New Olympic Sport - Grab the Torch

[DanS]

The Chinese embassy busing in supporters waving Chinese flags.

[Wezil]

Seems about right. No doubt they will blame the Dalai Lama for bussing in the protesters.

[Ninot]

Quite the farce they have going on there. I liked it better when nobody knew where the flame was except the cops and helicopters, and the torch carriers were waving to nobody.

[Wezil]

I have yet to see any video but according to print sources there wouldn't be much to see. Apparently the torch relay has become a private event.

[Wezil]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Olympic torch was rerouted away from thousands of demonstrators and spectators who crowded the city’s waterfront Wednesday to witness the flame’s symbolic journey to the Beijing Games.

The first torchbearer took the 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.

Then officials drove the Olympic torch about a mile inland and handed it off to two runners away from protesters and media.

Less than an hour before the relay began, 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.
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/03/30/5147931-ap.html

[Ninot]

Its really sad. Most of the footage CNN has been showing was the torch runners, cops... and empty streets

[Kidlicious]

This is all so silly. I can't believe people are so excited about a stupid flame.

[-Jrabbit]

WTF is up with the torch routing anyway? I always thought they started in Greece and traveled in a semi-linear fashion through major cities to its destination. But they've gone from London to Paris, to San Fancisco this week. What's up with that?

Plus, all the stupid hand-wringing -- and CNN's running well over an hour of continuous live coverage from SF -- is just absurd. Shouldn't they be covering what's actually happening in Tibet?? I thought the news networks usually covered, like, news...

[Darius871]

UR

[Wezil]

It's good to have friends.

PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea mobilized tens of thousands of citizens Monday to celebrate the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang, the flame's first visit to the authoritarian country.

Men in their best suits and women wearing traditional high-waisted dresses waved flags and paper flowers in the capital, greeting the torch like a visiting head of state.

Unlike some other parts of the relay ahead of the Beijing Olympics, everything went off without a hitch in North Korea.

China is North Korea's main ally and a key provider of aid, and the torch relay was used to herald their ties.

North Korea has condemned disruptions of the torch relay elsewhere, and supported Beijing in its crackdown on violent protests in Tibet.

Leader Kim Jong Il was not seen at Monday's event. However, the head of North Korea's Olympic committee says he has shown great interest in the success of the Olympic torch relay.


"We express our basic position that while some impure forces have opposed China's hosting of the event and have been disruptive, we believe that constitutes a challenge to the Olympic idea," Pak Hak Son added.

The torch began its run from beneath the giant red stained-glass flame that tops the 170-metre-tall obelisk of the Juche Tower, which commemorates the national ideology of "self-reliance" created by founding president Kim Il Sung, the late father of Kim Jong Il.

An attentive and peaceful crowd watched the start of the relay, some waving Chinese and Olympic flags. The ceremony was presided over by the head of Parliament, Kim Yong Nam.

Kim passed the flame to Pak Du Ik, a former soccer star who played on North Korea's 1966 World Cup soccer team.

As the 20-kilometre relay wound through Pyongyang, thousands of cheering people lined the streets waving pink paper flowers and small flags with the Beijing Olympics logo and chanting "Welcome! Welcome!"

Security was far lighter than in most other cities visited by the torch, although the flame was followed by several Chinese in blue tracksuits along with vehicles and motorcycles.

The relay ended after about five hours at Kim Il Sung Stadium, where female marathoner Chong Song Ok used the torch to light an Olympic cauldron, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

The stadium was filled with tens of thousands of people, some holding banners reading, "Cheer for Beijing, Cheer for Pyongyang, Cheer for the Olympic Games," Xinhua said.

The torch goes next to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/04/28/5410901-ap.html

There is an old saying about being known by the company you keep...

[Colonâ„¢]

What is it?

[chequita guevara]

The torch tradition was started by the Nazis, to symbolize the ancient civilization handing off the torch to fascism