An investigator walks past the fire-scarred door of the Chinese Consulate. The firebombing caused minor damage.
Posted on 03/21/2008 7:51:32 AM PDT by SmithL
Mayor Gavin Newsom revealed the first scant details Thursday about plans for the Beijing Olympic torch's April 9 stop in San Francisco, including the likelihood that it won't pass through Chinatown, and he emphatically stated that no one would be denied the right to protest its presence.
Newsom made his comments hours after the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco was attacked by arsonists early in the morning and shortly before a Board of Supervisors committee heard 4 1/2 hours of public testimony mostly critical of China's human-rights record. Despite the emotional pleas for supervisors to condemn China over human rights, the committee passed a resolution stripped of strong criticism.
Newsom promised that on the day of the torch relay, cheering crowds will outnumber protesters "10 to 1."
The mayor said that the route for the torch relay has been broadly determined, but he did not provide information about specific streets, saying only that the route and its ceremonies will include the areas around the Ferry Building and AT&T Park and likely will exclude Chinatown. He also declined to specify the time of the festivities other than to say they will not take place during commute hours.
Newsom's comments were the first description of what will be an international spectacle that protest organizers say will draw thousands of demonstrators. San Francisco is the only North American city to see the Olympic torch this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
An investigator walks past the fire-scarred door of the Chinese Consulate. The firebombing caused minor damage.
Why don’t they have the torch relay run from Greece directly to China via Turkey and Iran, or via Ukraine and Kazakstan? Why go through North America and the People’s Republic of California?
If the Olympics were being held in apartheid-era South Africa (I know, but just hypothetically) there is no way the Mayor or Board of Supervisors would let that torch cross the City limits.
so here’s my dilemma:
i would like to be front and center protesting the chicoms but i think i would gag if i have to listen to richard gere or the archibishop, much less be seen in the same crowd as the professional war protest types.
what to do....
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