NBC Shrouds Itself in Olympic Glory

For reasons best known to NBC (they claim it was to protect their $1.2BN Olympic rights) they decided not to show Usain Bolt's 100M victory on 5th August live on TV, instead saving it for precious "primetime".

NBC of course do have a live web stream that, in theory, should have shown the race.

Can you guess what happened children?

Yes, that's right, it didn't work.

Well done NBC, $1.2BN well spent on denying other US networks the chance to broadcast the Olympics professionally and in real time!

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Olympic Brand Police Go Bonkers

Andrew Goldstone has just tweeted the following:

"Brand name taped over on hand dryers in gents at canoe slalom. Corporate sponsor policing gone mad. BTW everyone, they're made by Elliott. "

Therefore folks you know what to do the next time that you have a "modular space" issue, go out and hire Elliott just to annoy the brand police!

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Locog Bans Box Hill News

Locog will not allow a village magazine to be sold on Box Hill during this month's cycle races, because the publication is not an official London 2012 sponsor.

The Box Hill News, a 40p news magazine run by volunteers, wanted to publish a special Olympics-themed edition to be sold on the weekend of the cycling races, July 28 and 29.

Locog insist only event sponsors can trade along the route.

Corporate greed at its worst!

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Border Agency To Stage Olympics Strike

PCS have now given details of when the Home Office strike, announced yesterday, will occur.

Unsurprisingly it is timed to hit the Olympics.

Thousands of Home Office workers (including Border Agency staff) will stage a 24-hour strike on 26th July, the day before the Olympic Games open.

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The Olympics Gravy Train - East Midlands Trains Strike

Following their brothers in the Border Agency, and recognising a golden opportunity to make some money out of the Olympic, members of the train drivers' union Aslef have scheduled strikes on East Midland Trains for 6, 7, and 8 August.

Remember, the Olympics are not about sport but about money!

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Border Agency Staff To Strike

Now that the bus drivers have accepted their Olympic bribe, step forward Border Agency staff and others who also want a share of the Olympic pie.

Thousands of staff at the Home Office have voted to go on strike. Dates have not been set, however there is the prospect of strikes affecting the London 2012 Olympic Games, because Border Agency staff are involved.

The question is, if Border Agency staff do go on strike, will the hapless passengers arriving at Heathrow notice any difference?

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Bus Drivers Accept Bribe To Work During Olympics

London bus workers have accepted an Olympics bonus payment of £577, and called off strike action.

They will now work during the forthcoming Olympics.

How very "gracious" of them!

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The Olympic Damp Squib

The Independent reports that the hoped for Olympics greedfest (hoped for by those with their snouts in the trough) has not materialised, and that the forthcoming Games look like turning into a financial damp squib.

"Hotel prices have been slashed, and thousands of tickets remain unsold. Olympic package holidays are being flogged at half price and flats near the stadium languish unrented. It looks like the Olympic bubble could well have burst. 

With a surplus of top-end tickets and VIP packages, ticketing and travel companies have slashed prices in a last-minute effort to fill spaces."

This comes as no surprise whatsoever, as in February I wrote:

"Locog have had to publicly humiliate themselves (not for the first time) by admitting that they had overestimated the number of rooms needed by officials, media, sponsors and assorted freeloaders for the coming games.

By how much did they overestimate the demand?

By a staggering 20%!

Locog have had to hand back 120,000 of the total 600,000 nights booked for the Olympics.

Needless to say this 20% reduction in bookings has given the greedy hotel industry a well deserved kick in the goolies.

Tour operators are now panicking and have warned that the newly available rooms will not boost visitor numbers.

For why?

- the vacancies have come too late
- tourists have been put off by the naked greed of the hotel operators
- tourists have been put off by the transport/travel chaos expected in London during the games

It is estimated that up to one million beds will go unsold over the Olympic period, costing the tourism industry around £3.5BN.

Now who was it who said that the Olympics would be a boon to tourism?

Oh yes, Locog!"

My advice to any tourist brave enough to endure the chaos of London during the Olympics is to negotiate hard with the hotels (who are desperate for business), don't let the greedy bastards get away with overcharging you for a shoddy room and lousy service!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Olympics Greedfest Bus Strike

Warming up for the Olympics greedfest, thousands of London bus workers have taken a leaf out of the tube workers' book and have gone on strike today.

For why?

They want a £500 bonus for working during the Olympics.

Transport for London (TfL) said more than a third of bus routes were running but "many routes were disrupted".

It's going to be a long and tedious summer in the capital!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Police Investigate Large Scale Olympic Ticket Touting

The Telegraph reports that the police have compiled a new “watch list” of nearly 1000 Olympic ticket touts, many of whom are linked to serious organised crime, and 30 sites outside Britain suspected of being involved in illegally selling tickets for the forthcoming Olympics.

Almost 200 people have been arrested for a range of offences, with warnings of further raids over the coming weeks as interest in the Olympic Games intensifies.

I assume the the police will also be investigating those individuals and organisations involved in the ticket touting bonanza that I wrote about just two days ago?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Olympics Ticket Touting Bonanza

In June 2010 I wrote the following:

"In a rather amusing development, the IOC has all but accused four (albeit unnamed) countries of touting tickets for the recent Vancouver Winter games.

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) receive a quota of tickets that they can sell to the public in their home country. However, some NOCs have been in the habit of passing the tickets on to touts for profit.

Gilbert Felli, an IOC director, has stated that four countries would be punished (they will receive a reduced ticket allocation for the London games) for the way in which the sales of their Vancouver allocation were handled."

Here we are some two year later in June 2012, and it appears that the International Olympics Committee (IOC) have yet to get their house in order; and that the illegal touting of tickets by Olympics nations, officials and authorised ticket distributors has become more widespread (or at least is now more prominently visible in the public domain).

The Telegraph reports that Olympic officials were selling tickets on the black market for up to 10 times their face value.

It is alleged Greek national Olympic committee President Spyros Caprolos claimed he successfully lobbied Locog chairman Lord Coe to give Greece a fresh batch of premium tickets to the Games on the pretext that demand in the country had outstripped expectations. Locog deny this allegation, which if true would be rather "ironic" given that in July 2011 Lord Coe made an appeal for Olympics grandees to return unwanted tickets so that UK residents could buy them.

Other allegations (that cover 54 countries) include:

- Serbia's official ticket reseller was prepared to sell 1,300 prime tickets for £80,000 to a Middle East buyer, and attempted to circumvent scrutiny from the IOC or Locog by falsifying information from 1,400 Serbian passports;

- China's official ticket reseller, Caissa, had purchased top-level seats to the Opening and Closing ceremonies, diving, gymnastics and athletics from the official UK hospitality reseller Thomas Cook, which it was prepared to sell on at inflated prices of more than £6,000 each;

- Cyprus and Israel’s ticket reseller was offering 525 seats at the best events for £66,000;

- The Lithuanian ticket reseller was willing to sell all of the country’s remaining tickets to a Middle East buyer; and

- An executive from one major ticket reseller in multiple countries, Cartan Tours, advised a prospective buyer to set up a company in one of the 40 territories in which he has the right to sell tickets.

The Telegraph now reports that in the wake of this expose, the IOC is trying to buy time and will approach a major audit/law firm to conduct a review of the failings.

Why didn't the IOC take decisive action to improve its procedures after the Vancouver touting scandal reported in June 2010?

As I have noted many times before, the Olympics are not about sport but about money!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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HMRC Guidance For Selling Olympic Torches

Given that the forthcoming Olympics are about making money, rather than sport, HMRC has very wisely issued some guidance to those people who are thinking of selling their Olympic torches.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Locog Reneges On Another Promise

Locog has reneged on yet another promise, and has decreed that it will charge up to £15 for 30,000 tickets for prime vantage points for the Olympics cycling event at Box Hill and up to £15 for 3,500 tickets for the start and finish area of the time trial at Hampton Court Palace.

Locog had previously promised that the admission would be free.

Additionally, smelling more money to be made, Locog will sell about 6,000 tickets at £10 each over the last three days to watch a large television screen on Henman Hill at Wimbledon. There will be no tennis on the outside courts on those days.

Locog are offering these "new" tickets for sale on 23 May.

However, the Telegraph reports that these are in fact a sop "to fend off criticism from nearly a million applicants who will again fail to secure any tickets in the next round of sales which start on Friday".

This Friday will see the sale of 928,000 tickets.

Ticketmaster executive Chris Edmonds has warned that the expected demand will create a slow computer system, that could take 20 minutes to process a payment:

“People will have to have patience."

Which roughly translated means:

"In order to maximise our profits we didn't invest in a system that can handle the load, tough luck!"

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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ODA £200 Parking Fine Nixed

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has been thwarted in its plans to levy fines of £200 on those who park on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) during the Games.

Kerching!

The transport secretary Justine Greening has rejected this plan, noting that it would be an unnecessary burden in a challenging economic climate.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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A Nice Little Earner - Torchbearers Charged For Torch

People who have volunteered to carry the Olympic torch around the UK, have received an email from the powers that be (London 2012) telling them that they will have to pay £199 if they want to keep the torch as a souvenir.

However, not everyone will have to pay the charge (if they want to keep the torch). Some sponsors of the torchbearers (eg Coca-Cola) have stated that the torchbearers it nominates will not have to pay.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Sponsorship Stupidity - The True Olympic's Spirit

The paranoia of Olympics sponsors (when it comes to protecting their "investment" in the London Olympics) knows no bounds.

Last month I wrote:

"There seems to be something of a hissy fit going on between the BOA and the agents of one of the sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics.

The agents of some competitors, who are sponsored by Nike, have told the BOA that athletes would be in breach of contracts if they are forced to wear Team GB’s official ”presentation outfit” which is sponsored by Adidas.

The agents have told the BOA that athletes might have to take off their shoes before mounting the presentation dais.

The BOA have hit back, and said that the rules mean that the athletes must wear the sponsor's (Adidas) footwear at all times."

The issue over footwear won't die down, the Telegraph reports that Aidan Kirkwood (a soldier injured in Afghanistan) was required to cover up the Raebok logo on his trainers with white tape when he appeared at an Olympic torch relay event this week.

There's the true "Olympic spirit" for you, money before sport or community spirit!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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RMT Backs Driverless Trains

Last month I wrote:

"It appears that the RMT are in favour of driverless trains and, having rejected the £500 bribe offered to drivers to do their normal job during the London Olympics, will be balloting their members about strike action."

Well, the RMT continue to vote for driverless trains; the RMT has rejected an £850 bonus for London Underground (LU) employees to work during the Olympics.

Driverless trains here we come!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Pillock!

Len McCluskey, leader of Unite, has told the Guardian that civil disobedience could be timed to disrupt the 2012 Games.
 
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Tube Workers Vote For Driverless Trains

In January I wrote the following:

"It seems that our downtrodden and hard working Tube drivers feel a tad hard done by wrt the offer made by London Underground of a £500 bonus for shift working during the Olympics.

The RMT has rejected the £500 bonus, saying that the money was not an adequate reward for being on duty during the event.
RMT general secretary comrade Bob Crow is quoted by the BBC:

" It is well-documented that transport will be the biggest logistical challenge throughout the Olympics period.

All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer and the negotiations to achieve that are ongoing."

Given that the Tube drivers do not feel up to the job of doing what they are paid to do, the solution to this problem is simple; install driverless trains and remove the drivers altogether.

Problem solved!"

It appears that the RMT are in favour of driverless trains and, having rejected the £500 bribe offered to drivers to do their normal job during the London Olympics, will be balloting their members about strike action.

Boris Johnson is already promising driverless trains, as a means of finally putting paid to comrade Bob Crowe, the bete noir of the travelling public.

Comrade Crow is quoted in the Telegraph:

“RMT reiterates our stance that all grades of transport employees are entitled to a decent financial reward for their efforts transporting huge numbers of passengers during the Olympics and are entitled to take leave during the summer.


Working conditions and important agreements should not and need not be attacked in order to facilitate Olympic running.”

Driverless trains here we come!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Locog Not Backing Britain!

Following the furore over recently published evidence that some Olympics merchandise manufactured in China was produced using child labour, Sebastian Coe (Chairman of Locog) is quoted by Procurement Leaders:

“We place a high priority on environmental, social and ethical issues when securing goods and services. As soon as we were made aware of the Playfair 2012 report, we instructed our independent monitor to carry out a comprehensive investigation and review. The outcome of this will be made public as soon as it is concluded.

We have taken a lead in ethical sourcing and supply chain management but there is always more to do and we are committed to making a real difference to workers’ lives and creating a valuable legacy that we can share.”

That's fine, but could not all of this been avoided had Locog not instead sourced their supplies of Olympics tat from UK based companies instead of from China?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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