please empty your brain below

Did you see that rugby tackle a certain member of the Met Police made on one of the Protesters !!! He could have made the England XV. I especially liked the way BBC News24 are playing it over and over again just in case we didn't see it the first time. I think some of those Police Officers ran almost 26 Miles today as well, good training for the 2012 Marathon if you ask me !

Having been guided by the Mayor's site that the torch would arrive in Stratford at 1630, and by the BBC site for 1600 I hedged my bets for a 1615 arrival.

I missed the torch, but did catch many children in colourful costumes; some abseiling thing on top of Stratford Library and some rather enthusiastic people with microphones trying to enthuse the crowd. All over in no more than 15 minutes - less than inspired!

FREE TIBET!!!

China murders monks.

How apt that it ended up in the Millennium Doh-me.

Um, "Japanese" presenting partner? Samsung is a Korean company....

dg writes: Ah, OK, oops.

got to see the torch as it passed Stratford Town Hall, and was even on the wrong side of the barriers which we were quite surprised about. Police were pretty good about it all, but apparently 2 protesters were rugby tackled up by the library.

Glad I didn't bother, then.

DG sounds like you didn't enjoy Red Ken's Giant fun-filled-for-all the-family pan-london British Bulldog extravaganza then?

could be worse though... you could have jumped on eurostar and be trying to follow it's progress in Paris today!

Yesterday's events in London made me proud to be British: if you don't like something, you have the right to go and protest about it.

Despite the eyes of the world being on the torch parade, no attempt was made by the authorities to suppress the demonstrations, despite the potential embarrassment the protests would cause our politicians. Ok, the ‘over enthusiasm’ was curbed, but that is what happens when you overstep the line in trying to get your point across.

Stick that in your human rights pipe, China...

Thanks for including my photo! I thought the parade had long gone until it suddenly all turned back. I stood well back out of the way.

I didn't realise the significance of this one until today's events in Paris. I assumed the flame had been turned down low but it looks like the flame didn't remain lit all the way around in London either on its way back to the safety of the bus.

http://flickr.com/photos/markle1/2392980160

I was keeping up with your twitters as I hared around my own part of London in the snow and hail.

I did consider going along, but thought that seeing some buses drive past was less important than me going home to get some kip.

Once more East London gets ignored while the Central bits get all the good stuff. I too wonder how it'll be when the Olympics reach here.

hi, you say QUOTE

The bloke in front of me began booing anything and everything that passed. It was when he started deliberately booing a group of Chinese athletes that I started to feel distinctly uncomfortable. There's a thin line between rightful protest and naked racism, and I feared he'd crossed it.

UNQUOTE

Well, the athletes (if they were athletes) appeared to be wearing the same blue and white track suits (or shell suits) that the Chinese police were wearing. So, perhaps they were not athletes.

The protestors (in Bedford place) all seemed to boo all the vehicles.

The vehicles were part of the official procession.The protestors wanted to make their point by booing the official procession vehicles.

You have concluded that this booing (by the man in front of you) was racist booing; I am unclear whether you are right on this conclusion; (but perhaps you are - who knows)? ,... . . .

(thank you for reading this)

JS

Hi JS.

The man in front of me was the only person near me booing. Trust me, it felt astonishingly uncomfortable standing next to him, especially when he aimed his bile at people rather than vehicles. This was protest at the level of a five year old's tantrum. I didn't want to judge him, but I did need to walk away, and fast.

we saw three middle aged hippies harassing a chinese man and his little daughter, when the police stopped em they went on some long rant about free speech n such... n i mean the girl was literally crying! im all for free speech n protesting n all, but some people do take the piss.

Keep politics out of sport I say.

Interesting how no-one was demonstrating when China was bidding for the Games. I know things have got overtly much worse recently, but it's always the same underneath.

And human rights issues... Guantanamo Bay, or how we're treating asylum seekers in holding centres right now, anyone? I haven't heard anyone protesting about those issues...

Although I agree that China's tactics in Tibet are wrong, I felt the protesters took things too far. They spoiled a day that could have been a lot of fun, and actually could have caused meaningful intercourse between British and Chinese people. I was at City Hall and the atmosphere was perfectly good natured and jovial until the protesters turned up - many of them little better than football hooligans, trying to whip up trouble with the Chinese students in the crowd. As I filmed the procession, a man leaned right across me and shouted 'shame on you China'. Shame on him for spoiling my enjoyment of the event as a sports fan, I suggest. As Blue Witch says, how many countries would have to be banned for the Olympics if human rights or other morally objectionable practices, such as whaling, were reasons to ban a country from it?

Agreed - it was really friendly at City Hall before the torch arrived, with several Chinese people proudly waving big colourful Beijing 2008 flags.

A shame that some protesters couldn't tell the difference between policies and people, and took their anger out on the latter.

As far as I was concerned the day was great fun, but entirely thanks to the protests - there's nothing better than seeing something so corporate and contrived going off the rails in such a good cause.
As far as the old sport and politics chestnut goes, I really don't see what this charade has to do with sport.

Sugababes in a bus? Give us a break.
Oh and Samsung is currently embroiled in a huge bribery and corporate malpractice investigation - great choice of torch relay sponsor, BOCOG!

Blue Witch-it's amazing what two minutes on this internet thingy can find...

Gitmo

UK Holding Centres

The vicar and I shared a look, as if to say "pah!", and walked away.

I presume the letter in today's Guardian is from this very vicar expressing the same views as DG.

dg writes: Yes, that's him! Very well put too...

Bow, east London. Sunday, 4pm. A small, cheerful crowd wait in the cold, by the ancient Bow church for the torch to pass. The church bells are ringing to welcome it as it comes to the very gateway of the 2012 games. Police outriders roar past and a bus with about a dozen people chatting on the open top goes by at speed. Then come more coaches and a great many more police. We wait, cameras ready, for the torch on its bus. It does not come: it was, apparently, somewhere on the first bus. We still wait, but finally give up, bemused, cross and cold. No trouble, no demonstrations, but no torch either. A small personal relations disaster and an insult to the people of the East End who are having the whole misbegotten enterprise of 2012 foisted on them. Another sign of things to come?
Rev Michael Peet
London


Looks like the London Marathon is going to be loads of laughs too, as we all endeavour to keep the corpocracy out of sport, and try to bring a bit of humanity back in.

On my way home on Sunday evening I noticed them removing a plastic running track they'd installed in the middle of Stratford Shopping Centre - no expense spared there then. My flatmate was surprised by a torchbearer outside Morrissons on the ringroad a little earlier, but the least said about that, the better...











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