I had a coffee with one of my brilliant students yesterday, up in Silverlake. She told me that she co-produced a video on the displacement of businesses and families for FIFA World Cup development. It’s here, on her blog. Go watch. So interesting!

In addition, Mary Beard, of A Don’s Life, also has a column asking for an Austerity Olympics.

Although comments on the internet are usually proof enough that man descended from apes, there is a comment on the TLS blog that I find utterly priceless:

The only positive thing I have found in the whole ‘we won the Olympic bid’ saga is that it annoyed the French.

Ha! It annoyed Sarkozy at least, which, I must agree, is worth doing.

These sports programs…I don’t study this stuff. A smart economist once told me that it’s possible for cities to capitalize; they don’t always lose money. But when I look at the evidence, it seems these ‘circus’ events go forward for reasons that only make sense if you are a Marxist.