Nothign Deep

I really have nothing deep to talk about! I'm sick. My throat hurts. My whole body feels all clogged and gross adn I'm sitting at my desk at work wishing I could be in bed! I hate this feeling. you knwo when you feeel so stuffed up that you feel like youre just stuck in your body!?!

Anyone?

*sigh* I just feel like I'm not even existing physically right now. I feel liek I'm just some kind of conscious being that's flaoting around the fofice today. Totally bodyless... just there!

It's weird! I'm sure it will apss once I can breathe again! On the plus side, I'm looking forward to lunch because I have a very yummy leftover pasta to eat! What else should I talk about?

I'm reading Harry Potter right now. After all these years of not doing it, I've finalyl decided to jump on the bandwagon and read the books. My problem? THEY ARE LIKE CRACK! Seriously. I'm a pretty slow reader but I got through the first 4 in like a week and a half. I've slowed down a little with Order of the Phoenix now... which is good, cuz I was staying up till 3 am reading! Either that or playing pokemon! I've rediscovered the joy of the original pokemon game on Gameboy color! Totally rad!!!

Other than that. Life is pretty ok. Working hard, Shawna's jobs are going well, For Lent we are dedicating ourselves to a bible reading every single night (Which for us is a challenge because we tend to justify not doing it) and the Olympics are crazy fun in the city! All in all, things are ok!

YAY!
DP

Olympic tiiiiime!

Ooooook! Olympics!

First. Thoughts and prayers...


Now on to blogging!

Hmm... what to say? I'm kinda at a weird middle ground that - to be honest - I didn't think I'd find myself at. Let me preface this by saying that I didn't (and still dont) believe that Vancouver had the right to host the Olympics. Most cities that get it don't. I mean let's be realistic. BC has the lowest minimum wage in Canada. Most expensive healthcare. and home to the country's poorest postal code. We've got serious issues to fix and undermining the social infrastructutre for a 2 week gorge isn't gonna help things.

Now the flip side... It's here. it's paid for. it's a reality. Fighting it NOW.... is ridiculous. Like it or not folks, capitlism is the way the world Economy is structured. (Albeit I see that changing in our lifetime) The 2010 Winter Olympics is an international Commitment. We are relied upon by the international community to live up to that commitment. And that's a fact! A hypothetical plug pulling on the Olympics now, would cause worldwide outrage and a complete seperation from the International Community. And in a world who's economy is just barely hanging on... that would be a very bad thing. Yes the Olympics have taken money that could otherwise be used towards affordable housing on the Downtown East Side or reform BC's ridiculous healthcare system... But it didn't. And quite honestly, wouldn't if we were hosting the Olympics or not. We are in a society and an economic system that glorifies the rich. The divide between the lower and upper classes is growing at an alarming rate and there seems to be no way to bridge that gap. If we didn't have these games... the money would have been moved elsewhere. And I guarantee you it would not have changed the status of East Hastigns.

Fact is... the games have forced the hand of BC's gvnmt and put in place more infrastructure... In 86, we got a landmark building which is now the Telus World of Science. That rakes in a HUGE amount of Vancouver's tourism. This year? No new buildings... no, but a lightrail transit system that gets you all the way out to Richmond, which was beforehand (seemingly) impossible to travel. The Canada line is HUGE for the overall structure and development of Vancouver, and it wouldn't have gotten off the ground without the games.

Again... I'm not saying that Vancouver deserved these Olympics... it didn't. But if they gave the Olympic games to a city that deserved it, who would you give it to? Everyone has got their blemishes. you don't wanna give the games to vancouver because of poverty? fine... Enter Adolf Hitler... His National Socialist German Workers' Party basically whiped out poverty in Berlin in the wake of the 1929 Market crash. And in 1936, Germany was an economic powerhouse... So they got the games! I don't need to tell you WHY it's wrong that Germany got the games...

The point is, you're not gonna find a perfect city, and the Olympics has to happen somewhere. And it's here. And by months' end, it will be gone. Worried about the provincial debt? Don't be... the system is (unfortunately) centered around debt. We're too far gone to make a change without causing a complete collapse. The world economy is a house of cards... and the table it's built on has one leg shorter than the others...

I don't really know what i was getting at in this post... I'm pretty much in the middle. I'm not anti-Olympics or pro-Olympics. I'm here! And I like sports! And I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Do i think the money could've been spent better? Of course. But I've had issues with government budgets long before the Olympics came... this isn't a NEW phenomenon... but people seem to be treating it as such!

I really don't know what i'm getting at. Anyone know what I'm tryign to say? Cuz I don't. I guess.. I was all for being Anti-Olympics and trying to change it when it MATTERED, But at this point, it doesn't... And Stephen Harper is making us look foolish enough on the international scene. I don't think he needs our help by disrupting an international commitment. but I don't know very much!

Now for your enjoyment... TOY STORY 3!!!!