Incredible Apathy

The CEO of Tavelodge, Grant Hearn, has told the Evening Standard that "the Government is showing incredible apathy" wrt encouraging tourism in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics.

That may well be so.

However, London hotels, restaurants etc could also help the tourism effort by not overcharging customers and providing service/facilities that are world class.

Sadly far too many hotels, restaurants and tourist venues in London are nothing more than rip off joints designed to fleece the hapless tourist.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Taking A Dip

John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), has told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he could not guarantee that all the money (estimated at being £2BN) taken from the National Lottery for the London 2012 Olympics will be returned.

When pressed by committee chairman, Edward Leigh, Armitt admitted that he could not even guarantee that part of the money would be returned.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Legacy

The Guardian reports that the Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, has called upon West Ham to bid for the Olympics stadium.

All very well, however if West Ham were to bid and win the bid this may well conflict with the promised Olympics legacy (as outlined in the original bid that won the UK the right to hold the 2012 Olympics).

For why?

The stadium capacity needs to be around 25,000, in order to accommodate the athletics legacy pledged to the IOC in London's bid.

However, this is not a capacity that would suit West Ham.

Who will win?

The bid that offers the most money.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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British Citizens At Back of The Queue

The BBC reports that British citizens will be at the back of the queue for tickets to watch the London 2012 Olympics, behind "the Olympic family" (sponsors, officials, their guests, the media and athletes, who receive special allocations of tickets for events such as opening and closing ceremonies).

To add insult to injury British citizens cannot be given preference over European visitors, because EU law forbids discrimination in favour of the host country.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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We're Backing China

Olympic chiefs are keen to emphasise the legacy of the London Olympics 2012.

What they haven't specified until now is exactly which country's legacy they mean.

This question has now been answered, it is China's economic legacy that is being underpinned by the London Olympics.

That at least is the conclusion to be drawn from the announcement that a Chinese company has been picked to make special lapel pins for the 2012 games, British companies claim that they were denied the chance to even bid.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Vancouver Winter Olympics Ends On A High

A crowd of 60,000 attended Sunday's closing ceremony for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Canadians celebrated a record haul of 14 gold medals, Canada ranked number one in the medal league table.

Attention now turns to London, and the games scheduled for August 2012. Organisers are hoping that lessons can be learned from Vancouver wrt eg; traffic management, technical glitches, safety issues and winning medals.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Stuffy

The IOC seems to have reacted a tad stuffily by complaining about the Canadian Women's Ice Hockey team celebrating their victory by drinking a few beers and champagne in the rink after the match.

Doesn't the IOC have more pressing issues to worry about?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Britain Wins Gold Medal

Britain seems to have won one gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, that at least is the view of ctvolympics.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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An Object Lesson

The shambles of the Vancouver Winter Olympics is providing a valuable object lesson for the organisers of the London 2012 Olympics.

The trouble is that the London Olympics are already massively over budget (£12BN against an initial budget of around £3BN), and have a much derided logo (Lisa Simpson giving head).

One wonders what other disasters can befall the London Olympics?

Lots actually, most especially those relating to our third world transportation system.

Even Tess Jowell, Olympics Minister, seems to have realised this. She told the Evening Standard:

"There are certainly lessons we can learn. We need to trial getting people to and from the venues so we are absolutely clear about the stress on the transport system and we can anticipate any problems."

Good luck with that then!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Vancouver - Worst Olympics Ever?

The Guardian is of the view that the Vancouver Winter Olympics are turning into the worst Olympics ever, even beating the financially ruinous games held in Montreal in 1976.

For why?

The paper lists a number of "indicators" of failure:

- The faulty hydraulics on the torch bowl in the opening event.

- Lousy transportation infrastructure that caused the Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell, and the chiefs of the four host First Nations to miss the singing of the Canadian anthem at Friday's opening ceremony.

- Safety issues over the Whistler sliding centre.

- The faulty wiring on the Cypress mountain, which blew a fuse at the weekend and closed the concession stands.

- Rain that has washed away snow on Cypress mountain, making it impossible to build spectator viewing areas that would be safe.

All in all a damning indictment of failure.

What else will go wrong I wonder?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Rent A Mob

An anti Olympic march in Vancouver on Saturday turned ugly, when some protesters started smashing windows.

Quite what smashing windows and general thuggery has got to do with protesting against the winter Olympics is beyond me.

Certain groups/individuals seemingly use any excuse for mindless vandalism.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Winter Olympics 2010

Good luck to the citizens of Canada/Vancouver, as they will end up footing the "mere" £3.6BN bill for the 2010 Winter Olympics which have kicked off in Vancouver.

It took decades for Canada to pay off the cost of the 1976 Montreal summer Olympic Games.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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No Bailout Needed

Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, has told The Daily Telegraph that there is no need for the IOC to offer bailout money to the London 2012 Olympics, as it has done for Vancouver.

Seemingly, in the eyes of the IOC, the finances of the games are robust. This in spite of the fact that the London Olympics "budget" now stands at £12BN (including £2BN running costs) and is likely to exceed that amount as and when the final reckoning is made.

Doubtless the hapless British taxpayers, who have been saddled with paying for this monument to Labour's folly, agree wholeheartedly with Rogge and are happy to pay for them!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Raiding The Contingency Fund

It seems that the much used Olympics contingency fund will have to be raided again, this time to cover previously undeclared maintenance and security costs (estimated at between £150M-£230M).

The £2.7BN fund has already been depleted by £1.3BN.

The raid on the contingency fund can only be made after approval from a committee of senior ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

They need to ask why these costs were not identified before, when the "budget" was being prepared.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Unlawful Anti Terror Law

The Times reports that the police intend to use Section 44 of The Terrorism Act 2000 at every tube station in London during the London 2012 Olympics, this gives them the power to search people without any suspicion that they are terrorists.

The only problem with this is that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that this is unlawful.

Section 44 must be granted by the Home Secretary for a designated area.

The Home Office is appealing against the European Court ruling.

Doubtless, were these powers to be enacted, the terrorists would avoid using the tube system.

After games, will the powers be revoked?

I doubt!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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A Jolly Junket To A Winter Wonderland

I see that the London Olympics organisers are sending a delegation to Vancouver for the Winter Games next week, on a fact finding mission.

They want to learn all the "learnable" about the issues, pitfalls and "opportunities" arising from hosting an Olympics.

Three small points:

1 They have already done this at the Beijing Olympics.

2 They are sending a massive delegation of 50 people (I wonder that that will cost the British taxpayer?). Why so many?

3 The Canadian infrastructure budget was originally £350M, it is now expected to rise to almost £3.5BN. Do we really want to follow Canada's example?

This junket seems to be a remarkable waste of our money.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Solar Storms

It seems that holding the Olympics in 2012 may not be such an auspicious year, from the perspective of the communications and media industries.

Scientist have warned that the London 2012 Olympics Communication systems could be damaged by magnetic storms and solar flares, which hit their 11 year peak just as the Olympics kicks off.

The solar storms can affect satellites and power grids on Earth.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Nimbyism

The Telegraph reports that the residents living in the vicinity of the Royal Albert Hall are up in arms that the venue is re-applying for a sporting licence (in time for the Olympics), that will include wrestling and boxing.

The new license will also pave the way for the Hall to be used as a high-profile venue at the London Olympics in 2012.

The fact that in the past boxing matches etc were held at the Albert Hall does not cut any ice with the residents (who don't go to such "pleb" events).

Yasmin Doctor, one of the residents leading opposition from the Albert Hall Mansions block, said:

"You learn to put up with a certain amount of disruption living here, but the type of people attending boxing and wrestling matches aren't going to be your average Prom goer...."

Says it all doesn't it?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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LOCOG A Study In Perversity

The Telegraph reports that over 1,500 formal objections have been lodged with Greenwich Borough Council against LOCOG's planning application to use Greenwich Park for 2012 equestrian events.

Amongst the objections is one from ICOMOS-UK whose parent body, the International Council of Monuments and Sites, is advisor to UNESCO who designated Greenwich a World Heritage Site in 1997.

ICOMOS-UK believe that the equestrian Olympics will deter tourists, and that significant damage could be caused by equine and spectator infrastructure.

LOCOG insist that Greenwich is the only option as there is no "fall back" venue. Yet, perversely, LOCOG's own environmental statement shows that Windsor scores higher than Greenwich Park on facilities and the ability to host the contest.

Do LOCOG actually know what it is doing?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Olympics U Turn

Sportsbeat claim that "an official" has told them that the hapless Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, is now willing to allow West Ham to discuss moving into the Olympics stadium after the Games.

They quote the unnamed official:

"I was at meetings three or four years ago with the minister and Ken Livingstone, when he was Mayor of London, and they did not want to have a football club in there.

This is a significant U-turn."

Now here's the funny thing, if West Ham do move in they may well rebrand themselves as West Ham Olympic.

What about the "brand fascists" working for Locog et al, who zealously guard the Olympics brand by stomping on any person/small business who dares to mention "Olympics", "2012", "London" etc in their publicity?

Oh well, given that the organisers are desperate for someone to use the stadium afterwards, I am sure the "brand fascists" will be told to remove their jackboots on this occasion.

It's the money, not the sport, that matters!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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