# 2010 Olympics Watch - November 2009



## The Bread Guy (3 Nov 2009)

*NEWS ONLY - please comment in other threads.
Thanks for helping make this "news only" thread work.*​


*No2010 Victoria Statement on Torch Relay Disruption*
Anti-Olympic Festival and March disrupt Torch Relay send-off in Victoria
no2010.com, 3 Nov 09, 0859
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No2010 Victoria calls event "a victory for rights and justice"

Victoria, Coast Salish Territories, November 1, 2009 - Over 400 people gathered to oppose the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Victoria on Friday, October 30th at an "Anti-Olympics Festival" and "Zombie March" organized by No2010 Victoria. The march succeeded in disrupting the relay, and security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, andreroute it in order to reach the Legislature.

"Our events were a victory for rights and justice," said No2010 spokesperson Zoe Blunt. "We took a strong strand on respecting

indigenous rights to land, defending civil rights, and ending poverty, and people across the country are thanking us for our dedication."

The day of action against Torch Relay celebrations began with a "Five Ring Circus" featuring speakers, performance art, puppets and satirical competitions such as the "Binners' Olympics," the "Tour de Misplaced Finance" and "Queer Wrestling."

"It was a lot of fun!" said Bitey the Bed Bug, one of the anti-Olympics mascots.

Later in the afternoon, a "Zombie March" replete with stilt walkers, a marching band and a giant "Ghost Salmon" puppet wove through city streets and blocked a major intersection outside an RBC bank for over 30 minutes. RBC is one of the Vancouver Winter Olympics' most important sponsors and a major investor in the tar sands, the most environmentally destructive project in Canada.

"We wanted to expose the empty rhetoric of a Green Games," said No2010 organizer Kim Croswell. "Parading a giant Ghost Salmon was our way of pointing out how wrong-headed government priorities are in the midst of global warming and the collapse of salmon runs on the West Coast."

Continuing along the relay route, hundreds of marchers braving rain and cold weather cheered loudly when it was announced that the Torch had been diverted in order avoid the procession ....


*Native Youth Movement: Send the Olympic Torch Back to Europe!*
International Native Youth Movement (NYM) Statement
A call to Indigenous People and Supporters
Send Olympic Torch back to Europe!
no2010.com, 3 Nov 09, 0915
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Confront Invasion: Protest 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

106 Days of Action!

"We have this in common. We have a common oppressor, a common exploiter and a common discriminator. But once we realize that we have a common enemy, then we can unite--on the basis of that we have in common... "- Malcolm X, 1954

Indigenous Sisters band Brothers of the North, what the invaders call KKKanada, for the next 106 days the Olympic Torch will run our Great Lands.  The Olympic torch, a flamed staff that represents white supremacy, is
running through Indigenous Nations and Territories, symbolizing their theft and dominance of our Lands and Ways. For 106 days every Indigenous Nation in these Lands has the opportunity to talk to the world about your issues and show Unity between all Nations here who have a common oppressor, and common Invader, KKKlanada (“Canada”). Let us Unite voices and show the World we are a Proud and Independent People who will never Surrender our Lands.

Not only is the Torch running our Lands, they are also going to get Native people to participate in their evil ceremonies, KKKanada wants the world to think Native people are compliant and even eager to be assimilated into the white way of life.

We call on all Native Nations of the North to show the World we are Strong and Dignified People, the Survivors of a 500-year old Holocaust that has taken 250 million Indigenous lives, whose Lands are illegally occupied and destroyed, who are a People who will never accept defeat....


*Victory in Victoria! Torch Relay Disrupted as it Starts in Victoria*
no2010.com, 1 Nov 09, 1011
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 The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay sparked controversy after its official lighting in Greece on October 22, 2009, when it was revealed that one of the runners in a seven day relay around the country was disgraced Olympian Fani Halkia. Ms. Halkia was disqualified during the 2004 Greece Olympics after winning gold in the 400 meter hurdles, only to later test positive for steroids. She had been banned by the IOC for two years. IOC, Vanoc and Greece officials brushed off the controversy, but Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson called it a 'disappointment' for the broader 'Olympic movement.'

The official Canadian 2010 Olympic Torch Relay also got off to a rough start on Friday, October 30, 2009, arriving 90 minutes late at Victoria International Airport due to bad weather. After it was flown in onboard a Canadian military Polaris jumbo jet, it was transferred to local Indian Act band chiefs. The flame, still carried in a miner's lantern which was lit in Greece (very symbolic considering BC's multi-billion dollar mining industry), was then paddled in a band council canoe into Victoria's inner harbour. From here it was used to light a cauldron and one of the 12,000 official torches made by Bombardier (shaped like a giant marijuana joint; Bombardier is the second largest military manufacturer in Canada). The torch was then ran around the city for the rest of the day by celebrity athletes, corporate employees, and citizens specially selected to run one leg of the relay.

Meanwhile, some 150-200 people gathered at Spirit Square (formerly Centennial Square) at 2 pm for the Anti-Olympic Festival of Resistance. This event was organized by No2010 Victoria, a coalition of grassroots community groups in the city. The festival featured speakers, singers, performers, puppets, banners, a marching band, and many in costume. Speakers represented groups from local Native tribes, university students, anti-poverty & homeless rights advocates, needle exchange workers, seniors groups, environmentalists, and others ....


_More on links_


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## mariomike (6 Nov 2009)

FYI, if interested. Read this on PNN:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/paramedics-disrupt-olympic-security-exercise/article1353322/


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## mariomike (26 Nov 2009)

"Protesters say law allows 'kidnapping' of homeless: Intent is to clean up streets for Olympics, say opponents":
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/25/bc-homeless-legislation-protest.html


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## mariomike (27 Nov 2009)

"Vancouver eases Olympic protest restrictions: 'The city was never intending, under any scenario, to kick down doors and take fridge magnets or tear off their T-shirts.'":
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/26/bc-vancouver-olympic-bylaw-changes.html


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