GRIMLY FIENDISH

Jark has a point.. PMing each other is also an option... Kath, Charlie, can we not have the Perspectives forum turning into a slanging off match between you guys..? Cheers.... :)

Yeah, well, there was a lot of opposition to the tripling of tuition fees as well though..... And the sales of the sports fields is a done deal, sadly.... Ca-Moron has been busying himself blaming the teachers for the "necessity" to scrap the targets though, how typical.... -_- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9...hool-sport.html

To be fair, Charlie's alright when it comes to most things, he's a pretty good poster.. But, does seem to be taking the (valid) criticisms of the Olympics far too personally... I know someone who works at LOCOG, get them away from work and get a few drinks down them in the pub, and the expletives that come out concerning Boris, G4S and Lord Coe would honestly turn the air blue..... :lol: :lol:

He's coming across as a bit of prat here tbh, but there are certain things he's kind of right about, the CCTV and the increasingly restrictive laws for instance....

Why are you attributing that quote to me, it was from the article I pasted... :huh: So, take it up with the reporter who wrote it, and not me...

Keep drinking the Kool Aid, and be distracted by the bright, shiny object whilst the "government" sells off schools playing fields and scraps schools sports targets thus surely making the next generations of working class athletes like the Jessica Ennises and Mo Farahs more difficult to actually come through, yeah, the "Olympic Legacy", eh...... -_- As for Boris Johnson, that shameless media whore. Schmoozing around with Emperor Murdoch of the Sith, BoJo is clearly using the games as a tool to get himself elected as Tory leader..... Dont ask me to just "enjoy the sport" when all this shit is going on right beneath our noses, maybe you can just forget about it all, but some of us swim a bit deeper than just the shallow end, know what I mean.....?

The Opening ceremony was "pretty" and nice to look at, but I'm not falling for the whole "This is for Everyone" schtick... Danny Boyle has become very good at manipulating emotions with artifice and not much substance, a casual look at his last few films would tell you that ("Slumdog Millionaire" in particular is SOOOOO over-rated, IMO), long gone is the firebrand who made "Trainspotting"... Yes, I am cynical about the games, because I actually LIVE in London and have seen the negative effects on local small businesses, people in the area, I've seen peoples' rents in Stratford and Bow TRIPLE in the space of a year, more or less because greedy scumbag land-lords and estate agents want to cash in and attempt to gentrify that part of London (yeah, good luck with that one given that area has been dubbed the "Murder Mile End Road"); and I know personally several people who live within blast radius of one of those bloody missile batteries.... I made my comment about how I wished the games could be, a genuine celebration of sporting prowess, and not some excuse for the corporations to cash-in or politicians to make political capital out of... Nope, to most of us here in London, it's all a load of expensive crap, Bread and Circuses... Only, without the bread obviously, seeing as how you cant take a sandwich into any of the venues because it might upset Muck-Donalds.... I did get a good old laugh at Boris though, dangling on the wire... It just perfectly encapsulates the omnishambles that has happened with regards to much of the organisation, actually, if the wire had broken or become unsecured and he'd landed on his arse it would've been the perfect metaphor for G4S....

I missed that, mainly because it was on the previous page and Jark writes in such microscopic writing it can sometimes be easy to miss a post by him....

What 'valid point'....?

Wayhey... Now Boris Johnson has invited the Prince of Darkness himself, Rupert Murdoch along for an Olympig scmooze-athon during Becky Adkington's bid to retain her 800m medal on Friday... I'm sure she'll be chuffed to have that c'nt coming along to watch her.... Not that she would be allowed to say anything either way of course.... Is there nothing Boris the shameless whore won't do to curry favour with those influential people who might help him become Tory leader....? Doesn't really get much clearer that politicians are just using the games for their own ambitions.... And people wonder why I don't like 'em....

I've not really got anything against anyone on this site, well, Crazy Chris, aside.... I give the nicknames to politicians, corporate types, dignitaries, etc, as appropriate... You notice that I don't criticise any of the athletes, mainly because they've been shit on too with the whole signing of that big contract thing which basically took away their human right to free speech.. Anyway, you can say what you like about me shitting on the games, no one has done more than the IOC, LOCOG, the Corporate "sponsors'' and arseholes like Lord Coe to shit on the whole ideal of the Olympic spirit... If it was just about the sport, then I would have no issues with it, but all the shit that seems to go along with it, is just ridiculous....

I kind of agree with the general point you're making Kath. But, I'm also objecting to the fact that tickets have been sold for absolutely outrageous prices that the vast majority of Londoners cant afford, and now we're seeing these "reserved" and "expensive" seats left empty.. It's just a ridiculous situation, when you consider the whole exercise is supposedly about creating a "Legacy" for the people of East London and ordinary Brits generally..... Here's an actual quote from Lord Coe-Ca Cola.... "I was at the Beijing games in 2008, and one of the things we took away from that is that full stadia create the best atmosphere.....". :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Yeah, no shit Sherlock...... And here's this rather hilarious article concerning the Olympigs "Brand Police"... (the picture that goes along with this article is priceless...) http://dangerousminds.net/comments/how_to_...cs_brand_police

Well, shouldn't they actually know the precise figures anyway... ? Why are you so keen to uncritically defend these Olympig assholes...? I have to say, your Sig is incredibly ironic... Almost as ironic as Dave Cameron saying "we're all in this together"...

Big oops.... Especially given that most media outlets are Corporations too.... Lol Still, I'm not surprised the IOC are pathetically trying to put a spin on it.. And, define a "handful" anyway Mr Adams....

That's some amazing logic there Tirren... And, if you honestly think that these games benefit any of the ordinary people in the area, I suggest you come and talk to local people whose businesses have been destroyed, tenants who have seen massive hikes in their rents and the council tenants who have been forced to put up with missiles on their roof, not to mention commuters being grossly inconvenienced by the 'Zil' lanes... And, at the weekend we had cyclists being kettles by the Met when they protested about cycle lanes being adversely affected... This was not how things were supposed to go when Livingstone and Blair sold the idea...

Yes, carry on being distracted by the bright shiny object and blind yourselves to the very obvious problems associated with the shiny object.. Bread and Circuses, folks, Bread and Circuses..... I hope you're all enjoying the Corporate Olympigs and are enjoying looking at all the rows of empty seats that you could have been sitting in, but were instead reserved for Corporate hangers on and politicos who couldn't be arsed showing up... Still, I guess they'll draft in the army to fill that hole as well.... Lord Coe is a w*n**r, end of story, and you're a fool to fall for his or LOCOG's or the IOC's bullcrap about this being the "people's games"

London 2012: Olympic leaders live in different world Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/a...ahtlvA.facebook LONDON—The International Olympic Committee includes, among its active members, 11 princes and princesses, two sheiks and one raja. So much for the meritocracy of sports, as exemplified by the Olympic Games. Two new VPs will be elected into the inner cadre of VIPs during the IOC’s 128th Session, now being held here. Top candidates are a British Sir and the woman who was Morocco’s first Olympic champion, 1984 gold medallist in the 400-metre hurdles. At least she’s dripped perspiration in public. Few of the others have ever broken a sweat over an honest day’s work. Indeed, the IOC is ridiculously a sinecure for royal progeny who don’t have proper jobs. That might get in the way of their swanking ’round the world. They are monumentally privileged and refer to themselves, by Charter, as “Supreme Authority’’ of all things Olympian, rather like the Vatican’s Curia, a conclave of pope-makers. Their pontiff is Jacques Rogge: count, knight of the realm and officer of the Legion d’honneur. He took tea and crumpets with the Queen upon his arrival in London last Friday. I doubt she kissed his ring. Everybody else kisses his arse. Really, Rogge is even beginning to physically resemble the autocrat he replaced, Juan Antonio Samaranch. (Samaranch Jr. is an IOC member.) Whilst at home, the IOC resides in a grand chalet in Lausanne, Switzerland, a handy address for hiding lucre. Ironically, corruption was on the agenda for the London session — allegations of multimillions disappearing into the pockets of a prominent former member. A report released by Swiss prosecutors last week found Joao Havelange, one-time president of FIFA, took bribes in the ’90s linked to the World Cup. Havelange, 94, resigned from the Lords of the Rings last December, just before an IOC ethics committee — now there’s an oxymoron — was due to hold a hearing into the matter. Rogge has ruled out any sanctions against the nonagenarian because Havelange is no longer part of the “Olympic Family.’’ But there’s no shortage of alleged fiscal feloniousness for the IOC to consider before Friday night’s opening ceremonies. A separate investigation resulted in claims that officials and agents from 27 national Olympic committees breached rules by scalping tickets for London 2012, in some cases purportedly offering ducats for 10 times their face value. Thousands of tickets for Olympic events at every Games are set aside for IOC members, yet those VIP-seating sections are routinely empty during competition, like the poltroons have something better to do — attend soirees, collect sponsor swag, hit the local hotspots in their chauffeur-driven BMWs. Traffic congestion is pas de probleme. Their vehicles, surrounded by motorcycle cop outriders, use the designated Olympic traffic lanes, speeding blithely past gridlock. In London, the Olympic satraps are dosing down in the five-star Hilton in the heart of Mayfair, dubbed Fortress Hilton. The entire 453-room hotel, plus 56 suites, has been block-booked for the IOC. It resembles the Green Zone in Baghdad, bristling with security and barricades. No mere mook can even enter the lobby unless in possession of an IOC invitation and pre-vetted. Seriously, if terrorism is the fear, what self-respecting bomber would bother to blow up an IOC mob? Luxuriously ensconced in their Fortress, protected from rubbing shoulders with the great unwashed, delegates can, say, enjoy a massage at the Purity Spa, sip thousand-buck-a-bottle wine, or savor the Michelin-starred menu in Galvin at Windows on the 28th floor, with its panoramic views of the city. They needn’t ever open their wallets. Like the rooms, all expenses are covered by corporate sponsors. Little wonder the IOC — which rakes in 10 per cent of Olympic revenues — has managed to sock away heaps o’ do-re-mi, $3.9 billion in just the last four years. The actual IOC session is being held in the nearby five-star Grosvenor House Hotel, which is even more posh but accessible to credentialed journalists for the evening press conferences. It was at this press palaver the other night that IOC PR guru Mark Adams provided what has been the most priceless quote of the Olympics thus far. Adams was attempting to “walk balk’’ a hilarious observation made by Rogge during a radio interview earlier in the week. Rogge had justified the cost of Occupy IOC at the Hilton: “I’m sorry but in a 3-star hotel, you will not find the facilities that are in this hotel — conference room, simultaneous translation — this is something only more upscale hotels have.’’ The one-time Olympic yachtsman and now non-practising orthopedic surgeon — who pointed out he will spend some time living at the Athletes Village, slumming — went double-dose provocatively further, assuming the virtues of the proletariat by describing himself as a “working class person who lives in the real world.’’ That sparked hoots and howls of derision from reporters — 25,000 of us here on the company dime. Back-spinning furiously, Adams explained: “His English is good but he didn’t mean working class as in hammer and sickle. He just meant he works very hard.’’ Give that man a medal. Fat cats and porkers, they are. With a meow-meow here and an oink-oink there . . . (indeed) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing more for me to add there, the correspondant sums it up perfectly..... Now, you're gonna love this one....... South Korean flag flies above North Korean football team at London Olympics http://www.news.com.au/south-korean-flag-f...x-1226435296877 GREAT Britain is known as the home of football so it should have been the last place on earth where a gaffe disgraced an Olympic Games. Yet a diplomatic blunder - in which a North Korea player was introduced on the giant screen accompanied by a picture of the South Korean flag - sent the London Games into damage control just 48 hours before the official Opening Ceremony. The flag faux pas occurred as North Korea prepared to play Colombia at Glasgow's Hampden Park and it prompted the team to refuse to take the field, delaying the start of the game by more than an hour. With FIFA introducing pre-match procedures to avoid match day disasters 24 hours before kick off, its appointed technical committee in Glasgow seemingly put its trust in Hampden Park's venue manager, Andy Mitchell. Ironically Mitchell - a former Scottish Football Association communications director – told The Scotsman on Wednesday "the fans will see something different" before yesterday's embarrassing flag incident. "There will be very much a sense of 'this is the Olympics' with the whole look of the stadium and the decoration all different," he added. A FIFA source last night confirmed big screen graphics and stadium public address systems are in the hands of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) during the Olympic football tournament. He said LOCOG and stadium management should have done its homework after the mistake only heightened the tensions between the feuding Korean nations. The blunder managed to upstage the match itself. The usually pedantic FIFA pre-match day meeting, which is held with team officials, match officials, stadium management officials, the host broadcaster, security, police and LOCOG officials has an intricate checklist, which must be met before games are allowed to go ahead. Items such as shirts, shorts, socks, balls, stadium advertising and stringent FIFA and LOCOG protocols are all discussed during this mandatory meeting. But the rage of Korea's DPR squad was evident when the women's side marched off the park in protest. LOCOG was quick to issue an apology while Korea DPR was in the change rooms contemplating a boycott but FIFA's media channel remained silent. To compound the incident, the LOCOG apology instigated another request for forgiveness from the organisation which named Korea DPR as North Korea in the original statement. "Today, ahead of the women's football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the North Korean flag. Clearly that is a mistake," LOCOG organisers said in the statement. "We will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again." Social media was bombarded with outrage as Korea DPR was the trending topic on Twitter just hours after world anti-doping chief John Fahey attacked FIFA's lack of anti-doping procedures at Asia's women's Olympic Games qualifiers in China. Korea DPR ousted the Matildas and qualified with Japan for London despite suspicion surrounding the side which had five players banned for doping violations at the FIFA women’s World Cup weeks before the Olympic qualifiers. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, seems like the Games themselves are going to reflect the gaffe-prone Mayor of London and the shambles that has affected much of the planning and organisation.... I mean, seriously WTF???? Considering that North and South Korea are still technically AT WAR with each other, this had all the makings of a serious diplomatic incident. The only way it could've been worse would've been to have a German flag flying for the Israeli team, or the Israeli flag flying for the Iranians... Maybe they're saving those clangers for later on.... Not even the scriptwriters of "Twenty Twelve" could've made this one up.... :lol: :lol: This sort of thing does nothing to head off the criticisms LOCOG and Co(e) have been getting for the G4S scandal, SAMs on the roofs of council house blocks, the gross budget overspends, the fact that there's still no exact idea of what the hell is going to happen to the stadium after the games is done and all the other things.. You had Ca-Moron threatening to take the PCS union to court over the strike action the other day, and threatening to come down like a ton of bricks on anyone who sets out to "spoil" the Olympics by protest or civil disobedience.... Well, errrr, seems to me that the Olympics "organisers" dont need any help from any unions or protesters to royally f*** things up if the whole G4S thing and now this Korean gaffe is anything to go by.... Oh, and we still have the coming several weeks of travel chaos to come... Oh, joy....... :rolleyes:

Nahh, I think that a firearms ban would be unrealistic.. The problem here was that this guy was able to amass a horde of 6000 rounds of live ammunition, and it didn't raise any red flags.. I think it would be much easier to control the supply of bullets. If people are genuinely only interested in having a firearm for home protection, then they dont need any more than a box or two of ammo.. You want to go around just shooting at things, well, you have firing ranges for that, join a rifle club or a clay pigeon shooting club..

And if I'd waited until tomorrow to post this, you'd likely still moan at me.... -_-

Indeed they will... I quite liked Chris Rock's idea, by all means have your right to own guns, but "every bullet should cost $5000", I know it was meant to be humourous, but there was a serious point to be made... I've already seen the remarks that some have made on other Social Media sites - "If someone in the audience had had a gun, things would have gone differently".. Yeah, right, unless the shooter was wearing body armour, which, from some accounts I heard, he likely was...

Like I say, this is Politics Forum, so it's hardly inappropriate to look at the implications, obviously, if I was posting this in the Cinema Forum it would have a completely different tone.. If you dont like the tone of the debate, then you dont have to contribute, but you're sort of implying that there shouldn't even be a debate, and that's just silly, I can guarantee other forums are already buzzing with this and many are saying things far more offensive and cruel than anything that I or anyone else here will write...

And this is precisely what will happen, mark my words... No one ever seems to want to discuss The Second Amendment when horrors like this happen.. Now, I mean, gun ownership in itself is not really a big problem, but gun ownership + paranoia + ignorance is a problem.... And just reading from the descriptions of the killer - heavily armed, wore a gas-mask, body armour, explosives were found as well.. I'm remembering the notorious picture of Anders Breivik in the body armour toting the assault rifle an knowing what we know now, only a fool would say he wasn't influenced by extremist right wing politics....

And you dont think that politicians will pursue their own agenda of using this to censor the movies...? This is a "Politics Forum" mate, we talk about the issues here, and there are serious issues to be addressed with this event.... Regardless of how many would like to bury their heads in the sand and hope it will all go away. It wont... Columbine and now this, something is very wrong in America...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/20..._n_1688464.html Batman, Dark Knight Rises: Shooting Deaths Reported At Midnight Film Screening Near Denver Up to 14 people are confirmed dead after a man hurled a tear gas bomb and then opened fire during a midnight Dark Knight Rises film screening near Denver, Colorado. Witnesses say the man was wearing a "Bane-style" gas mask and body armour during the attack and a bomb squad are reportedly examining a Hyundai in the cinema's car park for a further explosive device. Justin Joseph, of Fox affiliate KDVR said the tear gas caused "mass panic" and that as people got up and tried to flee the theatre, they became "moving targets" as the man opened fire. Several children and babies were in the theatre and an 80-year-old is believed to have been shot dead at point blank range. A three-month old is among those being treated in hospital and a six-year-old is believed to be the youngest victim. Police have confirmed attacker was armed with one rifle and two handguns. The screening was taking place at the Century 16 Theatre in Aurora and the trailers for the film had just ended when the attack began. Brenda Stuart of 850 KOA Radio told Sky News that the audience initially: "Thought the gunshots were part of the movie." Paul Otermat saw the attack unfold, and told Sky News he saw a man in a black jacket and cap walk "pretty casually" to the middle of the screen. He said: "I thought it was a publicity stunt at first. Then he threw tear gas at the crowd and started firing shots." Mr Otermat said he managed to escape by crawling out behind seats when there was a pause in the shooting. "He was just picking people at random," Mr Otermat added. Police officers from all local jurisdictions are at the scene, as are FBI agents, prompting fears the incident is related to a terrorist attack. President Barack Obama has been notified of the incident and the FBI is now said to be considering raising the national security level. A suspect in his early 20s is in custody and CBS Denver says explosives have been found in his apartment. There had been reports a manhunt was underway for a second attacker, but Dan Oates of the Aurora Police Department said there was only evidence of one gunman involved in the incident. There had been speculation there were two attacks, with the second taking place in an adjacent screening room, but it is now believed some of the bullets fired went through the walls of the theatre into an adjacent one. Nicole Williams, at the nearby Swedish Medical Centre told 9News the hospital was notified of a "mass casualty incident" at 1.15am. Up to 50 people are feared injured and surrounding streets have been cordoned off. Aurora is 40 miles from Columbine, the town where 13 people were killed in a high school shooting carried out by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in 1999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A mere two days before this event, we get prize idiot Rush Limbaugh mouthing off about how Dark Knight Rises is basically some sort of "liberal conspiracy" against Mitt Romney.... Now, I dont want to say the two things are necessarily related, but, in the minds of some maniacs (like Anders Breivik for example), it doesn't take much to set them off on a kill-crazy murder rampage, and Rush Limbaugh, is supposedly a "pundit" or a "journalist" and as such, has some measure of influence over his listeners as he paints himself as some kind of "authority figure".... Certain people will obviously try to "blame the movies", but, seriously, it probably makes far more sense to blame the likes of Rush Limbaugh and the NRA who tend to have the ear of extreme right wing crazies or the "survivalist" types who would pull a stunt like this or the massacre of Utoya... zetAT0Qk8GE And just 40 miles up the road from this town, you had the Columbine massacre....

Or, they likely drafted in the same jury from the Rodney King trial.... The fact is there are too many people in this country (mainly Daily Mail or Express readers) who seem to think the Police can do no wrong, and just completely forget any line of critical thinking where the Police are concerned...