Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Olympics London2012 Seb Coe Fail - Meet The REAL U.K.
Tory minister who grabbed £100,000 expenses now attacks ‘scroungers’
Chris Grayling, the Tory work and pensions minister, launched fresh attacks on benefit claimants this week, despite his smear that they are fakers being proved wrong.Grayling says the Tories’ Work Programme has failed to force enough people with long term health problems into work—because they are “sicker than expected”. This gives the lie to the Tories’ claim that people are feigning illness to avoid work.
But now Grayling, an MP who grabbed thousands in expenses, plans to change the rules. He wants to redesign the scheme so people originally deemed too ill to join it would be forced to do so.
This would hit tens of thousands of disability benefit claimants. Grayling is also set to force unemployed people to work for free for six months—or risk losing their benefits.
He claims this will “help” them. In reality it will help bosses by giving them free labour—and it will particularly help those bosses who happen to be Tory party donors.
John Nash, Ryan Robson and three others set up Sovereign Capital in 2001. It owns the Employment and Skills Group (ESG), which has grabbed £73 million worth of government employment contracts. Nash and his wife Caroline have donated £182,500 to the Tories since 2006. Robson has given them £267,866 since 2003.
Plush
Grayling’s attack is based on the idea that people on benefits are lying “scroungers”. But he’s the real scrounger. Grayling claimed over £100,000 in expenses to renovate a plush Pimlico flat. He says he needed the flat close to parliament to carry out his work—yet he hardly ever uses it.
Grayling’s neighbours certainly don’t seem to see much of him. One said, “There is a light on occasionally, but he is not here very often.” After seeing a picture of the Tory, another said “I have no idea who this man is.”
He’s never there because he has three other flats within the M25. He spread his expense claims over two years to avoid going over the maximum limit. And he used the money to completely refurbish his flat—pushing its value up.
Grayling’s real aim is to throw people off benefits regardless of their circumstances. More evidence of this emerged just last week. The Tories employ private firm Atos to test people with disabilities and get them off benefits.
An investigation revealed that the government have dictated no more than 12 percent should be declared unfit to work.
The Tories want to force people onto lower rates of benefit, or none at all and enrich their mates in the process. They are the real lying scroungers—not people on benefits.
Back story
Chris Grayling’s war on benefit claimants has sparked resistance from the start- Several big workfare backers, such as Burger King, dropped out of the scheme after protests
- Widespread occupations of workfare companies forced Grayling to admit he had lied about benefit sanctions and remove them
- Protests continue, organised by the Right to Work and Boycott Workfare campaigns
Atos hounds terminally ill people off benefits, says investigation
© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29256
Olympics Sponsor ATOS Hounds Terminally Ill People Off Benefits, Says Investigation
by Sam Bogg
“Why aren’t you dead then?” This was the response of an Atos work capability assessor to an interviewee who said they had attempted suicide several times while suffering with depression.
Two undercover investigations by the Panorama and Dispatches programmes brought home the reality of its treatment of disabled people last week.
Ladonia Lowe has leukaemia. Last year she was told that her condition was terminal. She undergoes intravenous chemotherapy each week. Yet she is being hounded to undergo a face-to-face assessment, despite being bedridden.
Her husband says, “To harass a terminally ill patient when they have been contacted and told several times is completely unjustifiable and a disgrace.
“How can you possibly think that a terminally ill patient could be fit for work? It’s beyond belief.”
But this is exactly what these assessments do. Stephen Hill from Duckmanton in Dernyshire died of a heart attack one month after being told he was “fit to work”—even though he was waiting for major heart surgery.
Benefit
The government has outsourced the benefit assessments to multinational IT firm Atos, which sponsors the Olympics and in particular the Paralympics.
Dispatches recorded one Atos trainer telling benefit assessors that losing a hand would not be enough to get benefits.
When asked what jobs someone could do with one hand, they reply that you could do some work “as long as you’ve got one finger and you can press a button”.
Atos tell employees during training that if they declare over 12 to 13 percent of interviewees eligible for benefits, their results will be fed to superiors.
The Tories say they have not set targets to declare people fit for work. But an Atos doctor said that the figures came from the government.
A separate investigation earlier this year found that 32 people were dying each week after failing an Atos assessment.
The following should be read alongside this article:
A gold medal for hypocrisy
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29249
“Why aren’t you dead then?” This was the response of an Atos work capability assessor to an interviewee who said they had attempted suicide several times while suffering with depression.
Two undercover investigations by the Panorama and Dispatches programmes brought home the reality of its treatment of disabled people last week.
Ladonia Lowe has leukaemia. Last year she was told that her condition was terminal. She undergoes intravenous chemotherapy each week. Yet she is being hounded to undergo a face-to-face assessment, despite being bedridden.
Her husband says, “To harass a terminally ill patient when they have been contacted and told several times is completely unjustifiable and a disgrace.
“How can you possibly think that a terminally ill patient could be fit for work? It’s beyond belief.”
But this is exactly what these assessments do. Stephen Hill from Duckmanton in Dernyshire died of a heart attack one month after being told he was “fit to work”—even though he was waiting for major heart surgery.
Benefit
The government has outsourced the benefit assessments to multinational IT firm Atos, which sponsors the Olympics and in particular the Paralympics.
Dispatches recorded one Atos trainer telling benefit assessors that losing a hand would not be enough to get benefits.
When asked what jobs someone could do with one hand, they reply that you could do some work “as long as you’ve got one finger and you can press a button”.
Atos tell employees during training that if they declare over 12 to 13 percent of interviewees eligible for benefits, their results will be fed to superiors.
The Tories say they have not set targets to declare people fit for work. But an Atos doctor said that the figures came from the government.
A separate investigation earlier this year found that 32 people were dying each week after failing an Atos assessment.
A gold medal for hypocrisy
© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29249
BREAKING: Olympics’ sponsor staff vote for strike action
by Tim Lezard - 31st July 2012, 14.02 BST
Staff working for an Olympics sponsor at the centre of the government’s controversial cuts to disability benefits have voted for strikes over poverty pay.
Multi-million pound company Atos, which was the focus of two investigative TV reports last night, is refusing to improve a below inflation pay offer or commit to becoming a ‘living wage’ employer, and now faces strikes later this month....read more
Multi-million pound company Atos, which was the focus of two investigative TV reports last night, is refusing to improve a below inflation pay offer or commit to becoming a ‘living wage’ employer, and now faces strikes later this month....read more
http://union-news.co.uk/2012/07/breaking-olympics-sponsor-staff-vote-for-strike-action/
Granny Caught Up In Missile Accident.
Granny gets caught up in London 2012 Olympic Missile Accident.
Tweet this video @ http://clicktotweet.com/Y5v7d
Share this video on Facebook @ http://bit.ly/grannyolympics
LIKE us on Facebook @ http us on Twitter @ ://www.facebook.com/TheLifeGlFOLLOWhttp://www.twitter.com/TheLifeGlug
MUSIC:
Miami Nights 1984 - Saved By the Bell
[Rosso Corsa Records - http://rossocorsarecords.com]FEATURED NEWS REPORTS:
Missiles next door: London roofs on duty for safe Olympics @ http://youtu.be/fD-giOBZ0pY
Missiles, bombs, drones & battleships: London ready for Olympics? - http://youtu.be/7D3-1YP7oX4
LIFE GLUG: Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow...
Tweet this video @ http://clicktotweet.com/Y5v7d
Share this video on Facebook @ http://bit.ly/grannyolympics
LIKE us on Facebook @ http us on Twitter @ ://www.facebook.com/TheLifeGlFOLLOWhttp://www.twitter.com/TheLifeGlug
MUSIC:
Miami Nights 1984 - Saved By the Bell
[Rosso Corsa Records - http://rossocorsarecords.com]FEATURED NEWS REPORTS:
Missiles next door: London roofs on duty for safe Olympics @ http://youtu.be/fD-giOBZ0pY
Missiles, bombs, drones & battleships: London ready for Olympics? - http://youtu.be/7D3-1YP7oX4
LIFE GLUG: Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR5FhhE2ovk&feature=youtu.be
'Critical Mass' Sergeant Sefer Pig Of The Year - Woman Arrested After Offering Muslim Celebrating Ramadan Water.
A woman told off for offering an arrested muslim man water. It is ramadan and he has been fasting for over 19 hours, she subsequently encounters sergeant Sefer - who tells her cycling is a crime and later arrests her for breaching a section 12 restriction placed on participants of a monthly safe-cycling demonstration called "critical mass".
The longer video of the muslim man's arrest can be found here http://youtu.be/4eDR6r6aNnE
The longer video of the muslim man's arrest can be found here http://youtu.be/4eDR6r6aNnE
Twitter urged to explain ban on British journalist over NBC Olympic tweets
US broadcaster claims Twitter alerted it to Independent journalist Guy Adams' tweets criticising Olympic Games coverage
Twitter is under growing pressure to explain the suspension of a British journalist. Photograph: Martin Keene/PA
Twitter is under growing pressure to explain the suspension of a British journalist after it emerged that the social network alerted NBC to his highly critical tweets of the US broadcaster's Olympic coverage.
Guy Adams, the Independent's Los Angeles bureau chief, had his Twitter account suspended after he published the corporate email address of the NBC executive Gary Zenkel, who is responsible for the broadcaster's coverage of the London Olympics.
Adams posted a string of tweets criticising NBC for being "utter bastards" for failing to air the opening ceremony live to viewers on the West coast of the US, who had to watch it on a six hour time delay.
He then took aim at Zenkel, who was appointed president of NBC Olympics in 2005, and published his corporate email address.
Twitter immediately shut down Adams' account and told him it was a violation of the site's rules to post the private and confidential information of others.
One of Adams' critical tweets read: "America's left coast forced to watch Olympic ceremony on SIX HOUR time delay. Disgusting money-grabbing by @NBColympics."
Another said: "I have 1000 channels on my TV. Not one will be showing the Olympics opening ceremony live. Because NBC are utter, utter bastards."
On Tuesday, NBC claimed that Twitter had alerted it to Adams' tweets, not the other way round.
Previously, it was reported that NBC approached Twitter and asked how to have Adams' offending tweet taken down.
Christopher McCloskey, NBC's vice-president of communications, told the Telegraph in an email: "Our social media dept was actually alerted to it by Twitter and then we filled out the form and submitted it".
When contacted by MediaGuardian, McCloskey said that NBC had nothing further to add to its original statement.
NBC said: "We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives. According to Twitter, this is a violation of their privacy policy. Twitter alone levies discipline."
Adams wrote in the Independent on Tuesday that his ban "raises various ethical issues relevant to journalism in the online era".
A spokeswoman for Twitter declined to comment.
The company has previously told the Guardian that it does not actively monitor users' accounts, and added that it was company policy not to comment on individual users.
Twitter has faced criticism for the suspension, with some influential commentators describing it as quick-triggered and raising questions about the social network's relationship with NBC.
Twitter and NBC have partnered during the London 2012 games.
The two companies joined forces to show tweets from NBC presenters, Olympics athletes and fans onto a single page on Twitter.com. No money is changing hands with the partnership, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Guy Adams, the Independent's Los Angeles bureau chief, had his Twitter account suspended after he published the corporate email address of the NBC executive Gary Zenkel, who is responsible for the broadcaster's coverage of the London Olympics.
Adams posted a string of tweets criticising NBC for being "utter bastards" for failing to air the opening ceremony live to viewers on the West coast of the US, who had to watch it on a six hour time delay.
He then took aim at Zenkel, who was appointed president of NBC Olympics in 2005, and published his corporate email address.
Twitter immediately shut down Adams' account and told him it was a violation of the site's rules to post the private and confidential information of others.
One of Adams' critical tweets read: "America's left coast forced to watch Olympic ceremony on SIX HOUR time delay. Disgusting money-grabbing by @NBColympics."
Another said: "I have 1000 channels on my TV. Not one will be showing the Olympics opening ceremony live. Because NBC are utter, utter bastards."
On Tuesday, NBC claimed that Twitter had alerted it to Adams' tweets, not the other way round.
Previously, it was reported that NBC approached Twitter and asked how to have Adams' offending tweet taken down.
Christopher McCloskey, NBC's vice-president of communications, told the Telegraph in an email: "Our social media dept was actually alerted to it by Twitter and then we filled out the form and submitted it".
When contacted by MediaGuardian, McCloskey said that NBC had nothing further to add to its original statement.
NBC said: "We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives. According to Twitter, this is a violation of their privacy policy. Twitter alone levies discipline."
Adams wrote in the Independent on Tuesday that his ban "raises various ethical issues relevant to journalism in the online era".
A spokeswoman for Twitter declined to comment.
The company has previously told the Guardian that it does not actively monitor users' accounts, and added that it was company policy not to comment on individual users.
Twitter has faced criticism for the suspension, with some influential commentators describing it as quick-triggered and raising questions about the social network's relationship with NBC.
Twitter and NBC have partnered during the London 2012 games.
The two companies joined forces to show tweets from NBC presenters, Olympics athletes and fans onto a single page on Twitter.com. No money is changing hands with the partnership, according to the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/31/twitter-urged-explain-suspension-journalist?CMP=twt_gu
Empty Seats :Tunisia vs. Iceland handball game at the Copper Box in the Olympic Park this morning.
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2012-07-31/empty-seats-at-tunisia-vs-iceland-handball-game/
Olympic Security Farce As Wembley Keys Lost.
Louise Eccles, Chris Greenwood And Rebecca Evans
Dailymail.co.uk
Police in charge of keeping the Olympics safe have lost the keys to Wembley Stadium.
Scotland Yard admitted last night that it was to blame for the shocking breach.Search teams spent days desperately hunting for the keys after they were mislaid during the final preparations for the Games.
Sources said it would cost up to £40,000 to replace the hi-tech laser keys. The latest fiasco threatened to further damage already fragile confidence in security arrangements for the Games.It also provoked a furious behind-the-scenes row between the police, Locog and private security firm G4S over who was responsible.
http://www.whiteowlconspiracy.com/2012/07/olympic-security-farce-as-wembley-keys.html
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
G4S Thugs Apologize Over Arrest Threat During The Olympics - U.K. Will Resume Her Dictorial Police State When The Games Are Over.
Apology over G4s arrest threat
Rob Lee, 35, a former Kingston councillor, took a photograph after spotting the van parked in Tolworth Broadway at about 7pm on Tuesday, July 24, when, he said, there were free spaces nearby.
He said: “He went away with his tail between his legs. I just can’t believe he threatened me with arrest when he was committing a clear offence.”
Mr Lee said he had a massive response from people after posting the picture on Facebook.
A spokesman from G4S said: “On the occasion in question, our courier should not have approached the member of the public and we would like to apologise for any offence which may have caused.
“The matter has been reported to the management team responsible for this area and will be dealt with internally.
“Secure parking options are extremely limited at this particular location. We are trying to identify alternative parking that will provide the right level of security for our staff while ensuring other road users can have uninhibited access.”
Tolworth Broadway emerged as the most lucrative road for traffic wardens in the borough last October.
Kingston Council has issued 2,879 parking tickets to motorists since August 2010, earning the Guildhall £127,370, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/9842644.Apology_over_G4s_arrest_threat/?ref=twtrec
The U.K. Olympics Was Doomed To Fail The Moment A War Criminal Responsible for Using Chemical Weapons On The People Of Iraq Stepped Onboard!
It was doomed from the moment a war criminal went head to head with Seb Coe and joined the Olympics. Blair is responsible for chemical weapons used in IRAQ and the deaths of more 500.000 Iraqi children.
Bush Gave The Order To NEPALM Fallujah.
http://iraqatrocities.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/falluja-napalmed-did-blair-know.html
U.S. Used Chemical Weapons , mustard gas and nerve gas on the people of Iraq
http://syriathemediawar.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/syria-depleted-uranium-how-does-it-feel.html
Bush Gave The Order To NEPALM Fallujah.
http://iraqatrocities.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/falluja-napalmed-did-blair-know.html
U.S. Used Chemical Weapons , mustard gas and nerve gas on the people of Iraq
http://syriathemediawar.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/syria-depleted-uranium-how-does-it-feel.html
Afghan Troops Brought Home To Fill Seb Coe's Empty Stadiums At London's 2012 Failed Olympics.
Soldiers have been drafted in to fill empty seats at the London 2012 Olympics after prime blocks of seating at the Aquatics Centre and gymnastics arena went unused on the first day of competition.
Troops were despatched to the North Greenwich Arena this morning by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog), to take up seats left empty by accredited officials from Olympic and sporting federations, as well as some sponsors and members of the media. More troops, many of whom had their leave cancelled to provide emergency cover after the organisers failed to find enough security guards, will be issued with last-minute invites to take seats in venues when blocks of seats are found to be empty, the games organisers said this morning.
The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Saturday the empty seats were "very disappointing" and suggested they could be offered to members of the public. He said the matter was being looked at "very urgently".
On Saturday, the morning swimming heats, featuring Michael Phelps and his US rival Ryan Lochte, there were an estimated 500 empty seats in one block alone. And at the morning session of the gymnastics, at which Louis Smith and the rest of the British team appeared, there were more than 1,000 empty seats despite prospective ticket buyers being told it was sold out.
Lord Coe, the chairman of the London organising committee, was dismissive of concern that too many seats were being left empty and denied that calling in the military appeared "shambolic".
He later clarified his position saying: "We take it seriously. I don't want to see swaths of those seats empty."
"If we have the army sitting there on rest periods we can ask them if they want to sit in there and watch it," he said. "It's not mobilising the army to resolve this. I don't think there is a single person out there would thinks it is shambolic, given the way they have stepped up in the last weeks."
Coe said he believed the problem would settle down and said it was a result of representatives of national Olympic committees, sporting federations and some sponsors taking time to "work out the shape of their day" and decide where to go. The organisers said that the empty seats were predominantly left by sporting officials and claimed that sponsors were taking their seats.
Earlier, the British Olympic Association suggested a "30-minute rule" for non-attendees with empty seats to be filled by home fans.
"We owe it to the British sporting public to give them an opportunity to attend one of the most historic sporting events of their lives," he said.
Coe dismissed the idea of the 30-minute rule saying: "We have got a more considered way of doing that, that judges the situation on an hour by hour basis."
To fill the accredited seats the organisers must find people with existing accreditation to the venues which rules out members of the public.
Up to 150 local school children and school teachers who are already accredited to the park, under a pre-existing scheme meant to fill seats in accredited areas, will be used alongside the soldiers.
Excluding the football, between 100,000 and 120,000 Olympic tickets remain unsold, organisers said today. Some of those are already for sale online and others are the process of being returned by sponsors and public from abroad.
Childrens' tickets cost £1 and adult tickets cost £5. Yesterday, 280 were sold. Passes allowing people onto the park, but not into venues, remain on sale.
During the sometimes controversial ticketing process, during which 6.6m of the 8.8m tickets were made available to members of the public, organisers repeatedly highlighted the lengths they were going to make sure there were no empty seats.
They said they wanted to avoid the situation that occurred in Beijing and at other Games, where even at sessions that were officially sold out there were large areas of empty seats – particularly for morning heats.
The problem tends to be caused by IOC stipulations that retain a certain number of seats for officials, athletes, international federations and other accredited individuals. It can be particularly acute on the morning after the opening ceremony, which finished close to 1am.
In the vast majority of the venues, at least one-fifth of seats are reserved for sponsors, officials, the media and the "Olympic family".
In the most popular sessions, such as the opening ceremony and the 100m final, the proportion is closer to half.
Those thronging the park who had been unable to get into the venues to watch any live action were critical of the empty seats, which can also be highly embarrassing if shown on television.
"I think it's terrible, especially when so many people want a ticket," said Sharon Beers from Portsmouth, "there should be less seats for officials."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/olympics-empty-seats-locog-army?CMP=twt_gu
Empty Seats Spark Olympics Inevstigation.
This report from Al Jazeera exposed thanks to Wikileaks as a CIA mouthpiece.
The British culture secretary has suggested that most of the empty seats could be guests of the games’ corporate sponsors [Reuters]
http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/london2012/2012/07/201272995336893788.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/london2012/2012/07/201272995336893788.html
Coincidence: Former Israeli commando Frank Lowy, 81, recently opened the Mega Mall adjacent to Olympic Stadium and Stratford subway station. Frank Lowy was Larry Silverstein's partner in the World Trade Center on Sept 11. 2001.
Over two-thirds of all those attending the Olympic stadium are expected to transit through Westfield's new "Stratford City Center."
Larry Silverstein and his partner Frank Lowy acquired a 99-year lease on the entire World Trade Center complex just weeks before the 9/11/01 attack.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread866018/pg1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
U.K. Olympic Farce: Pages And Links Are Pulled On The Daily Mail's Racist Article And Old Trafford Running Out Of Food. Lucky For The Muslims It Is RAMADAN !
Anger of Olympic football fans as Old Trafford runs out of food
July 27, 2012
More than 70,000 arrived for opening fixtures of the mens football tournament which kicked off at 5pm as Uruguay took on United Arab Emirates before Team GB played Senegal.
But with the stadium almost full to capacity, fans reported huge queues for food and drink stalls.
And by 7pm, an hour before Team GB's match got underway, many had sold out.
Angry fans took to Twitter to complain – especially has no food or drink was allowed into the stadium from outside.
Martin Jones said: "Not sure who caterer was at Old Trafford last night but absolute disgrace, no food at bars, warm drinks, massive queue - no Visa – hopeless?”
Gregory Hunt said: "Food choice at Old Trafford. Pie, pie, pie or sausage roll. All gone before kick off.”
One reader emailed the M.E.N to say: “At half time in the first game, all the food had run out in the North stand. And before then, people were saying that food and drink was served with no lids, and no cardboard trays/bags provided, so impossible to carry more than a couple of food items/drinks - ie no way could buy for a whole family and carry it to their seats if they were sat waiting.
"Children had come straight from school, people had come straight from work, around 72,000 people there - many hadn't eaten since lunchtime and were relying on stadium catering. Families had hungry crying children. It was a complete and utter shambles.”
Fans were also astonished at the price of drinks – with dozens of fans complaining to us about the price of lager.
FRIDAY PM UPDATE: Olympic bosses originally told the M.E.N. they were selling 330ml bottles of Heineken at £4.20 - but this afternoon stated beer was being sold at the venue at the lower price of £3.60.
Despite this, fans - who are banned from bringing their own food and drink into the venue - complained that they were being ripped off by the high prices.
Team GB went on to draw 1-1 with Senegal with United stalwart Ryan Giggs starring for the home side.
A spokesperson for Olympic organisers LOCOG admitted caterers had been been unable to cope due to 'huge demand'.
“It was a well-attended match and some kiosks did run out of food. Going forward we will look to try as hard as we can to ensure we replenish food more quickly,” he added.
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1584568_anger-of-olympic-football-fans-as-old-trafford-runs-out-of-food
Olympics 11 Billion Translation Farce - Arabic Is In Gibberish.
Another day, another Olympic calamity. Now it emerges that a train company has printed a poster featuring information about security during the Olympics in English and seven other languages. Unfortunately it turns out that the Arabic section is 'gibberish'.
So what's going on, and just how much should we be worried about the Olympics turning into an incredibly expensive farce?
The Council for Arab-British Understanding told the BBC that the Arabic lettering was 'ridiculous' and unreadable. It also said that studying the language for just one week would have taught a translator the basic rules and they would have realised that letters which aren't joined up and are printed back-to-front are not going to read well.
It is yet another nail in the coffin for any hope that the Olympics would reveal Britain as a world-class country capable of holding a summer picnic - let alone a global sports competition.
Then there are the much-criticised Olympic Lanes on the roads around London, which have caused havoc on the M4 and have created a situation on some roads where drivers either have to drive in a bus lane or an Olympic lane - both of which will see them fined £130. Add in the four hour tour of London for the athletes hampered by a driver who can't use a sat nav, and you have a ridiculous farce before the doors even open.
And don't even mention the failure to sell out the venues - or even give away tickets for some of the GB women's team football games. The top tier of the stadia are facing closure because we cannot summon enough enthusiasm for what is supposed to be our national sport.
http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/07/20/olympics-now-11-billion-farce/
So what's going on, and just how much should we be worried about the Olympics turning into an incredibly expensive farce?
The poster shame
The poster in question was produced by First Capital Connect, which sent it to 13 stations. The company swears that it used a 'professional translator', but that the company that made the poster substituted one font for another, so it no longer made senseThe Council for Arab-British Understanding told the BBC that the Arabic lettering was 'ridiculous' and unreadable. It also said that studying the language for just one week would have taught a translator the basic rules and they would have realised that letters which aren't joined up and are printed back-to-front are not going to read well.
It is yet another nail in the coffin for any hope that the Olympics would reveal Britain as a world-class country capable of holding a summer picnic - let alone a global sports competition.
Endless farce
Clearly the major damage has been caused by the security farce which has now seen 3,500 troops called up to provide security and another 1,200 on stand-by, as G4S admitted it had fallen far short of its target for security officers and was now conducting a desperate hunt for bored students to take up the post. This will be a very visual sign of the failures of the company and of the organising committee and the government which were supposed to be working with them.Then there are the much-criticised Olympic Lanes on the roads around London, which have caused havoc on the M4 and have created a situation on some roads where drivers either have to drive in a bus lane or an Olympic lane - both of which will see them fined £130. Add in the four hour tour of London for the athletes hampered by a driver who can't use a sat nav, and you have a ridiculous farce before the doors even open.
And don't even mention the failure to sell out the venues - or even give away tickets for some of the GB women's team football games. The top tier of the stadia are facing closure because we cannot summon enough enthusiasm for what is supposed to be our national sport.
More to come
Anyone who has ever been to London will be able to do the maths and come to the conclusion that anyone trying to get to the games will either get trapped in overcrowding on public transport or lost on the roads. They will then show up stressed and late, to have their food and drink confiscated by a military serviceman and a massive queue which risks them missing the sport they have come to see. They can then spend £50 on lunch while they contemplate the hell of doing it all again in the other direction.Ruinous disaster
All of this would be bad enough if we were running the austerity Olympics on a shoestring, but these games are record-breakingly expensive. The original budget of money to come from the taxpayer was £2.4 billion, but in 2007 the government bit the bullet and raised it to £9.3 billion. This included £5.3 billion for building the venues and infrastructure and £600 million for security. The latest news is that the event is running £2 billion over budget - so the total taxpayer cost of the event is an astonishing £11 billion.http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/07/20/olympics-now-11-billion-farce/
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