Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:45 am  

From the front line:

@combatcameraman

After an 18 hr shift, this is where the lads are sleeping. These boys are securing the Olympics for you!




No doubt Mr Buckles's sleeping conditions will be somewhat different

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:34 pm  

Good article on the Olypmic effect: http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/only- ... rnalSearch

Good article on the Olypmic effect: http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/only- ... rnalSearch

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:14 pm  

Mintball wrote: 'What do you mean, I can't use those words to promote anything for the next umpteen weeks?' For someone who works day in day out with Intellectual Property you grasp of how the trademark system works is shocking. I look forward to your attempts to set up a Microsoft sandwich bar or a Tesco hairdressers.

Mintball wrote: 'What do you mean, I can't use those words to promote anything for the next umpteen weeks?' For someone who works day in day out with Intellectual Property you grasp of how the trademark system works is shocking. I look forward to your attempts to set up a Microsoft sandwich bar or a Tesco hairdressers.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:54 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

For someone who works day in day out with Intellectual Property you grasp of how the trademark system works is shocking.

I look forward to your attempts to set up a Microsoft sandwich bar or a Tesco hairdressers.

Touchy, BG.

Well done for missing the context/mood etc.

Your determined defence of corporate power is noted.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:58 pm  

I'm just glad none of those gleefully filling this thread with laughable links have had anything to do with the Olympics.

Yes, the G4S shambles is just that, a shambles. They've held their hands up and admitted as much. But find a solution, throw the book at G4S, kick them in the financials and get on with it. Or alternatively we could fill the media with negativity, moaning, enquiries so we can shake our heads and tut disapprovingly - just as we seem to do with everything these days.

So cleaners are sleeping in temporary portacabins? Wow, big deal. What do you expect - a cleaner's village alongside the athlete's village? Hotels? (have you seen the prices??) Christ, they're only there a few weeks to do a job and it's all over.

So big corporates demand exclusivity on the event - how dare they, when they only front up billions of pounds for the right. How dare they protect their massive investment. You don't hear this sort of whinging during the football or RU World Cups, or other similar events. In fact, one suspects it's because they aren't the big names certain people approve of, and it doesn't fit the nicey-nicey image of the Olympics. "What! McDonalds and Coke sponsoring the Olympics! Dammit, that doesn't fit my perception of slim, healthy, happy young athletes competing in the glorious sunshine."

So kids are told to wear Adidas or unbranded trainers. How dare Adidas insist on exclusivity just because they paid a rumoured £100m. How dare they insist theirs should be the only brand on display where possible.

So there won't be a massive economic boost from the games? What? Are people surprised by this? The recession won't be halted by 2 weeks of sporting events and neither will a few more people flying in & out of the country. Numbers of visitors will probably be up but will also be countered by business and some leisure travellers avoiding the travel chaos and staying at home over a 3-4 week period.

So there's going to be some inconvenience during the games. What? This is also a surprise? One of the largest events on the planet might cause some disruption? Who'da thought, eh?

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:34 pm  

And with that, we have the perfect reminder that this is nothing whatsoever to do with sport or host communities or people or a 'legacy', but is about big bucks for already massively profitable companies.

And some people are apparently entirely happy with that situation, and entirely ready to defend stupidity and censorship and loss of civil liberties and goodness knows what else – just so McCrappyDonalds can make a few more bucks.

When things get as downright silly as 'summer' and 'bronze' (planning on getting a seasonal tan, anyone?) having to be used 'carefully' when 'promoting' anything, then we're into the realms of things seriously needing to be ridiculed.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:34 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

For someone who works day in day out with Intellectual Property you grasp of how the trademark system works is shocking.

I look forward to your attempts to set up a Microsoft sandwich bar or a Tesco hairdressers.

What was that? I thought I heard a whooshing noise of olympic proportions.

Mind you, the woman who employed a dyslexic tattooist and has now got "Oylmpic Torch Bearer" tattooed on her probably had a lucky escape from a law suit.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:37 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

What was that? I thought I heard a whooshing noise of olympic proportions.

Mind you, the woman who employed a dyslexic tattooist and has now got "Oylmpic Torch Bearer" tattooed on her probably had a lucky escape from a law suit.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:54 pm  

Cronus wrote:

Yes, the G4S shambles is just that, a shambles. They've held their hands up and admitted as much. But find a solution, throw the book at G4S, kick them in the financials and get on with it. Or alternatively we could fill the media with negativity, moaning, enquiries so we can shake our heads and tut disapprovingly - just as we seem to do with everything these days.

Having just handed them, £54million (???) in management fees to, erm, manage, then I'd expect something a bit more tangible from them, especially as they left it until the very last minute to declare that they weren't up to the job, and in fact had one of their directors boasting the day before they admitted that they couldn't do the job, that in fact they could probably do the job twice over.

So cleaners are sleeping in temporary portacabins? Wow, big deal. What do you expect - a cleaner's village alongside the athlete's village? Hotels? (have you seen the prices??) Christ, they're only there a few weeks to do a job and it's all over.

Having just spent the thick end of £10bn and built a whole new council estate with part of that money then yes, I'd expect the service workers to be provided with accomodation if they require it, presumably they are working unsocial hours and its fairly commonplace for service providers in the hospitality business to be offered accomodation in unsocial circumstances - on the otherhand they are "only cleaners" and should be happy with their lot sleeping under Westminster Bridge.

So there won't be a massive economic boost from the games? What? Are people surprised by this? The recession won't be halted by 2 weeks of sporting events and neither will a few more people flying in & out of the country. Numbers of visitors will probably be up but will also be countered by business and some leisure travellers avoiding the travel chaos and staying at home over a 3-4 week period.

Yes, I am surprised after seven years of politicians of all colours reminding us at every opportunity that these Games will offer a massive economic boost, then again I believed NatWest when they said that their ISA's would reward me three times over, they were effing liars too.

Re: Olympic Army : Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:02 pm  

Mintball wrote:

And with that, we have the perfect reminder that this is nothing whatsoever to do with sport or host communities or people or a 'legacy', but is about big bucks for already massively profitable companies.

And some people are apparently entirely happy with that situation, and entirely ready to defend stupidity and censorship and loss of civil liberties and goodness knows what else – just so McCrappyDonalds can make a few more bucks.

Good for you. Feel proud of yourselves. Corporate sell outs.

I assume you'll be boycotting the Olympics in their entirety then? You'll be protesting outside the cleaners' portacabins instead?

Because if you enjoy any moment of the Olympics, visit an event, buy some food or drink on site - you're a sell-out. A cheap hypocritical sell-out.

Time you grew up and moved past the rebellious-without-a-cause stage - big events like these move in corporate circles and depend almost entirely on corporate billions, like it or not.

Forking out those billions gives those corporates rights associated with the event, like it or not. And by having sold the right for corporates to associate themselves with their event, the IOC have a duty to protect their sponsors' investment by protecting their brand. Like it or not.

I for one am looking forward to the games, and I'll be doing my best to ignore the banal negativity such as "coach a bit lost on way to olympic village" making headline news.