The Olympic Torch Relay, which has been met with worldwide protests everywhere since it started its journey in Greece earlier this spring, and was met with more on- site protests in France, England, and San Francisco, US, before leaving for Argentina, has finally made it to its last stop near China, before entering Australia, Japan, South and North Koreas, and Vietnam,... then back to China finally... which is Jakarta, Indonesia. The Indonesians are taking no chances and are tightly regulating the venue. The flame is being kept in a secret location until the "show."
For security reasons, the original 20km (15-mile) route has been cut to a few laps around the capital's main stadium.
It will be watched by 5,000 people, who had to apply for special identity cards, and 2,500 security officers.
It seems the Indonesians have a slightly different definition of freedom of speech than European and Western Democracies. According to the chief of police of Jakarta:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
"People have freedom of speech here but they must let us know. As long as it conforms to our regulations, it will be no problem."
But human rights campaigners complained that their activists had been detained despite having permission for their protest.
The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Jakarta says it is more of a "token visit" to Indonesia, and many residents in the capital are not even aware of the relay.
Meanwhile, the Nepalese are planning to prevent Olympic Torch Protests at any cost... incredibly, even threatening to use violent force, including shooting protestors and common mountain trekkers .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Mount Everest typically has only a few weeks a year where the weather is not so bad that an ascent to the peak is possible, typically this is in late April/ the first week of May, where teams of climbers, preparing for and having obtained permits years in advance, from around the world must quickly go up, and if they are fortunate, have enough strength to come back down. They train for months for this climb, going to base camp at high altitude for weeks ahead of time to acclimate to the thinner air and colder temperatures. The local economies also depend on this form of mountain tourism and athleticism. This year, the Chinese have completely shut down Mount Everest between May 1 and May 10, except for the Olympic Torch Relay.
Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, has experienced many protests for the past month and a half by Tibetan exiles, and many protestors have been beaten and arrested.
Imagine trying to go mountaineering around this mess, and then you discover you can't even take pictures of your once in a lifetime experience:
A home ministry spokesman, Mod Raj Dotel, told the BBC that extra members of the army and police were to build a special checkpoint well above Everest Base Camp, at an altitude of about 6,700m (22,000 feet), to monitor all teams climbing the mountain.
He said authorities would initially attempt to negotiate an end to any attempts to use violent means to pursue what he called "anti-Chinese activities".
But he said that if this failed, force could be used, including gunfire.
Nepal has also brought in rules to stop summiteers carrying items such as including cameras and electronic devices beyond base camp before 10 May.
Meanwhile, in France, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans whom practice the religion of Buddhism, and also considered to be one of the most revered Buddhist monks in the world outside of India, because of his advocacy of peace and non violence, recieved an honorary citizenship from the city of Paris, France. http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Chinese officials are launching a two-month "patriotic education" in Tibet, in which Communist Party officials and local people will gather to denounce the spiritual leader.
"Paris wants to show its support for the people of Tibet, who are defending their most basic right to dignity, freedom, and simply life." said
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, insists he has no political role and played no part in the protests by Tibetan Buddhist monks that erupted into rioting in the main city Lhasa last month.
But he condemned the Chinese crackdown that followed, and accused Beijing of committing "cultural genocide" in Tibet.
There have also been many Chinese protests against the French in China, because they are upset that the French protested during the Torch Relay in France.
It is important for us here in America, as we are participating in a free election where we get to chose our candidates for office that we will vote for in November, to remember 2 things.
One, we would not be an independant nation today if it were not for the help and aid of the French people during our American Revolution for independance, and
two, one must never, ever take for granted the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion (and the freedom to argue over it) that we have and take somewhat for granted, and that other people every day yearn for and suffer and even die for.
San Francisco, CA, April 9, 2008. Along the Abandoned Route of the Olympic Torch Relay, Protesters Carry the Tibetan Flag along the Embarcadero as the Torch Flame is Taken Along a Secret Route Farther into the City, Away from the many Spectators.
(photo by diary author)
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diary edited update #1. Apologies for not checking a third newsource before leaving several countries out of the first paragragh which are on the route. Link to The Australian news story about how the media is protesting being restricted from full coverage of the Canberra leg of the relay, in order to restrict any news of protests being broadcast. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...
ACT government director of communications Jeremy Lasek said a vehicle travelling in front of the torch would carry a Seven Network camera crew, a 2GB radio team and one photographer from News Limited, publisher of The Australian, who would take photos for all media outlets.
"It's part of an agreement BOCOG (the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) has stipulated in all cities," Mr Lasek said.
Mr. O'Gorman: "A picture in this case doesn't tell a thousand words; you need the words to tell the picture," he said.
Thanks to poster tunney commenting in the Overnight News Digest for the link.
Another excellent link, the San Francisco Chronicle's Olympic Torch Relay news page: http://www.sfgate.com/...
edit update #2. Finally got photo uploaded.