Barefoot Bengals

Barefoot Indian Football Players

In 1950, India had qualified for the World Cup by default due to withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. However the governing body, AIFF, decided against going to the World Cup in 1950. And there are two different stories on why this decision was made:

1. The Indian national team always played barefoot, but the FIFA regulations required that all players be equipped with proper football cleats.
2. The AIFF, at the time, did not understand how important and significant the World Cup was in the football stage, or in the world stage for that matter, and citing financial reasons (despite the fact that FIFA offered to pay for the travel expenses etc.), as well as not having enough practice time before the tournament.

According to Shailen Manna, the Captain of the Indian squad at the time, this was just an excuse to cover up the disastrous decision made by the AIFF. However it is true that in the 1952 Summer Olympics, the players on the Indian squad were still barefoot when they got destroyed 1-10 by Yugoslavia. So I’m not sure what to believe – but it’s true, India was among the 3 nations that withdrew from the 1950 World Cup, leaving only 13 countries to play. Scotland and Turkey were the other two teams to withdraw from the tournament that year.

Communist Domination

In the 1966 World Cup, which is famous for being the only World Cup that England ever won the tournament (despite their statute of being nation of football and the most popular football league in the world, the Premiere League), other interesting things happened. In Group 4, the two countries to advance over Italy and Chile were Korea DPR (better known as North Korea) and the USSR (former Russia). In the group stage matches, North Korea beat Italy by a score of 1-0, while the USSR beat all 3 teams for an impressive 9 points out of the group stage. So I guess the 2002 defeat of the Italian team at the hands Korea Republic (South Korea) was NOT the first time that Korea had beaten Italy in the World Cup finals.

Hitler Messes It Up… again

In the 1938 World Cup, Austria and Germany had both qualified for the tournament. However, when Hitler decided to forge Austria to form his great German Empire, Austria’s team was dissolved into the German team as one national team, leaving the tournament with only 15 teams, rather than 16 teams. Fuck Hitler and his mustache!

Full of Upsets in 2010

The 2010 World Cup, which is the first World Cup to be held in the continent of Africa, has been one full of upsets.

1. This is the first time that only 6 European countries qualified for the 2nd round. Netherlands, Slovakia, German, England, Spain and Portugal are the 6.
2. This is the first time to see the previous World Cup’s finalist and Champion both knocked out at group stage. The 2006 World Cup saw an Italy vs France final match, and both nations disgracefully lost out in the group stage, and both ended up in the last place in their each respective groups.
3. This is the first time that the hosting nation did not make it through to the 2nd round. South Africa did not survive the group stage, although they managed to defeat France in an impressive fashion to knock them out of the World Cup.

The World Cup wasn’t really a World Cup until recent years

Currently we enjoy a spectacular World Cup tournament with 32 countries competing in the tournament from all over the world. However this was not the case until very recent years. It was only in the 1982 World Cup that the # of spots available in the World Cup finals was increased to 24 from 16. And it was not until 1998 until it was expanded to 32 spots. We finally have a true “World” Cup finals, with more nations competing for glory, and really bringing the whole world together in the most spectacular sporting event in the world.

The Original World Cup Was Melted

World Cup Trohpy

When Brazil won their 3rd World Cup in 1970, they were entitled to keep the trophy permanently, as was the rule. However it was stolen in 1983 by thieves. I have no idea what kind of security the Brazilians had over such a prized possession. But the bottom line is that it was never recovered and it is suspected to have been melted by the thieves for cash. After 1970 they designed a new trophy made of 18 carat gold and weighing just over 6 kilograms.

Full of patriotism, North Korean Tears fall as the anthem plays pre-game

North Korea is ranked #105 and Brazil is currently ranked #1 in the FIFA world rankings. Most people expected a complete wash-out of North Korea, and it was a matter of how many goals Brazil will put through to this very inexperienced side. I, as a South Korean, expected something close to a 5-0 defeat for North Korea. After all, in 1998, against the experienced Dutch team, South Korea fell 5-0 in a miserable defeat, and this North Korean squad has even less experience in the World Cup stage against one of the mightiest teams of Central America.

We all came in for a big surprise!

The first half was a deadlock in which the Brazilian offense could not find a hole in the tight defense of North Korea. I wonder how the Brazilian squad felt as they went into the locker room with a 0-0 draw after 45 minutes of play. It was something nobody expected!

However the Samba squad did come up with an answer in the second period. Exploiting the inexperienced goalkeeping of the Communist Korean squad, Maicon of Brazil struck to exploit the short-side gap that was open. The North Korea goalkeeper, Lee, was expecting a cross through and was completely out of position to take the short-side exploit. 1-0 Brazil it is. By the time Brazil added another goal to make it a 2-0 lead, it seemed like all hope was lost, and it was back to the original bet of how many goals Brazil would score upon North Korea before the 90 minutes was over. Boy were we wrong! Ji Yun Nam receives a beautiful header pass from the wing, dribbles, it through and scores a stunner against Brazil. The moment when North Korea scored that goal, the Brazil coaching staff had the “Oh fuck..” look on their faces.

However that was it for North Korea – after a valiantly fought battle against one of the most decorated teams in World Cup history, they went down 2-1, but with their heads held high. Good for them!

Ghana Beats Serbia

This is a match that easily could have ended up in a draw if it wasn’t for the penalty kick that was awarded to Ghana at the 85th minute, which they managed to convert for a 1-0 lead in the match. Lukovic, of Serbia, had been sent off in the 2nd half with 2 consecutive yellow cards, but in my opinion, that didn’t really swing the scale much between the two tightly defended sides. Serbia still had just as much (or little) offensive threat and so did Ghana. The send-off of Lukovic didn’t seem as big of a factor overall. The hand-ball that cost Serbia the penalty kick, however, was a good call. The ball was about to land on the foot of the Ghana attacker who was streaking down the line – and to obstruct that within the penalty area with a carelessly out-stretched arm is just an idiotic move on the Serbian defender’s part, and it was totally well deserved.

So Ghana becomes the first African nation to win a World Cup match on African soil. Remember that South Africa managed a draw with Mexico on the opening match of the 2010 World Cup games.

I was born and raised in South Korea, and I speak the language as my own, so naturally I am rooting for Korea on this match. Korea has a determined, dynamic & fast squad this year, with two big-time players who are playing in the English Premiere League. This is the second appearance in the World Cup for Greece, with their last appearance being one of shame when they exited after 3 losses and 10 goals conceded, with 0 scored! However this squad has won the Euro Cup in the recent years in an upset, so it’s never safe to underestimate the Athens. Korea has a more solid history in the World Cup – this is their 8th appearance, and Korea has a solid history of garnering some wins in 2006 and 2002 World Cups. In 2002, the Korea squad advanced as far as the semi-finals to be defeated by Turkey 3-2 to take the fourth place.

This is the match I was really looking forward to – yesterday’s opening matches in Group A were just gravy for me, not to mention France and Uruguay’s match was a boring standstill. I am very nervous about this match, with great anticipation. I’m calling that Korea will beat Greece 2-1. I am shaking with joy, with butterflies inside me. Let’s bring it on!

1st Half

After a close call by Greece from a corner kick that went wide, Korea responds with a free kick from the Greek corner (may as well have been a corner kick) which Lee Jung Soo knocks into the net for a 1-0 lead early in the 1st half!!! Korea also had another amazing break away chance when Joo-Young managed to get through the Greek defenders but the Greek goalkeeper was up to the task to lay flat for a great save on what would have made it a very quick 2-0 lead in the first half!

2nd Half

Park Celebrates the 2nd goal for Korea against Greece

The Greeks seemed to come back a tad bit in the second half of the game – they had some quality chances, and they mounted up to double digit corner kicks for some quality chances. However it seems the South Korean defense as well as the goalkeeper are not allowing any easy chances, and the attempts are getting swatted away. On a give-away by the Greek defender, Park Ji Sung of Manchester United capitalizes on the break-away to beat the Greek goaltender on the far side to make it a 2-0 victory.

I gotta give credit to the Greeks though – even down 2-0, they kept playing with heart and gave me some scares as they challenged the Korea goalie several times, as well as force the Korean defense to make some desperate sweeps out of the defensive zone. However it seems that the Korean defense was well organized and composed enough to handle all those threats without conceding a goal.

This has been the best start that Korea has had in the World Cup Finals on foreign soil! A 2 goal victory for South Korea against Greece! Woohoo!

Overall Review

The Greeks fared well against a much more experienced South Korean squad. And I feel very spoiled to be able to say this – “experienced South Korean squad” – because there were times when all the Asian teams were complete underdogs expected to lose to any European or South American teams without question. The Greek defense often looked flat footed, allowing break aways and through passes that should not have been allowed. Korea on the other hand had a solid defense, and even some of the shots that Greece generated were not much of a threat to our goalkeeper save one. Defense in football is really about great positioning and taking the angles away, and Korea seems to be doing that well.

I expected Greece to have at least one goal in this match however – they are a hungry squad that has won the Euro Cup in rather recent years. So my 2-1 prediction was slightly off, at my own delight – a 2-0 shutout victory for Korea!

First Half:

Ribery had a gorgeous centering but Govou missed, while Uruguay also has a break of its own when a shot has to be saved by Mulsera the French goalie. Easy save, but nonetheless a good shot on target that should give Uruguay some degree of confidence while shaking up France a little bit! Overall there were a few good runs and a few shots, great defensive tackles, but nothing too exciting happened so far. Now we await the 2nd half…

Second Half:

Compared to the first match between RSA and Mexico, this game between the seasoned veterans of Uruguay and France seems and feels much tighter and well composed. The defense has much less holes. Both goals scored by RSA and Mexico in the previous match were results of poor defending on both parts and lack of hustling. However Uruguay and France have brought up the calibre to a much tighter level with high quality footballing. Hard to tell at this point who will come out the winner with both teams being very physical and actively defending.

The second half saw more shots, more openings perhaps, especially after some substitutes were made.. but still quite a deadlock. Both the French and Uruguayan sides saw some quality chances for goal, but as of the 80th minute, nothing has happened yet.

Red Card for Uruguay's Lodeiro

And at the 81st minute – the first red card of the World Cup 2010 has been presented. Rodeiro of Uruguay makes a poor challenge that goes straight to the ankle of the French attacker, rather than the ball. This perhaps could be the most significant turning point of the match, and it seems that in the last 10 minutes of the mach, France is all over the Uruguayan zone!

In injury time, France wins a free kick right outside the Uruguay penalty zone – but this is swatted away by a defender’s head, and the whistle blows.

So there it is folks – the first two matches in the World Cup 2010, in Group A, both came out as draws. I was expecting a lot more from Ribery and the French squad against the lower ranked Uruguayan squad, but that’s how sports go sometimes – nothing as expected.

The first match between the hosting nation (Republic of South Africa) and Mexico, the more experienced football squad was an exciting opening to a spectacular World Cup tournament. South Africa has relatively little experience in the World Cup stage, but never underestimate a determined squad playing on their home turf! As for Mexico, they are quite decorated with 13 World Cup appearances and reasonable enough successes here and there.

The first have came out a 0-0 draw. In fact I slept in and missed the first half, and just started watching the second half so I suppose this is a half-review, but that’s OK – at least I got all the goals.

Tshabalala Opening Goal for World Cup 2010

South Africa managed to get the opening goal for the hosting nation – on a break away, Tshabalala beat the Mexican goalie Perez for a spectacular goal that hits the top right corner of the goal! It was a phenomenal moment for them, a great confidence booster – to score the opening strike against such a decorated squad compared to themselves, with only 2 previous appearances in the World Cup finals.

Marquez Celebrates Mexico's Equalizer

However the game was not over yet – far from over. On a fantastic cross that lands a mere metres away from the South African net, Marquez fools the South African Goalie, Khune, who had to face 3 attackers in front of him with perhaps 1 defender helping him, if not zero. It was a complete fall-apart of the less experienced South African defense to have let such a cross through. So with just over 10 minutes left in the match, the match went back to a 1-1 tie. Good heart for the Mexicans to come back with a goal to hold the grounds steady!

RSA vs Mexico in World Cup 2010

The play styles of the two teams were quite different. Mexico, overall, seemed to be the more experienced squad with more patience. But South Africa looked dangerous with plenty of aggressive speed down the lines. South Africa often seemed to be in the hot plate, but when the defenders clear the ball away, boy can they break away! There were at least two breaks in the second half, apart from the one that resulted in the goal, that was so close to 2nd and 3rd goals for the South African side. And when South Africa had the drive to push into the Mexican zone, the Mexican defenders looked rather lame and tired. Fortunately, both the breaks resulted in missed shots (barely), with one actually hitting the goal post.

If South Africa wants to advance further in this World Cup, their defense has to move a bit faster to cover the exploit that can potentially lead to a bad goal. Their rushes are fine – their offensive force is there, although it will be interesting to see how they fare against tougher opponents such as France when it comes to their counterstrike abilities.

As for Mexico – run back! They seemed so flat footed on some of the South African breaks. Were they arrogant? Perhaps. But with a more disciplined defensive play and opportunistic strikes, this match easily could have been 1-0 Mexico. However because of their lack of sweeping defense, they conceded the first goal, and nearly saw a 2-1 or 3-1 defeat in the face of deadly counter-attacks by RSA.

This was my first review and recap of the first World Cup 2010 Match! Enjoy the rest, feel free to comment, and don’t waste your time trying to tell me that hockey is more exciting than football. The World Hockey Championships (Winter Olympic Gold Medal Games, or the IIHF World Cup) are kind of like the chess tourneys at the retirement homes – nobody outside the retirement homes give a sh*t about who wins. In this moment, Tshabalala is a more famous man in this world than Sidney Crosby will ever be. Get over it.

So starting March, I started playing soccer 3 times a week instead of just two. It’s played indoor in a smaller court, so it’s actually an amazing sprint-and-stop workout, which is a perfect example of a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). My game was a bit better and my cardio/endurance was going up, but it still didn’t budge the scale much. I had to make a bigger change.

Starting in April, I tweaked my diet a bit. Sure, I can’t be one of those people who eat a meal that is perfectly calibrated, planned and calculated – I just love food and cooking too much, plus social outings often break that pattern anyways. What I did was very simple. Cut out fast food, cook at home more often (so you don’t get extra sugar, fat and corn syrup etc. in your food!), and instead of the usual serving of rice/pasta that I would usually eat, I cut it down to 2/3. Also my snacks became healthier (bananas, apples, cheese).

Also starting in April, I started hitting the weights again slowly. Today I actually had a great workout with Jackie (full 2 hours!) and I feel great. When I weighed myself halfway through the workout (which means I had drank a lot of water by that point) I weighed in at 189lbs! That’s a 6 pound weight loss in April alone, due to a slightly tweaked diet with little sacrifices, soccer games 3 times a week, and some weight lifting added.

Weight loss may seem like a daunting task to many – especially if you are very overweight. I guess I’m fortunate that even at my fattest, I’ve never broken the 200lbs mark (and I never ever plan to). But at the same time, dropping 20lbs from a 250lbs frame is easier than dropping 20lbs from a 190lbs frame. The last bit is the hardest, but I am determined to get my 170lbs body back.

So just to make this more interesting, I’m going to post my progress on my blog. It’s not as intense as those who are constantly logging their marathons, taking self-portraits, and listing almost every single food item they take in each day. My angle is to promote a healthier lifestyle that doesn’t require you to be a pseudo-personal-trainer! Health and Fitness isn’t some glamorous goal that only people with time and money can achieve. I hear so much bitching from people saying “well if I were a celebrity and had time to deal with a trainer everyday, I’d be fit too.” I think that’s complete horse shit. It’s about how you manage your day, and how you manage your time, and how much energy you can pour out. I work long hours on my own at home, and I do my household chores (laundry, dishes, cooking) and I still find time to work out. Sure, I don’t commute 1 hour each day to an office but I more than make up for it by working overtime late at night too.

If you want to keep up with my progress, or even join me in this, please subscribe to my blog so you can take a look at some things. And while you’re at it you can read some of my very controversial and interesting posts on politics, social issues and more!

Fundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life.

Generally we, the modern & open minded population will consider Fundamentalism to be an ignorant concept, as it has strong ties with Fundamentalist Christians who believe, literally, that the Earth is 10,000 years old and Dinosaurs and Humans lived in the same era, and that Israel was put back in place by God’s will rather than by war-mongering political discourse, and that the reason to live a good life is so you can enter heaven upon your death. I am in Vancouver, Canada – a modern minded block of North America that is probably the most liberal-minded, open-minded and also most left-wing in all of North America.

Basic principles provide a solid ground on which to build other concepts on, and it seems that many people find it necessary to stick with some sort of principles in their lives. It makes us feel solid, safe, and driven. It gives us a sense of stability and direction to have a certain set of principles. As a matter of fact, having a set of principles is glorified in our culture. Movies portray a strong sense of principle. Jamie Foxx looks like such a tough guy when he says “I don’t negotiate with murders.” in the movie, “Law Abiding Citizen”. So sure, our culture likes a sense of principles, and they often do provide us with good direction.

http://dunedinschool.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/fundamentalism/ - Source

I’d like to shed a new light on Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism, by its definition, has nothing to do with religion. It’s often associated with it, however, because people with strong religious beliefs will often exhibit traits of a Fundamentalist where nothing that crosses their fundamental beliefs is acceptable. Take, for example, the case of a 6 year old girl who was raped and impregnated in Africa. Medical advice suggested that she should have an abortion, as it can be deadly for a 6 year old girl to deliver. Financial and moral advice also suggested that a 6 year old becoming a mother is probably not the best thing. Fundamentalists, however, argued that since it is God’s child, and it is a life, it should be preserved, and if the 6 year old dies in the course of birth, it is also God’s will. Now, at this point, if you believe that the Fundamentalists were right, and the 6 year old should have kept and attempted delivery of the child, you can leave my website right now. Or you can stay and think and learn new ways to think. My point today is that Christian or Muslim Fundamentalism isn’t the only Fundamentalism we deal with in this modern day.

Another form of Fundamentalism that I believe to be a strong deterrent to the human civilization moving forward is Political Fundamentalism. Political Fundamentalism is what stops our laws and regulations from moving forward in a fast-changing era where the market and industry are rapidly expanding changing and growing. The private sector is able to move forward with these changes at breakneck speed, yet the governmental bodies are not able to catch up with them, at the dismay of the public.

Take the case of the financial crash for example. The financial crash of 2008 caused a lot of damage. Trillions of dollars in stock value wiped out, 401Ks and RRSPs reduced by significant portions, foreclosures, consumer and business bankruptcies, currency fluctuation… it was a mess. It destroyed the finances of many American and Canadian families, put them in distress. Property owners who once lived aloft a bubble of low rates and rising property value were brought back to earth (or beneath) with rising mortgage rates and reducing equity. The system was broken. Some argue it was intentionally done by the guys at the very top – after all, with government bailouts and foreclosure winnings, the pain of the people do not matter for the Wall Street executives. Some argue it was just simple greed that got out of control as more and more people bought on extended credit that they did not deserve or could afford. The cause of it is irrelevant. What we know now is what we need to do in order to prevent it from happening again (as if we did not learn this on Black Friday). Control debt-to-equity ratio, don’t give out sub-prime mortgages to unqualified customers, control consumer debt, and make more things available on cash rather than credit. Control which banks control which sectors so that there is a more evenly spread responsibility and risk exposure, and carefully control the interest rates and thus control inflation. All of this seems straightforward for the logical-thinking person. But… we have the fundamentalists. They argue that it’s not constitutional. They call it “Socialism” (as if they’ve even seen the glimpses of a real socialist country), they slam it because it’s against the Laissez-Faire principle of free-market economy dictated only by supply and demand with minimal government intervention. The regulations to them symbolize USA turning in to China. But let’s look at the logical realities. The financial market as well as the world of currencies, bonds, mortgages, stocks etc. are now much too large and much too complex that it’s not something for the everyday man to have an influence on, or an understanding on. Here I can sit and analyze how and why the system failed, but do you think I saw this all coming? Hell no. I was swept in the same optimism that everybody was drowning in until the time of reckoning in 2008. And yet can we still argue that this behemoth (and a cobweb) of an industry should still be at the mercy of the market forces? It’s far too large and far too complex, that the few select individuals at the top of the chain can yank things in any direction they choose, at the cost of the average American and Canadian suffering from it later. By all logics and reason, we need more regulation in that department – but the Fundamentalists say no based on a simple principle.

Let’s also look at Legal Fundamentalism. Take, for example, a drug bust. There was a case in Canada not too long ago where the RCMP collected evidence against a large crime ring and brought them to court with numerous charges, enough to put them away for a very long time. But because of some legal complications of how and why the evidence was collected, the case was thrown out of court. It had to do with the wiretap warrant not having sufficient grounds of being issued, despite the fact that the wiretap revealed the evidence needed. There were also cases of search warrants that were issued on shaky grounds. So basically, despite the fact that all the evidence was found, because of the methodology of the evidence being found, that part had to be thrown out of court. With the evidences annulled, the jury had no choice to acquit the suspects. A reasonable man will say “But.. the evidence did prove that they were dealing cocaine and that they were breaking the law. We’re letting people go because of some legal semantics and complications? If the wiretap and search turns up the right evidence, who cares how it was obtained? If it was a warrant given on a hunch, it was a damn good hunch! Put them away!” Alas, that is not the case, thanks to the Fundamentalists. They argue that, because of the principles involved, a wrongfully gathered evidence should not be considered. That is the law in place in Canada at the moment. And I can understand the reasoning for such law being in existence. I suppose if the police can search anybody, tap into any phoneline, it could create a state of abuse by the authorities where they excessively reach without limit or results. Fine, so let’s keep that law in place. I can live with that. But shouldn’t there be reasonable flexibility in the judicial system where if the evidence that was turned up is overwhelming, and the method of evidence collection cannot have influenced the evidence itself, that evidence should be admissible? Essentially we are letting criminals go based on some civil rights fundamentals. Is it more important to withhold some principles on a piece of paper than to put criminals away for good? I don’t think so. But these reasons are exactly why that in Canada, with a decent lawyer and a police squad on handcuffs, murderers and traffickers can often get away with a very light sentence. A little less Fundamentalism bullshit, and a little more practical logic please.

There are so many cases in this day that we live in where the fundamental principles that we try to uphold often get in the way of doing the right thing, creating the right system, or serving justice. Some of those principles are there for basic protection and I’m not denying that – we do need them, just like how we need the Charter of Rights. But let’s face it – there are cases where the fundamentals do not apply, and the principles need to be bent in order to bring practicality and logic to the table. Let’s make more sense out of our world, not more dictionaries and rules.

So for example, the following URL returned a 404 error, and defaulted to WordPress’ 404 page:

http://www.sonikastudios.com/wp-content/themes/sonikas/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/DSC01426-600×337.jpg&w=100&h=100&zc=1&q=100

This happened on this very blog (www.jeffkee.com) as well. So then I went to check other things out, and found out that other .php scripts that run from within the wp-content/themes/ folder were not working either! So, the problem was not just timthumb.php, but rather, all .php files within the folder. I tried restarting apache, and the server. No dice.

So I finally looked into the apache error logs, and bingo:

[Thu Feb 04 01:56:02 2010] [error] [client 174.6.169.139] SoftException in Application.cpp:610: Directory “/home/sonikas/public_html/wp-content” is writeable by others
[Thu Feb 04 01:56:02 2010] [error] [client 174.6.169.139] Premature end of script headers: timthumb.php
[Thu Feb 04 01:56:07 2010] [error] [client 174.6.169.139] SoftException in Application.cpp:610: Directory “/home/sonikas/public_html/wp-content” is writeable by others
[Thu Feb 04 01:56:07 2010] [error] [client 174.6.169.139] Premature end of script headers: test.php

So yes, some servers have more advanced PHP security set up, so that PHP files cannot run from within folders that are writable by others.

Many of us have the common (and bad) habit of setting the permission to 777 for folders that should be writable by our PHP applications. However this is not the case. It must be set to 755, in which the “group” and “others” users cannot write the folder.

The “Premature end of script headers” error happens when the script stops running before it outputs the content type headers and dates etc. In any file served through a browser, the content type and other items are defined even before the first string of the file (for example, <html>) are fed out. So when this failed, it returned a 404 error, which in turn triggered WordPress to default to the 404.php error page!

So the lesson here: instead of 777, let’s use 755 for folders that need to be modified/written by your PHP scripts.

I had help from a great guy at StackOverflow.com (username jsalonen). Without his guidance of the server error log locations I would not have figured this out anytime soon. Please see the original question at StackOverflow.com.

Argument 1: Healthcare Before Olympics: before we spend more money on Olympic infrastructure and development, we should be able to get our healthcare under control first.

Answer 1: Canada has one of the least efficient public healthcare systems. Putting more money into it is not the answer. Staff are overpaid with little efficiency, and the laws are too loose that it allows us to keep pouring tax money out on those who have no hope or purpose for recovery. A friend of mine told me some stories about the punk ass teens and drug addicted degenerates who pass through the hospital. In many cases, they disobey the doctors’ recommendations to stay admitted in the hospital for a few more days, go out again, and get sick again with pneumonia or other silly things. They do not have the responsible person’s mentality – they think that freedom means to leave the hospital whenever they want to go back to Pigeon Park and do some more drugs and hang out with other homeless garbage. The inefficient regulating of the industry, infrastructure, and healthcare services blindly given out accounts for a higher healthcare cost per capita than France, and other leading nations in this world.

Putting more money is not the answer – clamping down to make it more efficient, and give care to those who will take it properly and deserve it, is the answer. “Healthcare for Everybody” is a dream. Not everybody contributes into society to deserve that much care (which is time and money consuming), so we better wake up from a dreamer left-wing mentality and be more realistic.

Argument 2: We have our own homeless to feed, and other charitable projects to run. Why spend that money on Olympics?

No matter how much money is put in, many of them are completely mentally ill and have no chance of recovery into society. It’s a losing investment. Besides, if our healthcare and other public services ran more efficiently, and we legalized and taxed marijuana, we’d have more than enough money for it anyways. Although, even if we had the extra money, I’d rather see it go to training athletes and develop more small businesses than to the hopeless, I mean, homeless.

Argument 3: Why are we paying for a rich peoples’ party? It doesn’t benefit us.

Actually it does benefit you. And it’s not meant to be a rich peoples’ party – it’s a global event for top athletes, those people who strive for higher performance and discipline, and set a benchmark for the rest of us to look up to. Of course, I know that many hippie protesters are highly intimidated by these superior specimens, so they lash out often. It’s no different from the ugly chic bitching out the hot chics calling them “sluts” when she herself would rather be pretty and wanted.

If it weren’t for the Olympics, the city wouldn’t have put the pressure on the new Skytrain plan. With lack of budget, and with lack of initiative, and opposition, it would have taken years more to get to the next stage of connecting the Canada Line. The improvements on Sea to Sky Highway was stalled quite a bit too – but it was expedited in face of the need for the Olympic transportation. Granville street and other streets were improved. New condos were built in the Olympic village, which will ease the housing supply shortage which resulted in sky rocketing real estate prices.

By having these new transportation initiatives in, we will be saving a lot of gas, and reduce a lot of greenhouse emission from this city, and I think that’s something that even the hippies can appreciate.

Also the number of labourers and contractors who made a hefty income through the Skytrain, stadiums, and other projects would beg to differ that it was a rich mans game. The everyday workers made a very reasonable living on these projects. I’m sure every protester has at least one friend or relative who is employed by a reputable company or government body thanks to the Olympic events.

Argument 4: The amount of traffic havoc in February is something I do not want to deal with, and the park closures etc. are bothering me. I live here.

I’m sure that the last vacation you took to Mexico meant that a whole parcel of natural land on the beach was ripped apart to fit in that all-inclusive luxury resort. And I’m sure that most of the clothing and household gadgets you own were made in China, Guatemala, or some other poor place where the manufacturing costs are lower due to the currency exchange and global trade model. My point is that you’ve reaped enough benefits from foreign nations and foreigners that you haven’t even met. A month of inconvenience in traffic, parking, and transit is nothing compared to that. Be generous to our visitors – why is it so bad to have quarter of a million guests in our fabulous city?

Think about what we’re getting back. Restaurants and other small businesses will prosper greatly from the Olympic tourists. Also, if it weren’t for this Olympic, as I mentioned, we wouldn’t have the new Skytrain yet. This is helping a lot of people commute faster and easier, while reducing emissions. There’s more pros and benefits to this whole thing. How spoiled can we be to make such a big deal of one months’ craziness? It’s a global party. Love everybody, welcome everybody, have a good time with the visitors. It’s a global society now.

Argument 5: I don’t care about the above arguments and logic. Based on my ideology, I will keep protesting the Olympics, as I have for the past 2 years or so.

You’re an idiot. If it weren’t for the protesters who defaced the Olympic clock, VANOC wouldn’t need to put extra security around the venues and other facilities. That would have saved some money for your precious health care and drug addicts on the streets. But no, not realizing that the Olympics, an internationally recognized event, will happen no matter what, you just had to go on and increase the burden on taxpayers. I will also mention here that based on Canada’s income tax system (which is almost communist!!!), the rich people pay a shitload of more taxes than the average person, so really, it’s ok that it’s a rich people’s game. And the rich people’s money that could have been put towards social services are now going towards extra security for the Olympic things.