Torch Relay Starts, And Protest Follows

The Olympic torch relay kicked off yesterday, and the lighting ceremony in Greece was interrupted by a short protest by members of the group Reporters Without Borders. More protests are sure to come during the five-month, 85,000 mile journey of the flame. This time.com interactive feature discusses some of the key stops. For a preview of one protest expected during the April 9 stop in San Francisco, check this op-ed in the New York Times by author Dave Eggers. He suggests the U.S. leg could be used to draw attention to the bloodshed in Darfur:

It's easy in California, far from the active primaries and farther from Sudan and China, to feel powerless. That's why the organizers of the protest feel they have a rare opportunity to put the crisis back on the national stage. In 418,000 copies of the April 4 edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, subscribers will get a placard that on one side explains the connections between China and the genocide in Sudan, and on the other side says, “China: Extinguish the Flames of Genocide in Darfur.” How's that for an early morning jolt?