[Studentus-anonymous]

(Original post by Ano1)
I stopped reading after this.

Happy for you.

(Original post by AdamFenton)
Still on the subject of the Olympics but to move away from people being targeted from their views, what do you guys think of the missiles on the roofs for the olympics ? This is an extract from the BBC article:

"Residents have lost their High Court battle to prevent surface-to-air missiles being stationed on the roof of their tower block during the Olympics.

They had said having them on Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone, east London, would make them a terrorist target."

Here's the rest of it :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18778723

Dunno, I don't really see why the government thinks every terrorist on Earth is going to fly bombers on London like the Blitz so seems a bit much, on the other hand I am fine with the state placing the military where-ever it needs to to counter a threat.

[kingsholmmad]

(Original post by Studentus-anonymous)
Political propaganda and grandstanding, but for what?

To celebrate a group of people (Olympic athletes) who by and large seem to be singularly driven by an obsession to 'win' beyond other considerations which makes them appear aloof, greedy, selfish and obsessed with nothing else but their own success.

You miserable sod. Is the concept of enjoyment entirely alien to you? The celebration of personal achievement has been going on for as long as mankind has been capable of bipedal forward locomotion, you aren't about to stop it so why spend your time grizzling about it? Look, the Olympics are going to happen whatever you say, if you just put a little bit of effort into trying to enjoy them, you might find that, actually, they aren't going to cause you any of the physical pain or mental trauma that you are self-evidently expecting.

(Original post by Studentus-anonymous)
Happy for you.




Dunno, I don't really see why the government thinks every terrorist on Earth is going to fly bombers on London like the Blitz so seems a bit much, on the other hand I am fine with the state placing the military where-ever it needs to to counter a threat.

The government don't think that "every terrorist on Earth" is going to have a go. They just think that it would only need about half a dozen really determined people to create carnage. That's a situation which our military and our armaments are capable of preventing so why not use them?

[Studentus-anonymous]

(Original post by kingsholmmad)
*Insults ans judgement*

Thanks for the over-sensitive retort making assumptions about my character by projecting your sour-puss consideration of my opinion, I'm sure you feel you've somehow refuted my points with spectacular counters.

Miserable? Naw. And will be none the worse with or without the Olympics, but I stand by my points that the Olympics are wasteful, and the scale a bit much for what is essentially highly obsessed and self-interested athletes to get their gold. Some may wear a Team GB badge so what? I do not take 'pride' when my local football team wins or loses, it doesn't involve me in the slightest.

It's just a bit much, especially in this economic climate.

I'm sure money will be made at the Olympics. I won't see it benefit me or my friends and family, will it benefit yours?

Yeah games tourists will spend some money, kind of off-set by the massive public expenditure to build the Olympic venues though. No event with such lavish expenditure and hotly fought for rights to host opening and closing ceremonies can honestly claim to be anything but expensive propaganda first for the host nation and second for gold winners.

The UK should be investing in some more reliable long term economic boosts. Such as prosecution proceedings against the criminally negligent, incompetent and outright corrupt in our finance sector for a start.

You're free to disagree naturally and I fully expect my opinion is considered 'killjoy' (the bankers would think the same in regard to actions against their frivolity).

[kingsholmmad]

(Original post by Studentus-anonymous)
Thanks for the over-sensitive retort making assumptions about my character by projecting your sour-puss consideration of my opinion, I'm sure you feel you've somehow refuted my points with spectacular counters.

Absolutely. Thank you for asking.

Miserable? Naw. And will be none the worse with or without the Olympics

Exactly. So chill out, cheer up and just enjoy them. It can't do any harm and it may well have the added benefit of cutting down the number of people who mistake you for a bitter, twisted, grey-haired old miseryguts.

The UK should be investing in some more reliable long term economic boosts. Such as prosecution proceedings against the criminally negligent, incompetent and outright corrupt in our finance sector for a start.

Quite agree. And while they're at it, investing in criminal proceedings that would result in suing G4S for every penny they own might not be a bad idea. Probably go a long way to ending the recession in this country.

You're free to disagree naturally.

That's very kind of you. Like I said, you just need to chill out and enjoy the Games. You don't need to support anybody, you don't even need to be that interested in sport, you can just laugh at what a bunch of girls the male footballers are (and how much more butch the women are) or you can laugh at how ridiculous the horsey types look in the dressage or just laugh at the synchronised swimmers for being synchronised swimmers. Alternatively you could lech at the beach volleyballers or stare, terrified, from behind the couch at the women fighters. Our sole wrestling representative is Olga Butkevych (allegedly from Manchester). Be afraid.

[ga999]

[QUOTE=Studentus-anonymous;38496111]Political propaganda and grandstanding, but for what?

To celebrate a group of people (Olympic athletes) who by and large seem to be singularly driven by an obsession to 'win' beyond other considerations which makes them appear aloof, greedy, selfish and obsessed with nothing else but their own success.

Not a bank of character traits I think we should particularly be praising and showing off to the youth of the country tbh. I'd say they are great ambassadors for fitness but then rampant substance abuse isn't really worth it.


--> Is it really such a bad thing to be driven to achieve?! I don't see how it is so awful thing to teach kids that hard work and dedication can not only lead to great achievement and satisfaction but also to enjoyment for others. When there are plenty in this country with no desire to work hard and plenty who struggle to believe that they can escape the social circle they were born into, role models across a range of sports and with a vast array of talents are a fantastic asset.

I would advise watching some of the background programmes that have been on tv detailing some of the athletes' lives, as many of them have come from tough backgrounds, do not earn massive amounts of money, yet strive to achieve the impossible.
What an awful example to give young kids!

[Olie]

(Original post by Manitude)
It might never return to the UK in my lifetime, so I think it's justified to go 'over the top' on celebrating such a massive event.

This. Starting to get sick of people moaning constantly now, yes the media is going on about it a lot, yes the money spent on what is essentially just a big sporting event can be considered outrageous when it could have been spent elsewhere in a time of economic problems, but whether people like it or not, its happening and I really think people should either enjoy it or shut up, cause as said before its never going to happen again in our country in our lifetimes, the world's eyes will be on us and it'll bring the whole country together again and hopefully something to be proud of for once and I just pray that is the case because I want to see the moaners who say its going to be embarrassing have to eat their words.

So no, I don't think it is over the top and personally I cannot wait for it to start and I'm pleased I'm actually able to go to a few events as well, unlikely to see a British football team again

[chrisawhitmore]

(Original post by Olie)
This. Starting to get sick of people moaning constantly now, yes the media is going on about it a lot, yes the money spent on what is essentially just a big sporting event can be considered outrageous when it could have been spent elsewhere in a time of economic problems, but whether people like it or not, its happening and I really think people should either enjoy it or shut up, cause as said before its never going to happen again in our country in our lifetimes, the world's eyes will be on us and it'll bring the whole country together again and hopefully something to be proud of for once and I just pray that is the case because I want to see the moaners who say its going to be embarrassing have to eat their words.

So no, I don't think it is over the top and personally I cannot wait for it to start and I'm pleased I'm actually able to go to a few events as well, unlikely to see a British football team again

Well, if you look at the makeup of the Team GB football team, we could lose Scotland and Northern Ireland from the union without any problems, all the players are English or Welsh.

[chrisawhitmore]

Things that cost roughly the same as the olympics:

ITER, a nuclear fusion power station large enough to power a small city which runs on seawater, and requires joint funding from the EU, USA, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

2 Large Hadron colliders.

Reversing the cuts to the UK science budget for over a decade.