Western athletes boycott the Beijing Olympics?

[Superfly]

Saddam had WMD and used them.. do you disagree with tha R Toms 20/20.. Saddam had 11 years (that the US gave him)to come clean and messed around the UN weapons inspectors for 11 years.. do you disagree with that R Toms 20/20... the only way to ever be sure that WMD were no more is when a marine has walked over that ground... Saddam even had 48 hrs to leave office and avoid an invasion but did not..

No reply ?

 

[juw177]

No reply necessary Superfly because we know that it is propaganda.

As I said before, it is time to wake up from your American world domination fantasies. Stop making new threads about it please.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

D Lama doesn't have much choice when stareing down the gun barrel of the Chinese communist party...

But the IOC did have a choice ... and now so do the athletes...

There are three Asians countries that have a history of collective madness, Cambodia, Korea and Tibet.

Genocide , misogyny and mass religious hysteria characterise all three in one way or another.

The dalai seems like a nice enough bloke, and he plays to our need for a transcendental space between other new items and the TV ads.

However the evidence would be that Tibet was no shangri-la before the Chinese went in.

gg

 

[2020hindsight]

Saddam had WMD and used them.. do you disagree with tha R Toms 20/20.. Saddam had 11 years (that the US gave him)to come clean and messed around the UN weapons inspectors for 11 years.. do you disagree

No reply ?

course he had WMD
we still have the receipts !

 

[Superfly]

No reply necessary Superfly because we know that it is propaganda.

As I said before, it is time to wake up from your American world domination fantasies. Stop making new threads about it please.

Juw.. listen.. this is the west... not one of your communist party chat rooms or meetings... it's ok for u to call me a neo-con.....people can start threads as they please within the rules, just because u may not like the content, does not mean it will not be posted. This is not a communist state ( as much u may want it to be ).

 

[Superfly]

course he had WMD
we still have the receipts !

So now it's all a joke, when faced with what really happened...

 

[robert toms]

Whether you like it or not it was a contrived filthy lie...
Those are the facts on WMD's in Iraq....do not try to justify criminality!
You seem to believe what the media and the US tells you ...I know that thinking for yourself is optional .... but Superfly please consider.

 

[juw177]

Juw.. listen.. this is the west... not one of your communist party chat rooms or meetings... it's ok for u to call me a neo-con.....people can start threads as they please within the rules, just because u may not like the content, does not mean it will not be posted. This is not a communist state ( as much u may want it to be ).

And in the west, we use English with proper spelling and punctuation.

If you are that much of a patriot, by all means post more of your US domination fantasies, I, and surely some others here will find it entertaining.

 

[2020hindsight]

So now it's all a joke, when faced with what really happened...

well who do you think sold the original weapons to him ?
if we didn't keep the receipts out of embarrassment, then that's another story I guess.

 

[Superfly]

Whether you like it or not it was a contrived filthy lie...

...all Saddam had to do was allow the UN weapon inspectors unrestricted access, which Saddam never did for 11 years... it's fact that Saddam did have and had used these types of weapons in the past...

Always that slight chance that these weapons may have been shipped into Iran or Syria or buried somewhere in the vast deserts of Iraq.... but with the repercussions from the west of such an act, it is doubtful but possible...

.. what where the UN weapon inspectors looking for over the 11 years if it was such a filthy lie..why 11 years of restricted access ...

 

[Superfly]

In Bangkok the government has said that any foreigner found protesting against the Torch rely which be deported and banned forever from the country...

Such protests all over the world !!...hope some athletes take a stand... although it would be very effective to see a "democrarcy for China" sign in Mandarin & English held up on a podiem by a medal winner.. good value with that... but much better to not show at all...hope some other athletes listen to Dawn Fraser...

 

[Superfly]

1+ million ... for Torch relay security ... !!

 

[2020hindsight]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/25/2227800.htm

China to meet Dalai Lama envoys: reports
Posted 2 hours 52 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 53 minutes ago

Chinese officials will meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, a state-run Xinhua news agency has reported, citing official sources.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who fled into exile after a failed 1959 uprising against Communist rule.

China denounces the Dalai Lama as a traitor and blames him for a recent wave of unrest that swept through Tibet.

But since the anti-government unrest began in March China has been under pressure to resume dialogue with his envoys.

"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the Central Government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," Xinhua quoted an official as saying.

"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks."

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, said he had not received any communication from China about a meeting.

However the spokesman said the Dalai Lama welcomed Beijing's offer as 'a step in the right direction'.

"Only face-to-face meetings can lead to a resolution of the Tibetan issue," he said.

"His holiness, since March 10 when the (anti-Chinese) protests started, he had been making all efforts to reach out to China and the Chinese Government and he hopes the Tibetan issue can be resolved only through dialogue."

 

[Superfly]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/25/2227800.htm

What about the recent interview with a Chinese spokes woman who denounced the torch protests as people not knowing what was the real truth in Tibet and everyone should go to Tibet and see what is happening to see the real story... when all the excited foreign correspondents asked if eveyone can now go to Tibet, she said "no, due to special circumstances"...

You can see by the actions of the pro Chinese protestors in Canberra the way the Chinese think on this... they all say how the Chinese news is *hit and do not believe anything they read in Chinese media, but all seem to think that the D Lama is no good and Tibet is part of China....so the Chinese government is getting the message through regardless... why aren't the Chinese flag holding protestors living in China under the regime that they are supporting if it's so good....hmmmm... be it some maybe students on short term visa's, but not all....

 

[2020hindsight]

well SF, I'd have to agree that there's a world of difference between "forthcoming discussions with representative of the Dalai Lama IN GOOD SPIRIT"

and what seems to be happening in the leadup to said meetings..

PS Be interesting to see what comes of these talks.
Face saving on the one hand - pacifying the international public and olympic spectators (and potential tourists) on the other. Would be worth big bucks to China to be seen to be listening to the DL (at least) you'd think.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/03/2234521.htm?section=justin

China slams Dalai Lama ahead of talks
Posted 9 minutes ago

China has kept up a barrage of criticism against the Dalai Lama, even as two of his envoys were set to arrive for talks on unrest in Tibet that has marred the run-up to the Olympics.

Chinese state media carried no reference to the much-anticipated meetings, instead accusing Tibet's spiritual leader of seeking to sabotage the Beijing Games in August.

The Tibet Daily warned against the "Dalai clique", a loosely defined term referring to people close to the Tibetan leader-in-exile.

Dalai clique are starting to sound like some modern equivalent of the Gang of Four

"As long as the Dalai clique still exists, our struggle with the Dalai clique will not stop. We must raise our vigilance and absolutely cannot relax," the newspaper said Saturday (local time).

Beijing last month offered to reopen dialogue, a move widely seen as a response to global pressure over China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet.

Protests against the March crackdown have targeted the Olympic torch relay on its worldwide journey, particularly in London and Paris, angering Beijing and provoking anti-Western sentiment among Chinese.

The envoys, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, have arrived in Hong Kong en route to mainland China for the talks, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile in the Indian town of Dharamshala said Friday.

"During this brief visit, the envoys will take up the urgent issue of the current crisis in the Tibetan areas," Thubten Samphel told AFP.

"The envoys will raise the issue of moving forward on the process for a mutually satisfactory solution to the Tibetan issue."

Amid intense interest, exiled Tibetan leaders have sought to play down expectations, saying the talks were not even on a par with six earlier rounds of dialogue that started in late 2002 and broke off in 2007.

"It is not the seventh round of talks," Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche said.

"It is only an informal consultation."

Details of the talks, including their time and location, have not been released by either side.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama's office in Dharamshala said the talks were unlikely to be held in Beijing but refused to say more. Chinese officials were not available for comment.

However, state media continued their attacks on the Dalai Lama, quoting a member of a government advisory board on Tibet saying he was targeting the Olympics for sabotage.

The Tibetan government-in-exile says 203 people were killed and some 1,000 hurt in the unrest and crackdown.

At least 5,715 people have been arrested since the protests began, according to figures, which the Government says have been extensively cross-checked.

China said 20 people had been killed by Tibetan rioters until Monday, when state media for the first time said police shot dead a Tibetan pro-independence "insurgent".

Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1950 and officially annexed the region a year later.

The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland following the 1959 uprising, has repeatedly accused China of widespread rights violations there.

 

[2020hindsight]

PS the torch to Mt Everest might be in trouble - snow etc

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/03/2234504.htm?section=justin
Himalayan snowfall hits Everest torch bid
Posted 1 hour 19 minutes ago

China's bold plan to take a special Olympic torch to the top of Mount Everest has faced a possible setback, as snow fell on the world's highest mountain.

The climbing team has been at 6,500 metres in advanced base camp or higher for at least two days, waiting for better weather to take the flame to the 8,848-metre peak and claim the crowning moment of a relay that was marred by anti-China protests on its round-the-world journey.

"It's normal to have snow in mountain areas," said Suonam Cuomu, deputy director of the Everest torch logistics department.

"We are very well-prepared. It's not necessarily bad news because after snow there is often a few days of good weather.

"But the heavy snow will have an effect on route building in the mountains," she told a media briefing.

Officials said they were unaware of conditions on Everest as they were still awaiting data from the meteorological centre.

"In my experience, in heavy snow you could make a decision to retreat or abandon, but I don't know the conditions up the mountain so it's difficult to say," Beijing organising committee consultant Liu Jian said.

"For mountaineers, the snow we can see down here is not that heavy."

Mr Liu has climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and reached the north and south poles. etc

Reminds me of that doco on Mao's Great March - when they trudged over nearby mountain ranges, and also through swampy ground - trying to escape Chiang Kai Shek. - they were decimated by the weather of course ....

and whenever they weakened , and lay down knowing that they would die of exposure, they stripped off and made a small neat pile of their clothes beside their body, so that others could easily choose from its pickings as required.

Mr Liu has climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and reached the north and south poles.

How impressive that Mr Liu has scaled the dizzy heights of Kosciusko. (assuming that and not Carstenz Pyramid in Irian Jaya, "Tectonically speaking on the same continental plate as Australia" ).

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150910/mount-kosciusko-tar-gan-gil.html

Mount Kosciusko,is the highest mountain in Kosciusko National Park, the highest mountain in New South Wales, the highest mountain in the Snowy Mountains, and is the highest mountain in Australia.

It is not however, the highest mountain on Australian Territory. This honour belongs to Mawson Peak with a height of 2745 meters , being the highest summit of "Big Ben" on Heard Island in the Australian sub Antarctic territory of Heard & McDonald Islands.

Mt Kosciusko is part of the Great Dividing Range which straddles the state boundaries of Victoria and New South Wales in the immediate vicinity of the mountain, and then forms a chain stretching north all the way into tropical far-north Queensland. Mount Kosciusko is located half-way (280 miles/450km from each) between Sydney and Melbourne in Southeastern Australia. etc

Have a look at the jpeg to see a truly terrifying climbing challenge

 

[Happy]

From ABC, 6 May. 08
CHINA VIRUS DEATH TOLL RISES
By Radio National's Sonja Heydeman


The death toll in China from a virus that preys on children has risen to 26, as the government presses on with its efforts to rein in the outbreak.
State media is reporting the number of people infected by the outbreak of a deadly viral disease in China has risen to almost 9,000, while 26 children have died from the hand, foot and mouth disease, most of them in the eastern province of Anhui.
EV71, which can cause hand, foot and mouth disease, is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or faeces of an infected person.
The World Health Organisation's Peter Cordingly has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program in its worst form, the virus results in death.

"The virus normally will infect the child for eight to 10 days - it starts off with things like a rash on the hand and blisters and ulcers in the mouth, and then it just cures itself and goes away," he said.
"But in some cases it attacks the brain - we're not quite sure why this is happening in China at the moment - and then we see all kinds of complications that quite routinely finish in a fatality," he said.
Young children are most at risk because of lower immune systems.
A task force headed by the health minister has also been established to liaise with local level health officials on control efforts.

China's nationwide alert has involved closing kindergartens and sending officials to visit nurseries and primary schools and starting to educate staff on hygiene and prevention.
The Ministry of Health has warned that cases of hand, foot and mouth disease could increase with June and July typically being the peak months for the spread.
Beijing will host the Olympics in August, but Mr Cordingley say EV71 concerns should not deter travellers to the games.

"We don't see this as having any affect at all on travel to Beijing, or any impact upon the Olympics," he said.

Some people planning to travel to China might feel understandably unsettled, since communist regimes not always say everything.