Thank God we’ve won some medals – a gold even. I was worried that when our Olympic team arrived home, thanks to the tireless admonishment provided by the press, that they might be lined up against the wall of the nearest Tim Horton’s and summarily executed.
For those that labour under the misconception that the Olympics and politics are not interwoven, one need only point to the IOC’s ridiculously ambiguous position regarding Chinese government imposed internet restrictions during the upcoming games.
Today the President of the IOC Committee, Jacques Rogge, claimed that the IOC had accepted no deal with regards to internet restrictions. For those of you that are unaware, the Chinese government had promised the foreign media unrestricted access to the web while reporting on the games, a promise that they are refusing to uphold. While some restrictions have been eased – the BBC’s Mandarin website is now accessible, for example – numerous other sites deemed ‘sensitive’ remain blocked.
Rogge’s pathetic attempt at avoiding the issue was to claim that the IOC consists of idealists and therefore could be accused of being somewhat naïve. Of course, while confronting the issue he praised the Chinese at the same time, claiming that the Olympic village was the best that he had ever seen and that the organization of the games was excellent. One wonders if the excellence of that organization includes the massive restrictions being placed on public protests as well?
The International Olympic Committee has reversed its recent decision to disallow Iraq to participate at the Olympics. Unfortunately, only two members of Iraq’s Olympic contingent can attend, as the deadline for admissions for numerous events has passed, leaving only Iraq’s track and field athletes eligible.
There’s nothing like training for the Olympics in one of the worst locations in the world only to be told that you can’t attend the games and then have that decision reversed too late for you to participate anyway. Had the IOC dealt with the situation differently, Iraq’s entire team would still be attending.
In related Olympic fever news…
As many of you are aware, the Chinese government actively blocks access to a variety of different websites. For example – BBC journalists covering the games only have access to the BBC’s website in English, they cannot view it in Chinese. Amnesty International’s website is also inaccessible, though that should come as no surprise given their recent report - People’s Republic of China: The Olympics countdown – broken promises - which you should read.
In July of 2006, Iraqi Olympic Chairman Ahmad al-Samarra’i, and several others, were abducted. Though the official Iraqi Olympic Committee, they had been removed from the position by the Iraqi government prior to their disappearance because of charges of corruption. So the Iraqi government appointed replacements, which is technically against the IOC Charter, as all appointees must be free from political influence. The IOC accused the Iraqi government of ‘political interference in its sporting affairs’ in early June of this year, with the Iraqi government claiming that the committee was corrupt.
So now eight Iraqi athletes will not be attending the games in Beijing.
You’ve got to admit, the IOC, which is corrupt as the day is long to begin with, sure has a set of balls. Two of the eight Iraqis on its Olympic squad are rowers who have had to train on the river Tigris. Unlike everyone else that will be competing in their field, they’ve had to practice two to four hours at a time with bombs going off in the distance. In some cases, going off a lot closer than in the distance.
What sort of moronic committee looks at the situation in Iraq and says – “well, you should have known better, you had plenty of time to deal with this matter”?
Ya, because besides Iraqi Parliamentarians dodging mortars on their way into business while trying to function as a body that has to deal with the realities of a foreign occupation, sectarian strife, a major national humanitarian crisis, and a laundry list of other shit – it should have been their foremost priority to placate the concerns of the International Olympic Committee.
So today Hussein al-Amidi’s phone rang numerous times and on the other end were Iraqi athletes who have been training in a war torn country to represent their nation that literally broke down and cried.
What were their chances of actually winning? Probably next to none when pitted against those who come from national programs supported by millions of dollars. Their inclusion, no matter the IOC’s position, would have been significant with regards to its impact on Iraqi youth, not to mention millions of others that could have cheered them on and, for once, had something positive, not to mention unified, to get behind.
In a world that’s already run by douchebags, you’d think something as insignificant as this would have been allowed to let slide. But, as is always the case, things are never quite that simple. It doesn’t matter if the Iraqi government fucked up or the IOC are being morons, the reality is that eight athletes who could care less about the politics involved, and that have trained to compete under the worst possible circumstances, have been told to go fuck themselves.
You know, some that comment on this website have, in the past, defended the Olympics, especially during the recent running of the Olympic torch and the protests that plagued it. At the time many argued the Olympics apolitical and wholly representative of bringing nations together in the spirit of friendly competition. In this instance, the IOC has accused the Iraqis of politically influencing their own Olympic Committee, thus denying eight athletes the ability to compete.
Like it or not, the IOC is guilty of the exact same politicization that it professes to disdain. It’s members have taken kick backs in the past from nations bidding for the games, among other transgressions. The Olympics have nothing to do with sport, nor equality, nor the spirit of competition – those are just fanciful bags of bullshit fed a hungry public to convolute the fact that, for those that are lucky enough to find themselves atop those corporate sectors that will cash in through the acquisition of contracts in those locations where the games are held, the Olympics are a license to print money.
The 2010 games are no different. While Vancouverites were allowed to vote on whether or not to bring the games to town, the Province as a whole has to flip the bill. And while those in this city’s Ivory Towers are laughing all the way to the bank, your average British Columbian will be stuck with a debt that will take years to pay off. Of course, most British Columbians outside of the Lower Mainland and Southern Island won’t actually be able to afford to attend them games. They’ll just sit at home and watch their tax dollars evaporate on live television. In truth, a lot of locals won’t be able to afford to attend either.
At the end of the day, we’ll have spent billions that could have been used to tackle some of this Province’s most pressing issues. The fantasy that the economy of this Province will enormously benefit from hosting the games is just that – a fantasy. It will, like most things, make the rich richer while foisting upon the rest of the Province an enormous debt (not to mention all the environmental damage that it’s already caused).
Who knows, by then perhaps the Iraqis will have their shit together, will produce a bobsled team, and Disney can make a movie about it.
Updated for content at 11:57 AM, PST.
Okay – what the fuck is up with running the Olympic torch around the world? Don’t get me wrong; I understand the tradition of it being carried from Greece to the host country, but seriously, what’s with running the thing all over the bloody globe?
Even more than that, what the fuck is up with climbing Mount Everest with the damn thing? Seriously?
Here’s the route the Olympic torch has and continues to take…
Here, on the other hand, is a direct route between Athens and Beijing…
True, they’d have to run through Afghanistan. But if Terry Fox could make it to Ontario with one leg and Cancer eating away the rest of his body, surely they can pass through the northern reaches of Afghanistan which isn’t even in the grips of war. Then again, the torch might be a neoconservative and not be fond of the idea of passing through Iran – who knows.
Wondering how they’re planning on getting the torch from Greece to London for the 2012 games? Wonder no more…
After months of research, the origin of the 2008 Beijing Olympic symbol was finally discovered…
While a lot of people find them inappropriate, the protests that have been held along the Olympic torch route are, to me, a positive. Given China’s human rights record, occupation of Tibet, and recent events in that beleaguered land, I think them more than appropriate. In fact, I think them necessary. Because despite China’s transgressions, this country, and many others, continue to do enormous business with the Chinese while, at the same time, feebly condemning it in an attempt to play both sides of the fence. Let it also not be forgotten that, with regards to Sudan, Chinese economic ties with its government have played a significant role in handcuffing the UN. China is, of course, the largest exporter of Sudanese oil and its largest arms provider.
The torch is set to pass through twenty different counties on its way to Beijing. Let’s hope its presence is met with similar responses in each…
“Beijing has said no force can stop the world relay of the Olympic flame as it faces new protests on the Californian leg of its journey.
Seven Pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in San Francisco after tying anti-Chinese banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The flame is due to arrive in the city shortly following a troubled relay through Paris and London.
The torch was put out three times in Paris because of pro-Tibetan protests.”
I came across the following comment left in response to an article on the Tyee regarding homelessness in British Columbia, particularly Vancouver…
“An avalanche of stories on the homeless and the left is bankrupt of any practical ideas. The left calls for housing and treating them in Vancouver, perpetuating the slum we know as the DTES. We in the real world know that Vancouver real estate is far too expensive to justify the economic cost of housing them. Don’t even talk about the NIMBY’s who’ll kill any zoning proposal.
Yet the real solution is housing, rehab, treatment and for those who cannot fend for themselves permanent institutionalization.
So the best solution is to find the cheapest land- maybe out past Fort St. John, way up north, and house them up there. Any objections?
I mean, giving them free housing in Vancouver is an insult to all the working people who struggle to pay for their own places isn’t it?”
Matthewgood.org contributor, Pivot Legal Society’s David Eby, makes some excellent points in the piece, but I want to focus on the sentiment of the comment quoted above.
You might not think that sort of ignorance prevalent in the Lower Mainland, but you’d be surprised. People’s understanding of the Lower Eastside in general is, for the most part, rather ignorant. In fact, much of that ignorance is based on the perception of a problem that has, in truth, remained largely out of sight and out of mind for decades. Only now, when the value of real estate is at an all time high, is the ‘problem’ being delved into by those that hadn’t considered it prior.
For most, their exposure to the Downtown Eastside is limited to driving down East Hastings on their way into the city and little else. They get held up at the lights at Main and Hastings and from the few minutes that they observe their surroundings come to harsh conclusions about those that inhabit this neighbourhood
We do not want to hear their stories. We do not want to delve into the fact that over the last twenty years the Downtown Eastside has become the number one destination of those turned out of mental institutions. We do not want to hear horrific tales of childhood sexual abuse, rape, violence, and Aboriginal disparity. Such things humanize the problem, and that is the last thing in the world that anyone wants to do. Because it is far easier on the conscience to simply categorize everyone down here as a druggy or a drunk who are solely responsible for where they have ended up.
Not all Vancouverites suffer from this phenomenon, but many do, including many who live in other parts of the downtown core who aren’t comfortable with the fact that their urban paradise is only minutes away from the country’s poorest urban neighbourhood. Many of them are, of course, transplants that have come to Vancouver to live the urban West Coast dream and have never been exposed to a neighbourhood like the Lower Eastside or the problems that it presents. Were there a solution that could, in a matter of weeks, transform it into the new Yaletown, many of this city’s residents would be all for it. In truth, that process has already begun.
The homelessness that is prevalent in this neighbourhood has become front-page news not because it was only a matter of time, but for three very specific reasons.
The first is that Vancouver has seen an influx of wealth over the last decade, both foreign and domestic, which has driven property prices through the roof. Given that the downtown core is situated on a peninsula, and developing Stanley Park is out of the question, the Lower Eastside remains the last truly exploitable section of the downtown core.
The second is that Vancouver has seen immense growth in the tourism sector, and many view the Lower Eastside as an embarrassment. Given that every cruise ship that docks in Vancouver is anchored at Canada Place, those that venture off the ships and decide to take a hard left and venture East find themselves confronted with something that certainly does not reflect what they’ve no doubt heard about the city. It is not uncommon to come across tourists down here in the summer that are simply aghast, many of them asking locals that don’t seem too ‘dangerous’ where the park is located or how to get uptown. It is such a concern, in fact, that the Gastown Business Association employs private security personnel to patrol the streets, pushing the homeless and dispossessed out of sight, commonly harassing them even though they possess absolutely no legal authority to do so.
The third is, of course, the 2010 games. Not only have the Olympics contributed to the increase in property prices throughout Vancouver, but have forced both local and Provincial government to address the issue of what to do about the Lower Eastside when the world shows up. Despite the fact that the World Exposition in 1986 lasted for months, laying new carpet and slapping a new coat of paint on walls in hotels on the Lower Eastside was good enough. But in the case of the Olympics, Vancouver is destined to see far more people cram the downtown core, making the problem of the Lower Eastside all the more worrisome. Therefore, the real issue isn’t so much how to actually, and realistically, address the problems that need to be address, but rather how to dislodge them and have them moved elsewhere while throwing advocates a bone.
One of the goals is to obviously see the neighbourhood gentrified like Yaletown was, which has ultimately led to the gentrification of everything from Granville Street to the banks of False Creek. Sure, there are a few rough patches here and there, but nothing to compare with East Hastings. The more that this neighbourhood can be gentrified and attract a new class of resident, the easier it will be to push the dispossessed further down the Hastings corridor.
The truth is, those problems that need solving cannot be realistically overcome in two years while still placating the concerns of those that view the Lower Eastside as a blemish on an otherwise picturesque city. Sure, housing initiatives can be discussed, hotels can be transformed, but they will not meet the needs of all those that require help. Thus, where will those who aren’t lucky enough to qualify go? Because if anti-terror maneuvers are already taking place in the skies over the city, you can bet your life that the mandate of private security firms will be extended well beyond Gastown in 2010.
Steven Spielberg, who was supposed to be an artistic advisor for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, has opted out of the role over his belief that China is not doing enough to pressure the Sudanese government with regards to the genocide in Darfur.
I commend him for it.
For those of you that are unaware, China is Sudan’s chief oil exporter (it is responsible for purchasing two-thirds of the country’s oil) and is Sudan’s largest arms supplier. Recently, in an attempt to better their international profile, they have sent forces to aid in UNAMID and undertaken publicity campaigns to better their profile regarding the matter.
But the facts remain incontrovertible…
“Because of this strong relationship, Chinese leaders have traditionally resisted international pressure to use their clout to bring peace to Darfur, where there is conflict between government-back militias and rebels.
Beijing has even used its veto at the UN Security Council - to block moves to impose sanctions on Sudan if it fails to stop the fighting in the troubled region.
China’s stock response to outside criticism about its Darfur policy always used to be that other countries should not involve themselves in Chinese affairs.”
It should also not be overlooked that in January of this year, Musa Hilal, who is accused of being complicit in helping coordinate the Janjiweed militias in Darfur, was given a senior position within the Sudanese government.