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Olympic protest day has arrived in Vancouver
February 12, 2010 - 12:46pm
-_-
It should be an interesting day.
Why Vancouver will welcome the Olympics with a massive protest
On Friday (February 12) at 3 p.m., thousands of people from Vancouver and around the world will arrive at the downtown art gallery for a massive festival that will march to the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Although the city, Olympic organizers, and security officials will brand them as protesters or demonstrators, they will be there to celebrate their right to be active participants, not just of their respective cities and neighbourhoods but of the world.
The convergence welcoming the Olympic torch in this way is made up of a number of groups that stand for everything from free-speech rights to the abolition of racist immigration policies. One thing in which they are all unified is their basic human rights, including the rights of expression and assembly.
http://www.straight.com/article-289278/vancouver/isaac-oommen-why-vancou...
Know what pisses me off?
People who have never gave a shit over First Nations or the homeless but think it's chic to be anti-olympics and start rhyming off regurgitated facts they've heard. I'm starting to get really pissed off at a lot of my friends who proudly poclaim to be anti olympics but seem to think of it as a fun social thing and don't seem to have any idea about whats really going on out there.
What pisses me off is that a number of levels of government who will be "tightening their belts" by killing oppressed people have spent billions on this Coke ad.
What pisses me off is that Canada and BC have been activley participating in genocide for hundreds of years so they can make a few bucks.
What pisses me off is that people forget all this as they are invused with a nationalism perfected by advertising. Their eyes glaze over and they chant "GO CANADA GO" like mindless idiots while "canada" continues genocide and colonialism home and abroad.
But your thing is important too, Sparky.
Thanks! It's important that we anti-olympic Canadians don't come across as just wanting to protest for something to do.
Post deleted
I don't feel particularly strongly about the Olympics. My main reservations with the games is that issues around doping and cheating receive as much attention as the sporting events. Then the general corruption and the fact that, as is pointed out, big bucks are spent on the event while people continue to go without basic needs, and then the issues around First Nations and the day-to-day headaches it's creating in Vancouver. I don't personally feel strongly about the politics, but I am sympathetic to those arguments.
An Olympic Failure
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2982
"At least 137 Native woman missing and murdered in BC since 1980"
The Games are an abomination as is the country within which they are occurring.
Seems like the police are getting a little wiser.
Anti-Olympic protest mostly peaceful, despite tense moments
“We’ve had a really lively festival at the art gallery and we’re having a really boisterous march. We’re happy that so far we’ve been allowed to exercise our rights to expression and assembly.”
Link
Have I never gave a shat Sparky? What am I regurgitating? Am I your friend? I know what's going on...
Come to my house.
Who knew! As Vancouver Waits, It Skates
On eve of Olympics, some of us are bitter, some exultant, and some just glide along.
M has a perfect right to feel bitter. And yet she is determined to enjoy the Olympic experience, particularly the music. "I'm going to check out Wilco, and the Neil Young tribute," she says. "I hear the Atlantic pavilion on Granville Island is going to be great."
To some, that smacks of heresy. The very act of seeking a silver lining to the 2010 Winter Games is seen as a betrayal by those who insist that the entire enterprise is a colossal waste of public funds, and that therefore any pleasure taken from would be inherently immoral.
http://thetyee.ca/Life/2010/02/12/VancouverSkates/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120210
A little ironic perhaps, but I am proud of the fact that there are protestors showing up at official events such as the torch run. That didn't happen in China, remember? [they had a little square where protestors were allowed to go to, but nobody showed up because they knew they were on camera].
I would echo the protestations of "too much money spent that should be going to other urgent needs".
Also, that the whole thing has become far too elitist where only rich people can afford tickets to see the events, where athletes are pushed too hard and so they use drugs and other forms of cheating [and some are dying on a luge course that was designed to glorify the Vancouver Olympics and not the athletes].
I have been reading this thread and the other viral one and feel a great sense of sorrow. I marched in the streets yesterday with native elders and other activists partially because I believe the Olympics are hurting many aboriginal people. However while I was standing literally shoulder to shoulder with a line of police officers good friends of mine from Musquem were inside the ceremonies celebrating their traditions and I didn't get to see the young woman from Musquem, that I have l known since she was a baby, dancing in full regalia made by their mother.
When I hear people talking about the Musquem as if they are dupes I wonder how that can be. A couple of the fundamental legal cases that all FN's use to defend their rights to the resources on their territories are R V Sparrow and R v. Guerin.
http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1984/1984scr2-335/1984scr2-335.html
http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1990/1990scr1-1075/1990scr1-1075.html
I will march in the streets and think of Harriet Nahanee but I will not decry my Musquem friends for taking a piece of the action and a chance to dance for the world.
I didn't mean you no difference sorry if thats how I came across. I'm talking abut my friends at work school and home. I've directly asked a few of them what is it they don't like about the olympics and most can't come up with a decent argument.
"What do you mean homeless what does the olympics have to do with the homless?"
Here we go again.
Olympic protesters cause damage in Vancouver
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Olympic+protesters+cause+damage+Vancouver/2561450/story.html
Good post, and personally I do not believe the 2 actions are as mutally exclusive, as it might first appear.
And how do we know said damaging "protestors" were not agent provocateurs?
As 25,000 marched in protest last night apparently, and there was no actions like this, but now we have 200 and damage gets done?
.....would like to know more about who participated and who was arrested...
Machine guns. I really hope this is not true.
Vancouver protest turns violent
As tensions escalate, police have taken out what looks like machine guns.
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/about-vancouver/news/newsid=40366.html#vancouver+protest+turns+violent
Machine guns. I really hope this is not true.
Vancouver protest turns violent
As tensions escalate, police have taken out what looks like machine guns.
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/about-vancouver/news/newsid=40366.html#vancouver+protest+turns+violent
:rolleyes:
Remind, I assume that was a typo and you meant to write 2,500. I had a birds-eye view of the march down Robson and police standoff from my place and there was nowhere near to 25,000 people. I have to say I was very impressed with how the protestors (and police) conducted themselves last night. It was a peaceful protest in every sense of the word and I say kudos to all who participated. I can only hope that they drew some international attention to issues like the exploitation of the tar sands and the problems of poverty and inequality we have in our own backyard.
As for the suggestion that the violence today was the work of 200 agents provocateurs in the employ of the ISU, while I suppose that's possible Ockham's Razor suggests that this was more likely the work of a few bad apple anarchists who are more interested in smashing things than trying to raise awareness.
I highly doubt they're actually "machine guns" (fully automatic firearms that fire large caliber bullets). Some officers are probably carrying submachine guns, which are really just a step up from a pistol, and the author got lazy.
I know what you mean. Like, here in Montréal, if you're a POC, getting shot to death by a cop is really just a step up from playing dice in the park.
Lazy reporters.
Footage of the violence.
At about 1 minute in you can see what was earlier called a "machine gun" - a carbine/rifle. My guess (hope) would be that it was only loaded with rubber bullets.
Yeah at the art gallery i tried to take a rough count and I thought it was around 2,000 to 2,500.
A friend talked to a reporter from a USian network who's been covering hte Olympics for 14 years and they said that it was the largest Olympic protest they've seen.
I hung out & marched with the choirs and had a good time singing songs. I though the energy during the protest was quite good.
I hadn't heard anything about the Circassian people who were the victims of genocide in Russia where the 2014 games will be held. The area is called Sochi. There were many Circassian people out at the protest and they are trying now to stop the gams in 2014. I don't think they have much of a web presence yet but here's what i could find nonline now: http://twitter.com/NoSochi2014
It's time to put an end to this IOC reign of terror. That could be the most positive thing that results from the Vancouver Olympics. The grinch steals the Games
In the name of good sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit, the host nation enshrines patriotism über alles. We believe in our athletes, though every country believes in its athletes too. It's like the competing football teams that pray to their own gods for victory; one of them is going to become a non-believer . Canada – lovable, fair-minded, tolerant, decent Canada – has allowed its athletes to practice at venues denied to other countries' athletes. Other countries are furious at Canada's poor sportsmanship. If it were us being discriminated against this way, we'd scream about unfairness. How about that dumb Time magazine naming six Americans among the 11 athletes to watch? How dare they! In the name of free enterprise, a dozen of the world's largest multinationals spend a mint becoming the official brands of the games – the drink, the credit card, the clothes, the food, the watch – and demand that no competitor dare attempt to compete. The IOC brooks no competition, no opposition, no questions, no dissent. But why should its writ encompass every facet of a democratic society? Who gives it this power, this authority, this veto over our lives?
There's an entire small industry dedicated to exposing and demystifying the sordid politics behind the actual competitions, and it's a good thing too, for you're unlikely to find any of this in the mainstream media. Happily, much of it is easily available online. That's where you'll find, for instance, the latest pure example of what the International Olympic Committee considers ethical behaviour and fair play.
Just this week, Lee Kun-Hee, former head of the giant Samsung corporation, has been reinstated as an IOC member despite his conviction for tax evasion. The amount he tried to get away with – $108 million (U.S.) – was appropriate for the man who ran South Korea's best known and most profitable conglomerate. Makers of everything from TVs to mobile phones to textiles, Samsung is a major official sponsor of the Olympics, hoping thereby to enhance its brand profile even further.
Mr. Lee had given up his position as an IOC member in 2008 after his conviction, but was pardoned by South Korea's President two months ago. Why? So he could help with the country's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. How's that for good-old fashioned chutzpah? And don't for a minute doubt they'll get away with it.
An IOC spokesman made clear last week in Vancouver that Mr. Lee had violated crucial principles of the organization. “Lee received the strongest sanction. He violated ethical principles and tarnished the reputation of the Olympic movement.”
So he was duly punished – by being reinstated as a full member of the IOC, for which no explanation has been offered, while Wayne Gretzky and other Canadians are wandering around the Olympic village wearing clothes brandishing the Samsung logo. Do they know? Do they care? Have they a choice? Or is this just another day under the Olympic tent? Mr. Lee's is not the first such case and the IOC is stuffed with grossly unsavoury characters, to say the least. As Laura Robinson told me, it's touching that they have affirmative action for criminals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/the-grinch-steals-the-games/article1466659/
I couldn't care less. IMO this is the most insignificant criticism i've heard about the Olympics. I suppose if one somehow is still under the illusion that the games are some kind of noble celebration of human achievement then it might be relevant--but who are we kidding here?
Yes, I believe that would be called an assault rifle. I also noticed what appeared to be a tear gas launcher.
Regardless of what the police were up to, I noticed a lot of protestors engaging in vandalism - dragging the newspaper boxes around. Presumably, they were attempting to create roadblocks. Was that all the work of provocateurs? I don't know but I doubt it. Recently, on CBC radio, I heard Chris Shaw say that in his opinion, tossing a brick through a window didn't constitute violence.
The bottom line is that to be effective, a protest needs to motivate public opinion. If people run around breaking shit, public opinion will be motivated but in the wrong direction. Someone needs to make that clear to the protesters, Shaw included.
Kinda reminds me of Canada's boorish behaviour during the '72 Russia-Canada hockey series.
Ooops 2500, is the correct amount......who is Chris Shaw?