hasn't been political and there never will be. The Olympic Games, and other international sporting events, are substitutes for battles between countries and arouse the same emotions as actual battle.

---

You've convinced me! "Morituri te salutant"

Key word here is SHOULD not mix but invariably and unfortunately they do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zipcode

"Morituri te salutant"

---

Aut non!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

Key word here is SHOULD not mix but invariably and unfortunately they do.

---

They are the same, assuming you're talking about sports and politics, hard to tell as you don't quote anything.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Sport is and always has been intensely political, there has never been a time when sport hasn't been political and there never will be.

---

A prediction: Gold medal count from the 2020 Olympics; Microsoft 23, Toyota 21, Sony 20. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

Zip you could also denationalize rugby teams as they promote violence

---

What a crock of shit!

Have you ever been to a rugby match? The fans are great and all support their teams standing (or sitting) alongside each other. I'm not saying there has never been violence at a rugby match, but I know of none.

^ True. I've never seen a fight in the stands at an American football or hockey game, either (we do continue to allow hockey players to fight, but only if they take their gloves and helmets off).
I won't have to recommend banning the Beijing Olympics. China will decimate protesting Tibetans and many athletes will withdraw in protest. Their countries won't because they need China's trade. I bet nobody in the west even knows how to make a pot or a shirt anymore.

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES
The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) propagate the fundamental principles of Olympism at a national level within the framework of sports activity


ORGANISATION OF THE NOCs

There are currently 205 National Olympic Committees over five continents.

INDEX OF ALL NOCs

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif


ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES

The NOCs come together at least once every two years in the form of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) to exchange information and experiences in order to consolidate their role within the Olympic Movement. In this way the ANOC helps the NOCs to prepare for their meetings with the IOC Executive Board and Olympic Congresses.

The ANOC also makes recommendations to the IOC regarding the use of funds deriving from the television rights intended for the NOCs. These recommendations focus on the implementation of the Olympic Solidarity programmes in particular.

The ANOC is currently made up of the 205 NOCs and is split among five continental associations:

AFRICA: ANOCA (Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa)

AMERICA: PASO (Pan American Sports Organisation)

ASIA: OCA (Olympic Council of Asia)

EUROPE: EOC (European Olympic Committees)

OCEANIA: ONOC (Oceania National Olympic Committees)


MISSIONS OF THE NOCs

The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) promote the fundamental principles of Olympism at a national level within the framework of sports. NOCs are committed to the development of athletes and support the development of sport for all programs and high performance sport in their countries. They also participate in the training of sports administrators by organising educational programs.

Another objective of the National Olympic Committees is to ensure that athletes from their respective nations attend the Olympic Games. Only a NOC is able to select and send teams and competitors for participation in the Olympic Games.

National Olympic Committees also supervise the preliminary selection of potential bid cities. Before a candidate city can compete against those in other countries, it first must win the selection process by the NOC in its own country. The National Olympic Committee can then name that city to the IOC as a candidate to host the Olympic Games.

Although most NOCs are from nations, the IOC also recognises independent territories, commonwealths, protectorates and geographical areas. There are currently 205 NOCs, ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe.

olympic.org


Tell IOC No Torch in Tibet! Please contact your country's National Olympic Committee


.

The Games are an huge buisness,million of dollars running.

Farang phuut maak and all Farang mai phuut.You live in a democratic country,or?

afraid to get kick out of this (for you) cheap country?
What kind of men yr are? Nisai mai dii

Bhaichung pulls out of Torch relay
Hindustan Times
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2008/04/6.jpg

When the Olympic Torch’s worldwide relay reaches New Delhi next month, Bhaichung Bhutia will not be there. That’s because the India football captain is teaming with those who think China’s isn’t handling the Tibet issue right.

Bhutia didn’t tell the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as much. Replying to a faxed invitation sent by president Suresh Kalmadi ‘in the first week of March’, Bhutia told the IOA on Monday that he is pulling out of the run from Red Fort to India Gate due to “personal reasons.”

But when HT asked him to elaborate, Bhutia did. “Being invited by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is an honour but at the moment I sympathise with the Tibetan cause,” he said.

snip

phayul.com



I'm betting that the flame is extinguished somewhere , BEFORE it returns to China .

.

In the PC world of today is it even acceptable to take the piss out of China simple because they have occupied Tibet for fifty years? Does this mean that Israel will get special consideration to host the next summer games?

Impossible to separate politics and the Olympics, and quite hypocritical of China to be pissn' and moanin' about the Tibet issue being used to politicize the games when they have had the big red machine kicked into full gear every since being awarded the games in the first place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momo8

China has a very big face to slap.Politics and sports should not mix.

---

How naive can you be? China uses sports in every conceivable way to further its causes, whatever that maye be - Taiwan, Spratlys, Tibet etc . . .

It is a murderous regime whose political party is responsible for tens of millions of dead in the last 60 years.

Quote:

---

India's soccer captain refuses to join in Beijing Olympic torch run in Indian capital
India's soccer captain Bhaichung Bhutia will refuse to carry the Beijing Olympic torch during its run through the Indian capital later this month in protest over the Chinese authorities' crackdown on recent protests in Tibet, a sports official said Tuesday.

---

Thought I'd pe-paste.

Love it, well done!

Something to think about indeed !