http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/20/olympics2008.china1
China sets aside four “protest zones” in Beijing during the Olympics. To protest, one had to file an application months in advance.
Two women who filed to protest were sentenced to a year’s forced labor in a re-education camp.
Another would-be protester was bustled into an unmarked vehicle by police officers and never heard from again.
A woman who wished to protest the release of her son’s murderer from prison was forced by police to forego finishing the protest application process.
One applicant included a child, and was denied.
Two others did not provide enough information, and were denied.
The remaining protest requests — seventy-seven in total, including these — were “voluntarily” withdrawn by those who filed them.
Fifteen foreigners who attempted to protest during the games were quickly deported by China.
Wang Wei, vice-president of the Beijing organising committee, told reporters they should be “satisfied” with the protest zones.
“The idea of demonstration is that you are hoping to resolve issues, not to demonstrate for the sake of demonstrating. We are pleased that issues have been resolved through dialogue and communication — this is how we do it in Chinese culture.”
All three protest zones, in city parks far from the Olympic venues, are blissfully quiet this morning.
This is, after all, how they do it in Chinese culture.
That is, after all, how they do it in the US as well
This email just in from a musician friend of mine who lives a couple miles away. I removed names, but if you trust and love yours truly then you would extend that trust to the authenticity of the following…
Matt, based on your site’s language code of conduct, please clean up as you feel necessary.
****************** Date: August 31, 2008
Hello All, I have NEVER done this before, but it makes me so incredibly sad. Be careful out there.
just a note with a few links to illustrate the state of affairs in our beautiful cities this weekend, after being invaded by an onslaught of police and military from miles away. Even in south minneapolis, 10 miles from the green zone that has been prepared for the republican party’s convention in St. Paul, there are helicopters overhead and police cars and vans from other cities slowly circling our blocks. Houses have been raided, their owners handcuffed in their own back yards, their computers confiscated. This afternoon, Liz witnessed a swat team of heavily armed police/soldiers pull over a van full of young people, on Lake Street in Minneapolis, near the Global Market, apparently for committing the crime of being young and driving through St. Paul with Texas license plates. The swat team approached the van with assault weapons pointed at the terrified passengers, who were ordered to come out with their hands up and to walk backwards on the street while being herded into a group and hancuffed. A woman who was with Liz began taking pictures, which prompted one of the policemen to point his assault weapon at her, and tell her she was too close. Here is a version of the story from twin cities indymedia:
“A van full of activists from Texas was pulled over on Lake st. and 11th ave. in Minneapolis by police with drawn shotguns on Saturday afternoon. Police ordered them out of the van at gunpoint, where they were handcuffed and searched on the busy sidewalk across the street from a dollar store, said Estaban, one of the detained activists. They didn’t search the van. They were released after between 15 to 20 minutes, an observer said. The activists had been followed all the way from St. Paul by two unmarked cars, allegedly from the Ramsey County Sheriffs Department, they were also assisted by Minneapolis police, Esteban said. Also present were transit police and K9 units. Esteban said the police didn’t give a reason for the stop, or for their tactics of drawn guns. A policeman at the scene said the detainment was due to “bad information.”
Later this afternoon, our friend Mike XXXXXXX was handcuffed in his own back yard for a few hours, for the crime of offering his home to a Democracy Now journalist who was covering the convention and needed accommodation.
Here’s a few links about that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wShi41LcoCg&feature=user http://www.alternet.org/election08/97029 http://qik.com/video/249562 http://qik.com/video/249562
And the convention hasn’t even started yet! I’m sure any of you currently in St. Paul or Minneapolis have your own stories, I thought it would be helpful to circulate these, as a small attempt to help publicize how these gobscheits have been behaving this weekend. And it is all just a glimpse into what many folks around this country and around the world have to deal with 24/7 from the neanderthals and their lethal toys.
Two questions that have plagued me for years:
Is there no end to the numbers of people who take great pleasure in beating the shit out of other people? Why does it take 4 years, billions and billions of dollars, and two pointless, grotesque coronations guarded by jackbooted armies to elect a fucking president? Thanks for being there, and keep your eyes wide open, as Johnny Cash sang. Or, as Andy Irvine sings (Marcus Turner’s words):
“You may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade”
The Boys are definitely on Parade… **********************