Vancouver's Love/Hate Relationship with The Olympics
Not sure if this is making International News (does anything in Vancouver do?) but in recent months, there's been a lot of protest here *against* the 2010 Olympics. At the same time, there's just as many supporters, too. And if that wasn't enough, in recent weeks, Vancouverites have also started protesting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing due to the Tibet riots. But in this case, there were no supporters . . according to the media.
Over the weekend, I went to the library downtown and marching around outside were a PRO-China group protesting the Tibetans. I had heard about the rally but didn't expect it to be this big . . 200+ supporters, about the same amount as the anti-China crowd. Anyway, I ducked around it since I was pro-Tibet, but I read some of their billboards where they contested that Western media was twisting the facts about the riots. Seems ironic that we'd be censoring the censors, but anyway . .
So I went back home to see if the news could shed some light. Their response? NOTHING! The rally was not mentioned AT ALL on CTV news, even though its news station was just a few blocks away!! Google News was nearly devoid of reports, with the one Vancouver newspaper that mentioned it just copy-pasted from a Toronto source.
BUT! on Monday, there was another anti-China protest downtown and it *did* make the 6:00 news.
So now I don't know what to think about this Tibet/China stuff. I was peeved at China, but now I'm also peeved at the media for not reporting the other side of the story, especially when it's right in front of you with blaring microphones! Whether you agree or not, ignoring the other side weakens your argument . . and I learned this in Elementary School, not Journalism School. :P And how about if the other side had a valid point? After all, these protesters looked like bright college kids, not drugged-out hippies of yore. ;) In any case, there's disputes about who's being beaten up over there, but there's no dispute that SOMEONE'S getting beaten up which is rarely good thing.
Umm, well anyway as far as this issue is concerned, I think I'll just crawl back into my hole in the neutral zone. ^_^;
And can someone help me translate something into Japanese? Although I'm not sure when, I haven't figured out what to say. :P But I've been pacing back and forth before this entry because it's something that I really want to write and want to write it right, but it's vexing that my Japanese still isn't good enough that I "trust" it!!
All I know is that it should be pretty short, about a dozen sentences. I'll try to give a crack at it myself, so it might be more of a proofread.
Anyway, it's a bit private so if anyone can help, please send me an e-mail: cheesemon AT livejournal. Thanks in advance!
Cool video ticker: missyucki-kat's friend has created one of the most awesome-looking 3 minutes of animation I've ever seen: http://www.vimeo.com/805717 It's so abstract, even the creator isn't sure how to interpret some of it! o_O
Over the weekend, I went to the library downtown and marching around outside were a PRO-China group protesting the Tibetans. I had heard about the rally but didn't expect it to be this big . . 200+ supporters, about the same amount as the anti-China crowd. Anyway, I ducked around it since I was pro-Tibet, but I read some of their billboards where they contested that Western media was twisting the facts about the riots. Seems ironic that we'd be censoring the censors, but anyway . .
So I went back home to see if the news could shed some light. Their response? NOTHING! The rally was not mentioned AT ALL on CTV news, even though its news station was just a few blocks away!! Google News was nearly devoid of reports, with the one Vancouver newspaper that mentioned it just copy-pasted from a Toronto source.
BUT! on Monday, there was another anti-China protest downtown and it *did* make the 6:00 news.
So now I don't know what to think about this Tibet/China stuff. I was peeved at China, but now I'm also peeved at the media for not reporting the other side of the story, especially when it's right in front of you with blaring microphones! Whether you agree or not, ignoring the other side weakens your argument . . and I learned this in Elementary School, not Journalism School. :P And how about if the other side had a valid point? After all, these protesters looked like bright college kids, not drugged-out hippies of yore. ;) In any case, there's disputes about who's being beaten up over there, but there's no dispute that SOMEONE'S getting beaten up which is rarely good thing.
Umm, well anyway as far as this issue is concerned, I think I'll just crawl back into my hole in the neutral zone. ^_^;
And can someone help me translate something into Japanese? Although I'm not sure when, I haven't figured out what to say. :P But I've been pacing back and forth before this entry because it's something that I really want to write and want to write it right, but it's vexing that my Japanese still isn't good enough that I "trust" it!!
All I know is that it should be pretty short, about a dozen sentences. I'll try to give a crack at it myself, so it might be more of a proofread.
Anyway, it's a bit private so if anyone can help, please send me an e-mail: cheesemon AT livejournal. Thanks in advance!
Cool video ticker: missyucki-kat's friend has created one of the most awesome-looking 3 minutes of animation I've ever seen: http://www.vimeo.com/805717 It's so abstract, even the creator isn't sure how to interpret some of it! o_O