Olympic Games

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 9:32 am

Sadly, the 'Olympic Machine' has chased out Britain's cherished freedom of speech for an iron grip on their cash harvest.It is worse that most folks realise http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... c-censors/

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 9:41 am

I saw a brief clip on the News last night showing the incredible Boris hanging by a string from the London Eye - just for a moment I thought there'd been a public execution However, the silly man just burbled one of his inane uninformed schoolboy remarks before dismounting so he must have survived.I promise not to divert from the topic but for what he's done to London Transport (I don't mean the present Olympic arrangements but generally) he should be impeached - £13 million for eight of his fantasy "Boris Routemasters" - that says it all.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 10:18 am

Jogon wrote: Sadly, the 'Olympic Machine' has chased out Britain's cherished freedom of speech for an iron grip on their cash harvest.It is worse that most folks realise http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... c-censors/ The examples given look mostly like commercial opportunities rather than freedom of speech.You can still post endless reams about the Olympics being a pile of kak. In fact many people do.

Si · Post by Si » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 10:24 am

Jogon wrote: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... c-censors/ Blimey!Sounds more like "London Olympics 1984"...

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 10:27 am

Maybe wrong but I don't think Olympic athlete are paid for competing or winning, either by their national teams or the Olympic committee. For these games they are amateurs. For the rest of the year they're blatant mercenaries trying to earn as much cash as possible or even hold down a job.

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Thu 02 Aug, 2012 11:16 am

Cardiarms wrote: Maybe wrong but I don't think Olympic athlete are paid for competing or winning, either by their national teams or the Olympic committee. For these games they are amateurs. For the rest of the year they're blatant mercenaries trying to earn as much cash as possible or even hold down a job. Once selected,they will receive accomodation and travelling expenses,food allowances(in line with their requirements for the particular sport),official clothing.......the "top"competitors will probably already have the use of a pre-games(naturally) sponsored vehicle.I would imagine LOCOG would put restrictive use to this though to curtail sponsorship deals becoming known in the public domain to the detriment of official games sponsors.The real bonanza starts after any games where a particular individual or team has secured a medal.I don't have an issue with that but it surely contradicts the whole ethos and spirit of the Olympic movement in general.Still,for those at the top of your game......get it while you can. It's a short lived career in Sport,in the main......there are huge rewards in the "afterlife" however for those capable of securing top media positions,film and book deals and the like !

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Fri 03 Aug, 2012 9:22 am

Cardiarms wrote: Jogon wrote: Sadly, the 'Olympic Machine' has chased out Britain's cherished freedom of speech for an iron grip on their cash harvest.It is worse that most folks realise http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... c-censors/ The examples given look mostly like commercial opportunities rather than freedom of speech.You can still post endless reams about the Olympics being a pile of kak. In fact many people do. ---------------------No, it is 'censorship' of 'freedom of speech'.As in Press, Publication and the High Street. UK business is s'posed to benefit from 2012.Obviously folks like me will have a gripe, moan and post+ bar room chat etc.Pointing out the draconian laws, the Spectator deliberately put the Olympic Rings on it's front cover.Risking removal from shop sales and hefty fines.http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2012/0 ... ndon-2012/[Edit to keep it Leeds]..and this makes Leeds folks cross

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Fri 03 Aug, 2012 9:44 am

Olympics gets to sound more like Gestapo every day.I was reading about the 'cleanse up of London' a few weeks back, amongst this cleansing was the mass arrest of ex London Graffiti artists, many of them packing it in over a decade ago, most have good jobs and are law abiding citizens, others do commissioned art work these days. By arresting these easy target guys it was hoped to send a strong message to active graffiti artists (who British Transport Police can't arrest, because they don't know who they are) They were bailed and banned from going within a mile of the Olympic park, and also using public transport for the duration of the games.http://hyperallergic.com/54490/are-uk-p ... -olympics/

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Fri 03 Aug, 2012 9:44 am

Did the spectator get removed from the shelves? And you can't get Bbc Iplayer abroad anyway, except if you install a cheaply available app to cloak you home server location and then you can, or turn on the tv and watch the coverage on the local tv channels, we've done both.As has been mentioned there's olympics coverage and related events all over the place! It's hardly censored.Corporations protecting their image rights is nothing new. We've mention the Harrods market stall before.

simong · Post by **simong** » Fri 03 Aug, 2012 10:44 am

The Olympics has long had its special brand of awfulness when it comes to sponsorship and management. If you're interested and haven't read it, read the book 'The Lords of the Rings' by Andrew Jennings (it was updated or rewritten as 'The New Lords of the Rings' in the 90s).The politics within LOCOG alone are ridiculous. 20 years ago I worked for a company who ran corporate sports events around the world. We did a world event in London and a lot of the people who have been involved not only in these Games but also in the previous bids over the last 25 years were involved with us. A lot of the organisation is about getting sponsorship and the big money providers do get to call the shots. However for all the arguments that Britain isn't being represented within the event arenas, in terms of food and drink and culture, the thinking in the International Organising Committee is that the Olympics are stateless, and that the city in which they take place is largely irrelevant to the games themselves, and it's up to the organising committee to manage it.Interestingly, I haven't seen this mentioned much anywhere else, the bands playing at the closing concert: Blur, the Specials and New Order, come from the places that have been involved in bids in the last 25 years - London (well, Blur are sort of from London) the Specials (Birmingham well, Coventry - 1992 bid) and New Order (Manchester - 1996 and 2000 bids).