I guess the flag of Cornwall is not an official sponsor of the Olympic Games.

  • retepslluerb

    I love the ending. „I expect old Adolf would have approved…”  This is an completely Intra-British issue, as the last time Germans managed to invade the island was 1.500 years ago.

    Guys, clean up your own shit, but don’t drag  us into it.   Ya’ll are English to us anyway.

    • http://twitter.com/kramski Kramski

       Speak for yourself please. Don’t assume that your lack of education and complete disregard for other people’s identity applies to all Germans.
      Sincerely, a German

    • http://darkmobius.com Andrew Molloy

      You seem to be rather hung up on the subject, especially as there isn’t actually a specific German reference in the article. You’re the one bringing “Germans” into this. There was one mention of Adolf and if it’s the one I’m thinking of, he wasn’t German anyway. If there is an example of anyone dragging anything into this it would be your own comments, no-one else assigned an entire nation to a single name.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576624466 Mark Lanyon

    retepslluerb  I imagine that comment was referring to the fact the torch relay was a Nazi invention. Pretty idiotic view with your last sentence too…

    • retepslluerb

      Actually, it was invented by a German Jew, just implemented  by Nazi edict. 

      Regarding the last sentence: Sorry, most people, be they German or other non-Brits, barely register that Scots are not English.   And frankly, I bet most Britons couldn’t reliably pinpoint the various indigenous ethnic groups making up Germany or know that there are two distinct German languages spoken over here, much less tell which areas were settled by non-Germans.

      • marc dauncey

        Nid yw anwybodaeth Falch yn rhywbeth i’w brolio am.

        • retepslluerb

          This passive-aggressive statement would have been immensely more cool if it had been written in Seeltersk. 

          • Ipo

             Or Sölring. 

        • Sparg

          Is sasanachaí siad uile, de mo dhóighse. ;)

          • Ashley Yakeley

            Oh, the irony.

      • danimagoo

        I have a feeling the comment in the article only means that the police are acting like Nazis.

      • ffabian

        Don’t apologize. According to the British (press) all Germans are Lederhosen-wearing, goose-stepping covert Nazis, secretly planing to build the Fourth Reich disguised as the EU.

        I’m rather tired of the Anglo-Saxon German=Nazi-Stereotype. Especially when their own approach to human rights and privacy is more than questionable since 9/11.

        • Ipo

           Especially when Angeln and Sachsen are Germans. 

          • Ashley Yakeley

             So are the Hallstatt Celts.

      • chenille

        Sorry, most people, be they German or other non-Brits, barely register that Scots are not English.

        Well, except people in North America, who have very different stereotypes of them. And a lot of the rest of Europe, if things like SATW are any indication. But if you mean Asia, Africa, and Latin America, I wouldn’t be surprised.

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ministry/ Ministry

      “Pretty idiotic view with your last sentence too…”

      Couldn’t agree more, and as an emphatically non-English Brit, I had a red-mist moment when I read it, but let’s not feed the trolls, eh? ;)

  • Antinous / Moderator

    From:  Alba, Cymru and Kernow
    To:  England

    Soon.

    • Scurra

      The comic Jeremy Hardy has a good line about when Scotland gets independence, then England and Wales should immediately also declare independence and leave the Unionists in Northern Ireland to wave the Union flag on their own…

      • Wreckrob8

        Dissolution of the Union would mean perpetual Tory rule for England. Anyone with any sense would emigrate.

  • http://nelc.livejournal.com/ NelC

    It doesn’t mean much, since I’m not a great sports watcher anyway, but I had the chance to watch the torch pass by last night. But then I remembered that I’m boycotting the games (TM) this year, so they won’t even be getting the minimal exposure they might have in this household. News items like this confirm that I made the right decision.

  • RyonRyon

    This is why, as a small business owner centered around London souvenirs, even though it would probably quintuple my revenue, I will not get into bed with the IOC.  I get no end to confirming i made the right decision (aside from my wallet).  If you do, you are under legal contractual obligation not never complain nor criticise the IOC or any aspect of the games.

    • Antinous / Moderator

      Hopefully you’re making book on the Jubilee, which now seems quite democratic in comparison to the Olympic racketeers.

  • joeposts

    Olympics suck!

    There, I said it.

  • Wreckrob8

    But the completely apolitical Union flag is ok. Time to reclaim the flag of England, too!

  • http://shadowfirebird.tumblr.com shadowfirebird

    I wonder if anyone can link to a police statement on the event, or anyone who has any idea what the police thought they were doing?  Had he broken the law?

    • Antinous / Moderator

      RWC is the new DWB.

      • http://shadowfirebird.tumblr.com shadowfirebird

        Running While Cornish?

        Someone on Reddit is claiming that we made a promise to the Olympic Comittee promising police enforcement of their private contracts with individuals like torch runners. Which is pretty scary.Thread here.

  • Vickie Kostecki

    I find painting the town hall much more egregious. I’ll be every interested to see what happens in Wales & Scotland.

  • abstract_reg

    Is the United Kingdom really so worried about losing Cornwall? I mean the only way carrying the Cornish flag could be considered a political message would be if there is a strong movement for Cornish sovereignty. And while some may dream, I don’t see that being a reality any time soon. (Scotland on the other hand.)
    As a Canadian I can’t imagine someone being stopped from carrying the Ontario flag while the torch was on its way to Vancouver, maybe the Quebec one (but even then there would be a fierce lash back).

    • http://nelc.livejournal.com/ NelC

      Cornish independence is a thing; whether it’s strong or not, I couldn’t say. Not as strong as the nationalists in Scotland or Wales, but Mebyon Kernow does have seats on the local council.

      See also.

      • Antinous / Moderator

        They should rename themselves The Pirates of Penzance Party.

  • Sparrow

    The flag and the torch are both symbols. If the officer wanted to take the local flag, it would have been appropriate to pass him the torch as well. Whether it was by the blunt end or the pointy end is a matter of discretion. 

    • Yamaplos .

       yes siree!

      my thoughts exactly in the sense of handing the torch away (or dropping it), though I would suggest showing kindness and non-aggresion rather than looking stupid.

      Obviously that is sort of 10/20 hindsight, the runner at first was being helped to display the flag by one security guy, and then comes the other one to pull it away.

      hard to decide suddenly what to do as a “statement”

      OTOH, this seems a bit like a non-issue covering deeper ones, like the TSA cupcake story, thats eemed so outrageous until it turned out the thing was inside a container.

      • elix

        I would’ve just tossed it over my shoulder onto the ground, said “fuck this,” and walked off. Of course, I’ve never even been within sight of a torch run.

        • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

          I’d hold the flame hostage, poised under a leaky tap, until they gave me my flag back.

  • Alan

    If that had happend to a torch runner in Texas, carrying a Texas flag, I’m pretty sure there would’ve been gunfire.

    • Sparg

      At least an ass-whuppin’.