CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:

FINAL LEG OF OLYMPIC TORCH RUN BRIEFLY DIVERTED:

The 2010 Winter Olympics have finally begun with only one human sacrifice to the god of entertainment, a Georgian luger who was killed in a practice run on the fastest (and also most dangerous) run in the world at Whistler. As the Olympic torch was run through the streets of Vancouver on its way to its final destination the forces opposed to the games forced one final diversion from its appointed route. Here's the story from the Shot In Vancouver site. Check out this site for great photographs of this and other protests against the games being held in that town.

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Anti-Olympics Protesters divert Vancouver Torch Relay at Hastings:
The 2010 Welcoming Committee’s protest and disruption of the Olympic Torch Relay in Vancouver stopped the torch in its tracks for over 10 minutes this morning at 9:20 am at Hastings Street and Cambie. The protest seemed to encompass a wide range of anti- slogans including anti-racism, anti-tar-fields, and of course, anti-Olympics. A few also came out that were pro-Marc-Emery and openly demonstrated their particular form of activism in front of the Vancouver Police.

After 10 to 15 minutes of tense stoppage and a close range face-off between protesters and police, someone made a decision to re-route the torch relay back on to Pender street and then back to its planned route. The Olympic torch runner has probably never run so quick as they did rounding the corner to get off of Hastings. Police then moved in on horseback to disperse the crowd.