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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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 Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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while not related to the protest, this gives you another reason to grab the torch!
| Quote: | Aryan ideals, not ancient Greece, were the inspiration behind flame tradition
There is a two-word answer to those who think the Olympic torch is a symbol of harmony between nations that should be kept apart from politics – Adolf Hitler.
The ceremony played out on the streets of Paris yesterday did not originate in ancient Greece, nor even in the 19th century, when the Olympic movement was revived. The entire ritual, with its pagan overtones, was devised by a German named Dr Carl Diem, who ran the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Although he was not a Nazi, and was appointed to run the Olympics before the Nazis came to power, Diem adapted very quickly to the new regime, and ended the war as a fanatical military commander exhorting teenage Germans to die like Spartans rather than accept defeat. Thousands did, but not Diem, who lived to be 80.
He sold to Josef Goebbels – in charge of media coverage of the Games – the idea that 3,422 young Aryan runners should carry burning torches along the 3,422km route from the Temple of Hera on Mount Olympus to the stadium in Berlin.
It was his idea that the flame should be lit under the supervision of a High Priestess, using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays, and passed from torch to torch along the way, so that when it arrived in the Berlin stadium it would have a quasi-sacred purity.
The concept could hardly fail to appeal to the Nazis, who loved pagan mythology, and saw ancient Greece as an Aryan forerunner of the Third Reich. The ancient Greeks believed that fire was of divine origin, and kept perpetual flames burning in their temples.
In Olympia, where the ancient games were held, the flame burnt permanently on the altar of the goddess Hestia. In Athens, athletes used to run relay races carrying burning torches, in honour of certain gods.
But the ancient Games were proclaimed by messengers wearing olive crowns, a symbol of the sacred truce which guaranteed that athletes could travel to and from Olympus safely. There were no torch relays associated with the ancient Olympics until Hitler.
The route from Olympus to Berlin conveniently passed through Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia - countries where the Nazis wanted to extend their influence. Before long, all would be under German military occupation. In Hungary, the flame was serenaded by gypsy musicians who would later be rounded up and sent to death camps.
In Berlin, the flame was carried the last kilometre along Berlin's main boulevard, by a 26- year-old runner named Siegfried Eifrig, who was watched by hundreds of thousands as he transferred the flame to a cauldron on an altar surrounded by vast Nazi flags. Eifrig, amazingly, is still alive, aged 98, and told the BBC this month that carrying the ceremony should be a purely sporting affair.
Despite its dark political overtones, the event was an unqualified success for the organisers, immortalised in a propaganda film by the Nazi director Leni Riefenstahl. The ritual has been repeated before each Olympics but not always with such organisational flair.
In Melbourne, in 1956, the 19-year-old athlete Ron Clark burnt his hand as he put the torch to the cauldron, because technicians had increased the gas flow, fearing it might not light. When the Games returned to Australia 44 years later, Clark was persuaded to do the honours again, and burnt his forearm during a rehearsal. One of the Australians taking part in the 2000 torch ceremony decided to do his stretch in a tractor instead of on foot.
Before yesterday, the flame had gone out just twice. It was extinguished by a sudden downpour in Montreal in 1976, when a worker scandalously relit it with a cigarette ligher, forgetting the pagan mystique involved; it should have been relit from a back-up torch. In 2004, it was blown out by a gust of wind. Yesterday's events pushed the number of such mishaps from two to five, making the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, furious.
"Violence for whatever reason is not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games," he said. Someone should have told Adolf Hitler. |
from HERE
plus another article here on 'the mysterious men in blue' |
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nekokate
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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That Nazi article is interesting for a bit of historical perspective and trivia, but it seems to have been published at a very convenient time, no? I mean, if the fact a Nazi appeaser came up with the idea is a reason to try and grab the torch, then why was no one trying to grab it for that reason during every single other Olympics since the 1930s?
The horrific situation in Tibet is bad enough on its own as far as I'm concerned. It seems like the press are now just leaping on anything at all to prompt more and more scorn.
This historical trivia is, for propaganda value, about as relevant as pointing out that a child rapist also has unpaid parking tickets. "Oh, my God; he's even worse than I thought!" |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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16 thousand cops... I wonder who paid their overtime? |
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maycm
'cheeky banana'
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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I don't think stopping the torch run or hampering the coverage in this way has much effect on the chinese government.
If everyone *really* wanted to do something that would impact them, they would stop purchasing chinese goods, or continuing chasing the multi billion dollar business that seems to be in the papers every few days.
Everyone seems to be fine with China when it comes to profits, and that allows them to leave their morals at the boardroom door, or on their way to their broker.
If you want to see an example of consumer pressure having a tangible effect, then I think South Africa was likely one of the best examples.
I recall people going out of their way to stop purchasing South African goods, and the sporting teams were ostracized until the regime changed, and my understanding was that this was supported by the 'workers' of South Africa, in other words, those who some believed would be hardest hit by the actions. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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You're right of course, but the fact that so much of the west's manufacturing is now done in China it's not as easy as refusing to take Cape oranges etc.
I'm making a conscious effort not to buy Chinese products, but sometimes it's impossible without spending a lot more money and that needs to change before any real impact can be made. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Who'd have thought that patriots anywhere could be blunt, untalented and crass? |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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"Police had to restrain one North Korean defector who tried to set himself on fire to halt the procession." |
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Skylace
Admin
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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If you're going to protest know your history
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nekokate
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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| haha! oh no! |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| is it not just someone being sardonic? The point being that for those who think it's not a problem for China to host the games wouldn't have been bothered in 1936? |
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Skylace
Admin
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | | is it not just someone being sardonic? The point being that for those who think it's not a problem for China to host the games wouldn't have been bothered in 1936? |
That's not the way it comes across to me and many others. It's a simple stated question and it comes across as the creator of the sign not realizing that the Olympics were held in Nazi Germany. It's asking "Would we?" of course we would. We did. It didn't say "First Nazi Germany. Now China".
It's ignorance on a stick. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| But if the person was that ignorant, would they know the term 'Nazi Germany'? When I first read it I laughed because it seems to have a subtle edge. |
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Skylace
Admin
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | | But if the person was that ignorant, would they know the term 'Nazi Germany'? When I first read it I laughed because it seems to have a subtle edge. |
Yes, they would. Why wouldn't they? Elementary school kids know the term. Even people who know little about WWII will know who Hitler was and Nazi Germany.
Even within groups who stand up for causes that are important there are going to be ones who aren't the brightest crayons in the box. This one was just caught on camera.
EDIT: To give a good example of kids even knowing it, I remember taking away a 5th graders recess for chewing gum and refusing to spit it out and they shouted at me "What is this? Nazi Germany?" And I can assure you this kid was not up on most history. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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But what about the spelling and tone of the banner? For someone with poor schooling it's perfectly written... they also have a sense of word-placement.
On searching for the phrase 'would we have allowed nazi germany to host the olympics' it seems that this incident has been picked up by loads of right-wing sites as an example of 'stupid protestors'. What a surprise - instead of focussing on the issue and actually caring on a human level, they are merely looking at one part of the protests - and in doing so, being far more ignorant than they think the person is...
I find it much funnier now! Of course if I'm wrong and it was just stupidity, then hey .... |
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Skylace
Admin
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | But what about the spelling and tone of the banner? For someone with poor schooling it's perfectly written... they also have a sense of word-placement.
On searching for the phrase 'would we have allowed nazi germany to host the olympics' it seems that this incident has been picked up by loads of right-wing sites as an example of 'stupid protestors'. What a surprise - instead of focussing on the issue and actually caring on a human level, they are merely looking at one part of the protests - and in doing so, being far more ignorant than they think the person is...
I find it much funnier now! Of course if I'm wrong and it was just stupidity, then hey .... |
You can have perfect grammar and not be up on world history. |
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