Team Tibet August 8, 2007

Please join us for a march and rally in downtown San Francisco, on Aug 8th, to take part in an international Day of Action in support of Tibet!

August 8th marks the One Year Countdown to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This is a symbolic moment for the Chinese government to promote its Olympics propaganda and mask the reality of life on the ground inside China and Tibet.

The Chinese government is using the Games to gain international approval for their cruel occupation of Tibet. San Francisco is the only US city hosting the Olympic torch, a symbol now tainted with genocide and repression, on its way to Beijing. Meanwhile, the Mayor of San Francisco has said that human rights are irrelevant to the Games. We would like to tell him otherwise, as we join Tibetans and supporters to help expose China's Olympics lies, and bring the message to Chinese Embassies and Consulates worldwide.

Free Tibet 2008

August 8 Schedule 11:00 am Meet at SF Civic Center BART Station, UN Plaza entrance. 11:30 am March to SF City Hall. 12:30 pm March to SF Chinese Consulate, at Geary & Laguna. 1:30 pm Press Conference at SF Chinese Consulate. 3:00 pm End. Thank You!

The Tibetan community really needs our support, and we expect the media to be very responsive. Please join us and help spread the word!

Team Tibet is a movement of Tibetans and support groups around the world that is working to press for political change in China in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Campaign for Tibet is calling on China to end human rights abuses in Tibet and to resolve the issue of Tibet through negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives.

Chinese government officials promised reforms, including the protection of minority nationality rights, before winning the right to host the games. Recent reports on Tibetans indicate the implementation of new constraints on religious freedom, the forcible relocation of nomads and farmers off their lands, exploitative resource extraction and ecological damage, and new restrictions on travel.

It's time for China to wake up and take seriously the concerns of the international community about Tibet. Ideally, the Olympics symbolize the display of excellence in physical ability and mutual understanding between peoples and nations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will take place even as China suppresses human rights in Tibet and refuses to accept the political aspirations of the Tibetan People.

stated Professor Larry Gerstein, President of the International Tibet Independence Movement.

The Olympic Games cannot cover up China's brutal occupation of Tibet, but our efforts to expose the truth will only escalate over the next year as we push for concrete change inside Tibet. During this one year countdown, we are calling upon Tibetans and people of conscience worldwide to join us in taking a stand in support of the Tibetan people.

said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

(Note): Background information is available at Frequently Asked Questions. Videos and photos will be available soon.

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Slideshow - August 8, 2007

www.flickr.com This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called SF Team Tibet - August 8, 2007. Make your own badge here. »Complete Slideshow

Team Tibet

Tibet advocacy groups team up for one-year countdown to 2008 Beijing Olympics at baseball stadiums across North America

(Note): More information is available at Frequently Asked Questions. A Flickr slideshow, and several interesting videos, are also available for viewing.

FISHERS, Ind.--On August 4th, 2007, The International Campaign for Tibet, International Tibet Independence Movement, and Students for a Free Tibet along with 30 Tibet support groups will bring "Team Tibet" to baseball stadiums across North America. August 8th marks the 1-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Tibet support groups will use this period to focus international scrutiny on China's human rights record in Tibet to help influence policy change in China. The Associated Press reported on July 10th that China's run-up to the 2008 Olympics is "a marathon through a human-rights minefield." The action is meant to call attention to the 2008 Olympics and to stand on the side of Team Tibet, those who advocate for human rights changes in Tibet.

It's time for China to wake up and take seriously the concerns of the international community about Tibet. Sports fans traveling to the Beijing Olympics will expect nothing less than a free and fair playing field - inside and outside the Olympic stadiums. China needs to make the kind of progress on Tibetan issues that will register with an international sports audience before August 2008 when the Olympic games begin, said Jacob Colker, Campaigns Manager at the International Campaign for Tibet.

Ideally, the Olympics symbolize the display of excellence in physical ability and mutual understanding between peoples and nations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will take place even as China suppresses human rights in Tibet and refuses to accept the political aspirations of the Tibetan People, stated Professor Larry Gerstein, President of the International Tibet Independence Movement.

The Olympic Games cannot cover up China's brutal occupation of Tibet, but our efforts to expose the truth will only escalate over the next year as we push for concrete change inside Tibet. During this one year countdown, we are calling upon Tibetans and people of conscience worldwide to join us in taking a stand in support of the Tibetan people, said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Look for Team Tibet in the stands of the following stadiums and sections:

• New York - Royals @ Yankees, 1:05 pm EST, Seating Section #57
• Toronto - Rangers @ Blue Jays, 1:07 pm EST, Seating Section #522
• Oakland - Angels @ Athletics, 3:55 pm EST, Seating Section #247
• Minneapolis - Indians @ Twins, 3:55 pm EST, Seating Section #215
• Chicago - Mets @ Cubs, 3:55 pm EST, Seating Sections #438 & #538
• Detroit - White Sox @ Tigers, 7:05 pm EST, Seating Section #345
• Milwaukee - Phillies @ Brewers, 7:05 pm EST, Seating Section #437
• Washington - Cardinals @ Nationals, 7:05 pm EST, Seating Section #456
• Seattle - Red Sox @ Mariners, 10:05 pm EST, Seating Section #308
• San Diego - Giants @ Padres, 10:05 pm EST, Seating Section #233
• Los Angeles - Diamondbacks @ Dodgers, 10:10 pm EST, Seating Sections #28RS & #32RS

"Team Tibet" is a movement of Tibetans and support groups around the world that is working to press for political change in China in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Campaign for Tibet is calling on China to end human rights abuses in Tibet and to resolve the issue of Tibet through negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives.

Chinese government officials promised reforms, including the protection of minority nationality rights, before winning the right to host the games. Recent reports on Tibetans indicate the implementation of new constraints on religious freedom, the forcible relocation of nomads and farmers off their lands, exploitative resource extraction and ecological damage, and new restrictions on travel.

Other organizations taking part in the August 4 baseball action include Capital Area Tibetan Association, Committee of 100 for Tibet, Los Angeles Friends of Tibet, San Diego Friends of Tibet, TIBETmichigan, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress-Seattle, Bay Area Friends of Tibet, Tibetan Association of Northern California, Wisconsin Tibetan Association, Tibetan Association of Minnesota, Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota, Tibetan Association of Southern California, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress-San Francisco, and Tibetan Alliance of Chicago.

Press contacts:
Jacob Colker
Campaigns Manager, International Campaign for Tibet
(202) 580-6775; jacobc@savetibet.org

Tenzin Dorjee
Deputy Director, Students for a Free Tibet
(646) 724-0748; tendor@studentsforafreetibet.org

Larry Gerstein
President, International Tibet Independence Movement
(317) 506-2249; rangzen@aol.com

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Frequently Asked Questions

(Note): For those affected by the Great Firewall Of China, this article may be available as
http://www.pkblogs.com/sfteamtibet/2007/07/frequently-asked-questions.html

• What are the banners and flags for?
  The banners and the flags, such as what was hung on the Great Wall Of China, and previously waved at the baseball games nationwide, are attention getters. They are here to draw attention to a serious situation.
  
  When the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2008 Olympics to Beijing, we were presented with one of the most important opportunities in history to leverage the Chinese government to create change in Tibet. This is an extraordinary media moment where the citizens of the world will be watching the Chinese government, scrutinizing their actions leading up to the Olympic Games.
  
  August 2007 marked the start of the one year countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games. To raise awareness of the Olympics and its impact on Tibet, Tibetans and supporters from around the world have joined forces under the banner of a symbolic “Team Tibet”.


• Why are you holding the banners up?
  It's a unique way to confront a serious problem. Both the International Olympic Committee and China have promised that the Games will improve human rights. But, in fact, as we approach the 2008 Olympics, China has actually increased restrictions on media and information, and cracked down hard on the Tibetan people.


• What is Tibet? What happened to Tibet?
  Click on the map, to see a zoomable Google map of Tibet, with optional zoomable satellite, and street map ("terrain"), views.
  
  
  Tibet is an occupied country. Prior to 1949, Tibet was an independent mation with its own government, religion, language, laws and customs. China's People's Liberation Army took Tibet by force. When Chairman Mao came to power in 1949, one of the first things he did was send his troops to annex Tibet.
  
  Tibet was traditionally comprised of three main areas: Amdo (northeastern Tibet), Kham (eastern Tibet) and U-Tsang (central and western Tibet). The Tibetan Autonomous Region was set up by the Chinese government in 1965, covers the area of Tibet west of the Yangtse River, including part of Kham, and includes the Tibetan Capital, Lhasa. The rest of Amdo and Kham have been incorporated into Chinese provinces, and where Tibetan communities were said to have "compact inhabitancy" in these provinces they were designated Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties. As a result most of Qinghai and parts of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces are acknowledged by the Chinese authorities to be "Tibetan". Tibetans uses the term "Tibet" to refer to all these Tibetan areas currently under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.
  
  Here's a problem: Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, it is not a city in China. Google Maps are wrong.
  
  


• What does Tibet have to do with the Olympics?
  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Beijing the 2008 Olympic Games in 2001, disregarding international criticism of China's human rights record. Both the IOC and the Chinese have argued that the Games will "improve human rights in China" and therefore Tibet. However, as we approach the Games, human rights violations remain systematic and widespread. Human Rights Watch recently released a report, stating that
  

  ... the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.

  
  We believe China and the IOC should be held accountable to the promises they made during Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympics.
  
  The Chinese government is using the Olympics to legitimize their claim to Tibet. They plan to run the Olympic torch to the peak of Mt. Everest and through Tibet, they are using the Tibetan antelope as an Olympic mascot, and their celebrations in anticipation of the Olympics have been littered with displays of Tibetan song and dance, as though Tibetan culture was a part of China's heritage. At the same time, China continues to occupy Tibet, and the Tibetan people live without freedom of speech, religion or movement.
  
  China has invested tremendous resources in and staked its prestige on the 2008 Games. It is up to people of conscience around the world to ensure that Chinese government is not permitted to enjoy the honor of hosting the Olympic Games until Tibet is free.


• What can I do to help?
  There are many ways that you can help! Please visit the websites listed in the sidebar, to the right. "Team Tibet" lists the member organisations, and "Connections" lists supporting organisations. There you should find an assortment of sources of action and information!


• Are you asking people and countries to boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing?
  No, but the Team Tibet has grave concerns about the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to award the 2008 Games to China, a communist state that is acknowledged around the world to be a gross violator of human rights. Now that Beijing has been selected as a host city, we have an enormous opportunity but limited time to make the Beijing 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change in China and Tibet.


• The Chinese people were really proud to be awarded the Olympics. Is this campaign anti-Chinese?
  No, Team Tibet is an optimistic campaign aimed at bringing about changes that will bring greater rights and freedoms to the people of China and Tibet. China is the world's largest nation with some 1.3 billion people. For this reason, the people of China have a right to host the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, its government is less deserving.


• What is the situation in Tibet today?
  • Fifty years after China's invasion, Beijing is intensifying its control over Tibet and its approximately six million Tibetans.
  • Economic Discrimination: Tibetans are facing increasing marginalization as their economy becomes integrated with China and its population of 1.3 billion.
  • Religious Repression: The repression of Tibet's culture and religion continues today. China, which promotes atheism, aims to undermine the Dalai Lama's influence in Tibet and maintains strict control over monasteries and nunneries.
  • Political Persecution: The Chinese government policies in Tibet aim to erode Tibetan national identity and severely restrict the rights of Tibetans to exercise human rights as provided in the Chinese constitution, including the freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion.
  • Environmental Destruction: With an average elevation of 14,000 feet, Tibet is the highest country on earth. Tibet's fragile high-altitude environment is increasingly endangered by China's exploitative policies.
  
  

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Repression Of Media, In China, Continues

Less than a year ago, the World Tibet Network News: Chinese go further, faster and higher with media crackdowns two years before Beijing Olympics (RWB) reported

When the Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing two years from today, on 8 August 2008, neither the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) nor the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be in a position to guarantee that the thousands of journalists covering the event will be able move about freely or write what they think, although the Chinese authorities promised they would.

Reporters Without Borders: Repression continues in China, one year before Olympic Games paints a more bleak picture, having started from 2001, when the IOC assigned the games to Beijing.

Six years later, nothing has changed. But despite the absence of any significant progress in free speech and human rights in China, the IOC’s members continue to turn a deaf ear to repeated appeals from international organisations that condemn the scale of the repression.

and continues with a mention of the government of President Hu Jintao

The departments of propaganda and public security and the cyber-police, all conservative bastions, implement censorship with scrupulous care.

The censorship is a very real problem today. This web site is hosted on Blogger, which is the personal website section of Google. People who need help with a Blogger blog write to the Blogger Help Forums, where every week we see problem reports such as Login Issues: blogger page won't load, or How Do I?: My blog can't be opened in china, reports from victims of the Great Firewall Of China. These are not isolated incidents.

The Chinese government has been coercing its ISPs to block various portions of Internet service for years; suspicion is that this condition will continue through the time of the Olympics. Advice given in Google Blogger Help is simple, and advises the victims of the Great Firewall Of China to use a proxy server, to access their blogs.

One well known proxy server is PKBlogs. PKBlogs has a very symbolic name, which stands for Pakistani Blogs. It was originally developed to deal with Pakistani governmental interference with the ISPs there. Besides being used in China and Pakistan, it's also been used in similar situations in India and in Thailand, and in one connectivity problem with ISPs in the UK.

This year, Lhadon Tethong of Students for a Free Tibet, is currently in Beijing, travelling to various sites around the city and writing a blog about her journies. She writes frequently of being followed by plain clothes men, who track her movements as she travels.

She writes of an attempt to meet with Olympic Commission President Jacques Rogge, and of the light security at his hotel, contrasting that to her hotel.

At the end of the long day, it was strangely comforting to return to our hotel and find no less than five plain-clothed security agents waiting for us in the lobby.

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Our Name

And our URL. This is the current URL of this web site.

http://sfteamtibet.blogspot.com/

SF Team Tibet NewsFeeds

This blog is SF Team Tibet. This post is SF Team Tibet NewsFeeds, and you are looking at the blog itself. What you see is a lot easier for you to read, than for computers to do so. There's another copy of your blog, that's designed for computers to read.

The other copy is called the blog (site) feed. The site feed is read by a newsfeed reader. If you would like to be informed, automatically, when this site (or any of millions of other sites on the Internet) is updated with new and interesting articles, you get a newsfeed reader, and subscribe to one or more feeds.

You have several choices, for newsfeed readers. Here are a few examples.

• Browser based: Bloglines, Google Reader, Sage (for FireFox)
• Cross platform: BottomFeeder
• Microsoft Windows: FeedDemon, NewsGator
• Mac OS X: NetNewsWire

You have several feed choices, for SF TeamTibet. You can take any of these feed URLs, and subscribe using any of the above (or numerous other) newsfeed readers.

Atom RSS Comments Blog Comments - Atom Blog Comments - RSS Posts Blog Posts - Atom Blog Posts - RSS

Oakland Athletics / Oakland Coliseum Rules

I think that this is the relevant policy information that will affect us on August 4.

Autographs:

Guests may request autographs from the players from the time gates open until 45 minutes prior to game time from either dugout; however, consideration should be given to guests possessing tickets for these areas.

Banners and Signs:

Management reserves the right to remove any signs or banners at any time. Signs and banners may be hung during the A's games as long as:

• They do not obstruct the site line of another guest.
• They are not in the field of play.
• They do not cover up any existing signage.
• They are not commercial in nature.
• They are not paraded around the stadium.
• They are not in poor taste.

Brooms/sticks/poles:

For the safety of our guests, brooms, sticks and poles are not permitted at the McAfee Coliseum. On days that the A's are going for a sweep, small whiskbrooms will be permitted. Brooms may not exceed four feet in height. No sticks, and/or metal poles of any type are permitted at any time.

Bubbles/Lightsticks:

These items are not permitted into the stadium at any time.

Cameras & Videos:

Cameras and videos are allowed in the Stadium during all regular season baseball games as long as they are not for commercial use. Both cameras and videos must be hand held; tripods cannot be set up in the seating areas or the aisles (monopods are allowed), and must not block the view of the ball game for other guests.

Carry-in Items:

All bags must be no larger than 16" x16" x 8". All bags, including backpacks and purses, are subject to search. No cans, weapons, glass containers or alcohol are allowed into the Stadium at any time. No hard-sided coolers of any size are permitted. Diaper bags are permitted in regardless of size, for guests accompanied by their babies. Strollers must be small enough to keep out of walkways and aisles or be checked into the Security Office 125 or First Aid 109.

Cellular Phones:

Guest cellular phones are allowed as long as they do not distract from the enjoyment of other guests. Repeated use may constitute a warning. Failure to comply may result in being asked to check the phone in at the Security Office.

Laser Pointers:

Laser pointers and similar items are prohibited. Anyone who is observed using a laser pointer will be ejected from the stadium and the device to be confiscated. Any laser pointer, which is confiscated, will not be returned.

Noise Makers:

Noisemakers, cowbells, air horns, drums, cell phones, and all items that make a noise are allowed in the stadium. However, their use, frequency and location are at the discretion of management. If there are complaints about these items being used, their use should be stopped. If necessary, the item may be checked into the Security Office, behind section 126 on the Main Concourse, until the end of the game.

Oakland City Ordinances: Oakland Municipal Codes
8.44.030 Activities prohibited within the stadium and arena.

P. No person shall remain standing in or block any aisle or passageway beyond the time reasonably necessary to transit the aisle or passageway. Aisle or passageway shall mean those areas immediately adjacent to the seating areas that are intended as walkways leading to or from seats or exits. Aisle or passageway shall also mean the concourse areas when large crowds have gathered in sufficient numbers so as to block such aisle or passageways. (Ord. 12091 (part), 1998; Ord. 12003 § 2 (part), 1997)

Petitions and Leaflets:

Anyone wishing to distribute leaflets must receive written permission from the Vice President of Stadium Operations of the Oakland A's. Petitioners are allowed to seek signatures from guests in the parking lots away from all stadium entrances.

Name in Lights Program:

For a donation to the community fund, guests can send birthday, anniversary, and or special messages to family and friends on the Stadium's matrix board. The messages are limited in length and must be received 72 hours prior to being run. For additional information please email to Community@oaklandathletics.com or guests may call (510) 638-4900 ext. 2329 for an order form.

Tailgate Area:

Guests may reserve Tailgate space during Oakland A's games. Tailgate space is available for groups of 50 people or more. Reserved Areas are available up to 2 1/2 hours before game time. Each Tailgate Area can accommodate a group up to 250 guests. There is an $85 fee to reserve each block in the Tailgate Area. Each vehicle associated with the group must pay the regular $15 parking fee for entrance. You may purchase Tailgate parking passes in advance for special entry. Any early entry for setup must be prearranged with A's Stadium Operations Department and will be charged an additional $25 early entry fee. Tailgate areas include portable restrooms, charcoal disposal bins, and garbage cans. Tables and chairs are also available to rent through the Stadium Operations Department. For more information or to reserve your space, call (510) 563-2339.

Oracle Arena:
I did find additional TicketMaster notes about Oakland Oracle Arena, which I believe is a separate area.

As a security measure, coolers, backpacks and other large bags are not allowed into the Arena. The Arena in Oakland will deny entry into the facility to those who carry any of the items mentioned until they are put away. The Warriors or the Arena will not assume the responsibility for the storage of any of these items.

No video, audio or professional lense cameras. Additionaly no digital cameras or laser pointers.

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Tibetan National Uprising (1959) Anniversary Statement - 2007

Remarks by
Doug Sibley
March 10, 2007
San Francisco, CA
representing the California-Nevada Annual Conference,
The United Methodist Church

The California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church adopted a resolution in June 2006 to recognize the independence of the land and people of Tibet, the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader and political head of State of Tibet, and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India as the legitimate government of the people and land of Tibet. This resolution is to be presented to the 2008 worldwide General Conference of the United Methodist Church.




We support the Dalai Lama’s vision of a free and independent Tibet as described in His Holiness’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance lecture and within the territorial limits of Tibet prior to the 1949 invasion of Tibet by Chinese military forces. We urge the Beijing government to enter into official discussions with the Dalai Lama or his representatives. We also support the Dalai Lama’s current position for internal autonomy for Tibet.


We support the efforts of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues who is also the Under Secretary for Global Affairs in the U.S. Department of State. The Special Coordinator's central objective is to promote substantive dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama with a view to resolving differences, consistent with the overall U.S. goal of promoting the protection of human rights and in preserving the distinct religious, cultural and linguistic heritage of the Tibetan people.


The California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church actively lobbied for H.R. 4562, known as “The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal Act.”


We pray for the early release of the Panchen Lama and his parents, Tenzin Delek, and all other political prisoners still in custody.


We are in frequent contact with local Tibetan community leaders and the Office of Tibet in New York to ensure that our support is continuing and consistent with the aims of the Tibetan people and in the interest of world peace and brotherhood.

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