Torch relay

[MAPearce]

Can you justify these stupid things in your mind? If so, how?

every bucket of concrete,gallon of paint,or box of nails had to be supplied or applied by some body.Lots of somebodies.These people had work in these rough times.They also payed payroll deductions.Income taxes (fed @prov) EI, CPP.Yes the Olympics cost alot,but they also provide work to people who keep the economy going.And don't forget that the federal govt chipped in too.So we as British Columbians don't have to pick up the whole"tab".BC will benefit from the games just like it did for many years after Expo 86.It just won't happen overnight.

[grammafreddy]

Can you justify these stupid things in your mind? If so, how?

every bucket of concrete,gallon of paint,or box of nails had to be supplied or applied by some body.Lots of somebodies.These people had work in these rough times.They also payed payroll deductions.Income taxes (fed @prov) EI, CPP.Yes the Olympics cost alot,but they also provide work to people who keep the economy going.And don't forget that the federal govt chipped in too.So we as British Columbians don't have to pick up the whole"tab".BC will benefit from the games just like it did for many years after Expo 86.It just won't happen overnight.

Brilliant! So we have created a false economy and two months from now, how many of these people are going to be out of work in an economy that is still spiraling downward? If you are a construction worker in Kelowna, have you any idea what kind of competition for jobs there will be when all this "boom and bust" grinds to a halt in Vancouver? That's the trouble with false economies and boom and bust projects. They do not create long-term sustainable employment. Some of those people will not even have worked long enough to qualify for EI, some will have come from out of province but will stay and throw the unemployment figures way out of sight again (like they aren't already bad enough).

Where do you think the federal government get its money from? They get it from you and me and all the other working Canadians - so what you just said means that the taxpayers of BC will get hit for these stupid games TWICE! Wonderful! Just bleedin' wonderful.

I would love to hear how Kelowna benefited from Expo 86. Or Nakusp, or Dawson Creek, or any other place in BC that wasn't attached at the hip to Vancouver. What would these lasting benefits be?

What will be the lasting benefits from the Olympics? Sure, for those at the coast and at Whistler, they get fancy new stadiums and sports facilities (some single purpose). Who is going to pay for the maintenance on these? For communities outside the lower mainland, tell me where the lasting benefits will be.

All the trashy souvenir stuff came from China, so don't tell me there was any work created there.

Even some of the "volunteer" workers at the Games are paid government workers - they go down there to "volunteer" their time and their boss (government) pays them their wages while there. Somebody has a different definition of "volunteer" than I do. That's pretty high-priced staff - not volunteers - and we are paying them for it. Kinky, eh? They already have good sustainable high-paying jobs and so I do not consider that any kind of new employment for anyone.

Please, do tell me more about how wonderful these Olympics are.

[SHOZDIJIJI]

Mr Forbes would be a great choice..

[Fritzthecat]

I didn't apply - I would toss the damn thing in the lake.

What a useful and necessary post!

Being snide at me?? Why? I was honest. I did not apply. Even if they paid me big bucks, I would not carry that torch. That torch represents many future years of excess and unnecessary taxation to pay for this foolishness. I have no idea how anybody justifies the cost of the Olympics. It's not just a monetary cost - there is the cost to cuts in all sectors of government programs that could be done but won't be, because Campbell had to waste it all on his dream time. Two to three weeks of good times for a few chosen athletes and their merry band of VANOC and IOC henchmen traded for a few generations of extra taxation for everyone else.

Can you justify these stupid things in your mind? If so, how?

My sentiments exactly grammafreddy.
Let's not forget that the games were "sold" (actually forced down our throats...) as a way to promote BC and Canada. How do we do this? BY making sure most, if not all Olympic merchandise is Made in China, we rip off local First Nations, like Cowichan Lake Band and their sweater design, make sure the inferior, fake, copy is Made in China too, and we also make damn sure that the Olympic mascots are distinctly un-Canadian.
Best part is, we get to pay for it for the next 30 odd years. Yay. Rah Olympics......

[Nebula]

If you're going to go broke, go big!

[damngrumpy]

I keep hearing this is all about our country and we should all fall in line with the local hero's
Give me a break this is about spending tons of money. Its about corporate profit and lots
of it. Its about athletes who sold out along time ago. Professional hockey players from a
host of nations replacing players who supported the game and represented their nations
in the true version of sport. Its about politics and sport and has little to do with the games
themselves. It has even become so much about profit and corporatism that local business
is priced out of the running. Products are the domain of large companies many from out of
country. Services like transportation, are sourced out to companies from Florida and Texas.
Drivers and staff are farmed out to larger groups. Then there is the matter of entertainment
being misrepresented. Orchestras being asked to pre record their performances, singers
mouthing the words that were recorded earlier. The Native dress is not acceptable and the
Gods of Vanoc determining what native performers should wear. There is the invitation to
contract sweaters for the games and then taking the designs and farming them out to a
Chinese company. If you don't like the games, and you put up a poster in your window the
police can come in and tear it down. How does this relate to Canada? Our Supreme Court
won't even uphold the law of equal rights, as with the women's ski jumpers saying the Olympic
Committee isn't subject to Canadian Law. That is great, people can come in here and flaunt
the laws on the books and nothing is done. I think after the games we should take a long look
at ourselves and see what we have become in the name of money disguised as patriotism.
It is disgraceful

[Captain Awesome]

There's two reasons why I'm looking forward to Olympics:

1. I'm really into the spirit of the games and what they're all about. Going to one of the Olympic events was a dream of mine for a very long time. Ever since I was a kid.

2. Once Olympics are over, I hope all the Olympic whining shifts to something else. In no way I think the amount of whining will go down because I think it's somewhat constant at any given time, but at least it will be about something I don't really care about. Like midgets or tall buildings. No more talking of heavy police presence, transportation problems, misplaced homeless people, police state, hidden agendas, party for select few, etc. Can you imagine? I'm sure cost of the Olympics will still be a good topic, but hopefully it will go away at some point too.

[BigBadBootyDaddy]

I think some people just like the sound of their own voices, and moan and groan about everything. Yes, I am quite aware of the debt BC will be in, but I too am looking forward to the games. I think people should be glad we live in a country like Canada where we are allowed to *bleep* and moan. Could be living in China, or Cuba, where you would be jailed or shot.

[dcipher]

Since my years as a trainer, I cannot even appreciate the athletic component of the games (political/economic scam aside). Athletes today are ONE HUNDRED Percent doped, (though oddly enough, for the winter games, this may not be completely true, as drugs don't necessarily help the luger much) the spirit of the games was never supposed to be," let's see who responds to drugs the best!" But that's the sad reality. That person up there winning the gold? They didnt' necessarily work the hardest. They don't necessairly have the most talent. They just perform the best having unnaturally altered their biochemistry beyond human norms. Yay. The best natural guy in the world? He didn't even qualify....

[flamingfingers]

^ I agree. The spirit of the games has been lost to political and big business interests.

[damngrumpy]

People today are so blinded by the propaganda they can't see or they dare not see the truth about
what is behind door number three as it were. When this thing comes in at three or four billion
and we cut every program to pay for it, the whining will stop and the anger will boil.
I think all these people want the games should be happy to make up the shortfall instead of taxpayers.

[Fritzthecat]

I think some people just like the sound of their own voices, and moan and groan about everything. Yes, I am quite aware of the debt BC will be in, but I too am looking forward to the games. I think people should be glad we live in a country like Canada where we are allowed to *bleep* and moan. Could be living in China, or Cuba, where you would be jailed or shot.

Not quite. Doing that while the games are on WILL land you in jail. Here's the facts:

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=17100.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/09/bc-anti-olympic-sign-law-bccla.html

SO, what so great about "free speech" again? Why should I be excited about the 2010 gmaes?