http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/15/the-tiananmen-solution Comments On: The Tiananmen Solution by Dan Savage en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:15:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 1989, was one of the best years, memories of the fall of the wall , the velvet revolution and the fall of the Ceausescus in Romania are still vivid in my memory. I said the good guys (western civilization)have won no more iron curtain finally peace and prosperity for all of us. praying that this change would have had a rippling effect to see finally the peace in the Middle East. Alas, this region is still in turmoil and no forseable change to the better is expected
Posted by chaya760]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:29:36 -0700 The Stranger
Posted by Amelia]]> Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:38:18 -0700 The Stranger Posted by christopher]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:39:43 -0700 The Stranger
Havel.

I'm glad you were prepared to take the risk. And I'm glad you didn't have to.
Posted by Catherine]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:49:37 -0700 The Stranger
tho i s'pose i'll forgive you if you come up with them later ...
Posted by happyhedonist]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:29:28 -0700 The Stranger
Your post brought back a lot of memories of my trip to Prague not too long after yours.

When I was there it felt like home, so maybe there is something to the whole concept of 'heimat' (homeland). I was very tempted to stay and not come back. My German wasn't all that great, but I could sort of get by - and forget about Czech. My dad is 2nd generation Czech (Bohemian - try telling people that is what your cultural identity is and just watch for the strange looks) and told me that his father left home in his teens (in Iowa) and when he visited his mother as an adult (with my dad as a boy in tow) he had to have his siblings translate so that he could talk to his own mother. My grandfather forbade the speaking of any language other than English, but still made sure to drill in to all of his kids (and there were a lot of them) that they were Czech.

One of the best (and somewhat scary) moments was when the guard (cute guy, about mid-20s) came on the train and looked at my passport, saw my last name, and realized that I was one of the returning offspring from those that went to America. Sadly, we didn't have enough language in common for an in depth conversation - but enough to be able to tell that he was glad to see a Czech-American return, and he hugged me, like a returning friend. It was strange...and sweet.
Posted by Hyzenthlayk9]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:28:21 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Montdidier]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:33:10 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Dan Savage]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:04:40 -0700 The Stranger Posted by jade]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:11 -0700 The Stranger Posted by kathleenb]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:29:56 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Bauhaus I]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:57:54 -0700 The Stranger
I'm so sorry to hear about your dad's battle with lung cancer.

You, your dad, and your family are in my prayers.
Posted by kim in portland]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:22:17 -0700 The Stranger
Dad's not the most emotional guy on the planet, but my most concrete memory of when the Communist governments collapsed was seeing him cry as they tore the Wall down. He literally didn't think he would live to see the day.

And now he's in Hospice, trying to find some peace with the lung cancer that's going to take him from us far too soon.
Posted by kathleenb]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:16:13 -0700 The Stranger
During the final days of The Shaw's rule in 1979 one of his henchmen, a general boasted that his troops had killed over 10,000 unarmed citizens in one single day.

In 1989 the Chinese government may have taken a lesson from the Shaw in imposing a "Tehran Solution" in Tiananmen Square.


Posted by Heather]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:11:32 -0700 The Stranger Posted by rob!]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:06:17 -0700 The Stranger
Thank you so much for this article. Really moved me.


Posted by C from Mass.]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:00:15 -0700 The Stranger Posted by memorex]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:58:00 -0700 The Stranger Posted by cedarthvader]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:56:25 -0700 The Stranger
Thanks for posting this. It's a great read and really human. I was in the Soviet Union, and I did smuggle some stuff out, but nothing as powerful sounding as those fliers. My little brother was in Berlin and helped chip away at the wall and pull people through, he has a piece of the wall that he brought back to the US.
Posted by kim in portland]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:54:43 -0700 The Stranger
I feel bad, tho - I'm a college student sitting here in my comfy room watching a rainstorm, getting distracted by the internet & doing a little bit of work every once in while, getting all these updates on what's going on in Iran & hearing these amazing stories of other student-instigated revolutions.

I know I'm romanticizing a dangerous - deadly - situation, but I can't help wish I could be involved in something like that. Organizing a gay-rights group in one of the gayest counties in the country really doesn't count ... sigh.

Posted by SeaExile]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:51:29 -0700 The Stranger
My old boss (born in [West] Germany, now deceased) was at a meeting in Germany when the wall came down. He brought me back a small chunk of the wall, concrete with purple graffiti paint on one side. I treasure it and remember how emotional he was telling me about the initial excitement of German reunification (followed inevitably by some rancor and bitterness over real or perceived inequities in distribution of government funds and high unemployment for years in the East). The other eastern-bloc countries that were not divided seem to have had an easier time of it.
Posted by rob!]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:49:20 -0700 The Stranger Posted by arts&letters]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:46:57 -0700 The Stranger
The first time I was in Europe was in 2000. I took an overnight train from Paris to Prague, sharing a couchette with 5 other Germans getting off in Leipzig, Germany (former East Germany). One of them was this handsome str8 guy who was probably 29-30 y.o who had his daughter with him, who was probably 8 at the time. They had just come back from visiting Euro Disney, which was probably expensive as hell for them as it is here for most families in the US. I spoke shitty German that I learned in HS but he spoke reasonable English to converse. Upon learning his daughter's age, I remember saying "wow. She's fortunate to grow up in a unified Germany now." He nodded, smile and said something positive that I can't remember now. We spoke for a few more minutes before tending to his daughter to make sure she wasn't feeling out of place in the couchette. I felt really out of place in the couchette since I was the only non German foreigner, who didn't speak that much German and was Black. Everyone else in the couchette was pretty silent and didn't really want to talk. I had sleepless night talking to a couple of other foreigners. And no there was no train sex, unfortunately. I was hoping to run into someone hot on the train that was gay/bi though :-D. I was 21 at the time, but wasn't the obnoxious American that you find in Europe.
Posted by apres_moi]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:33:11 -0700 The Stranger
Good write-up. Another way to think of it: "They were keenly aware that they were risking their lives for their futures."
Posted by Banna]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:25:42 -0700 The Stranger Posted by apres_moi]]> Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:04 -0700 The Stranger