Reader Response Forum
14/01/2010 03:32
The Olympics: A Colossal Money Grab
SINC SAYS:
It’s all about the money folks.
The Olympic torch apparently passed through our city yesterday and I, like thousands of others, couldn’t be bothered to even take a peek.
The whole thing reeks of the stench of money and the arrogance of the Olympic organizing committee.
Today’s athletes train and compete for one reason. The endorsement money if they win.
Apart from them making stupid demands in Vancouver and sweeping the homeless off the streets, lest they be seen by Olympic visitors, now the VANOC is threatening Vancouver libraries with their idiocy according to the Globe and Mail:
QUOTE:
“Librarians in Vancouver are being warned to solicit only official Olympic sponsors for any Games-themed events they organize next month, and to cover up the names of any competitors - even slapping tape on offending logos on audiovisual equipment.
The memo, written by marketing and communications manager Jean Kavanagh, tells staff to avoid such companies as Pepsi or Dairy Queen - neither of which is an official sponsor, unlike, say Coca-Cola or McDonald's. And she suggests taking unusual steps to avoid displaying the logos of non-sponsors, writing: "If you have a speaker/guest who happens to work for Telus, ensure he/she is not wearing their Telus jacket, as Bell is the official sponsor."
She also writes that any rented sound equipment have its brand name covered by cloth or tape - if it's not a machine from sponsor Panasonic.
Ms. Kavanagh said in an interview that her list of Olympic dos and don'ts does not constitute censorship.
But Alex Youngberg, president of the library union, says the memo is contrary to the spirit of a public library. "There's something in my library to offend everybody," she said. "And that's our job. Our job as library staff is to not ever censor any information."
END QUOTE.
You can read the whole sordid tale here.
When money rules, common sense goes out the window as this tidbit gleaned from the web clearly shows:
“I know someone who works for a company that was doing some printing for a client who was producing Olympic merchandise. To do this work their company had to first submit to an official VANOC Olympic audit of their staff and premises. I was told an extremely rude woman showed up at their offices and spent several hours ordering everyone around and interviewing some of the staff. She apparently commandeered an office, forcing the woman whose office it was to use the lunchroom for the day.
The arrogance of the Olympic cartel is spectacular. And they pull all of this off with mostly free, volunteer labour. And there's an endless supply of people lining up to volunteer for them.”
I for one won’t be turning on my TV during the games. I cannot stomach being a part of, or seen to be supporting such utter greed.
In the meantime if the Olympics really were about people, the committee would be assisting finding permanent homes for the destitute they so clearly despise that they hide them away until their shiny clean money machine leaves town.
How Many Times Did You Want To Do This?
A Candid Husband/Wife Conversation
My wife and I were
at the breakfast table one lazy Sunday morning
and I said to her, "If I were to die, I want
you to immediately sell all my stuff."
"Now why would you want me to do that?" she asked
"I figure that you would eventually remarry and I don't want some asshole using my stuff." I replied.
She looked at me and said, "What makes you think I'd marry another asshole?"
