British Library cuts/Olympics

[Lars Martin Fosse]

We're having an Olympic debate in this country right now. 

The Olympics are not simply about 14 days of useless fun. They are about
investment in projects that would otherwise be impossible for political
reasons. In 1994, Norway hosted the winter olympics. Billions of kroner were
injected into roads, sewers etc in Eastern Norway (the part of the country
that was in the "oil shadow") without a beep of protest from the rest of the
country. The Olympics are the way to go when you want to invest in
infrastructure and develop a particular area. The whole country cooperates,
the public at large shuts up, and the politicians can do pretty much what
they like. In Norway, Northern and Western Norway would normally go ape if
that much money were spent on projects in Eastern Norway - not to mention
Oslo, the most hated and despised capital in the world. 

You don't get this effect with libraries, operas and other stuff for
eggheads and the posh people. 

Best of all with the Olympics: if you get them, you can sell TV rights to
the rest of the world, as well as souvenirs and other things. The rest of
the world is happy to subsidize you investments in infrastructure. Not all
Olympic projects are equally profitable, some turn out to be
disappointments. But for politicians, they are very, very alluring.

Lars Martin
 

From: 
Dr.art. Lars Martin Fosse 
Haugerudvn. 76, Leil. 114, 
0674 Oslo - Norway 
Phone: +47 22 32 12 19 Fax:  +47 850 21 250 
Mobile phone: +47 90 91 91 45 
E-mail: lmfosse at chello.no 
http://www.linguistfinder.com/translators.asp?id=2164



 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Indology [mailto:INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] On Behalf Of jkirk
> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 6:02 PM
> To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: British Library cuts
> 
> Part of and diagnostic of this farcical economic process:
> 
> From the Guardian article.......
> "...It is another worrying example of the cultural and 
> heritage infrastructure being cut away and of things like the 
> Olympics taking more and more money."
> 
> Joanna Kirkpatrick
> Bennington College, ret.
> ====================
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tony K. Stewart" <tony_stewart at NCSU.EDU>
> To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:39 AM
> Subject: British Library cuts
> 
> 
> > Dear Colleagues:
> >
> > Please take a moment to read the following articles about 
> proposed  cuts 
> > to the British Library (services, collections) and the proposed 
> > introduction of reader fees.
> >
> > Apologies for any cross listings.  And perhaps some of our 
> UK  colleagues 
> > can shed additional light on the subject and suggest an  
> appropriate 
> > response.
> >
> > http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2192972.ece
> > http://guardian.co.uk/books
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > tony
> >
> >
> > Tony K. Stewart
> > Professor of South Asian Religions & Literatures
> > Dept. of Philosophy and Religion
> > Campus Box 8103
> > North Carolina State University
> > Raleigh, NC 27695-8103 USA
> > ph. +1.919.515.6335
> > email <tony_stewart at ncsu.edu>
> >
> >
> > -- 
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> Date: 1/29/2007 
> > 2:49 PM
> >
> > 
>