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Friday, April 11, 2008
Much ado about a torch
Being from San Francisco, and generally up on current events, I have not missed the brouhaha over the Olympic torch relay. In case your head has been under the sand, here's the deal. The Summer Olympics are in China this year, and at the same time much of the (Western) world is concerned about China's record on human rights. Recent protests (riots?) in Tibet seem to have broken the camel's back. The international torch relay has become the flashpoint, with massive protests in London, Paris, and San Francisco. There is a lot of press about the issue, so I will simply summarize each viewpoint with a classic song:
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2 comments:
Dude, you cannot be serious.
This article is perhaps about as un-evenhanded and apologetic that it could be.
There is no comparison between China and the US in terms of human rights violations. Don't forget that on the Chinese do not even know about the protests. Of course, this is only a very small part of the problem with China and its policies... (generally high corruption, uneven and undocumented rates of enforcement of "laws" with punishments including the death penalty, etc, etc, etc).
You took the time to make this post, which suggests that you know something about it... so I have to wonder, are you smoking some crazy shit or is this because you are from Berkeley?
I took a second look at the article, and it is probably more pro-China than I am really feel, so I yanked it from the post. However, I do feel that there are reasonable questions about the United State's stance of moral superiority, and what actions are most likely to change China's policies.
Personally, I'm all for protesting the PR parts of the olympics (torch run, opening/closing ceremonies).
Here it is for people who are interested in reading it:
CNN Commentary
See here for a more pro-China POV:
The Baglady
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