68434d53   
   XPost: soc.culture.china, talk.politics.china, alt.politics.communism   
   From: dank@nugget.org   
      
   Chen wrote...   
   > Dalai Lama reiterated he supports Beijing hosting the Olympics, but   
   > pointedly said nobody can tell those opposing Chinese actions in Tibet   
   > "to shut up."   
      
   I really don't care what the Dalai Lama says, and I was there as my own   
   personal protest contingent and wasn't affiliated with any of the Tibet,   
   Burma, Darfur, or other factions.  Someone asked me what side I was on,   
   and I held up my sign and said I was on "our side" (freedom).   
      
   I'm not very interested in the Tibet issue, and I don't recognize the   
   Dalai Lama as anybody important because he is a religious leader and I   
   am anti-religious and pro-democracy.  The Dalai Lama is unelected so he   
   has no legal authority, though still more authority than the unelected   
   Communist puppet installed by Beijing.   
      
      
   > "I support Chinese hosting the famous world games," he said Thursday   
   > in an international hotel outside Tokyo "because China is the most   
   > populous and an ancient nation. Chinese people deserve to host the   
   > games."   
   >   
   > Everyone who wants to boycott Olympic game must shut up. He means all   
   > western leaders too.   
      
   We're not boycotting the Olympics (yet), we're simply using it as a   
   forum to protest China's human rights abuses.  My protest sign didn't   
   even mention the Olympics, it simply stated the obvious fact that I   
   could freely protest in San Francisco without being shot.   
      
   What was really neat is that pro-China demonstrators were allowed to   
   demonstrate in favor of the Olympic Torch and walk down the street   
   protesting the protests and they also weren't shot to death.  Maybe   
   Westerners should simply avoid the Beijing Olympics out of safety   
   concerns, because their tendency to speak freely without worrying   
   about political implications might cause Chinese security forces to   
   shoot them.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)