[Wolfsong]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

Sure, American corporate plc has already done more than enough to ensure that American businesses are supported for the Olympics.


Why worry about uniforms when, thanks to McDonalds' food sponsorship, all spectators are being banned from taking any personal food items into the stadia. Meanwhile, when we eventually get inside, we can only pay by Visa because Visa is a "preferred provider" to the Olympics which is corporate-speak for having paid out a lot of $$$ for the privilege.


The Olympic spirit is dead - it died years ago. Where the US team uniform are, or are not, manufactured changes that not one iota.

Well now that they allow professional athletes to compete the bloom is off of the rose for me. I watch sports that I rarely get to see otherwise (like curling, track, gymastics, bob-sledding etc).

Fortunately for Olympic attendees, McDonalds didn't completely get their way. You cannot bring your own food in, however that is the rule for most sporting, music, and theater events anyway. There are going to be around 800 other vendors serving the Olympics according to Mail Online, and commercial partners Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Cadbury, Nature Valley, and Heineken will be the only branded products sold at the games.

McDonalds did accomplish one thing that people will find to be fairly annoying.....they have engineered a ban to force all 800 food retailers at the 40 Games venues across Britain from dishing up chips (fries) because of 'sponsorship obligations.' The only loophole in the agreement, announced in a memo to staff, is that chips can be served with fish - safeguarding Britain's most famous dish. The Brits, who seem to prefer everything with chips, are bristling at the fry ruling but unfortunately for them, Mickey D's threw enough cash at the Olympics to make the ruling stick. French fries are one of their biggest money-makers (Happy Meals are actually #1)

As for the Visa thing you are 100% correct. The Link machines at Olympic Park have been disabled or moved and Visa is the only card that can be used at ATMs in the park. I'm not certain if this also applies to other vendors (such as McDonald's) but I bet that would be a fight that Visa would lose if they tried to fight it. McDonald's corporation has long been a customer of mine for the last 20years or so and I have seen them do some things over that time that just make you shake your head. (I also have not eaten fast food in years, with exceptions made for Jimmy John's and Chipotle)

Where the uniforms come from and what they look like does matter. With the unemployment rate so high, the infrastructure of the country in less that desirable shape, the economy in the shitter, and the drought having destroyed most of this year's crops it matters more now than ever. We could use a few heros right now. This is a world stage. We need to be able to stand up and feel the strength of our own resiliency. Nothing else that we are doing seems to be working.


Ok, I am going to shut-up now because the voices inside my head have now started humming America the Beautiful while I type.