"The 30th Summer Olympics officially opened today in London. In honor of the Games, we’ve rounded up some great sports muckreads, from college sports to racetracks..."
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Syria, NSA Spying, Popular Mobilization and History: Cole Interview in La
Prensa (Ricky Martinez)
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Interview with Juan Cole by Ricky Martínez (These are the English notes of
the interview rearranged in pyramid form; they were translated and
published in ...
1 hour ago
Thanks for posting the above links, Norm. I thought I was the only Olympics curmudgeon out there.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I detest almost everything associated with this very expensive circus - from the Nietzschean celebration of brawn over brains to the overblown bill that is presented to the host city at the end of this drunken blowout.
I don't for a minute believe the Liberal government's creative accounting which attempts to assert that the present multi-billion dollar deficit is only HST related. Clearly, the HST was originally thought up as a way to hide Olympic-related debt. No host city can make that kind of money back, so all that ends up happening is that the poor and vulnerable end up paying through cuts to their programs.
I regard the Olympics as a curse of biblical proportions.
I don't disagree Arleigh. Have a look at the articles here labelled VANOC. One of them is More Olympic history, a piece about Avery Brundage, head of the IOC from 1952-72. A British newspaper called him "the ancient IOC emperor, anti-Semite and Nazi sympathiser."
DeleteThe original meaning of the Olympics is long been lost to greed. Now it is simply a two week drug fest for elite athletes.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand the bill for Vancouver is 2.3 billion. Now to get rid of the HST is 1.6 billion. BUT following the first year of this tax a study found the HST brought in 800 million more than expected.
What is 2.3 billion plus 800 million?...about 2.3 billion with some change left…
The Olympics and the preponderance of TV's 24/7 sports channels (and one-third of newspaper content) are simply diversions.
ReplyDeleteEntertainment that diverts the public's attention from far more important topics.
And it works today to quell discontent, as it did in Rome.
The dumbing down of society continues unabated.
Norm, interesting article on Avery Brundage. I thought you might be interested in this one on rotting Greek Olympic venues http://summergames.ap.org/article/8-years-later-athens-olympic-venues-decay
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder how much Greek debt is Olympics-related.