Olympic torch-bearers veered off track in the San Francisco relay today to avoid protesters. Many people were disappointed. The reason for protesting was this: the Olympics are being held in Beijing this year, and many people world-wide feel strongly opposed to China's human rights and its conflict with Tibet. Others support the Olympics in China. Officials fooled the conflicting crowd at Justin Herman Plaza, where the relay ceremony was supposed to close, by taking the torch inland 1.5 kilometers away from the San Francisco Bay area. Officials told the crowd that the closing ceremony was canceled and would be held elsewhere. Mayor Gavin Newson said that the action was prompted by a "disproportionate concentration of people" outside the AT&T park, where the relay began. The controversy stirred the president of IOC, Jacques Rogge, to speak with the Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao over the games. Rogge said Wednesday in Belgium that "pushing China would be counterproductive."
This article has an extraordinary amount of prominence, because the Olympics are a global ceremony, installed in world culture for thousands of years. There is much conflict in this piece of news: if such a prominent ceremony is being fought over by two opposing sides (one for China, one for Tibet) it means the conflict at hand must be very bad. There is oddity, because the Olympics are meant to bring nations together, not tear people apart. And, of course, there is timeliness because this is happening now, in the world today, because of current conflicts in China and Tibet. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/9/08).
The best article of the week was about the controversy in Toronto over the Catholic board's decision to test its 4th graders in Catholic schools. The article brought up an excellent point about religious education--that perhaps it is insufficient due to need for mathematics and literature-- and gave an interesting contrast to the U.S.'s actions in Catholic schools. An official in the board, trustee John DelGrande, claims that "it's not the testing of the children, it's the testing of the program" in regards to exactly what the tests would be evaluating. Controversy reared because some thought it was a matter of testing children's religiousness or piousness. "There are ample tools of assessment of religious knowledge," said a January letter to all parent councils from the Toronto Catholic elementary teachers, "a standardized test of religious knowledge is not only limited in scope, but redundant." It's a delicate subject matter: whether or not Catholic education programs really influence a young student to be, in essence, Catholic. This article discusses what "being Catholic" may just mean. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/7/08).
Pirates hijacked a French yacht off the coast of Somalia. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/6/08)... Senior executive of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Jim Edmands, resigns after company discovered ticket irregularity; five others were fired. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/5/08)... A Canadian soldier, 24, was killed in Panjwaii, Iraq by a suicide bombing, brining Canada's Iraq war death toll to 82. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/5/08)... A pregnant man went on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss the miracle of his pregnancy. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/4/08)... Eight men were said to be on trial in England for allegedly plotting to blow up commercial jetliners headed for Canada. (The Toronto Star, pg. A1, 4/3/08)...
