The London Olympics are already achieving the number one aim of the politicians who brought them here, which is making our politicians feel very important indeed.
The media is quite frenetic in its efforts to make us all believe we should be terrifically proud of the fact we are hosting the Olympics, as though there were something unique in this achievement. If we can’t competently do something that Greece, Spain and China have done in recent years, that would be remarkable. Of course the Games will be on the whole well delivered, sufficient for the media and politicians to declare it an ecstatic success. Some of the sporting moments will be sublime, as ever.
But did it have to be in London? We won’t know the total cost of the Games for months, but it will cost the taxpayer at least £9 billion and I suspect a lot more. I also suspect the GDP figures will, in the event, show that the massive net fall in visitor numbers has hurt the already shrinking economy further.
But to take the most optimistic figure, holding the Olympics in London has cost every person in the country an average of £150 per head in extra taxes. That is £600 for a family of four. Actually it is in the end going to be well over £2,000, as of course the money has been borrowed on the never never, and taxpayers are going to be paying it off their whole lives, along with the sum ten times higher they are already paying direct into the pockets of the bankers through their taxes.
The very rich, of course, don’t pay much tax, so they are not worried.
But to take just the figure of £600 extra taxes for a family of four, the lowest possible amount, and not including the interest. Is having the Olympics here really worth paying out £600 for? If Tony Blair had approached the head of the family and said “We are going to have the Olympics in London, but it’s going to cost you £600, would the answer have been from most ordinary people: “Yes, great idea, this is that important to us”?
People are not disconcerted because they don’t see that they have to pay. There is no special Olympics tax, and they pay their taxes in a variety of ways, and individuals are not the sole source of taxation. But this is nonetheless real money taken from the people in pursuit of the hubris of politicians.
I love sport. I hate the corruption of the International Olympic Committee, Fifa and the rest; I hate the vicious corporatism and militarisation of our capital and absurd elitism of the transport lanes; the sport itself I love. But with the economy contracting, and the NHS being farmed out for profit, is it really worth £600 for a family – and many families are really struggling in a heartbreaking way – is it worth the money to have the Olympics here rather than in Paris?
Of course it isn’t. I think many of us will feel an extra pleasure watching the Opening ceremony because it is British. Patriotic pride will surge. It is not wrong to enjoy the spectacle tonight on TV. The corporate well connected and ruling classes will enjoy it in the stadium.
But after you have watched it on TV, ask yourself this question. How much more did you enjoy it than enjoy watching the Beijing ceremony, and was that margin of extra enjoyment something that everybody in the room would have paid out £150 for?
Because they just did.
Reference the In Memoriam segment and the security and miitarisation aspects.
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‘Why is it felt that the London Olympics requires such a level of military protection? And what form should the defensive measures take? Neither question is up for debate in the mainstream news, despite very relevant, recent, historical evidence to inform the former.
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Gordon Corera, BBC News Security correspondent, writes: ‘The shadow of terrorism has hung over the Games for a reason. The day after London won its Olympic bid on 6 July 2005, suicide bombers struck the city.’ Referencing the connection between the terrorist attack then and the need to protect now, the underlying reasons were still not explored. Shortly after the bombings, the BBC News website published the text from the videotape made by one of the bombers. ‘Your democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world’, he told the camera. This was undoubtedly a reference primarily to the UK’s involvement in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. A clear evidential link is shown here between British foreign policy and the last terrorist attacks on London, yet no BBC journalists have so much as drawn a connection between the continued British occupation of Afghanistan and the installation, now, of such a high level of security for the Olympics; not once is reference made to the British occupation of Afghanistan in any BBC coverage of Olympic security….
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The issue of the militarisation and securitisation of East London is depoliticised for consumption in the news. Offering context to the need for such a high level of security, or discussing the practices of the private firm we trust with its provision, would no doubt create alternative narratives about the impact and legacy of the London Olympics.’
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http://www.newsunspun.org/article/olympic-security-and-the-limits-of-debate
Burley most certainly looks the part: a congenital idiot, and a living proof that evolutionary dead ends, somehow are not always coincident with extinction.
Seen a bit of the hullabaloo, one question to Danny Boyle. What has Wayne’s world got to do with either Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody or British history through time.?
@John Goss: “I’ve been trying to avoid the fact that the mystical side of Judaism, which manifests itself elsewhere as freemasonry, is totally influencing what goes on in the world.”
This reminds me of a writer on mysticism (who passed away in the last century) being quoted by one of his students as saying in a low voice about some visitors: “Some people’s “facts” are so wrong, that one can only hope that their fantasies are of better quality!”
I thought the gold emblazoning the uniform, complete with gold laces in the trainers, was naff
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Mary, you have articulated what I was trying to make sense of. Indeed naff naff, and somehow expected and somewhat becoming along with the rest of the “greatest show” so far.
PS. I always thought that the belief in a “Supreme Being” of the freemasons was less well-defined than the Jewish one.
Komodo, it’s a valid observation. In fact I’m trying to find out how many bishops of the Anglican Church are freemasons. This is not easy since I don’t have a current Masonic Year Book.
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As an engineer those triangular lights strike me as being inefficient in light production. Spectacular though it was, and nobody can deny it was spectacular, the Games opening ceremony was replete with masonic reference from start to finish. Peter Pan (Barrie was a mason), Mary Poppins (Walt Disney was a 33 degree mason, the Provincial Grand Lodge, lodge number 8908, is called Isambard Brunel Lodge and so it goes on. It would not surprise me if Paul McCartney had become a mason.
Hi all
There’s a demo today for Rohingya Rights at London 2012
http://www.restlessbeings.org/campaigns/demo-for-rohingya-rights-at-london-2012
It’s horrific how little media covergae this conflict has been getting – this is real ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people by Burma’s ‘peace-loving’ ethnic Buddhists, and even Burma’s democracy poster-girl Aung San Suu Kyi won’t say a word in condemnation (you can’t win elections by saying the truth can you now).
Please help raise awareness of the plight of the Rohingya and write to your MPs etc.
Thanks
G4S ‘BRIDGING THE GAP’ FIASCO…
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Many home office approved security guards/doormen who were promised work at the Olympic games by registering with the ‘Bridging the Gap’ agency, a government sponsored company specifically set-up two years ago to serve as a pool of temporary qualified security personnel.
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The government ie agent Cameron is responsible for all these family men with commitments left hanging without employment because the government panicked and made the decision to use army personnel.
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The truth about this botched situation has been covered up by this government and G4S kept quiet by financial black-mail.
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http://www.bridging-the-gap.co.uk/WorkingattheGames.aspx
Abe Rene, “Some people’s “facts” are so wrong, that one can only hope that their fantasies are of better quality!”
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What do you have to gain by trying to belittle my observations? I did not create the great welter of videos speculating on freemasonry and Zionist manipulation of the Games, presented as a reward to Tony Blair for his support in NATO’s Islamic wars. I have just added comments to the speculation.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b08qncBh4GY
Well, I submit to no one in curmudgeonly disdain for the Olympics, but I have to say I thought the Queen parachuting into the stadium was a stroke of genius. Can you imagine any other head of state agreeing to a stunt like that? As a piece of self-deprecating daftness it epitomised what I like best about this country.
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And I was a card-carrying Scoffer.
The wonderful ‘self-deprecating daftness’ has caused some confusion abroad, by all accounts. But who cares?
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“I thought the gold emblazoning the uniform, complete with gold laces in the trainers, was naff”
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Was that Team GB? Twitter decided the uniform was designed by Ali G.
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And this one made me laugh too, as the various teams were coming into the stadium:
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‘The Queen is sitting there saying mine, used to be, own, wouldn’t want it, mine, mine, got rid of it, mine’
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Plus this:
‘Unable to help himself, Bono snatches some random flag and starts walking out into the stadium’
I live in a working class enclave in central London. It feels very oppressive. We have police helicopters all night and day. We even have army helicopters watching us – I think they had guns in the open door but my eye sight is not what it used to be. The road I live on is a constant traffic jam thanks to the zil lanes.
I know only one person who has a ticket to see an olympic event – and he is a friend from the posher side of SW London. At best my friends are disappointed. Most people I know despise the olympics.
Of course this is not the reality portrayed by the media. Yesterday at 08:12 the radio was saying the whole of London was alive with peeling bells. I stuck my head out the window – I could only hear the distant big ben. And we have a lot of bells round here.
‘Please help raise awareness of the plight of the Rohingya and write to your MPs etc.’
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I’ll send that link out on the ‘airwaves’ Blue.
G4S – The Security Failure
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Analysis of squandered public funds and wasted security personnel coming exclusively to Craig Murray on this thread after I have met with unemployed qualified security personnel who registered with ‘Bridging the Gap.’
“Olympic opening ceremony: Boisterously, Britishly odd”
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/story/2012-07-28/Olympic-Opening-Ceremony/56551368/1
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By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
Last night the South Bank was full of coppers. On foot, on bike, helicopters, police film crews, riot squad in vans round the corner. We were amazed. All for the cyclists who meet under waterloo bridge. These cyclists meet every month and cycle around London disrupting traffic. They are kids, very friendly, mostly middle class student types. Completely harmless. They have been doing it for years and there never is any trouble. Well, not before yesterday. Anyway the police were surrounding them and shouting at them with loud hailers. Very intimidating. Today. I am told the police pepper sprayed the cyclists as soon as they were away from the crowds of the south bank. Apparently lots were arrested. Welcome to the olympics.
Janet,
They are being charged under section 12, a really nifty Kafkaesque bit of legislation. “affray can be in public as well as private” and soon as the word “affray” makes an appearance, the custodial sentences come forth too. (I wish Courtney would enlighten us all about this particular catch all).
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BTW you may have misheard, the “peels of bollocks across London” can be easily mistaken for “peels of bells across …” sort of!
@komodo “Neither the “stars”, nor what looked like a majority of the extras were white (as, I perhaps should remind my critics, the majority even now of the English population is) , and there was rather a lot of shite ghetto “music”, which IMO is not British culture”
….for all your apparent enlightness, your still confusing Englishness and Britishness and thinking they are one and the same. Come now, it really isnt that complicated.
This ceremony was really about London and Englishness to be honest though – no real Celtic element,Celtic languages or history/culture to be seen or heard – i suppose they are called the London olympics after all: maybe it would have been a bit more genuine to call them ‘The Victorian empire opening ceremony’ ?
Berlin 1936 or London 2012?
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180142/Is-appropriate-Dignitary-gives-questionable-salute-German-athletes-Boris-Camilla-look-fit-giggles.html
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I bet Camilla and Boris had a jolly time together last night.
I thought it was marvellous mass entertainment, yes, occasionally off the mark but surprising and sometimes excellent.
I loved the inclusive low key torch relay which slowly and steadily built up momentum and popularity over the last month or so in our local communities
The athletes from all over the world looked happy and so relaxed in comparison to previous years, yes, the opening ceremony was naff at times, but it was fun too.
I loved the way women were included in every single country’s athletes’ line up this year – a small but significant challenge to those still living in the Dark Ages
I love the way the paraOlympics are being sold to us with so many paraOlympic athletes being includied in the preamble chats and advertising, FANTASTIC
I loved the way the NHS was feted in the show, featuring real doctors and nurses, although that segment went on a bit.
The forging of the Olympic rings was great theatre, as was the Bond and HM scene, and Mr Bean made the event accessible to everyone. Delightful, and what good sports the orchestra and Simon Rattle were!
Naff, flawed, expensive, but somehow it was fun to see so many people working together and enjoying themselves.
Cheer up you miserable lot, relax, put on your Sgt Pepper Olympic jacket with Christmas tinsel on the shoulder, and have a laugh.
Aidan Burley MP @AidanBurleyMP
Tweet: “The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen – more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next? ”
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lol!
Jesus…this message board is depressing!
What is the point of you people?
I sure had a laugh, Barbara-unfortunately at it and not with it. The deep irony of the military bits and the NHS colour supplement was incredible. I just wish that Brunel and all those guys in suits and top-hats had cavorted around shouting out “Ecky thump, lad-there’s trouble at’ mill”, Monty Python fashion. To me the giant figure of Lord Voldemort was prescient.
Barbara and Watching http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/37.gif
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The cycle race through Surrey was expected to produce a gold for Mark Cavendish. Not. A Kazakh cyclist just won. Surrey rate and tax payers lose. 42 miles of barriers erected, traffic calming measures removed and nobody will say who will pay £250,000 for their reinstatement, roads which have been specially resurfaced are closed today,tomorrow and Weds, residents kettled, businesses shut. Genera disruption.Is the price worth paying? Just look at the ‘legacy’ that Athens inherited. The torch procession was also unbearable
And the award for best headline so far goes to The Belfast Telegraph.
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Olympics clanger: Jeremy Hunt almost hits woman with bell end while on board HMS Belfast
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/olympics-clanger-jeremy-hunt-almost-hits-woman-with-bell-end-while-on-board-hms-belfast-16190982.html
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The UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt narrowly avoided maiming bystanders yesterday when he became ‘over excited’ while ringing his Olympic bell.
Mary, Team GB could not catch up with the breakaway group. Perhaps Mark Cavendish did too much in winning the Paris stage of the tour on Sunday. We can only hope Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome get us medals. Not a good start. Agree with torch procession. But I guess it made some people happy.
“I saw Liam Foxy this morning at Paddington station. No Werrity. Foxy had very turbulant look and he walked fast as if smn was chasing him. His face was very pale.” Anapa.
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Perhaps he was being chased by a North Face sports bag.
In Hampden Park, Glasgow, they mixed up the North and South Korean flags on a big video screen – well, actually it was the LOCOG producer in London who made the video who mixed them up. This led to a truly bizarre and hilarious situation. Usual prefixes.
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dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/07/25/north-korea-women-s-olympic-team-furious-after-locog-display-south-korean-flag-on-hampden-screens-86908-23912812/
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Then, Lebanese athletes wanted to be screened off from Israeli athletes.Plus some other Swiftian amuusement:
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telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/judo/9433680/London-2012-Olympics-Lebanon-judo-team-refuse-to-train-alongside-Israel.html
Nuid, thank you! Am honoured. But what I think runs to about 3 paragraphs!