Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Chutzpah as Meme

Speaking of local bias, it appears that the strategy that won San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom his Chutzpah of the Week award has crossed the Pacific Ocean (far more efficiently than Kon-Tiki) and has been adopted by Canberra, Australia, for their leg of the Olympic torch ceremony. Here is the story, according to the wire service sources for Al Jazeera English:

The Olympic flame has been taken to a secret location in Australia following its arrival there on the latest leg of its journey across the world.

Australian police promised a "dynamic" relay to avoid people protesting against China's human rights record and Beijing's crackdown in Tibet.

Mike Phelan, Canberra's police chief, said on Wednesday the torch route, expected to start with a lake-crossing, "is something that will be dynamic", with contingencies in place if expected protests turn violent.

This report did not include any explicit acknowledgement of Newsom by Phelan; but we have to assume that Phelan has been closely following the news of the torch's controversy-laden path to Canberra. Knowledge is a product of experience, that of others as well as one's own. Phelan seems to have been well-informed by the San Francisco experience!

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