The Olympic Flame

Click to enlarge. Feel free to pass it around.

You may think that the Olympic torch relay is part of an ancient tradition, dating back to 770BC. But it isn't. The ritual of running the torch from Athens to the venue of the modern games was invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics. The idea was to draw a link between the ancient Greek ideals and the cockamamie ideas of racial purity and a master race whose origin was Germany. It was part of a Fascist spectacle - as is the current fiasco.

World leaders should follow the lead of Gordon Brown and Sarkozy of France and refuse to attend the opening ceremony (at the very least).

My guess is the whole thing is going to blow up in the face of the Chinese. They are not going to be able to cope with the western media or an influx of athletes who will feel a strong moral obligation to make a protest.

As for sponsors of the Beijing Olympics - I think they should get the cold shoulder.

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