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| "Violent" Olympic torch protests
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The news media never cease to amaze me. Now we are hearing that future Olympic torch relays may be canceled because of "violent protests" by anti-Chinese demonstrators. The only "violence" I've seen has been that dished out by the police, tackling, assaulting and pepper-spraying protesters who, in Gandhian fashion, are using non-violent resistance to stop the relay. But to its credit, some of the western and Japanese media are showing the police brutality. So you can believe what the media tell you, or you can "believe your lying eyes." (You know the joke; a woman comes home, finds her husband in bed with another woman, and he says, "It's not what you think. Who are you going to believe, me, or your lying eyes?")
The Chinese media have taken things to another level. They are apparently pretending the protests aren't even happening. NHK (Japan) showed footage of Chinese television news reporting that the relay is being greeting by cheering crowds, that it's a huge success, and that it is proceeding according to schedule. No mention of the massive protests, delays or route cancellations.
While NHK's coverage of the Olympic relay protests has been very good, showing even more of the police brutality than the western media, and while they have not hesitated to expose the lies of the Chinese media, it was not so long ago that they were playing a similar game. After watching NHK coverage of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd "terrorizing" Japanese whalers by "throwing acid on the decks" and "injuring several crewmembers", I decided to check on this version of events by logging on to the internet. I soon discovered that the whalers had shot the captain of the Sea Shepherd and had thrown concussion grenades at his crew, and that the "acid" was a chemical that smells like rotten butter, technically an acid (diluted butyric acid), but not powerful enough to burn someone. The "injured" crewmembers were probably complaining about nausea. Somehow NHK overlooked these minor details. Meanwhile, the western media were reporting that the Japanese government had told the Australian ambassador that police or coast guard officers on the whaling vessel had fired "warning shots". If you've been in Japan for a while, you know that the police rarely shoot anyone intentionally - they always hit them with "warning shots". A few hours later, Japanese authorities told the Australian ambassador that "no shots had been fired", but Captain Paul Watson had the bullet, and the hole in his "bullet-proof" vest, to prove it.
So, I guess the safest thing to do is not to trust the media in your own country when reporting on national stories. Hey, according to the U.S. media, the "surge" is working, most Iraqis love us, the occupation of Iraq is not imperialism, and the war is about bringing democracy to Iraq, NOT about the OIL. I repeat, NOT about the OIL.
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Posted by friendofnemo on 2008-04-08 21:26:48 | Rating: | Views: 45
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