Driving through the Eastend of Glasgow a couple of weeks ago I couldn't believe how many of miles of grey fence there were surrounding  the games sites.  Only at one was there something visible above the fence.

I spotted this tenement, obviously now derelict and just outside of the fence. Is it going to be the next casualty?



It must have been an interesting building to live in as furniture is designed for square rooms.

Where is it, Dalmarnock? Can't quite place the view.

It should be remembered that many buildings like this have lain derelict for years, and the area has even seen high flats appear and disappear in the same time, as well as more modern building like small blocks of flats, as seen in the Dalmarnock building query thread.

Things are kicking into gear now, with more of the areas earmarked for this farce of a few days fun and earnings for an élite few, postured as some sort of benefit for the City of Glasgow and its residents in the east end.

I only hope the media does the usual accounting about five years after the dust has settles, and counts the cost of mounting this extravaganza against the promised income.

There's great promises of income and lasting benefits, but this remains to be proven, and justify how a few days of visitors being parachuted in is balanced by years of expenditure.

The real misery is having to wait until something close to 2020 before the accountants, councils, investors etc etc have their paperwork completed and audited, and the media tells the taxpayers where our money disappeared to.

Do I sound ticked off by this nonsense, rather than going out and dancing in the street because 'we' won the games? ::)

A bit of a coincidence, but I was out on London Road this morning and noticed the following



Visible is half a sign advertising that the area obscured by the shuttering extends to some 16 acres, and is (or rather was) going to be a prestigious shopping development on a former brownfield site.

I thought I had a proper pic of the whole sign, but seem to have mislaid it, but the original was twice the width of the remains, with the usual glamorous, glassy, brightly lit shopping area shown (some can still be seen) - I didn't fancy it, and to be honest, when the sign appeared some years ago, nor did I expect the development to materialise. I didn't believe it, and suspected that it was fiddle of some sort - money being collected for surveys, reports etc etc, with no real intent to deliver anything one day. The surrounding area has a few industrial businesses, a lorry recovery business, scaffolding supplier, plumbing supplier, builders yard, and a large Wickes adjacent.

If they needed a space to throw up some stuff that pandered to the Commonwealth Games, there's 16 acres standing idles, cleared and ready to go, and with nothing needing to be demolished either. It even sits on the dual carriageway of London Road, giving direct access to places such as the proposed facilities and whatever else is going to be planted in the area of Tollcross and Parkhead.

Site seen from above here:

London Road brownfield site

Just a thought, remember some very pleasent times at the Glasgow Garden Festival, now that was an efficient vehicle for generating income all across the board. In addition was very well attended and the fact that the tramcars were again in evidence, enhanced the visit.

The Games income from a very short sojourn, probably a lot less than the Festival, and is offset by longer  benifits of an infrastructure that will enhance the East end of Glasgow. However what was the net result of the last games held in Edinburgh?

Probably a net loss - I'm sure there is a report online somewhere, where the numbers were juggled ;)

It may not even have been the Edinburgh event, but it was certainly something brought up to hit the folk that dangled the carrot of "offset by longer  benefits of an infrastructure that will enhance the East end of Glasgow" - (not picking on your phrase W, just using it as handy text to save me thinking of a way to say much the same).

I would have to argue that there is simply no comparison with the Glasgow Garden Festival, which was actually a disaster in term of it legacy.

We knew it was a temporary event that would be razed and sold off where possible, once the event was over.

We were promised housing on the area - we got a few luxury flats built for the festival, and nothing else.

We were promised business and industry would follow and move onto the site and into the area - the opposite happened, and even the docks that lay next to the site were soon gone, as has most of the industry that was there.

There's defintely a report published online in the later years, reveiwing the costs and returns, but I think it was written by Glasgow Council for itself, so you can imagine what was in it, and how it concluded. I must have a dig around for it again.

Only in recent years have we seen the BBC etc move into the area, and for a festival that took place in 1988 their arrival (with some others) post-2000 can hardly be credited to the festival.

We have the farce of the Glasgow Tower - forever broken and under repair from the day it opened, embarrassing Glasgow, and definitely not Clydebuilt, despite almost being in the river.

The pointless science centre - which no-one learns the lesson that we can't make these fund themselves.

I presume the IMAX theatre is making money. I've only been once, but I never hear anyone complaining about it, so hope 'no news is good news'.

The place is still a wasteland in many areas, and the only high spot is the little bit of the original ground they left alone, put a wall around, and called Festival Park.

The tenement is definitely in Dalmarnock.  It is at the confluence of Springfield  Rd, Sunnybank St. and Millerfield Rd..

I thought that's what it was, but the angle of the pic threw me right off, as I usually see it from Springfield Road, and the lens distortion makes it look much narrower than it really is.

The high flats and school (we covered elsewhere) were in the midst of the currently grey and flat area just to the southeast.

The athletes' village will be just to the northeast, and you will have seen the recently restarted works there now.

If you weren't there last year, then the area now being built on there was deeply excavated - just our of view of the road - as massive pipeworks were installed together with huge manifolds the size of room were installed underground to cope with the new housing.

After this was completed, the works lay dead until a few weeks ago, when it all sprang back into life, and the area between Springfield Road and the Clyde and the Clyde Walkway is now busy building site.

The private development further to the northeast,on the former site of Belvedere Hospital ground to a halt last year, far from complete, and lies the same way today, with even the sales office boarded up and hidden behind wooden shuttering.

Presumably the developer planned to make a killing selling the place to games goers (at hugely inflated prices) but no-one is interested in flats and houses that are sold as 'Luxury accommodation in the east end of Glasgow, a stone's throw from Parkhead football ground, and the trouble and traffic snarl up that takes place there every time Celtic play.

The place turns into a massive, jammed, coach and car park, with the usual football fan accompaniment.

I don't even go there if I spot the signs.

What is this obsession with so called Luxury flats, AKA Executive Eggboxes, what about for once building lower cost housing and more for the rental market rather than catering to a few spamheads.  It puts me in mind of an old episode of Rab C Nesbitt where he's wandering down the quayside much to the distress of a 'flat' owner while he shouts that he'll move in with his tribe of weans. :)

There was a development years ago in Ayr where the thing was that badly planned that the lifts couldn't even fit in the shafts designed for them, and apparently the flats were pretty pokey.

However, in another part of the south side of the River Ayr harbourside, Ayrshire Housing association builts a cluster of well maintained, new and modern two level, two bedroom houses that are solely for rent.  The condition of being with this association is that the houses can't be bought and remain forever in the rental market which is a good thing.  The assocation apparently reinvests in new housing and has been one of the few rental agencies that seems to continually expand.

As a contrast, Bourtreehill, where I used to live was sold off, and even in some part, large swathes of houses were sold to landlords...

I lack the geographic wherewithal to comment on what is happening in Glasgow's East End as it starts the preparations for the Commonwealth Games in 2014, but I am in full agreement with all the disparaging comments regarding the Games, as  for example, that expressed by Apollo in the following:

"... areas earmarked for this farce of a few days fun and earnings for an élite few,..."

It is my feeling that the reason for such 'sporting extravaganzas' is long past. There is little if any feeling of true sportsmanship in such events today. They no longer provide a means of furthering a general interest in a particular sport. Competitors today  are bent on establishing a means of earning a living, or as in some case, acquiring a fortune. In many cases, as is the case in Canada, the financial cost of the time spent training for these events is underwritten by the taxpayers in the country. Oh yes, it may well bring a few 'attaboys' and some money into the city coffers or further the belief in some political organisation, but at what price overall!

I was involved in the sport of cycling for a large part of my life and while I enjoyed it, it was never anything other than sport. Now in Glasgow they are going to build a veledrome so that a handful of cyclists can perform. They intend to have hundreds of seats for spectators. Now where in the name of goodness are they going to find the people to fill the velodrome after the '14 Games are over and done with? I raced at track meetings in Glasgow and the only spectators were other cyclists or  relatives of the cyclists competing. A velodrome in Glasgow is an utter waste of money...and if the Glasgow trackies complain too much, tell them there's one in Edinburgh!)

Hi all. it is indeed the corner of Sunnybank Street and Millerfield Road.
The door on the corner was 'Wright's Dairy' - in the sixties and seventies,
and the shutters to the right-hand side mark 'Mario's Fish & Chicken Bar'.

Following on from what Enigma has pointed out, there was a 'velodrome',
of sorts, located in Westthorne Park, between London Road and the River Clyde.
Not many people used it for cycling, and it lay disused from the seventies
through to the late eighties.
It is clearly marked on the OS pathfinder series of maps - now sadly, out of print.
hope this helps.

Hi Syntexis.

Are you making an assumption about the track in Westhorne park, or does the Pathfinder map actually say velodrome, or cycle track?

This is an area I have looked at in the past, and apart from now being taken over by Celtic (football club), was previously only shown as a recreation park - with a large oval track not further identified in detail on any of the maps I've trawled up, including road maps from the 1970s, but I stress, not the Pathfinder map mentioned.

Prior to this, the area was occupied by reservoirs, and a pumping station, with even a landing stage leading out into the River Clyde.

A busy spot at one time, and still complete with its allotments!

Oddly, the area of the former track (and the former reservoirs) is unused and razed, with no evidence to be seen of the track or recreation area when I walk past, although the ground to the north and east has been converted to assorted flavours of football pitch, with the allotments along the southern edge.

A little while since I have walked down there - maybe they will add another couple of pitches there some time.

Your description reminds of Helenvale Park, a little to the north, which still survives, to some degree, but is abandoned and wrecked now.

Hi Apollo, thanks for that.
It's an 'educated assumption' I guess, - based upon anecdotal evidence;
- it was always referred to as 'the Cycle Track', and it was banked.

I am not referring to Helenvale Park, but to Westthorne Park.
which lies between the Clyde and London Road.
The 'Cycle Track' was immediately North-East of 'The Plots' (Allotments)

I was born in Belvedere Hospital in 1964, and lived at 40 Millerfield Road;
from when the flats were built, until they were blown down.

I attended Springfield Primary and Riverside Secondary Schools.
It is the area I know better than anywhere else :o)

BTW, Sunnybank Street, is; I believe, so named, because of the filtration ponds,
which occupied the site of the tenement in the picture.
In days gone by, -before the tenements cast their shadows, the street would
have been quite open, running alongside the perimeter of Springfield House.

In my Geographia streetmap book the oval is marked as a running track.

Here it (the original tenement from the start of this thread - Admin) is on Street View
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=dalmarnock&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&sll=55.843759,-4.207442&sspn=0.004596,0.013937&split=1&rq=1&ev=p&radius=0.32&hq=dalmarnock&hnear=&ll=55.841771,-4.211422&spn=0,0.013937&z=17&layer=c&cbll=55.841861,-4.211476&panoid=eGrxA7daeNhKv_rHPRKLiA&cbp=12,114.44,,0,-1.72

Quoted from The Fox

In my Geographia streetmap book the oval is marked as a running track.

You're looking at 'my' book again ;D

You are forgetting that I have the coloured edition!

I've made no secret of my contempt for the so-called 'honour' or 'winning' by Glasgow of the competition to run the money-pit of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

We are being gently brainwashed into believing this is a benefit for the city - while it is in reality nothing more than a feather in the cap of the council.

We are seeing old derelict areas of the city being razed, and sports facilities being parachuted onto the empty space, to create new derelict area of the city after the Games have gone.

If no-one wanted these facilities before, then they aren't going to magically flock to them after.

As witness to my prediction that two years after the Games have gone I will be able to use my now favourite phrase - 'I told you so' - I was both amazed and disappointed to see that Greece's Olympic stadia, no doubt created at huge cost to that country's taxpayers (we're told 'cost taxpayers $213 million, with the overall cost of the games estimated at $7.4 billion to $14 billion'), are lying abandoned. And the country has a huge national debt as well, but that doesn't mean the two are related, but $14 billion more, rather than $14 billion less, would no doubt be preferable.

And it would seem redundant to ask what benefit hosting the Olympic games was to Greece.

It would also seem redundant to observe that if Greece, the home of the Olympic games doesn't have a population that gives a damn, then what are the Scots going to do with a load of sports facilities the day after the Commonwealth Shames folk pack up and go home?

Greece's Disused Olympic Arenas |

Here's a novel thought, and if I were you, I would sit down now, before I fell down, as this idea is so stunningly revolutionary, it will knock you off your feet...

Instead of the host nation paying a fortune to build stadiums and other facilities every few years to let a few privileged sporty types get rich (and let's not kid ourselves - this is their free advertising platform that will land the most successful of them multi-million sponsorships) at our expense - the games organisers and the athletes come up with the cash to build them.

I'm willing to bet that they would suddenly find that the existing facilities within the host nation were suitable, and that no 'new' expensive buildings or accommodation had to be built for every games, or that these 'games' suddenly lost all their supposed prestige, and they all melted away.

Most likely, Sky would come up with cash, and the thing would be plastered with ads and special subscriptions.

Oh...

With regard to the title of this thread (Games casualties)...

Did I mention that there are already special police and security operations being arranged in Glasgow to cater for the various international drug and prostitution rings, and con-artists that no-one mentions in public, but that follow these games around the world in vast numbers, eager to part the tourists, strangers, and vistors to the area from their money, and who make perfect fodder for them.

Apollo, I agree with every word in the above statements, they sell the concept on 'regeneration', Olympic Games in London, to bring life into a run down area.

Your last patagraph is spot on, large international gatherings bring every spiv out of the woodwork.

Before I started to read this thread I wasn't at all confused about where it was that I rode in a few bicycle races...I thought it was Westhorn; no,no, no, I thought it was Helenvale...ach now I have no idea where it was I raced!

I agree with all Apollo's comments about the value of the Commonwealth Games.

I wasn't able to divert as far down as the tenement that opened this thread, but when I passed the two building sites just to the north was a little surprised to see that there was little evidence of progress although work was in progress.

I suspect a combination of not being three metres tall (to be able to see over the screening around the sites) and protracted work on the foundations, combined to mask any signs of progress - I must have passed during a lull, as the only sound was of vehicles rumbling around, but about ten minutes later, I heard the sound of pile-drivers in action, so they're still preparing the ground.

I thought they were firing up the (private, not related to the official Games construction in any way) 'luxury' house build on the old Belvidere Hospital ground, as the gate in the fence around the remaining abandoned and derelict site was lying open, but it looks as if it was just the local neds' handiwork, as there was nothing there - apart from steadily increasing undergrowth now that the weather has improved.

Granted this item is related to the sites of former Olympic Games, but since this even larger disaster has fortunately been foisted on London in 2012, we can breath a sigh of relief in Glasgow, and rest reasonably secure in the knowledge that the egotists in Holyrood will never be able to afford to bid for this particular money pit...

Oh!!!

I just remembered, they built themselves a parliament building from various pieces of scrap thrown next to the Palace of Holyrood, and told us they were only going to spend £40 million on it, and it would be well worth it, and then spent £430 million on it instead, on the basis that "We've started, so we'll finish".

At least I'll be dead  and gone when they do bid for the Olympics in Scotland, and Glasgow and Edinburgh will squander another small fortune just fighting for the right to bid, let alone host these 'games'.

Meantime, we can just watch money being poured by the million into a mere few days of Commonwealth Games, wait 10-15 years to see if any benefits ever followe, and in the meantime, take a look at what has happened to the much more significant Olympic Games' sites over more than a century - "Some are the products of politics and war rather than over-ambitious folly, but it seems that about half of the Olympic sites are gone or wrecked."

12 examples of decayed Olympic sites

I passed that building today and it's still there. There was actually a young woman with a baby buggy going into it, and it made me wonder if that is the building in the news where they are trying to evict a woman.
I decided to record the one next to it for posterity, it won't last long. These are fundamentally sound buildings which with a bit of renovation would outlast by a hundred years or more the jerry-built slums which will replace them.

Meanwhile: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-11492297

Many of the flats in that building are occupied (at least down the street to the left of the pic), and not by poor people (in my opinion - I don't know any of them of course), but have often seen petrol guzzling 4x4s and business (traders) fans parked in the street.

That said, it's a few months since I was regularly passing there, so that situation may of course have changed by now.

Did you notice the modern block of flats visible just past this tenement building, which has been abandoned and lain unoccupied and boarded up for years, despite being 'new'?

Although shuttered, many of the shops on the ground floor are (or perhaps I should be careful and say were) still open, with customers plentiful from the houses across the road, and from those past the empty block of flats.

I'll have to make the effort to get down there, but so much has now been flattened on the road there, it never looks like an inviting walk :(

I suppose it's a bit of a cliché, but we shouldn't forget that one of the greatest casualties of the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be the truth.

In this case, it comes as little or no surprise to see that the numbers the organisers used to justify their project are flawed.

This is double-edges sword, and if it were not the case that I am such a cynic where this sort of nonsense is concerned, I would be saying that I found it hard to believe that such a fundamental aspect as taking proper account of inflation was not addressed satisfactorily. I would expect the organisers to take an unrealistically optimistic view of this factor, but I would also have expected those who the plans were submitted to to have returned them with a suggestion that something more realistic be presented.

Apparently not, and both should be brought to account, but as usual, I and the rest of the folk around the area will probably end up being accountable for any shortfall - games supporter or not.

Quoted Text

Glasgow Commonwealth Games ticket aim 'too ambitious'

Projected ticket sales for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow could be too ambitious and may have to be revised downwards, MSPs have said.

In a report, Holyrood's Public Audit Committee also highlighted increases to the initial budget and issues around the way the budget has been managed.

The committee said organisers must monitor the situation to guarantee delivery on time and on budget.

Glasgow 2014 said it was confident that ticket sales would meet targets.

The concerns are outlined in the committee's report, Progress on Planning for the Delivery of the Commonwealth Games 2014.

The committee said that given the change in the economic situation since the Manchester Games in 2002, ticket sales projections for the Glasgow Games may be too ambitious and may need to be reviewed.

The committee recommends that, in view of budget increases to date, the organising Committee - Glasgow 2014 Ltd - should ensure "robust monitoring and risk management procedures are maintained to guarantee that the games are delivered on time and on budget".

The committee's report also highlights issues surrounding the way in which the budget has been managed to date and is concerned that potential inflationary increases had not been built into forecasts until May 2010.

Committee convener, Hugh Henry, said: "Given that the organising committee recognises that ticket sales may prove challenging for the Glasgow Games, early action should be taken to ensure maximum revenue is generated should sales figures indicate less than expected uptake.

"We are concerned that inflation had not been built into budget projections earlier and that the strategic partners continued to deal in 2007 prices.

That last line should be the signal for heads to start rolling...

Want to bet none do?

BBC News - Glasgow Commonwealth Games ticket aim 'too ambitious'

And now:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Blow-as-BBC-pulls-plug.6571197.jp

The Scotsman's comments section is wonderful, as all the plonkers use the appearance of some common sense as an anti-BBC and anti-English opportunity to rant and rave.

Who knows, in four years, the the whole of the 2014 Commonwealth Games might be taking place on the sports grounds of Glasgow Green - and even then, there might not be many folk bothering to turn up and be bored out of their heads ::)

Since WM had been kind enough not to point and laugh at my slightly out-of-date info about the shops etc above, I thought I should add some detail, just to prove I was not completely adrift ;)

Starting from the usual viewpoint, this lot is clearly shut and gone for good, as confirmed by a nose around:



At least one of the empty shops has been raided, and the some of the stuff that used to be inside can be found outside, a little way away. And, there is an optimistic sign in the door, which there is little point in following the advice given:



This is a better view of the shop units seen in the distance. If my memory is right, then the last one of these to remain open up to the end was the lawyers - surprise:



Carry on around for more of the same, and another view of the more modern flats that I can confirm have been closed and sheeted over for years, long before this place was shut down to become a 'Games Casualty'

Just a few yards along the same street to the right was the factory of Thomas Stoddart, the well-known bed-makers. Only the derelict factory building remains there, abandoned some years ago.



Lastly, this building lies to the left of, and just across the road from the one shown in the opening shot - clearly abandoned and derelict?



No, it is actually still occupied, as I commented above (and thought I might now be wrong, but am not).

The 4x4 and vans are still there, and although I did not dare to go close enough to photograph the occupied flats in the tenement, I can assure they are still occupied down that side street. The may have nowhere else to live - or they may have some other reason for living there, either way, I didn't fancy being seen pointing a camera at their doors and window, within my rights to do so or not!

Couldn't do it from a distance either, as you will see, the streets are all blocked off, and the Games' contractors have shuttered the streets to close them off yet further, and restrict view of their site.



Interestingly, when I was there I noticed they were still flying barrage balloons over the area...

Perhaps it's to ward off the police helicopter :P

This part of the city is certainly going to be a very different place after the games and it will make traversing it more difficult for people like me.   I tend to navigate from landmark to landmark especially when diversions are set up for some reason.   I don't have, and will not have, satnav.

I've never had SatNav, but I can recommend welding yourself to a GPS unit if touring to strange places.

I've been welded to mine since 1997 - and used to travel to far and distant places of the land that needed maps and the sun (or a compass) to get back to a main road if exploring, and the amount of time it saved, and allowed me to visit places I would not have had time to see otherwise made paying the price for a good GPS in those days well worth the investment.

I've played with a few SatNav units in shops, and find they lack all the features that people with a brain can use in a GPS handheld.

That said, I have a small collection of top-end GPS units, and even they dumbed down significantly over the years, losing a number of 'advanced' technical features as they were 'improved'.

Bear in mind, I assume you are really traversing this area just to get through it, and will soon be able to avoid it altogether when the M74 link is completed.

The tragedy of all this is that televised sport does not encourage viewers to take part, but to lie on the couch with their crisps and lager, so far from encouraging a healthy lifestyle, it has the opposite effect. This is one of the reasons why I hate televised or commercialised sport and why I think brining these games to Glasgow will have a negative instead of a positive effect on the lifestyle and health of its citizens.

I'm not so sure about that. Cycling definitely gets a boost from the Tour de France, the Fort Bill MTB World Cup and the like. Sports companies know this too - they sponsor athletes in the expectation that it'll increase sales. And sure, many of those sales will be to people who don't use the sportswear for it's intended use, but many will be.

The ones lying on the couch with crisps and lager would still be doing that no matter what was on TV - but if it's something sporty and local, they might get a wee nudge to go get a little exercise. Especially as we're getting a whole bunch of new sporting facilities (in addition to the very good ones we already have).

I'm cynical about lots of things, but these games will be very good for Glasgow...

Quoted from BenCooper

these games will be very good for Glasgow...

I will be revisiting that 5 and 10 years after this nonsense is over - unfortunately, it takes at least that long to see the real after effect. Both for the accounts to come in and the truth to be revealed, and to see if the supposedly great facilities are still in use after the novelty has worn off, or if they are derelict.

In which case, they will still make great UrbEx playgrounds, and I won't have to travel miles and miles to get to them :)

My coat is hanging on the hook that has the label: 'If these were so good, desirable, and wanted, they'd have been up and running long ago'.

Given posts 27 and 28 above, you might want to look at the last para in this short interview with some film director ;D

John Landis: 'There's no difference now between technology and magic' | Discover | Technology | The Observer

Quoted Text

The Scotsman's comments section is wonderful, as all the plonkers use the appearance of some common sense as an anti-BBC and anti-English opportunity to rant and rave.

Are these people real? Maybe they have escaped from the Northern reaches of the late Peter Simple's column? I shudder to think of the cataclysm that might occur should they encounter Alderman Foodbotham, Chairman of the Bradford Fine Arts and Tramways Committee.

exmpa 8)

There's a spot of luck, and a handy coincidence...

A shot of the occupied building back in 2009, shared courtesy of dickyhart.

Same vehicles too, and you can see the glazed windows. Clear view back then too, as the 'games' contractors were yet to block of the streets and view with their wooden shuttering around the areas of the site:


Derelict Dalmarnock by dickyhart, on Flickr

I wonder how many other 'things' might be considered casualties of the Great Commonwealth Games Swindle?

I noticed a story about about Highland Council trying to raise finance to bring the world orienteering event to the area in 2015.

Apparently, an analysis of a similar sort of event held locally in Perthshire netted almost £2 million for the local economy over the six day event. A world event should therefore have even more promise.

Compared to the amount of money being poured into the Commonwealth Games money pit, the amount needed to bid for this world event is trivial, and not even all due at once:

Quoted Text

The committee will be asked to agree in principle to commit £30,000 to the bid, with the cost spread over the financial years of 2013-14 and 2014-15.

They won't even have to rebuild the Highlands with athletes' villages, stadia, and velodromes either. Maybe just lay on a few buckets of water, plus some soap and towels for the participants to clean the mud off :)

BBC News - Securing world orienteering event could earn north £2m

I've written above about the horse-pukky that we are sold about the so-called 'lasting legacy' of the various games that we are expected to cough up millions to boost the egos of a few athletes for few days.

I posted a link to pics of decades' worth of abandoned Olympic stadiums above (an un-sublte hint at what I expect we have scatter around Glasgow in a decade or so).

I now see that they are not even bothering to let the London 2012 Olympics take place before they have begin to make plans to demolish the 'lasting legacy' of that utter waste of money:

BBC News - Tottenham 'would demolish Olympic Stadium after Games'

If it wasn't such a sad waste it would be funny!

'Lasting legacy' myth BUSTED!

I never bought into the horse-pukky story about the Commonwealth Shames providing some sort of so-called 'lasting legacy', and bring all sort of warm goodness to the host area, and that nonsensical promise was blown clean out of the water tonight when I saw the following story:

BBC News - Cash fears over 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy



Cash fears?

What's wrong with this picture?

Quoted Text

Plans to leave a "golden" economic legacy from Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games are "under real threat" because of funding cuts, it has been claimed.

Clyde Gateway said cash earmarked for it, and five other urban regeneration companies, was being slashed by 46%.

It claims this will jeopardise redevelopment plans for Glasgow's east end which will be home to the games.

Fund givers Scottish Enterprise said it had had to look closely at future priorities.

Clyde Gateway is one of six urban regeneration firms in Scotland charged with delivering "focused, integrated strategies" to turn around run-down communities.

All six receive funding from the Scottish government and its main economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise.

Clyde Gateway said it had been given "a ballpark figure of just over £18m as a combined level of support for 2011/12 from the Scottish government and Scottish Enterprise but no indication of support for 2012 and beyond".
Continue reading the main story     
“Start Quote

    While the Commonwealth Games and main venues are not in any danger, the legacy from the games is”

End Quote Jim Clark Clyde Gateway

It claimed Scottish Enterprise had made a 46% cut in support to all six urban regeneration firms in 2011/12.

The agency said that it had been "anticipating" £7.5m from Scottish Enterprise on the basis of a "legal agreement" but had now been told it would share £6.8m with the other five urban regeneration firms.

In a statement, Clyde Gateway said: "We now have less resources that we had been led to believe from previous discussions and from statements made by government ministers that Clyde Gateway was a national priority given the nature of our work and our efforts to assist with the delivery of a true legacy from the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"As such, it is going to be a huge challenge to maintain the momentum we have built up over the last three years and it will also be tremendously difficult to plan ahead for meaningful long-term regeneration and development.

"We are currently looking at the different options open to us, but it would be accurate to say that some of the longer-term economic development projects we saw as being key to success are in jeopardy."

Clyde Gateway's Jim Clark said that the funding indicated by Scottish Enterprise amounted to "a substantial cut".
Derelict sites

He told BBC News Online Scotland: "While the Commonwealth Games and main venues are not in any danger, the legacy from the games is, with many of the regeneration goals in Glasgow's east end under real threat."

Mr Clark said proposals to bring derelict sites into use and make the area around the M74 extension more attractive were now in jeopardy

Excuse me for being simple, but if these useless games were supposed to be bringing so much comfort, joy, and money to Glasgow and the east end, then why is there such a moaning and wailing when those who are normally expected to stump up cash for projects in the area cut their handouts?

Aren't all the wonderful benefits and pots of cash that the games are supposed to bring with them coming from NEW sources?

Instead, it seems that all the promised pots of money are nothing more than reheats, and originate from existing sources.

As I've suggested before, as far as I can see, the 'lucky winners' in the bidding wars to host these pointless games (pointless for the folk in areas blighted by them - but are cash windfalls for those taking part), are not the ultimate hosts, but all the other bidders who succeeded in making their applications look serious enough to be considered, but managed to carefully tailor them to ensure they did not come first.

Stuff the games.

Cancel them now.

Use the money saved to fund all those "regeneration goals in Glasgow's east end under real threat."

Of course, cancellation is not an option, and they have to go on regardless, as the contracts no doubt mean Glasgow is in the same boat as those who found it would have been more costly to continue building two unwanted aircraft carriers on the Clyde, rather than cancel them, even though they will have no home aircraft to carry.

To your remarks about physical legacy:

Quoted Text

I now see that they are not even bothering to let the London 2012 Olympics take place before they have begin to make plans to demolish the 'lasting legacy' of that utter waste of money:

I would add that the legacy of increased participation in sport following such events is also a myth. Today I was at a meeting where a senior(ish) executive of one of the major UK sport quangoes said just that. Given that the audience was experienced and worldly-wise volunteer coaches, the remark elicited little reaction. We were all aware of that anyway, it's just nice to hear it from someone in the general sport hierachy.

So just remind me on two points, Why did we want to hold these games in the first place; Olympic or CWG; and whose idea was it?

exmpa

Referring to possible 'mystery' of the occupied house that I raised earlier, and managed to find a pic that let me be discrete:


Derelict Dalmarnock by dickyhart, on Flickr

The answer popped up on STV news tonight.

Described as a Glasgow grandmother, the resident of the ground floor which is the last occupied in the building, as in a fight with Glasgow Council, and refusing the compulsory purchase offer of £30,000 - which is what the Dalmarnock flat was valued at when the order was made - and wants £360,000.

I couldn't find an online account of the STV news item on its web site, but was able to dig up an earlier Herald item from October 2010:

Quoted Text

The Glasgow grandmother facing eviction from her home to make way for the Commonwealth Games has been holding out for £360,000, The Herald can reveal.

Margaret Jaconelli was told earlier this week, after a decade of wrangling, she faces eviction from her two-bedroom flat in the Dalmarnock area of Glasgow’s east end, where she has lived since 1976.

Her ground-floor flat is the last remaining property within the area, which is being cleared to make way for the athletes’ village for 2014 and other major regeneration projects.

Glasgow City Council was previously granted a compulsory purchase order for the house for £30,000, a figure arrived at by the District Valuer, a UK Government agency.

After Mrs Jaconelli refused, the council raised a civil action at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was given permission to evict her by Thursday past, although this has been suspended as the 52-year-old and her husband Jack appeal the decision.

However, it has emerged that Mrs Jaconelli’s solicitor has been asking the council for a massive £360,000 on his client’s behalf, £300,000 for the value of the land being acquired by the authority for the Games village and a further £60,000 for the inconvenience.

...

Last night one local resident said sympathy for the Jaconellis’ situation would evaporate once the amount of money the family is looking for is known.

The resident said: “It’s a sad story, but 11 years ago, long before this Commonwealth Games business, a dozen other people took around £30,000 being offered and ran, including one family selling their flat in the block for £11,000.

“No-one’s really known what the family has wanted all this time, but if it’s £360,000, whatever goodwill there may be towards the situation won’t be there much longer.”

Mrs Jaconelli said: “My solicitor put in for that figure.

“He wanted me to get a decent settlement. I haven’t known what the figure is. You’ll need to ask him.”

Mrs Jaconelli’s solicitor, James Carmichael, of Duke Street in Glasgow, was contacted but was unavailable for comment.

...

Granny’s £360,000 price tag to sell flat for Games - Herald Scotland | News | Home News

I'm wondering how common the name is, as I used to be quite friendly with a family of the same name some years ago, but lost touch, and wonder if they're connected. I think they might, as I'm almost sure some of the vehicles I saw down there a few years back were familiar, and I recognised them, and wondered why they would have been parked there. This would explain it, and that I wasn't imagining things.

Well, I've seen some tenuous links and cases made, but I have to say that suggesting the 2012 Olympics (being held in London) justify reversal of the Nimrod scrapping decision belongs with the best of them.

BBC News - London 2012 Olympics fears over Nimrod plane scrapping

Picture in your mind's eye a fleet of Nimrod's circling London to protect a bunch of athletes who are really just at a showcase advertising themselves for future years of sponsorship.

The mind boggles at the waste these games generate in secret, and if the publicly accountable cost ever included that of having the Nimrod fleet, the RAF, and whatever other forces would be involved included - or if it was a 'Free Go' for these games that we are all contributing regardless of whether or not we want to,

And what of Glasgow 2014, and the Commonwealth version of this sham...

Were we to be offered the same invisible 'eye in the sky' to protect those of us who happen to live in the catchment of the Glasgow games and arenas?

Or were we going to be left to fend four ourselves, and if the terrorists the Nimrods were presumably looking to protect Londoners from decided Glasgow was a 'soft target', were we just to be left open to such attack, and undefended?

Really, the more I learn about these so-called 'games' the more disgusted and hostile I become to them.

If someone had - just for the sake of argument - decided to hijack a jet airliner just out of Glasgow, Prestwick, or Edinburgh, complete with full fuel tanks and passengers, and crashed it onto one of the Commonwealth venues, would we have had any Nimrods floating above to watch it?

And would a flight have been despatched from Leuchars to shoot it out of the sky before it reached its target?

Still, at least the news item will have ensured the idea is in someone's mind - if it wasn't there already.

As far as I'm aware, the Nimrod had never been about counterterrorism, its a Maritime recon and antisubmarine/antishipping aircraft.

The only other variants were the aborted AWACS variant from the 80's and the Electronic Warfare birds that used to fly from RAF Wyton.

Here is another photo-shoot of the 'lasting legacy' of the Moscow Olympics of 1980, and of the city of Kislovodsk, looking at what has remained there after the preparation for the great event.

From the translation:

A swimming pool complex was built there in 1974, intended to serve for the Soviet sportsmen’s training for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. As this city was a health resort and many people were sent there as a result, they were allowed to use the pools as well.

There were two swimming pools; 21×50 m and 8×8 m - both were meant for year round use, and the water was heated to 24°C.

live_report: Зимний плавательный бассейн в Кисловодске

You are quite right Apollo:

Quoted Text

Well, I've seen some tenuous links and cases made, but I have to say that suggesting the 2012 Olympics (being held in London) justify reversal of the Nimrod scrapping decision belongs with the best of them.

BBC News - London 2012 Olympics fears over Nimrod plane scrapping

Picture in your mind's eye a fleet of Nimrod's circling London to protect a bunch of athletes who are really just at a showcase advertising themselves for future years of sponsorship.

It really is stretching the imagination to make a direct link.

However JadeFalcon:

Quoted Text

As far as I'm aware, the Nimrod had never been about counterterrorism, its a Maritime recon and antisubmarine/antishipping aircraft.

That aspect of role was very real, but one for which you will find little or no public acknowledgement. I can see that some functions could be fulfilled by other platforms, but there is still a major loss of overall capability. I'd hope that someone explained that to Mr Cameron.

Quoted Text

the Electronic Warfare birds that used to fly from RAF Wyton.

The Nimrod R1 is still being flown by 51 Sqn from RAF Waddington until 31 March 2011.

exmpa

Spotted another variation on the theme of 'Games casualties'.

This time it has to be the poor mugs that enter this competition to design a free-to-play computer game to be featured on Glasgow's Commonwealth Games website.

BBC News - Internet game design competition offered by 2014 Games

Students studying in Scotland have being asked to come up with a concept which represents the ideals of the games and the Glasgow 2014 brand.

The winner and runner-up will be awarded a cash prize of £2,014.

The winning format will then be transformed into a finished product with the help of Dundee-based games development firm, 4J Studios.

I'm just guessing of course, but from the amount of money I have spent in business having software commissioned for special application, I'd say the prize fund represent a absolute bargain for the games' organisers, given the number of students who will probably jump at it, and see it as a chance to get something on their CVs.

We can only wait and see what eventually appears.

According to the BBC Scotland News, merely hosting the start of the Monte Carlo Rally - from Glasgow's Blytheswood Square - is enough to bring £1 million into the city:

BBC News - Glasgow start for Monte Carlo rally drivers

Seems like an absolute bargain compared to the 'legacy' of the Commonwealth Games.

Unlike the CG the money will probably be coming in, nor going out. And no neighbourhood will have to be demolished.

The 'legacy' bandwaggon is rolling ;D

Dundee has jumped on... perhaps in an attempt to justify 'splashing the cash' for fun.

Although it has naff all to do with Cockyeyed Games, it seems to think that the fact that it has splashed out £31.5 million on a new swimming pool is something to be proud of, at a time when critical services are apparently crying out in pain as their finances and budgets are slashed in time of recession:

Quoted Text

Minister for Sport Shona Robison said the complex would be a "superb addition" to leisure facilities in Dundee.

She said: "Swimming in Scotland has been a huge success in recent years and we want to ensure that our swimmers are best equipped to build on this success, particularly in the build-up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"This facility will not only increase participation, it will improve performance and deliver a lasting legacy from the 2014 Games."

BBC News - Work starts on £31.5m swimming pool complex in Dundee

It is a Dundee City Council project - so it's built with taxpayer's money from whatever source - and was planned following a Scottish Swimming report in 2009 which found a need for more pools that were suitable for use as training centres for performance swimmers, so although they will be able to use it, it was not really built for 'ordinary people' but the elite of the athletic circuit, and would not be there bar providing them a way to train for sponsorship deals. And I'll bet the farm that not one of them ever dips into their pocket and hands a penny back to refund the cost of the thing.

Is the first evidence of 'hangers-on', that hope to gain something by having their names pop up in CG searches in the hope that it will bring them some sort of benefit from confused foreigners?

Maybe they will plan their holiday for Dundee instead of Glasgow if they're not familiar with Scotland ;)

What's the opposite of a 'Games casualty'?  :)

I wonder if a cycling event in the Borders - which only came into being last year - has been handed a wedge as a result of the forthcoming Glasgow high jinks?

Quoted Text

The Tweedlove festival has been given an award of more than £10,000 from EventScotland to promote the project.

BBC News - Borders cycling festival lands fund boost

I wish the cycling festival in the Borders lots of luck. It's beautiful country around there; bit hilly, but this can add to its attractiveness if one is reasonably fit. I've toured this border country several times, in hail rain and snow and don't recall ever being bored with it...wet, cold  and exhausted yes, but never bored. I think any would-be cyclist would find it enjoyable. Regarding the festival, I might mention that any touring i have done was always self-organized, except of course for scheduled club rides.

£10,000 doesn't seem like much money, but then how much money is needed to organise a cycling event. The two things I recall most of my touring in border country is first of all, getting a sliver of metal in one of my eyes and going into a hospital in Dumfires. Help? said the recptionist, come right in...I did and a young doctor took my sliver out with a magnet, gave me a prescription for a gel of some sort, and sent me merrily on my way... and this was many years after I had left the UK! My second recollection was staying at a B&B somewhere and they had a notice at the door: "Rabbie Burns never slept here, drank here, nor broke any hearts here...", which I thought was rather meaningful around this south-western border country.

Anyway, good luck to the Tweedlove festival!

Well, as I said some time ago, some will be planning to make a mint in 2014, and if it's worth the effort foe a little local Highland Games weekend...

Quoted Text

A man planned a 900-mile round trip to deliver cocaine to a village in time for its annual Highland Games, Perth Sheriff court has heard.

Craig Maguire, 30, took the drugs, with a street value of £1,100, from Luton to Blackford to supply over the weekend.

He admitted dealing the drug at house in Blackford on 29 May 2010 after police found the cocaine in his car.

BBC News - Man admits dealing cocaine 'for village highland games'

Looks as if the "Granny's" case is heading to a conclusion within 28 days.

I see there is also a 48-hour eviction notice waiting in the wings.

No mention of her ludicrous claim for £360,000 for a flat in a Dalmarnock tenement - the compulsory purchase figure of £30,000 is the only one being mentioned.

BBC News - Commonwealth Games eviction grandmother in court plea

Seems they covered the run up as well: BBC News - Glasgow grandmother faces Commonwealth Games eviction

Meanwhile it seems that all is not well with the organising committee. According to the Sunday Herald the CEO has been demoted to the status of a spin doctor and been replaced as boss by a Chief operating Officer, but still draws his CEO's salary, while "significant milestones" in the preparation for the games have been missed. And no broadcaster has yet shown any interest on the all important television rights, without which the games could be a massive financial disaster.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/they-ll-be-ready-for-the-2014-games-but-will-glasgow-1.1086159

Quoted Text

Meanwhile it seems that all is not well with then organising committee. According to the Sunday Herbal the CEO has been demoted to the status of a spin doctor and been replaced as boss by a Chief operating Officer, but still draws his CEO's salary, while "significant milestones" in the preparation for the games have been missed. And no broadcaster has yet shown any interest on the all important television rights, without which the games could be a massive financial disaster.

This promises to have a great deal more entertainment value than the games themselves!

exmpa 8)

I wonder if this counts as a 'Games Casualty'?



I don't recall anyone mentioning this event, or tripping any stories in the news - as attention focuses on the forthcoming headlince grabber and money pit.

45th International Children's Games 2011

3 to 8 August 2011

Lanarkshire is to host the 45th International Children's Games in 2011, following a joint bid by North and South Lanarkshire Councils to bring the world's biggest youth sporting event to Scotland for the first time. Up to 1,500 competitors aged 12 to 15, along with coaches, administrators and delegates from around 80 cities worldwide will head to Lanarkshire for the International Olympic Committee-recognised event from 3 to 8 August 2011.

I'm not suggesting it's any better than the Commonwealth thing, as it's an Olympic-recognised event, which is just another money-pit we pay for with the promise of another 'Lasting Legacy'.

Remember the row about all the money paid for a "recycled logo?" If not, here is the Scotsman article about it.
[url]http://news.scotsman.com/news/Row-over-39identical39-logo-for.6137459.jp[url]
Well I have just done a search for images of Barncluith House and for some very strange reason which I can't understand one of the images that came up was that of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce.
Surely it can't be the same design team using the same logo yet again, can it?

The resemblance is very strong.

I'll probably surprise by indicating that I don't buy this one (at least not for the reason given).

The resemblance is irrelevant.

When you choose a designer, you do so on the basis of their portfolio, their past work - they will have a certain flavour and style of design, and if you get something that looks similar to past work, you should hardly be surprised.

Look at Zaha Hadid - is Riverside a rip-off of something she did before because the style is similar to other contract she has undertaken? She was (presumably) initially chosen on the basis of what she had done before, as an indication of what she would come up with if she got the final contract.

Some years ago, when digital displays - and in particular those of the 7 or 16 segment LED/LCD variety were 'novel', I designed some company logos and supporting artwork... and they alll had this style, and could have been claimed to be 'recycle' but were most definitely not, despite using a similar outline, and being of the same 'family', something I would not dispute.

A few years later, I was doing the same thing, only in this case, the style had moved on to a combination of coloured rectangles, squares, and lines - again, the style was similar between each final design, but again, I would have argued that although they had a 'family' resemblance, this was not recycling since each was assembled on the criteria from the client.

No, the real issue here is not of the appearance of a 'house style' in the logos.

The real issue is the mention of a fee of £95,000 in the story.

I suspect part of that is taken out of the full context, and there was more provided than a single logo, but on the other hand, £95,000 buys 3 months' worth of days at £1,000 per day.

The same issue of cost (and rubbish produced for it) came up with the London Olympics log - and 'we' still have it, regardless of it being voted horrible and costing a fortune.

I'd estimate a logo to take a week in reality - not all at once, and not as a single item (when it really does become expensive), but as time spent with the client while working on a larger marketing and presentation package.

I used to be flippant, and say a logo took a few hours, so was maybe worth about £100, but that's not really true in the real world where wages etc have to be paid.

(And, I would like to add that I am not speaking up for the games, merely throwing in a comment on a design issue :) )

This ridiculous case is over, at long last, and Greedy Granny is on on her bike, and making off with a nice profit at my expense (since I am a Glasgow Council Tax payer):

BBC News - Margaret Jaconelli loses 2014 Games eviction case

Family's home to be demolished for Commonwealth Games village | Glasgow and West | STV News

As if to stick two fingers up at those who think the Commonwealth Games are going to produce some sort of 'lasting legacy' in return for the millions squandered on them, there was a news item in the past week that suggest a much greater long term benefit - is that similar to a 'lasting legacy'? - could have been achieved by throwing a fraction of the cash at a repeat of some of the best item that were promoted some twenty years ago, when Glasgow was declared the first UK city to be named European Capital of Culture, back in 1990.

The title is awarded by the European Union annually to promote common history and values.

A new report claims that Glasgow's cultural sector has boomed since 1990, and that about 30,000 people now work in the city's cultural and creative industries. The report's authors said the figure represented one of the largest concentrations of the creative economy outside London.

BBC News - Glasgow's cultural sector 'booming'

And to think we (or should I say 'some') thought the idea of Glasgow having anything to do with culture was laughable back then, and a source of derision.

I found I had another story that ran on the legacy of the 1990 European City of Culture award:

Quoted Text

The Myerscough report found Glasgow had the "greatest concentration" of creative industries in Scotland, with some 5,362 people employed in the cultural sector and 24,632 employed in the creative industries more widely - some 7% of the Glasgow's total employment.

The report found the growth of jobs in the cultural sector had grown by 43% since 1993, while the number of performances on offer in the city swelled by 82% since 1992. It said the figures made Glasgow's "cultural offer" the most important in the UK outside of the capital.

The city's 17 museums attracted 3.57 million visitors in 2009, while some 57% of Scottish film and television production is based in Glasgow. The direct spend on film and TV production in the city rise from £7.7m in 2003 to £17.8m in 2008.

The city also has 3,681 Category A listed buildings, including the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander "Greek" Thompson.

The city's arts, museums and libraries are funded by some £73m - £38m of which comes from the city council, with the rest made up with money from the Scottish Government, the National Lottery and Outer Glasgow. The city is given 31% of the Scottish Government's arts funding, while Edinburgh is given 46%.

Glasgow is UK's 'most significant city' for culture outside London | Glasgow and West | STV News

That certainly puts some 'meat on the bones' in terms of financial performance in the 21 years since the 'City of Culture' period, and will make for some interesting 'Compare and Contrast' exercise in the wake of the Commonwealth Games.

I'll wager that we will will see evidence of some pretty skilful creative accounting in the two decades that follow the games, and will have to peel away a veneer that attempts to hide the costs, while promoting the profits, in order to get at the truth.

And I did open this thread by saying that that I didn't have any interest in claims made a in the days after the event, only the real and tangible result that showed after a decade or two, because that is how long it will take for the dust to settle.

Maybe somebody should be promoting another 'City of Culture' year now... to make up for the losses I expect the Games to show?

Today, Friday March 18, 2011, looks like the end of the Greedy Granny story, as this is when the eviction is due to be carried out:

BBC News - Margaret Jaconelli loses 2014 Games eviction fight

Battling Commonwealth Games grandmother loses legal battle to keep home | Glasgow and West | STV News

If I seem unsympathetic towards this ridiculous case, then I should declare an interest, and find her attitude toward £90,000 for a flat in a Dalmarnock tenement offensive, especially as she was originally offered £30,000 and allegedly wanted £360,000.

While she was turning down £30,000 for a flat worth a lot less (and a figure which all her neighbours grabbed and ran with), I was being stiffed by Shettleston Housing Association (too long a story) because I owned the only flat in a building they owned the rest of, and wanted me out. They conspired to make it impossible to sell, and the final price was £6,000. Where could you buy somewhere to live, even in Shettleston or Tollcross, for £6,000 back in 2004?

Greedy Granny apparently thinks she should not be paid the value of her flat, but the cost of her choice of new home.

Well, on that basis, I'd like to sell my house and move to Bothwell, from Shettleston - I should only need to be given about four times the value of my present home in order to do that, who do I ask for the money please?

According to the BBC red button news you are a trifle premature in the above post.  Greedy Granny was not evicted at noon as planned and is holding out for mediation.   All she wants is a date and time and then she will leave (so she says anyway).

Time to tell her to sling her hook as the dozers are on their way.

When I posted the initial picture I had no idea we were all in for a multiact french farce!

Well, I did saylooks like the end :)

Shw was already entrecnched and watching for the bailiffs yesterday, and had her cronies surrounding her - I expected the next video to be of her chained to the door or fence, and being her being carted away screaming "They're killing me - stop hitting me".

She got a date and time, on video yesterday, and a piece of paper placed in her hand, so if she's still there today, she wants more.

Probably another £240,000 ;)

BBC News - Margaret Jaconelli's 2014 Games eviction deadlock

Quoted Text

A woman whose home is to be demolished to make way for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow said she would leave if the council agreed to mediation.

Margaret Jaconelli was due to have been evicted from her Dalmarnock flat at noon, after losing her legal battles.

A statement from her lawyer said she was prepared to leave if the parties could agree a date and time.

Apparently she's using children as a barrier to the bailiffs' approach.

Quoted Text

A Glasgow grandmother whose home is on land earmarked for the Commonwealth Games athletes' village is still in her flat after she barricaded herself in.

Sheriff's Officers were due to evict Margaret Jaconelli at noon on Friday, but couldn't do so because there were several children in the flat.

The family have been offered £90,000 in compensation, but say their property is worth more.

A statement from Glasgow City Council said: "It has not been possible to complete the eviction of Margaret Jaconelli. The number of children in the flat makes it extremely difficult to gain entry.

"We will make no further comment on how we will carry out the eviction. We have today made a one off offer to Mrs Jaconelli to take part in mediation on Monday, after she leaves the flat. Sadly she has refused that offer.

"In addition, we have made clear to Mrs Jaconelli’s lawyer that we will hold her personally liable for any financial losses suffered by the council as a result of her refusal to leave."

Defiant grandmother remains in house due to be demolished for Commonwealth Games | Glasgow and West | STV News

I might not have been paying close attention, but was she offered £90,000 in addition to a council house? I'm sure that was what was said on the BBC TV news.

Another video report...

Defiant grandmother remains in house due to be demolished for Commonwealth Games | Glasgow and West | STV News

It's rather strange, or maybe just a problem with my understanding of the English language and the meaning of some words, but while she has said she's happy to leave if if provided with little more than an agreed time, when the bailiffs arrived at noon, the family could be heard hammering barricades in place, and not moving out of the house.

I wonder how far £90,000 wil go in legal costs now that she has been given notice that she will be held liable for any costs incurred by the council now that the final eviction has been served?

I wonder how much of my council tax she has had in the 6+ years she has kept this case boiling, and I wonder if we will still be paying for her personal 'Commonwealth Games' if she has been awarded legal costs so far, or in future?

I wonder if they work, or are claiming benefits, since they clearly cannot leave the house unoccupied, or the bailiffs could just have breezed in at any time in the past, and taken possession.

I must admit that I don't think Compulsory purchase should be used to chuck people out of their houses for the sake of a wasteful project as the games, as my understanding was that CP was used for necessary things.  The Americans have Eminent Domain, a similiar idea, which was only used for things like Hospitals, Highways, Military bases etc, and never intended for things like private development, though apparently it is now being abused.  I feel that CP being used on things like Trumps planned complex is extremely shady for instance.

However, at the same time, I have no sympathy for this woman, my mother is in a housing assocation house which is to be frank crumbling.  Pleas for repairs have led to naught, the walls are bulging and cracked, theres a tree growing out from under the walls and parts are crumbling, and I imagine if she wanted rehoused it would be futile.  However this...person, gets a big compensation offer and the chance to be rehoused and its still not enough?

There was a mention of alternative accomodation offered being rejected as unsuitable quite early on in the saga.   The law is a grey animal with big ears yet again.

Compulsory Purchase it not a tool that that relates to individuals, but an area, therefore is appropriate for this, and even the development of a resort or attraction, and its right or wrong has nor relation to any personal opinion of who may be backing a development, which is completely irrelevant.

For example (and this is long Act to read):

Quoted Text

Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004:

(a)if the authority think that the acquisition will facilitate the carrying out of development, re-development or improvement on or in relation to the land,;

...

(1A)But a local authority must not exercise the power under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) unless they think that the development, re-development or improvement is likely to contribute to the achievement of any one or more of the following objects—

(a)the promotion or improvement of the economic well-being of their area;

(b)the promotion or improvement of the social well-being of their area;

(c)the promotion or improvement of the environmental well-being of their area.

JadeFalcon's comment about a housing association outside Glasgow are interesting (and have my sympathy too) as they seem to be bodies that can act like god, but god help anyone that does not suit their agenda.

Oddly enough, I can report being subject to the same tactic, and to get us out, the association was happy to leave the building to bulge and become worthless (but still demand payment of communal fees! ) until we could simply not afford to anything but accept relative coppers to got rid off.

Compulsory purchase would have been a godsend, as it would have been obliged to provide an independent assessment of the prices, not as little as they would offer to reach a 'take it or leave it' scenario.

While we don't know - by this stage, six years on - where the alternative accommodation, maybe it was in sunny Drumchapel ;D

I might as well throw this one into the pot since I am stirring up Housing Association trouble...

There was a time, I am sure, when the good folk of Shettleston Housing Association thought that living and working in one of the old tenement units was good enough for them, but as they got bigger, clawed in more properties into the association, and felt they deserved better, it seem that they became able to make not only enough money to run the association and service its properties, but to reward themselves a fine new purpose-built office.

So good, it became an award winning structure.

Normally, I would applaud what appears to be local talent being rewarded for local work, but in this case, all I see is resident's money being squandered to no good end.

Don't build yourselves nice offices - reduce your property maintenance fees rather than notch them up every few years:

Quoted Text

The winner of the Scottish Civic Trust My Place Awards 2011 is Shettleston Housing Association Offices in Glasgow.  The award, which is supported by the Scottish Government, was presented by Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture and External Affairs at a special ceremony today Tuesday 15 March at The Lighthouse in Glasgow.

The building, designed by Elder and Cannon Architects, is an exceptional example of the sensitive re-use of an existing building alongside innovative and striking new architecture.  The creation of Shettleston Housing Association's offices involved the restoration of the Cooperative Hall, an architecturally significant building within Shettleston, and a new-build extension. The project provides a base where Shettleston Housing Association can effectively work and serve the local community.  The project was nominated for the My Place Awards by Dennistoun Conservation Society.

SHETTLESTON HOUSING ASSOCIATION OFFICES BAGS MAJOR SCOTTISH CIVIC PRIZE - Scottish Civic Trust



The old restored building referred to is to the left - so you can't see it.

To be fair, the Housing Association builds new homes, but the problem seems to be the head of repairs, to be frank, he just doesn't give a sh*t, as his predecessor was good.  Another problem with the house is the external water pipe that was repaired in the winter, the old metal one being replaced by a plastic section that has to hang off and let water leak to work.  If its pushed right in, the sink wont drain.

Building new homes?

That's a novel idea - Shettleston looks like a bomb site behind the main street these days. many post Victorian tenements have just been demolished and the land left open.

There are some new houses but I don't see the association's name on the boards against them. I wonder if it does new builds - but I can't be bothered wasting my time looking.

Frankly, I'm glad I'm done with them.

All I can ever see when I think of them is the arrival of communal billing for 'Improvement' accompanied by a note to the effect of "We have decided your building requires the following work, and your contribution to these works is £XXX. Please remit by return."

Well their name is Ayrshire Housing, based in Ayr, a lot of their homes are new builds including ones in the Harbour area, unfortunately the one my Mum is in is in Belmont, built around 1950 and sorely neglected, it was an ex-Scottish Special house.

Their site is here

http://www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk/

Another thing is that you can't buy them, so the same thing that happened to a lot of the best council stock won't happen here.

:)

While I can't really claim "I know it well", I did spend about more than a decade there, with each summer holiday spent in a little bedroom in the house of a family friend - in Belmont Drive.

We didn't have much to spend, so we'd be out in the morning after breakfast, and spend the rest of the day walking down to the beach, via the old racecourse view, then into the town, and back 'home' in the evening. Drop me blindfold anywhere by parachute, and I could find my way home ;D

You'd have to tell me if the houses there belonged to the type you are referring to from the 1950s (I know it's not the new ones down to the harbour, and I didn't realise they were not ordinary development, and they they couldn't actually be bought - in fact, from walking through them just after they were built, from the cars in the driveways and streets, I imagined they were mostly bought by the very well-heeled, as the cars were usually from the stables of BMW, Mercedes. Jaguar and the like).

The house we were staying in was very nice - and still is (though we have no connection as the then owners are long dead), with decently sized rooms - in those days, as back then, the fashion was for new house to have silly wee rooms that would barely hold the standard 3 piece suite and leave room for people to get in and sit down! Tiny front gardens there, but massive at the rear - maybe they were supposed to feed themselves from it, being just after the war.

Well the one my Mum is in is in Burnbank Road, I think the majority are privately owned, but NAH 'inherited' some from other sources like Scottish Special.

As one door closes...

At least they went at got her up at 5 am (wish I'd known the plan, that would almost have been worth taking a wee donner to see, since I was awake anyway)- and it still took over two hours to get rid of her, despite her claim that all she wanted was a time and date, and she'd leave. She never had any intention of going under her own momentum.

She's ridiculous, pictured giving a salute with her closed first held in the air.

Jaconelli eviction from their Glasgow home | STV Video

BBC News - Margaret Jaconelli evicted from 2014 Games flat

What planet is this woman on?



After six years of telling herself the same thing, and becoming fixated and probably delusional, she probably believes what she is now saying.

Quoted Text

When they were taken out the couple said they were disgusted with the way the council had treated them and claimed they were walking away from their home of 34 years with nothing.

Mrs Jaconelli had challenged the decision to evict her at a last-minute hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh but lost her legal fight.

She was told she could appeal against the compensation awarded to her through the Lands Tribunal, but the eviction would not be postponed.

Mrs Jaconelli said the £30,000 initially offered for the flat was not enough to buy another property.

The city council said the district valuer had since increased the offer to £90,000.

But Mrs Jaconelli has accused the council of trying to steal her house.

Grandmother who refused to leave her home is evicted in dawn operation | Glasgow and West | STV News

And she's still saying she is going to fight on...

Does that mean more of my Council Tax is going to be wasted?

Ah well...

We'll have to find another story that's dragging on and on relentlessly now :(

Quoted Text

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Video

'I'm ashamed to call myself a Glaswegian after that show' - Scotsman.com News
SHE had defied attempts to force her from her home for six days. But as dawn broke over Glasgow yesterday, the stand-off between Margaret Jaconelli and Glasgow City Council finally came to an end.
Sheriff officers and masked council workers accompanied by dozens of police officers descended on Ardenlea Street in Dalmarnock just after 5am to evict the Jaconellis from their home to make way for the Commonwealth Games development.



Makes all that prancing around high on steroids worthwhile, doesn't it?

I just wtched that film.

Not me, I don't come from Glasgow, I was only kidding about being from Govan. I come from Campbeltown... honest. Geez, do I  speak like that! I must think seriously about taking elocution lessons.

Yes indeed...

Anyone that might be compared to the Jaconelis probably would be ashamed to be heard calling themselves a Glaswegian.

I've never read (or heard, thanks to the Sun's video) so much rubbish for ages.

If, and I emphasis IF, any of the Jaconeli clan were injured, then they brought it about on themselves, by their own choice.

They refused to leave the property after the eviction notice was served, they lied about being ready to leave voluntarily and without fuss when the were given a time and date, and they erected barricades that had to be cleared in order to remove them, so have nothing to complain about.

I saw some other nonsense about the valuation - which The Sun selectively chose to quote at £30,000 rather than the actual £90,000 -

Quoted Text

JANUARY 21: Glasgow University urban studies lecturer Dr Libby Porter reckons Margaret should be getting £3.6MILLION for her flat - based on other land sales in the area to the council.

Doctor Libby Porter does not have to supply the £3.6 million she plucked from thin air. However, if we just accept it, then I'm all for providing poor old grannie Jaconelu that sum, provided she is also prepared to make the same post-purchase investment in the land as the other buyer are presumably going to finance. If she wants investor money, then I say give here investor money - conditional on her making the requisite investment, and not just pocketing it and disappearing, and leaving someone else to do it instead.

I couldn't help notice The Englishman has picked up on another story from north of the border (he could move ;D ), but it looks as if it's only the latter part of the story again, the impression being that the eviction came after only 6 days of confrontation - not the 7+ years that have passed in the whole episode.

Anyway, it's almost done now, until we find out what crazy claims she comes up with next. £100 million in personal injury claims by a No-Win-No-Fee office of legal scammers (or do they only work in England? )

I did take a walk down later on the day of the big eviction, but hadn't reckoned with the speed with which the site would be secured once cleared. There was nobody there at all, and no evidence of all the activity the news reports indicated had taken place only hours before.

When I'd been there before (and before the real fun started, the streets had all be lying open and deserted. However, once the flat was cleared, the street was secured with metal shuttering in addition to the already existing wooden shutters that surrounded the construction site.



Not much different behind the new shuttering though, and the road is much as it was before.



A view towards the flat as was, at the centre bottom of the tenement.



£3.6 million for that? Who are they kidding? It's only worth the post development cost to the developer who is prepared to invest, not a land-grabber - which is all she is - who only wants to take the money and run.

While it's not impossible, you don't get the final value for a 'fixer-upper' before you fix it up and sell/rent it. You get whatever it's worth in its current state, maybe with a bit of a premium, but you don't get the price it might fetch after it has been fixed-up before it is fixed-up.

And finally...

The Evening Times words its short headline to play the outrage card.

No luck with including the eviction video which says a lot about their behaviour, and not as interpreted by their 'fans'.

I thought the anti-hacking options were blocking it, but it still just shows as black and dead after I had this removed for a moment (it's back in place! ), so it's something else, not just down to the Forum alone that preventing it from being see here.



While she pleads homelessness - after refusing homes and compensation payments - am I the only one that wonders how The Sun got its 'Exclusive', and if any money was paid to anyone for it?

Go for another report on YouTube - not an 'exclusive, but which is maybe more revealing, and maybe shows that this is not really about poor old granny Jaconeli, but that she is really just a pawn that has been picked up by those with an agenda to have a go at Glasgow City Council, the Games, the developers, every other compulsory purchase in the city, and would not give a damn about her, or her situation otherwise.

Apparently she's getting ready to the European Court of Human Rights next - not bad for a person who has made herself homeless, and has so far refused compensation.

Again, this isn't cheap, so the pawn option is still in play, and somebody is getting good mileage for their money.



There's a raft of related videos to be found from following that one.

Oh, she also announced (back on March 22) that she was going to run for election to the Scottish Parliament (from her home, ) - more money, more backers, more people wanting a pawn to control, and work from the shadows for their own ends.

One to place in the diary for reference to in 10 to 20 years time, and decide if it was fact or fantasy - and one of the saddest fairy stories you were ever treated to:

BBC News - Glasgow hosts 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy summit

Quoted Text

Glasgow has enlisted the help of two political figures in England in its ongoing bid to ensure lasting benefits from the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Councillor leader Gordon Matheson has met with Sir Richard Leese and Sir Robin Wales at a games legacy summit.

Sir Richard was leader of Manchester City Council when it hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

Sir Robin, mayor of the London borough of Newham, is involved in preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Glasgow has stated that its long-term goal is to ensure that the games benefit the city economically, environmentally, culturally and socially.

It has already established a Commonwealth Games jobs fund, which aims to support the creation of 1,000 jobs by July 2012.

The council said companies within the city had secured contracts worth £178m and more than 1,300 apprenticeships had been created for school leavers since 2009.

The summit, which took place at the city chambers on Monday, discussed the benefits that the Commonwealth and Olympic Games can bring to host cities.

Mr Matheson said: "The Games legacy summit is a fantastic opportunity for us to find out more about what Manchester did so well in 2002, the legacy that was left and the impact that the preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games are having in London.

"Glasgow has already gained a legacy from the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and the legacy plans we have in place will ensure that we make the best of this unique chance for the city. I am sure we will all learn a great deal from each other."

...

Well, it's nice to have a wee party and junket with your pals from England - do we really need to get people up from England to tell us what to do?  Whatever happened to Devolution and Independence?

If we can't even organise a set of daft games that will cost millions, and be over in a few days, do we really have any chance of getting Independence?

(That's not to be taken as a pro or anti Independence remark - but merely an observation about apparently not being smart enough to learn by looking at, and understanding what others have done.)

And their story contains lots of good numbers - provided they haven't already evaporated, or evaporate 5 minutes after all the contracts to build the 'legacy' facilities are completed, and there is nothing to provide further employment - which would be no great surprise, since these projects have been artificially created by a whim, and are not demand driven by some industrial or production demand.

A short lesson in how to generate some money and a bit of 'lasting legacy', and some happy people.

Use the money to sponsor loads of events around the country throughout the year - and every year - that more than a few lucky elite can enjoy only once:

Quoted Text

The Dumfries Fling attracted more than 8,000 people and generated more than £140,000 for the local economy, according to new figures.

The four-day music, dance and performing arts event took place in freezing temperatures over the St Andrews weekend last year.

The report, by co-organiser DG Arts, said a quarter of those who attended were from outside the region.

The organisation said the attendance was surprising given the conditions.

The programme included a variety bands, a trapeze artist and a fire show, as well as the switch on of the town's Christmas lights.

BBC News - Dumfries Fling 'generated £140,000 for region'
Oooooops.... sorry  :B

I forgot it was no longer 'politically correct' to exercise anything that might be interpreted as Common Sense nowadays ;)

The legacy of the Commonwealth Games continues to be...

A money pit.

I've already stated that I see these games as nothing more than the rest of us paying for them to advertise themselves for free, and get money handed to them from various sponsors and other deals that this elite few enjoy.

Now, it seems they are at to get more money handed to them to ensure they have a secure retirement:

Quoted Text

Scottish Commonwealth Games medal winners are to be given money to help them when they retire from sport.

A total of 28 medallists will receive a share of a fund worth nearly £200,000 to recognise their efforts and help prepare for life after sport.

Gold, silver and bronze medallists at the 2010 Delhi Games will get £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 respectively.

The money will be invested on their behalf. The athlete will be given the capital and interest when they retire.

It is hoped a similar scheme will operate for those taking part in Glasgow 2014.
'Real step forward'

Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman, Michael Cavanagh, said: "It is recognised that while many athletes receive some contributions towards their sporting costs whilst competing, through the Lottery and other support mechanisms, most put their non-sporting lives on hold and can struggle to re-establish their career after they retire.

...

My heart bleeds for them.

They chose a 'career' with a short sell-by date. Nobody twisted their arms up their backs, or has them locked up in cells or in chains if they want to go and get a job. When they stop being athletes, they should go and get a job on the checkout in Tesco, or sell the Big Issue.

They should make all their own provisions for retiral, like the rest of us, and not just keep putting their hands out.

BBC News - Scottish Commonwealth Games medallists to share fund

The more I hear, the less I like.

I wish i had never read your post Apollo! This money hand-out bothers me to no end... they're bad enough in Canada, but to look after them after they retire? Absolute rubbish! Where the heck is Scotland to get this money?Hrrrmph!!!

It looks as if I might have to take a walk to the shops, and buy a humble pie.

Having branded the Commonwealth Games a money-pit, it looks as if the organisers have actually discovered a way to save money.

Instead of paying to have a Games Tartan designed, they have launched a schools' competitions and will have the schools competing for the "honour" of having their games tartan design selected to represent the games.

I have looked at the news article, and the first page of the organiser's competition web site - where interested schools have to register to get access to an online tartan designer from where they can submit their designs - and see no mention of a prize.

I don't even care if there is a prize now, because if there is, then it should be shown in the info up front, not have to drilled down for.

Quoted Text

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games organisers have launched a competition for Scottish school pupils to design the event's official tartan.

The winning tartan could feature in Glasgow 2014's branding, merchandise and ceremonies.

Tartans can be designed online through a new "tartan generator".

Only one design per school will be considered so primary and secondary schools are encouraged to have tartan competitions to choose a final entry.

The deadline for entries is 17 June.

Each school that wants to submit a tartan must register on the Glasgow 2014 Tartan Design Competition website.

Chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, John Scott, said: "We're looking for designs that reflect the values of the commonwealth games movement, of Glasgow 2014 and, of course, Scotland.

"We're really looking forward to seeing the entries and ideas that are generated from the competition."

The competition is being run in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland, a national body responsible for reviewing the curriculum.

Quoted Text

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games organisers have launched a competition for Scottish school pupils to design the event's official tartan.

The winning tartan could feature in Glasgow 2014's branding, merchandise and ceremonies.

Tartans can be designed online through a new "tartan generator".

Only one design per school will be considered so primary and secondary schools are encouraged to have tartan competitions to choose a final entry.

The deadline for entries is 17 June.

Each school that wants to submit a tartan must register on the Glasgow 2014 Tartan Design Competition website.

Chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, John Scott, said: "We're looking for designs that reflect the values of the commonwealth games movement, of Glasgow 2014 and, of course, Scotland.

"We're really looking forward to seeing the entries and ideas that are generated from the competition."

The competition is being run in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland, a national body responsible for reviewing the curriculum.

BBC News - Scottish pupils to design Glasgow games tartan

Oh, this is their neolithic web site... they can't even design a decent site.

Who in their right mind commissions a web site with a splash screen nowadays, that you have to click through before reaching the real site?

Glasgow 2014 Tartan Design Competition

Commonwealth Games organisers - exploiting child labour.

Why am I not surprised :(

Somewhere back in depths of this thread is a feature on abandoned and derelict Olympic venues, both summer and winter, built on the fantasy of 'lasting legacy' which the organisers dangle as a carrot to get their venues built using other people's money.

I still find it unbelievable that the host nations for all these games foot the bill - not the organisers. They just hold their hands out.

We have London throwing money at the 2014 Summer Olympics, and Glasgow trying to hype the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Joining them is Russia, host to the 2014 Winter Olympics, and is a country rich enough to throw obscene amounts of money at building yet more venues to add to those already abandoned around the country (which I just mentioned appear earlier in this thread).

Today, Russia announced 1,000 (of madness) days to go, and the people in the street appear to be buying it:

(Pity we cannot know the outcome of the 'lasting legacy' for at least five, and more likely ten, years after the event)

Quoted Text

People are celebrating the 1,000 day countdown all across Russia. In Moscow, inline skaters gathered at one of the biggest parks, flying the flag of Sochi 2014. In the southern city of Pyatigorsk, the flag was planted at the top of one of the highest mountains.

...

So there is great excitement and high hopes in the Southern Russian city resting on the big event.

You can see the preparations. New roads are being built, the streets are cleaner,” says one lady from Sochi.

"More tourists will come. The Olympics will bring festive mood into town," adds another local.

"I think the medals will be ours, and Russia's team will perform better at home," another man hopes.

In the days of the Cold War, I would probably have been using words like brainwashing and propaganda ;D



I wonder what the same tools are called now? ::)

I'm sure the nation has been gripping the edges of its collective seats waiting for this:

Quoted Text

Evening celebrations marking the flame's arrival will be held in Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.

The torch will also visit Orkney, Shetland and the Isle of Lewis.

BBC News - London 2012: Scottish route unveiled for Olympic torch

The organisers have kindly provided an Olympic Torch Avoidance App ;)

So you know where not be be at any given time...

BBC News - London 2012: Torch relay map

Quoted Text

I'm sure the nation has been gripping the edges of its collective seats waiting for this:

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself   >:(

exmpa

Although they draw a parallel, I don't want to get too hung up on the Olympic Games, but it is nice to see Herr Hitler's tradition, born in 1936, is alive and well, and being celebrated by the faithful in Britain:

Quoted Text

An Olympic flame first burned at the Amsterdam Games, 1928, but it was not until 1936 that a relay with a torch took shape, under the Nazi regime and sports organiser Carl Diem.

A flame was kindled in Olympia using the sun and a parabolic mirror, then carried to the Berlin stadium by runners through Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia - countries that later would fall under Nazi domination.

Fire was a symbol of Hitler's regime, and torchlight processions were a feature. The leadership aimed to draw a direct link back to ancient civilisation. As Ryan explains: "They wanted a symbolic bridge between ancient Greece and modern Germany. And light is a symbol of purity - the bright, white, pure, stunning light of the ancient Greeks was something that fed into the Aryan myth."

Adolf Hitler's favoured filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl captured that myth, documenting the event for her 1938 film Olympia.

BBC News - London 2012: What is the Olympic torch relay?

I wonder how many people would be so happy to stand at the roadside and cheer it on, or has happened on a certain Scottish web site - mumped and moaned about how its particular area of Scotland is not going to be visited by the 'Olympic' flame, if they knew where the tradition started, and what it originally stood for?

Oh dear...

Maybe a look at the Olympic Games of London is in order after all, as the claims made for this even bigger money pit are being challenged, and not just with opinion, but evidence from the past.

Possibly the saddest thing about this is that it proves one of my theories, namely that you must not criticise anything which claims to help disadvantaged people, because such things are good by definition, and successful. Naysayers must be pooh-poohed and dismissed (whether or not they are right) lest future cash handouts for similar good works be put at risk. And those cash handouts keep a lot of people in work, regardless of whether or not the disadvantaged are helped or not.

Quoted Text

The London Olympics will struggle to keep its promise to help the UK's most disadvantaged young people, a report by a Conservative think tank says.

The Centre for Social Justice said the pledge to provide a sporting legacy would be a "highly effective sales pitch that was never fully realised".[/b]

In November, a £135m initiative, funded by the National Lottery, was launched to encourage mass participation.

The government said it was committed to "delivering a lasting legacy".

And Olympics minister Hugh Robertson has said improving facilities is a top priority.

He has also launched an initiative to offer young people six weeks of coaching in the sport of their choice.

But the think tank's report says: "The scale of the challenge that the Olympic organisers have set themselves is too high for the relatively limited amounts of funding and the programmes that have been promised, to deliver successfully."

They said improved sporting facilities would not raise participation in sport and taster coaching courses had failed to engage disadvantaged groups.

The report said: "Limited available funding and the tendency to direct what there is into capital spending and short-term programming mean that it is difficult to see how the money allocated to this can be expected to produce greater benefits for disadvantaged young people.

"The participation target was intrinsically flawed from the outset, not just because it was more convincing as a sales pitch than a policy objective, but also because engaging any number of additional people in some unspecified sporting activity is not the same thing as a serious, targeted work aimed at transforming the lives of Britain's neediest people."

The report said the Sydney Olympics in 2000 had failed to raise participation in Australia.

It also said there was no evidence of a link between sporting success and increased levels of sporting activity.

But those who made the claims have no eyes to see the blatantly obvious, or look at the evidence from the past, and merely march on regardless:

Quoted Text

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said they had not seen the full report but that the government and Olympic organisers were "committed to delivering a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games".

She said: "We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to create better facilities and give people more opportunities to play sport.

"It is nonsense to suggest that there is no link between British sporting success and participation."

The report, More Than A Game: Harnessing The Power Of Sport To Transform The Lives Of Disadvantaged Young People, will be launched on Tuesday.

BBC News - London 2012 'will not be able to keep promise to young'

I know it's patently obvious, but here's a lesson in how to make cash without squandering millions on building venues that will probably become redundant derelicts, razing swathes of land, and disrupting folk...

BBC News - Edinburgh festivals boost Scotland's economy by £261m

Quoted Text

A new report into the benefits of Edinburgh's year-round festivals suggests they are now worth more than £250m to the Scottish economy.

The study said festival tourism - at £261m in 2010 - was worth more than golf tourism to Scotland.

The report found Edinburgh festivals were worth five times as much as single events such as Glastonbury.

The Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study included 15,000 survey responses over a 12 month period.

The study is the largest programme of research undertaken into Edinburgh's 12 major Festivals.

It found the festivals, which include a range of celebrations from the Hogmanay events to the Science Festival in March and the Edinburgh Fringe and Military Tattoo in August, are attended by four million people each year.

Most of the non-ticket visitor expenditure goes to hotels and accommodation, food and drink establishments and retailers.

Just imagine if Glasgow was to go back to way it used to be, when we had the Glasgow Garden Festival (which was honest, and declared itself as temporay - even though there were 'lasting legacy' visionaries and hangers-on, I don't think anybody believed them), and then 1990 and the City of Culture. Folk laughed at this beforehand, then ate their words afterwards when the crazy idea of Glasgow being a place of culture turned out not to be so crazy, and they found the effort had actually brought visitors in.

And, I'm not a lone loony voice suggesting that Glasgow should look to Edinburgh's festival successes for proven inspiration.

See the reference to 'Thundering Hooves' below - and just try and imagine what could be done with all the time, money, and effort that has gone into the one-time shot of the Commonwealth Games, and how much better a repeatable, year-on-year festival in and around Glasgow could be.

I don't think I'm wrong, and Edinburgh is clearly worried about about others 'stealing' its audience.

And as a festival-goer, I can say that the festival's own size now, is something that could start to work against it, as the place and its venues are bursting at the seams on occasion.

Quoted Text

"It underlines how essential the festivals are to Edinburgh and Scotland, but, most importantly, how essential it is for the festivals and their supporters and partners to continue working together to maintain this much-envied position."

The report is also the first since the Thundering Hooves report, which warned Edinburgh's festivals it had to beware of the newer events thundering at its heels.

Nice to see the 2014 games organisers have got themselves 50 jobs organising the games...

And got themselves some refurbished offices to move into in the Merchant City.

And have managed to spend a mere £30 million 'planning and preparation' the games so far.

They might at least have used somewhere in the east end, and left some nice refurbished premises there, but they are probably frightened to venture into that 'deprived' end of the city, lest they meet a local.

They could have saved a packet by using a few portacabins tacked together on some of the spare ground we have here. I'm sure an unused part could have been found without too much trouble.

The full article managed to use the word 'legacy' three times :)

Quoted Text

Preparations for Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games are "firmly on track", according to the event's organising committee.

In its first progress report, the committee said venues were starting to take shape and key infrastructure was being put in place.

The total cost of the Games is now expected to be about £523.6m.

Earlier this year concerns were raised about funding cuts threatening the Games' legacy.

The progress report said extensive work had already been put in place to develop and deliver a lasting social, economic and sporting legacy.

Glasgow 2014 is being delivered in partnership with Commonwealth Games Scotland, the Scottish government and Glasgow City Council.

March this year marked the half way point since it was announced that the city had won the right to host the 2014 Games.

The report said almost £30m had been spent to date on planning and preparations.

It forecast that a further £40m would be spent in 2011/12.

It also said the organising team, established in 2008, now included 50 people and was moving from its current base in George Square to newly refurbished premises in Albion Street in Merchant City.

...

BBC News - Preparations 'on track' for Glasgow 2014 Games

This has to be the most pointless and misleading story I have seen about the Commonwealth Games so far:

Quoted Text

Construction work has started in the east end of Glasgow to build the athletes' village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The 38.5-hectare site in Dalmarnock will house up to 6,500 competitors and officials with temporary facilities being added later.

When the Games are over, the site will convert to residential use.

It will include 304 private homes, 300 rented houses and a 120-bed care home for older people.

Councillor Archie Graham, executive member for the Commonwealth Games, said: "Today marks the beginning of work on a historic project that will not only deliver a fantastic new neighbourhood for Glasgow but provide a home for athletes competing in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

'Memorable environment'

"This development will leave one of the most visible examples of both the legacy from the Games and Glasgow's regeneration, with the plans showing homes that will provide a memorable environment for athletes in 2014 and an attractive location for all those living in the development thereafter."

...

They even managed to mention the fictitious 'legacy' these games have been promised to leave, and managed to employ a company with the word Legacy, so can mention it subconsciously every time the works are referred to  - a master-stroke in brainwashing the masses into submission:

Quoted Text

The athletes' village is being built by City Legacy consortium which comprises developers and contractors CCG, Cruden, Mactaggart and Mickel and WH Malcolm.

BBC News - Work starts on 2014 Commonwealth Games athletes village

As anyone who will know from looking at the preceding posts above, work has been ongoing on this site for months, in fact years, in advance of this Work starts story.

The cycle route along the River Clyde - Number 75 - was closed for ages while the adjacent land was razed.

Trees were also cleared from the land.

The land has been extensively excavated, and sewage and other services buried deep below ground, which has now been reinstated, leaving no surface evidence of the work.

Buildings, schools, and factories once located on the land have been razed and carted off as crushed rubble.

Access road leading from the main road to the River Clyde were closed to the public months ago.

Interestingly, the land occupied by the former Belvidere Hospital was cleared and developed as housing known as Belvidere Village.

This stopped when about half the land was built on, and many of the flats and houses lie empty and unoccupied today, some still with the 'For Sale' and 'Some Units Still Available' signs in the windows for months.

The builders and works were cleared from the empty land, which was fenced off, and the sales office for the properties already built was abandoned, boarded up, and had a fence built around it to hide it from view.

It was all still the same when I passed a few weeks ago.

I expect it all to fire up just before the games though, although I'd like add 'maybe' to that ;)

I have referred to the Glasgow fiasco as The Commonwealth Shames, but such wit grows tiresome if overplayed, so I did not pursue the metaphor.

However, it looks as if I was right, and Glasgow's reputation now does have the Lasting Legacy that the games' organisers promised - but not the one they wanted to be found out for:

Quoted Text

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games chief John Scott quits

John Scott John Scott has stepped down as chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 organising committee

John Scott stepped down after admitting breaking rules over accepting gifts and hospitality from a potential supplier.

A statement from the organising committee, said Mr Scott deeply regretted his mistake.

David Grevemberg, the chief operating officer, will take charge of the organising committee until a permanent chief executive appointment is made.

Lord Smith, chairman of Glasgow 2014, said: "John Scott has made an important contribution to the planning of what we believe will be an outstanding Games.

"The board has accepted his resignation for an error of judgement he made in accepting, and not declaring, an offer from one of Glasgow 2014's potential suppliers, in breach of the organising committee's strict gifts and gratuities policy.

"I know he deeply regrets this mistake and this was a job that he loved. It is a measure of the man that he has put the values and reputation of the OC ahead of his own at this time."

He said that because Mr Scott was was largely responsible for setting the committee's standards of governance he felt he could not continue in his role as chief executive under the circumstances.

...

BBC News - Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games chief John Scott quits

Glasgow Commonwealth Games chief resigns after breaking gift rules | Glasgow and West | STV News

Thanks very much John Scott - you're just the advert Glasgow needs.

One of my old business mentors used to counsel me to assume that when someone was 'found out', I should assume that, "Where there one mouse, there's many meeces"

Well, it was his saying, so who was I to correct him? I was the pupil after all :)

But I might change it a little, and observe a similar nautical expression regarding a sinking ship, and consider that in Glasgow, "Where there's one rat, there's many ratties".

This seem to be the case, as the rats gather as a pack to protect one another, so it has been announced that the reason for the disgraced Commonwealth Games Chief quitting will not be included in a gifts register, which strangely, no-one though to compile or make public before he was caught:

Quoted Text

Organisers of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games have pledged to publish a quarterly register of gifts.

The list, which has so far remained confidential, will not include the offer that led to the resignation of former chief executive John Scott.

Mr Scott stepped down on Monday after revealing he accepted the undeclared offer from a potential 2014 supplier.

A Games spokesman said adding it retrospectively would undermine the purpose of the register.

Mr Scott, the head of the organising committee, admitted breaking rules over accepting gifts and hospitality from a potential supplier and was said to have deeply regretted his mistake.

Commonwealth Games Minister Shona Robison welcomed the decision to publish a register of gifts.

She said: "The priority now is for the organising committee to continue the successful delivery of Glasgow 2014, and a fantastic legacy for the whole of Scotland."

The Scottish Conservatives called for the reasons behind Mr Scott's departure to be be made public.

Deputy leader Murdo Fraser said: "The Organising Committee is a taxpayer-funded organisation and people will want to know the reasons for Mr Scott's departure.

"It is essential that we restore confidence in this project, which will eventually showcase Glasgow and Scotland to the world."

...

BBC News - Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games gift register released

The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Shames organisers and the Scottish Government are apparently:

"Both keen to put John Scott's resignation behind them".

I'm sure they are, as they did their best to divert attention from the really important matter onto the start of work on the Tollcross Aquatics Centre - which was going to happen anyway, so is not really of any real interest or importance, but is handy to point at and say "Look!"

Shona Robison MSP said:

"It has not been the greatest of all weeks and I certainly want us to get back on track focussing on the Games, which will be a fantastic opportunity for Glasgow and for Scotland. We have had to accept the legal advice that the organising committee have had, we can't just ignore legal advice about disclosing further details around the matter but clearly John Scott has taken a very difficult decision, it was the right decision given that what we are talking about is a breach of an internal rule around registering gifts. That register will be published soon so there will be complete transparency surrounding gifts that are registered and that's important. I think it's not been the best of weeks but we need to move on and this investment today is a key milestone which will hopefully refocus us on what's important heading towards the games in 2014."

One has to wonder, or ask, why they had to take legal advice, and not ignore that advice, about disclosing further details of the matter - which is presumably why we are not being told what the actual breach was.

It's out money, public money, they are throwing in Games Pit.

Should they not have to disclose anything concerning that, as a matter of public interest?

Or are they happy to assume that for 'gift', no-one is going to read 'favour' or perhaps even 'bribe', and draw their own conclusion?

We are to have a list of all subsequent 'gifts', after the event, but not before, or including it.

If it's so good to disclose it now, and since the earlier statement mentioned there was already a list in existence, but it was to be 'confidential - and again, since this project is gobbling up public money, one has to ask what the great secret was - why not just hand the list over 'as is'?

Is there is something embarrassing in it, or something someone does not want to be seen in public?

Shouldn't all this be a matter of public record anyway? They're spending public money, aren't they. Aren't they accountable?

Will anybody with a few £££ to spare take up the matter and make an FoI Scotland request?

Glasgow 2014 organisers say focus is now on the games | Glasgow and West | STV News

If only London had not been home to the even more insane 2012 Olympics, I might have been able to emigrate ;D

Does this count as 'Legalised Theft'?

First, they took my Council Tax and squandered it on the Shames.

Next, it looks as if some have also been having a good time at my expense.

Now they are dipping into my pocket again, and are to be given money I paid to the BBC to contribute to the Shames.

And, they even seemed to be scared to reveal how much!

Quoted Text

The BBC has signed up to the UK rights to broadcast the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The deal means the corporation will broadcast events on television and radio and provide online coverage for the home nations.

The BBC has also agreed to work with the organisers in appointing a host production broadcaster which will film and record the sporting events.

No price is publicly being attached to the deal.

BBC News - BBC deal to broadcast Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Oh that hurts!!!

I don't know what's causing me the greatest pain...

The damage I've done to my neck while trying to read the story spun around the resignation of John Scott, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games committee...

Or the side-splitting laughter I collapse with when I can, and read that Lord Smith of Kelvin has declared that the committee is transparent, open to scrutiny, and "should be getting brownie point for being whiter than white".

There's brownie around all right, but it's not point and someone is talking it!

Oh!!  Ouch!!  (Not again, there's another split that will need to be stitched up.)

How someone can utter such patent rubbish and keep there face straight is beyond me, as in almost the same breath we hear that the committee is refusing to reveal details of the offer the chief executive failed to declare (in contravention of the committee's gifts and gratuities policy).

The whole sordid affair is being kept under a veil of secrecy, and away from public eyes.

Lord Kelvin has also rejected calls for the Games to be subject to scrutiny under Freedom of Information laws as "probably not a good thing" as sponsors "are quite shy about what they're spending their money on".

TOUGH! It's not all their money, much has come from council tax and should be fully and publicly accountable to those it was extracted from - especially those of us who would not volunteer one penny to this money pit.

According to STV News:

Quoted Text

A Scottish Government spokesman confirmed last week that ministers - including Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon and Minister for Commonwealth Games & Sport Shona Robison - and Government officials are aware of the full situation surrounding Mr Scott's resignation.

Good for them - now perhaps they would like to share that knowledge with the people they serve.

2014 Games chairman never 'tried to cover up anything' regarding chief executive's resignation | Glasgow and West | STV News

Lord Kelvin was also reported to have said:

Quoted Text

"I would not like to be speaking to a big bank or a big techie company and asking for sponsorship and they say: 'Is this going to be made public?'."

Am I missing something here?

Don't most sponsor give money so their name will be splashed over everything their money provides?

Are they providing something they don't want their customers to know about?

For someone shouting so loudly about not trying to cover something up, Lord Kelvin seems to be rather quiet when it comes to actually saying anything about it.

Oh joy...

My cup runneth over...

I cannot contain my excitement...

They will only give me plastic cutlery...

They have taken away my shoelaces and belt...

Why?

I just saw this in the news, and realised there was another three years of this torture still to come:

BBC Sport - Glasgow marks three years to 2014 Commonwealth Games

If only I could afford to emigrate to Iceland (hammer)

Quoted Text

Organisers of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games have begun a worldwide search for a new chief executive following the resignation last month of John Scott.

John Scott stood down after accepting, but failing to declare, an offer from a potential supplier.

His replacement will be appointed by a nominations committee, comprising Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith and members from partner organisations.

The salary will depend on the experience of the individual selected.

A worldwide search?

I wonder if that means they be looking for someone from Nigeria?

And I wonder why they felt the need to make an obvious statement about the salary?

Perhaps the level will be dependent on the candidates experience of running email campaigns from Nigeria, to raise funds.

I wonder what kind of severance package the outgoing chief executive will be walking off with, and which pot it comes out of?

Given what he did, he should be handing back whatever he was paid, yet I have to assume that at the level of a job that merits a 'worldwide search' for a replacement chief executive, there must have been a lucrative arrangement in place to protect the financial package under just about every circumstance short of being handcuffed and carted off to jail.

Maybe somebody will do that as part of the FoI request the Games folk have already pleaded not to be subjected to.

One of the casualties we have already seem crawl bleeding and broken into the corner has been the truth - see the story about the naughty chap at the top... who is no longer the chap at the top.

We've already seem the promised improvements to Glasgow's transport infrastructure go by the wayside, as changes to the rail network that were supposed to ease travel to venues and give a 'Lasting Legacy' (yes, it's that worn out phrase again) to the people of the east end disappeared into the ether.

Now there's a new plan and a bill for at least £40 million to produce some fantasy called Fastlink.

Apparently this is going to cut congestion and introduce bus corridors to speed up buses - and where buses meet cars, cars will be forced to give way, and traffic lights will give buses priority.

Mmmm... that sounds like it will cause congestion to all the other traffic, while the buses are on their congestion free hurtle through Glasgow.

It's almost a shame to remember that they will have to stop every few hundred metres to let passengers on and off.

Seriously, I'd bookmark the link to this story as it appears in October 2011, and make sure to revisit it in 2014 when the privileged are enjoying the few days these daft games actually last for, and then compare the transport system afterwards, and see if any of the advantages that were supposed to be brought are evident.

Based on past experience... I think my money would be save if I was to place a bet that they were not, and things are not much different.

If there is any less congestion, then by 2014, it will probably be down to the £5 per litre cost of fuel rather than any games transport plan.

BBC News - Ministers approve £40m for Glasgow Fastlink bus scheme

(You needn't tell me... I know I'm a cynic over this and anything connected to it ;) )

Here is another casualty of the games. One far more shameful.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Accord-centre/192446497459688

The Accord centre is a place for adults with learning difficulties in Dalmarnock. Glasgow council are going to bulldoze the modern centre to make way for a car park or bus park for the games. They promised to build another one and guess what, they changed their minds. Shameful.

Those lucky people in Dalmarnock are going to get £11 million pounds thanks to the Commonwealth Games.

Unfortunately, none of that £11 million will go into any of the local's pockets, and they won't actually have any more after it has been spent than before.

What they are being given is a new train station building.

According to the blurb, in order to help channel visitors to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow:

Quoted Text

There will be lift access to both platforms, a new pedestrian footbridge, new platform surfaces, new wall cladding on each platform, and new passenger information and communication systems.

Great, £11 million to polish something that is already there - but doesn't look shiny enough.

No new stations, no new lines, no new services to the east end - things promised before this nonsense, then all dropped after the games were awarded.

BBC News - C Spencer to revamp Dalmarnock station for 2014 Games

Sounds like a very nice station tart-up, but it'll be interesting to see how long the looks last, and how long the toys fitted stay working after the games.

With less than three years - or 1,000 days - the feel-good machinery is already being spun up to full speed and declaring the madness of the 2014 Commonwealth Games of Glasgow to be a success!

Quoted Text

The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games are "on track and on budget", according to a progress report.

The study also found that Scotland was already reaping economic and social benefits of hosting the international event.

The update marks 1,000 days to go until the opening ceremony, which will be held on 23 July 2014.

The Games Partners Progress Report said "good progress" was being made across all areas

And not a single even has been held yet, except the bull-pile building ;)

BBC News - Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games 'on track'

Let me save you the pain of reading the above referred article in full, as there is no mention in it of anything that justifies saying "The study also found that Scotland was already reaping economic and social benefits of hosting the international event."

Guess you'll have to try the full progress report for that.

I've called this a massive free benefit for a few lucky people to advertise themselves at everyone else's expense, and maybe land some lucrative sponsorship deals from the sporting goods companies and labels that live off the back of these events.

But even if that doesn't get your back up, the statement that the games last 11 days should be enough of a shock to snap you into into reality and wonder why the hell we (not me though) are supposedly over the moon about five years of spending, disruption, corruption (well, the man at the top has already had to run away), future empty sports building, the import of more drugs, prostitution, fraud, cons, and whatever else will fly in from abroad to take advantage of this madness.

Five years, millions of £££, and all for 11 days to watch some folk ride bikes, run around, and jump a bit.

We (not me) must be mad to have fought to win the opportunity to do this.

Or just swallow horse-pukky too easily.

Well...

There you are...

I TOLD YOU SO

Those who perpetrated the lie that Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games would deliver a "Lasting Legacy" should be running scared with three years to go, and already preparing us for the non-arrival of this deluded fantasy they tried to sell. (I don't believe they have not had a hand in this warning's appearance - now they have an excuse to refer to, shake their heads sadly,  and say that circumstances overwhelmed them and were out of their control.)

I guess they don't want this on their résumés when they are looking for their next job in the years after the event:

Quoted Text

Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, has claimed the 2014 Commonwealth Games will deliver a "sea-change generational improvement" in health inequalities and access to sport.

With just under 1,000 days to go, an urban studies expert has warned there may be no significant legacy from Glasgow 2014.

Dr Libby Porter, Glasgow University Centre for Urban Studies, and Dr Adam Brown, former research fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University, have warned the 'legacy' of 2014 may not materialise.

BBC News - Glasgow 2014 legacy 'may not happen'
Can I have the urban expert's salary please, since I made this warning long before her, and can prove that in print here?

Another 'poke in the eye' for the Games' wasters:

Assuming for the purpose of comparison that EventScotland is about right, then their estimate of £500,000 of additional spending and benefit to the Borders area in the wake of a week-long cycling event held in the area really puts to shame the fiasco of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, eating up five years of planning, the building of venues and stadia, athletes'village, demolition and disruption, transport sham, and corruption - all for a mere 11 days.

The people of Glasgow are mugs.

Instead of 'Occupy Wall Street' or 'Banks' or whatever, Glaswegians should be walking around with "Occupy our City' and run the 2014 Games and the people behind them out of town :P

But the council would probably bring in the tanks then, like back in 1919 ::)

BBC News - Tweedlove Borders bike festival economic impact gauged

If you should sense that the 'legacy' you promised might not follow naturally after the event that should have produced it, plan ahead, and start building up a 'slush fund' to create one from, just in case.

BBC News - Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games boost for graduates

This has naff all to do with the dopey games, other than the fortunate side effect that they motivated this fund so that there can be something to point at later, and have a round of self-back-patting.

If those concerned cared, then the graduate plans would have been put in place anyway - but wouldn't, since there was no incentive.

Have a look at this.

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3933073/Murray-in-5m-games-deal-probe.html

This is where some of the money is going.

Suspect goings-on connected money connected to the Games?



Surely not!

Quoted Text

By PAUL DRURY

Published: 14 Nov 2011
FORMER Rangers chief Sir David Murray is facing calls for a probe over a Commonwealth Games land deal which made his firm almost £5million.

The tycoon's property business paid just £375,000 for the site in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, in 2005.

But just four years later the same land was valued at a massive £7.3million before being sold to quango Clyde Gateway for £5.1million of taxpayers' cash. Nats MSP James Dornan said: "I want an inquiry into the incredible upturn in this land's value.

"When property values were falling in the recession, these valuers believed this site had increased in value by 20 times. I intend to write to Audit Scotland asking them to investigate."

Clyde Gateway has a £150million budget to help Glasgow make the most of hosting the 2014 Games. Officials were urged to buy the site so it would not become "a highly-visible reminder of another era".

A spokesman for Clyde Gateway said: "The sum paid was less than the independent valuation."

Jestyn Davies, boss of the firm owned by Sir David, left, added: "We were able to achieve a sale and move on."

Murray in £5m games deal probe | The Sun |Home Scotland|Scottish News

For some reason - I've absolutely no idea why ::) - I'm tempted to pose the following pub quiz question, which just popped into my head: When crossing a field inhabited only by male cows, what might you later find on your shoes?

Surprised?

Only if they're as thick as two or three short plans - or a well-known natural product processed in sewage plants...
The London 2012 Olympic Committee is "disappointed" about the negative reaction to their proposal to erect the games’ symbol on Edinburgh Castle ramparts.
Olympic organisers 'disappointed' by public reaction to rings on Edinburgh castle | Edinburgh and East | STV News

While 'officialdom' seems to be over the moon with the idea (is somebody getting a fee? ), the locals that will have to look at this English Eyesore on the Scotland's premier tourist attraction - and a most Scottish castle in the capital - seem to have little enthusiasm for this English Advert.

And it is English, as this is the London 2012 Olympics, and called that every time the name appears - and there is probably a contract somewhere with penalties for anyone that dare refer to them with that 'London' prefix...

Quoted Text

On Wednesday, the plans were criticised by many residents and visitors who think the structure would be "absolutely ridiculous" and "silly".

One resident said: "I don’t like the look of that on the castle. The castle is lovely the way it is. I can’t say I’m too pleased about that."

The director of the Cockburn Association, who work to promote the conservation of the city, said the rings were "a bit tacky".

Marion Williams said: "The question is, is there going to be similar rings on Windsor Castle?"

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport at Westminster said the reaction to the plans was "short-sighted".

A spokesperson said: "It is short-sighted and disappointing that some people cannot recognise the benefits of having the Olympic rings in Edinburgh.

"Edinburgh Castle is a spectacular, iconic building, and will provide a fantastic backdrop for the rings – not to mention provide a focal point for Games-related activities.

"London 2012 is for the whole of the UK and we know that Scotland will be right behind the likes of Sir Chris Hoy next summer, just like the whole of Britain."

Historic Scotland, who own the castle, have signed the application form giving their approval.

But on Wednesday they said they a separate application for listed building consent was still being considered.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "We have received a Scheduled Monument Consent for a temporary application for the Olympic Rings installation at Edinburgh Castle which is going through the due process."

No mention of an alternative application to have this pile of scrap mounted on a private house ;)

Now there's a thought - scrap - with all the thefts, maybe we should have let them put this up... at least until dark on the first day ;D

Quoted Text

Olympic rings will not be erected on the side of Edinburgh Castle, the body that runs the historic visitor attraction has confirmed.

The London 2012 organising committee wanted to place the ring symbol on the ramparts for four months next year.

The 8m-high (26ft) aluminium rings would have been visible from several miles away.

Historic Scotland said the plans "would not be suitable for the successful operation" of the castle.

BBC News - London 2012: Olympic rings 'not suitable' for Edinburgh Castle

Historic Scotland rejects application to display Olympic rings on castle | Edinburgh and East | STV News

The rings, if they were erected, would have been there to remind us Scots that we were subsidising the games through our taxes. They would have been an eyesore. Whoever suggested it probably wouldn't have been able to look at the castle.

You can't get away from 'Games Zombies' ;D

Now they want the London Olympic rings to be installed at the Hillend ski slope.

At least that's got pretensions to be related to sport.

What I would like to know is...

How much metal is there in this piece of scrap - and if there is enough to interest the folk that like to steal metal from memorials and the like. Could they be persuaded to spend a day night in Midlothian, say near Hillend, and maybe if a small power cut could be organised to take out the lights for few hours ::)

Quoted Text

Olympic organisers have been invited to construct the games’ rings on Hillend after proposals to place the iconic symbol on Edinburgh Castle were rejected.

Last month plans were revealed to place the Olympic rings on the ramparts of the castle. After strong opposition from members of the public, Historic Scotland rejected the idea.

On Wednesday, Midlothian Council said they had written to Lord Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, to suggest the structure be placed at the dry ski slope.
Olympic organisers invited to construct rings at Hillend

Provost Adam Montgomery said the rings would be visible from Edinburgh, West Lothian, East Lothian and Fife if they were placed on the hillside at Midlothian Snowsports Centre.

Olympic organisers invited to construct rings at Hillend | Edinburgh and East | STV News

Excellent :)

Just what we need...

A handy online primer to get the fraudsters ready to take advantage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

If they're smart, they'll be watching what happens with the Olympics, and have two more years to learn how to avoid the take-down methods used in 2012.

Quoted Text

Detectives from the UK's leading cyber crime unit have identified hundreds of websites that could be used to dupe visitors to next year's London Olympics.

They have already closed around 2,000 sites set up by criminals and purporting to sell luxury goods, and are monitoring hundreds of others that have popped up on the web with the games in mind.

Some are using the event's signature image of five Olympic rings, which could lead people to believe they have official endorsement.

"We think there is some evidence to suggest they are waiting to commit fraud," Janet Williams, the deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan police, said. "These websites have been set up and are in a holding position, and we will monitor them to see if they are used for criminal purposes."

...

She said there is some evidence that "old school" crime organisations are moving into the cybersphere. While these groups will attempt to operate across international boundaries, many are based in the UK.

"They are learning fast and developing their capabilities fast," she said. "When we first approached this we wondered whether we would be looking at criminals in other countries … we are looking at criminals here in the UK."

Websites targeting Olympics visitors closed down by police | Technology | The Guardian

In reality, I wonder if any of the English based bodies 'protecting' the London Olympics will be made available to devolved and independent Glasgow Games." You want to go it alone? Sure. Be our guest." Or will having 'Commonwealth' in the title mean buddies stick together?

I like it :)

Superb start to 2012 for the Commonwealth Shames:

Despite attempts to shove this accusation under the carpet over the past months, it has not gone away, and the police have now become officially involved at last...

If you haven't seen any of this before - and the silence over the few reports to date would make that understandable - there appears to be a case of alleged skulduggery with regard to the sale of land for the Shames to take place on, with land that was bought cheaply by speculators/investors being sold to Glasgow City Council for ridiculously inflated values - and the council paid up!

It could have used compulsory purchase powers to obtain the land at more realistic values - but for some reason chose not to use them.

One hopes some were not buying from their pals :o

BBC News - Police asked to probe Commonwealth Games land deals

There's a wee bit more (shocking) detail here:
Newsnet Scotland - Commonwealth Games Land Deals
If this is true, a council employee seems to have been less than truthful about  a valuation report on the land, resulting in the council paying £1M more than the price the valuers had put on it.

So, this is clearly the sort of thing the delusional types that think spending millions building stadiums that will ultimately lie abandoned and closed because no-one can afford to keep them open after they have been used for a few days of the Shames, gets their ideas...

I wonder how much we would have heard about this event if, just for the sake of argument, the constructed a new golf course every time the championship was held, and again, just for the sake of argument, it cost about £5 million to complete that construction.

(That was a good guess, I found this 2007 article that put the price of a prestige golf course at almost than $6 million - http://www.tmgolfdesign.com/cost.pdf - and that without any celebrity designer costs evident )

Just another of those strange 'thoughts' I keep having as I look at all the work and millions going into the Shames' projects, and how it is all for only a few days to allow a some lucky athletes to run around Glasgow for a few hours. What a 'Lasting Legacy'.

It's a pity we don't seem to be able to pour the same money into doing something about Glasgow's embarrassing start to the year in terms of violence and murder. I think we have a headline of an attack or murder on almost every day since the start of 2012. Have a look at the BBC and STV news sites if you think I am exaggerating just for the sake of making the point. Sadly, I think you will find I am not.

Quoted Text

Last year's Barclays Scottish Open contributed more than £5m to the Scottish economy despite being cut short by thunder storms, according to a new study.

The estimate came in a report released by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The championship at Castle Stuart Golf Links near Inverness in July was cut from 72 to 54 holes, following torrential downpours.

It was won by world number one player Luke Donald.

The study suggested £3.7m was spent in the Inverness and Nairn area, with a further £370,000 elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands.

The rest was spent in other parts of Scotland.

The majority of spending was on overnight accommodation, food and drink.

About 43,000 people attended the event over the three days when play took place.

A pro-am event during the week brought the total number of spectators to more than 51,000.

It was the first time the Scottish Open, organised by the European Tour, had been held in the Highlands and Islands.

Castle Stuart had only six months to prepare for the tournament after being informed they had been chosen to host the event for up to three years.

BBC News - Scottish Open 'worth £5m' to Scottish economy

Scottish Open generated £5m for country's economy | Highlands & Islands | STV News

I'd probably throw a few £££ into the open if asked to invest - but donate to the shames, based on the promise of future returns?

Aye right...

If you believe this one, you'll believe the next email I send you asking for £5,000 to clear fees to allow you to collect a £5 million legacy from your unknown Nigerian relatives ;)

If they can't have Edinburgh Castle, the Engl London Olympics folk don't want to have their dopey rings stuck onto a ski run that limps from crisis to crisis, and practically nobody outside Scotland has heard of.

They should just have said "Thanks, but no thanks" instead of making up excuses about cost and size. If not on 'our' castle, then there was no publicity value in the stunt, and it was never going to happen.

Quoted Text

Olympic rings will not be mounted on a hill in the Pentlands beside Britain's longest dry ski slope.

Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said the Olympic body did not have the budget to build the scale of rings big enough to be seen.

It follows a plea from Midlothian's Provost to 2012 Games chief Lord Coe to site the rings at the Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend.

Plans to erect the rings on Edinburgh Castle were thrown out last year.

In his letter Mr Robertson said following consideration of the "helpful and generous suggestion" of locating the rings on the slopes, their budget did not stretch to the scale of rings that would be required to create a great impact along a flight path or from a great distance.

BBC News - London 2012: Olympic rings for Hillend at Pentland Hills rejected

Quoted Text

The offer had been made after proposals to place the iconic symbol on Edinburgh Castle were rejected amidst strong public opposition.

Midlothian Council had written to Lord Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, to suggest the structure be placed at the dry ski slope.

But the committee have turned down the offer, saying they did not have the budget to construct rings that would be big enough to be seen across the Lothians.

Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, has written to the Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery. He thanked the council for their offer but said they would have to turn it down.

The letter went on to say their budget could not afford large enough rings and questioned whether Midlothian Snowsports Centre was the right place to construct the logo.

Olympic organisers turn down invitation to construct rings at Hillend | News | Edinburgh | STV

I was searching for a rather tasty spoof article written about the London Olympics last year, which told of a money-spinning scheme the council down there had put in place and would have been guaranteed to make a mint. I'd been playing with exactly the same idea for Glasgow, but just didn't have the imagine to make it work, and came across the London version while looking for inspiration. To be honest, it was so well done I just binned mine, but with the new year, thought I might resurrect it because it would still work.

I lost the link, so tried to find by search, but it looks as if it has gone - which would not surprise me in the least if London Council set its rottweiler lawyers on the author.

However, having just see the demise of the 'London Olympic Rings advert in Scotland' project, I thought I might mention the following article that my search trawled up this time round.

It dates from 2008, and I suspect is closer to the truth than those behind the London Olympics would like anyone to believe - and could probably be written about the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, had I the writing skills, research, and knowledge to produce it:

Iain Sinclair · The Olympics Scam: The Razing of East London · LRB 19 June 2008

And the perks keep on coming for the lucky few feeding at the trough of the Shames.

Now, athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games are to escape income tax!

Apparently we have to do this or they might not take part.

Sounds more like blackmail or extortion to me.

Funny how the rest of us have to pay, and probably don't take home anything like the athletes, especially those who hold the dreaded status of 'Celebrity'.

And someone like Usain Bolt really needs this, as he would otherwise have to sit in the gutter outside Central Station with a piece of cardboard hung around his neck with "WILL RUN FOR MONEY" scribbled on it.

Quoted Text

Athletes from outside the UK who compete in the 2014 Commonwealth Games are to be given an income tax exemption.

The Treasury has decided to grant the incentive to encourage top international competitors to attend the Glasgow event.

Chief Secretary Danny Alexander is expected to confirm the move during a visit to the west of Scotland.

A similar measure has been put in place for the London 2012 Olympics.

Any athlete not normally resident in the UK is subject to UK income tax on any payment for performing in the country.
'Memorable Games'

This can include a proportion of worldwide endorsement income.

The exemption could be particularly valuable to top stars such as sprinter Usain Bolt.

BBC News - Tax break offer to 2014 Commonwealth Games athletes

It's never worked for me...

I must be terribly simple - I thought they were all amateurs of a sort although their training and travel were covered by grants.    

I caught an interesting revelation on the Beeb's breakfast news this morning (only the tail end, as I just woke up), but it seemed to be telling of a flaw that I would have thought those who were organising things such as "The Great Games" would have preferred to have suppressed.

The relates specifically to the London 2012 Olympics, but this is little different in principle from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games coming in 2014.

One of the great mantras chanted by those attempting to justify these bean-feasts for a lucky few is that they bring many benefits, one of which is that they boost tourism.

Oh-oh...

Looks like London Olympics will be bursting this particular balloon.

According to the review on the Beeb, those coming to London for the Olympics will come only for that.

They will displace the usual tourists, take their hotel spaces, seats on flights, and will NOT take time out to visit the usual attractions visited by tourists in non-games years.

In other words - they are now saying the reality of the games is a DOWNTURN in tourism.

And things get worse, as people who have no interest in the games flee the city and go elsewhere while they are on. And those who would have visited, but also have no interest also choose to go elsewhere.

It's rather interesting to see how the past years of great claims for boosts to tourism etc as claimed by backers of the games should suddenly flip 180° just as their promised are about to be put to the test.

It's almost as if someone was leaking information gently, so that when the actual number are delivered, they can say "Well, we didn't guarantee those numbers, and we did warn that there could be a downturn and some negative aspects too."

Glasgow Shames watchers should take note, and be planning to ask embarrassing questions come 2014, of the holy worshippers of the 'Lasting Legacy'.

Cracking example of the madness that surrounds the Games.

In this case, it's the Olympics, and shows how merely using the word can make people who are supposed to be sensible and responsible behave like imbeciles:

In this case, those charged with looking after the Border town of Innerleithen - generally referred to as 'councillors' by some, and something else by others ;) - took leave of their senses and behaved like a bunch of teenage girls who had just been told something called a 'Justin Beiber' was coming to their town.

When they heard of plans for the Swedish Olympic mountain bike team to use the town as its training base, they decided that deserved a proper reception and booked the town's silver and pipe bands to lead the celebration.

Then they did their homework...

And found that the Swedish mountain bike team consisted of... one girl.



They (NOT me) said "We could host the reception in the old phonebox at the top of Traquair Road."

What a gem.

As I'm often moved to say - You could not make this stuff up if you tried

BBC News - Innerleithen rethinks Olympic welcome for one-woman mountain bike team

More insanity.

Not even for the Scottish even in Glasgow either.

2,500 people appear to have taken leave of their senses (to be fair, they might not have had any to start with) and have PAID £10 to help light up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh to celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games.

Why on Earth would thousands of people PAY out of their own pockets to advertise the London 2012 Olympic Games for the organisers, and be compelled to RUN almost 3 miles while doing so?

The organisers of the 'Speed of Light' seem to have found a right bunch of mugs to fleece.

The cheek of charging people £10 to run across a public place beggars belief, and they should not be charging the runners, but PAYING them.

It's not as if there won't be enough 'spare' money swilling around after all the - ahem - payments have been handled by the Olympics organisers.

BBC News - Thousands sign up for light event in Edinburgh

Insanity - If I made this up, everyone would be laughing at me.

As amazing as it sounds, there are people who:
- like running
- think it's an interesting and clever idea
- wouldn't mind spending £10 to be part of it

We thought of doing it - only having a small child made it impractical.

Foe once :) I'm in complete agreement with Ben, and find...

This has to be the classic 'Swings and Roundabouts' story...

The tourist industry is claiming that the London Olympics is proving to be an unexpected bonus for Scottish tourism.

And why not?

Where better to go to get away from the London games madness.

But while the tourist industry is rubbing its hands, it's carefully ignoring the return of the same phenomenon in 2014, when Glasgow loses its senses in the same way.

Now we know that while there may be folk arriving for the Commonwealth Games then, there will be an exodus of those who are usually here - but want to be as far away from the madness as possible.

Want to bet that if you could seen any of the fantasy accounts that those who promise a pot of gold at the end if the games rainbow, you would not see any line entries for "Losses due to revenue sources that left the city for the duration of the games, and the following weeks"?

Of course you wouldn't  - such a heresy would not even cross their minds to be put on the 'Lasting Legasy' presentation.

BBC News - Olympics 'boosting' Scottish tourism

Net benefit after taking both 2012 and 2014 games tourism into account...

Zilch!

It's like the Black Death, or The Plague, slowly covering the land, and moving ever closer to me like an unstoppable behemoth...

I'd never seen this in daylight since it went up, thanks to British Silly Time, so it was an eye-opener to be able to read the story on the sign:



Seems the existing leisure facilities are to get an additional six-lane pool to serve as warm-up are for the privileged who will perform in the games.

There a load of guff about how this brings more changing rooms, cafe, control room, and other stuff.

They also claim that it has been provided with further facilities which will provide for those lost when Shettleston Halls, along the road, was burnt down a few years ago, leaving only the front of the building standing, when the rest was demolished after the fire, because it was 'unsafe'.

I can't prove this of course, but when I happened to mention this leisure centre as an asset to Tollcross while chatting to a solicitor with an office nearby, he burst out laughing.

The locals really don't use, and are fed up with 'outsiders' taking up all the street parking with their cars, and the local neds seem to think it's fun to stand at the gates and intimidate local kids that try and go in.

As I'm not a leisure centre user, I can't comment, but it would be shame if he was in any way right, and not just having a dig at the place for some personal reason.

I smell...

Telfon^®

Quoted Text

Police have completed inquiries into multi-million pound land deals linked to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after finding no criminality.

James Dornan, SNP MSP for the Cathcart, had asked Strathclyde Police to look into the matter.

He had claimed that public money may have been misused in some deals.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "Police inquiries were carried out in relation to this matter and there was no criminality established."

She added: "Our inquiries are now completed in relation to this matter."

BBC News - Strathclyde Police drop probe over Commonwealth land deals

Well...

That's that then ::)

I've just watched the 1986 episode of 'Alba 1980s', and it's clear my 'Give a damn' wasn't working back then, or had gone on holiday or something, as I had no idea we had already shelled out to host the Commonwealth Games nonsense back then as well. Still, at least it was the Edinburghers having their pockets picked that time ;)

So, where's the great 'Lasting Legacy' from that junket for few lucky runners and jumpers?

What has Edinburgh got to show for however many millions it squandered on a few jolly days of game-playing?

I can't say I have ever seen anything that proudly proclaimed it was part of the games, with a big sign on it, or that offered me some benefit as a visitor some time in the past quarter century.

Well, 26 years is enough for there to be a report gathering dust on somebody's desk or bookshelf, unless... they didn't bother because they knew it was a waste of time.

And maybe no-one had got around to inventing the 'Lasting Legacy' excuse for pouring money down a hole back then ::)

The Commonwealth Games of 1986 in Edinburgh turned out to have such bad timing that 32 countries boycotted them - and that's just about all the programme had to say. The 1986 Games were affected by a boycott by a number of African and Caribbean nations in protest at the participation of New Zealand, following the All Blacks Rugby tour of Apartheid era South Africa in 1985.

The English Olympic Rings are back!

This time, they're going up on The Mound...

Quoted Text

The Mound in the centre of Edinburgh has been chosen as the preferred site for a set of 8m (26ft) Olympic rings.

The UK government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport said details of the planning application would be made available for public view shortly.

It wants to place the huge aluminium rings, followed by the Paralympic Agitos, on the Edinburgh hill as a focal point for Olympic celebrations.

The DCMS said it planned for the rings to be illuminated at night.

They are being funded by the UK government.

BBC News - London 2012: Olympic rings plan for The Mound in Edinburgh

The planning application has been submitted, and the outcome awaited with... er... um... oh - something ;)

Although this is an Olympic bases story, if you read the article, despite being in London, they manage to rope in Scotland.

It's a pretty good example of the DoubleSpeak we will be getting for the next few few years, as those behind these money pits attempt to justify them on the basis of... 'Lasting Legacy'.

If you don't get fed up hearing the whole phrase over the next few years, you might still find your credibility genes being taxed by those whose just harp on about 'legacy'.

The following story had me wondering just how stupid the authors think their readers are, as they begin in glowing terms about FIVE massive project arising from the games, which they think is great of course, and then go on to inform us that four of these were dumped, leaving only one, and that they still think its great, as are all the spin-offs. And let's just forget about the four that were dumped, and all the money that was wasted in anticipation. It doesn't matter - they were just concerned with 'minor' sports anyway, so tough.

What a lot of sanctimonious, self-gratifying, self-justifying tripe.

Leaving a lot of people and businesses that expected money and business wondering just what the heck happened.

BBC News - The legacy of the Olympics for NI

While it's nice to be able to use the old "I Told You So" line, when it comes as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, there really is no pleasure.

I stuck my neck out way back at the start of the Commonwealth Shames announcement, and said the costs would be fantasy, and the numbers are starting to come in already - and that's without indulging in 'Magic Mushrooms' to take account of the imaginary 'Lasting Legacy' and 'money from the sky' that the population is being slowly brainwashed into accepting.

Two years ago, in the Evening Times:
28 Jan 2010

The cost of the 2014 Commonwealth Games is out of control because inflation and pensions have been left out of the budget, MSPs heard today.

Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee was told that the event’s £374million core budget is likely to be exceeded.

Government official Liz Hunter, director of equalities, social inclusion and sport, said the true cost will not be known until the year before the Games.
Then, tonight, although I was past the newsagent before I could see the detail, or even the paper's name, I saw a board announcing something like "The Hidden Cost of the Games".

I had a quick search around when I got home, and found this - event the £374 million budget from 2010 has evaporated:

Quoted Text

Published on Thursday 22 March 2012 02:47

THE Commonwealth Games face “real risks” of an overspend in the £524 million budget set aside to pay for their delivery, Scotland’s public spending watchdog has warned.

Audit Scotland says that the 2014 Games are largely on track, but it identifies four key areas where a risk of rising costs exists.

Security was a particular concern given the spiralling costs at previous sporting events, while the costs associated with the workforce, the athletes village and turning Hampden into a track and field venue are also highlighted.

Auditor General Robert Black said: “An event like this is always going to have risks. At this stage, the organisers are identifying and managing these risks but cannot eliminate them completely.

“The key risks are potential cost increases. Many aspects of the Games are still under development and therefore these costs are uncertain. The organisers aim to deliver the Games within the £524m budget, and to do this they will need to maintain tight control over spending and review their plans and budgets regularly.”

The Manchester and Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and the London 2012 Olympics, all set “unrealistic” security budgets which had to be increased.

Manchester’s security budget increased by £3m, contributing to a 120 per cent rise in the overall budget. Security costs at London 2012 have increased from £600m to more than £1 billion.

The report states: “Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland highlighted that there is a real risk that some elements of security costs will be higher than budget.

“It recommended that the Games security committee, led by the Scottish Government, commission work to understand these risks more fully. More work is needed to inform the procurement approach for security guards and equipment.”

Audit Scotland also found “particular risks” in delivering the athletes’ village and Hampden Park developments on budget and on time.

It stated: “They are due to be completed less than five months before the Games and there are specific financial and technical risks related to these developments. The partners are managing these risks but are unable to eliminate them completely.”

Hampden’s “innovative” raised playing field, designed to accommodate a track and field facility, has not been tested anywhere before and “therefore presents a risk of potential increased costs if unforeseen problems emerge”

Commonwealth Games 2014: Glasgow games face ‘real risk’ of overspend - Scotland - Scotsman.com

Also:

'Real risk' of security cost increases at 2014 Commonwealth Games | Glasgow and West | STV News

And:

BBC News - 'Risks' that Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games budget may rise

Oh dear, such a shocking and unexpected surprise, something no-one could conceivably have ever predicted...

Almost forgot...

The indoctrination (nice word for brainwashing ;) ) for the games 'Lasting Legacy' (I did predict this would begin to appear, and be repeated) started in the east end a few weeks ago, as spotted in a centre page spread in one of the Free Papers:

I can't wait (for it to become derelict and can go get some pics ;) )

Here's a handy little guide, courtesy of the London Olympics :)

To save me a lot of work, just adjust the text by substituting Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 for London Olympics 2012 (sensibly adjusted as needed depending on the actual wording used for any given reference), and use your imagination to substitute appropriate references to geographic locations and similar:

BBC News - London 2012: 10 reasons some people will dread the Olympics

Those whose "Give a damn" has not given up and gone to bed may be interested to learn that "Airspace over London now on lock-down: All security measures put in place to protect the Olympic Games"

This leads to some interesting stories (don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with them, you'll have to track them down yoursleves) - that coverage will include helicopters, and that the Eurofighter Typhoon will be used as an armed interceptor.

The Typhoon is no toothless tiger, and recent war game saw fierce argument follow, as the Typhoon was claimed to out-perform and out-gun the F-22 Raptor.

In reality, it was not really a case of either claim being 'right' or 'wrong' - rather that the two aircraft excel in distinctly different combat envelopes, and when facing one another, these difference are amplified.

However, back to the ludicrous 'Games':

As of Jul. 13 at 23.00 the Civil Aviation Authority that is responsible for the airspace over the UK with its National Air Traffic Control centre at Swanwick, has relinquished control of a large area  over London and the surroundings to a specially set up organisation manned by RAF personnel. “Atlas Control” will manage all aerial movements over the capital from July 13 to August 15, 2012.

Anyone flying anything that want to enter that airspace better let someone 'up there' know, otherwise their chances of having "A Bad Day" have just increased... LOTS!

Military aircraft will be operating from this inner zone with the Typhoons from RAF Northolt and helicopters from Greenwich (HMS Ocean) and Ilford, whom will be making intercepts should the need arise.

All pilots have to be in constant communication with “Atlas Control”. Even those that are within 10 nautical miles of the outer boundary are expected to keep an ear on the Atlas frequency at all times.

The CAA have released details of what will happen should the above not be adhered to.

If “Atlas Control” controllers see an aircraft enter either the restricted zone or prohibited zone they will try to contact the aircraft on the correct radio frequency should this fail, radio contact will be attempted on a back up frequency. CAA advise to squawk 7600 if the radio has failed. Should contact still not be made then military action will take place, the target aircraft will then be intercepted either by helicopter or Typhoon, The CAA has released details on what is expected of a pilot should they find themselves intercepted.

If interception is performed by a helicopter, it will approach the target on the left side and rock its aircraft, the target aircraft will be expected to rock its wings and follow the helicopter, failure to comply will result in the helicopter displaying a sign which reads “follow me” again, the target will rock its wings and follow the helicopter. A third attempt will then take place. The helicopter will alert the target with a green laser or fire a flare and failure to comply may be deemed to require an armed response.

The helicopter will be armed with a sniper who will have several weapons at his/her disposal, this would be as a last resort.

If intercepted by a Typhoon, the fighter will join the target at the left and rock its wings. As above the target needs to respond by rocking its wings and follow the Typhoon; if this does not happen the Typhoon will break from left to right on from of the target aircraft and failiure to comply will result in the Typhoon again breaking from left to right in front of the target whilst firing flares.

The decision then will be taken as to shoot down the target

All this rocking... everyone will get seasick :P

And let us not forget the small matter of missile launchers in the area - carefully spirited in under a veil of secrecy formed by the wide publicity given to the outburst of outrage by the resident whose flats form their bases. The poor souls seem to think the presence of such things on their roofs will make them 'targets'.

Just think...

We could have all the same things in Glasgow in 2014 ;D

I'm managing to avoid venting my spite at the 'games' (Commonwealth or Olympic), thankfully the normal media no longer fear those behind these cons, and is doing a reasonable job of highlighting the sad reality behind theses scams, and publishing stories about the various corrupt individuals that are caught out as time passes, and of the worldwide criminal organisations that follow such events.

There was even a documentary that showed how gangs of pickpockerts work together to divest people of their valuable - a 'job' that allows them to travel here from around the World.

And if you haven't been reading stories about the vice industry and how it operates at such events - you should be looking harder. Again, it's fascinating stuff, and will net those involved a small fortune - in only a few days. And don't forget, a lot of this is nothing more than slave-trading, with many of the girls involved 'earning' little or nothing, while their master pocket the cash and keep them in their place with threats (and actual) violence.

However, it was a more light-hearted example of the sheer arrogance of those behind the Olympics that moved to start tapping the keyboard again.

You may have noticed that the nominations for the annual Stirling Prize have been announced in the past few day (including a Maggie's Centre in Glasgow), and there's little surprise that the Olympic Stadium is one of the nominations - even though it should not, on the simple basis that those involved do not need the prize money.

I'm almost of a mind to say that like the abortion in Holyrood, it is guaranteed to win - but maybe not.

Reading some of the reports, those behind the stadium just might have blotted their copybook and upset the people behind the prize, so the contest cannot be rigged to have the stadium collect the prize.

It is claimed that those behind the stadium announced their inclusion in the short-list for the Stirling Prize BEFORE the list was published and made available to the public, and the nominees are not supposed to know they are on the list.

Well, we can only wait and see if the stadium nets the prize. The final 'decision' is still some weeks away.

There was a fascinating programme on last night about the design and construction of the stadium.

Only the field and the lower rings of seats are designed to be permenant.  The rest of the building is made up of bolted prefabricated pieces and will all be dismantled after the games.  The roof and the 14 lighting towers are  all held up by tensioned steel cables.

There were all sorts of dramas over planning consent and the top tiers of seats, roof etc. all had to be designed to fit the pit and track as they were built before the rest was designed.

Channel 5 as I recall.

More evidence (as if it were needed) that those with any interest in 'Games' are just out to scam people for whatever they can...

One would think it would be a straightforward and easy task to make up some banners that simply said 'WELCOME' in some fashion, in the language of the various nations concerned.

Not so.

It seems that those behind such "Come into my parlour said the money-grabbing fly to the cash-carrying fly" ploys are so thick and such such penny-pinchers that rather then employ the services of an actual speaker of the language to get the translation correct, they just grabbed the first free translation they could get online - and that means it was probably provided in a form easy for a Westerner to understand (and came with no explanations of the translation either).

So the words were spelt... backwards!

Read another sad and embarrassing 'Games' tale here:

London 2012: Westfield Arabic banners 'incoherent'

That is a bit harsh, it has nothing to do with the actual games,  the banner (s) is (are) in a shopping centre.

I for one am looking forward to dipping into the BBC's 24 HD TV channels.    I quite enjoyed the Beijing games.

I don't think it's harsh at all - let's put it down to Emperor's New Clothes syndrome.

Those banners are there because of London 2012, that's the Olympic Games, and they're aimed at people coming for those.

So they have everything to do with the Games, and would not be there if there were no Games.

Aye right...

24 BBC channels that I have presumably had a skim taken off my licence fee to pay for - and will not get a penny's worth of value in return for.

I saw them all pop up on one of my feeds last night - and could not believe my eyes (perv)

So much for 'No Advertising' on the BBC.

A load of folk who want nothing more than to catch the right eye, and pick up a million (or preferably billion) £££ sponsorship deal to see them into the lap of luxury will get 24/7 coverage of their effort over the next few weeks, and pay not a penny for it, as the host mug nation picks up the tab for all these games.

The whole is crooked from bottom up.

I haven't even mentioned the level of drug-testing and the cost of that - again, who picks up that tab?

And some of the so-called athletes can't even seem to prove what sex they are!

Good grief, that at least should be something simple to do, but apparently not.

And wh's picking up the tab for the security? Something else thoroughly screwed up due to lying about the cost in order to get the job.

We really need our heads examined - and cleaned out with a wire brush and Domestos - for allowing this, nay BEGGING, for this to come to this country.

We're supposed to be broke, skint, in recession and can't afford to fund any real schemes that create lasting employment, or jobs, or attract foreign industry to invest and base itself here, yet we appear to be able to find a bottomless money pit for it.

Ah...

I'm forgetting, aren't I?

These games leave is with a...

LASTING LEGACY

(lff3)

(Good job my "Give a Dam" tank is empty here - imagine what I might say if I cared ;D )

And who's picking up the tab for this sort of thing, hot off the presses today - or are the accountants busily adding a new column to the MoD spreadsheet for 'Extraordinary Training Exercises - not accounted for elsewhere'?

I'm sure my money (other than my tax bill) would be safe if I was to bet it will not be the IOC, or a whip-round amongst any of the athletes.

Quoted Text

At around 12.20pm local time on Wednesday Jul. 25 the RAF Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoons based at RAF Northolt (London) for Olympic Games security got their first scramble.

Using radio callsign 6NK31, the first Typhoon roared into the skies above northwest London whereas a second jet was kept on holding on the runway threshold ready to launch as 6NK32.

Once airborne, 6NK31 went south towards Heathrow and circled overhead at 4,000 feet before the intercept was called off. As 6NK32 returned to its shelter 6NK31 moved to RAF Marham where it entered into a holding pattern to burn fuel before landing back at Northolt.

Aircraft on QRA in north-west London are among the somehow controversial security measures put in place to protect the Olympics, that are kicking off on Jul. 27.

As of writing it is not known what caused the scramble order.

We weren't in the depression when we bid for the games.

Given the number of people coming from all over the world it would be a strange business that didn't make the visitors welcome.

Thanks to satellites a vast number of people all over the world will watch and enjoy at least a small part of the games.   I suspect those that don't see any at all will be in a very small minority.

Quoted from The Fox

We weren't in the depression when we bid for the games.

Then we should have done the decent thing and declined when we lost won the bid - we were skint then.

I'm lucky to have a shiny new useless velodrome being completed a couple of miles along the road - and will be able to watch as it become a derelict, or converted into a warehouse or distribution depot for Tesco in a few years.

I also have an athletes village being built beside (and they will not be paying to rent their rooms there).

What will happen to that after the Commonwealth Games circus leaves?

Please don't tell use the official party line (brainwashing) of the Games and tell me that it will be great new housing for the area...

There is already a development lying half empty on the adjacent land, started 4-5 years ago, and left half-finished and half-occupied 2 years ago.

The estate office where they tried to sell the houses and flats they completed is still there - boarded up an hidden behind a wooden shuttering to keep it out of site from the road.

It's lain there so long, it has even been caught on Google Earth.

Just call be Mr Minority - not Mr Wooly Overcoat ;)

Whoops!

Somebody's going to be for the high jump - after leaking the unedited version of the Games welcome video before the bits 'they' don't want seen were cut out ;D

Hey, Cat... Wake up - Great news - The BBC has just launched 24 digital TV channels to cover the Olympics Games.

WHAT!... OH NO... NOO... NOOOO... .. .



:)

I noticed yesterday that part of the building to the right of the header pic was still standing - probably not by now.  Driving through the eastend is now quite difficult as many of my landmarks have disappeared and many of the roads changed or re-routed.   It all looks quite impressive to a hick from the sticks.

24 BBC channels dedicated to the Olympic Games...

Yet the BBC still has to steal the whole of Friday evening's hours on BBC1 for... OLYMPIC COVERAGE!

And I can hear the sound of laughter if I asked for a refund for avoidable lack of service.

Talk about being made mugs of >:(

I see they tried to start World War III in Glasgow - and over a football match too.



North Korea flag blunder sparks diplomatic row on first day of Olympics at Hampden - the Glaswegian

Now wasn't that a surprise ;D

Quoted Text

The North Korean women's football team walked off the pitch at their Olympic match in Glasgow after their images were shown on a screen beside a South Korean flag.

London 2012: North Koreans walk off after flag row

And a South Korean forgot 'diplomatic immunity' only applies to diplomats after having a go at drunk-driving in Dorset, where the penalty is probably less than at home:

Quoted Text

South Korea's Olympic sailing coach Jae-Cheol Lee has been caught driving while drunk in Dorset.

Lee, 38, was found to be more than twice the legal alcohol limit when he was breathalysed by police on Portland on Wednesday.

Lee, who gave his address at Weymouth Magistrates' Court as the Olympic Village on Portland, admitted a charge of driving with excess alcohol.

He was fined £340 and banned from driving in the UK for 18 months.

South Korea sailing coach Jae-Cheol Lee in drink-drive arrest

Twits!

They should have added a 0 to his fine and thrown him in jail - as an example to the rest of out 'guests'.

He might as well have been a diplomat - with a paltry fine, and a pointless 18-month driving ban in the UK.

He was on the next flight home!

Did you know the Olympic insanity had even been allowed to take over ownership rights of our language, and you are not allowed to use some words and phrases now:

(Clicky thumb for a little list) :

Honest!

I did not organise this because I knew The Fox was going to watch some of the BBC's 24 Olympic channels that I have helped pay for - but it is still rather amusing that the Freesat box concerned just happens to be named after a fox :P ...

Quoted Text

Humax has acknowledged that a problem meant owners of its Freesat digital TV box could not use it to record any of the BBC's temporary Olympic channels.

The 24 live action streams cover every session of every sport across the duration of the Games.

Freesat - a subscription-free high definition digital TV service - said other manufacturers' equipment was not suffering the same fault.

Freesat's marketing materials heavily promote the "summer of sport".

Humax only sells one digital satellite set-top box recorder in the UK: the Foxsat-HDR. The South Korean firm said it believed it was the bestselling model in the UK.

The firms' UK service manager told the BBC the company was making efforts to resolve the fault.

"Humax were made aware of the issue when the problem was identified on Tuesday," said Michael Caughey.

"Unfortunately nothing could be done at the broadcast encoder end to resolve the issue so on Thursday we started working on the fix and are hopeful that it is imminent

Humax box suffers Olympics channels recording glitch

Let me check... Nope... My 'Give a damn' still doesn't ;) ...



Maybe it's a South Korean software 'bomb' that was written into the product from the start, and the diplomatic flag screw-up at the Glasgow football match led to them se

:o

It is very magnanimous of Apollo to pay for the extra channels.   Will King George VI be blinking in the daylight?   Will there be an outbreak of moths in Glasgow?

Actually the cost may not be as much as you might think.  

All events would have been covered anyway to permit transmition in other countries and to allow the BBC to show any interesting incidents.   I imagine all the BBC is doing is taking the 24 feeds they would already have been creating and re-broadcasting them to the UK.   I wait with interest to see how the HD pics turn out as they seem to be stitched into the red button service in some way.

"Would have been covered anyway"

Excuse me - with 24 DEDICATED CHANNELS!?!



It's the first day of this tripe, and we have lost BBC1 to it, apparently in total.

BBC2 seems to have lost much of it time to the same( and miraculously started before 7 pm too.)

BBC3 has also been hijacked for a time.

BBC4 has kept its head down.

Why are we losing our normal channels if there are 24 DEVOTED CHANNELS?



"Actually the cost may not be as much as you might think".  

You think?

I was not paying much attention at the time, but I direct anyone interested in the cost to look back to the day when the BBC took on the job of Olympic TV coverage.

If I recall at all correctly - they took it on because everyone else ran away from it because it was going to cost too much to organise.

If I translate that into Plain English - there was no profit left for a normal business with operation profits expected at the end of the day - not losses.

But I'll happily accept if anyone digs up news from the time to the contrary - that's just my memory of a year or two ago, and so is subject to er... er... oh, I forget what it's called ;D

Fortunately, organisation of the Reds flypast was NOT entrusted to LOGOC (the bunch of losers that cannot even get national flags correct), so they were not shot down by the SAM missiles deployed around London, or dealt with by the 4 (yes, FOUR) Typhoons dedicated to, and stationed at a base nearby the stadium in order to provide air protection.

We've yet to learn if there's any truth in the story that terrorists tried to sneak nasty spores into the colourant used for the smoke deployed during the stadium flypast...

The 1936 Olympic Games had one high point...

The look on the Führer 's face after black Jesse Owens walked all over the supposedly super race of perfect white Aryans was classic - I don't know if film of the time which shows him at the games is genuinely from the moment.. but it shows someone who owns a dog called Engineer waiting at home (and ready to make a bolt for the door when he walks in ;) ):

Quoted Text

Jens Becker, from the DKB Bank which owns the site, told The Times of the ongoing struggle to save the historic site.

He said: 'This is the oldest Olympic village that exists and that is why it is important to save it. It is a part of German history which nearly disappeared and now we are trying to save it.

'It was the first permanent Olympic village. The athletes were impressed - each house had its own steward and there had never been a swimming pool before at an Olympic village.'

Around 4,000 athletes – including Great Britain’s 208-strong squad – took part in the Games in the summer of 1936 as Europe teetered on the brink on war.

Adolf Hitler looked on with delight as his German ‘supermen’ lived up to his dreams of glory, winning the Games with a medal count of nearly 90; Great Britain came tenth with just 14.

The only real slap in the face for the Führer was the success of America’s black track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens.

It seems that the now-historic athletes village from the time - also described as the oldest surviving example of such a place - is in danger of being lost due to neglect.

Nobody wants to know about it because of its Nazi connections.

Ironically, the only room currently preserved and like new is... the one Jesse Owens occupied...

But after the war, Russia occupied the village for 50 years - and it seems it had an even darker purpose:

Quoted Text

After the war ended in 1945, the Olympic Village was occupied for nearly 50 years by the Soviet Army.

Among the new tenants were the torturers of SMERSH and the KGB, interrogators who turned the subterranean rooms housing the swimming pool’s heating system into a theatre of pain and death.

The cremated remains of victims lie strewn over the site.

Adolf Hitler's Olympic Village of 1936: Conservationists race to save the forgotten relic of the infamous 'Nazi Games' | Mail Online

Going back to the cost of the big O - Channel 4 are covering the paralympics so they must think it commercially viable.   I would have thought the audience would be much lower.

As to why BBC1 & 2 have been taken over - I have no idea.

The Olympics seems to be a story of one shambles after another. Here's another I've been pointed at:

A few days before the start of these dopey games, London's Underground threw a wobbly for a while, which could have disrupted all travel if not fixed.

That's probably not too unusual - it must suffer problems at the best of times, but you would think they would have it serviced in readiness for a busy period.

More embarrassing must have been the failure of the rail system in the area of the stadium though.

It seems that the trains were slowed to a crawl by the hot weather.

The heat apparently caused the overhead power cables to sag, meaning the trains could not travel at anything more than a crawl lest they damage it and their pickups.

Reports at the time said that trains were not even being allowed to stop at the main station for the Olympics, so that means no-one was getting on or off at the most important station for the event.

Good job they can't get snow or leaves on the rails as well at this time of year, or it looks as if they would be as well locking the rolling stock up in the sheds, and telling anyone involved in the games to get the bus, taxi, a bike, or just walk.

Looks like it would be quicker an more reliable.

What's going to break next? (At least we know it won't be the M25 - Europe's largest circular car park ;D )

Are the sewers going to backup from from all the extra butts and bull**** now being deposited?

;)

Brainwashing...

The true horror:

Stories around the games are not all about waste and stupidity.

In fact, if there were more like these, I'd probably be pleased to see them being held (but don't forget, I am most definitely not a sporty type, unless it guzzles petrol and upsets green loonies).

This is the story of a rather remarkable stadium.

Unlike the usual games venue that leaves a pile of concrete and a largely useless and derelict venue on the site after the novelty has worn off, this one is designed to be cheap (in terms of a structure this size) and re-useable, or re-cyclable.

This would deal with one of the major objection that can be levelled against the games, that of the so-called 'Lasting Legacy' - always promised, but seldom, if ever, appears in the lifetime of anyone that might be able to remember that promise as made by the organisers.

The 2012 London Olympics Will be the First to Use This Recyclable Basketball Stadium | Gizmodo UK

Who hasn't been reading the posts?

The upper sections of the main stadium will be dismantled and recycled too.  This will reduce the seating capacity from 80,000 to 22,000 (as I recall),  a more suitable size for other sporting events.

(The main stadium will still be mostly there though don't forget the foundation and all the services - and definitely not reusable somewhere else. The dismantled section will be a relatively small fraction of the structure. Akin to taking the body off a bus - might look a lot, but is not really.)

Anyway...

There was an interesting display of logic and argument posed today, following an anti-games protest march in London.

Hundreds march in Olympics protest march in east London

I find it rather amusing that the LOGOC thinks that the protesters (said to number 400 on a march that took a few hours) might disrupt the games to the same extend that years of works, street closures, diversions, privileged traffic lanes, extra visitors, etc etc etc have, and will, disrupt the lives of the locals to date, and for weeks to come.

LOGOC said:

Quoted Text

"We implore any protesters to consider the impact of any action on the athletes, most of whom have spent half their lives preparing for London 2012.

"We are a sport-loving nation, and ruining sporting events is not the way anyone wants London 2012 to be remembered."

If it wasn't so fascicle, it would be funny.

Instead, it's just a tragic statement of LOGOC arrogance.

They could easily have acknowledged the protesters without trying to put them down and set them as fall-guys for any subsequent disruptions.

Oh...

I might add that I'm not letting this group of protesters off either, as they overstepped the mark with their claims too, which verge on the ridiculous in part:

Quoted Text

The Counter Olympics Network said it was demonstrating against "two million free tickets for the rich" and "roads being turned into exclusive highways for VIPs".

The march also raised the issue of missiles being placed on roofs of residential buildings to protect the Games and claimed local businesses and residents will not benefit from the event having been "sidelined".

"We do not consent to austerity, privilege and profiteering," it said.

"We reject Cameron and Coe's corporate Games."

WHOOPS!!!

Maybe the protesters had a point.

Seems that a whole chunk of seats lay empty at the swimming event (and others), which had previously being described as being 'Sold Out'.

And this was not two or three seats, but described as "hundreds".

People that wanted seats and could not get them are understandably upset, and it looks as if the reason the seats were empty is because they were pre-sold to privileged queue-jumpers and the media.

That makes the tickets free hand-outs, and the people who got them probably didn't want them, but were gifted them as 'favours'.

It will be interesting to see what sort of double-talk is used to explain this away.

And it will be interesting to see how busy the secret workers in the back-room of the organisers tent work over the next few hours and days, in order to get the same sate covered with bums in the coming days, in order to hide this ticket fixing.

Empty Olympics swimming seats investigated

I said this was basically a window for corruption, now it looks like Day One showed it up, and we can only wait and see what fairy-tale is spun to cover it up.

Yes indeedy.

Those protesters are looking more reasonable all the time, and the games organisers more like money-grabbing thugs.

Here's another story, this time even the nice, normally lovable and desirable cyclist is going to run the risk of being £130 lighter if they wander into a bus lane!

Quoted Text

Chris Mills -

We all know that the Olympics are going to cause major disruption across London, and that Dave really needs them to go well. But fines like this on cyclists are just freaking ridiculous!

It turns out that after removing the bus lanes that you can normally cycle in, TfL’s guarding the Games Lanes with all the jealousy and zeal of an angry lioness guarding her cubs from the circling hordes of hyenas. They can’t find enough security guards to protect the venues, but rest assured, when it comes to the lanes, TfL will have an army of enforcement officers ready to taze* anyone who dares to swerve onto their hallowed bits of tarmac. When I asked TfL to confirm this, they said:

    On street civil enforcement officers will act as a visible deterrent to any contraventions and assist with enforcement on the ORN. Cyclists risk a penalty of £130 for causing an obstruction in a Games lane whilst it is in operation.

So there you go. Gone are the days when London tried to be a cycle-friendly city — now, if you ride a bike, you’re just an “obstruction”. Better find my walking shoes then. [TfL via Twitter]

*ok, maybe tazing people is a bit over the top, but I wouldn’t put it past them

Stray into a Games Lane On Your Bike? That's £130, Please! | Gizmodo UK

Aren't cyclist supposed be worshipped like holy things and encouraged by having laws ignored around them - not get fined for being in the way :P

Perhaps it's only for the games, and riding on the pavement and over pedestrians is not considered of any importance, and is always ignored by On street civil enforcement officers.

The farce continues to play out in the Olympics, now it's a venue for Scottish nationalism and politics...

"Footballer Kim Little and another Scottish player, Ifeoma Dieke, had stood silently before Great Britain women’s opening match on Wednesday."

The have clearly forgotten that there is no 'I' in 'team'.

If they felt that strongly, then they should not have joined Team GB - they should have been in the Scottish Olympic team and gone to the games under that heading.

Ifeoma Dieke - what clan or part of the Highlands does that name derive from I wonder?

All flying under false colours as members of Team GB, and all showing what stupidity all the political stuff is.

From the media at least, it looks as if they have also harmed Scotland, as their action (the Welsh members pulled the same stupid stunt) appears to have brought more comments about being offensive than anything else.

I don't have time for this nonsense, and this is one reason. They are supposed to be about sport, not politics, but only hours in, and what has grabbed a headline?

I close as I opened - it's all a farce.

Love this one...

Someone has actually picked up on London's Zil Lanes! :)

Quoted Text

The special Games Lanes for Olympic athletes and officials, which have given rise to jams and infuriated some drivers in London, have been branded "Zil lanes". The nickname comes from the infamous traffic lanes in Moscow reserved for the most senior officials of the Soviet Union travelling in their black Zil limousines.

Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the grand Stalinist 12-lane highway sweeps from the Moscow river through the grey high-rise suburbs, past the huge victory memorial and out to the wooded countryside west of the Russian capital, which has been the playground of the country's leaders for almost a century.

This was the location of the most infamous of the Soviet Union's rezervniye polosy, or reserved lanes.

It was one of the great ironies of Communist Russia that the socialist leaders - who were supposed to be protecting the interests of the proletariat - themselves lived lives of privilege, comparable to those of Western leaders.
Games lane in London Anyone driving in a games lane faces a £130 fine

And one of the great privileges was to be swept through Moscow's then limited traffic in the back of a grand Zil limousine, right down the centre of the road.

Contrary to popular myth, there weren't many of these reserved lanes. The two main ones were on Leninsky Prospekt, on the way to the government airport at Vnukovo, and on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the route to the grand dachas - country houses - reserved for the very top of the party leadership.

Exactly when the lanes started operating has been forgotten. Josef Stalin had an army of men with red flags who blocked all roads on his route so he didn't need them, but certainly by Leonid Brezhnev's era (1964-82) the Zil lanes were up and running.

...

Zil lanes: From Moscow to London 2012

I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about - or maybe even believe me - if I had added a note about the parallel.

Thank you BBC research - I hope some of the money extorted from the Games coverage helped pay for this article ;D

Commiserations for anyone unfortunate enough to be using Internet Explorer.


!!!

What?

Oh - I see - finish the sentence! (Sorry, got carried away again - ok ;) )

Commiserations for anyone unfortunate enough to be using Internet Explorer at the moment, but the following add-on does not appear to have been made available for you, so you'll just have to keep suffering with the Olympian references :P

In the creator's own words:

"The Olympic Games are here, and with all large events, our favorite internet hangouts are filled with mentions of this event. Our netizen communities generally don’t care for athletics, except that which we can do with our fingers. So download the Olwimpics browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, and boost your self-esteem during these next few weeks."

Olwimpics | F.A.T.

Pssst....

Wanna sabotage the Olympics?

All go and get a bunch of mates, and have each one befriend an athlete and get them to share a bottle of 'Never Mind the Anabolics' from the fine Scottish Brewdog brewery.

The brew contains a load of substances that will get an athlete banned from the Games if they test positive.

A simple and harmless way to bring things to a happy end :)

Brewdog Beer: Never Mind The Anabolics



"This is Never Mind the Anabolics. A 6.5% India Pale Ale infused with creatine, guarana, ginseng, gingo, maca powder, matcha tea and kola nut.

It is about time the greatest sporting event on the planet was not sponsored by fast food companies, sugary fizzy drinks producers or monolithic multi-national brewers. A burger, can of fizzy pop and an industrial lager are not the most ideal preparation for the steeple chase or the dressage (for human or horse).

So we decided to give the athletes something that was going to make them happier and better. A way to relax before a big event and at the same time increase the chances of winning.

This summer, revive the spirit of the people's Games from the comfort of your favourite bar.

Never Mind the Anabolics takes its lead from the relentless marketing campaigns of global fast food chains and international mass production breweries that replace the sporting spirit with a fast buck, a greasy burger and an ugly plastic cup of insipid, fizzy, yellow lager.

Dedication, training and passion are things of the past; Kick back, put your giant torch down and let our performance enhancing ingredients do the hard work.

It's not the taking part, it's the winning that counts.

BrewDog BrewSheetBrew Sheet

ABV:     6.5%

Twist:     Contains at least 50% of your daily allowance of Sarcasm "

Ooopsie...

Looks like interest in the games was waning even before they started :o

And folk even dared to venture that they thought they were too expensive :o :o

(I wonder if those same people got a visit from men black suits wearing black glasses driving black SUVs with blacked out windows later - after all, there were only about 2,000 in the survey sample, who'd notice a few disappearances? :) )

London Olympics: Doubts persist about UK-wide benefits

More farce at the daft games, as Coe & Co try to deny the empty seats at supposedly sold out venues, and describes them a stuffed to the gunnels.

They even drafted in troops to sit in the seats - a move to try and hide their emptiness?

I'm not even going to waste my own time drawing quotes from the article, but these people are clearly in denial and trying to 'say black is white' as it were, and save face as their claims of mass sell-outs etc are plainly now being shown to be hype - and also brush of genuine people who did want to attend, but could not get tickets because of official ticket-fixing.

And to think I might have been wrong when I referred to this sort of event as the 'Shames' rather than the 'Games' way back at the start of this thread...

They don't want to 'name and shame' the no-shows (as this Scotsman article calls for) - they want to 'name and shame' all the folk that fiddled tickets as favours, perks, and bribes backhanders for others.

Most of them probably didn't want the useless 'free' tickets in the first place, and would never have had any intention of travelling to, or turning up at the games and sitting in those seats.

London 2012 Olympics: Call to ‘name and shame’ no-shows - The Scotsman - Scotsman.com

Q&A on why seats at Olympic venues are empty

Now not that I have an axe to grind  ;) but I noticed that the Telegraph has done a survey of the empty seats and reported that the non-politically correct activity of shooting that has been banished to Woolwich to keep it away from the public gaze was:

Quoted Text

Packed out for all sessions at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

exmpa

I found this 'Mail on Line' article about the 1936 Olympic Games very interesting. I was acquainted with Jackie Bone of the Glasgow Wheelers (lived in Milngavie and was the first man in the UK to achieve a distance of 240 miles in a twelve hour race-- known as "evens" in bicycle- racing parlance ) who competed in these games as part of the British road race cycling team.  Jackie unfortunately was forced to retire from the race, and he, as did the British road race team, came home with no medals, but this didn't stop Jackie speaking highly of the treatment they received in Germany.

I have been told by a German who visited the Games in Berlin,  that Jesse Owens was the most popular athlete among Berliners and was extremely well-received wherever he went. A story arose around the world at the time that Hitler was annoyed with the success of the black competitors. The organisers of the Games had intended to have Hitler present in person, the Gold medals; it transpired however, that it just wasn't feasible time-wise to do this, and the practice was abandoned. The story was embroidered somewhat, and it finished up that the Führer-presentation was abandoned because Hitler refused to present a medal to Jess Owens. According to my source, this was not the cause for the termination of presentations by Hitler. This story has probably been enjoyed by more people regarding the 1936 Berlin Olympic than any other story. This is reflected for example, in the following Mail comment:

"The only real slap in the face for the Führer was the success of America's black track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens ."

and is no doubt an offshoot of the Jesse Owens snub story.

By the way, the WWII American Army transit camp around the Crookston Castle in Glasgow accommodated  two distinct U.S. Army groups: the white one and the black one!

It's like shooting fish in a barrel...

You don't even have to go looking for farcical stories that show the games organiser could organise a knees-up in a brewery.

After how many years of planning and preparation, and how many millions of £££ poured into this money pit, can you excuse the organisers for running short of something as obvious as...

FOOD!

Olympic food and drinks shortages prompt supplies boost

Time for heads to roll...

And going on the current favourite method of revenge...

Some knighthoods and titles to be stripped from the people at the top table - Mr Coe sounds a lot more appropriate already, rather than Lord Coe ;)

And the farce continues in London... (and I'm still not having to make anything up, or even go look for it, I just read the news.)

You know that Olympic Flame - the one that is supposed to burn forever?

Well, not at the London Olympics.

Apparently some fool put it where it could not be seen, so a decree was issue to move - AND THE FLAME DIED!

This is not a metaphor: the Olympic Flame has died for real, as technicians were moving the cauldron to a new location in the stadium. Now, they have to sacrifice 12 vestal virgins; six ping-pong players and start war with the Persians.

Actually, they just sent some old chap called Austin Playfoot on a cherry-picker to relight it. It looked more ridiculous than majestic, but it certainly did the trick. At least, Mr. Playfoot was one of the Olympic Torch carriers both this year and back in the 1948 London Olympics.

According to millenary tradition, the flame has to burn in its cauldron for the duration of the games. Unfortunately, 11:14pm London time isn’t quite the duration, but this was no mere accident: it was extinguished for security reasons before Thomas Heatherwick’s beautiful cauldron was moved to its new location.

I don't think the cauldron was moved because it couldn't be seen.   I saw it lit in the Offical Opening and it was in the middle of the field area.    The commentator said that would be moved from the field before the track and field events took place.  So I assume this the planned move.

That sounds like spin (after the media printed the story revealing the poor original location), spun because the organisers would look pretty stupid (again) if they had put the flame in a place where it later had to be extinguished and moved.

And if the move was planned - well. that would still smack of incompetence. The mere idea of extinguishing the Olympic flame during the games is ridiculous.

I remember the flames of games past, and they were always placed in proper position of honour, where they could be seen at all times, and not shuffled around like an afterthought.

I'd suggest Lord Coe's publicity team is just doing its best to manipulate the story - and help him avoid become plain old Mr Coe ;)

Pointed at yet another foul-up from earlier.

Seems that the media reported on how Scotland Yard lost the keys to Wembley before matches were due to be played there.

Lucky one there - the organisers can presumably blame that on someone else ;D

Looks like one of the 'games casualties' is the medal.

Reading the news this morning, there was a lack of detail, so you'll have to go follow/find the real details yourself, but...

According to one storyteller, the LOGOC medals are so cheap'n'nasty that when one winner was so attached to the gold medal he had just won he was not going to be parted from it, and had a shower with it, and then went to bed with it.

Then was horrified to find it was broken.

Be interesting to know the reality/truth behind this - how do you break a gold medal?

Well you don't! Olympic "gold medals"  are, like everything else about these games, phoney. They are actually mad of gold plated silver, which is a relatively soft and not a very strong metal.

Quoted Text

The medals shall be at least 60mm in diameter and 3mm thick. The medals for first and second places shall be of silver of at least 925-1000 grade; the medal for first place shall be gilded with at least 6g of pure gold.

This can be found with a bit of digging, but for obvious reasons they do not publish it!

:)

I didn't want to add to LOGOc's pain.

I think everyone is aware of the medal's make-up nowadays, and they they are not 'real' gold.

For Scots, this came to note well before the various games, as did the regulations quoted in the previous post.

(I think there is even a post somewhere in this forum too.)

Things came to light earlier when Scotland was 'snubbed' (not my words, I'm merely repeating) after it offered the gold that was to be used for the medal.

Seems that Scottish gold does not conform to the specifications laid down in the regulations, so we were told to keep our gold!

Seems you can't even give the stuff away ;D

Actually, if you read the whole story, Scottish gold is good gold, very good :)

So much for the unity of the games, and their being an opportunity to bring people together.

It seems more like an opportunity for those with an axe to grind to get their axes and grinding wheels out.

Now we have the Welsh in the British Team (eh???) asking the Welsh in the international crowd not to boo when the British national anthem is played in Wales when the British team plays there.

At least I think that's what the story said - I really cannot be bothered reading it twice to make sure I am right :(

But I did take my usual trawl down in to the comments, and yes...

The Scots are down there, egging the Welsh on to boo away at the British national anthem for all the usual reasons.

If you think about it, the idea of all this friendliness that is suddenly supposed to erupt around these stupid games is really really silly...

Since the first thing they do before a finger is even listed is pit nation against nation - and you can already see the medal tables being built up, listing how many medals each nation has won, and which nation is going to come out on top.

Still, it's better than all out global thermonuclear war...

Oooops... Forgot that the Olympic organisers had already tried that with the Koreas! ;D

Maybe they will be happy if they can get Wales and England and Scotland at one another's throats...

Olympics football: Craig Bellamy wants anthem respected

Serious news from London today, with the tragic death reported of a cyclist - 'nuff said for in here.

:(

What was tragic for one competitor was put into some perspective though, and did raise a smile, as she told the organisers where they could put their 'special' medal:

South Korean Fencer Awarded Special Medal, Tells Governing Body to Shove It

If you'll remember from a couple days ago, an inconsolable Shin A Lam refused to leave the piste after a judge ruled that time had actually not expired (after it almost definitely had), leading to her opponent scoring another point to win the semifinal match.

Fencing's governing body then offered to award Lam a "special medal" recognizing her "aspiration to win and respect for the rules." In response, Lam promptly told them they could take their special medal and shove it.

"It does not make me feel better because it's not an Olympic medal. I don't accept the result because I believe it was a mistake."

The Korean team filed a protest to no avail, stating that they "can't agree with the decision of the referee."

And...

While we have to put up with the obscene grunting of women tennis players these days, thanks to the clever positioning of microphones, it seems that Olympic diving also runs a sub-competition...

GURNING! ;D



Yup...

You know what's coming next once they've been shopped ;)



=====

And finally...

NO...

Surely not...

Corruption!!! ;D

Eight Chinese, Indonesian, and South Korean Badminton Players Disqualified for Trying to Lose

The federation found the players guilty of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" in matches Tuesday night.

In order to win a more favorable draw, players from the three teams were attempting to throw their matches. The audience booed as it became obvious the players were not exerting themselves as much as they could.

The South Korean appeal was rejected, the Indonesian appeal was withdrawn, and no word on what the Chinese planned to do about the ruling.

Interesting development following yesterday's terrible tale of 'honourable' Olympian badminton players trying to 'fix' their matches, where China apparently clammed up later: "The South Korean appeal was rejected, the Indonesian appeal was withdrawn, and no word on what the Chinese planned to do about the ruling."

This morning, the big stick was wielded by their masters and:

Quoted Text

Two Chinese Olympic badminton players and their team leader have been told to make a public apology, the country's official news agency says.

China's top-seeded pair Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among eight players disqualified for trying to lose games.

Cheating by any other name, but let's just sweep it under the carpet, you only have be sorry if you get caught, otherwise, collect nice shiny medal ;)

GOOD NEWS!!!

After the South Korean fencer told the committee it could shove their special medal somewhere, it seems her epee went missing too :o

They found the epee ;D

Ai wubs da 'limpcs...

The greatest display of sportmanship and honour and integrity and all that sort of thing to take place every 4 years.

A shining example to hold up for our young people to follow and aspire to.

(And we wonder why our jails are full and overflowing ;D )

Or...

More like an event made up of a-corruption-story-a-day....

Lord knows what is going on at the games, as I really do not look for anything mentioned here - I only see the items in the headlines landing on my desk (and I might add that there are more than the one I might pick on a given day.)



More Olympic Shenanigans: This One is Frighteningly Corrupt

Last September, charges emerged alleging that Azerbaijan had bribed the international boxing organization (AIBA) millions of dollars to ensure gold medals for their fighters in the 2012 Olympics.

After conducting an internal investigation, the AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo determined that the allegations were "totally untrue and ludicrous." But then the fight pictured above happened.

Japanese boxer Satoshi Shimizu took his Azer opponent Magomed Abdulhamidov to the mat not three, not four, but five times. After a fifth knockdown, the rules state that a fight should be ended in favor of the fighter not getting beaten to the ground repeatedly. Instead the referee allowed time to expire rather than calling the fight.

As Shimizu awaited the final tally, he felt assured that his complete battering of Abdulhamidov had been enough to give him a wide margin of victory. Instead, the score came back with the Azer fighter winning 22-17 despite barely landing ten punches over three rounds.

After an appeal issued by the Japanese Olympic Committee, the fight was eventually given to Shimizu, but not in time to avoid showing the whole world a competition where officials blatantly favored a country waist-deep in allegations of bribery.

The NBC commentators astutely observed that "everyone here should look at themselves and realize why this sport is considered a joke at this point."

I don't know if it's just the truth that is a casualty in this story, but having driven various electric RC cars (admittedly tuned for speed rather then load-lugging) I find this one a bit hard to swallow as being real.

At least, not in so far as the RC Minis shown in the gallery with the article are the ones to be used on the day.

They have no modifications to allow them to run around with things like discus or javelins attached, and the javelin is definitely going to need some sort of mod to the car if it is going to be transported. If you spear it vertically through the car, then the centre of gravity will just be too high, and the thing will go over if it moving at any speed and makes a turn, and if it tied on to the car horizontally, then it will be too long, and the ends are going to get caught on 'things'.

Good publicity story, and keeps up the Olyimpic ethos of selling lots of stuff and making money...

Olympics to use Mini Cooper R/C cars for javelin, discus retrieval

It looks as if you really really don't want to be playing silly buggers in Olympic airspace, unless you have a desire to eat ground within a few minutes...

A second scramble took place as a Typhoon intercepted an intruder into the Forbidden Zone of the glorious and honourable Olympics:

The target aircraft was a Boeing 737 business jet, serial number N444HE, registered to Wells Fargo Bank, which was cruising at 36,000 feet, when the Typhoon arrived on its left hand side for visual identification and escort.

From the end of the runway to the wing of the target the Typhoon took only 3.5 minutes!

The fighter jet on QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) was scrambled after the B737 failed to respond to the Air Traffic Control calls on the radio.

At the same time, a second Typhoon rolled onto the end of runway after the first took off, ready to act as backup.

Having completed its escort duties, the first Typhoon broke off from the jet, and then requested a flight path to burn off excess fuel before making its landing back at base.

Yes, here we go again, as the honour of the games is upheld in the usual way we have come to expect...

Olympic Shenanigans: And So It Continues

In an Olympics that has seen badminton players disqualified for throwing matches and boxers being given favor on the strength of bribes, we have yet another controversy, this time in cycling.

At the start of the men's cycling track final, British biker Philip Hindes noticed he was falling behind. Conveniently he "crashed," leading to a race restart and his eventual victory. After the race Hindes has this to say:

"I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really,"

In a not at all suspicious turn of events, he amended his comments to say that he lost control of his bike.

The IOC later cleared the British cycling team, stating that "best efforts were made." Apparently they've changed the definition of "best efforts," because getting a race to restart just because you're losing doesn't exactly seem like that to us.

I do not in general disagree with your opinions about international sporting events such as the Olympics Apollo, but I'm not sure your criticism about this cycling event is justified--- frankly I cannot imagine it happening. I do admit however, a lack of knowledge about what actually happened.

I hunted high and low on the BBC International News for the track event in which this "crash" occurred. You simply called it "the men's cycling track final". This could refer to any one of several track events. I have never ridden on a track like this London velodrome, but even on a slightly banked ash-track, if one is engaged in a solo "flying start" time-event, then to "crash" before the timing had actually started, during the wind-up for example --- your effort would not have been made until the timing has started (there could be a number of reasons for the "crash", mechanical problem for example or not enough speed to prevent slipping on the very steep embankment. I don't know the ruling on this ). It could also be a standing-start event in which the rider lost his balance before the timing or whatever kind of event it was, had begun.

One thing I know for a fact, if an I.O.C. rule had been broken, not only would the IOC make a judgment call, but the competitor(s) would make sure their opponent was not infringing on the rules of the race... the alleged infringement would not pass without screaming and kicking!

Having just arrived home, and for me a luxury, watching the news, uncensored, aagh, it is all olympics, what in hell is going on in the rest of the world, never mind my own country.

Surely with multiple TV channels available, can sports not be confined to sports, and news in fact relay news.

Believe me , in China I had better knowledge of what was and is hapening in the world, than this travesty of news channels.

(lff3)

More shenanigans... and a wicked little sense of humour on some satirical wit's part is provided by current events.

I can't (be bothered) to explain the significance of this one, or why it is so good, but you will be able to find the story about 'NBC delay' or something like that, if you have any 'Give a Damn' left  ;)

Shenanigans Shenanigans...

Olympic Shenanigans: Algerian Medal Contender Banned From Competition

The Olympic shenanigans continue today, as Algerian 1500m runner Taoufik Makhloufi was told he wouldn't be allowed to compete in any further competition after not providing a "bona fide effort" in the 800m quarterfinals.

Makhloufi won his heat of the 1500m quarterfinals on Friday and unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw from the 800m in order to keep his legs fresh for a medal run in his main event. 200 meters into his heat of the 800, he slowed down and then "wandered across the infield."

According to an IAAF spokesperson, there's a chance the Algerian can be reinstated pending a "medical certificate from a local doctor."

I don't know anything about football - does a red or yellow card matter?

Or does a kick in the face not make any difference?

In what universe is that not a red card?!

In today's Senegal vs Mexico game, Senegal defender Pape Souare straight-up kicked Hector Herrera in the face. OUCH.

Souare was handed a yellow card for the offense, and Senegal went on to lose to Mexico 4-2

One has the right idea Ma'am...

Carry on on behalf of your people, and rescue them from the pain:

Why isn't this in the Olympics?

Looks less stomach turning than the diving caught above...

(groupwave1)

They should put a cat at the end of each Olympic race and the winner gets to pet it. World records broken everywhere.
—
Jeff Wysaski (@pleatedjeans) August 06, 2012

Olympiczzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

If I can't have Stella Angelova, then I might settle for some proper records.

Here's how to break the 100 metre record - or rid us of the incessant appearance of this guy, who deserves alien abduction and probing after that stupid Virgin advert :X

Anyway...

I'd like to see that Bolt chappie with a rabbit tied to his butt, and then see what sort of time he records against Sarah :)

(Preferably after she hadn't eaten for a week or so  (devil2)  )



Sarah, an 11-year-old cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo, set a new world speed record this summer during a shoot for National Geographic magazine. She first earned the title of world’s fastest land mammal in 2009 when she covered 100 meters in 6.13 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 6.19 seconds set by a male South African cheetah named Nyana in 2001. On June 20, 2012, Sarah shattered all 100-meter times when she posted 5.95 seconds. By comparison, Sarah’s 100-meter run was nearly four seconds faster than the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, whose fastest time for the same distance is 9.58 seconds. Sarah’s top speed was clocked at 61 mph.

Who?

'Scuse me, but isn't there some rule or guidance about always having a stupid smile on your face while competing in synchronised swimming?

Not traumatising little children for life, who might be watching before the watershed and without a handy adult to run to for comfort!

It's like a 1950 'B' horror movie - only with the added dimension of colour...

THEY DID IT!

THEY REALLY DID IT!!!

I asked for a pic to prove the RC Mini discus recovery method - and I got a pic proving the RC Mini discus recovery method.

(clap2)

Now...

If I just happened to be there with a slightly souped up RC transmitter, would you like to guess where those Minis would be going after they collected the discus?

I'm not near London - but maybe somebody down there will have the same thought, or maybe happen to look in here (devil2)



Ok, so where's the javelin recovery pic then?

Did I mention the good old Olympics were more likely to lead to World War III than world peace?

DUH!

Clearly no need for literacy if you got a job working an Olympic keyboard...

I'm not keeping count of these fails, but I reckon we've had more than one ;)

(And there's still time for more - and then the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - GEEZ!!! I know how good literacy in Glasgow is... I need to order more hands  now! ;D )



To be fair, that looks like closed captions for the hard of hearing, and not the responsibility of the Olympics in any way.

Those that type for this service are doing it live, 'on-the-fly' as the words are being spoken, so they are doing a hard job where making the mental choice of alternate spellings for the same sounding word is not always going to click automatically correct 100% every time.

I almost forgot to mention that Nick Pope - never one to miss a publicity opportunity since the MoD did him out of a job after they got fed up pouring money down the UFO hole - was milking the Olympics for all it was worth:

The Olympics might even be the reason for the end of the World in 2012!

Quoted Text

He warned: 'With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable.''

I think we would be better prepared if we got ready to defend ourselves against the drivel that issues forth from him since he was canned.

He's beginning to sound delusional these days, and might now even believe the stuff he spouts to promote his own books and publicity.

I've had some streaming video running for a few days now, and it includes many documentaries on UFOs, and he keeps popping up in most of them and babbling away as if what he says is factual. I eventually had to kill the stream as it was "doing my head in!"

Keep an eye on the skies for saucers during the Olympics Games, warns former MoD UFO expert | Mail Online

A real 'Games casualty' - Vodka and Olympics don't make the best of combinations apparently





Not poking fun - I'd give you the story behind him, but the translation I have with the vids is rubbish.

But as far as I can see he really is called Ivan, and normally very good.

It looks as if he has won a gold, and when he did, he was 5 cm clear of his nearest rival. No-one else could even get close.

Are glasses filled with the heady brew of 'Olympic Spin' half-empty or half-full?

I thought my last few functioning brain cells were beginning to fail after they appeared to be telling me they had read of an Olympic "hero's" gold post box was alternately vandalised, them worn out by adoring fans.

Hard to get much more opposite takes spun on the same story, but then again, it's the Olympics, and we're supposed to swallow the claim the they provide a 'Lasting Legacy', so what's new?

Idolisation: Andy Murray's Olympic gold postbox to be redone after paint picked off

Vandalisation: Vandals target postbox painted gold for Andy Murray's Olympic medal | Dundee & Tayside | News | STV

Take your 'pick' ;D

Another casualty ;)

Glasgow in the eyes of cyclists.

The break we seem to have been enjoying from the 'Cyclists GOOD, Drivers BAD' brigade touting their predictable claims.

The peace has been welcome, but Chris Hoy and the daft velodrome named after him inevitably meant it would start up again.

And poor old Glasgow is the one to suffer this time - obviously the worst city in the World to get on a bike... until one of the local Neds rides off on it 2 nanoseconds after you get off ;D

Enjoy the whining, with all the usual comments following the article proper.

Actually, I will add to this...

It's interesting to note that this is the first time I have noted someone mention the amount of broken glass in the way of the Glasgow cyclist - but I also note no-one dared speculate if that was down to the locals refilling the routes when they were cleared, or if Glasgow City Council was just useless at cleaning it up (no-one would dare do the latter, as the workers would strike the moment they saw the suggestion ;) ).

More notably, I can say it not broken Buckie bottles, as the glass lying there is white, not coloured.

Glasgow may boast the Chris Hoy velodrome but it's 'hell' for cyclists | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Nice guy:

"The way I see it, the pool is the biggest and most expensive toilet, and it's all mine." Lochte says in the video. "That's the only time I allow myself to pee... I hold it in until I get to the pool. If I see a toilet, I'm definitely not peeing there."

Value for money...

Reality check time as to the value of the human race - basically we're screwed when the next asteroid looms on the horizon and ignores out "Please stop, pretty please", but we can at least take heart from being able to watch the next Olympics as it closes in ;D

Olympic caption typos explained:

Cats employed as keyboard operators in an attempt to make more money available for kickbacks ;D

Olympic cheat:

South African Cameron van der Burgh won the 100-metre breaststroke in record time at London’s Aquatic Centre last week. But following complaints by the Aussie swim team, he admitted to cheating with the brilliantly lame excuse of, everyone else was doing ‘”the same thing”. In breaststroke, competitors are allowed to take one dolphin kick at the start, and one after each turn before starting their breaststroke kick, but Cameron admitted to doing more than one. Lucky for the South African, no-one caught him on the day so he’s probably off the hook now. There’s no replay review in swimming and the post-race appeal period is long gone, anyway.

“If you’re not doing it, you’re falling behind,” van der Burgh said. “It’s not obviously — shall we say — the moral thing to do, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my personal performance and four years of hard work for someone that is willing to do it and get away with it.”

“Brenton Rickard in the lane next to me, he’s doing the exact same thing as me yet they’re turning a blind eye.”

“It’s got to the sort of point where if you’re not doing it you’re falling behind or you’re giving yourself a disadvantage so everyone’s pushing the rules and pushing the boundaries, so if you’re not doing it, you’re not trying hard enough.”

Nice to see things going as expected at the 'games' ;)

Looks as if boxing has a good history of maintaining the level of integrity this so-called 'sport' has always had

Quoted Text

Questions about the scoring in the Olympic men's boxing have been raised after a series of disputed results.

Last year Newsnight spoke to Olympic boxing insiders who alleged London 2012 medals could be bought.

We were told $9m had been paid from Azerbaijan to the international boxing authorities in return for two golds.

The International Boxing Authority (AIBA) denied any wrong doing. The IOC found no formal evidence of cash for medals as it stands.

However, some of the results over the last few days have raised some serious questions about the scoring system.

Eyebrows were first raised last Wednesday when Azerbaijan fought Japan.

The Azeri bantamweight Magomed Abdulhamidov won the match despite going down six times in the final round.

After an appeal by Japan the decision was overturned. The boxer from Azerbaijan was out, the Japanese fighter reinstated and the referee was on the next plane home to Turkmenistan.

The whole thing of legitimising two people beating the life out of one another as some sort of 'honourable' sport has always been rank with corruption - even Mission Impossible managed to make an episode that spread over two episode using fixed results betting on the outcome. That was something like 40 years ago, and it was old then, and it seems it is no different today.

I'm not singling it out, just look at the weeks we've had after a certain football club in Glasgow has some 'little financial difficulties' a while ago. This nonsense has been in the headlines for weeks now, and looks as if it is never going to end. Anyone would think it was important.

Questions raised over London 2012 Olympic boxing scores

Madness.

Royal Mail should really never have painted the first post box gold.

What had the person or the Olympics got to do with the mail service anyway? None of their business.

Now we have a crazy situation where 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' comes into play, and we have people being carted of by the police in handcuffs (why in handcuffs, surely the chappie was not seen as a threat or a spitting smackhead - he runs a bar and restaurant! ) while Royal Mail accuses them of vandalism.

Odd, as I mentioned the removal of the Royal Mail's gold paint as vandalism just a few posts back, now the application of non-Royal Mail gold paint is also being classed as vandalism.

The sooner the stupid games are over, done, dusted, and forgotten, the better, and the country can return to what used to pass for sanity.

Ben Ainslie: Lymington gold post box painter arrested

Games continue to be source of things you could not write yourself, or make up and expect to be believed.

I've written of the delusional fantasy and outright lie of the "Lasting Legacy" that the games promoters used to con their way into the financial offices of councils, and anyone with some cash, with the threat of being 'left behind' or denying the people they are responsible for of the promise of 'future benefits' if they don't cough up ridiculous amounts of money today, to finance the games money pit.

While such things are bad enough as they rob more deserving projects and starve them of funding, the madness becomes more worrying when it infects the minds of allegedly responsible politicians at a high level, way above that of the little tinpot dictators buried inside local councils:

Now, the fantasy of the Lasting Legacy threatens to infect national politics with its futility and insanity:

This shows how stupid the whole thing is, and how these people do not consider the effects of their foolish claims, made without any thought for their implications.

Come 2014 and the Commonwealth Games being imposed on Glasgow - what will happen when the English leaders call for their 'fair share' of the Commonwealth legacy?

There must be one... I have reported it often enough and shown its appearance in the media in posts above.

If it exists, then England is part of the Commonwealth, so Scotland had better start planning how to share it out now - and will that shareout just be to those who hammer their shoes on the table and demand it? Or will be a fair division given to every member of the Commonwealth, whether or not they demand it.

Or will Scotland say: "They're all ours!!! OURS!!! We staged the games independently, we keep the benefits, all of them. Get stuffed!"

Nice little article reveals another cost:

How much does an Olympic gold medal cost?

Quoted Text

With a minimum six grams of gold and a large chunk of silver, the pithy answer is about £450.

But read on to the end:

Quoted Text

But with Team GB's haul so far costing each UK taxpayer less than 10p a medal, you won't find too many Britons complaining. Add in a conservative £12bn cost of hosting the games at £400 per taxpayer, and some may not feel quite the same.

Olympic success: How much does a gold medal cost?

Where do I apply for my £400 refund, since I was not asked if I wanted to contribute - and where do I (and other Scots) get our money back for the Commonwealth Games.

Scots are suffering a double-hit for this nonsense, having coughed up for both games, while the English (and Welsh etc) have been spared this thievery.

Frendliness, sportmasnship, co-operation, gamesmanship, one-upnaship yacka yacka yacka...

Blood in the Water...

Quoted Text

Political turmoil between Hungary and the Soviet Union spills over into a water polo match at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

A wire-service photograph of Zador, standing on the pool deck in his trunks, dazed, blood streaming down his face, was published in newspapers and magazines around the world. The picture presaged the political nature of the modern Olympics, which would be dominated by intense East-West rivalry for decades.

...

At the time, Zador was a 21-year-old college student. When the Hungarian revolt began, in October 1956, he and his teammates were training at a mountain camp outside Budapest. They could hear gunfire and could see puffs of smoke in the city. Before they could determine the outcome, they were bused out of the country and flown from Czechoslovakia to Melbourne. At the Olympic Village, Zador recalled, they were desperate for news. A water polo player who was fluent in English read a Melbourne newspaper and told his teammates what had happened: after freedom fighters had tried to overthrow the Soviet-dominated Communist regime and establish a democratic government, about 200,000 Russian troops poured across the Hungarian border, their tanks rumbling through the streets of Budapest. They left more than 5,000 people dead. The first thing the water polo players did in the Olympic Village was tear down the Hungarian flag with the Communist emblem and replace it with the banner of Free Hungary.

...

Blood in the Water at the 1956 Olympics | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine

Although it would appear to no longer be 'politically correct' to refer to Common Sense, that restriction is not recognised :)

And it would seem that Common Sense is but one more casualty of games madness.

Duck tape, or duct tape depending on what you think it is called, is reputedly able to fix anything, but it really is a bit of stretch to believe it can fix injuries - but that's the message one con is trying to sell.

You can now purchase - for the appropriately inflated price - 'special' tape to stick on to yourself that will fix injuries. And, of course, there is no shortage of famous celebrity level athletes ready to put their name to this and get their cut of the profits as the little people queue up to be parted from their money.

An expression about 'fools' and their 'money' comes to mind.

I'm thinking of selling water that has been 'threatened' with various chemicals and herbs to impart their 'memory' into the water... I reckon I could con er.. sorry... convince people that the water would cure their illnesses by imparting the same memory to them.

Oh BLAST! - someone thought of that already >:(

Why are athletes wearing coloured tape?

Well, the games have not even ended, and the snouts are digging in to feed in the trough of the Lasting Legacy.

After overseeing a catalogue of fiascos, he keeps his Lordshipfullness, and get a new job for life:

Olympic Games: Lord Coe made legacy ambassador

It's sickening stuff :(

At least some folk haven't bought into it.

I expected to see lots of backslapping for his good fortune - but the comments after this article are far from complimentary in many cases.

Maybe the internet is not all bad after all, and the way it has been able to circulate the financial background to this orgy of legalised theft , and normally hidden fixes and shenanigans around the results has opened some eyes. At least amongst those who want to see.

Some of those offering praise sound as if they would not notice if he stood in front of them while he dipped their pockets and emptied their wallets and purses in front of their eyes ;D

Hats of to these guys took 'Games casualties' literally, and provided this contribution (and I am not even going to describe what some of them were doing :o - but I guess someone will be posting it on YouTube)

Well, I knew this was coming, and the good old 'friendly' games have delivered another contribution on a par with starting World War III.

I wonder what the count for this is so far?

At least only one of the cases I can think of so far involves countries with nuclear capability - unless the Scots follow one recommendation that was published a year or two, and take over Coulport when there are some warheads sitting there while their sub is being services at Faslane.

For something that often declares itself as non-political, these games have provided more political stories than just about anything I've seen since... the last games! ;D

Independent Scotland ‘would have to compete in Team GB at 2016 Olympics’ | Politics | News | STV

I see they handed out too many kickbacks during the Olympics, and had nothing left for the closing ceremony:

So all these people are wrong?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19238284

Not wrong in what they saw...

All carefully selected to give positive reports.

The article means less than nothing as it is not a poll - it's a collection of backslapping by those who believe the games are great.

The only useful opinion or survey of any sort would be one drawn from a statistically neutral group, and with questions similarly framed not to promote or decry the games - not just list the outpouring of fans who declared their love for them.

;)

And here is an example of Scotland 'benefiting' from the yet to be seen fiasco of the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

An American company has been awarded the contract for opening and closing ceremonies, and will use a London team to carry out the work.

Quoted Text

A marketing firm has won a £14m contract to oversee the opening and closing ceremonies of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

American group Jack Morton Worldwide has been awarded the contract by organisers of the Games.

...

It has stated that both ceremonies will have a potential international TV audience of more than one billion.

The company’s London team will oversee the ceremony organisation,

US firm wins contract for Glasgow 2014 opening and closing ceremonies | News | Glasgow | STV

As I have said all along, you cannot make this stuff up.

Another 'games casualty' is now hoping to recover after suffering the effect of the 'games'.

Quoted Text

Organisers of the Edinburgh Fringe hope the end of the Olympics will bring a surge in ticket sales.

London 2012 was already under way when the festival started and is thought to have affected ticket sales.

Now the sporting event is over, it is hoped more people will see one of the 2695 shows on across the city.

It is also hoped the festival can take advantage of the large number of international media already in the UK.

Edinburgh Fringe hopes end of Olympics will bring surge in ticket sales | News | Edinburgh | STV

This crap, pardon my language shouldn't be allowed, it should be Scottish companies, or British at worst.  Can you see the Americans doing a similiar thing if they were doing a similiar event.

Em...

Let me tax my brain cell for a moment...

...

...

...

Uh...

...

...

Not a snowball's chance in hell ;D

Any American that handed out work on American patriotic based games to a non-American company would be shot, or at least run out of town and never work there again.

Oopsie ;D

It's yet another World War III fuse from the friendly games... ;)

But it's all about the spirit of competing, isn't it? Not countries :P

The contents of this thread become more and more depressing every day. Imagine, Glasgow is hiring a Yank to run Glasgow's opening ceremomies for their 2014 Commonwealth Circus! Ah don't believe it....

The Olympic insanity has now taken a firm root in Russia.

Mad plan and evidence of corrupt deals are already in the news:

Quoted Text

Sochi is warmer than past Winter Olympic host cities—the seaside park will feature palm and magnolia trees—but organizers dismiss concerns about having enough snow for the games.

To be safe, Russian officials have been packing reserve snow into underground storage facilities for over a year. They expect to have 250,000 cubic meters saved up by the games—an emergency backup supply in case the 430 snow machines that are being installed don't suffice.

"For the competition, anyway, the snow is always artificial," Chernyshenko said. The snow machines Sochi installed operate in 50 degrees fahrenheit or below.

"Mr. Putin told me Sochi has the best snow in the world, and I have no reason not to believe him," former Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy, chair of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission for the Sochi games, told reporters last year.

All told, the budget for the Sochi games is massive, some $18 billion. That includes $2 billion for the organizing committee; $8 billion for constructing the venues; and another $7.2 billion for the rail and highway project, which is being paid for by state-owned Russian Railways. Then there are additional government infrastructure projects.

Much of the money comes from a group of corporate sponsors and investors that includes state-owned lender OAO Sberbank, state-owned oil giant OAO Rosneft and oligarch Vladimir Potanin's holding company Interros. Chernyshenko said the organizing committee will make a profit.

But the $7.2 billion cost estimate for the rail and highway project, in particular, has raised eyebrows. Russian Esquire quipped that for the price, the road's 30 miles could be paved 1.1 centimeters deep in beluga caviar.

Russia Gets Ready for Winter Games - WSJ.com

Well, that nice Mr Putin does have to do something to generate pocket money - he's building a holiday home, and the last report I saw claimed it was going to cost him a billion something (I suspect $$$ as these tales usually come from American sources - harder to make 'disappear' ;) )

This may, or may not, be a factual article about the holiday palace:

Photos of Putin’s alleged seaside palace spark controversy | The Observers

I saw the pictures that it claims are of his holiday home, and when they appeared a year or so ago (when I saw them) they were not identified in this way, so I am not sure about this item, but it's the only one I have that goes into detail, so you'll have to work it out for yourself :-/

At the end of the day, this story is about the Russians burying snow to make sure they have some handy for the Olympics, and that strikes me as a very Russian thing to do :)

The torture, pain, and suffering goes on...

Strapped for cash (according to some) Glasgow seems to be able to find money not only for the Commonwealth Shames in 2014, but also a bit of pre-publicity following the Olympics as it gets to hold a parade (or free advert they don't pay a penny for them to win sponsorships) for the returning Olympic 'Heroes of Scotland'.

That cost should have been left for good old Edinburgh to foot, after all, it is the capital and where such things should take place.

The good citizens of Edinburgh need not worry though, as their civic masters will still be splashing the cash (wonder where they acquired it - after the money they wasted with their glorious new tram shambles) as they will be having parades'n'stuff for their 'local heroes'.

Well...

That two 'wastes of money' for the price of one - a fantastic bargain by anyone's frame reference ;D

Glasgow to host Scottish Olympic parade

I knew it - I told you so!!! (Well, actually I didn't, but it would have been fun ;D )

The London Olympics of 2012 were actually a fiendish English plot to undermine HIAL (Highland and Islands Airports Ltd) and bring the company down...

Quoted Text

The London Olympics was among factors that led to a fall in passenger numbers at Scottish regional airports, it has been suggested.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) said its figures for July were down 1.3%, compared to the same time last year.

Of Hial's 11 airports, only Inverness and Tiree recorded increases.

It said potential travellers choosing to stay at home to watch the Games was among likely causes for the drop.

London 2012 'a likely factor' in fall in Hial passengers

(I think the nonsense I make up is better than this one, oh, maybe not :-/ )

It seems the Olympics have been full of cheating b%$!*&*s from the very beginning, or at least so I have been told...

The first ever Olympic marathon bronze was almost awarded to a cheating Greek who covered part of the course not on foot, but in a carriage. When challenged, Belokas promptly admitted his guilt and third place was awarded to a Hungarian named Kellner.

The Greeks weren’t really too bothered since they had come first and second anyway.

Marathons had way more drama back in the days when most people never even made it to the finish line, and just collapsed along the way. Spiridon Louis, Greek winner of the marathon, was apparently able to pause for a glass of wine at a village along the way, where he told the locals he was certain to win. The whole thing was heavily weighted towards the Greeks in the first place though, because they were the only team to have practised for the marathon before the event took place.

Is 'Olympics' another way to spell 'cheating'? ;D

The stories just keep coming...

German athlete Dora Ratjen finished fourth in the 1936 Berlin Olympic’s women’s high jump. But after what I presume was some kind of unfortunate clothing slip, Dora was revealed as a man while setting a women’s high jump record in 1938. Dora the German man was disqualified and put on trial, although they couldn’t make the fraud charge stick as the court decided he wasn’t after financial gain.

His former team-mate and roomy only found out the truth about Dora in 1968 when she read a magazine article about it. “When I read it I laughed like crazy. I couldn’t help myself,” Gretel Bergmann told the BBC.

Horst “Dora” Ratjen himself never admitted that he just liked wearing a dress and instead used the classic cross-dressing excuse of the Nazis forced me, “for the sake of the honour and glory of Germany”. ”For three years I lived the life of a girl. It was most dull,” he is reported as saying in 1957. Olympics; cross-dressing; high jump and Nazis? That’s anything but dull, Dora.

Here's some interesting Glasgow headlines that all hit the page at the same time:

Quoted Text

ROCK-BOTTOM morale and plummeting job satisfaction are making life a misery for Glasgow City Council staff, a survey has shown.

The report revealed that increased workload, unsatisfactory pay, poor management and lack of
staff and resources have left staff unhappy.

Of 6545 staff who took part in the survey, 62 per cent said their jobs have got worse over the past three years.

Almost a quarter said they considered the council to be one of the worst employers around.

A third of the staff reported that stress from work impinged on their personal lives.

More than half said they had been subjected to abuse from the public.

And 30 per cent said they had been bullied by a colleague or superior.

Glasgow, like many councils, have been hit by cost-cutting measures.

In recent years, the authority have shed more than 3000 jobs as they try to find tens of millions of pounds of savings.

But other councils surveyed attained better results in the staff survey.

Savage cuts take their toll on fed-up staff at Glasgow City Council - the Glaswegian

But, it looks as if there's no problem finding money so long as the word 'Games' is included on the funding application, and Glasgow has no problem pouring the stuff into:

Glasgow selected to host Scolympians' London 2012 victory parade - the Glaswegian

And of course, the drain is still flowing for:

Glasgow 2014: How Hampden will look for Commonwealth Games bonanza - the Glaswegian

It's like global warming and climate change - researchers working on supporting these concepts can be sure of funding, but those who work in other fields claim their applications always seems to work their way down the pile of forms, and always land below them when the relevant committees start assessing them for award.

A real 'Games Legacy'...

I wonder if we will get any tales of tripe like this having been used to part people from money around Glasgow (I mean on top of those of us who have already been parted from money we gave the city fathers to spend on local services etc.)

Quoted Text

A petition demanding refunds for traders at a "disastrous" Olympic food market has attracted 5,000 signatures.

Local traders invested about £20,000 each for stalls on the new Olympia Market in Leyton, east London.

One trader said they had been "sold a lie" that 80,000 people would pass through it daily when hardly any did.

Waltham Forest Council said it had not received any money while contractors Skateco said it was "astounded" the council had distanced itself.

The petition states that traders were mis-sold pitches and that some had lost £27,000.

The petition states that traders were mis-sold pitches and that some had lost £27,000.

The chief executive of North London Business, a not-for-profit company that was one of the contractors, has resigned over the market which is near the Velodrome and Basketball arenas.

Speaking from the market site, BBC London reporter Jason Rosam said it was no longer open and that it was not going to reopen for the Paralympics which was the original plan.

Tsitsi Makoni, a carer who ran a food stall at the market, said she had lost £5,000 which she knows she will not get back.

"Right now I'm just heartbroken. I really feel cheated and robbed and I just want answers as to why we were sold a lie," she said.

In a stall holder information pack, traders were told that 80,000 people would pass through the market each day.

"We were told as Londoners that this was the greatest opportunity and that everyone was going to benefit," she added

Olympic food market petition has 5,000 signatures

Good news for fans of the Commonwealth Games ;)

Building on the waves of euphoria sweeping across the country in the wake of the nation's Olympic glory, you are now cordially invited to help those behind the forthcoming shenanigans keep the pound in their pocket, and become an unpaid volunteer while receiving news of things you can buy from them:

Glasgow 2014 - Quick Sign Up

YAY!!! (clap)

This must be the 'Lasting Legacy' we have been promised after the games...

People learned that there were better things to do than go shopping!

London's west end has had to offer free parking to attract people back after they found better things to do while the games were on - and the traders don't like it ;)

West End parking free after Olympics slump in shoppers

Shouldn't they have been 'champing at the bit' to get back to their favourite haunts after the areas was choked by all those extra people that got in the way over the past few week?

And they should not also have been talking advantage of the lull before we have to endure the forthcoming assault of the paralympic games?

Yes, the pain is not over. More in a couple of weeks.

"Thanks for the big advert guys - just send the cheques to the usual address. See ya!"

BBC Sport - Sir Chris Hoy not racing at Glasgow velodrome opening

Like he cares about the medals...

Just don't interfere with the cash coming in from the advert, and he'll swim home laughing happily all the way to the bank thank to the free publicity the City of London bought for him:

He can afford to buy an army of lawyers to spin his side of the story, and will probably have them talk his way out of the charge anyway, and end up with the medals too.

They just have to find the right places to leave the slightly bulging plain brown envelopes ;)

Michael Phelps: Swimmer in hot water after Louis Vuitton ad is leaked before end of Olympics | Mail Online

Posts: 12,772 "Thanks for the big advert guys - just send the cheques to the usual address. See ya!"

BBC Sport - Sir Chris Hoy not racing at Glasgow velodrome opening


Tough I suppose for the organisers, but at least Hoy will be in attendance. The man is after all, getting on in years (although Reg Harris made a comeback while in his fifties and became, for the umpteenth time, British Sprint Champion.). Over and above this, Jason Kenny, the man who won a gold for Britain in the Olympic sprint has I feel, the measure of Chris.

After the first few outings at the new track, I think the novelty will wear off and then we'll only get cyclists and relatives going to watch the racing. I'd go, but only because I was a cyclist at one time. It will be absolutely boring for non-cycling people. Unless there has been great growth in the number of cyclists in the west of Scotland, it's doomed to failure and an utter waste of money.

:)

Thanks for taking that as light-hearted - I didn't give him a (really) hard time.

The track is in the right place of course, on the line of Sustrans Cycle Route 75 as it runs along the bank of the River Clyde:

Route 75 | Sustrans

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/assets/files/leaflets/clyde_corridor.pdf

I can even say that I have often almost been run over many on the odd occasion when I have been walking down there and a cyclist has dared to ride along a deserted riverside path in the east end of Glasgow. I walk around down there with eyes and ears on the alert, and ready to run like hell, and make the 100 metre dash back to civilisation and the main road. Cyclists could easily be persuaded to get off their bikes quickly by use of a thin and almost invisible wire slung across it at neck height, leaving them (the bikes) to be collected by the locals.

I do wonder sometimes, as I see the 'yoofs' enjoying their favourite beverage down there on a nice day, and falling about - should I be here?

Back in the real world...

What could a spare velodrome be used for, should the worst come to the worst?

Could the owners of Celtic Park - who happen to live a literal stone Buckfast bottle throw away - be persuaded to take it (for free perhaps - remembering they would still have to pay rates and maintenance etc) and use as an indoor football arena or training club?

Who knows... maybe they are sitting in the boardroom and looking across the road, and rubbing their hand in expectation of the gift coming their way in a few years ;)

Incidentally, they have recently applied for permission to demolish a listed school next to their ground, and build a club museum and fan shop on the cleared site.

(Disclaimer: Parts of this post might have been created just for fun... maybe. You'd have to live here to know ;) )

Well!!!

Would you look at that and gaze in amazement and near disbelief...

It IS possible to make honest money out of the games :)

Quoted Text

The Olympic City is a photography project by Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit that looks at the legacy of the Olympic Games in former host cities around the world. Hosting the Olympics has become a way for a city to show itself off on an international stage and generate toursim dollars, and cities spend millions or billions for the privilege. But after the events are over, the medals have been handed out, and the torch is extinguished, what's next? What happens to a city after the Olympics are gone?

In The Olympic City, we're documenting the successes and failures, the forgotten remnants and ghosts of the Olympic spectacle. Some former Olympic sites are retrofitted and used in ways that belie their grand beginnings; turned into prisons, housing, malls, gyms, churches. Others sit unused for decades and become tragic time capsules, examples of misguided planning and broken promises of the benefits that the Games would bring. We're interested in these disparate ideas — decay and rebirth — and how each site seems to have gone one way or the other, either by choice or circumstance. We're equally interested in the lives of the people whose neighborhoods have been transformed by Olympic development.

A large-format hardcover art book (approximately 200 pages) will be published in March, 2013, in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. In addition to the photos, the book will feature text contributions from several writers we admire. Publication will coincide with an exhibition of the photographs in New York City and other cities, details TBA. We're also producing a digital version of the book, and 100 signed copies of a deluxe edition that will include two original photo prints from the project.

The Olympic City by Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit — Kickstarter

Guess they won't be coming to Glasgow  - it only had endure the Commonwealth Games :'(

Two for one...

The 'honourable' Olympic cheats just run to knock at my door now...

Here we have the man with the magic sword:

Another modern pentathlete cheat, army officer Boris Onischenko also got caught out on the pesky fencing event. Sneaky Boris, or “Boris the cheat” as he became known after Montreal 1976, figured out how to give himself fencing points at will. The Ukrainian rascal wired his sword up so that he could trigger the electronic scoring system with his hand and register a hit willy-nilly. Before long, his opponents had worked out something was up: the British Jim Fox protested that his opponent’s sword was rigged, and so Boris carried on with a replacement, but was then duly disqualified. There were rumours the poor guy got sent off to a Siberian salt mine.

Not going into detail for fairly obvious reasons, but it seems that three members of the Jordanian paralympic team tried some sports that are probably dealt with more harshly by their own authorities than ours, and have been charged by the Northern Irish police for allegedly playing 'games'.

What a dreadful thing to use a children's comic for - early brainwashing to make sure the next generation is pre-programmed to make the next zombie-like walk into future Olympics.

Nothing like planning ahead to get ahead ;D

It's The Beano I'm really sorry for - no morals at DC Thompson:

Quoted Text

Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis is to feature on the cover of children's comic the Beano.

DC Thomson has confirmed the 26-year-old heptathlete will appear as "Ennis the Menace" in a special Olympic edition.

The Dundee publishers have said the comic, which goes on sale on Wednesday, will mark the success of Team GB at London 2012.

Ennis will be seen taking part in the "Menace Heptathlon".

Jessica Ennis will feature on the cover of the Beano

;)

I thought another Olympic cheat had come knocking at my door, but then I listened more closely and found a bizarrely interesting tale followed:

Polish athlete Stalnislawa Walasiewiczowna got away with her impressive cheat for a really really long time. A women’s 100 metre Olympic champion in 1932 and silver medallist in 1936, Stalnislawa was only found out to have been a sort of a cheat when an autopsy turned up the fact she had male sex organs.

Her birth certificate said she was female, and she had female characteristics as well as XX and XY chromosomes, so in a way it's not really true to say she was a complete cheat. TIt seem there’s actually a whole heap of controversy over this one, surrounding whether she was a male, female, or both, and whether she should have her world records posthumously removed (she had a whopping 18 in total). It’s clearly a tad too late to make a meaningful fuss now, so you decide on the basis that she lived and died a woman.

Quoted from Apollo

Not going into detail for fairly obvious reasons, but it seems that three members of the Jordanian paralympic team tried some sports that are probably dealt with more harshly by their own authorities than ours, and have been charged by the Northern Irish police for allegedly playing 'games'.

Geeze Apollo, you'll have to explain this one to me---okay so I'm naive, but I can't imagine what it can be when the Northern Irish police accept it, but not the Jordanian authorities.

Oooops a daisy! Thank you for the reply.

One casualty after another ;D

AN event being held at a major Commonwealth Games venue has been cancelled due to fears participants could contract the norovirus bug.

Novovirus fears over potential Glasgow Commonwealth Games venue - Top stories - Scotsman.com

More games casualties - this time self-inflicted cos "It boosts out performance":

Quoted Text

Would you break your own toe to win a Paralympic medal? Would you sit on a sharp object or strangulate your testicles? It's cheating, but a scientist who will be monitoring athletes at the Paralympic Games says a third of competitors with spinal injuries may be harming themselves to boost their performance.

The practice, called "boosting", is designed to increase blood pressure and enhance performance.

It's banned by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), but some researchers say these are the desperate acts of athletes trying to compete on a level playing field.

"There have been times where I would specifically give my leg or my toe a couple of really good electric shocks" says Brad Zdanivsky, a 36-year-old Canadian quadriplegic climber who has experimented with boosting in the gym.

Paralympic athletes who harm themselves to perform better

Time to open up the old looney bins lyin derelict across Scotland - there's folk banging at the doors to get in!

Just found a rather strange thing.

You may, or may not, have seen certain organisation claiming that they would see that there would be 10,000 deaths or more as a result of plans they had made for various things to happen during the London Olympics - and no, I wasn't going to link or show them and add to the publicity.

But I was clearing down some dusty links and found I still has these hanging around, but was surprised to see that the owners had made them private, and that they can now only be seen by invited people who have the required password to access the content.

Seems a bit odd - if they don't want people to be able to refer to their failure, you would think they would have deleted the videos in full, so there was not record at all that they nonsense came to nothing.

Maybe they just want to be able to look at it themselves, and dream of what might have been.

The view from my window.

Well, ok, maybe not exactly from my window, but it is my local view :(

The year is 2012, no, the year is 1942, and war's propaganda machine is in full swing in this video in support of the war on common sense to support the Commonwealth Shames of 2014.

While this video shows what they claim to be great development that is the Athlete's Village, and will provide the 70% to be sold and 30% for the community (and even an old people's home!), they carefully avoid swinging the cameras to show the abandoned Belvidere housing project alongside, where work was stopped when it was only halfway completed, and of the houses and flats completed, many still lie empty and unoccupied more than two years later.

There's lies, damned lies, and games propaganda ;D



The Belvidere site:



The two square block above centre are flats, largely unoccupied to this day.

The L section to their south is housing, which I think is now all occupied.

The abandonment of the rest of the site should be obvious - roads that go nowhere, and are devoid of the houses that should have been built along them.

The work just stopped one day, then the machinery disappeared over a period, as did all the piles of bricks and other material, then shuttering went up, and they hid the sales office behind that too.

I think they always expected this to happen. Most developments I've watched see each process completed across large areas of the site. On this one, they only laid the foundation for a few houses in advance, then built they houses and added some more foundations, and so on. They didn't lay out and prepare the whole site.

You can see the ales off office as the two white squares in the right hand corner of the site, a pair of portacabins. They're still there, boarded up and closed, albeit hidden from view.

The derelict building you can see left of centre, reduced to bare walls, was the doctor's house of Belvidere Hospital (this is the site of the hospital). Once a fine Victorian mansion, it was stripped of its roof and everything else down to the bare walls by the builders working on the development site.

It can be found photographed in more detail here Belvidere doctor's house destroyed? - SeSco

It is quite common for developers to build houses as the plots are sold, particularly when the property market is slow.    I bought a new build at the end of a cul de sac in the 1980s and it was nearly  3 years before the intervening houses were finished.

There are many of us who wouldn't touch a block of modern flats witha bargepole (too many disaster stories!) but might be tempted by a semi or a terrace house.

Time will  tell how the atheletes' village goes after the games.

First we have to enjoy the games!

Another casualty...

We could be enjoying more of this and getting a good laugh into the bargains, no vice or drugs etc (well, maybe a fee illicit volts and amps being injected somewhere), and a much better value than the games money pit and free advert for the elite clique:

Quoted Text

The world's most agile robots and their creators have travelled to the AtBristol science centre to battle it out in the annual FIRA RoboWorld Cup.

It's the first time the event - which features football, basketball and weightlifting competitions between robots - has taken place in the UK.

BBC News went to meet some of the robot competitors to find out, with a little help from their programmers, if they were feeling match fit.

Well, the BBC claimed to give me the video embed below - but I can't see anything, might be some tripe in it that some browsers don't like, so the link is at the foot:

'I am a robot footballer': RoboWorld Cup kicks off in the UK

Oh look...

The old sportsmanship and honour of those at the top goes the usual way... (out the nearest window).

Another sporting cheat presumably stealing millions in sponsorship - why do they never have to pay it all back, as per the 'Proceeds of Crime' legislation.

I'd love to see that...

We're taking your medals

OK

We're taking your titles

OK

We're banning you for life from any more events

Um... OK

We're taking back all the money you were paid while we reckon you were cheating

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....................

Quoted Text

Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and given a lifetime ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

USADA decided he used performance-enhancing drugs to achieve his success.

Armstrong, who retired a year ago, strongly denies doping.

BBC Sport - Lance Armstrong stripped of Tour de France titles and banned

Aw...

Poor old Lance :(

I fell so responsible now, having only now spotted a method of undetectable cheating.

If only I had spotted it earlier and mentioned it, he might have been able to use it...

The race to keep up with blood doping sports cheats

And still they come...

You have to love the 'Signs and Portents' of the impending 'Lasting Legacy' that has been promised and used to raise support:

I'll just save time, and give the titles:

Glasgow City Council Commonwealth Apprentices thrown on the dole - despite vacant posts at council - the Glaswegian

Glasgow City Council overspends teaching budget after getting pupil numbers wrong - for second time - the Glaswegian

Overspend is code for being under-budget and trimming too hard.

Want to bet they ended up being under-budget cos money went somewhere else?

Another stab in the back for the lie, or myth, of the 'Lasting Legacy'...

AND from and insider!

Quoted Text

Former world athletics champion Liz McColgan has cast doubt over whether the London Olympics will leave a "legacy" for the next generation.

The 48-year-old from Dundee said facilities were no better now than when she was an up-and-coming runner three decades ago.

At the Festival of Politics in Edinburgh, she said that the Government risked letting down "a lot of kids who are so enthused from the success that we had".

Liz McColgan casts doubt on London Olympic 'legacy' | Dundee & Tayside | News | STV

She must just have bought herself a one-way ticket to the 'Bad Fire' for not toeing the official games party line :o

Got another one. (Hope it's true and not from someone sitting making these up :o )

Three Tunisian stooges in Rome’s 1960s modern pentathlon had no idea what they were doing, acting like something from a Monty Python sketch and still thought it worth cheating to avoid coming last. The amusingly-inept team all fell off their horses; were forced to stop shooting after they nearly shot the judges, and finally one plonker nearly drowned. They then started on the fencing event, soon realising that only one of them actually knew how to fence. In a stroke of mistaken genius, the team then concocted a comeback plan: they sent out the only team-member who knew how to fence, three times in a row, hoping no one would notice behind his fencing mask. It worked for a while, but by the third time, the opposition had caught on. The hapless young men were disqualified and finished last, in 17th place, which really serves them right - after all, shooting at the judges just has to bring some sort of disadvantages.

Perhaps a place in this thread can be found for the recent Lance Armstrong expose. No it doesn't really have anything to do with the Olympics or Commonwealth Games, but it does have something to do with an International Sporting event and cheating.  

I've been thrilled by the performance of quite a number of great sporting figures in many sporting events in my life. I guess one of the last times was watching the magnificent performance of one, Marco Pantani, in the 1998 Tour de France, as he danced his way up through the soaring peaks in his effort to claim the prestigious title "King of the Mountains". Wow, thought I, what a great cyclist this Pantani is. Yes, 'wow' indeed, but I was just one of the thousands of enthusiastic cyclists who celebrated his brilliant performance, only to find out later, that the Italian was a fake! He had cheated us... he had taken performance-enhancing drugs!

The performance of Floyd Landis in a recent Tour de France was not something about which I cheered. Outstanding and all, as his performance was claimed to be, I stood back from the celebrations; I learned my lesson from the Marco Pantani affair. Landis it seems, did in fact test positive for having used a performance-enhancing drug, and was fired by his racing team and stripped of his Tour de France winner's title. He's a cheat, and I don't like cheats in sport. Cheats give a sport a bad name, and I especially don't like the sport of cycling having a bad name.

I was a cyclist for most of my life and took part in many races. I was never a champion, and could count on one hand the number of bicycle-racing events in which I participated with any measure of success, but I never took drugs, and to me it was always a clean sport, a sport in which I felt good about being a part. I gave up on watching bicycle-racing after the 1998 Tour because of the Pantani exposé, and I have never watched one since... it's phony!

The great French "5-Tour-winner", Anquetil, asked us sometime after his retirement in the 1950's, "Do you think we ride for three weeks over some of the steepest toughest roads in Europe drinking soda-pop?". For me, the trueanswer to his rhetoric question escaped me and I continued watching major cycling events until 1998 when Pantani's exposure told the whole story. There is now another chapter to these recent drug stories... yes, the one provided by Lance Armstrong, the won-the-Tour-7-times man, and yes, the man who came over to Paisley, Scotland, and for a fee all the eager Scottish cyclists got to ride with him.

The 'drug story' should have sunk in earlier in 1967 when the 'great' English rider, Tommy Simpson, climbed himself to death in the Tour under the influence of amphetamines. Tommy Simpson was a revered British rider with a string of great cycling accolades to his name. He was looked up to in the world of British cycling. Indeed, he is still looked upon as a great racing cyclist and there is even a prestigious race held to this very day in his native Yorkshire which bears his name... yet the man was a cheat!

I was in Scotland in 1998 at the time of the Pantani exposure and I heard Robert Miller, a great Glaswegian cyclist, being interviewed on the radio. Miller, himself a winner of the Tour de France "King of the Mountain" title, the same title Simpson killed himself trying to acquire, and the one Pantani cheated in his effort to acquire, refused, in a very round about way, to deny ever having taken drugs while riding in the Tour. This 'refusal' left no doubt in my mind that he too, had cheated.

What about Scotland's great figures in the world of cycling?. Govan's Ian Steele, of Warsaw/Prague-International-Road-Race fame, is one Glaswegian cyclist I feel confident about believing Ian never cheated. I think the other famous Scottish cyclists, before the Robert Miller era, were clean performers. But let us not forget Scotland's other current drug cheat, David Miller (from Paisley and no relation to Robert), who was barred from racing for a period as punishment for having raced under the influence of drugs.

Should we not have wondered about Lance Armstrong? It seems there is now ample proof to show Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. Floyd Landis, and his vehement denial of having taken drugs to win the Tour (they all deny vehemently ever having taken performance-enhancing drugs) won't clear his name. Should we listen to those who tell us that there are people constantly working to develop performance-enhancing drugs which cannot be traced? The sport is forever tarnished, and Armstrong has contributed greatly to this sad state of cycling affairs. In America Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour wins. I hope the Internation Cycling controlling body does likewise.Get stuffed Armstrong!

Tour de France, as he danced his way up through the soaring peaks in his effort to claim the prestigious title "King of the Mountains". Wow, thought I, what a great cyclist this Pantani is. Yes, 'wow' indeed, but I was just one of the thousands of enthusiastic cyclists who celebrated his brilliant performance, only to find out later, that the Italian was a fake! He had cheated us... he had taken performance-enhancing drugs!

The performance of Floyd Landis in a recent Tour de France was not something about which I cheered. Outstanding and all, as his performance was claimed to be, I stood back from the celebrations; I learned my lesson from the Marco Pantani affair. Landis it seems, did in fact test positive for having used a performance-enhancing drug, and was fired by his racing team and stripped of his Tour de France winner's title. He's a cheat, and I don't like cheats in sport. Cheats give a sport a bad name, and I especially don't like the sport of cycling having a bad name.

I was a cyclist for most of my life and took part in many races. I was never a champion, and could count on one hand the number of bicycle-racing events in which I participated with any measure of success, but I never took drugs, and to me it was always a clean sport, a sport in which I felt good about being a part. I gave up on watching bicycle-racing after the 1998 Tour because of the Pantani exposé, and I have never watched one since... it's phony!

The great French "5-Tour-winner", Anquetil, asked us sometime after his retirement in the 1950's, "Do you think we ride for three weeks over some of the steepest toughest roads in Europe drinking soda-pop?". For me, the answer to his rhetoric question escaped me and I continued watching major cycling events until 1998 when Pantani's exposure told the whole story. There is now another chapter to these recent drug stories... yes, the one provided by Lance Armstrong, the won-the-Tour-7-times man, and yes, the who came over to Paisley, Scotland, and for a fee all the eager Scottish cyclists got to ride with him.

The 'drug story' should have sunk in earlier in 1967 when the 'great' English rider, Tommy Simpson, climbed himself to death in the Tour under the influence of amphetamines. Tommy Simpson was a revered British rider with a string of great cycling accolades to his name. He was looked up to in the world of British cycling. Indeed, he is still looked upon as a great racing cyclist and there is even a prestigious race held to this very day in his native Yorkshire which bears his name... yet the man was a cheat!

I was in Scotland in 1998 at the time of the Pantani exposure and I heard Robert Miller, a great Glaswegian cyclist, being interviewed on the radio. Miller, himself a winner of the Tour de France "King of the Mountain" title, the same title Simpson killed himself trying to acquire, and the one Pantani cheated in his effort to acquire, refused, in a very round about way, to deny ever having taken drugs while riding in the Tour. This 'refusal' left no doubt in my mind that he too, had cheated.

What about Scotland's great figures in the world of cycling?. Govan's Ian Steele, of Warsaw/Prague-International-Road-Race fame, is one Glaswegian cyclist I feel confident about believing Ian never cheated. I think the other famous Scottish cyclists, before the Robert Miller era, were clean performers. But let us not forget Scotland's other current drug cheat, David Miller (from Paisley and no relation to Robert), who was barred from racing for a period as punishment for having raced under the influence of drugs.
Should we not have wondered about Lance Armstrong? It seems there is now ample proof to show Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. Floyd Landis, and his vehement denial of having taken drugs to win the Tour (they all deny vehemently ever having taken performance-enhancing drugs) won't clear his name. Should we listen to those who tell us that there are people constantly working to develop performance-enhancing drugs which cannot be traced? The sport is forever tarnished, and Armstrong has contributed greatly to this sad state of cycling affairs. In America he has been stripped of his Tour wins, and I hope the international controlling body do likewise.Get stuffed Armstrong!

:)

Fire in...

I actually 'did' Lance a bit earlier back in this thread, but a good story benefits from retelling.

I agree very much on the 'tarnishing' side you mention - and the vast commercialisation and money driven Olympics and originally the Commonwealth Games is the motivation behind my starting of this thread.

If these were still the games, and not the shames, where the people that took part were still the ones that went to work as normal, then found the time and drive to be athletes and take part on their own, then I'd be quite happy and leave them alone.

But it's all a sham, driven by advertising (has anyone noticed how I despise advertising?) and ridiculous sums of money being squandered to get the sponsor's name in front of TV cameras.

I am sorry for the fold who are genuine athletes nowadays - and there are probably very few of them in athletics.

With the Olympic Games dragging into the Paralympics, it was only a matter of time before stories of discrimination appeared:

Pretty thin story though, and looks more like opportunism and publicity seeking by an MP after a few votes:

Paralympics wheelchair bookings 'discriminate', MP says

Apparently the 'Greedy Granny' I mentioned early on has been in The Sun.

She didn't want to accept the cash for a compulsory purchase of her flat in a block of Dalmarnock tenements (although everyone else had already done so), but wanted the potential value it might later have if developed - but she didn't offer to pay for the development.

She was evicted, and went with a fight.

Seems that there is now a plan to make little trinkets in the shape of her old tenement, and sell them.

The Sun reported she was "Horrified".

She popped up elsewhere and said she loved the idea. And that The Sun had twisted what she had said.

She didn't say if she was going to sue The Sun.

In fact, the idea is so good it seems they are going to be making the little look-alikes in gold!

Actually, the tenement model is one of six designs which have been chosen, including medals made of Tunnock’s Teacakes, scarves reflecting Glasgow’s landscape, travel rugs, a musical phone app and a china jelly mould based on the interior of the city’s famous Rogano restaurant. They're part of a project on creativity, and the souvenirs will be displayed at the People’s Palace in September before going into mass production.

I have no idea if Greedy Granny will be getting a share of the profits, or if she might wait for them to go on sale first, then sue for something.

;D

Oh crumbs!!!

Goes to show how much attention I have really been paying to this stuff...

I just discovered there was a 2014 Commonwealth Games Act

Interestingly, the bit they chose to highlight was concerned with... Filthy Lucre ;D

Quoted Text

The main measures of the 2014 Commonwealth Games Act include:

    Create new criminal offences prohibiting unauthorised advertising and outdoor trading within the vicinity of Games venues, with penalties on summary conviction of a fine not exceeding £20,000 or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment

    Create a new criminal offence to prohibit the unauthorised sale of Games tickets in public, in excess of face value or with a view to making a profit, with penalties on summary conviction of a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000)

Royal assent for Commonwealth Games Bill

Ye gods...

I may have to have this thread trashed and replaced by one supporting all the games! ;D

Can't be seen to be aggreeing with a pop star - AKA: a celebrity :o

Quoted Text

Morrissey attacks 'blustering jingoism' of Olympic Games

Singer claims London 2012 is more Germany in 1939, saying Britain is 'foul with patriotism'

There was no celebrating three British gold medals on Saturday night for Morrissey. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the former Smiths singer has sent an open letter to members of his fanclub attacking the "blustering jingoism" of the Olympic Games. This comes just a week after he criticised the Olympics on stage in Manchester -

Oh...

Wait..

Phew...

It's ok - he was just griping because he and his favourite band were left out of the cash windfall appearing as an Olympic ceremony support act would have brought (that's them pesky royalties rearing their ugly heads again):

Quoted Text

for not including the Smiths in the opening ceremony music.

Morrissey attacks 'blustering jingoism' of Olympic Games | Music | guardian.co.uk

Jings! Crivens! Helpmaboab!

That was a narrow escape.

(lff3)

(I should add that I stopped reading at the point given above, as I doubt there was anything worth wearing my valuable corneas out on after that. I'm sorry if he did say something better after that and I missed it. Oh.. no, I'm not :P )

Perhaps a place in this thread can be found for the recent Lance Armstrong expose. Oh it doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics or commonwealth Games, but it does have something to do with an international sporting event--- and cheating.  

I've been thrilled by the performance of quite a number of great sporting figures in many sporting events in my life. I guess one of the last times was watching the magnificent performance of one, Marco Pantani, in the 1998 Tour de France, as he danced his way up through the soaring peaks in his effort to claim the prestigious title "King of the Mountains". Wow, thought I, what a great cyclist this Pantani is. Yes, 'wow' indeed, but I was just one of the thousands of enthusiastic cyclists who celebrated his brilliant performance, only to find out later, that the Italian was a fake! He had cheated us... he had taken performance-enhancing drugs!

The performance of Floyd Landis in a recent Tour de France was not something about which I cheered. Outstanding and all, as his performance was claimed to be, I stood back from the celebrations; I learned my lesson from the Marco Pantani affair. Landis it seems, did in fact test positive for having used a performance-enhancing drug, and was fired by his racing team and stripped of his Tour de France winner's title. He's a cheat, and I don't like cheats in sport. Cheats give a sport a bad name, and I especially don't like the sport of cycling having a bad name.

I was a cyclist for most of my life and took part in many races. I was never a champion, and could count on one hand the number of bicycle-racing events in which I participated with any measure of success, but I never took drugs, and to me it was always a clean sport, a sport in which I felt good about being a part. I gave up on watching bicycle-racing after the 1998 Tour because of the Pantani exposé, and I have never watched one since... it's phony!

The great French "5-Tour-winner", Anquetil, asked us sometime after his retirement in the 1950's, "Do you think we ride for three weeks over some of the steepest toughest roads in Europe drinking soda-pop?". For me, the answer to his rhetoric question escaped me and I continued watching major cycling events until 1998 when Pantani's exposure told the whole story. There is now another chapter to these recent drug stories... yes, the one provided by Lance Armstrong, the won-the-Tour-7-times man, and yes, the man who came over to Paisley, Scotland, and for a fee all the eager Scottish cyclists got to ride with him.

The 'drug story' should have sunk in earlier in 1967 when the 'great' English rider, Tommy Simpson, climbed himself to death in the Tour under the influence of amphetamines. Tommy Simpson was a revered British rider with a string of great cycling accolades to his name. He was looked up to in the world of British cycling. Indeed, he is still looked upon as a great racing cyclist and there is even a prestigious race held to this very day in his native Yorkshire which bears his name... yet the man was a cheat!

I was in Scotland in 1998 at the time of the Pantani exposure and I heard Robert Miller, a great Glaswegian cyclist, being interviewed on the radio. Miller, himself a winner of the Tour de France "King of the Mountain" title, the same title Simpson killed himself trying to acquire, and the one Pantani cheated in his effort to acquire, refused, in a very round about way, to deny ever having taken drugs while riding in the Tour. This 'refusal' left no doubt in my mind that he too, had cheated.

What about Scotland's great figures in the world of cycling?. Govan's Ian Steele, of Warsaw/Prague-International-Road-Race fame, is one Glaswegian cyclist I feel confident about believing Ian never cheated. I think the other famous Scottish cyclists, before the Robert Miller era, were clean performers. But let us not forget Scotland's other current drug cheat, David Miller (from Paisley and no relation to Robert), who was barred from racing for a period as punishment for having raced under the influence of drugs.

Should we not have wondered about Lance Armstrong? It seems there is now ample proof to show Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. Floyd Landis, and Armstrong vehemently deny ever having taken performance-enhancing drugs. Should we listen to those who tell us that there are people constantly working to develop performance-enhancing drugs which cannot be traced? The sport is forever tarnished, and Armstrong has contributed greatly to this sad state of cycling affairs. In America he has been stripped of his Tour wins, and I hope the international body strip him too.

A sad reality...

The 'games' are really a technological rip-off.

The country with the most money and the best funded labs and developers that can give its so-called 'athletes' the best tech is the one that wins.

That's where all the records that are broken come from these days, not outstanding athletes who have trained - unless the find something to dope themselves with.

Quoted Text

Steve Haake, a sports engineer at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K., investigated technology's contribution to better Olympic performances in a 2009 paper. He found that technology alone contributed to a 30 percent increase in both pole vault and javelin performances. In pole vaulting's case, a new fiberglass pole that replaced the old metal pole allowed athletes to break the world record 19 times in a single decade starting in 1961.

Technology gave an even bigger boost to cycling. About 100 percent out of the 221 percent overall improvement in the one-hour cycling record came from better bicycle aerodynamics, Haake calculated.

Are Humans or Technology Breaking Olympic Records? | Oscar Pistorius | Innovationnewsdaily.com

'Even with one hand I was faster than the boys': Cyclist Sarah Storey hopes to add one more medal to her collection of SEVEN golds at the Paralympics | Mail Online

Perhaps a place in this thread can be found for the recent Lance Armstrong expose. Oh it doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics or Commonwealth Games, but it does have something to do with internation sport and cheating.  

I've been thrilled by the performance of quite a number of great sporting figures in many sporting events in my life. I guess one of the last times was watching the magnificent performance of one, Marco Pantani, in the 1998 Tour de France, as he danced his way up through the soaring peaks in his effort to claim the prestigious title "King of the Mountains". Wow, thought I, what a great cyclist this Pantani is. Yes, 'wow' indeed, but I was just one of the thousands of enthusiastic cyclists who celebrated his brilliant performance, only to find out later, that the Italian was a fake! He had cheated us... he had taken performance-enhancing drugs!

The performance of Floyd Landis in a recent Tour de France was not something about which I cheered. Outstanding and all, as his performance was claimed to be, I stood back from the celebrations; I learned my lesson from the Marco Pantani affair. Landis it seems, did in fact test positive for having used a performance-enhancing drug, and was fired by his racing team and stripped of his Tour de France winner's title. He's a cheat, and I don't like cheats in sport. Cheats give a sport a bad name, and I especially don't like the sport of cycling having a bad name.

I was a cyclist for most of my life and took part in many races. I was never a champion, and could count on one hand the number of bicycle-racing events in which I participated with any measure of success, but I never took drugs, and to me it was always a clean sport, a sport in which I felt good about being a part. I gave up on watching bicycle-racing after the 1998 Tour because of the Pantani exposé, and I have never watched one since... it's phony!

The great French "5-Tour-winner", Anquetil, asked us sometime after his retirement in the 1950's, "Do you think we ride for three weeks over some of the steepest toughest roads in Europe drinking soda-pop?". For me, the answer to his rhetoric question escaped me and I continued watching major cycling events until 1998 when Pantani's exposure told the whole story. There is now another chapter to these recent drug stories... yes, the one provided by Lance Armstrong, the won-the-Tour-7-times man, and yes, the who came over to Paisley, Scotland, and for a fee all the eager Scottish cyclists got to ride with him.

The 'drug story' should have sunk in earlier in 1967 when the 'great' English rider, Tommy Simpson, climbed himself to death in the Tour under the influence of amphetamines. Tommy Simpson was a revered British rider with a string of great cycling accolades to his name. He was looked up to in the world of British cycling. Indeed, he is still looked upon as a great racing cyclist and there is even a prestigious race held to this very day in his native Yorkshire which bears his name... yet the man was a cheat!

I was in Scotland in 1998 at the time of the Pantani exposure and I heard Robert Miller, a great Glaswegian cyclist, being interviewed on the radio. Miller, himself a winner of the Tour de France "King of the Mountain" title, the same title Simpson killed himself trying to acquire, and the one Pantani cheated in his effort to acquire, refused, in a very round about way, to deny ever having taken drugs while riding in the Tour. This 'refusal' left no doubt in my mind that he too, had cheated.

What about Scotland's great figures in the world of cycling?. Govan's Ian Steele, of Warsaw/Prague-International-Road-Race fame, is one Glaswegian cyclist I feel confident about believing Ian never cheated. I think the other famous Scottish cyclists, before the Robert Miller era, were clean performers. But let us not forget Scotland's other current drug cheat, David Miller (from Paisley and no relation to Robert), who was barred from racing for a period as punishment for having raced under the influence of drugs.

Should we not have wondered about Lance Armstrong? It seems there is now ample proof to show Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. Floyd Landis, and his vehement denial of having taken drugs to win the Tour (they all deny vehemently ever having taken performance-enhancing drugs) won't clear his name. Should we listen to those who tell us that there are people constantly working to develop performance-enhancing drugs which cannot be traced? The sport is forever tarnished, and Armstrong has contributed greatly to this sad state of cycling affairs. In America he has been stripped of his Tour wins, and I hope the international controlling body do likewise.

More likely a problem with your browser I'm afraid.

You - or rather it - keeps reposting your Lance Armstrong posts.

And I only made the post with the technology story an hour ago, so it can't have been appearing any earlier - it doesn't do this in anything I am using.

If you are using the 'Back' button on your browser to navigate through your past page visits, this can lead to re-posting if it passes through such pages,

If your cache has become corrupt, it can show strange past posts.

I suggest a complete shut down of everything, including the computer, and restarting.

Also, it would be a good idea to force pages to reload if they appear odd.

Depending on the browser, this is done by either Shift-F5 or Ctrl-F5

It appears to be working alright now Apollo, and I deleted my message. Thanks for the information--- but i have to admit it's all double-Dutch to me, and as long as I'm not damaging anything I'll carry on as normal.

No matter why - as long as things are working :)

Media reports today confirm that the London Olympics clashed with the first 10 days of the Edinburgh Fringe, resulting in a drop in ticket sales.

Sales fell to the extent that 2012 was only the second highest number of ticket sales for the event, and it's believed without the interference of the games, sales would have seen another rise.

It's not often anything useful come out of George Galloway - unless you're looking for something to help your garden grow ;)

But I for have to be thankful he found enough room in his mouth to get his foot in it again.

Today marks the start of the Paralympics (please... let there be cheats in the news), and were it not for Georgeous Goerge, I would have been unaware of the term he has helped edumacate the world in:

Quoted Text

After being widely condemned for his remarks about the rape allegations facing Julian Assange, George Galloway was under fire again at the weekend after calling someone a "window-licker" (a derogatory term for a disabled person) in a conversation on Twitter.

Galloway made the comment during a conversation on Sunday. He tweeted to @Hawfa: "you badly need medical help son. Will decent Rangers fans please substitute this windae-licker … "

George Galloway criticised for 'window licker' tweet | Politics | The Guardian

Thanks George, we can see how you came to be in a political party with a name that rhymes with 'respect' ;D

Well, looks like the first medal in the Paralympics goes to...

Political Correctness (clap2)

While I reckon there might have been an opportunity to list a few fictitious games that could have been introduced at the Parlalympics in recognition of the fact that Prof Stephen Hawking will be providing some of the narration for the opening:

Quoted Text

Prof Hawking - a world-renowned physicist who has motor neurone disease - will join Sir Ian McKellen to narrate a scientific "journey of discovery", inspired in part by Prof Hawking's own book A Brief History of Time.

The organisers have revealed that Prof Hawking will act as a guide to Miranda, a character from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, through the show.

Paralympics: Games opening promises 'journey of discovery'

And I'm not having a pole at Hawking, just in case.

He is well capable of creative writing and contributing to the ceremony - even if it is not his own voice as such, but the now world-famous synthetic voice that everyone knows.

It's in danger of running out of spare parts!

Seriously - although it could have been upgraded to something more natural years ago, the old hardware etc has been kept going, as it is now recognised as 'his' voice.

Still popping up - this time an Olympic cheat that some might say "Got away with it" as he was not given a life ban ;D

In 1904, everybody seems to have taken the games somewhat less seriously.

During the marathon of the St Louis Olympics, Fred Lorz from New York became so dehydrated he had to quit just nine miles in. The defeated runner hopped in a car, supposedly intending just to meet the other racers at the finish line, but after 19 miles his taxi broke down. A well-known joker, Lorz thought it would be a laugh to re-enter the race, so he did, and won - rather easily, of course. He treated the whole thing as a joke, soaked up the the crowd’s adulation, and was about to be presented with a floral reef by First Lady Alice Roosevelt before the Olympic officials worked out what had happened.

Fortunately for Lorz, his existing reputation as a prankster meant that the Olympic officials actually believed he was only doing it for a laugh - and he was permitted to carry on with his athletic career.

This turned out to be fortunate for him, as he later went on to win the 1905 Boston Marathon - and didn't even use a bike, let a alone hail a passing taxi ;D

Quoted Text

He treated the whole thing as a joke, soaked up the the crowd’s adulation, and was about to be presented with a floral reef by First Lady Alice Roosevelt before the Olympic officials worked out what had happened.

That would have been appropriate had it been an aquatic event :)

exmpa

Love it ;D

I never even noticed that one - most of the text is cut'n'paste from the source, with some stupid comments that the original author had added (to make it 'really funny') purged by me.

Looks as if the Paralympics got the heave-ho by the BBC, and Channel 4 was deemed good enough to cover them.

Not that I'll be tuning in, but as far as I can see, a small chunk of Channel 4 has been given over to a few hours of coverage, while three digital channels seem to have been added to my normal list.

NOOOOOOOoooooooooo...

Please - please - Make it stop :'(

My eyes are bleeding from too much...

'LASTING LEGACY'

Just make it go away - even the Paralympics are sailing the same boat:

Quoted Text

A Lasting Legacy

Paralympic talk

Discover how Paralympic themes of achievement, triumph and striving for excellence can be found in National Gallery paintings.

A Lasting Legacy | Paralympic talk | What's on | National Gallery, London

Another story about sports today, and it's really another nail in the coffin that is the farce of the Olyimpics and their kin nowadays.

We've seen all the records set, and the only way to break them is genetic modification, drugs, surgery, or tricks.

We even measure the environment they are set in so that we can eliminate a puff of wind that might have knocked a thousandth off a time.

Now, there's a claim that having an ice-bath (see the actual details in the vid) can be as good, or better than, steroids - and we all know they are banned.

It's really just another case of the prize going to the rich - and stuff the little guy who used to be able to win the medal in the past, just because he was lucky enough to have been born into the right body - and made getting that medal his career.

Now, you can buy the medal by buying the best tech, and forget the career. If you don't have the million-dollar deal in the bag by the time you reach 20, you're a has-been and a failure. And they also seem to lose the ability to work for the next 45 years or so, as there seems to be a standard whine that issues from them that they have to make all their money while they can, in a career that only lasts a few years, so "Of course we want millions while we are performing!"

There you go...

That didn't take long until someone stepped on the PC toes ;)

I have never heard of or seen the gent described as a comedian (yep, I'm sheltered here :) ), but suspect he knows fine well what he's doing, and operates on the 'No publicity is ever bad publicity' principle, given his past life described in the article.

Frankie Boyle defends Paralympic jokes

Nor was I too impressed by the 'other' side either though:

Quoted Text

However, Boyle's defence caught the attention of former Paralympic athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson who asked: "Would you mind saying disabled people please.

"We're not 'the disabled'. It's 'the table'....etc etc. thank you."

By implication, this means that commentators on things like football matches should be getting into some sort of trouble for referring to "The supporters" and similar.

Nice touch by some Green Loonies, or cowards...

Who probably didn't dare do this during the Olympics, but chose the Paralympics because they thought the athletes taking part could no catch them:

Quoted Text

Tower Bridge was closed after an environmental group dropped a banner over the Paralympic Games logo.

Climate protesters target Tower Bridge Paralympics logo

More games rubbish...

He (and anyone like him) should have been tossed and his medal withdrawn - this sort of the nonsense is the sort of things that the spirit of the the games should see left at the door:

If you're not going to play ball with the host - then you're not welcome.

Imagine if the Duchess had declined to face a paralympian for some reason - there would be outrage, and all the disable organisation would be calling for her to be ousted.

Kate Middleton: Iranian Paralympic athlete refused to shake Duchess of Cambridge's hand 'for cultural reasons ' at medal ceremony | Mail Online

Of course you are dead right and this sort of nonsense exhibited by the Iranian, should have been left at home... but, ah think you're being a wee bit too harsh on him Apollo. His refusal to shake hands with the Duchess was not at all political, it was a cultural belief, and no doubt he wanted to avoid upsetting the Iranian viewers at home. The Duchess had been warned beforehand to expect this sort of treatment from the Iranian. Anyway, imagine the nut not wanting to shake hands with this gorgeous lady!

To let the Iranian's ignorance pass without any official reaction places his stupidity exactly where it belongs --- wi' the other cultural tripe... like placing hands on hearts, and sieg heiling!

I do agree that I was being harsh, but I believe appropriate and fair as well.

His action was personal and directed at the female form of the Duchess, and public.

Had he merely wished to follow his cultural belief - rather than make a public statement and display - he would not have attended the presentation, since he knew what it involved well in advance.

Where's the medal winner?

In the changing room because his cultural beliefs prevent him from attenting the presentation.

Has a lot less publicity value, and would almost have passed unnoticed.

But taking it to the line, and snubbing the person presenting the medals because of their sex.. well, there's a ready made headline grabber.

That is why I was harsh, and unrepentant.

He could have had his medal posted to his home in a nice plain brown envelope...

Packed and SWALK by a nice lady in the Post Office!

;)

"Packed and SWALK by a nice lady in the Post Office!".

Ye know, I looked this capitalised "word"  'SWALK' up in my Oxford Dictionary, then tried my wee 1954 Collins--- then it dawned on me!!!--- how bloody dingbattish can I get!!!

On this day in 1972 (Wednesday, September 6) the world saw some literal 'Games Casualties'.

Nine Israeli athletes who had been kidnapped on Tuesday from the Olympic Village in Munich were killed (together with a police officer) in a gun battle at the nearby Furstenfeldbruck military air base. Five of the eight kidnappers, described as guerrillas from the Palestinian group Black September, were killed in the battle, and the remaining three gunmen were captured.

They had blown up a helicopter cotaining the hostages, then opened fire on the wreckage with automatic weapons. Witnesses at the airport said the shooting had started when police snipers opened fire on the kidnappers.

The incident had started, when the gunmen occupied the Israelis' quarters at 0600 BST, killing two athletes there, and taking nine hostage.

The West German government had offered to pay any price for the release of the Olympic athletes, but was told by the guerrillas' chief that he cared for "neither money nor lives".

German authorities agreed to the kidnappers' demand for an aircraft, and at 2200 BST provided three helicopters to ferry them to the airport.

The gun battle started almost immediately following the helicopters landing at the air base - Bavarian Minister of the Interior Bruno Merk later confirmed that Munich's police chief had given the order to open fire. Serious questions were subsequently raised about the handling of the crisis by the Munich police.

Mossad, the Israeli secret service, formed a special unit which subsequently hunted down and killed two of the three surviving Munich terrorists.

I don't know if it's fair (to casualties) to include fools in the category, but one is immediately reminded of the guidance given by:

"A fool and their money are soon parted"

As we see the official announcement of official souvenirs of the Glasgow Commonwealth Shames 2014:

First mention goes to the Greedy Granny's tenement she was eventually dragged out of in a dawn raid after she and her supporters barricaded themselves into the condemned building - as I already noted, fashion victims will be able to part with their cash in return for a tacky little solid gold version of this demolished tenement.

One cannot help but think of the many more deserving building that could have cast in gold, but have been lost to obscurity over the years.

As for the rest... blankets, scarves, and an app of all things (they must be joking, this will not even be usable in a few years.

The only thing that smacks even mildly of being a souvenir is the jelly mould - and even that is more of novelty nowadays.

They couldn't even manage to do 'tat' properly for these useless games.

Revealed: Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games souvenirs - Visual Arts - Scotsman.com

How things have changed from the Soviet era, when the state used to dope them up to the gills and fill them with steroids until the women were more like men than the men.

Now they are rewarded by the state, and there's none of this nonsense where the athlete has to go penniless to pursue her sport, and work all day just to earn enough to eat, then train all night or whenever not at work:

Quoted Text

The Olympic Games are over and the sportsmen returned home where various gifts from the state were waiting for them. Russian gymnasts were presented cars. Gold medallists got Audi 8, silver medallists got Audi 7 and bronze ones got Audi 6 (even those who are too young got the cars though they can't have a driving licence yet)

Guess I paid for their jaunt to Sardinia, apart from whatever was taken from me to pay for the London Olympic nonsense, I probably contributed a few pennies for their away day, since I have gas, and it probably came from Russia at some time when this lot was being budgeted for.

"Mossad, the Israeli secret service, formed a special unit which subsequently hunted down and killed two of the three surviving Munich terrorists."

Games or no Games, a fine example of murderers being murdered by murderers.

We haven't even got the Commonwealth Shames out of the way, and the fighting has already started over the  2018 Youth Olympics, which Glasgow is seeking to host with its bid.

They have not even been awarded the questionable and dubious 'honour' of hosting another money pit for the privileged few to show off and get their million pound sponsorship deal at Glaswegians' expense. yet there are people already fighting and name-calling over the plans, and yes, you guessed it... the  2018 Youth Olympics are already being sold on the basis of a 'Lasting Legacy'.

Once again, I have to say that if I made this stuff up - no-one would believe me :(

Quoted Text

A deprived area has been placed at the heart of Glasgow's bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympics - paving the way for a massive regeneration scheme.

Sighthill has been chosen as the preferred site for the athletes' village if the city secures the games.

Glasgow City Council will now revamp the entire area, regardless of whether its bid for the games is successful.

The scheme includes plans for 830 homes, a new school campus and the demolition of five tower blocks.

And...

Quoted Text

Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson said: "The bid gives us the impetus to work with the local community and our partners - and to lever in private money - to rebuild Sighthill as a popular and vibrant community.

"The regeneration of the area was always a priority for the city but the bid means it can now happen much faster than ever envisaged."

Mr Matheson said the the regeneration would "also create jobs and apprenticeship places, and help unlock the development potential of other areas to the north of the city centre".

He added: "What's great about this is that we need to start work on this regeneration before we know if we've won the bid.

"As a result of Glasgow just bidding for the games, people's lives will be transformed.

"You'd struggle to find a bid anywhere in the world that delivers a legacy like that."

Sighthill is the largest of eight priority regeneration areas in Glasgow.

The council said that until now, it had been likely to be one of the last to undergo major regeneration.

It said the Youth Olympics bid had effectively fast-tracked the regeneration by about 20 years.

The scheme is being backed by the Scottish and UK governments

BUT... Since this is Glasgow City Council's usual railroading approach which ignores them, the locals are not happy (surprise):

Quoted Text

The plans for Sighthill have, however, attracted fierce criticism from some local residents.

Elaine MacKenzie Ellis, secretary of the local community council, has accused Mr Matheson of "an appalling betrayal" following promises that existing homes would be saved and refurbished.

In a letter to other residents, she said GHA chief executive Martin Armstrong had given a previous assurance that the two Pinkston high-rise flats, which could now be demolished, had "a long-term future".

Ms Ellis said she had now been told by Mor Matheson of the alternative plans for Sighthill.

"They will demolish the 400 homes in the high flats to build 600 new builds. Only around a third of these will be social housing, the rest private.

"That means even if tenants did want alternative housing, but also to stay in Sighthill, this would not be possible.

"Never mind the fact that most people do not want to leave their high flats which have been their homes for up to 44 years."

She added: "We will of course be fighting this and will be organising a large public meeting."

Sighthill revamp planned for Glasgow 2018 Youth Games bid

Also:

Regeneration plans unveiled for Glasgow's Youth Olympic Games bid | News | Glasgow | STV

The natives are revolting - and this is before the bidding has even been posted for this next round of sporting nonsense and waste.

I wonder what sort of skulduggery Glasgow City Council got up to so it could con Commonwealth Shames officials like the big boys in London...

London was desperate to win the 2012 Summer Olympics, and apparently hacked its own traffic lights to ensure the IOC evaluation committee didn’t get stuck in the London gridlock dueing it s visit in 2005:

Bid-committee officials knew that London’s transportation system was a weak spot on the city’s application. “Our nightmare was it would take forever to get to the venues,” Mills recalled. A bid-committee team planned the routes that I.O.C. members would travel around the city, and G.P.S. transmitters were planted in all of the I.O.C. members’ vehicles so they could be tracked. From the London Traffic Control Center, near Victoria Station, where hundreds of monitors display live feeds from London’s comprehensive CCTV surveillance system, each vehicle was followed, from camera to camera, “and when they came up to traffic lights,” Mills said, “we turned them green.”

The weather in Scotland is often a handy scapegoat to pass your incompetence onto if you get caught out on the job, but it looks as if there's a new handy fallback to pass the blame onto if you foul up now - the games ;D

"Sorry boss. Ah coudnae sell any hooses cos aw the punters were wathcing the Olympics oan the telly."

Well. I suppose it's more imaginative that claiming nobody was buying houses since they didn't want to go out in the wet to view them...

Olympic dip for Scots house sales

Olympics success responsible for Scotland's 'subdued' housing market | Scotland | News | STV

Ah, the good old games :)

Where would we be without them to blame everything on? ;D

Now the retail trade is blaming them for a slump as Scots decided to keep hold of their money instead of spending it on stuff they did not need...

And of course, it stops them having to mention the evil 'R' word (that's RECESSION for anyone had of hearing).

BBC News - Olympics 'distracted' Scottish shoppers says retail body

Of course, the truth is that everyone's house is full of gadgets now, there are no new  flat tellies or phones to attract people (there was even a news item today claiming that no-one cared about the iPhone 5 due soon), so folk are saturated with tech, and are also not going keep buy "The next iPad, laptop, PC or whatever" and just carry on with the ones they have now.

It's not really recession, but saturation - but for retailers, the 'S' word holds even more terror than the 'R' word, since it will not go away for years, if ever, unless they can persuade punters to buy more stuff they do not actually need.

I always thought there had to be something amiss for anyone that was impressed by the sham of the 'Games' in 2012, but now I have evidence that sanity is indeed a "Games Casualty".

Scotland's First Minister, a certain Mr Alex Salmond, has clearly taken leave of any senses he ever had if he is seriously suggesting that the piddling little weekend gathering of a few fanatics in Glasgow in 2014, for the Commonwealth Games, is in any way going to surpass the world-wide fiasco and publicity machine for the athletes that the London Olympics were in 2012:

Quoted Text

Mr Salmond told STV: "London set the bar pretty high this year but Glasgow’s going to go over that bar at 2014.

Men in white coats, jacket with straps to keep him comfy, and private white taxi for Mr Salmond - and use the blue light to show respect for the passenger.

;D

First Minister Alex Salmond claims Glasgow 2014 can surpass London Olympics | News | Glasgow | STV

Oh joy :-/

MORE evidence that anything to do with the daft games involves the removal of brain cells from those involved.

I may be wrong, but as far as I am aware - and as far as I have ever been involved in events intended to attract the - holding simultaneous events, especially if similar, is regarded as a 'Bad Thing'.

In fact, it usually leads to little wars between the event organisers, and complaints from those involved, either as participants, or as visitors, as they have to chose to one or the other.

Yet this appears to be what the numpties involved in the Commonwealth Games are trying to do.

I don't know how many athletes might be involved in both, but I assume the poor punters are already hard pressed to make it around the Commonwealth events they might want to see. If they are offered yet more options as some special Highland Games are arranged at the same time, I can only imagine they will be a little ticked off by having to make a choice:

Quoted Text

An MSP has called for the Highlands and Islands to join Glasgow in celebrating the 2014 Commonwealth Games by holding a 2014 Commonwealth Highland Games to coincide.

Dave Thompson, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said that the Highlands provided many of the iconic images which make Scotland internationally recognisable and the 2014 Commonwealth Games would be an excellent opportunity to promote the Highland Games.

He has now written to the Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to promote the idea, suggesting that one large event could be held, or a series of smaller events.

MSP calls for Commonwealth Highland Games to coincide with Glasgow 2014 | Highlands & Islands | News | STV

We'll see :-/

Members of the Games Clique gather to share their rewards ;)

"Pass the back scratcher please."

London 2012 commercial chief given top Commonwealth Games job | News | Glasgow | STV

Olympic medallist Rebecca Adlington becomes Glasgow 2014 ambassador | News | Glasgow | STV

We'll have an opportunity to see if there is anything redeeming about the games, mentioned in the following reports on HIT,or high intensity training.

This came to light a while ago, but I have yet to see any real publicity (but it is very new in terms of the test results actually confirming the initial findings.)

Although the dratted games are mentioned in the story, there has not been any mention of HIT through the Olympics.

The Commonwealth events have a chance to do some good here...

But I doubt it :(

They've got a couple of years to do something...

But I doubt it :(

Minute's exercise makes you fitter, Abertay University study suggests

Study reveals 60 seconds of exercise three times a week improves fitness | Dundee & Tayside | News | STV

This high intensity exercising seems too much like work for me  :o  I'll stick with my walking.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with walking, but the length of time one walks is very much a function of exactly what level of fitness one wishes to attain. I'd say one's age is also a factor. For athletic competition in let's say walking, 60seconds is just a joke, but i don't think Apollo meant competitive anything. A dauner doon the street 'n around the 1/4 mile square block is a good walk and for most things it will help keep one healthy fit. Think of some poor soul who never ever walks more than to and from the car and compare him/her with someone who does some walking.... this comparison by itself will tell you just how good for the person a normal walk can be.

The 60 second exercise has to be INTENSE - for that time, you have to carry out a strenuous exercise for the entire period, and it should hurt as your muscles tire from the extreme effort, so walking doesn't count. For example, it could be pedalling at full speed on a bike or exercise machine, and maintaining your pace flat out for the entire 60 seconds... and the repeats.

A walk's not a walk if it takes less than an hour. Say, for argument's sake, a mile out (so a mile back unless you are in Star Trek), which means 40 minutes, and 15-20 minutes at destination.

The Tunnock's tea cake factory just happens to be 3.5 miles away, and a straight walk there and back takes 2 hours - so that's some nice simple arithmetic :)

Back to the games fun...

I didn't have the heart to add the Terms and conditions for the Olympic Games ticket buyers, but if you want to work out how anyone might have been held to account for breaching some of the, then be my guest and try reading this lot...

(I doubt if anyone attending the games even bothered to look.)

Terms and conditions of ticket purchase

I haven't noticed anyone in court or on the news for breaking any this - although I am sure there must have been hundreds or thousands who did infringe this:

Quoted Text

    Images, video and sound recordings of the Games taken by a Ticket Holder cannot be used for any purpose other than for private and domestic purposes and a Ticket Holder may not license, broadcast or publish video and/or sound recordings, including on social networking websites and the internet more generally, and may not exploit images, video and/or sound recordings for commercial purposes under any circumstances, whether on the internet or otherwise, or make them available to third parties for commercial purposes.

And this is worthy of note (although probably not any more than some other stuff buried in there:

Quoted Text

he same suuuuuuper long Terms and Conditions page has an exhaustive list of potentially dangerous and prohibited items. They start out with the usual suspects: firearms, illegal drugs, containers of liquid exceeding 100ml. Then they name a few items I doubt anyone would even try to bring to the Olympic games: really, I mean, how would one squeeze an entire motorcycle into the spectator stands? And because they’re already on a roll here, I guess, they go on and forbid: large quantities of coins (this is vague, tsk tsk), refrigerators (I mean…?), and flags of any countries not participating in the Olympic games

Maybe the cases are pending - and we will here about them all during the coming months perhaps?

Can anyone explain to me how the (a far as I am aware) non-Politically Correct Golliwog came to be chosen as the official mascot of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games?



Thistle man?

Who do they think they are kidding?

As a Glaswegian, I am now inextricably linked to this abomination for all time to come.

:B

Thistle man Clyde is Glasgow Commonwealth Games mascot

I'd rather have seen a drunken ned in a shell suit carrying a bottle of Buckfast - at least it would have been representative of the real city.

Look at this...

The Olympics even got to the cats!



In case (god forbid) the little girl that started this has already faded from your mind...

It's almost amazing to see how some people's brains turn into mush at the mere mention of games like the Olympics, or if they have some belief in fantasy.

This poor man, who they should really take away and keep in a room where he is fed with a nice blunt spoon, rather than be awarded a title like Dr, thinks someone from Glasgow could equal or beat the Bolt runny-thing-fellow.

As someone who has lived in Glasgow and seen the inhabitants, and heard the views of most kids with regard to this sort of thing, then I am not going to expect to see a Scot or a Glaswegian make a sub 9-second 100 metre dash in my lifetime.

Even if they moved to Jamaica 10-minutes after they were born.

You need a history of winning - or at least coming in the medals in - events before that is going to happen. And 'we' don't have it.

But I wonder if the good doctor has guaranteed the rest of his career by appearing on the telly and offering the promise?

Quoted Text

On Scotland Tonight, sports scientist Dr Niall McFarlane and former Olympic 400m runner Brian Whittle discussed the achievements of Bolt.

Asked whether Scotland could produce an athlete of that quality, Dr McFarlane stated there was no barrier to it happening.

He said: "There’s no scientific reason why someone from Glasgow cannot become the Olympic 100m champion, there’s no reason why they couldn’t run sub-9.5 seconds.

"The problem is it’s the quality of the training. It’s much easier to train at speed when you’re in the sunshine of Jamaica."

Scotland could one day 'produce a sprinter as fast as Usain Bolt' | Scotland | News | STV

The same news source has just carried a story about Scots being "Fatter and heavier than they were ten years ago."

Now THAT I do believe ;D

What we need is an Olympic event where a medal is awarded for being Fat And Heavy - the Americans might not be guaranteed a win for that soon ;D

This is kind of funny...

In the tragic funny way, that is :(

I've had the pleasure of kicking the lie of the "Lasting Legacy" that those who want money today in order to build something for the Commonwealth Shames in 2014 - "Give us cash today, and we promise you will get it back after the 2014 games. We can't tell you how exactly, so just believe us... and ignore all the losses and closed sites that followed similar events elsewhere. Glasgow will be different."

In a pig's ear!

The mayor of London seems to know what side his bread is buttered on, and can't come out and speak directly (unless he wants to lose a well paid job overnight) so he has warned that both London and Glasgow should not expect to see any benefits from the Olympics or Commonwealth Games immediately, in the short term, or in the long term... or even in a form that can be linked to the games!!!

If that isn't a discreet way of saying "You've all been shafted", then I don't know what is. He at least has a conscience of some sort, and has told the truth, even if those who it affects choose to ignore the real implications of what he has said.

He did quite a nice job, tearing the idea apart on the one hand, but taking care to make shore he still said all the events should still be supported:

Mayor: Economic impact of Commonwealth Games will be 'years down the line' | News | Glasgow | STV

And don't forget how much Glasgow was to benefit from the London Olympics of 2012. Someone needs to get their hands on number to prove this one day:

London 2012: Organisers say Games 'will benefit Scotland'

Claims (proven or not) have already been made after the Olympics, but I suspect this is the 'faithful' talking to the 'faithful':

Olympic 'bounce' for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Don't forget, way way way back at the start of this thread I challenged those who promote this nonsense to prove it made the promised monies and other returns (eg if the horrendously expensive stadia were still there in their original form, and not converted into something useful, or lying derelict or demolished to make way for something better) - but that I wasn't interested in seeing the figures until about 20 years after the event, which seems a fair time period after which to judge a 'Lasting Legacy'.

Whoops!

There goes the 'Lasting Legacy' of the Olympics anyway - as the myth is bust by Liz McGolgan:

(And there goes her chance of the 'Knighthood' one day, for not toeing the party line on this one.)

There's an hour and half of waffle in this video - but some is worth having a dip and listen to - from the people on the sports side, not the poitician-types. They just waffle and waffle about how much good they are doing or have done, regardless of any other thoughts.


From Democracy Live: Liz McColgan expresses concerns about Scotland's sporting future

Quoted Text

Former Scottish athlete Liz McColgan said there was little evidence of a London 2012 Olympic Games legacy in poorer areas in Scotland.

The Olympic silver medallist was speaking to MSPs who are examining the country's relationship with sport.

Ms McColgan argued that Scotland was in a "sad state of affairs" when it comes to great sportsmen and women.

Judy Murray, the mother of tennis Grand Slam winner Andy Murray, also spoke to the Health and Sport Committee.

The women were among of panel of people who are involved with sporting activities at all levels of abilities.

Dundee-based Ms McColgan said that after the excitement of the Olympics there needed to be follow-up at the grass roots.

She explained to the committee: "I was at the Olympic Games and we got all this great big emotion about the legacy of the games and how we were all going to go back to our little corners of the world and we have all these lovely children all well catered for in fantastic facilities and it has just not happened.

"My main grief is the fact that we have got all these facilities in deprived areas, yet we are charging £3 from local councils to try and get kids to use it and they haven't got that finance to use it.

"I went up to my local club after I got back from the Olympics and I had 120 kids and three coaches and no volunteers. We have still got 112 kids turning up on a Tuesday and Thursday night - fantastic sight to see at Caird Park Stadium. How are we supposed to cope with that and how are you to keep that interest?"

...

Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan says no Games legacy in poor areas

It's nice to see the truth of the Commonwealth Shames as little more than a money-based sham, as:

Quoted Text

A Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games venue has been renamed Emirates Arena in a £5m sponsorship deal.

The facility includes the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

The deal has been struck by Glasgow City Council with Dubai-based Emirates Airlines that will see the facility bear its name for at least ten years.

Other than the money, I can't see any connection between the Commonwealth and the Emirates.

Glasgow 2014 venue is named Emirates Arena in £5m sponsorship deal | News | Glasgow | STV

Mind you, Glasgow Council has just been told it is going to have to find £50 million over the next couple of years, so anything it can sell, it will.

We had better chain down our wheelie bins, or we might find ourselves shovelling out waste into the gutter, as a man with a barrow sweeps it up.

1,000 jobs under threat as Glasgow Council faces cash shortfall - News - Scotsman.com

I'm amazed :o

I can hardly believe that there have been no protests, marches, or even murders in Glasgow at the announcement that the holy of holies, FOOTBALL, is to be disrupted by the daft games in 2014.

Maybe the fans are still all lying unconscious, having collapsed in disbelief when they first read the story a few days ago, and hit their heid's on something as they fell:

BBC Sport - Hampden will be closed to football for Glasgow 2014 preparations

Or...

Mavbe it's the lull before the storm, and they are secretly massing somewhere, gathering arms and planning how to take over Hampden and blockade the grounds before the games, and repel all the athletes that try to get in there ;D

Whoops!

Maybe Armstrong should just have shut up and crawled away 'honourably'.

Now the equivalent of 'War and Peace' is about to be published revealing not just him as a "Fine and honourable sportsman showing how wonderful sport and the game are", but also shows how the whole team was involved in doping him up and trying to hide it so he could be worshipped as a 'Sports Hero'.

If the size of this case is not enough to show that the whole games thing is largely a money-machine and has sod-all to do with 'sport', I don't know what is.

All the way from corrupt sponsorship to the award of contract to build stadiums that are not needed to 'jobs for life' for those that deliver the best deals (under the table).

Unless this breaks the usual rules, then like all crime, the detected examples form only a tiny number of the total amount of this activity.

Dare I even point out the nonsense in Glasgow this year, as amounts of money that look like telephone numbers are bandied about when one of the leading football teams hit the news and went bust or something - even individuals involved in that are talking about personal amounts that run into many millions. It's not sport that matters to any of them - it's dosh, plain and simple, and by any means necessary.

Quoted Text

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong's team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme the sport has ever seen" according to a report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Usada says it will deliver the full report in the doping case against Armstrong, 41, later on Wednesday.

It contains testimony from 11 of his former US Postal Service team-mates.

He has always denied doping allegations but has not contested Usada's charges.

BBC Sport - Lance Armstrong: Usada report reveals doping evidence

Always remember...

If you're going to tell a lie, tell a good one, since once you're caught, your caught.

And don't change your story, or they'll know you were lying. Deny everything - and it might all go away:

Quoted Text

Lance Armstrong's lawyer has labelled the United States Anti-Doping Agency report as a farce.

...

Armstrong has always denied doping.

Lance Armstrong lawyer says doping charges are 'a farce'

Thank goodness...

Junkets are still alive and well, and a few lucky sporty types are getting a free trip to Switzerland ;D

Lee McConnell praises Glasgow 2018 Youth Olympics bid as delegation head to Switzerland - the Glaswegian

Funniest part of this story is that it says 62% of people across the UK support Glasgow's bid, with that figure rising to 68 per cent in Scotland.

Of course they do - and they all also saying "There but for the grace of god goes a money pit we could have been pouring the stuff into - it's great that Glasgow has offered to save us from 2018 if the Youth Olympics go there, and that it has already saved the rest of us from having to find hundred of millions of £££ to throw down the 2014 pit."

What took them so long to drop him?

BBC Sport - Lance Armstrong dropped by three sponsors over doping evidence

And if they news says 'three' then who are the ones sticking with the disgraced drug cheat?

By way of comparison of the response only in passing (I am not debating the relative demerits of what any of these characters did or may have done), all links with two famous DJs have recently been severed immediately on accusation only, charities have run away from them, statues torn down, places assocaited with then vandalised, and all association eradicated before anything has actually been proven against them, but Armstrong's sponsors have hung on to him for weeks since he was declared a cheat with no right to his titles, and they also did not drop him while he was only being accused, with everyone happy to go along with him and cling to his shirt tails and remain associated.

The ongoing insanity that comes along with the madness of the 2014 nonsense just goes on and on.

Having 'stolen' Hampden from its usual customers and thrown its users into the street...

The organisers are now going to throw away £14 million in a TEMPORARY conversion of the stadium.

They must be nuts.

And the people of Glasgow are bigger nuts for letting them get away with this.

I'm pretty sure the council is cutting jobs and services in an austerity drive - yet £14 million can be tossed, just like that.

A temporary facility change is not going to count towards the myth of the 'Lasting Legacy' we have had shoved in out faces as justification, and how much do you have to make in ticket sales selling souvenirs to make £14 million just to break even so that the spend is not a loss?

The whole thing should be relabelled the Funny Farm. Only it's not funny.

Glasgow 2014 chiefs seek builder of £14m Hampden running track | News | Glasgow | STV

Truer than Armstrong's career ;D



Lance Armstrong memoir 'fiction' joke by charity shop goes viral | News | Glasgow | STV

GONG!

GONG!

Two strikes of the "Lasting Legacy" myth bell as both the BBC and STV run the story of the appearance of a £10 million fund - source unspecified - to upgrade sport and recreation facilities ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has opened for applications.

Grants between £10,000 and £100,000 are available to help build or upgrade local facilities.

The funding is part of the Scottish Government's Commonwealth Games Legacy 2014 programme.

Hard to tell if this is 'Magic Money' spirited out of the Treasury, or donated by sponsors, or just skimmed out of the money taken from the population in order to hold the games.

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy fund opens

Glasgow 2014 £10m 'legacy' fund to upgrade sporting facilities | News | Glasgow | STV

Well...

I hadn't really intended for the name of this thread to be taken literally, but...

Quoted Text

A security guard has been assaulted with a brick by thieves who raided his cabin at the Commonwealth Games athletes' village site.

Police said the 30-year-old was attacked by five youths who threatened him with a bladed weapon on the site in Dalmarnock, Glasgow.

He was confronted after he went to investigate a noise outside his cabin at about 6.50pm on Wednesday.

Three of the youths went into the cabin and stole the guard's backpack, containing his wallet, two mobile phones and a Sony laptop.

He tried to chase the robbers, but one of them picked up a brick from the road and hit the guard over the head with it.

...

Security guard hit with brick during raid on Commonwealth Games site | News | Glasgow | STV

I was only a matter of yards away from this the day before, grumbling about not having a camera to hand as there was a change I had been waiting for, and it had happened. Oh well.

Still, this story does appear to illustrate the use of shoddy materials to construct the Athlete's Village.

I've been doing a lot of digging in ground intended to support the weight of cars, and the material includes a lot of old bricks.

If I hit a security guard - or anyone else for that matter - with any of the bricks I dug up recently...

Well, I'd probably be on the run for murder, or at the very least, they would not have been knocking on any doors to ask for help.

They're just not making bricks the way they used to :)

The Scotsman has a somewhat more violent and planned account of the story.

You have to wonder what five thieves thought was worth it in a security guard's office, and why they also needed the knife for one guard:

Quoted Text

The 30-year-old guard was working on the site in Dalmarnock, Glasgow and went to investigate a noise outside his cabin when he was confronted by five people with their faces covered.

He was threatened with a knife and his backpack containing a Sony laptop, two mobile phones and his wallet with bank cards inside were all stolen.

As the man chased after the group, one of them hit him on the head with a large brick and they made off into Belvidere Avenue.

After contacting police from a house nearby, the security guard was taken in an ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he was treated for a head injury.

Security guard attacked by youths at Commonwealth Games site - Top stories - Scotsman.com

However, if he really was hit on the head with what this paper upgrades to a 'large brick', then they really aren't making bricks out of the 'right stuff' if the guard was able to get up.

Maybe this story actually suggests a need to investigate the contractors involved in building the Athlete's Village at Belvidere, and finding out what sort of toffee they are substituting in place of the originally costed materials ;)

VisitScotland made the mistake of inviting me to "Sign up early for 2014" - or some such nonsense this morning.

Fortunately for someone there, it was not the sort of page/form that allowed any sort of reply, but was a Borg-style "Resistance is Futile" type of form that only permitted a "Yes please" type of answer.

After all the millions poured into this horrendous money pit for a few elite, they did at least reminds us that all this demolition and destruction as they reshape Glasgow over a period of 4 YEARS is all for something that will take only 11 DAYS! AND, with all that money and sponsorship on tap, they still want the citizens of Glasgow to volunteer as unpaid skivvies to make sure those getting a cut of the money keep as much as they can. Talk about mugs!

Quoted Text

2012 has already been a magical year for sport, and we don't have to wait long until Glasgow 2014 – the biggest sporting and cultural event in Scotland's history. There will be opportunities for everyone to get involved, from Volunteering, to attending one of the cultural events or cheering on world class athletes over 11 days of electric atmosphere. Register now to be part of the Games.

Then we in Glasgow will be left the "Lasting Legacy" of this mess, with city and suburbs scarred for decades, useless sheds that will be abandoned and ignored after a few years when their novelty wears off, and stuff that will never be maintained by a council making ever deeper and wider cuts to meet an ever dwindling budget,

I was down at Parkhead last week, and simply stood and shook my head as I looked a the big grey shed that houses a velodrome I will never see the inside of.

While it could have had something sensible and meaningful painted on the outside like say "The Chris Hoy Velodrome", all it has now is a meaningless squiggle of some graphic and the words "EMIRATES ARENA" emblazoned on it.

What on earth is the point of an Emirates Arena in the deprived (we are told this constantly by the media) east end of Glasgow, which we were also always being told has the unhealthiest population?

We used to be told that, but the claim has not been seen in any news stories since 2104 was announced - I smell conspiracy and suppression ;)

Lance Armstrong isn't gong to play ball and go away quietly.

Still, while his sponsors may have dropped him, none of the sponsors are going to take back the money he stole from them, so he remains a very wealthy multi-millionaire - work out how much spare cash he must have lying around for yourself, since has given away $7 million to one charity over the years.

Who says crime doesn't pay? And the police won't be after him, since there are no criminal charges arising. He gets off free, and will still, I am sure, be able to get more money as a celebrity, despite his bans he will still be a hero in some eyes.

As Lance Armstrong cut formal ties with his cancer-fighting charity in the wake of a doping scandal, he defiantly posted a picture online of his seven Tour de France yellow jerseys.

"Back in Austin and just layin' around..." he wrote in a caption for the photo.

The US Anti-Doping Agency ordered Armstrong banned from the sport for life and stripped of his titles. The International Cycling Union, which had originally supported Armstrong's fight, later agreed to wipe out Armstrong's record seven victories.

But despite giving up the fight in the doping case, Armstrong has always maintained his innocence.

Guess they can take the titles off him, but not his jerseys:

A most excellent event which all Games should feature:

It took me a moment to work out why Glasgow was not trying to bring the Tour de France to the city - on top of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and its bid for the 2018 Youth Olympics.

Then I read a bit more of the article, and noticed that the host city doesn't have to stump up the whole bill...

So now we know why Edinburgh went for the Tour ;D

And that's before we note that while Glasgow has paid millions to build various stadiums (that will only be used for a few days) and rebuild train stations and knock down houses and fire people because of corruption and the creation of a 'Lasting Legacy' and some slush funds, and... well, you know ;)

Edinburgh also makes the smarter move by hosting an event that needs a few cones thrown on the road, and collected afterwards. The biggest expense they will have is cleaning up the blood from the road after the pile ups ;)

Tour de France: Councillors set to back Edinburgh start bid

You'd think after building a brand new shiny velodrome monument in the east of Glasgow, and painting 'The Emirates' on the outside (instead of maybe Chris Hoy's name) the least they could have done was run the Tour past it.

There goes another £300,000 down the drain of the 'Lasting Legacy' of the daft Commonwealth Games lunacy.

I'm sure the people of the East End of Glasgow would rather have see £300 k spent on some new drains - or just some unblocking - to help the problem areas from suffering again as the wet weather arrives.

Instead, they are to get a £300,000 lump of scrap - an as yet non-existent sculpture to be erected near the Emirates arena - to remind them of the money pit games of 2014:

Quoted Text

A £300,000 commission has been announced for a new public artwork that will act as a legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The finished work, or works, will go on display in the vicinity of one of the main venues - the Emirates Arena - just before the games begin.

£300,000 artwork planned for 2014 Commonwealth Games site

It's really going to start getting silly now, as they try and think of things to spend money on. And they have more than a year left to play this 'one-upmanship' game with our money.

This, for example, after all the great plans announced early on to extend the transport system (rail routes) from the city to the East End were eventually all dropped (to be replaced by line painted on the road - to make priority traffic lanes! ), and even Dalmarnock's great rail station revamp which was supposed to be necessary although it did not improve the service in any way, failed to be completed on time, and will not see the station returned to proper operation until some time in 2013 (May I think, after being due for September 2012.) I missed the actual story, but think these key points are correct as told to me later. (I haven't tried to find the story again.)

I've also seen another story about tens of millions being added to pay for security, way above the original figure allowed.

Can anyone tell me why I can't obtain any replies after the picture of Liz McColgan? There have been lots of replies since then (25th  September) , but I haven't been able to download them.

Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean :B

Are you saying you have no other post visible between the McColgan post, and your query?

You browser cache may be corrupt.

Force a hard refresh by pressing Ctrl-F5 and then Shift-F5 (these are the two keystroke sequences that work for most common browsers.

It may also be an idea to go into the browser settings and delete the cache completely - there may be something corrupted in this file.

It does no harm to do this.

I assume "Admin" has tried to contact me, but I still cannot obtain anything after Sept 18th (Liz McGolgen's picture).

Interesting Dugald.   I rarely look at this thread as I find it tiresome but mine was jammed at the same item and date.