Congratulations to the Chinese on staging a spectacular opening ceremony for the Olympics. I have rarely seen anything so colourful. London 2012 will have to go some to beat it.
I have lost interest in the Olympics over the last decade or so, but for whatever reason feel a great sense of anticipation about these games. Maybe it's because Britain might actually win a few medals!
The articles in the papers today about the £7 million cost of sending 600 people to observe the Olympics are typical of those who seem to wish our 2012 bid ill. Of course we must send people out there to learn from the Chinese experience. We'd be failing in our duty if we didn't. It is ironic, though, that the government refused to fund a visit by Shadow Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt , and Hugh Robertson, the Shadow Olympics Minister. They've paid their own way (economy class).
I for one am looking forward to enjoying a fortnight of fantastic sport ... apart, that is, from the ridiculous spectacle of synchronised swimming!
150 comments:
Totally agree with you Iain - the opening ceremony was pretty awesome. However,I suspect, but I hope that I am proven wrong, that our Opening Ceremony in 2012 will have echoes of the dire Millenium Dome Experience.
To be fair I checked the brochure that we bought at the time(yes like the saddo I am I still have a copy - must have a rarity value surely ? I took the family having fallen for the hype and believe me it wasn't cheap which is fair enough if the product was good )to make sure that my memory wasn't playing me false- IT WASN'T.
We need to make sure that we don't repeat that experience with the 2012 London Olympics.
Look out for Rooney he could do well and also Billy Joe Saunders the Pikey kid. Saunders is not actually his real name , his real name is Beany and his family are rarely out of plod`s radar in Herts . Look out for the Press slaying him if he does well .
Rumour rumour ..I hear that Norman Baker will not be standing at the next election
Apologies, Mr D, but I think you are talking a load of absolute bollocks.
And at the same time as you were savouring the hoovering up of obscene millions of dollars I see the Russians were busy invading Georgia.
The articles in the papers today ... are typical of those who seem to wish our 2012 bid ill.
That includes me. Complete waste of money. My dearest wish is that we come bottom in everything.
sorry Iain for some of us the Olympics are up there with `watch paint dry` as far as entertainment goes. Now dont get me started on 2012. Already some of our beautiful heritage has lost out on grants that should have been theirs to make way for this fortnights circus...
I disagree with you about this, Iain.
To squander £7 million of taxpayers' hard earned money on a jaunt for 639 government and public sector snouts in the trough, especially when so many in UK are struggling to make ends meet and being made redundant, is scandalous.
Well done Jeremy Hunt and the other Conservatives who are paying their own way.
Let's all cheer for the fascists. Didn't they do well?
(Boris got a freebie, so stop your whining.)
Apparently Andy Pandy Burnham is already doing what he's infamous for in Beijing: shouting his mouth off and making a fool of himself.
The twit's bragged to the Australians that UK will win more medals than them. What a great way to damage our team's chances by putting them under even more pressure than they were already under.
Send Big Gob Burnham home before he does any more damage, please.
If you think you're getting your blog unblocked just because of this Comrade Dale - think again....
Agreed, Iain and the Chinese also have remarkable musical taste!
S(cotland)T(he)B(rave).
I agree with auntie flo!
Iain. 7.000 athletes. 7.000 out of the world population and so much money is being spent on them! I am sorry it is above scandal. And those that go on the backs of the tax payer (especially the whole bloody BBC! it appears) are a disgrace.
Also to have the Chinese host this is just sick!
I agree with the comments of trevorsden...whilst this is going on, typical communist movement - they invade Georgia!
Still we might win a few medals!
Sorry iain that is beneath you.
I hope the EU sends in its army!!
Led by the Italians and Germans no doubt!
The prospect of 2012 terrifies me. The Millenium Dome on a huge scale, with the whole world watching.
BTW Sync swimming is just to put some flesh on show. The most ridiculous sport is the triple jump, followed by the shot put.
The latter also feeds Chinese national arrogance ('HaHa, look at huge muscle-bound idiots struggling to hurl cannonball 10 yards. They too thick to invent gunpowder.')
You said it yourself, Iain. Communism works.
You also argue in favour of state-funded junkets.
Which party do you belong to again?
I take it Iain, you also approve of some of those 630 odd officials whose jollies we are funding being police officers who have gone over to learn crowd control from the Chinese police. Is that one of the things that is encouraging you to write this hyperbolic nonsense?
As for the fighting in Georgia, it is time we realized that neither the government nor Her Majesty's Opposition has any ideas about foreign policy. In fact, they do not do foreign at all. Probably don't even know where the Caucasus is and why it is important. Much easier to get excited about the Olympics farce.
Right, just so everyone knows, I couldn;t give a monkey's arse what abuse is directed at me for this post or any other. I intend to enjoy the Olympics. If the rest of you want to wallow in your own misery over it that's up to you.
See you in 16 days.
And Helen, as for writing hyperbolic nonsense, just read the nonsense your co-editor writes sometimes.
Perhaps we should make you Foreign Secretary, as according to you no one else in the country has the faintest idea about foreign policy.
Entirely agree with you Iain. Credit must go to the Chinese for an incredible opening ceremony. The artistry, perfectionism, creativity and sense of Chinese tradition were beyond spectacular. There's a lot to admire and learn from this achievement. I too started to get worried about how Britain will compete. Our dismal showing in Liverpool as capital of culture is not auspicious. The Olympics really is worth investing in. Yes hospitals and schools and social services need funding - but so do arts, sports and that indefinable sense of unity and aspiration that the Olympics represent.
Count me in with the Olympic nay-sayers - utter waste of time and money, besides being corrupt.
And I watched about an hour of the opening ceremony before coming close to dying of boredom (I was having lunch and had nothing else to do); not a patch on Athens, which I tuned into by accident and thought was very beautiful.
An absolute waste of money. The games should be permanently based in Athens and long, boring and over extravagent opening ceremonies banned.
I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks. We all have sports we don't enjoy, but there is something for pretty much any sports lover.
The whole event requires a doubtlessly naive belief that any drug cheats will be court, but that is an effort surely worth making to enable the enjoyment which follows.
Sorry Iain, but not everyone is taken in by the propaganda and hype.
It's the games of shame.
And I explain here, just why Beijing can stuff its Olympics.
http://theorangepartyblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-beijing-can-stuff-its-olympics.html
You seem pretty touchy for someone who doesn't care, Iain.
Where is this abuse you speak of? And was that barb aimed at Helen really called for?
i do not usually disagree whith you but
I find the opening ceremonies increasingly tiresom.
Watch any ceremony from the last twenty years and try to guess where it is from. They are all of a likeness. The same speaches praising the sportmanship of women how have more muscles than any natural man.
If I was organising the London opening I would have it down to half an hour.
Let's face it - the twentieth century was the American century. The twenty-first century will be the Chinese century. This is more than the opening of the Olympic Games - it's the opening of a new era.
Didn't watch it!
Don't wanna watch it!
Don't wanna hear about it!
Billions spent so a few hundred drug fuelled idiots can try and outdo each other.
Ban it and spend the money where it should be spent!
I'm going to join the wet blankets. My reaction when London got the games was 'oh my God, another expensive foul up we can't afford.' The money would be far better spent on seeing our servicemen got decent kit and decent medical equipment.
It also continues to skew development further towards London and the South East rather than benefitting the whole of the country.
In short the best thing DC can do when he is elected is cancel the whole bloody shebang.
Well, I didn't get there. The streets were alive with the sound of cops and sirens. So I stayed home and drank good Chinese beer, watched the smoke and pyrotechnics from my windows, and the Chinese broadcast from CCTV. I think they gave Sarah a bummer of a song. Stealing a leaf Iain, I blogged it sort of live. I know, shameful. Follow the link !
(your catcha is O, U, LOL! )
@Trevorsden: Call me an absurd optimist, but doesn't the Olympic Games prevent wars by bringing nations together?
Where else would you see Israelis beside Saudis and Iranians; North Koreans chatting to South Koreans?
The inclusiveness of the games is wonderful: every nation is represented, even medal no hopers such as Kiribati and Equatorial Guinea.
£7m is nothing. We spend ten times the amount on crap like regional development agencies and European Council trough-fests.
Not sure how much the Chinese spend on their opening ceremony, but I'm guessing it was more than £7m. Hard to even estimate how many noughts to add onto that figure. Money well spent though!
God help us in 2012!
Oh dear, the trolls are out again.
oh is that right.
As for the supposed barb aimed at Helen, perhaps I should just sit there and take it. Helen and her co-editor feel free to dish it out on their blog and often take pops at me. She will treat it like water off a duck's back.
Iain is right. The barb was not aimed at Helen, but someone next to her. I feel much better.
Oh dear, the trolls are out again.
And I expect an anonymous comment about trolls to be taken seriously.
Quote: "Congratulations to the Chinese on staging a spectacular opening ceremony for the Olympics. I have rarely seen anything so colourful. London 2012 will have to go some to beat it."
Please don't forget, Iain, that the Chinese Government can spend as much money as it likes without the internal scrutiny or criticism.
London 2012 could have an opening ceremony like today but I'm sure you, among many other bloggers & media etc would be the first to criticise the cost.
Remember also the many Chinese who've lost their houses etc, in the build up to the games, without compensation because the Chinese Gov says tough; – “no planning laws here”
Mindless hype from Iain Dale? I'm shocked.
Did Abba perform? I missed the ceremony.
That was really rather good. I'm with Iain on this one; I just want to enjoy 16 days of sporting excellence and all the pomp that goes with it.
Great opening ceremony, too. The best ones always celebrate the history of the host country. No doubt ours will be a tribute to multiculturalism, complete with people of all faiths hugging. Whereas what we actually want are Beefeaters, Red Arrows and the Household Cavalry.
Can I just say I really couldn't care about some pointless opening ceremony.
So what?
I really didn't want the Olympics. It's going ot be an utter disaster. Anyone who ever uses that piece of crap called the London Underground knows that one tiny event like a signal failure causes utter chaos across the whole network.
It can't cope now, so what will it be like in 2012?
It's an utter waste of money.
The only sport worth watching is the ladies Beach Volleyball.
Oh and stuff the BBC. 500 useless left wing Guaridan readers to give us third rate coverage.
You can see it on Eurosport for FREE.
The only funny thing will be seeing that grubby little leftie Livingstone trying to get into the games and whining on in that awful ittle nasal voice of his "well I got us the Olympics you know, I should be there, me and my mates Hugo and Fidel"
Agree with earlier Anon.
The Games should be permanently based in Athens.(But not during their summer).
My heart sank when we got it due to Blair's last-minute networking.
Paris deserved it and we could have saved billions and watched it on the tele. Which we will do anyway, because a tiny fraction of the population will aquire tickets for the attractive events.
Iain says we have got to go some to beat their opening ceremony. I hope we have the sense to do a budget ceremony. There's enough competition in the events themselves.
7 million for 639 people is OVER 10,000 pounds PER PERSON. That's just typical of these champagne 'socialists'. Labour be-gone.
Zorro
Darfur, Tibet, subjugation of their own people, no free-speech, forced relocation, endemic corruption, rampant pillage of third-world resources. Just about all the olympics stand for I'd say. At least Beijing got the pollution under control. Hmmm, maybe not. Oh, and you know where to go if you need any slightly used body parts ...
I'm quite relieved to hear that the Shadows have paid their own way but why did they bother in the first place?
I admit to being anti-China because of the way that State leaves its citizens fearful and I loathe anti-totalitarianism from any direction.
Forget the smog-bound Olympics and concentrate, instead, on our own country. It isn't a game, it isn't a sport: it really is a matter of life or death for nationhood.
It is absurd not sending the shadow ministers, considering that Jowells has not a dissident in a bird's nest stadium's chance of making it till 2012. If we spend £7m, we need to see HARD evidence that it has made a significant DIFFERENCE to investment and tax revenues, not put done deals already dans le sac into the mix to justify all that Carlsberg and crabsticks.
Still, I bet "Yorkshire First" is there, a.k.a Yorkshire Peoples Soviet of the European Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Scumbags!
Ha ha ha! You scream 'stasi' and 'gulag' over the smallest thing Brown does, but the Chinese put on a show and all you can say is 'Oooh look at the bright shiny lights!'
Ken Livingstone is in Beijing enjoying some of that £7million. He's not a renowned sports fan as far as I know. Who has paid for him to go out the and in what capacity?
Don't think we'll be bothering much seeing as Andrew Gilligan thinks we shouldn't and he's Boris's best friend.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-olympics/article-23529125-details/We+can%27t%2C+and+shouldn%27t%2C+even+try+to+match+this/article.do
Do people that post comments on blogs feel under some obligation to be resoundingly negative on absolutely everything? Must make for a pretty depressing life!
I'm catching up on the highlights of the opening ceremony now, and I'm with Iain - it is spectacular, and I'm looking forward to following the games over the next fortnight. I'm thrilled London have the next Olympics.....just wish the rest of the country could show a bit of pride in the achievement and the opportunity.
Yes base the Olympic games in Athens, it is their original copyright afterall. An added bonus for those who wish to make sheloads of money out of the event is that the Athen's time zone is the most pliable around the Globe.
Quite amazed that you were taken in by the Beijing ceremony Ian, it was little to do with Beijing and ALL to do with China saying I AM.
Base the Olympic games back in Athens where they belong and the olympic spirit may be restored.
"We'd be failing in our duty", who is the we ? and why is it a duty ?
To spend an obscene waste of money on a ceremony ? Where is the cry for market forces etc, let those who want the nonsense pay for it.
We all know that the opening ceremony in multicultural Britain will be a deafening clashing of badly synchronised wheelchairs, break-dancing and carnival.... a bit like the golden jubilee parade but a lot more expensive and a lot more cringe-worthy.
Iain, dear boy, like many other citizens of this once fair country, I shall be wallowing in misery for the next 16 days and enjoying every wonderful moment of non-Olympic bliss.
All of which is pretty sad really because I love sports...but not the Chinese version.
I'm sick of it already. Utterly utterly boring.
And how many people have the BBC sent to cover it.
A total waste of money; and 2012 will be even worse
The 'official' cost of the Beijing games is £21bn - the real cost is probably £40bn. Our budget for 2012 is, er, £9.6bn.
Don't get me wrong. I think our budget is extravagant. For a fortnight of running, jumping and chucking spears and the like. And what the heck is 'Team GB'? I don't follow the nuances of athletics, but do we no longer permit athletes from the province of Northern Ireland to participate as members of the UK team?
No, Beijing isn't really about athletics at all. It's like Abba playing a crowd of 1m in the 70s with the planet's entire annual production of sequins and glitter thrown in, Liberace doing the warm-up and Barbara Streisand and Barry Manilow filling in at half-time. It's a massive global camp kitsch spectacle designed by a people who think in centuries rather than parliaments to establish PRC as a fully paid up member of the modern world complete with middle class, capitalism and a fifth estate. And Dorothy on DVD.
As far as the gerontocrats of the PRC are concerned, £40bn is good value.
A lot of silly nonsense. Much more important is KP getting a ton against the Afrikaaners. Sadly Harmie left stranded one short of his 50. The Olympics ought to have some proper sport.
I just have a feeling that our plastic stadium might not be able to stand up to multiple firework launches without burnng down or melting.
The Beijing opening was awesome and very original and I just wonder whether perhaps that the London opening ought to be more City wide rather than focussed on the stadium. Certainly our architecture and famous landmarks would make a much nicer backdrop than the walls of a plastic stadium.
Boris Johnson giving an opening address in Ancient Greek would be a nice touch too!
Iain,
You invite comment so do not object if the majority are agin your views!
As a matter of interest how many athletics meetings have you ever attended? How many cycling races have you gone to watch? How many swiming gala's have you witnessed?
I doubt that you have ever been to one!
I prefer to watch the cricket! Strange that that sport is not in the olympics isnt it!
zorro said... "7 million for 639 people is OVER 10,000 pounds PER PERSON. That's just typical of these champagne 'socialists'. Labour be-gone."
That total includes Conservatives such as Boris Johnson and 13 members of his staff.
I do not yet accept that this will necessarily be China's century.
They have made progress yes, but they are still largely a low cost manufacturung country. With a big hinterland that is still struggeling to get out of the medival age.
Name the top Chinese brands.. Ok name three.
Name an important Chinese invention. Now name one from the last 500 years.
They can build a coal power station a day to get power: without western technology they will choke on the fumes.
They can take over the Sudan and any number of African countries none of them have enough oil.
They cannot take over the middle east without a war one they might not win.
As long as they stay communist they risk a popular revolution. Or they could go the way the USSR went.
The poorer Western provinces could rebel against the richer eastern provinces.
They have a sizable Muslim minority.
Any tension could lead to a relaxation of the population control regime to appease the peasants. Puting pressure on the border with sparsley populated Russian Siberia.
China has potential but there are many ways that they could fall of the ladder before they get to the top.
I dont know why you should make assumptions about what kind of sporting events I attend. I gave indeed been to all those events. Not often, but I have been. Not quite sure what that has got to with anything though.
Ahhh Scotland the Brave, if only she was competing as an independent member then our saltire wouldn't be banned from the Beijing Olympics.
What's original about fireworks?
Or all the competitors marching round or all the speeches.
If Athens has it for ever can we go back to just the original sports or their modern equivalents.
Without the nudity (except in the womans beach volyball) and cheating.
Cricket is not in, not because it is the most boring sport ever. Or even because with each game lasting five days the olympics would have to last two months not two weeks. (I am half Scottish no game that needs five consecutive dry days was never going to catch on up there) but because who ever runs cricket has not bribed the right people with enough of the right currency.
Raedwald said...
And what the heck is 'Team GB'? I don't follow the nuances of athletics, but do we no longer permit athletes from the province of Northern Ireland to participate as members of the UK team?"
The UK team competes under the name "Great Britain". People from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. I suppose that most would opt for Ireland because (in most sports) there is generally less competition for places in their team.
Desperate Dan said...
"Ken Livingstone is in Beijing enjoying some of that £7million. He's not a renowned sports fan as far as I know. Who has paid for him to go out the and in what capacity?"
We are not paying for him. He is a guest of the Beijing city authorities.
The Nazis put on an impressive opening ceremony too. Would you have praised their efforts?
"You invite comment so do not object if the majority are agin your views!"
You must be new here.
I think the IOC and the totalitarian thugs in charge of China were made for each other. Make me a despot for seven years, able to spend what I like, kill people who speak out for freedom, and run a daily indoctrination campaign in schools, and I'm pretty sure I could turn out a great opening ceremony too. Tories who have suspended their political critical faculty for the sake of sport: shame on you.
All this talk of money!
Never mind the killing and the abuses, eh?
Priorities people, priorities.
Trouble is the 'Olympic Ideal' (if it ever existed) has been hijacked by all the worst type of freeloading self important gits, especially and particularly those on the IOC. And at the same time failing totalitarian states like China can use them to mask their dire political and social problems by spending shed loads on stadia and opening ceremonies. The latter of which I find particularly irksome.
Hope fully by the time we get to 2012 we and the rest of the planet will be so broke and so out of love with celebrity and spectacle that our opening ceremony will be something on the lines of "Oh hullo, you're the Americans are you? Jolly good. Now your billets are in a place called Basildon and the first event will be on Tuesday. Your Guide (as in girl guide) will show you the way. There's a good train connection I am told. Bye now. Or as I believe they say in your country 'have anice day' ha! ha!".
No opening ceremony. No freeloaders. No posers. Especialy no IOC gitfaces. de Nada. Just a lot of great athletes doing their stuff brilliantly
And if you want to know why I and many other investors have serious issues about China go here:
http://www.bedlamplc.com/c2/uploads/potw%2074.pdf
Much better written than I can manage.
I think some of the intolerance towards the Chinese here is disgraceful. Ignore the haters and leave them to their misery, Iain.
Face it Iain, you were taken in hook line and sinker by a glossy sideshow. Roll on conference season.
Nothing matches the simple, austere beauty of human beings driving their bodies and skills to the limits of endurance in competition with each other.
Swamp that simplicity and austerity in drugs and decadence and turn into a political extravaganza and there's little left that resembles sport.
At the opening ceremony, the national teams should simply march with their national flags and be cheered and clapped.
No hype, no sickening decadence.
No politicians.
Perfect.
Well follow that London. Somehow I can't see expressions of this country's culture quite doing it - dustbin inspectors and health and safety busybodies aren't going to be that spectacular. Perhaps we could get Vic Reeves to resurrect the dove from above. We should give up now and save ourselves a fortune, as well as removing a major terrorist target.
For weeks I've been unable to get a series of images out of my head:
The first picture shows a very pretty Tibetan girl - aged 14 or 15, or perhaps a little older? She's being lead out of a bus along with some of her countrymen and women.
The next picture shows this young girl standing in front of large trench waiting to be shot in the back of the head.
Two Chinese soldiers hold her still, though she shows remarkable courage and dignity in the face of death. She isn't struggling.
The soldiers hold her at arms length, leaning away form her so that they don't get caught by the blast.
The last picture shows this little girl lying the trench with half her head blown away.
"I think some of the intolerance towards the Chinese here is disgraceful."
The intolerance is with China's government, who have evidently discovered that if you squander enough money you can impress a surprising range of people.
Isn't it amazing how over-excited some people get over a few fireworks?
Thanks, Iain, for another shining example of the sort of stunning insight and original thought that have seen you get so many bookings on Sky News and News 24 at 3 o'clock in the morning.
The link for some of those pictures of that young tibetan girl being executed by Chinese soliders:
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/abc_execution3_080215_ssh.jpg&imgrefurl=http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/popup%3Fid%3D4297045%26contentIndex%3D1%26page%3D5%26start%3Dfalse&h=411&w=531&sz=49&hl=en&start=69&um=1&tbnid=c
Yeah, and Any Questions next week. Prick.
Aunti flo' said:
"...Two Chinese soldiers hold her still, though she shows remarkable courage and dignity in the face of death. She isn't struggling.
The soldiers hold her at arms length, leaning away form her so that they don't get caught by the blast.
The last picture shows this little girl lying the trench with half her head blown away..."
Yes but these are Communists and that's what Communists do. The left over here would like nothing more than to be able to shoot anyone that doesn't buy the Guardian or happily pay the BBC TV tax in the back of the head as well.
Oh and how dare people vote out Ken Livingstone. Would NEVER have happened in China, Rusia, Cuba, Iran or North Korea.
You see, we just need a bit of Communism.
Now where's Gordon Broon when you need him?
Would you be so kind as to inform us as to whether or not you supported the US boycott of the 1980 Games?
Would you have supported a boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics?
All those pretty fireworks blew her mind. Hooray for China.
Olympics? Oh! You mean the ladies' beach volleyball competition where they put on shows of drugged up people running, jumping and chucking things during half time.
"Oh, it's all getting quite nasty here over just a short innocuous article."
Say what you like about the Nazis, they sure knew how to put on a show. And what snappy uniforms! They deserve to be congratulated.
(How did you like my short innocuous article?)
The whole news agenda was completely skewed by this fluff.
The Russians have just started a war to gain control of western energy supplies. Thousands dead and wounded.
And Iain gives us the Olympics. It's almost as bad as Newsnight.
anonaLon said...
Surely China will realise that while the world watches their abhorrent activities,
Err no ... What makes you think China gives a toss about international opinion? They have consistently demonstrated that they don't need to.
Shame Leni Riefenstahl's isn't alive. The Ruling elite in the PRC could commission her to do a film on the Games.
There is a China that is Free. The Games should have gone to Taiwan
I've long pondered whether the IOC was as corrupt as the UN or the EU. And this morning on Today Comrade Ken opined that China was not oppressive to the majority of its citizens. Finally thanks to P/E for the story pg 6, col 3 of Brown, introduced to a wheelchair bound victim of 7/7 praised her for being a true Brit, told she was an Aussie, appalled and confused he stumbled away without a word; what a socially cretinous man!
"If the rest of you want to wallow in your own misery over it that's up to you."
Look here Mr D - dear, well meaning Mr D, get real.
This fun filled 16 days of jollity cost 20 billion pounds. At least. And that is presumably at a Chinese labourers rate of pay.
One word for the spending of all this money on an overblown athletics meeting.
Obscene.
And the working of the IOC? Again one word.
Corrupt.
Thanks but no thanks - I want nothing to do with it - not least nothing to do with a pompous self indulgent political opening ceremony.
The notion that our Olympics will 'only' cost 9.3 billion is dubious to say the least but even at 9 billion it is a disgraceful - obscene - amount of money which will without a shadow of a doubt leave absolutely no worthwhile legacy.
I guarantee you that the athletes village will be a falling to bits slum within 10 years.
The whole thing is a self feeding self serving symbiotic corrupt junket for bureaucrats officials politicians broadcasters and a few athletes. Bread and Circuses.
Now look what you have done - just don't get me started.
What will London present? Morris dancing?
"over 10,000 people a year are executed"
And their organs immediately used in medicine.
Don't jaywalk in China if you have a healthy liver.
China is in the UN - its a legitimate if execrable government.
its not a question of boycotts its the huge expense and corruption surrounding the modern games - which is why the Greeks got rid of them (if indeed they ever existed in the first place)
See you've got me going again ... thats it, I am through with this.
Will you be repeating this article in Total Politics, Iain? It got a huge reaction and all publicity is good publicity.
So all Gordon Brown needs to do to impress you is put on a dazzling stage show? That's good to know.
You're applauding control freaks now?
The Chinese were always going to pull off a good one. I bet the London one is a joke. The mists of time are parting and I see.....
...the ceremonies are introduced by those cheeky chappies Ant and Dec...
...followed by a display of urban dance from the combined street gangs from the greater London postcode district, who finish with a gun salute and a display of synchronised knifework...
...followed by the massed bands of the Traffic Wardens and PCSOs of Great Britain...
...and a display of binge drinking, fighting and vomiting by the Ladettes of Great Britain...
...the Torch will be used to light the ceremonial pyre of taxpayers' money...
...fireworks will be cancelled due to Health and Safety...
...but it won't matter because no-one will be there apart from the Dear Leader (Gordon Broon, having invoked civil contingencies legislation to avoid an election) due to the special Olympic Trains all being late
Lets hope they dont bring out the 'Morris Minors' and 'Morris dancers' that we saw at the opening ceremony of Euro'96
What a pity that you have not found it appropriate to say anything about the totalitarian dictatoriship running the country where the Games are being staged. "Congratulations to murderous, tyrannical China" might have been a more honest blog heading.
I for one shall be boycotting these Games in solidarity with the many millions who labour under oppression in China and Tibet. If the answer is "politics and sport shoulnd't mix" - that's all very well and good if you hold the Games in a free country, but entirely a different matter if they are held in a country where the Government is an illegitimate Communist dictatorship.
Olympics? The best sport they have is seeing who is the winner in the "wasting the most money" competition.
We should give the 2012 to the French to do, as they wanted in 2005 - let them foot the bill.
The serious, and deadly, sport is going on in Georgia at the moment.
In comparison the Olympics are a load of fluff.
If you believe in the Olympics ideal/tradition/roots then why not hold them permanently in Greece - and save all the wasted cash?
So we have two wars to fund and then there is the olympics - all political ego trips
I agree the opening ceremony was an awesome spectacle worthy of that big ancient nation. It showed without doubt China is emerging as the second superpower.
Radio4 Today Programme interviewed Red Ken. He must have reserved his tickets and hotel on the expense account before the election. It was sickening to hear this man whose cronies are being paid 1.5 million in the clear out process at the GLA.
Our 2012 opening should be grand but modest.
So much hate. Why can't we just appreciate the spectacle for what it is, as Iain has? You'll be moaning about the workers who died making The Great Wall next.
Iain, you may have missed my question. Would you have supported a boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics?
such excitement over events that could, and many do, feature in school sports day.
the nazis also knew how to put on a show for the gulliable (and got themselves a brilliant, albeit flawed,film director to record it all ) so in just over 70 years we again hear our 'opinion formers' lining up to defend the indefensible.
still, a jolly is a jolly and
especially welcome when funded by the taxpayer !
our Opening Ceremony in 2012 will have echoes of the dire Millennium Dome Experience.
oh yes the cabinet and the queen doing the oky-cokey and waving sparklers while wearing asbestos body armour, I feel embarrassed already.
Anon, 11.49. Every time I answer a question you come up with another. Are you Tim Ireland? I can see where this will end up. You will eventually ask if I beat my wife.
If you actually bothered to put a name to your questions I suppose I might be more interested in answering them.
I would wager that Iain knows far more about international politics than some of the people making simplistic moral judgements.
They don't deserve answers, Iain. Ignore them!
Iain, if you insisted on others leaving a name I might be interested in giving one.
Would you have supported a boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics?
judith said...
"not a patch on Athens"
Quite right Judith. I really don't know why people are drooling about fireworks and lots of people in costumes.
I watched the whole thing. From what I saw and heard it was okay but nothing special. There have been better, including Athens. And Berlin.
I say 'from what I saw and heard' because obviously Al-beeb was doing it's usual rubbish broadcasting. Useless bunch of parasites. Crap camera work and ignorant pea-brained 'commentators' doing their best to drown out the event with their non-stop verbal diarrhoea.
I shall now ignore the Olympics until the closing ceremony. I expect I will watch that. I bet Al-beeb will also be trying to ruin it, however well (or not) the Chinese do.
London will be an embarrasment. Not because of Beijing.
Glyn H said...
"Comrade Ken opined that China was not oppressive to the majority of its citizens."
Don't leave out the best bit - 'China is not a police state' he said, several times.
"Every time I answer a question you come up with another."
And you think you can handle being an MP?
You've only answered ONE question, Iain.
That's MORE British government bureaucrats than British athletes.
Should be the otherway round, shouldnt it.... !
How many answers does each person get Iain? Is the limit one?
As I have told the wretched Tim Ireland on countless occasions, asking a question does not give you the right to answer - especially i you cant be bothered to say who you are.
london clearly can not hold a ceremony like the one in Beijing. Health and Safety would close it down in seconds.
If you're not willing to answer questions, why do you accept comments?
If you're not willing to answer anonymous questions, why do you accept anonymous comments?
Sorry for asking two questions and going over my limit.
I do answer questions, just not from anonymous pillocks like you. Now, if you'll let me get back to enjoying the Olympics, I'd be grateful.
"And Helen, as for writing hyperbolic nonsense, just read the nonsense your co-editor writes sometimes.
Perhaps we should make you Foreign Secretary, as according to you no one else in the country has the faintest idea about foreign policy."
Temper, temper. You have no knowledge of what I say to my colleague when he comes up with what I consider to be below standard. Hint: it is considerably stronger than anything I post on your blog.
Almost anyone would make a better Foreign Secretary than David Miliband. Just so that I know: how do you feel about the rozzers going off to learn crowd control from the Chinese? And so that we all know, what is HMG's and the Opposition's opinion on what has been going on in the Caucasus for some time? Apart from saying let's all play nicely children, that is.
Iain Dale said...
Anon, 11.49. Are you Tim Ireland?..If you actually bothered to put a name to your questions I suppose I might be more interested in answering them.
Good point, Iain, if anon 11.49 has a real issue, why be so furtive about it?
I've put my blog name to my posts against the politicisation of the games, the obscene waste and corruption and the Chinese dictatorship's murdering ways. So why won't you?
"I do answer questions, just not from anonymous pillocks like you."
So why do you accept anonymous comments if you think they're worthless?
A Chinese man has killed an American visiting Beijing for the Olympics before committing suicide, the Xinhua state news agency said this morning. (Telegraph)
I bet that's taken the edge off the fun and games of the obscene
£7 million freebie of the UK's political and public service contingent.
Why has Tessa jowell gone on a jolly to Beijing? Come 2012 she won't be an MP.
I allow anonymous comments because there are many people who submit very constructive comments to this blog, who, because of their jobs, can't say who they are. I have made the judgement that it's better to keep them on board and have to cope with anonymous trolls at the same time, rather than ban anonymous comments altogether.
It's called taking the rough with the smooth.
I have never understood why, if someone is not prepared to say who they are, they feel they can insult, question or harrass as much as they like and expect me to take it. And when I don't take it they start whining. Just like you have done.
"It's called taking the rough with the smooth."
But you don't take the rough with the smooth. You just refused to treat one type of anonymous comment with the same respect as you would another.
And if you don't mind me saying so, if you don't understand the ins and outs and ups and downs of accepting anonymous comments then you probably shouldn't accept anonymous comments.
PS: You might want to stop whining about abuse when it's you calling people "pricks" in this thread.
You really don't get it do you?
This is my property. You are here at my invitation. If you don't like it, leave. It's that simple.
"I allow anonymous comments because there are many people who submit very constructive comments to this blog"
In other words, you only like anonymous comments when people agree with you and kiss your ass and you regard everything else to be a 'troll'. That's what Nadine Dorres used to do before she stopped taking comments entirely.
You really don't get it do you?
You operate an open door policy and you can't ban one anonymous person without banning them all.
I'll come when I please and I'll leave when I'm ready.
"This is my property."
No it isn't.
Anon 2.45. Hilarious. Please refer any further questions to Blogger then. Clearly my role here is over.
Anonymous 2.36. Not the case at all. A big per centage of the comments on here are critical. I have no problem with people critcising what I write or what I do. What I do draw the line at is anonymous trolling and people demanding I answer questions they have no right to ask if they post anonymously. Well, they can ask, but they have no automatic right to an answer.
Last night I submitted a comment agreeing with the vast majority on here that Iain is naive and stupid in not seeing through this Olympics rubbish (it didn't get put up, I presume through a glitch rather than censorship). He is old enough to have been politically sensate in 1980 and so should know from Moscow, as well as the history of 1936, that the Olympics are totalitarian dictators' friends in maintaining their grip on power as well as being deeply damaging to dissenters in the relevant countries as they are clamped down on during the festivities.
If he does know anything about international relations, as some have suggested, he should blog why this view is mistaken - just saying "wow" at the spectacle and saying he is going to enjoy it because he is a sports nut is not political comment. It is just childishness. As indeed are many of his peevish responses on this comment thread. Has sports fanaticism led to the balance of Iain's mind being disturbed?
BTW Ken Livingstone is there as a guest of the Chinese Govt - a conflict of interest in his comments on the political situation there that was not disclosed in his BBC interviews but which has been mentioned elsewhere. Tells you all you need to know about the cyncicism of the whole exercise doesn't it?
I may as well. Google is equally supportive of the Chinese communist regime.
"questions they have no right to ask if they post anonymously"
What kind of question would that be?
All seems pretty grumpy on here ! Must be all that enjoyment from the Olympics getting to everyone !
The Chinese put on a good show but it was nothing more than that. I don't understand what the big deal is about the Olympics. Just because you put them on and do something innovative doesn't make you a good regime e.g. 1936 and all that.
Meanwhile in the real world a potentially major conflict is breaking out while the media is talking running.
"What I do draw the line at is anonymous trolling and people demanding I answer questions they have no right to ask if they post anonymously."
What kind of question do people not have the right to ask if they post anonymously? I would hate to waste my time and yours in the future.
All those calling for the Olympics to be based permanently at its "home" in Greece seem to have forgotten that the home of the "Modern Olympics" is the small Shropshire village of Much Wenlock, so, if it's to be based anywhere, it should be there.
However, as I live quite close to the place, I'd rather that they didn't! :-)
Anonymous 1.14 pm said...
"obviously Al-beeb was doing it's usual rubbish broadcasting. Useless bunch of parasites. Crap camera work ..."
I thought the camera work was poor but the BBC were not to blame. They were not allowed to film the action directly. All they could do was to select the shots from the feeds that were given to them and all the other broadcasters.
norman said...
"Radio4 Today Programme interviewed Red Ken. He must have reserved his tickets and hotel on the expense account before the election."
The Chinese paid. He is there as their guest.
I think the logo they're using for these games is a good one.
I wonder where they got the idea of using a solitary figure as a memorable symbol for Beijing?
Yet again the Dale judgement revealed as ridiculously off. How can you wax lyrical about an opening ceremony in a country which, beyond the walls of the Birds Nest Stadium, that remains a brutal, murderous dictatorship is beyond me. Your philosphy seems to be "lighten up, all that's only POLITICS" and who really cares about that?
This is a regime built on more than 50 years of violent oppression and remains the legacy of the most prolific murderer of the 20th Century who is still revered in its halls, squares and Forbidden City today.
You're a disgrace.
Obviously, Iain saves his outrage for moments when there's political gain to be had. He'll go on until he's even bluer in the face about that evil, evil Mr Brown, but for the Chinese government's circus it's hip-hip-hooray.
Then faced with tough questions about his acceptance of a murderous regime he asks "Are you Tim Ireland?"
How is that even relevant?
Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?
I'm with Iain. With any luck in 2012 we'll have a government that's equally capable of maintaining order and coordinating its citizenry. Hut hut hut!
SO
How is Boris going to get Millions of Londoners to cheer every move and bow down in adoration?
Anonymous 2.45 p.m. said...
"This is my property."
- No it isn't.
Odd that you should think that. In the Google Terms of Service to which you link it says:
"Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services."
"Are you Tim Ireland?"
No, I'm Tom Watson. Prick.
Aardvark said...
"I thought the camera work was poor but the BBC were not to blame. They were not allowed to film the action directly. All they could do was to select the shots from the feeds that were given to them and all the other broadcasters."
Really? And is that also their excuse for the camera work in the other stuff they do? The last Winter Olmpics opening ceremony was far worse than this one.
Are they also not to blame for the constant mindless prattle with which they seek to drown out any event? They obviously use PMQs to practise before moving on to make a ballsup of really big stuff.
anonymous at 9:32 PM:
Iain owns the content, not the blogsite, which can be withdrawn at any time. We are on Google's property, served by their servers.... hey, maybe that's why Iain is being so nice to the Chinese government.
The articles in the papers today about the £7 million cost of sending 600 people to observe the Olympics are typical of those who seem to wish our 2012 bid ill.
You mean like none of us have any experience? Or we need to learn from the Chinese who have massive experience of course?
This is a once every four year event, not a once in a lifetime event, and we can save the money for better causes. Spend your own and give me mine back if you want.
I want to go to China to learn how to solve London's smog problems..... for maybe a day or two.
".. is that also their excuse for the camera work in the other stuff they do? The last Winter Olmpics opening ceremony was far worse than this one."
For the winter olympics the BBC had similar problems. They had little control over camera the camera work.
Similarly for PMQs the Parliamentary authorities only permit an extremely limited range of shots.
No mention of Mao. But just wait for London in 2012.
Will the present President of the European Commission still be in office? I can’t see why not. And he will doubtless be there, an utterly unrepentant old Maoist who went on to be a ferociously “free”-marketeering and pro-Bush Prime Minister of Portugal before being wafted into his present position.
A fit reward for overthrowing, in this country’s oldest ally and explicitly in the name of Maoism, the successfully anti-Fascist and anti-Marxist Estado Novo (so redolent of economically social democratic moral and social conservatism) and the successfully anti-Fascist and anti-Marxist Lusotopicalism (so redolent of British and Commonwealth patriotism).
My heart sank when we won the 2012 Olympics - the British taxpayer is about to get shafted ... yet again !
I fear that the Bejing ceremony will only give our organisers ideas way above their station and lead to more profligacy.
And doesn't this determination to waste so much on what so few people want prove what a load of bollocks green taxes and recycling are ?
Anonymous said...
"For the winter olympics the BBC had similar problems. They had little control over camera the camera work."
So, they need to send a legion of people off on freebie holidays why exactly? To give thanks for the pictures they have no responsibility for? So thay can have teams to apologise to us for the poor quality?
"Similarly for PMQs the Parliamentary authorities only permit an extremely limited range of shots."
Yes, but I was referring to the Al-beeb 'commentators' drowning out the remarks of the MPs. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.
How refreshing it is to see a Tory praise the result of rigid control by the state. All hail the New Conservatives.
If we're talking about a permenant home for the olympics, it would have to be somewhere neutral. I hear Antarctica is quite nice this time of year.
It's neutral and a few killer whales would certainly liven up the water sports events.
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