Paris Olympics

In article ,
Earl Evleth wrote:

Moscow was criticized because its dossier is
sloppy. The British bookmakers side with the Parisian bid.

With what's going on in Russia, there is no way Moscow should get the
bid. Things are not that much better with Putin in charge than in 1980,
when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

Putin reportedly said the fall of the USSR was one of the most
regrettable events in history. Looks like he's bent on reversing the
liberation of all those neighboring republics. Pretty chilling.

In article . com,
wrote:

Go Fig a écrit :

They had quite a few turn out this last weekend on the Champs in
support of the bid.

One of them was me - by accident. I went to the cinema on Champs
Elysees, and left home a bit early thinking I'd have a quiet coffee and
buy a new salt mill at the Peugeot showroom (!!) Imagine my surprise to
find the place absolutely mobbed by millions of people!!

What is Paris' incentive?

Not like they have problems drawing enough tourists in August, which is
when they would hold the Games.

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

Paris has probably already spent more trying to attract the Olympics
than most venues would spend hosting them. I don't understand why the
powers that be are so hellbent on having the Olympics. Someone,
somewhere must stand to profit obscenely from the games if the bid is
being pushed this hard.

They already get enough tourists in the summer.

Maybe it's some well-connected developers who'd get contracts on all the
new construction they would do?

Probably big French conglomerates stand to sponsor and have other
marketing tie-ins which they wouldn't have if the Games were awarded to
another country?

The lodging industry could jack up their rates too. The 150 euro room
probably becomes a 400 euro room during the Games.

"poldy" wrote in message
news
In article ,
Earl Evleth wrote:

Moscow was criticized because its dossier is
sloppy. The British bookmakers side with the Parisian bid.

With what's going on in Russia, there is no way Moscow should get the
bid. Things are not that much better with Putin in charge than in 1980,
when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

Moscow's not going to get it for technical reasons.

It should never have made it onto the shortlist for the same reason.

tim

On 9/06/05 21:29, in article
, "poldy"
wrote:

In article ,
Earl Evleth wrote:

Moscow was criticized because its dossier is
sloppy. The British bookmakers side with the Parisian bid.

With what's going on in Russia, there is no way Moscow should get the
bid. Things are not that much better with Putin in charge than in 1980,
when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

Putin reportedly said the fall of the USSR was one of the most
regrettable events in history. Looks like he's bent on reversing the
liberation of all those neighboring republics. Pretty chilling.

I would refer to Putin as a class Russian patriot who says things
he feels. He hates the relative decline in power of the Russian
state and the loss of an Empire. We should have no illusions
about Russia, geopolitical considerations alone says we have
not heard the last from that nation.

And Europe and the USA should be careful about not pushing
that old bear too far. The US setting up bases
in the former Soviet states is not geopolitical wise.
Our goal should be to stabilize the states which border
the Russians but not provoke them.

What was silly years ago was the American idea that if we
could get them to accept willy-nilly Capitalism, all the
rest, democratization would automatically following.

DeGaulle once said "ideologies come and go, cultures
remain the same". Europeans anticipated the
collapse of the USSR because it was a gross contradiction.
It was not Marxism which brought them down but their
imperial pretensions.

Attempting to hold on to their Eastern European Empire
was an act against cultural nature. Nor could the USSR
hold on to their own southern borders empire. That said,
the nation is too big to not have a big influence on
what goes on next door. They can neither be walled off
or allowed to do their own thing unopposed.

A delicate situation. Especially since access to
Russian energy supplies, especially natural gas, is
a European necessity.

Earl

In article ,
"tim \(moved to sweden\)" wrote:

"poldy" wrote in message
news
In article ,
Earl Evleth wrote:

Moscow was criticized because its dossier is
sloppy. The British bookmakers side with the Parisian bid.

With what's going on in Russia, there is no way Moscow should get the
bid. Things are not that much better with Putin in charge than in 1980,
when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

Moscow's not going to get it for technical reasons.

It should never have made it onto the shortlist for the same reason.


Wonder if the IOC would have the courage to eliminate NY because of the
Iraq war.

poldy writes:

Wonder if the IOC would have the courage to eliminate NY because of the
Iraq war.

How much is New York paying the IOC?

Why would the Iraq war make any difference, anyway?

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