Welcome to the Free Talk Live bulletin board system!
This board is closed to new users and new posts.  Thank you to all our great mods and users over the years.  Details here.
185859 Posts in 9829 Topics by 1371 Members
Latest Member: cjt26
Home Help
+  The Free Talk Live BBS
|-+  Free Talk Live
| |-+  The Polling Pit
| | |-+  Boycott Beijing Olympics?

Poll

I guess U.S. politicians get to decide how our country participates in the 2008 Olympics, which is quickly turning into an orgy of communist propaganda and censorship.  What would you do?

Let China and IOC do whatever the hell they want
- 15 (39.5%)
Mild statements of condemnation
- 1 (2.6%)
Strong statements of condemnation, no boycotts
- 5 (13.2%)
Have U.S. boycott just the opening ceremony
- 4 (10.5%)
Have U.S. boycott the games altogether
- 7 (18.4%)
Pressure all U.S. allies (NATO, Japan, South Korea, etc) to boycott
- 3 (7.9%)
Take further steps to sabotage the games: media blackout, charges against athletes who participate, etc
- 0 (0%)
We have more nukes than they do, so ...
- 3 (7.9%)

Total Members Voted: 17


Pages: [1] 2 3   Go Down

Author Topic: Boycott Beijing Olympics?  (Read 8372 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Alex Libman

  • Guest
Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« on: April 07, 2008, 06:28:42 PM »

From AP via Yahoo News -- Protests halt Paris torch relay early --

Quote
PARIS - Organizers canceled the final leg of the Olympic run through Paris after chaotic protests Monday, snuffing out the torch and putting it aboard a bus in a humiliating concession to protesters decrying China's human rights record.

Worried officials extinguished the torch and placed it on the bus five times throughout the day as protesters tried to grab the torch and block the relay. At least two activists got almost an arm's length away before they were seized by police.

Another protester threw water at the torch but failed to put it out before being taken away.

And in San Francisco, where the torch is due to arrive Wednesday, three protesters wearing harnesses and helmets climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet."

The 17.4-mile route in Paris started at the Eiffel Tower, headed down the Champs-Elysees toward City Hall, then crossed the Seine before ending at the Charlety track and field stadium.

The chaos started at the Eiffel Tower moments after the relay began. Green Party activist Sylvain Garel lunged for the first torchbearer, former hurdler Stephane Diagana, and shouted "Freedom for the Chinese!" before security officials pulled him back.

The torch moved on but was soon put out by security officers and placed aboard the bus after a crowd of activists waving Tibetan flags confronted the torchbearer on a road along the Seine.

The torch went back on the bus less than an hour later after the procession was halted by activists who booed and chanted "Tibet!"

"We respect that right for people to demonstrate peacefully, but equally there is a right for the torch to pass peacefully and the runners to enjoy taking part in the relay," International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Giselle Davies told The Associated Press.

Security officials appeared to interrupt the procession for the third time simply because they had spotted demonstrators ahead. Protesters threw plastic bottles, cups and pieces of bread at the bus, and at a male athlete in a wheelchair.

"Nothing is happening as planned. It's unfortunate," Diagana told France 2 television.

The torch went back inside the bus a fourth time shortly after a protester approached it with a fire extinguisher near the Louvre. Officers grabbed the demonstrator before he could start to spray. Police said later that at least 28 people had been taken into custody.

The flame was whisked into a bus for the last time outside the National Assembly, where protesters gathered and a banner on the building read: "Respect for Human Rights in China."

Other demonstrators scaled the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral and hung banners depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs.

"The flame shouldn't have come to Paris," said protester Carmen de Santiago, who had "free" painted on one cheek and "Tibet" on the other.

Activists carrying Chinese flags held counter-demonstrations.

"The Olympic Games are about sports. It's not fair to turn them into politics," said Gao Yi, a Chinese second-year doctoral student studying computer science in Paris.

Police had drawn up an elaborate plan to keep the torch in a safe "bubble," hoping to prevent the chaos that marred the relay Sunday in London, where police repeatedly scuffled with activists angry about China's human rights record.

One protester tried to grab the torch; another tried to put out the flame with what appeared to be a fire extinguisher. Thirty-seven people were arrested.

In Paris, about 3,000 officers were deployed on motorcycles, in jogging gear and with inline roller skates. Torchbearers were encircled by several hundred officers. Boats patrolled the Seine River, which slices through the French capital, and a helicopter flew overhead.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has left open the possibility of boycotting the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing depending on how the situation evolves in Tibet. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday that was still the case.

Activists have been protesting along the torch route since the flame embarked on its 85,000-mile journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

The round-the-world trip is the longest in Olympic history, and is meant to highlight China's rising economic and political power. Activists have seized on it as a platform for their causes.

Beijing organizers criticized London's protesters, saying their actions were a "disgusting" form of sabotage by Tibetan separatists.

"The act of defiance from this small group of people is not popular," said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee. "It will definitely be criticized by people who love peace and adore the Olympic spirit. Their attempt is doomed to failure."

The State Department said it was working to support local San Francisco officials in security preparations for the torch relay.

When asked if similar protests in San Francisco would be an embarrassment for the United States, spokesman Sean McCormack said: "I don't think it's an embarrassment to allow people to freely express themselves in a peaceful way."

"But that said, the people who are organizing this event have a right for it to be able to take place."

The torch relay is also expected to face demonstrations in New Delhi and possibly other destinations on its 21-stop, six-continent tour before arriving in mainland China on May 4.


RELATED:



Logged

sillyperson

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5196
  • Free the Mallocs!
    • View Profile
    • NH Liberty Alliance
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2008, 07:02:09 PM »

China is such a repressive regime, it even looks more totalitarian than the USA.
Pressure all U.S. allies (NATO, Japan, South Korea, etc) to boycott

We can't get rid of the FedGov between now and the Olympics -- but we can make life fucking living hell for the Chinese autocrats. Maybe if we're lucky they'll crack under the strain, do some horrible Tienanmen-square size atrocity in Tibet, and the Chinese people will revolt wholesale against their authoritarian masters.

Harry Tuttle

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2106
  • Please don't feed the elitists
    • View Profile
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2008, 07:06:48 PM »

I have no interest in the Olympics. I would much more appreciate individual-oriented athletic competitions, not this constant team-oriented crap.
Logged
"If you're giving up your freedom to have freedom you don't have freedom, dummy."              - Mark Edge (10/11/08 show)

hellbilly

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6664
  • Pogue Mahone.
    • View Profile
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2008, 07:25:15 PM »

i voted to let them do whatever they want.

if a message is to be sent to China, dabbling with their hosting of the Olympics isn't gonna do shit- send a successful message by not buying needless shit.

all these protesters are likely marching around in their clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry, etc.. all goods made in China. in fact, if "Boycott China!!1!!" signs were manufactured in large quantities, my bet is that even those would be produced in China and the unknowing trendies would buy them right up without even thinking about it.
Logged
Give me Liberty or give me Meth!

"We are profoundly dissatisfied with pretty much everything but we can’t articulate why, and are unable to offer any viable alternative." - Nathaniel Weiner

Andy

  • Verbose.
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2722
  • Ask me later.
    • View Profile
    • My Blawg
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2008, 07:57:04 PM »

General boycott by relatively sane countries.

If that can't be pulled off then shame anyone who actually competes.

Should be a good circus.

mikehz

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8033
    • View Profile
    • Day by Day
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2008, 08:55:42 PM »

I have no interest in the Olympics. Absolutely none.
Logged
"Force always attracts men of low morality." Albert Einstein

jimmed

  • Guest
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2008, 09:04:25 PM »

I have no interest in the Olympics. Absolutely none.

I only watch it for the closeups of people in spandex. Mmm.
Logged

freeAgent

  • pwn*
  • FTL AMPlifier
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3660
    • View Profile
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2008, 10:04:35 PM »

I'm only really interested in the Winter Olympics.  They have all the good stuff.
Logged

Taors

  • Guest
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2008, 02:17:44 AM »

Fuck Tibet. Why should I support a resistance movement that wants to reinstall some holier-than-thou asshole so he can live in his palace eating grapes and pussy all day, while his 'subjects' starve under an equally oppressive caste system?

Tibet has always been a part of China, yes, even before the 1950s. I don't support either side, and it's none of my god damn business. I'm sure as hell not going to advocate the United States straining it's relationship even further with China by boycotting the Olympics over this silly shit.
Logged

DogOn

  • Guest
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2008, 03:11:06 PM »

I dislike condemning China at this point. Don't get me wrong, their government is in a shit state over there, but so are hundreds of countries' governments.

I equate this to missing white girl syndrome. Yes there is some bad shit in the world, but focusing on one thing disproportionately (Scientology, china, etc) seems to lend more than expediency and wagon jumping than a heart felt moral fortitude.

In other words, China sucks, but I'm not going to make a big song and dance about it, because compared to the wealth of other oppressive regimes, its small potatoes, and if China hadn't have been so good on economic freedom lately, my crap would be alot more expensive, and I'm actually glad that most Chinese people are (finally) getting (somewhat of) a chance to haul themselves out of the shit.

Also I don't like painting this, the west is a shining beacon of democracy/freedom (whats the difference right?) and everywhere else sucks, lets all feel good about ourselves that we aren't ruled by a totalitarian freedom hating state, oh wait.......
Logged

One two three

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3650
    • View Profile
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2008, 03:53:36 PM »

I agree with what DogOn said.  Also, I am not going to support freedom movements in other countries as I don't have the time.  I am already involved with around a dozen organization in America and that takes up from around 20 hours of my week.
Logged
Why New Hampshire?  Learn why 1000s of liberty activists are planning to move to NH.  See the debate in page after page of forum messages, http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?124976-101-Reasons-to-move-to-New-Hampshire

Andy

  • Verbose.
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2722
  • Ask me later.
    • View Profile
    • My Blawg
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2008, 08:38:50 PM »

Quote
bullshit, china has been evil long before they were chosen to host the olympics.

No shit Sherlock.

Quote
Fuck Tibet. Why should I support a resistance movement that wants to reinstall some holier-than-thou asshole so he can live in his palace eating grapes and pussy all day, while his 'subjects' starve under an equally oppressive caste system?

It's not all about Tibet. To answer your question, if the asshole is in Lhasa he's easier to overthrow later.

Quote
Tibet has always been a part of China, yes, even before the 1950s.

Not quite true, and if it was, so what?

Quote
I don't support either side, and it's none of my god damn business.

Learn something. Make it your business.

Quote
I'm sure as hell not going to advocate the United States straining it's relationship even further with China by boycotting the Olympics over this silly shit.

Quote
In other words, China sucks, but I'm not going to make a big song and dance about it, because compared to the wealth of other oppressive regimes, its small potatoes,

So I won't be hearing any bitching about any western government from you for oh, about the next fifty years. It's more effective just to generally complain about 'bad stuff' and ask for 'world peace' like some god damn beauty queen.

Quote
China hadn't have been so good on economic freedom lately,

That's bullshit and you ought to know it.

Quote
I'm actually glad that most Chinese people are (finally) getting (somewhat of) a chance to haul themselves out of the shit.

Me too. The trains are starting to run on time.


Bill Brasky

  • Guest
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2008, 09:03:52 PM »



Obey your master.

[youtube=425,350]x5sXk5tHbqA[/youtube]
Logged

Alex Libman

  • Guest
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2008, 05:05:31 PM »

From AP via MSNBC.com -- Mass demonstrations for torch relay in S.F. --

Quote
Torch lit, but mystery surrounds which route runners will take

The Olympic torch relay got under way in San Francisco - and the flame promptly vanished.

With thousands of protesters gathered to condemn China's human rights policies, protesters had lined the streets Wednesday waiting for the torch relay to begin.

As the ceremony began, the first torchbearer took the Olympic flame from a lantern brought to the stage and held it aloft before running into a warehouse. A motorcycle escort departed, but the torchbearer was nowhere in sight.

Buses and vans later left the warehouse, but it was unclear where the Olympic flame would reappear.

Shortly before it began, San Francisco officials cut the original six-mile route nearly in half. The flame's only North American stop has drawn thousands of demonstrators gathered to praise and condemn China during the flame's journey to Beijing.

Authorities did not offer an immediate explanation for the change, but city officials had warned they might truncate the route at the last minute for security reasons.

There were signs of tension even before the torch relay began. Pro-Tibet and pro-China groups were given side-by-side permits to demonstrate, and representatives from both sides spilled from their sanctioned sites across a major street and shouted at each other nose to nose, with no visible police presence to separate them.

"A lot of Tibetan people are getting killed," said Kunga Yeshi, 18, who had traveled here from Salt Lake City. "The Chinese said they'd change if they got the Olympics, but they still won't change."

Farther along the six-mile route, about 200 Chinese college students mobbed a car carrying two people waving Tibetan flags in front of the city's Pier 39 tourist destination. The students, who arrived by bus from the University of California, Davis, banged drums and chanted "Go Olympics" in Chinese.

"I'm proud to be Chinese and I'm outraged because there are so many people who are so ignorant they don't know Tibet is part of China," Yi Che said. "It was and is and will forever be part of China."

The torch's 85,000-mile, 20-nation global journey is the longest in Olympic history, and is meant to build excitement for the Beijing Games. But it has also been targeted by activists angered over China's human rights record, prompting officials to warn they might make a last-minute change to the relay route.

The route runs along San Francisco Bay from the city's major league baseball stadium north to Fisherman's Wharf.

Outside AT&T Park, hundreds of pro-China and pro-Tibet blew whistles and waved flags as they faced off near site of the relay's opening ceremony. Police struggled to keep the groups apart. At least one protester was detained, and officers blocked public access to bridge leading to the ceremony site across McCovey Cove from the ballpark.

About 80 people were expected to carry the torch on its six-mile route, including former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Ex-football star and former Olympic bobsledder Herschel Walker, 46, was selected to carry it as part of the six-member squad appointed by Samsung, one of three corporate sponsors of the relay. Former Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh, 29, was appointed by sponsor Lenovo, while the swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who holds the world record for the 100-meter backstroke, was chosen to represent the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Zhou Wenzhon, 62, China's ambassador to the U.S. also was scheduled to participate.

One of the runners who planned to carry the torch dropped out earlier this week because of safety concerns, officials said. The torch bearers will compete not only with people protesting China's grip on Tibet, but its support for the governments of Myanmar and Sudan.

Three blocks from the waterfront torch route, a few dozen activists with the Washington-based Save Darfur group, sought to get their message out. Among them were Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, of Ben & Jerry's ice cream fame, who stood near a van sporting a six-foot-tall stainless steel torch -- complete with gas-fired flame -- resembling the Olympic torch.

"We're asking China to extinguish the flames of genocide in Darfur," Cohen said. "China is the one country that has enough influence with Sudan to end the genocide. They really have no choice but to use that influence."

Local officials say they support the diversity of viewpoints, but have tightened 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.

Ambulances were to be stationed along the torch's route, and extra sheriff's deputies and state law enforcement officers were put on patrol.

Vans were deployed to haul away arrested protesters, and the FAA restricted flights over the city to media helicopters, medical emergency carriers and law enforcement aircraft. Law enforcement agencies erected metal barricades and readied running shoes, bicycles and motorcycles for officers preparing to shadow the runners.

The Olympic flame began its worldwide trek from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing on March 24, and was the focus of protests right from the start.

San Francisco was chosen to host the relay in part because of its large Chinese-American population.

IOC president Jacques Rogge met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday to discuss preparations for the games, and "a range of games topics were discussed," the IOC said.

Rogge is to give more details at a news conference Friday, when the IOC's executive board is to discuss Friday whether to end the remaining international legs of the relay after San Francisco because of widespread protest. The torch is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries before arriving in China on May 4. The Olympics begin Aug. 8.

Rogge has refrained from criticizing China, saying he prefers to engage in "silent diplomacy" with the Chinese.

In an interview broadcast Wednesday on the VRT television network in his native Belgium, Rogge warned that pushing China too hard on Tibet and human rights would be counterproductive.

"If you know China, you know that mounting the barricades and using tough language will have the opposite effect," he said. "China will close itself off from the rest of the world, which, don't forget it, it has done for some 2,000 years."

"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.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the White House said anew that Bush would attend the Olympics, but left open the possibility that he would skip the opening ceremonies. Asked whether Bush would go to that portion of the games, White House press secretary Dana Perino demurred, citing the fluid nature of a foreign trip schedule this far out and the many factors that go into devising it.

"I would again reiterate that the president has been very clear that he believes that the right thing for him to do is to continue to press the Chinese on a range of issues, from human rights and democracy, political speech freedoms and religious tolerance, and to do that publicly and privately, before, during and after the Olympics," she said.

Some good live television going on now...   :roll:
« Last Edit: April 09, 2008, 05:09:34 PM by Alex Libman »
Logged

hellbilly

  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6664
  • Pogue Mahone.
    • View Profile
Re: Boycott Beijing Olympics?
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2008, 11:26:54 PM »

i voted to let them do whatever they want.

if a message is to be sent to China, dabbling with their hosting of the Olympics isn't gonna do shit- send a successful message by not buying needless shit.

all these protesters are likely marching around in their clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry, etc.. all goods made in China. in fact, if "Boycott China!!1!!" signs were manufactured in large quantities, my bet is that even those would be produced in China and the unknowing trendies would buy them right up without even thinking about it.

ok im bumping my own comment.. im wondering if what i said doesnt make sense or if you guys think im way off. why dont more people here post of "personal responsibility"? what i see is a lot of complaining over the latest headlines, which amazingly, no one mentions beforehand- as if the conditions have been unknown to them before it hits the presses.

where is the prevention and personal responsibility? not just in this olympics thing, but oil, tax protesting, removal of liberties, bullshit bureaucracy, etc.
Logged
Give me Liberty or give me Meth!

"We are profoundly dissatisfied with pretty much everything but we can’t articulate why, and are unable to offer any viable alternative." - Nathaniel Weiner
Pages: [1] 2 3   Go Up
+  The Free Talk Live BBS
|-+  Free Talk Live
| |-+  The Polling Pit
| | |-+  Boycott Beijing Olympics?

// ]]>

Page created in 0.022 seconds with 37 queries.