Re: Olympics

For moral as well as economic reasons, the Olympics should be funded wholly privately.  I also despise how this event is used to promote crazed nationalism by a state-worshipping media. Why must we root for an athlete just because he is ruled by the same political hacks as we? The emphasis should be on the talent of the athletes, not the glory of the nation-states they purportedly represent.

That being said, I do enjoy the games. It's an unparalled opportunity to admire the special talent of some very special athletes. This is a welcome break from the anti-human "we're-all-the-same" propaganda the establishment usually shoves in our face.

Fiscal Irresponsibility of Olympian Proportions

It turns out governments can't even get the Olympics right.

Security costs, first estimated at $165 million, are now headed toward $1 billion.

As for Vancouver’s municipal government and the taxpayers, the bad news is already in. The immediate Olympic legacy for this city of 580,000 people is a nearly $1 billion debt from bailing out the Olympic Village development. Beyond that, people in Vancouver and British Columbia have already seen cuts in services like education, health care and arts financing from their provincial government, which is stuck with many other Olympics-related costs.

Vancouver estimated its security costs at over six times lower than they really would be. The people of Chicago should feel lucky for dodging this bullet.

The real kicker, of course, was posed by a Canadian Public Policy Professor:

“The forestry industries have collapsed, so where is the money going to come from other than marijuana grow-ops?”

GOP Riding the Wave of Libertarian Enthusiasm

Glenn Greenwald is definitely one of the most indispensable commentators around when it comes to exposing horrible atrocities carried out by the United States government. I have always been impressed by his ability to see through partisan politics and call out Democrats and Republicans alike in areas dealing with the most important of civil liberties. However, I was even more impressed with his insight in one of his more recent articles, The GOP’s “Small Government” Tea-Party Fraud.

In it, Greenwald, once again, exposes the GOP for its latest attempt at deception in order to gain power. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider Greenwald was the man who saw through every national security lie that sprang forth from the GOP’s mouth during the Bush years.  However, Greenwald expresses a clear understanding of what the GOP is up to:

There’s a major political fraud underway:  the GOP is once again donning their libertarian, limited-government masks in order to re-invent itself and, more important, to co-opt the energy and passion of the Ron-Paul-faction that spawned and sustains the ”tea party” movement.  The Party that spat contempt at Paul during the Bush years and was diametrically opposed to most of his platform now pretends to share his views.

Who Says Government Isn't Bipartisan?

At least the House is. And the Senate isn't too "obstructionist" either. From the Boston Globe:

House Votes to Extend PATRIOT Act With Few Changes

The House voted, 315 to 97, to extend the Patriot Act, sending the bill to President Obama. Without the bill, the provisions would expire Sunday.

The Senate approved the extension Wednesday. The privacy protections were cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Some in Congress had sought to increase restrictions and scrutiny on the government's authority to spy on Americans and seize their records....The three sections of the Patriot act that would stay in force:

■ Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones.

■ Allow court-approved seizure of records and property in antiterrorism operations.

■ Permit surveillance against what's called a "lone wolf,'' a non-citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.

(Emphasis added.)