Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:56 am  

The Video Ref wrote:

I am not a massive fan of the Olympics, but I think that some of the negativity surrounding it is quite simply laughable. Yes, there are huge moral issues what with sponsors blah blah blah, but Olympic bashing seems to be a whole sport of its own at the moment.

Possibly because its been one of the biggest public spending projects of at least the last decade, has spanned two shades of government and each has promoted it heavily and reminded us at every opportunity what a great event it will be and how its a chance to promote everything thats good about this country to the rest of the world.

I'm looking forward to the competitions (well some of them anyway), I'm really gald that the construction industry pulled out all the stops and delivered their projects on time as promised, but the bits where the current incumbents have tried to force their "private is best" dogma onto the scene has frankly been an outstanding failure for them - who seriously thinks that further privatisation of the police force is now still on the menu ?

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:06 am  

cod'ead wrote:

Thanks for that, whenever anyone points to those ten years of my working life, as if that's all I've ever done, then I know I'm dealing with an intellectual dwarf.

And you were a car salesman. Forgot about that.

Whatever, it's spewed you out as a right little drama queen, desperately histrionic, frantically scouring the web for "scandals" and gleefully scurrying to break the news to the RL world, as if that makes a difference.

Sad, really. All bile & no bite.

Meanwhile, the majority are weary of the negative press and the constant sniping at anyone & everyone involved with the Olympics. The rest of the world us laughing at our petty press coverage. It's absolutely no surprise that such a massive event will have issues, but for feck's sake, just deal with what needs dealing with, get on with it and enjoy it. The positives far outweight the bickering.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:21 am  

Cronus wrote:

... Meanwhile, the majority are weary of the negative press and the constant sniping at anyone & everyone involved with the Olympics...

Really?

I've yet to meet a single person in London who is cock-a-hoop. There are varying degrees of disillusion and anger and just plain old resignation, but no great swathes of utter joy and excitement.

Cronus wrote:

The positives far outweight the bickering.

And what are they, little ray of sunshine?

Personally, I expect more bang for my buck that you, since I've been paying more for it through a levy on my council tax for several years.

You can include, within your answer, exactly what 'the legacy' is going to be, because this has been one of the most hyped aspects of the whole shebang.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:32 am  

What is great about the Olympics is the thought of the world's best athletes congregating in one place to see who wins.

What is scandalous is that the event has been taken over wholesale as a pure marketing rip-off, for the world's mega-corporations, and a moneymaker for the many parasitic get-rich-quick merchants (see, for example, the ticketing farrago). The games themselves are almost incidental.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:34 am  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

What is great about the Olympics is the thought of the world's best athletes congregating in one place to see who wins.

What is scandalous is that the event has been taken over wholesale as a pure marketing rip-off, for the world's mega-corporations, and a moneymaker for the many parasitic get-rich-quick merchants (see, for example, the ticketing farrago). The games themselves are almost incidental.

I'd agree with this completely.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:18 am  

Cronus wrote:

And you were a car salesman. Forgot about that.

Whatever, it's spewed you out as a right little drama queen, desperately histrionic, frantically scouring the web for "scandals" and gleefully scurrying to break the news to the RL world, as if that makes a difference.

Sad, really. All bile & no bite.

Meanwhile, the majority are weary of the negative press and the constant sniping at anyone & everyone involved with the Olympics. The rest of the world us laughing at our petty press coverage. It's absolutely no surprise that such a massive event will have issues, but for feck's sake, just deal with what needs dealing with, get on with it and enjoy it. The positives far outweight the bickering.

The only cars I've ever sold in my life have been those that belonged to me. As I said, an intellectual dwarf

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:48 am  

Mintball wrote:

Really?

I've yet to meet a single person in London who is cock-a-hoop. There are varying degrees of disillusion and anger and just plain old resignation, but no great swathes of utter joy and excitement.

What? People in London are negative?!! Who'da thunk it! Anyway, in breaking news, London isn't the centre of the world, petal. EVERYONE I speak to, without fail, is sick to the back teeth of the negativity of the press. They are enthusiastic for the games - the absolutely amazing turnouts for the torch relay across the country reflect that. Granted, us commoners out in'sticks might not be as 'inconvenienced' by the event and can largely just enjoy it but don't pretend the cynicism and negativity of you miserable lot in the capital is reflected across the country.

And what are they, little ray of sunshine?

Erm, the Olympic games themselves, my little grey cloud of cynicism? Go and see, you might find out.

Personally, I expect more bang for my buck that you, since I've been paying more for it through a levy on my council tax for several years.

You can include, within your answer, exactly what 'the legacy' is going to be, because this has been one of the most hyped aspects of the whole shebang.

What do you expect? Usain Bolt delivering your milk? If you don't go, don't participate and enjoy the events, what the hell do you expect your perception will be? Nothing but negativity and inconvenience. You want some 'bang for your buck', you need to go out and get it, not waste time on here whining about corporate sponsorship.

The legacy of the games is what we make it. Primarily it will be the sporting legacy - hopefully masses of British success. A run-down area of London has been redeveloped. Tourist numbers will be up. Thousands get to work at and experience the games (I know several going and they're all bursting with excitement). Hopefully kids will be inspired to get out and do more exercise. I'm sure there's more but I'm not scouring the internet. However unfortunately it seems the press are determined to pick the games apart and that's starting to look like part of the legacy we'll leave ourselves.

If you thought thousands of companies worldwide would suddenly throw masses of investment at the UK you're very naive.

As I said earlier, it's amazing how no-one ever trusts or believes a word politicians say, yet when it comes to their outlandish 'legacy' talk, every word they say is suddenly taken at face value. No agendas there, of course.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:56 am  

cod'ead wrote:

:lol:

The only cars I've ever sold in my life have been those that belonged to me. As I said, an intellectual dwarf

Or did you lease them? Whatever, lease them, sell them, who fcking cares.

Call me what you like, the opinions of angry old men mean very little to me. Hardly an intellectual heavyweight, are you? Streams of banal and bitter rants do not an intellectual make.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:58 am  

Cronus wrote:

A run-down area of London has been redeveloped.

That to me is the lasting legacy of the almost £10bn that will have been spent by the end of September.

After that it is going to be very interesting to see what the Village is turned into, we all know what the politicians said it would be - a social legacy to that previously deprived area of London - for me that sounds like those blocks of hotel rooms will be quickly converted to family sized apartments (thats how they were designed), and then - and here's the crunch - those publically owned buildings rented out at affordable rates (using the max housing allowance cap as a guide) to those who urgently require them.

That to me would be a wonderful legacy, a tad on the expensive side maybe, but we'll get three weeks of sporting excellence and a huge wedge of social housing from governments of all shades who had previously forgotten what "social housing" actually was.

Turning the developments over to housing associations or the local council would be wonderful, controlling the rents in line with housing benefit would be almost unthinkable but a simply excellent feather in the cap for any politician - selling the developments to private investors would be like putting a bullet in the head of Cameron and his second term wet dreams.

Re: Olympic Army : Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:01 pm  

This, for instance http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2012/jul/19/olympic-legacy-social-housing-east-village sounds positive.

This, for instance http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2012/jul/19/olympic-legacy-social-housing-east-village sounds positive.