Sylvia Else wrote:
> I have now watched the news from Japan about their leg of the relay, and
> I cannot help but feel some unease.
That could be the curry, Slyvie
Or perhaps your innards instinctively cringed at the simplistic
either/or binary thinking they knew was coming from you:
> Was the lack of violence in the Australian leg due to the inherently
> civilised values subscribed to by people in Australia?
according to Fran it is a product of us spending $2m dollars on
security, which, much to her chagrin, enabled the relay to proceed
peacefully, the Tibetan's to protest peacefully, as their leader the
Dalai Lama had asked them to, and the Chinese to support their
first Olympics in 100 years.
Australians might be wondering, given the positive international light
that puts us in, followed by China agreeing to meet the Dalai Lama
for talks, why this upsets you, Fran and the tory whingers?
> Of have Australians been successfully cowed by the law enforcement
> authorities in a way not achieved by their counterparts in other countries?
Lets see if there is any rational content in there, Slyvie:
The Relay runners were not cowed, their rights were enabled!
The Tibetan protesters were not cowed, their right to protest was upheld
And the Chinese supporters were not cowed, they were jubilant.
The Olympians were not cowed, they are all still going to Beijing.
Australians were hardly cowed by seeing everyones rights preserved,
The police didn't appear to be terrified, this Government, unlike
it' predecessors were unafraid to directly confront the Chinese
with human rights in Tibet (they can, because unlike Howard,they
are not guilty of cowering Aussies by Human Rights abuses of their own)
and so, ..if you and Fran are frightened by all those people having
their rights upheld perhaps you should seek help for unfounded paranoid
fantasies. B^)
Most Aussie citizens are relieved that the threat they might be
unlawfully detained or deported under ReichsOrc Howard are over.
http://www.geocities.com/wmds_r_us/gulags.htm
> Sylvia.
Perhaps the Chinese government are the only ones to have been 'cowed'
by 50 years of peaceful Tibetan Buddhist protests, supported at the
Canberra relay, at the very small cost of $2m
"China talks with Dalai Lama welcomed"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23600764-1702,00.html
Worth every penny!
---------
Buddhist Prayer for Peace
May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending
one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wilderness--
the children, the aged, the unprotected--
be guarded by beneficent celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.
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