/ Civil rights abuse

Olympic Struggle of London 2012 Resisters

From The Red Pepper, a UK publication. “Resistance to the 2012 Olympics has been widespread and under-reported, starting with London’s bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the Games back in 2004. Protests are planned to continue through to after the sporting events finish, in order to challenge the ‘legacy’ of a corporate spectacle. Many of the campaigns have organised around local issues, but the range of tactics has been impressive and has often strengthened community organising on issues beyond the Games.”

Read the full story. Our hearts go out to our colleagues in the UK who fought so hard, for so long. You were right.

/ Cost

Support Kickstarter Project, “The Olympic City”

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/586262941/the-olympic-city/widget/video.html The Olympic City is a photography project by Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit that looks at the legacy of the Olympic Games in former host cities around the world. Hosting the Olympics has become a way for a city to show itself off on an international stage and generate toursim dollars, and cities spend …

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/ Chicago 2016

Reflection On The No Games Chicago Campaign

CounterSpin Radio, a project of FAIR, interviewed No Games organizer Tom Tresser on March 8, 2012 to comment on the New York Times reporting of mass evictions in Rio occuring in preperation for the 2016 Olympics (10 minutes).
/ Privatization

Support Ongoing Efforts Of Citizen Journalism, Fighting Privatization

The No Games Chciago volunteers dug deep into their own pockets to fight the bid. Many of us continue to work for the public good. Tom Tresser is working to expose the Tax Increment Finance Program as another huge give-away that transfers the wealth of the many into the pockets of the few. Will you help support this work? Click here to contribute. These gifts are NOT deductible, but they ARE appreciated and they will help finance the work of The TIF Report.

/ Civil rights abuse

Rio Organizer Explains How 2016 Is Displacing the Poor

Theresa Williamson is a community organizer based in Rio. Her organization, Catalytic Communities, is invovled in protecting and developing the favelas there. She is also organizing RioOnWatch.org, which is monitoring the work around the 2106 games. Theresa was in Chicago recently to deliver an update on how the preperation for the 2016 games is affecting …

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/ Cost

Thank Your Stars (and No Games) That This is NOT Us

From The Mail of London, “Every day, the organisers of the 2012 Olympics must thank their lucky stars for unending global economic disaster. ‘Pheweee,’ they mutter as another basket-case economy in the Eurozone  demands another trillion on pain of implosion. Because if times were normal and stable, there would not just be an outcry about the handling of the London Games. Heads would roll. Ministers would be apologising to the House every week. Instead, we just shrug. Another billion or three chucked down the pan by another bunch of unsackable incompetents? Never mind. It’s only a few billion. That’ll barely cover their pensions anyway.” The London Games were originally budgeted at 2.4 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) and is now at 9.4 billion pounds ($14.6 billion).
/ Chicago 2016

Chicago Indy Media Tells The No Games Story

Thanks to Mitch Szczeppanczyk and the folks at Chicago Indy Media for this eight minute re-cap of the Folly for the 2016 Olympic Bid and the role of No Games Chicago.

/ Privatization

Public Beware – The Privatizers Are Coming

No Games organizer Tom Tresser is working with a group of concerned citizens to fight privatization and to defend and extend the commons. His new effort is called Protect Our Public Assets and you can sign up to get updates here. Here is a brief (about seven minutes) speech laying out the situation.