[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Glice

1. Comparing anything to the Nazis is off-limit. Because nothing is rational then.
2. I was contrasting that 'Ni'k is extreme' with your also excessively extreme statement. Ni'k is criticising the here-and-now, not relying overly on historical/ hysterical antecedents.
3. China (by western reports) didn't kill people in preparation for the games, they relocated them; they also shut down any means of peaceful protest. The did this in a horrible and inhumane fashion. The Nazis shot insurgents and protesters. As did Pinochet (etc).
4. Regarding the 'foot-in-mouth' comment, I talk a lot of shit. I didn't, however, at any point start and continue defending a thread in which I suggested that "Germany's" holocaust memorials were somehow 'Disneyland-esque'; I likewise didn't suggest that Germany was somehow proud of murdering a sizeable proportion of Jewry in Europe.

a) The Nazis did a lot of totalitarian things BEFORE genocide, and it is of course historically fair game to compare the extreme authoritarianism of the Nazi regime to other examples of blatant and inappropriate authoritarianism.

b)

Originally Posted by ni'k

i mean WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG with a human being who dedicates their life to trying to run a certain distance in less and less miliseconds. how much do you have to hate your body and the possibilites of existance to dedicate yourself to something like that? and all the fucking nationalism that goes along with it? yuk. disgusting.

how is this not extreme?

c) The Chinese employed very similar tactics as the Nazis in regards to the Olympics, in fact the same kinds of tactics the Nazis used when they hosted the Games in Berlin (relocation, censorship, mass arrests, propaganda etc etc).. also, the Nazis unlawfully with excessive force relocated people and THEN executed them.. Glice you seem to have your WWII time line all mixed up my brother.

d) get over it.. that was one post, and I stand by my statement.. When I see cameras, back packs, tour buses and souvenir cups how am I not talking about a tourist attraction? We disagree regarding an opinion, but now three times you have incorrectly criticized the facts I have posted. You only have two feet my friend, whose foot did you borrow to cram into your mouth with your own two?

[_slavo_]

we have a gold medal in women's biathlon!

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

Every time there is some big international event in a city, the people who live there don't like it. Riot police marching all over, all kinds of yellow tape, etc.

[PAULYBEE2656]

fuck that shit. id give my left arm to live in a city which holds a major sporting event like the olympics or the world cup or whatever just to have the opportunity to attend the event. stop whinging and complaining and maybe go out and enjoy it. this thread reeks of the "twitchy net curtain syndrome" that is prevelent in ireland.. oh..look at him over there, he isnt from this parish, he must be up to no good, ooh hes got long hair, drugs mary, drugs i tell you, if he aint selling he is buying " fuck that shit up altogether. enjoy it, feel proud that the event is on your doorstep! think how the georgian team feels, think how Nodar Kumaritashvili's family is feeling, get some perspective. sorry to piss on your more than likely valid soapbox but whine whine whine whine....... etc, repeat to fade!

[Lurker]

Originally Posted by PAULYBEE2656

fuck that shit. id give my left arm to live in a city which holds a major sporting event like the olympics or the world cup or whatever just to have the opportunity to attend the event. stop whinging and complaining and maybe go out and enjoy it. this thread reeks of the "twitchy net curtain syndrome" that is prevelent in ireland.. oh..look at him over there, he isnt from this parish, he must be up to no good, ooh hes got long hair, drugs mary, drugs i tell you, if he aint selling he is buying " fuck that shit up altogether. enjoy it, feel proud that the event is on your doorstep! think how the georgian team feels, think how Nodar Kumaritashvili's family is feeling, get some perspective. sorry to piss on your more than likely valid soapbox but whine whine whine whine....... etc, repeat to fade!

Yeah!

[EVOLghost]

I'm quite indifferent. Chicago was a contender for the 2016 Olympics. I think it would be a pretty cool experience...but I can see it getting annoying REALLY! quickly.

[terminal pharmacy]

if this was an art event would you think differently?

Originally Posted by jon boy

hi,

i live in vancouver these days, the city is hosting an olympics if you didnt know. ok so its pretty much extremely unpopular with just about all who live here as the massive amount of restrictions that have been put in place on where you can and cant go, what are not allowed to wear (anything remotely anti olympics puts you in the back of a police car) plus the travel chaos that is being caused. a one hour wait just to get onto a train or bus is about normal and all this in a city with a major homeless population that is being pushed (literally) out of site and a poverty gap that gets bigger by the day, poorly functioning transport system, translink that has 28 CEO's all earning well over the standard amount for people in their position, a budget of $2bn dollars for homeless projects of which less than 1% has been used and given that they have had many many years preparation there are virtually no shelters for anyone yet the olympic village (which is supposed to be turned into affordable social housing afterwards and now is going to be luxury condo's instead) is millions over budget paid for by tax payers, VANOC basically making political requests as they see fit and getting them and also creating policy including pissing off the ambulance workers on strike over poor pay, the fact that so many streets are going to be closed to the public and when i live less than six blocks from the olympic village it means a commute of 25 minutes is now going to be 2 hours, passing through many security screens and closed off to the public areas even though we live here, the corporate sponsorship involved and the general feeling that the city is no way near ready, the 200,000 extra people that are going to be crammed into a very small space. all this plus the fact that its very warm here, the average temperature is +12 which means that must of the snow has melted, what you will see on your tv has actually been shipped in from other areas as basically its warm and raining. on the ground it basically feels like a poorly planned money making shit storm. the budget for this whole thing is mind blowing and i just wish that they could have spent the money on something else but as is most common with these kind of deals, things only change when the eyes of the world are upon you.

as a sporting event i think its fine but they should have it somewhere with snow that is able to cope with the whole thing.

i know the usual posters will post the usual thing but there you go. rant over.

[jon boy]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

if this was an art event would you think differently?

um yep.

[terminal pharmacy]

why

[jon boy]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

why

i would feel the same about any event causing as much disruption and etc. i just think its funny that there would be an art event that would be as big which is why i said yes.

[terminal pharmacy]

well if you were in edinburgh it would be comparable, the populace nearly triples.

Originally Posted by jon boy

i would feel the same about any event causing as much disruption and etc. i just think its funny that there would be an art event that would be as big which is why i said yes.

[flophousefloozie]

It's hard to find a beer for less then $7, plus an automatic 17% gratuity.

I wasn't particularly excited about the games, for this reason and others, but I've found myself actually really enjoying everything.

The protesters are contradicting their own point by starting riots that end up causing the city to waste even more money on cleaning up after their mess.

In my opinion, that isn't a good way to promote a cause, since most people won't take it seriously.

I haven't seen or heard anything about authorities not allowing people to boast anti-Olympic anything, like clothing, as long as they are behaving. They even allowed people to protest outside the opening ceremonies, because it wasn't violent.

[!@#$%!]

holy shit, floozie has risen from the dead!

 

[jon boy]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

well if you were in edinburgh it would be comparable, the populace nearly triples.

hhmmm i somehow think its different.

[terminal pharmacy]

Originally Posted by jon boy

hhmmm i somehow think its different.

comparable per capita

[jon boy]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

comparable per capita

yes but the differences between the Edinburgh and Vancouver are quite big.

[terminal pharmacy]

Originally Posted by jon boy

yes but the differences between the Edinburgh and Vancouver are quite big.

yeah accent for one

[jon boy]

cider consumption another

[terminal pharmacy]

hahaha

[demonrail666]

Edinburgh and Vancouver can't compare on a very fundamental level in so far as Edinburgh's festival is an ongoing and regular event which the city can invest in and incorporate into its infrastructure, longterm. A one off event like the Olympics can't do that. As I think Glice mentions though, I'm sure these big one off mega events like the Olympics must generate some fairly massive profits. Politicians don't tend to fight for altrusitic causes, after all.