Olympic torch lit despite protest

The Olympic torch has been lit at a ceremony in Greece that was briefly disrupted by pro-Tibet activists. Protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia as China’s envoy spoke.Activists had vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet.The torch will now be carried around Greece before being sent to China to start a journey through 20 countries, returning to Beijing on 8 August.

The route includes the torch being taken to the top of Mount Everest and through Tibet.

See map of Olympic torch relay route

As Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee, spoke ahead of the torch lighting, three men broke into the ceremony venue.

One ran up behind him attempting to display a black flag depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs.

The men were from the France-based media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF), which has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the games. More…

Because of Tibet, China Blocks YouTube

By Mike Nizza

China’s efforts to tame protests in Tibet and possibly others in its own provinces has spread to the Web, following a familiar pattern that has once again raised a question posed by Seth Mydans of The New York Times during the crackdown in Myanmar:

[Can] the much-vaunted role of the Internet in undermining repression can stand up to a determined and ruthless government?

In both cases and others, an uprising began largely out of sight before spilling onto the Web in videos and images. Officials in Myanmar and China bother claimed that they were showing restraint while unconfirmed reports hinted at grim tolls.

In Myanmar’s case, a fleeing general’s claim of thousands of dead was never proven. The junta’s toll in October was 10, though no one’s been allowed to confirm that either.

Beijing said today that 16 have died in the protests so far, but a figure cited by exiles is five times that, according to the Times.

For those outside “Great Firewall of China” (who were unaffected by the blockade, unlike Pakistan’s recent gaffe that affected Web users worldwide), the Committee to Protect Bloggers has gathered many first-person videos from Tibet in a playlist on YouTube.

 

Aside from videos, a wealth of first-hand reports may be available inside China, though tracking them down may be difficult without Web sites like Agam’s Gecko and Global Voices, two critical hubs of information during the Myanmar protests that are likely on Beijing’s radar.

John Kennedy, the Chinese language editor at Voices, has posted frequent updates based on translated blog posts from inside Tibet and also a guide for others to evade China’s internet controls. His latest post is mostly urgent — the headline is “Fire on the streets of Lhasa, Tibet” — but one account that he cites hits an innocent note:

Lhasa is rioting…school was closed…spoiled my birthday…fighting in the city is brutal!

 

Good Bye and Thank you for the Fish…

Stalwart Service for U.S. in Iraq Is Not Enough to Gain Green Card

By Karen DeYoung

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, March 23, 2008; A01

During his nearly four years as a translator for U.S. forces in Iraq, Saman Kareem Ahmad was known for his bravery and hard work. “Sam put his life on the line with, and for, Coalition Forces on a daily basis,” wrote Marine Capt. Trent A. Gibson.

Gibson’s letter was part of a thick file of support — including commendations from the secretary of the Navy and from then-Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus — that helped Ahmad migrate to the United States in 2006, among an initial group of 50 Iraqi and Afghan translators admitted under a special visa program.

Last month, however, the U.S. government turned down Ahmad’s application for permanent residence, known as a green card. His offense: Ahmad had once been part of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which U.S. immigration officials deemed an “undesignated terrorist organization” for having sought to overthrow former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Ahmad, a Kurd, once served in the KDP’s military force, which is part of the new Iraqi army. A U.S. ally, the KDP is now part of the elected government of the Kurdish region and holds seats in the Iraqi parliament. After consulting public Web sites, however, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined that KDP forces “conducted full-scale armed attacks and helped incite rebellions against Hussein’s regime, most notably during the Iran-Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Ahmad’s association with a group that had attempted to overthrow a government — even as an ally in U.S.-led wars against Hussein — rendered him “inadmissible,” the agency concluded in a three-page letter dated Feb. 26.

But of course. The US has never given anything to anyone without first sucking them dry. Saman Kareem Ahmad is no difference. Oh, no. It is a wonder that so many Americans are shocked that so many non-Americans dislike America. To most of us America is synonymous with the American Government who would “reward” their allies by calling them “terrorist” even though they have spent years and risked their life to help the US.

An unconditional Green Card should be the least of this man’s rewards. It doesn’t matter that individual Americans are good people – America Stinks to high heaven

A Dead Muslim is a Good Muslim – according to Southern Baptists

“The Feds back Christian holy war in Iraq?Or, Southern Baptist Convention et al back the federal Christian holy war in Iraq? Or is it the same? Are these some of the “American contractors” the 3 candidates are so concerned about protecting in Iraq?

About This Video

American Missionaries and Generals in the American Military are working together in order to convert Helpless Muslims in Iraq to Christianity. Many of these Missionaries which are Supported by the Bush Administration are from Evangelical Christian Groups Such as Southern Baptist Convention, World Help and other Evangelical Christian Organizations. They go into Iraq as aid workers in Disguise or as American Private Contractors working in Iraq. Many of these people have been given support and Protection from American Generals in Iraq by providing them Housings in Americans Bases in Iraq to work from. When ever the American Military goes into a Village or a Town in search and destroy Mission these missionaries follow them and hand out Pamphlets promoting Christianity and also Also Anti-Islamic material to the helpless Muslims in Iraq. Many of them follow the American Military as well in their routine Night raids where the American Soldiers Kills or detains Muslim males from the families, Iraq is a traditional Society and most of the Support a family receives is from the Male, and once there is no Male guardian for the Family the family does not have a chance for survival. Many Muslim Women and families are being taken advantage of by these American Christians, since they provide them with food and Shelter or Money in Exchange for the Bible and Christianity the most Vulnerable of these families are Muslim women with children whose husbands and Sons have been killed or been detained by the Americans. These Muslim families have no other place to provide for themselves it’s either the missionaries and there is always a Danger for Prostitution for survival. Unfortunately Islamic aid Organizations are not allowed to work from Iraq since they would be labeled as Terrorists and Killed, or detained by the American Military. Many of these Islamic Aid Organization have completely abandoned their work in Iraq. Those few Islamic Aid Organizations who do risk the work to provide aid for their Brothers and Sisters in Iraq are being highly Monitored by the American Military and the Puppet Iraqi Government.”

Of course, any way you can kill a Muslim is a good way…

They did it with the Pagans of Europe, they did it and are still doing it with the Jews, now they are doing it with Muslims. And they claim that Xianism is not an Imperialistic Religion that strive for World Domination? Guess why I don’t believe them?

Sneaky, immoral, arrogant, murdering bastards. Nothing new under the sun.

What would Cheney Know about Peace…?

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Vice President Dick Cheney arrived Saturday night in Israel, where he pledged America’s “enduring and unshakable” commitment to the security of the Jewish state as it approaches its 60th anniversary.

Cheney met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to kick off a weekend of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.”Our two countries have been more than just strong allies. We’ve been friends, special friends,” Cheney said at a news conference with Olmert.”Both our nations share the ideals of liberty, equality, human dignity and representative government.”

“Both our nations have stood firm against forces of terror and intimidation. … We are natural allies,” Cheney added.

He reaffirmed that the United States was committed to Israel’s “right to defend itself against terrorism and rocket attacks and other threats from forces dedicated to Israel’s destruction.”

In turn, Olmert called Cheney “a very good supporter and friend of the state of Israel.”

Nothing new. Nothing surprising. It would have been nice to hear something about the Settlements… Now, this was followed by this:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A Mideast peace agreement will require “painful concessions” by Israelis and Palestinians who must work together to defeat those “committed to violence,” Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Cheney stressed the U.S. commitment to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, saying it was “long overdue.”

“Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides,” said Cheney, whose stop in Ramallah came just two months after President Bush’s trip to the West Bank.

Abbas, a moderate, controls the West Bank and is battling Hamas militants who have taken charge of Gaza from Abbas-allied forces and have bombarded southern Israel with rockets.

“Terror and violence do not merely kill innocent civilians, they also kill the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Cheney said.

In their meeting, Abbas asked Cheney to help stop Israeli settlement expansion and military operations targeting militants, said Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide.

Nothing new. Nothing surprising. Nothing that will bring Peace.

Why is that? Because there really isn’t anything Cheney can do about the situation. The only ones’ that can are the Israeli People and the Palestinian People. Only when both people want peace more than they want to hate each other and be “right” will there be peace.

Besides, what would Dick Cheney, the greatest war-monger of them all, know about Peace? He makes money off war, he doesn’t want peace in the Middle East, cause that would cost him a lot of money. Peace in the Middle East means not only less money, but less reason fore the US to “do their thing”, which is and has always been “Divide and conquer” and “Go there so we can steal, plunder and kill”, at least when there’s been a Republican in the White House.

Dutch Islam film website ’shut’

A website that a Dutch right-wing politician was planning to use to release a film expected to be fiercely critical of Islam has been suspended.

The US hosting service, Network Solutions, said it was investigating complaints that it may have breached guidelines on hate language.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders says the 15-minute film describes Islam as “the enemy of freedom”.

The planned release has sparked angry protests in many Muslim countries.

The Dutch government has disassociated itself from Mr Wilders’ views, but there are fears the film will spark protests similar to those that followed the publication in Denmark two years ago of cartoons seen as offensive to Muslims.

The film has already been condemned by several Muslim countries, including Iran and Pakistan.

Hate messages

Mr Wilders’ film is entitled Fitna, an Arabic word used to describe strife or discord, usually religious.

Mr Wilders wrote a commentary in a Dutch newspaper on Saturday.

“The film is not so much about Muslims as about the Koran and Islam. The Islamic ideology has as its utmost goal the destruction of what is most dear to us, our freedom,” he wrote in De Volkskrant.

Geert Wilders has ignored pleas to shelve his project

“Fitna is the last warning for the West. The fight for freedom has only just begun,” he said.

He had been using Network Solutions to promote the film.

But on Sunday, Network Solutions said it had received a number of complaints that were under investigation.

It said the site was suspended until it was established whether the content of the site violated Network Solutions’ terms of acceptable use.

They include “material that is obscene, defamatory, libellous, unlawful, harassing, abusive… hate propaganda” and “profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature”.

Mr Wilders has had police protection since Dutch director Theo van Gogh was killed by a radical Islamist in 2004.

I don’t like it when people are censored, not even in the case of hate speech, on the other hand – I don’t want hate speech around of any kind. I have always felt that education is better than censorship.

I can also see the hypocrisy in this – this specific site is shut down, because it might offend Muslims, but sites like JewWatch.com and Ziopedia.org are not shut down, and yet they ARE offensive to Jewish people. I guess that’s what you get when there’s a risk you might be bombed unless you comply.

I mean that last – I really do. The Radical Extremist element, in this case within Islam, is holding the world hostage through the use of violent protests against Freedom of Expression. I don’t care that Geert Wilders is a Right-Wing Extremist, he has a right to share his opinion – when he does, I promise I will be there and object to it in a civil manner, but I DO NOT accept Civil and Human Rights to be held hostage at gun point so a few Extremists are not offended.