The person(s) concerned had only a very tenuous grasp of reality both of them. The real probs are when those special crowd direction measures are put into effect at the Rail termini affected by the two weeks of the games.
Does anyone know how the dry run went for this in London today - I looked at the Gruniad but it only amounted to a selection of vox pops re a broken down underground train.
So, lets see, how many detector vans are there in London ?
Presumably it's easier than that. Since they are targetting people who are viewing the Olympics on-line all they have to do is to look at who is logged onto their servers and is watching the live feeds.
I take it that G4S is a name for Group 4 Security to hide behind, given their track record?
I reckon this latest, but probably not last, farce will cost the taxpayers at least three million quid, so is that going to come out of whatever fat fee G4S negotiated for doing the job properly?
I take it that G4S is a name for Group 4 Security to hide behind, given their track record?
Used to be 2 companies, then Group 4 (originally a Belgian firm who merged with a Danish one called Falck to form Group4Falck before buying another lot called Wackenhut) merged with Securicor to form Group4Securicor aka G4S.
G4S were awarded the contract in the sum of, something like, £300M. I trust that the cost of the military augmentation comes from that sum and not from the MOD budget!
Clearly the " High threat index entity" was just riding his vehicle along with the crowd,looking at the video the title suggesting that he attempted to enter the bubble is "open to question" .
Actually, i just watched it again and made use of pause...looks to me like the cyclist is actually aiming himself toward the torch and increasing speed - at which point he is quickly taken down by the security team. I'm not seeing a problem with this. if you are stupid enough to think it is ok to cycle that close to the parade, you deserve to be taken down. He is then quickly released by the security team, who i think have shown great restraint on this relay.
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[edit: On reflection I suspect that the "Elements" forming the bubble could not spell proportionality, never mind practice it]
Thanks be to all the men and women who are stepping in from the military at the last minute, due to the failure of this company and its contract.
And the place will probably be far safer for everyone as a result of putting in the trained professionals.
As for PR? Disaster! Cameron's message to the televised world: "It is so dangerous here we have to call out the army to protect east london!"
Aside from this security company's kitted out staff, everybody would have expected to see the boys/girls in blue decked out in heavier gear than usual and armed with larger guns.
But putting the military in there changes the whole atmosphere (from a public relations stand anyway.)
But what a PR disaster for Cameron. His Olympics is now going to look like a third world armed miitary camp to the world. Not exactly what he was going for was he......
But what a PR disaster for Cameron. His Olympics is now going to look like a third world armed miitary camp to the world. Not exactly what he was going for was he......
HIS Olympics?
I think not, you mean BLIAR'S Olympics. After all, it was under Bliar that all the contracts were signed, it was under Bliar that all the so-called contingency plans were, erm, planned. Camerloon has merely inherited this mess and all the waste and inefficiency that goes along with it and the G4S fiasco is just one part of that waste and inefficiency shown by LOCOG.
Then there's the fiasco of the main route from Heathrow into London being closed and possibly not reopened in time for the games.
So people arrive at the UK's main airport, find that they have massive waits at immigration due to their 'planes 'arriving at the wrong time' or with an 'unexpected' number of people on board, then they are routed into London via Hounslow, Feltham, Staines, Ealing and points east.
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His Olympics is now going to look like a third world armed miitary camp to the world.
No, I think you are insulting some third world countries by drawing this comparison.
The M4 issue is a real worry, and not just for the Olympics, especially since that road should have been checked and checked repeatedly over the last couple of months (dunno if they did do that, but it is what I would have made sure was done) to make sure all was well. Now, sure, a crack can appear at any time and it ain't as if they can just plaster over it. So they've had to figure out what to do with a 50 year old structure that is maybe starting to fall apart and you don't do that in 24 hours......
I stand corrected, Hellsbrink. You are of course correct. This was a Blair deal. I only meant that as the current PM Cameron is on deck to be seen as the putative one responsible and will wear the scandalaree, if any ensue.
This M4 fiasco is being painted as a problem for Olympic visitors but gosh far more folks are being affected--like daily commuters?
I didn't believe the story yesterday that said it takes 90 minutes normally to get to Heathrow from Central London and with M4 junctions closed it was taking 2 hours.
Huh?
Non-rush-hour never takes me more than 30 or so minutes by car from SW7 to T5, give or take a few.
And in December when I arrived for Crimbo from the U.S. in the middle of the Hammersmith flyover closure, it took 3.5 hours by car to get to Sw7. Two hours? No way. It was a parking lot.
Being Crimbo, opted for a car service in spite of the problem. Oh well, got very well acquainted with the driver and learned all about his kids's lives including the pregnant daughter who lived in America near me.
Good thing I wasn't in a hurry.
So with that many junctions closed on the M4? Two hours? Pull the other one mate!
I got caught up in the fiasco that was the test day at London Bridge. I have no idea which genius dreamed that one up but thank God I will be mostly working from home during the games. They have decided to install a one way system in the station, so you can get off of a train and walk to the tube as normal but you have to walk all around the outside of the station to do the reverse journey. It was absolute chaos. I have no idea why this needs to be done, there is never a problem with access in the station, it all works well every day. Seems to me that they feel that they must be seen to be doing something for the games, whether it makes sense or not. This Tuesday there will be a practice day at Canary Wharf tube station, can't wait to see what they dream up for that.
It's not Cameron's olympics it's Sebastian Coe's. He's the chairman of the The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), responsible for preparing and staging the London 2012 Games. It's a company and the resignation of Lord Sebastian Coe is what should be called for. It's a national disgrace for the British and the buck stops at his desk in exactly the same way as Barclay's with Jack Diamond. PETA is supporting the slaughter of horses in the USA, having discovered that unlicensed killing of the equine cuties is more stressful for the animals than the more humane kind of slaughter. One wonders what the standards of gee gee garroting, or however they do it, is like in Kazakhstan? That country's wrestlers, strong men and other such intellectuals are demanding to be allowed to bring their own supplies of 'kazy' into Britain in order to keep up their protein levels. Is Seb Coe a vegetarian or is that really not yet another conflict of interest?
The whole TV Licence issue shows the country is basically daft. Still persisting with a law thats basically un-enforcable. Just so 1970's.
Now for ua Aussies, getting around daft laws, restrictions for big events is a national sport, its in our DNA. A good case was in the Olympic precinct, you couldt bring in your own sandwhiches. The were confiscated at the gate. But some bread and ham in seperate bags didnt constitute a sandwhich so they couldnt touch it. The idea is they wanted you to buy the $30 sandwhiches from the approved vendors.
Guess what I saw when I want for a visit...thousands of people munching on BYO sandwhiches. It was all part of the theatre....the fun.
Now you guys desperately need Jeremy Clarkson installed as a benevolent dictator. Jezza would fix the place up.
Please be aware, that there is simply no need to 'buy' this product. It will simply appear in a prominent place in your home, and the appropriate remuneration will be taken. (Credit card, bank account, flesh & blood or soul)
It cannot be destroyed, it cannot be removed. You will obey Wenlock, as he speaks for the glory that is the OLYMPICS(TM) and will not be ignored.
The camera embedded in the unrelenting, unblinking eye is of a high quality, and transmits a stream of your actions and innermost thoughts so that any potential crimes against the OLYMPICS(TM) will be stopped before you've even committed them.
On the plus side, the crystal case seems to be the source of all his unnameable power, so won't bump up your electricity bills, and doesn't require dusting.
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I bought one of these for my nephew but before I could give it to him, Wenlock's 'All Seeing Eye' had spotted the leaflet on my kitchen table for an anti-Olympics protest on the day after the opening ceremony. Before I knew it, the building where I live was surrounded by a special armed Olympics police unit and now I'm banned from central Stratford's "Dispersal Zone" until late September.
If you live anywhere near an Olympic location, or 'village' wherever it is, you'd better make sure your car is taxed/Mot'd/insured.
Here in North Surrey, where the rowers are staying, there is a plain clothes white Police van, with a satellite dish on the roof and enough screens and switches inside to launch a shuttle, on duty 24/7. Outside are two huge binocular video cameras mounted on tripods pointing each way at the junction about 500m away from the Olympic accommodation.
The local Indian takeaway, used as a restroom when open, has it confirmed that this is purely for car number plate recognition in case any known ' undesirables' ' cars go by. It instantaneously flashes up on the screen the status, and owner, of all number plate that go past.
in case any known ' undesirables' ' cars go by. It instantaneously flashes up on the screen the status, and owner, of all number plate that go past
In that case maybe some good will come out of this monstrous waste of resources, a few undesirables will be taken out of circulation, as will uninsured and unroadworthy vehicles. There has to be a silver lining to an otherwise very black cloud.
