Olympics

Chris Spannos debunks Canadian Olympic mythology

One week into the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, we had been wowed by the various athletic  stunts required to pull it off: making enough snow to ensure the skiiers and snowboarders could get down the mountain in an unseasonably warm winter; the police maneuvers necessary to keep tourists from noticing the thousands of Vancouverites in protest; and of course, who could forget that guy who lit his cigarette with the Olympic torch before being tackled by the police?

Carts of Darkness was an excellent film to portray the lives of less-than-privileged residents of North Vancouver, and the games they play to earn a living and amuse themselves. Afterward, CP Woods Hole co-organizer (and ZNet administrator) Chris Spannos warmed us up with some food-for thought questions he compiled through research and from Guillaume, Marla and Nat, authors of "Teaching 2010 Resistance: a project of the Olympic Resistance Network." Apparently, these discussion points were approved as part of the curriculum by the BC Teacher's Federation. Too cool for school!

Warm up
Questions:

How
many people have been excited about the Olympics?

Most hands raised