The organisers of the London Olympics 2012 have, not surprisingly, received thousands of comments from residents and public bodies in relation to the Games.
However, one comment is particularly noteworthy.
It comes from Civil Aviation Authority's directorate of airspace policy.
Quote:
"Unable to view the details on the website, but have particular interest in the heights of proposed buildings."
Quite!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Chef!
It seems that the London Olympics 2012 is being used as an excuse by lobbyists to press the government to speed up the immigration processes for foreign chefs.
Sector skills council People 1st and the trade body the British Hospitality Association (BHA) have sent a joint letter to the prime minister urging him to act immediately on the issue.
Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said:
"The Government has known for some time that employers here are struggling to find highly skilled chefs.
There is a certain irony in the fact that a sushi chef with 12 years' training – who we really need in this country – gets denied entry, yet footballers from the same part of the world with less years' training behind them take priority."
BHA chief executive Bob Cotton said:
"With our food tastes evolving, there is an urgent need for great chefs, and this will become even more of an issue with the influx of millions of tourists heading to London in advance of the Olympic Games."
Nice try!
Sector skills council People 1st and the trade body the British Hospitality Association (BHA) have sent a joint letter to the prime minister urging him to act immediately on the issue.
Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said:
"The Government has known for some time that employers here are struggling to find highly skilled chefs.
There is a certain irony in the fact that a sushi chef with 12 years' training – who we really need in this country – gets denied entry, yet footballers from the same part of the world with less years' training behind them take priority."
BHA chief executive Bob Cotton said:
"With our food tastes evolving, there is an urgent need for great chefs, and this will become even more of an issue with the influx of millions of tourists heading to London in advance of the Olympic Games."
Nice try!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
It's The Money Stupid
Those of you who think that the Olympics is about sport should think again, read this sorry greedy little tale of how the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) tried to bully a website owner into giving up his site, simply because he had the temerity to have the number "2012" in the URL.
Matthew Parker runs a site that offers to help people find houses to rent during the 2012 Olympics in London. Unfortunately he fell fowl of LOCOG, because his URL was www.london2012rentmyhouse.com.
LOCOG claimed that because they had a trademark on "2012" Matthew should not be allowed to use it in his URL or indeed run a website that, in their view, cashed in on their revenue stream
Funny how the concept of sport has been ignored by LOCOG, isn't it?
I also wonder quite how they intend to enforce their trademark on "2012", does that mean that every time a newspaper, blog site or other media organisation uses the number "2012" they have to pay a fee?
The dispute with Matthew has lasted for five months. Matthew and LOCOG have now reached an agreement allowing the old address to be redirected to the new one.
The old web address is www.london2012rentmyhouse.com. The new one is www.londonrentmyhouse.com.
It's the money, certainly not the sport, that drives the Olympics.
Matthew Parker runs a site that offers to help people find houses to rent during the 2012 Olympics in London. Unfortunately he fell fowl of LOCOG, because his URL was www.london2012rentmyhouse.com.
LOCOG claimed that because they had a trademark on "2012" Matthew should not be allowed to use it in his URL or indeed run a website that, in their view, cashed in on their revenue stream
Funny how the concept of sport has been ignored by LOCOG, isn't it?
I also wonder quite how they intend to enforce their trademark on "2012", does that mean that every time a newspaper, blog site or other media organisation uses the number "2012" they have to pay a fee?
The dispute with Matthew has lasted for five months. Matthew and LOCOG have now reached an agreement allowing the old address to be redirected to the new one.
The old web address is www.london2012rentmyhouse.com. The new one is www.londonrentmyhouse.com.
It's the money, certainly not the sport, that drives the Olympics.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Olympics Pushes Up Costs
The 2012 London Olympics will increase construction costs by nearly £4BN.
That is the view of the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA), who claim that construction inflation is one of the major "hidden costs" of the London Games.
The TPA expect that the Games will increase the cost of new public buildings such as city academies and GP surgeries and new private housing, making affordability even worse for first time buyers.
It seems that the Olympic legacy will be the fattening of construction companies bank balances.
That is the view of the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA), who claim that construction inflation is one of the major "hidden costs" of the London Games.
The TPA expect that the Games will increase the cost of new public buildings such as city academies and GP surgeries and new private housing, making affordability even worse for first time buyers.
It seems that the Olympic legacy will be the fattening of construction companies bank balances.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Designers Sought
The organisers of the London 2012 Olympics are looking to improve their design capabilities, and are seeking a panel of design and creative services consultancies.
The Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games have jointly asked for tenders to form a panel of suppliers specialising in a range of marketing, design and communications services.
Pity they didn't do this when they selected the firm that gave us the "Lisa Simpson Gives Head" logo.
The Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games have jointly asked for tenders to form a panel of suppliers specialising in a range of marketing, design and communications services.
Pity they didn't do this when they selected the firm that gave us the "Lisa Simpson Gives Head" logo.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The Olympic Legacy
One of the curious side effects, or to use the fashionable term beloved by the IOC and other Olympic organs - "legacy", of the London Olympics 2012 is that of preserving Camelot's monopoly stranglehold over the UK lottery industry.
Camelot is expected to hold on to the National Lottery today, it has run the National Lottery since 1994. However, it is facing a rival bid from Sugal & Damani, an Indian based rival.
Despite the fact that Camelot is in a monopoly position, and as such it could be argued that it would be beneficial to open the market up to competition, it is unlikely to lose its stranglehold.
The simple reason being that it has been asked to guarantee £2.2BN for the Olympics 2012, the budget for which is spinning hopelessly out of control.
Sugal & Damani would have problems in guaranteeing that sum.
So those who look for an Olympic legacy need look no further than the lottery monopoly, something to be proud of!
Camelot is expected to hold on to the National Lottery today, it has run the National Lottery since 1994. However, it is facing a rival bid from Sugal & Damani, an Indian based rival.
Despite the fact that Camelot is in a monopoly position, and as such it could be argued that it would be beneficial to open the market up to competition, it is unlikely to lose its stranglehold.
The simple reason being that it has been asked to guarantee £2.2BN for the Olympics 2012, the budget for which is spinning hopelessly out of control.
Sugal & Damani would have problems in guaranteeing that sum.
So those who look for an Olympic legacy need look no further than the lottery monopoly, something to be proud of!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Wasting Taxpayers' Money
As if enough of taxpayers' money was not already being wasted on the London 2012 Olympics, eg on absurd logos, it seems that the organisers have come up with another means to throw money away.
The Olympic Delivery Authority has announced that it is looking for six people to work on staff diversity.
Each post will attract a salary of around £100K pa. Needless to say, hiring six people on that level of salary is merely the thin end of the wedge; large salaries need to be justified, therefore the six people will of course be hiring their own retinues etc to justify their jobs and salary levels.
The jobs currently being advertised include; head of equalities and inclusion at the Olympic Delivery Authority, equalities and inclusion manager, and head of diversity and inclusion at the London 2012 Organising Committee.
Here they are:
-Locog
-ODA
Sounds like the same job to me, why do they need so many people doing the same thing?
What a spectacular self serving waste of money!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Gagging
Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese government of "gagging" dissidents, and clamping down on domestic journalists to stave off potential political instability.
Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said:
"The government seems afraid that its own citizens will embarrass it by speaking out about political and social problems, but China's leaders apparently don't realise authoritarian crackdowns are even more embarrassing".
Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said:
"The government seems afraid that its own citizens will embarrass it by speaking out about political and social problems, but China's leaders apparently don't realise authoritarian crackdowns are even more embarrassing".
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