I sure hope that the kids who will be riding the buses three hours a day just to attend school enjoyed the fireworks. Give them something to remember warmly of their sacrifice to corporate and wealthy greed. Made my heart proud to see all the young faces enjoying the ten minutes of fun to ensure their future enslavement to pay off the Olympic debt. Hope they all got a good look at Gordo's smiling and laughing face; the master of their future loss of education and social services. Must admit tho' it was a great fireworks display. Shame it has come at such a high cost to our children.

Just came back from the Torch party and it was great. Wow was that done well . I see realist still hasn't figured out that the Olympic's have nothing to do with schools closing, I was glad to see the smattering of protester there. It showed me who they are. As a group you hate to judge by its cover but you had to be the biggest group of misfits I've see gathered for a long time. For those of you not on welfare I doubt the rest of you contribute much to the tax base. And by the way what make the schools yours. If you were so against the fireworks why did you stay and watch??

Saw the torch briefly during one of my delivery runs and the fireworks during my supper break from the restaurant. Fantastic event. Prince George did an awesome job hosting the event.

I agree Charlie B. What a show! If only they had closed some of those schools last year.....now then they could have thrown a party!!!!

At least these bush hill-billys came to town, stocked up at the salvation army, hit the liquor store and purchased some smokes. Keep the money circulating.

CharlieB obviously doesn't get it either.
It's the fact that we are contributing Billions (with a B not an M) to an event that is by & for the rich & elite. At the same time we are told that there is not enough money for education at all levels.
Did you happen to read the piece on funding cuts to CNC? At a time when education & training is imperitive to survive in our economy, it is galling to see cuts to these programs while Government
spends your & my dollars on frivolity.
Me? I didn't get to see the fireworks or bask in the glow of Gordo's megawatt smile.
I'm working to help pay for this little shindig. When the cuts come aound to affect your little corner of reality (and they will) what will be your smarmy comments then?

Good neo-cons repeat the same tired rhetoric about this not having anything to do with school closings or even the lack of a proper U.I. system. They have to it's all they know just like the incredibly sad showing of protest against social medicine in the United States. These deniers have to deny the terrible cost that the neo-conservative political approach has hurt our society since its inception by Margret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Their arguemants are just as vapid and incorrect as they have always been. Sadly the average citizen is too busy trying to get ahead or now even stay afloat to read and know the truth. I don't spend a great deal of time arguing with people on this site as it has always held true that you can not have a battle of the wits with those who blatantly are unarmed. It is nice to see that more and more posters on this site are showing their knowledge of social issues and the neo-cons can no longer spew their misinformation to an uninformed public. After world war two, a tremendous amount of ordinary, normally good citizens claimed that they went along with the nazi party because they had no choice or they were ignorant of the realities of the costs their leaders had inflicted on their own people as well as others. We will hear the same thing when the public realize how truely sold out they have been to the demands of neo-conswervative bull$hit. The day of reconing is indeed coming and the reality will be horrible but the current root cause neo-cons., will either be so rich as to be untouchable or crushed into absolute poverty like the rest of the world. It's called the Global Race to the Bottom and those who deny it are just as guilty as those directly impossing it on our society. Our society is sick and we are all sheep.

Get off your damn high horses and get out in the damn world.

Do any of you really believe that government money will EVER end up where it should go?

Freakin unbelievable idiots posting here most days.

Bye Bye Bubba!

Sometimes it pays to be on a high horse.
It gets you above the BS level & see the world as it is & as it could be. What's your solution MeBubba? Bury your head in the sand & pretend everything's OK? Stand
idle when the men in jack boots are kicking down your door?
Just because a persons opinion is contrary to yours doesn't lower their intelligence level. To paraphase a vacuous cliche...All it takes for evil to flourish is for good people do nothing.

I thought is was so damn commercialized. One big Coke and RBC product placement. The Olympics are just so commercial; gone are the ideals of amateur sports.
I did appreciate the local athletes and performers that were involved in the production.

We took the kids, and tried to remember that it was just a family night out. Loved the skating, joked about the commercialism and didn't pay much attention to Gord. Gotta give the guy credit for his guts, coming to a lukewarm reception.

I wasn't out protesting and didn't think protesters needed to be on the celebration site. But to those of you who complain about protesters, be thankful that at least there are people who are still willing to stand up for what they believe in.

Agree or not, it's something people are passionate about, and they're not just sitting around moaning about how nothing ever gets done. At least they're not waiting around for someone else to do it for them.

Noisy I understand what you are saying, My question is what are the protesters doing besides complaining. IT is one thing to complain and whine but what are they doing to build or contribute. Always easy to tear down but how about building something up. If they think the schools need more money how about making a donation. Hey why not go out and become a multi millionarie and pay a few hundred thousand in taxes. and I know the argument will be the government will waste it. Then be the government and put your bloody name on the ballot.

I din't mean you noisy about the ballot thing, I was talking to the protesters. and as much as I detest protesters I will make a comment that apathy is worse.

My neighbour's daughter went to protest last night. I asked her why she was protesting, she said she didn't know exactly, she just hates the Olympics, and she thought it would be a good way to spend the evening.
Sigh........

I think if you have the ability to make comments on an open forum like this you are extremely privileged. It's easy to complain about everything, but if you live in Canada you are very lucky. I guess that is why we complain , because we have the right to.

REALIST, Your right on the money. You have said it all for me.
Cheers

REALIST, and those who support his thoughts, stop hiding behind the post. It is so easy to sit here and complain. You talk like you have all the solutions, you sit behind a computer and put everyone down. Be a man, get up and DO something, if you can talk the talk, then walk the walk, otherwise, you are no better than those you cut down. Lets see how well you would do. Sitting around complaining is not going to solve anything, ACTION is what is needed, which is something you obviously dont have, just a big mouth!!! I am proud of Prince George and the support they did show for our athletes. Considering the amount at the CN Center, including the amounts that lined the streets to see the relay, it was an amazing turn out, more than what I expected. What is a realist, a realist is more often then not actually a pessimist in disguise, someone that feels they are somehow destined to be unhappy or fail, they know what to expect if we are expecting nothing good and feel an element of control when they see the future as futile. Fear, plain and simple!

I happened to be at Pine Centre when the flame trotted by. It was kind of surreal. I got a mixed bag of emotions. I thought it was kind of cool that the flame has traveled such a long way, and seeing all the families on the side of the road enjoying it was nice.

But I was absolutely disgusted with the corporate gong show put on by and . I wouldn't care so much if they and VANOC didn't have such a large corporate legal hammer that keeps pounding the crap out of anything in their way.

That's what disgusts me about the Olympics. I am still very proud of our athletes.

edit the above to read...

But I was absolutely disgusted with the corporate gong show put on by (insert cola here) and (insert bank here) . I wouldn't care so much if they and VANOC didn't have such a large corporate legal hammer that keeps pounding the crap out of anything in their way.

corporations pay big money to sponsor these events. That is money that goes toward the profit side of the Olympics. THought you would be happy to see that. I hope you don't Bitch if the Olympics make money. For 2 weeks British Columbia is in the eye of the world with extensive Television coverage. What is your Idea to expose the province to the world.

The torch looked like a giant marihauna joint all lit up. FUnny, since this is BC.
And how did coke get to be the official soft drink of the olympics? Sure money talks but if you knew what that stuff does to your innards I'm sure a healthy olympian would not be drinking it.

interesting range of comments.
here are my thoughts and input:
I enjoyed seeing the torch. I hated the corporate involvement but am able to walk away from it and frankly, if corporate involvement means I pay less for the Olympics, then great. (Note: for those of you who missed Clara Hughes' interview on CBC this week, she says that the Olympics are way over the top - you know, Clara Hughes, the athlete who will be carrying our flag? She is a woman who walks her talk with her volunteering and charity work.). I wonder how much the fireworks cost ($$$) and who paid for them (?). Everything cost wise is related in a big soup --- directly or indirectly. Read a bit further about school closures and numbers and you might get a different opinion than the one in the government-lovin' rags. Oh ... and finally... I anticipate losing my job this year (maybe not, maybe yes) because of post-Olympic cutbacks and yes, I work for the government, and before you'all start crabbing about civil servants I will have you know I am 1) educated; 2) skilled. I just don't have lots of seniority (demographics). I deserve my salary (and more,actually) because I have worked for it. My education and skills will likely be taken to another province and not come back. [Insert yaahoo comments from posters saying 'Good riddance' and from mill workers talking about their hardships].

It was a great night and by the size of the crowd attending, I'd say it was a huge success. Congratulations to every person who was involved in making this such a terrific evening.

CharlieB, are you on Vanoc's mailing list?
Do you honestly think big multinational
corporate profits will trickle down to
benefit you & your family? As for BC being
on the world stage, Whistler was already a world class resort long before the Olympic
juggernaut came along & the rest of BC is world famous for what we have (good & bad.)
Try travelling or speaking with people from different countries & cultures, see what they say about BC.
I do support our athletes, I refuse to
support corporate agendas that erode free
speech & put profit, power & greed above basic human rights. If you think I sound
extreme head to Vancouver & area in the coming weeks, try to use your Mastercard
or debit at Olympic events. Wear a "Pepsi
Rules" t-shirt at an Olympic event or
put a sign on your vehicle that is anti Olympic. See what happens.

Fantastic support for the troch relay, the local runners and for the 2010 Olympics. To their credit, even the few protesters were very well behaved.

Despite the delusions of REALIST, the Olympics have nothing at all to do with the current school closure crisis. There is no question that the provincial government has mismanaged the school closure issue, by compounding the declining school student population,
with an untimely tinkering of rural funding formulas. However, the primary issue is the decline in the local student population from 15,000 to 10,000. (Approximate numbers). I suppose REALIST would rather have empty, inefficient schools?

Now that the torch relay has inspired me, I went online to the Vanoc web site, and purchased some men's hockey tickets at surprisingly affordable prices.

Go Canada go!

Detoe43 You just hit the nail on the head. You are worried about wether it will benifit you and your family personally. Maybe understand economics and the bigger picture not wether it will benifit just you

Mr. PG
Thought I saw an opportinity to give you some thoughts on education. True enrolement is down and thus we do need to make changes but a co-ordinated effort is what is needed not a wild swing with a budget sword. Talk to children and they themselves will tell you that school is not just about having information cramed into their brains. They value the social aspects of school life and this serves to provide socialization that is often missing in one child families. Schools provide education in many ways and to simply look at the numbers and make very narrowly focused decisions based upon just the dollars is a recipe for disaster. What possible value could you place upon three hours of bus travel per day verses afterschool programs and sports. Again those who critisize my posts are welcome to their opinions just as I am as well, but the difference is that I am educated in critical thinking that identifies many aspects of a situation verses the narrow focus of the neo-con who can never get past their own personal GOD of the mighty dollar. You might also think about schools that have a high ranking of sucess being closed while those with poor records having even greater student population presures placed upon their already weak record. How about the loss of jobs and principles that will be added to the E.I. rosters as their valued experience and hard earned social connections with their young charges are thrown out with the bath water. You can criticize my words all you want, but those who are able to see the very real damages being done across the board to our schools, social safetynet and very basis of what we tend to perceive as our best features as Canadians will continue to speak out aginst ignorance and those who can't wait to replace our way of life with the greed of miscontrolled capitalism. Again quite simple the economy is here to support society. Society is not here to support the economy.

Great job. Fantastic event for all those that were there.
Cheers and all the best!

CharlieB, I understand your perspective,
however if you are going to debate points of view you really need to fully read the other persons argument. At no point did I mention benefits to myself or family. I
guess I should have been clearer. Do you honestly think that multinational corporations have society's best interest in mind when they sponsor events? What portion of their gross (I mean that in every sense of the word) profits do you think benefit our local or even national
economy? The big reason large multinationals support events is so people
will only be able to use or consume their services or products at that event, with the profits going directly to the company
not the economy at large. Witness the Olympics, you cannot use debit or mastercard at Olympic venues. Vancouverites cannot critisize Vanoc, IOC or the sponsors even on the confines of
their own property or risk censure (or worse).
Seeing the bigger picture yet? My original post was directed at the Provincial Government for financially backing the Olympics while letting education at all levels suffer, not to mention health & senior care. By crawling further into bed with the multinationals our government has chartered our future for years to come. The Olympic debt will be paid off by the federal transfer for the HST, which will add BILLIONS to yours, mine & every other British Columbians already overburdened tax load.
As for schools closing, I actually support that. Other posters have it right, the student numbers don't support the schools in place. However cutting existing educational programs (such as sports) but
paying millions on tickets for political
& corporate FOGs (Friends Of Govt)just doesn't quite sit well. That's just one example of where your tax dollars are going.

First profit is not a bad thig and yes I do profit from many large multi national companies. I buy their stock. That option is available too you also.

Going way back to Charlie B's question about what protesters do besides protest.

I know that many are out because they're not sure what else to do. Some, however, have contacted the trustees and have offered to work with the numbers (as volunteers) to see if there are any other choices that can be made. Some have offered suggestions for alternatives. And yes, some have offered to see how they can contribute more financially.

And some have just worked really hard to be POSITIVE community role models for their children and for others (not whining and woe-is-me). No matter what happens, we will all have to make the best of the outcome.

And while I'm not the sign-waving type, I wholeheartedly agree that apathy is worse.

And I agree -- those who think they can do a better job really need to stick their necks out and try.

Sorry REALIST. You tried, and FAILED

yes,hard to graft a new thought on a closed mind.

Here are my thoughts: Billions of dollars spent on a two week party is wrong. I support the athletes because they worked long and hard for this moment but the rest of it is a HUGE WASTE OF MONEY that my grandchildren will still be paying when they get out into the work force. No place other than the lower mainland has or will benefit from it. The rest of Canada are supporting and enjoying it only because they DONT HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. But....GO CANADA GO!