Wise Words

"Don't let people believe the overall budget is what it costs to host the Olympic Games

That is a relatively small part of what is likely to be a much larger figure."

Given that the London 2012 Olympics budget (currently £12BN, including running costs) is spiralling out of control, I couldn't have put it better myself.

Who spoke such wisdom?

None other than the Minister for Culture and Sport, Tessa Jowell, during a question and answer session in Chicago (Chicago is bidding for the 2016 games).

Why is it that Jowell has only now recognised this very obvious fact?

Accreditation Begins

The accreditation process for journalists to register for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has begun, and the deadline for the return of forms is February 29 2008.

Yang Minghui, deputy director of the BOCOG's accreditation centre, said:

"The BOCOG has begun distributing press application forms and accreditation guides to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and accredited organisations.

According to Olympic charter regulations, holders of valid Olympic or Paralympic Identity and Accreditation Cards (OIACs) can use them, in combination with a valid passport or travel document, to enter and exit the host country."

Those who are accredited are allowed to remain in the host country to carry out their duties during the Olympic and Paralympics, and for one month before and after.

It is estimated there will be 21,600 accredited writers, photographers and broadcasters during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Green Flame

The Olympic flame for the 2012 London Olympics will burn green, like an emerald. To be less poetic, the organisers want a carbon neutral flame that is fuelled by environmentally products such as tree cuttings.

Wants and desires of course do not necessarily match reality. This is all but a pipe dream if scientists cannot find a way to make the green flame burn as brightly as a normal flame.

The London Organising Committee and EDF Energy have begun to search for a suitable biofuel for the flame.

David Stubbs, the London Organising Committee's Head of Sustainability, said:

"The Olympic flame is potentially quite an energy consumer. We are looking at alternative fuels to help reduce the impact of that flame. It is early days yet. We do not know what fuel to use."

Gareth Wynn, of EDF Energy, said:

"We are looking for something that has the right look and feel. There is a balance to be struck because a really clean flame can be difficult to see. We have to find a balance so that it provides the right fuel but can be seen.

I cannot tell you yet what the solution is going to be and what the gas is but we are going to find it. We have made a commitment to find it. The flame is such an iconic image that we have to get it right."

Let us trust that the money, effort and experiments that are used in the search are not more energy/environmentally wasteful than that of just opting to use the conventional flame.

Cat Murderers

It is ironic that whilst a veritable hue and cry has been raised over the fate of some newts that currently reside on the proposed London 2012 Olympics site, very little has been done so far to protect a far more agreeable species namely a large colony of cats.

Hundreds of feral cats, who have made the site their home, face being crushed to death by diggers at the new Olympic Park site because the Games' organisers are neglecting them to focus on rescuing a population of newts.

The Celia Hammond Animal Trust claims that the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) had allowed volunteers onto the land for a couple of weeks to rescue cats. However, the ODA has now refused their repeated requests to go back on to get the rest of them.

The irony is that London 2012 organisers are prepared to spend £70K rescuing 150 newts from another part of the Stratford site. Could it be that Ken Linvingstone, the Mayor of London with a well known passion for newts, had a hand in saving the newts?

Celia Hammond, who runs the charity Celia Hammond Animal Trust, said the authorities were being "obstructive".

The charity has set up a petition on its website asking for access to whole of the site, in order to rescue the remaining cats.

Joanna Lumley is a supporter of the campaign, and is quoted in The Telegraph:

"Celia and her team are fully qualified to have dealt with this problem weeks ago had she been granted the access she needed. But this has been denied time and time again, and the appalling mismanagement by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) means that many animals may have died already."

As I keep repeating:

The Olympics is not about sport,

it's not about the environment,

it's not about making the world a better place,

it's about money.

Sign the petition to save the cats here.

The Grim Reaper

The Royal Air Force have confirmed that it will deploy armed "Reaper" unmanned aerial vehicles during the London 2012 Olympics.

There is, it has to be said, a degree of risk in deploying armed "Terminator" inspired robo planes over London. However, the British government in their desire to keep the population under control regard the political benefits from spinning the terrorist threat as greater than the risk of any of the drones going awry and killing a civilian.

The Reaper is the latest version of the General Atomics Predator hunter-killer UAV, it can carry an array of laser-guided bombs and missiles including the Hellfire air-to-ground weapon which has been used against Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

Hunter-killer UAVs are controlled by a ground station that directs them to the enemy and remotely fires its weapons.

The 11m-long Reaper can fly for 14 hours and carry an array of sensors including cameras, radars, electro-optical and infra-red that allow it to be deployed around the clock in all types of weather.

UAVs are used primarily for surveillance and targeting, but can make a highly cost-effective offensive weapon when armed with bombs and missiles.

So that's reassuring then!

Only Stunners Need Apply

Those ladies hoping to become a hostess for next year's Beijing Olympics need only bother applying if they are slim, cute and tall.

That is the advice of Zhao Dongming, director of the cultural activities department for the Beijing Olympic organising committee. He went on to say that they must have stunning figures, and measure between 1.68 metres and 1.78 metres in height.

Zhao is tasked with finding 380 women aged between 18 and 25 to serve as hostesses at medal ceremonies at Olympic venues, and another 180 for work at the opening ceremony and flag-raising events.

He said:

"We want them to be young and beautiful, and be well-rounded individuals as well."

I can't see Lord Coe getting away with that if he tried it in the London Games.

Olympics Drains Cash From Wales

Lloyds TSB has sponsored the the National Eisteddfod (Cymanfa Ganu Welsh hymn-singing event) every year since 1979. However, as a result of financial commitments to sponsoring the London 2012 Olympics, it has announced that it is cancelling the sponsorship of the Welsh event.

Needless to say, there are those in Wales who are less than impressed that an event in London is draining Wales of much needed funds.

Past Eisteddfod archdruid Robyn Lewis, displaying a touch of nationalism, said:

"If the bank were to divert its money to another worthy cause, such as poverty in the Third World, I would understand the situation and might well sympathise to some extent.

But the London Olympic Games!

There appears to be little sympathy or support for these forthcoming games in parts of Wales.

Quite simply, our country will not be represented. To say that 'British' entries include Wales is to add insult to injury.

The bank's Eisteddfod sponsorship being withdrawn and diverted to so contentious an event outside Wales will, I believe, reflect very badly on the bank.

I have been a customer of Lloyds TSB for many years. Hitherto, the bank has given every satisfaction in its handling of my affairs.

Let me make myself quite clear. If Lloyds TSB persist, I shall have to consider my position as a customer from now on."

It would seem that Mr Lewis is not a fan of a United Kingdom.

It is doubtful that Lloyds TSB will heed his call.