East End Howler
Object
Newsletter
Production date
2010 - 2012
Object number
2014.178
Physical Description
East End Howler newsletter, Issue 5
Material
Paper
Dimension
Width: 210mm
Height: 297mm
Height: 297mm
On display?
No
Inscription
EAST END HOWLER
East London’s FREE Working Class News Sheet
Issue 5
For Community and Solidarity
SPY OLYMPICS
What are modern-day Olympic Games? On on level they are an international sporting competition, but really that’s just their selling point. Various nation states use it to promote nationalism. This sport-as-politics approach goes back to when Nazi Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics, when the master race’s attempts to show that white men were superior were happily shown up by the win of black sprinter Jesse Owens.
Next, the Games are one long advert for their sponsors, huge multinational companies such as McDonalds, Pepsi etc. (and remember they’re supposedly about improving the health and fitness of us ordinary folk!). No less importantly, they are a huge property development scam with upmarket housing, shopping centres and industry all for the profit of the wealthy few being massively subsidised by us as taxpayers.
The Olympics are also an excuse and ‘justification’ for the government to give itself powers to spy on us more, all in the name of security and ‘anti-terrorism’. A leaked 2007 Home Office communique to Downing Street gave the game away. It proposed wider use of the DNA database, scanning of mail and monitoring of individuals through their use of Oyster cards. Why? Because “increasing [public] support could be possible through the piloting of certain approaches in high-profile ways such as the London Olympics.”
Last year the Metropolitan Police and Olympic officials, were legally empowered to enter private homes to seize political posters during the Games “to preserve the official sponsors ‘monopoly.” The Met have announced that they hope to co-opt London’s 500,000 CCTV cameras during the Games, in addition to their own 10,000. Tracking technology is being developed so that a “spectator will be tracked from the venue to their home with their [Olympic] tickets.”
We say stuff your Olympics and let’s support and develop ways to resist property development and speculation and increased government control!
East London’s FREE Working Class News Sheet
Issue 5
For Community and Solidarity
SPY OLYMPICS
What are modern-day Olympic Games? On on level they are an international sporting competition, but really that’s just their selling point. Various nation states use it to promote nationalism. This sport-as-politics approach goes back to when Nazi Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics, when the master race’s attempts to show that white men were superior were happily shown up by the win of black sprinter Jesse Owens.
Next, the Games are one long advert for their sponsors, huge multinational companies such as McDonalds, Pepsi etc. (and remember they’re supposedly about improving the health and fitness of us ordinary folk!). No less importantly, they are a huge property development scam with upmarket housing, shopping centres and industry all for the profit of the wealthy few being massively subsidised by us as taxpayers.
The Olympics are also an excuse and ‘justification’ for the government to give itself powers to spy on us more, all in the name of security and ‘anti-terrorism’. A leaked 2007 Home Office communique to Downing Street gave the game away. It proposed wider use of the DNA database, scanning of mail and monitoring of individuals through their use of Oyster cards. Why? Because “increasing [public] support could be possible through the piloting of certain approaches in high-profile ways such as the London Olympics.”
Last year the Metropolitan Police and Olympic officials, were legally empowered to enter private homes to seize political posters during the Games “to preserve the official sponsors ‘monopoly.” The Met have announced that they hope to co-opt London’s 500,000 CCTV cameras during the Games, in addition to their own 10,000. Tracking technology is being developed so that a “spectator will be tracked from the venue to their home with their [Olympic] tickets.”
We say stuff your Olympics and let’s support and develop ways to resist property development and speculation and increased government control!