For now! Riddle me this - Why was there a 1500 year gap between the original Olympics & the current one?

Christians?

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Nope - they had their own "Olympics" facing the lions in the Colliseum.

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Yes, it was the other Romans who first stopped them.

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Just picked this up during a safety car period in the Le Mans 24hs race.

London 2012: IOC begins Olympics tickets investigation
and/or
London 2012 Olympics: IOC launch investigation into 'black market tickets'

I think every major sporting event has this sort of thing going on, and not just the current Olympics, but past ones as well. Of course it is wrong, and of course it should be dealt with accordingly. But in recessionary times it it a big temptation for some people to make a few extra bob. Doesn't excuse it though.

Especially not excusable when the crime is being generated from with the
Olympic organisation itself.The organisation knows it goes on, "You scratch my
back and I'll scratch yours and hopefully no one gets to find out"

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

To get over the gloom & doom....

Hackney 2012

BBC Radio 1 - Hackney 2012 live

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To get over the gloom & doom....

Hackney 2012

BBC Radio 1 - Hackney 2012 live

Doesn't have the same ring about it like Woodstock did?
Thank goodness Skegness wasn't chosen to host Olympics 2012?

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

With this forecast for London, Skegness would probably have been a good choice...:)

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Might have clashed with UKIP's Spring Conference.

No wonder the country's in a mess with politicians being 3 months behind the times.......

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Unsung heroes

It really is a shame that the people that continue to do their everyday jobs are not supported by the legal/political systems we have.

Emergency services, armed forces etc... all the while all we tend to see are those looking out for themselves.

As in the banking scandal, think it's about time that the population got behind these people as much as their outpourings over said scandals are showing.

Well done the boys in blue.

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Think it's about time this "farce" ended!

Troops used as "private security contractors" infuriate Defence chiefs

About time for a military coup in this country!

Another "Civil Servce" asswipe giving both the electorate & our armed forces the "Bird".....

"Dame Helen Ghosh, the senior civil servant at the Home Office, admitted last year that the 10,000 figure had been a “finger in the air” estimate".

I know where I'd like to put my "finger in the air" b***h!

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A positive wave for a change

How Games will boost economy by £16.5 billion

If it happens, that will be nice!

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How Games will boost economy by £16.5 billion

Pure speculation accompanied by unadulterated nepotism by Lloyds bank in bum
licking up to the government via this article.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Boosting the economy is total speculation and the banks don't have a good rep at the mo.

And I read recently, after my post about Montreal, that the only games that have have shown a profit or benefit for the host city since WW2 has been Barcelona.

Well I know that there have been occasions where my posts have shown relevant articles & I've shown some flippancy, maybe that's my minset, I don't really know.

However, I do know right from wrong & whenever I've been proved wrong, I stand up & be counted, so, I find this next report absolutely disgusting!

G4S to be docked part of it's £535 million security bill

"As a result, 3,500 soldiers have been told to prepare to perform often menial tasks at the Games, including many who have returned only recently from tours of Afghanistan"

"He said: "Many of the soldiers that are coming - this extra 3,500 - I understand are soldiers who have just returned from Afghanistan or about to deploy to Afghanistan, so they are people who I imagine are getting ready to go on leave with their families, a well-deserved leave perhaps after six months away on operations or training for future operations, and this will hit them very hard indeed"

Before anyone crops up & states "that's what they're getting paid for", I suggest you keep that type of remark for the funny pages of your local rag!

These guys & gals have spent 6 months in a combat zone & are legally entitled to their leave. What I personally find highly annoying is the following statement made....

"The Labour Party and MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee have called for an inquiry into why G4S's struggles had come to light so late in the planning stages ahead of the Games".

I'd like to know the answer to that question as well!

Hmmmn, just wondering if G4S rubbed their hands with glee at all that lovely profit after attempting to cover the games with as little as they could get away with, but has found that just is not possible & due to the time of year with many going on their annual summer vacations, now find that they cannot even get sufficient temporary staff....

Edit: Approx half way through the article is a poll.... with close to 14,000 votes.....

"No, they are trained soldiers not security guards" received 78.33% of the total vote to date.

Are you muppets in parliament seeing that?

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Thank you my son! Excellent report.

How about the "Games for all?"

"But the Olympics, as with sport in general, holds up a mirror to society. What is being played out in London reflects a legacy of the war on terror and deregulation of unbridled corporate power – both elite blunders that have ended in failure. If those disasters can be overcome, why should it be impossible to end the corporate grip on the Olympics – and create a Games that lives up to its billing?"

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One up for the sheep! Just how long before they tell us it's time to work or it's time to die?

Mcdonald's frying tonight

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As I have had cause to comment before, if some posters would refrain from making multiple posts about their pet peeves, perhaps some of the rest of us might get a word in edgewise now and again.Major FAIL! Check the time slots & secondly, there's a reason why messages have message numbers with Quote/Reply buttons - Get off your high horse!

I have recently got home from today's visit to London, where I had a pass to the Public Gallery at the House of Commons. I was there from 10.30am until 1pm and witnessed first hand the response by Theresa May the Home Secretary, to an urgent Question tabled from Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, regarding Olympic security. Foreign Secretary Hague followed making a statement about Europe, with some good natured exchanges with Charles Kennedy, previous Lib Dem Leader, which had the House chuckling away. Wasted space.

Olympic Security

The Home Secretary was grilled extensively for one hour over this matter, by MP's on both sides of the house, and quite rightly so. She gave a robust response and it appears the the Home Office did not know until yesterday that there was an Olympic security staffing problem. As soon as they were aware they drafted in an extra 3500 troops, and as an extra contingency, even more are now on standby.

MP after MP asked who was at fault. May replied that the contract for Olympic security was between Locog and G4S, and it was a matter for them to resolve the contract penalties for non-performance. Troops used in this way newly repatriated from conflicts abroad, are to be appropriately compensated.

So what is my personal take upon all of this?

It was quite striking to me that she would not publicly condemn either Locog or G4S, although pushed quite hard to do so. There must be some behind the scenes diplomatic reasons why. I think she was dropped in it, not only by these two outfits, but by her own Dept who didn't keep enough tabs on what was going on. And she is cross she has to pick up the pieces and be the fall guy.

There was no good reason why Locog should not have given the contract to G4S, based upon their past performance. But clearly, they had a major problem and held on until the last minute, trying to sort it out, before they had to admit they couldn't cope. The ambiance that came across in the Chamber was that MP's were rightly cross that we had got to this situation, pleased that it had been dealt with, but would want an in-depth investigation later.

Always a privilege to be at Westminster, awesome place.

A major issue here that you've commented on which is extremely similar to comments I've posted, yet you don't like them! What's good for the goose is good for the gander

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Other side of the coin...no political asswipes, no civil serfants, just a retired police officer with 30 years service......

G4S Recruitment chaotic

Throughout the day with various media reports regarding this issue, many of the recruits were stating that on the initial recruitment, they were informed of pay & conditions, but once they started training, those pay & conditions were reduced to bare legal requirements.

Pure political bullshyte

Proper compensation to the troops being used is not the answer as to why this "farce" is happening. The question is "WHY" was this allowed to happen?

Easy enough to answer! The Olympic Games no longer represent sports but corporate scumbags with their wineing & dining "big fish".....

...and we all know that fish are slippery b*****d's!

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Off on a slight tangent, but could be relevant to the current "farce" known as London 2012......

Full Swiss report on Fifa corruption

Could this happen? Has it happened? Are the IOC innocent of any charge?

with the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in today's sports, IMV, it's impossible for any organisation to be "whiter than white"!

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