With all the demonstation going on over the Olympic Torch relay, I guess not many people look at the positive side of Olympics of how much effort was put in. Official Website of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games http://en.beijing2008.cn/en.shtml Theme Song for Beijing Olympic 1 Year Countdown - We are ready [youtube]1XOkYTzMHWc[/youtube] 2008 Beijing Olympics Theme Song - Forever Friends [youtube]Ln_cfuLbvwA[/youtube]
Exactly. The media have blown everything out of proportion; The Olympic Games have never been about politics, its the Games which brings the world's sporting elites together to have some fun.
seriously people are taking there liberties way too extreme...... let the olympics be what it is meant to be, and politics be politics.
Protesters need to start to do something more effective with their time, instead of just being douches and attempting to disrupt the relay. I'm fine with some protesters being present at the relay, but what I hate is when people get violent at the relay. I have no idea how they think their gonna fix all the human right issues in China by putting the torch out.
The most pathetic things about these protesters is that most of them don't even know why they are protesting. Of course, to free Tibet. But why? WHY?? Do they really know why? I think not. The media is just fucking everything up. They show what they want to show, what would make a great story. That's all. Anyone know if the MV of the Forever Friends song is out? They were filming Coco and that other dude with that weird dreadlocks hairstyle at the Heaven Temple in Beijing while I was visiting.
its getting kinda annoying...every time i watch the news they're just talking about that...instead of introducing sth that really has to do with beijing or at least sport...
yeah, I think the person that lose the most are the athletics. Imaging training for 4 years and the country then decide to boycott the Olympics, so bah humbug!!
Read about the Berlin Olympics of 1936. Even the Running of the Olympic Torch itself, was a political invention by the Nazis in Germany. Oh, and BTW, remember the killing of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972? Or how about the 1968 Mexico City "Black Power" raised fists from the two US winners of the gold and bronze? Or how about in 1980 when the US and 61 other countries boycotted the games because the USSR had invaded Afghanistan? And those were just off the top of my head. There were others that I've forgotten about but they're there if you spend to time to look them up. So far from being "The Olympic Games have never been about politics..." historically the evidence is that it had ALWAYS been about politics. If Beijing started acting in a way that was humane and civilized instead of brutal, all the protest would magically disappear. Well, its pretty obvious that YOU certainly don't know why. Let me spell it out for you; it is called "self determination" for you and your people (ie. allowing you to keep your national resources without having someone else steal them, and not having your culture socially eroded and undermined). I think the protesters are a lot smarter than you believe them to be. If you read the New York Times article a few days ago on how and why the relatively small group of Tibetan protesters have been so successful in bringing world attention to this issue (whether you believe in their point of view or not), you'll realize that not only do they know what they protesting about, but using coordinated strategies was able to bring their cause to the forefront of public attention and publicly embarrass the crap out of the PRC. Do they know why? Of course they do, and they know how too, much to the consternation of Beijing. Ralph
actually thats not true, cos the media will prob just seize or something else and then there will be protesters for that. prob be about polluting atmosphere after that or let taiwan free. its a never ending thing.
First off, the media hasn't blown everything out of proportion. The protesters have. When they start attacking the athletes who are making the run just to grab the torch, they've gone too far and the media are just reporting it. If you said the media was biased against China and only showing part of the story, I could agree to a certain extent, but to say that they've blown everything out of proportion is not an accurate statement. The point of the media is to tell a story - it's the people who make the story that are playing the politics. As far as the protesters go, I support the idea of a sovereign Tibet. But I don't support the actions that the protesters outside of Tibet are taking. The idea that they would go so far as to jeopardize the livelihood of hundreds of athletes, as well as the health of some of the ones carrying the torch, appalls me. In my honest opinion, violence will bring the media and shine the spotlight on your cause. It will draw the world's attention in for a little while, then they'll get bored, something else will become news and people will forget what your cause was to begin with. The men and women who've made real political changes in the past did it with peaceful methods. It took a long time for the change to come, but that change has been achieved. Violence might bring change for a little bit - maybe China'll back off for a while, but once the Olympics are over and the world stops caring, I'm willing to bet that Tibet will really be in for it.
religion, politics, olympic they just don't mix, anyone mix them up, they'll just create disasters...
i feel bad for the tourch carriers they are often former olympic atheletes, and they get stuck int he middle of all this
I guess all that effort will keep the homeless people warm. What homeless am I talking about? The people that had their house demolished so the government could built over their land in preperation for the Olympics. Good effort, indeed. Or the human rights violations. How about that? What is the Olympics about again? Human rights to name one. So how the hell did China get the PRIVILEGE to host the games? Politics. http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/ioc-olympic-charter-how-did-china-qualify Also Google "Olympic Charter". If I was in China and the government knew that I was voicing against it would I be sent to jail? I don't doubt it at all.
They're not "attacking" the torch bearers. I havn't seeen a punch thrown once. They're trying to put out or take the torch. And to your second paragraph, freedom is not free. People have died for your freedom and mine. Piece is nice but when does piece stop and fighting begin? When you and your family is being cattled onto a train and towards the gas chambers? Have you seen the video of soldiers shooting and killing tibetans that are just walking away? One bullet at a time like it's just target practice?
