FYI

The Olympics are nearly here. For a weary world, they can't come soon enough. https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/olympic-games-2024-countdown-begins-paris-prepares-rcna145838

It is, I've been saying that all along that's what it's all about. That's what Coates basically means when he said "it's his job to protect the Olympic Brand. And he'll do that at all costs". There was even an interview with Quirk & the Australian anchor who was sitting in asked him; what does 'whatever it takes' even mean? But Quirk never really had an answer for that. One thing it doesn't mean, that it's really about preserving cost. Cause obviously now, as long as the spending isn't directly connected to the Olympics, B&C don't really care what a city does. If the Gabba rebuild hadn't turned into the political sh!tfest that it did, B&C wouldn't have batted an eyelash about it, & it'd most likely still would be moving forward. Because it wasn't really 'they', but Coates who chose. Brisbane to him was like Barcelona to Samaranch. He even said that he was butt hurt when Brisbane lost the 1992 bid, & that he had "unfinished business" when it came to Brisbane. So the spin that choosing them was so that they could be a "model" for other medium-sized cities to follow is just that, spin. Cause it what IOC universe (other than a JC one), would a gamma-city (& in a relatively smallish country that already hosted not so long before, relatively speaking) with so much to build in such a short time, would ever be selected to do this? There isn't one. It'd be like San Diego hosting 2028 instead of L.A. And the USOC basically told them before, thanks but no thanks.

Ah, okay. So the IOC was never keen on a new stadium then. Of course, that makes sense, cause that’s not what the new-norm, under Coates, is/was suppose to be all about. Yeah, from what I understood, Brisbane 2032 was suppose to be a “regional Games”, again under Coates’ new-norm, capitalizing on the legacy of the Gold Coast 2018, enter Carrara. But as even Coates himself has admitted to, that in order for all of it to work out, Brisbane’s regional transportation network would have to be “drastically improved”. But “that’s okay”, cause the growing region needs that anyway, according to him. But yet I don’t see any massive improvements on transportation links being done there as of yet. Even QSAC still remains a mystery how it will work out in that regard, which Coates today even said, they won’t “tick off” on it if they’re not satisfied with the transportation methods to get to & from there. I’d still say selecting a gamma-city before it’s time. Even in this video, the guy on the right says that of all of Brisbane’s (& area) needed transportation upgrades due to its continuing growth won’t get completed until about 2045. So that means Brisbane should’ve been more comfortably been considered for 2044 or even 2040. And it also would’ve been a more appropriate gap from Sydney 2000. They start talking about the Olympics at the 3:45 mark: And doesn’t the guy on the left, with the glasses, look a lot like Casey Wasserman? That’s who I thought it was at first. Lol And also love this headline from today lol: Olympic veteran "relaxed" about Brisbane venue delays https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/worldtoday/olympic-veteran-relaxed-about-brisbane-venue-delays-/103735008#

You sure about that? I thought Albion was briefly looked at (during the Gabba fiasco), but then quickly decided against because it was in a flood plain in an industrial area, with no real good transport connections. Plus, that still would've gone against the whole 'no-build, low-cost' plan of a Brisbane Games. That was Coates' selling point from the very beginning.

I had mentioned that a few months ago (but nobody seemed to really bat an eye about it then) cause this guy here proposes that very thing, with the addition of also moving the OV to the old Gabba site once a new stadium next door gets built. Which would then create an “Olympic precinct” with good transport connections, right in the middle of wooloongabba.. I noticed that, too. So at what point exactly, would the IOC refuse to “tick off” QSAC if the transport options proposed by the gov’t were “not acceptable” to B&C? Would that be before or after the $1.6 Billion upgrade?!

But wasn’t that the *original* plan ITFP (since the Gabba mess came afterwards)?! Something tells me that someone is fibbing. “Fake news”. Right, then why is it that he contends the whole Gabba debacle was “damaging the Olympic Brand”. Why should JC (or Bach) really care about it then if it was really up to Federal/state govt’s.

And when exactly is the next senate hearing?

Again, another BS response. If “low-cost” is really the name of the game here, why not advocate for Penrith then, especially if cooler temps are no problem, as demonstrated with Tasmania.

What a BS response! Isn’t it his “job” to know, just like it’s his job to “protect the Olympic Brand at all costs!”

And that's what it really all comes down to - the IOC just doesn't want anymore bad PR from previous host cities of cost-blowouts & white elephants that can scare away even more potential Olympic candidate cities than they already have.

Typical passing the buck along!

^Let's hope so! Let's get down to the nitty-gritty!

lol

I want one of those senators to grab the bull by the horns!!

Pure deflection, is what that is.

Ugh, it just logged-on for me right when JC was started his turn to speak (I see it's only audio, too), but then the audio went away just as quick! Anyway, love at least that I got to catch the part him saying "you should've received a letter stating that I would appear for Bachy-poo instead, since he was also asked to appear in front of the senate too." LOL - Bach must've said to JC, "look, this is all your mess, so you go to that hearing & clear it all up your damn self!!"

The link didn't work for me! So can you provide some snippets at least?! Ponder what JC must be thinking right about now if Quirk is running on over time.

Lol, he looks like a deer in headlights. Does this Mr. Banucci always look that timid? Mr. Banucci was also threatened (in addition to personal sanctions) with some time in a little cell for being in contempt of court. So could you just imagine that in this case! lol Will it also be televised?! Cause it could be as good as an Olympic event itself! Hope Gonzo continues to keep us up-to-date on this interesting (to say the least) situation in the coming hours.

We've already seen it, though. President Biden narrowly won Arizona & Georgia in the last election (the first Democratic presidential candidate that has done that in those two states in decades, even Obama didn't win those). And in Texas, Trump won 5.9 million of the popular vote there, while Biden won 5.3 million. So the tide seems to be turning in some long-time red states, & that's what has the republicons all antsy & pulling all kinds of mischievous stuff for the next election. And yes, we're now getting off-topic (although that wouldn't be a first for GB's, though). But you're the one who started talking about the electoral college. I know there's a a political thread from the second to last U.S. election (& was going to take this there), but that's well into the archives by now I'm sure.

Oh, I'm sure. Typical self-indulgent responses. They never recall anything.

Unfortunately, it does seem like he's trying to get as many of his sock puppets into as many western gov't's as he can, doesn't it. The thing is that republicans are starting to grow wary of the (antiquated) electoral college, because of the country's shifting of political demographics. States that were once solid-red, like Arizona, Texas, Georgia & North Carolina for example, are slowly starting to become purple now. The only anomaly is Florida, where it went from a swing-state to basically solid-red in recent years. My main concern, though, is all this gerry-mandering & so-called "voter-integrity" initiatives in republiCon-controlled states are doing lately, so that in the event their state produces voting results that they don't like, they can then literally overturn those results & in-effect "steal" the election for the candidate of their choosing for their state, thus giving that candidate all of their electoral votes.

Bite your tongue!! France was able to thwart off, not once, but twice that kind of imminent nonsense. So let's hope & pray, not just for the Olympics, but for the sake of the world really, that's not the case!