| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:43:15 AM | | believe me...if it was organised well.. say over a number of kilometers..( and the press were given a heads up ) they would lap it up.. would make headlines around the world. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 1:23:36 PM | One of the strongest memories I have of any of the Olympics, are of the ones held in Munich, in 1972. We still lived in Germany at the time, in a city quite close by. All the water sports events (kayaking, etc) were held in my town, and I remember us being able to watch them in person.
At least I remember some of the bits and pieces. Whenever I try to think of some of the more specific details of the events though, all that seems to come to mind is how we all sat in horror in front of the television, watching the events at the Village unfold. I was only just turning 15, but it had a profound effect on me.
I'm more inclined to think we should continue on with the Olympics in China, to allow the athletes to achieve their dreams, maybe even perhaps set a civilized example for a country who's leaders seem to need one set for them. After all it isn't the average citizen in that country who is responsible for what is going on in Tibet, and I think that the spin-off effect of tourism would also greatly benefit said average worker.
But it would also be absolutely splendid to see each medal winner step up to the podium and dedicate it to the suffering in Tibet.
hnh
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 5:54:20 PM | And for the Anthropogenic Global Warming believers:
Olympic torch relay=C0 2 emissions of 550 SUVs.
Where's Al Gore?
http://www.junkscience.com/ByTheJunkman/20080410.html
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 6:02:14 PM | | I vaguely remember the Munich tragedy, hugs....I just heard a news flash that there's a terrorist plot been foiled for Beijing. 45 Chinese terrorist suspects from two cells arrested...bomb making materials siezed, planning on kidnapping tourists and athletes apparently. Very scary. God help us. I wouldn't be going there for quids. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 6:15:42 PM | Ah yes, little grasshopper, you were even younger than I at the time... Not that I intend to make light of the tragedy.
I missed that news bit you just mentioned, and will turn my television on to find out what happened between foraging in the fora. Although I know nothing about the plot at this point, other than what you just mentioned, I too am glad it was discovered in time.
hnh
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 7:46:46 PM | There would be no Olympics if the hosting countries and global sponsors would not make a lot of money.
It was claimed that NONE of the politcal protests throughout the history of the Olympics have ever changed any of the outcomes. I can not substantiate that, but it sounds realistic to me.
As far as China and Tibet is concerned, this is my thought process:
I do not have ALL the information i need to make a judgement.
If i am forced to take sides i would take Tibets side cause i am a sucker for the underdog, like most of us.
Unless it affects me personally, like i am Chinese or something.
For that matter, does anybody know what happened to the East-Timorese Oil fields since we Australians 'liberated' them?
Why do the East-Timorese people hate us now?
Why isnt the media talking about it every day?
Would we have appreciated Timorese people and the world media boycotting the torch relay for the Sydney Olympics or would we have taken is personal?
In the end our actions are justified because we are the stronger one here.
If you go back in human history you will find that is the only difference between Right and Wrong / Just and Unjust.
Brutal, isnt it? | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 8:43:07 PM | I'd rather watch paint dry than sport so couldn't give a rats about the olympics eith way, but what's going on in Tibet sucks and however people get the chance to voice their protest on the subject is fine by me 
ronda :)
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:22:13 PM |
And Shrexy, as much as it disturbs me to sdee the disruption of the relay - I think it is the perfect way to get the message out there. Tibet has become daily news since the relay started. and I'm sure there are a lot of people who had no clue that anything was happening before the flmae started it's journey.
Personally stunts like this are annoying me and turning me off to listening to what they have to say on the topic. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:24:54 PM | i leave sport to the athletes, china sucks for .....well being china. I dont know who's aS$ china polished to get to host it in the first place.. go Rudd for not sugar coating his/our sentiments.
but at the end of the day its about the best of the best in sports to prove themselves to the world and buggered if i wanna stand in their way. still wont watch it though lol except the swimming and boxing | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/10/2008 11:22:02 PM | I just can't get past the obscenity of the Olympic flame being paraded through Tianamen Square, the whole concept of the Olympic ideal is foreign to this regime in their cynical quest to give themselves some measure of legitimacy on the world stage.
I'm sure the irony of the flame being presented at a place that was bathed in so much blood in 1989 is totally lost on these people. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 12:02:52 AM | Here's a fascinating fact, or at least I thought it so.
Chinese people themselves are generally completely unaware of the Tienamen Square events in 1989. The news there didn't mention it, except to say a few students and trouble makers and criminals had gathered and been dispersed. Outside information is blocked by something called The Great Firewall of China, which prevents information on certain topics being displayed, and even google in china won't search for topics like "Tienamen Square Massacre" or "Falun Gong", instead it gives you a warning page.
My cousin married a chinese girl, they met when they were both working in Thailand. When he mentioned it once she had no idea what he was talking about. He struggled to convince her of it, and it was only after seeing mountains of evidence and that iconic footage of the man in front of the tanks that she finally believed it. She called her mother in China to speak to her about it. She'd never heard anything about it either. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 4:57:35 AM | whitegold:
I completely believe that. My grandfather enlisted in the Army as a very young man, and was made an officer when WWII started, as he had already had years of training by then.
But - we're German - and I know it took my grandparents time, and the same sort of things you mentioned (after the war), like the pictures of the death camps, the newsreels, etcetera, before they finally realized what had been going on, as most soldiers were just that - soldiers, not Nazis, and the population as a whole was kept from the secret doings of that evil killing machine. Information was controlled, no, suppressed, and propaganda reigned supreme, much like in China.
It was a real heart-breaker for them to realize what he had been fighting for, all awhile my grandmother, the wife of this proud soldier, scrounged farmer's fields after curfew, at the risk of getting shot on sight, just to hopefully find a bit of potato or carrot that the army's appropriation committee had missed harvesting, to feed my infant mother.
They rarely spoke of it, but it was always with few words and many tears when they did. The shame of it never left them until the day she died at 85, and he at 93.
hnh
sorry, I know that was a little off topic... | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 40 | |
| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 5:08:15 AM | ^^^ HnH...I found that interesting, so thanks for posting it.
You could say it's linked to the topic...cos didn't they have the Olympics in Germany when Hitler was in power? | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 5:19:48 AM | I hope Roy and HG are doing their usual coverage this olympics.
I hope the games are peaceful.
I hope there are several 'peaceful' incidents where athletes unroll their 'free tibet' flags while up there on the winners podium. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 6:42:04 AM | Yes Naamah, you're right, though the Olympics were held in 1936, and war wasn't officially declared until 1939...
In 1936 Hitler's agenda was still heavily hidden, even from those who eventually became his elite posse. He fooled so many people, for so long...was voted Man Of The Year by a popular and well respected magazine, dined with the likes of the Duke of Windsor and Churchill, and although the world eventually saw him for what he truly was and fought to destroy his brand of cancer, much like China, the country's general population was the last to know.
hnh
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/11/2008 7:00:06 AM | Oh you better believe ol' Adloph started his little "redevelopment" long before official proceedings were called. The Berlin games were very much the propaganda event...that bloody Owens stuffing it up..the sod !! lol
China is utilising these games in a very similar fashion.. Its nothing about atheltic competition but about the positioning and pride of China !!
Maybe non chinese winning competitors could take the rostrum wearing an orange band etc.
My Chinese Doctor was around at the time of Tianenmen. Apparently a bit of a sh!t stirrer in his own right he was encouraged to leave the country. At first that sounds funy.. but its better for the Chinese Gov NOT to have anyone around who can tell the truth!! | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 12:28:02 PM |
that bloody Owens stuffing it up..the sod !! lol
China is utilising these games in a very similar fashion.. Its nothing about atheltic competition but about the positioning and pride of China !!
What a load of BS. I don't for one moment think, that the Chinese believe that they are RACIALLY superior to anyone in the same manner as Hitler did during the Berlin Games and subsequent WW2. Racial fanaticism is the bane of the "white man".
Of course they want everything to go smoothly and to show off their country, culture, history and most of all, the abilities of their sportsmen and women. No different to Australia during the Sydney Games. Nothing wrong with that!
Attempting to assert racial narrow-mindedness on the part of the Chinese is just clutching at straws in a pathetic attempt to bring racial bigotry into contention where none existed. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 3:39:39 PM | There is certainly a lot of ill feeling regarding the Chinese involvement with the olympics and human rights crimes against their own and tibetan people (see uk forum http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts9685358.aspx)
For me I cannot believe that our countries are not making a greater stand against China although I realise that money talks.
I am dissapointed in a lot of the sporting world who say its nothing to do with them and they have trained for years for their opportunity at the olympics. It just shows me what a self centered arrogant bunch sports people can be. perhaps they should try proper jobs!
As a normal person My own stance is that I will not buy any chinese goods. which is harder to do than you may think. | |
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TLC_
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Joined: 1/26/2008
Msg: 46 | |
| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 5:20:16 PM | Olympic torch relay=C0 2 emissions of 550 SUVs.
how typical of the media, only part of the figures. were the suv's idling in the drive, cursing on an open road or going off road under full load. in each case the so called average emissions would be greatly different
There would be no Olympics if the hosting countries and global sponsors would not make a lot of money.
Unfortunately very true. What was created as a pure contest between athletes, has become a business. Business should bog off from sport and let it return to what it was intended to be. | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 6:18:19 PM | Chiny try reading the jist of it !!
Its not abot Racial spurerioty.. I didnt infer that. .I SAID it was a propaganda exercise..try reading mate.. it helps!! | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 8:17:39 PM | I think the Olympics should go ahead in China.
Economically, they may not make a net profit . . probably a big loss, but who cares. It's the national equivalent of a couple going out to an expensive concert. This couple won't ever see the money again but the experience has to be worth something. Man does not live by bread alone.
Sure there will be protests and I rather agree with shrexy's comments about the Trojan horse comparison. And can you imagine how they would handle the 'turning of backs' televised all around the world. Long term this stuff won't do them any harm however much they might think it does.
This is a great opportunity for China to be dragged kicking and screaming onto the world stage . . kinda.
And for all we might say about their appalling human rights record, I figure China itself recognises their need to join the rest of the world, too. No mean feat for a nation that size and considering it essentially stood still during those darker years. | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 49 | |
| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 9:41:48 PM | Like a few others, I am not a fan of the Olympics anyway. Days and days of endless TV coverage, radio replays, and constant analysis of the TV coverage and radio replays. I wonder if 'death by sports coverage' is a possibility. I guess it would be more of a big deal if there wasn't also the Commonwealth Games, the PanPacific Games, the whatever whatever games.
Racial fanaticism is the bane of the "white man".
Gee Chiny, is there any thread topic you don't manage to squeeze mention into of how racist white people are? | |
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| The Olympics - A Really Nice Thought...But
Posted: 4/12/2008 10:04:26 PM | If we Australians can 'liberate' the Timor Sea Oil And Gas fields, why cant China 'liberate' Tibet ?
You people who are into China bashing have never heard of it ? That is amazing, considering our western press and politicians are perfectly neutral.
Hypocracy.
". . . The Australian government is reaping more than $1 million a day from oil fields in a disputed area of the Timor Sea that is twice as close to East Timor as it is to Australia. This is contrary to its obligation to restrain from exploiting these resources given the overlapping maritime boundary claim. In total, Australia has received nearly ten times as much revenue from Timor Sea oil and gas than it has provided in aid to East Timor since 1999.
Under a temporary treaty signed with East Timor, Australia has access to two thirds of the known oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea, even though a maritime boundary set according to international law could deliver most, if not all, these resources to East Timor. . . ." James Ensor - Director of Public Policy at Oxfam Community Aid Abroad. | |
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