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Post by andi on Apr 6, 2008 15:15:11 GMT -5
Tomorrow the Olympic torch will be relayed around the streets of Paris on it's way to China. About 3,000 French police officers including some in jogging gear and on in-line skates will guard the Olympic torch as it is relayed through the French capital. Three boats will patrol the Seine River for the relay Monday, and a helicopter will fly overhead, police said. The convoy protecting the torchbearers will also include riot police vehicles and officers on motorcycles.
The flame is expected at the Eiffel Tower in Paris Monday at 12:35 pm (8:35am AEST), about 80 athletes will carry the torch over a 28-kilometer (17.4-mile) route that snakes round the Trocadero, down the Champs-Elysees toward City Hall, then crosses over the river Seine to the left bank past the National Assembly, before ending at the Charlety track and field stadium.
Today 35 people were arrested during the torches progress through the streets of London, in protest for the release of Tibet from China. Paris city hall will unfurl a giant banner in defence of human rights. Several French activist groups plan to use Monday to protest China's human rights record and its crackdown in Tibet.
Paris city hall will unfurl a giant banner in defence of human rights. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that he cannot rule out the possibility he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continues its crackdown in Tibet.
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Post by holger on Apr 6, 2008 17:16:17 GMT -5
 Good for Sarkozy. Our President appears determined to attend no matter what. Certainly in the past we have had Olympics in countries with major violations of human rights. It might be more useful not to grant the Olympics to known violators in advance rather than have to engage in damage control.
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Post by Jody on Apr 6, 2008 17:41:23 GMT -5
It might be more useful not to grant the Olympics to known violators in advance rather than have to engage in damage control
Again, we think alike , holger!
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Post by joan1 on Apr 6, 2008 21:15:15 GMT -5
Exactly what was the IOC thinking!!!!! What a mess they have made this time,, duh, China ,, human rights abuses,, who knew.. LOL
I am sorry for the athletes that train so hard and look forward to the Olympics, but I cannot stomach watching what the Chinese do to their OWN citizens, let alone how they treated "annexed" countries. Sports, in the end are just sports, and if they want to keep sports and polictics seperate they should not choose countries are KNOWN for their human rights abuses,, who has forgotten the massarce in Beijing,, not me!
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Post by andi on Apr 7, 2008 9:26:04 GMT -5
All is not going as well as it was planned so far! the torch has had to be extinguished three times and placed onboard a bus to protect it. A ceremony to mark the passing of the torch through Paris has been cancelled. Protesters have chained themselves to barriers. It took over 1 hour for the torch to travel 2km of the initial 28km...........seems it is going to be a long day  |
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Post by Jody on Apr 7, 2008 10:06:27 GMT -5
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Post by Jody on Apr 7, 2008 10:51:15 GMT -5
I wonder if Laidback has witnessed any of this.
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Post by sandy on Apr 7, 2008 11:20:49 GMT -5
The Olympic torch will arrive in Buenos Aires this Friday (I wonder if they keep it flaming on a plane??). I don't think there will be such demonstrations here as in Paris and London, we already have enough of other kinds of demonstrations.
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Post by annettecinca on Apr 7, 2008 12:31:17 GMT -5
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Post by GitteK on Apr 7, 2008 12:51:51 GMT -5
I just watched the TV news - WAUW !!! You can say a lot about the shortcomings of the French, but they sure know how make themselves heard, when they are dissatisfied with something !! At one time the torch bearer had to put out the flame and seek rescue in a van.  Similar protests are expected in California, they said. And our minister for cultural affairs and sports said yesterday, that it is not unlikely that the Danish ministery will stay away from the opening ceremony - and that came from a nice, well-groomed, otherwise conformist conservative ! I can't help but hoping that the protests will spread. This is becoming very embarrassing for the Chinese regime. Serves them right !!  Here you can see some brand fresh photos from Paris: galleri.tv2.dk/index.php/category-Nyhederne/id-11113099/page-15.html(don't mind the "habla-habla"........ that's Danish ;D) |
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Post by geordy on Apr 7, 2008 13:43:09 GMT -5
Yes what were they thinking...  Other cities have to jump through hoops ahead of time to get the nod.. The Human Rights abuses should have been enough to prevent the games going there...not to mention the pollution issues, smoking issues, squat toilet issues, spitting issues, etc. I'm very worried about the athletes, spectators, press, etc. |
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Post by GitteK on Apr 7, 2008 13:51:32 GMT -5
>>>>....not to mention the pollution issues, smoking issues, squat toilet issues, spitting issues, etc.<<<<
ROFLMFPPO - ;D geordy, your criteria would rule out most cities in the world, including Paris !!
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Post by geordy on Apr 7, 2008 14:38:42 GMT -5
Methinks there the problems are much more severe than in most cities. Apparently at the "new venues" they are trying to have some "real" toilet facilities for the athletes but the rest of the crowd is on their own!
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Post by Anne on Apr 8, 2008 1:57:39 GMT -5
The Human Rights abuses should have been enough to prevent the games going there... Unfortunately other considerations prevail over human right issues when the International Olympic Committe choses a location for the Olympic Games : some high level diplomacy and politics that go over our heads, not to mention the scandals about corruption among some Committee members that came up on previous occasions ... |
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Post by Happygoin on Apr 8, 2008 6:11:48 GMT -5
There was a report in Time magazine, as well as Newsweek, that many of the athletes were cutting their trip to the Olympics so short, getting there immediately prior to their event, so that they didn't have to breathe the air. Which means they'd miss the opening ceremonies and the whole Olympic Village experience.
And while there, they are planning to wear masks the entire time, even while sleeping. And this is before you even consider the bathroom situation...
Not to minimize the whole Tibet thing, but I wonder how many of the athletes are looking forward to participating in an Olympic experience of this caliber anyway.
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Post by geordy on Apr 8, 2008 6:53:51 GMT -5
And now they may cancel the rest/or some of the torch tour thing...San Francisco had already started protests. Oh well so much for promoting good will.. I prefer the Winter Olympics...nothing like a good non-controversial "figure" skating competition!   |
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Post by Truffaut on Apr 8, 2008 7:11:17 GMT -5
God bless the national sense of decency that so often pervades France! Nobody should be attending the Opening Ceremony, and if the Olympic Torch came to DC, I'd try to spit on it myself. On the other hand, wasn't it France that was selling weapons and jet fighters to China just a few years ago? I wonder if any of that technology will ever be used against Tibetans, or gays, or Muslims, or Jews of any of the dozens of other groups that the Chinese government systematically abuses?
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Post by GitteK on Apr 8, 2008 8:11:22 GMT -5
I find it so envigorating to think that the IOC may (very, very unwillingly) have started a global avalanche of civil protests. This may turn into a worldwide people's demonstration against oppressive regimes. Any regime which does not allow its citizens to put up a soapbox on any street corner and let them say whatever they dam'n well please (including that the current government sucks), should be shut out from all decent society. And I can not understand why our crownprince Frederik is putting himself forward as a candidate for the IOC He will be forced to make political decisions - and we all know what that does to the popularity of crowned heads.  It is totally annoying, because our royal family has a long tradition of being very daft at keeping out of everything remotely political, thus securing them a very high rate of popularity in DK. |
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Post by luckyluc on Apr 8, 2008 8:42:46 GMT -5
I was really shocked by the way the French police was removing the Tibet flags from peaceful non violent protesters. Is this the new police of the new Sarko’s regime? We need to protest but what is the best way to teach China about human rights? Shutting them out of the western world or engaging them in order to bring them forward. I don’t know.
There is always politics in the Olympics remember Munich or Hitler’s Olympics which was a way to promote the III Reich. I would really like to see our Canadian athletes staying peacefully in their rooms during the opening ceremonies. The Chinese government could not ignore such actions since the diffusion is live. Because let face it, the majority of Chinese citizens will read in their morning newspapers that the Olympic flame was applause during it run through Paris yesterday!
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Post by andi on Apr 8, 2008 8:44:15 GMT -5
I watched an interesting news article yesterday, a reporter went over to Beijing and asked the people on the streets what they knew about the popularity of the Olympics coming there in August. The results were amazing, not one single person had heard that the games are being protested around the world. Everyone was lead to believe that it is going to be a wonderful event. There has been a complete news blackout on any trouble, this does not surprise me, but how do they stop the people from finding out from the internet? They are planning to take the torch through Tibet too, Huh! the cheek of it!
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hahahha