Massachusetts
Related: About this forumMan Who Called Woman Concerned About Impact of Boston Olympics, 'a F*cking Piece of Sh*t!' Turns Out
http://www.alternet.org/man-who-called-woman-concerned-about-impact-boston-olympics-fcking-piece-sht-turns-out-be-mayorsBoston's Olympic bid is getting disturbing.
Man Who Called Woman Concerned About Impact of Boston Olympics, 'a F*cking Piece of Sh*t!' Turns Out to be Mayor's Cousin
By Michael Arria / AlterNet
May 23, 2015
Boston's bid for the 2024 Olympics has been met with notable resistance from local residents who are concerned that the events would come at a huge financial cost, an increased amount of surveillance, and further militarization of local police forces. There are also worries about economic displacement. A 2007 report by the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions concluded that The Olympics have displaced more than 2 million people over the last 20 years.
The city has begun to host community meetings, allegedly to address the concerns of residents, but they hardly seem effective. As Jonathan Cohn and Robin Jacks wrote in The Nation this March, "The first hour of each meeting is taken up by a marketing pitch from Boston 2024, filled with massaged numbers, Olympic buzzwords and a personal narrative from [former Olympic Committee Chairman] John Fish about the 'transformative power of sport.' Although the meeting is nominally organized by the mayor and facilitated by a project manager from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, it is clear that it is Boston 2024, not city officials, who is in charge."
At a recent meeting a woman asked a question about the games potential impact on low-income residents and a man verbally berated her, calling her a "fucking piece of shit."
It has been revealed that the man who insulted the woman is Martin F. Walsh, a cousin of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. It's unclear whether Walsh asked his cousin to attend the meeting. (video at link)
GreatGazoo
(3,962 posts)Corporate globalism + eugenics + nationalism + taxpayer funded.
They don't have to be this way. Host them every 4 years in Athens and leave the taxpayers alone.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)DetlefK
(16,471 posts)It's the "Landesgartenschau", roughly translated to "national garden exhibition".
A piece of wilderness or an existing park is uprooted and replaced with an artistic arrangement of flowers and trees and whatnot. In fact so artistic, that it's sometimes unsuitable for recreation. Just an example: Please imagine an artificial lake. In the middle of the lake there is a lawn, originally pitched at project-meetings as a playground for kids. Except that every ball and frisbee and toy-plane that goes beyond the lawn drops in the lake and is gone. What a fantastic playground!
And of course, the local community is left with the costs of taking care for this nice-to-look-at-but-wholly-impractical arrangement. While some communities long for the additional influx of tourists, many others outright refuse to host this exhibition because of the costs and the damage to existing flora.
samsingh
(17,900 posts)truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)but when taxpayers found out what it would cost they gave the IOC the boot. They were right then, and Boston's skeptics are right now.
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)in a shit hole that is in the middle of the shit hole and build a permanent site there. For instance, Mississippi would do.
Then there would be no need for bribing I.O.C. officials for the site, locals would not suffer and it would all cost less.
Paper Roses
(7,506 posts)No-one I know thinks this Olympic bid is a good idea. The only benefit will be to the big corporations who will build and run this boondoggle!
4Q2u2
(1,406 posts)He is the head of the Laborer's Union 223. AKA the mannequin Union, AKA the guys that keep shovels from flying off into space.