M F › Comments

"The sanctity of the Olympics has provided the police with powers that are likely to remain long after the corporate bunting has been taken down. I choose not to see Danny Boyle’s ceremony as bread and circuses; I choose to see it as a call to arms. We must defend our freedom of expression, as those who came before us did. We must defend it because it is the only weapon we have to ensure that we, the people, can write our own history." - M F from Bookmarklet

"Boyle, the Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire, spent almost four times less money and deployed roughly one-tenth as many people. But he outstripped the previous Olympic host city by flaunting what the Chinese actively suppressed. This was pageantry as jiu-jitsu. While Britain's coalition government weighs further cuts to its government-run health-care system, Boyle went out of his way to honor the National Health Service, with real NHS employees as nurses capering on hospital beds. The show also included a nod to the early-20th-century suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the Jarrow Marchers, who in 1936 walked more than 300 miles from County Durham to London to protest hunger and joblessness. When Boyle made a point of inviting their descendants to the proceedings, he also made a point to us." - M F from Bookmarklet

"NBC co-host Meredith Vieira failed to do her homework and thus did not recognise the importance of the inventor of the world wide web. "If you haven't heard of him, we haven't either," she said. "Google him," joked co-host Matt Lauer." - M F from Bookmarklet

The world already has a pretty low opinion of Americans. Thanks for having just as low a one, NBC. :( - Spidra Webster

I like this a lot. It feeds many of my - occasionally wide of the mark - views of these people. I read too that the ceremony wasn't shown live in the US, I wondered what that said about the country; perhaps nothing good. - Winckel

i still havent made it past the smokestacks, ;) - chaz2b

Halil - I think it's an extraordinary (no exaggeration) and insightful piece and I would strongly commend it to you; I have never seen such an intelligent and moving intro to the Olympics or other large sporting event. Danny Boyle has painted an articulate (forgive the mixed metaphor) and confident image of where the country has come from and what it stands for and it was cheering to see given the greyness and inequality of Cameron and Osborne's Britain. - Winckel

"India's Olympic contingent is trying to identify a mystery woman who joined team members as they marched in the opening ceremony on Friday. The woman, wearing blue trousers and a red top, walked next to India's flag-bearer, wrestler Sushil Kumar. She stood out in contrast to athletes in yellow saris or blue blazers." - M F from Bookmarklet

Blind optimism isn't in our genetic makeup. - Mark H

This is why living in another country that is full of wonder and awe and people who actually think that things will turn out ok is mind blowing in every way :) - WoH: Professor MOTHRA

The tweets will be toxic for the prime minister who has been praised for his handling of the preparations of the Olympics. Burley's outburst will fuel suspicions that some members of the Conservative party have unreconstructed views which fail to recognise the pivotal contribution to society made by black and minority ethnic Britons. ~ Burley was sacked as parliamentary private secretary to the transport secretary Justine Greening in 2011 after he attended a Nazi-themed stag party. The party involved Nazi salutes. One guest was filmed by the Mail on Sunday raising a toast to "the ideology of the Third Reich" at the La Fondue restaurant at the Val Thorens ski resort. - Halil from Bookmarklet

I wonder how this will shake out, my feeling is that nothing will really happen and Burley will fade into idiotic obscurity. - kendrak

:-) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

Not far from here too - M F

"Brilliant, breathtaking, bonkers and utterly British. Danny Boyle captured the spirit, history, humour and patriotism of an expectant nation last night as he pulled off an Olympic opening ceremony like no other. From a bucolic vision of our green and pleasant land to a riotous medley of Britpop’s greatest hits, Boyle’s tour de force was a love letter to his homeland that left 65,000 spectators choking with pride. To cap it all, London 2012 literally reached stratospheric heights as five Olympic rings were lifted by giant balloons from the stadium into space. Pity the person who has to try to better this in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Where Beijing 2008 had precision, uniformity and control, London 2012 had James Bond, 600 NHS nurses and 40 live sheep. Boyle’s £27 million creation crackled with wit; the sight of a stadium full of people wearing 3D glasses and head-banging in time to the Sex Pistols’ Pretty Vacant was certainly not one the organisers saw coming when London was given the... more... - Winckel from Bookmarklet

Yes, she did it well :-) - Winckel

Yes it is Danny, particularly when much of the world, even very wealthy countries don't have it and even oppose it. It's enough to make you feel superior. - Winckel

Antarctica is too close, I take offense to that. :) - Stephan Planken from iPhone

"A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network. James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey and an expert on tax havens, has compiled the most detailed estimates yet of the size of the offshore economy in a new report, The Price of Offshore Revisited, released exclusively to the Observer." - M F from Bookmarklet

it's were cameron got his money from; his dad squirreled it away in tax havens. - Winckel

"A man in Kent is getting his friends to ring every doorbell in the street at 8.12 tomorrow morning. This deranged version of schoolboy anti-social behaviour (a game once known as Knock-down-ginger) is part of the most exhilarating event of the London 2012 Festival, the cultural accompaniment to the Olympic Games. For me, and perhaps quite a few others, the Olympic high point will have been reached by 8.15am and the Games themselves will be a bonus. The bell-ringing event is classified by the authorities as “art”, but the objective is artlessly simple: to have “all the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes”. We are that country." - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

I didn't hear anything - M F

After a slide back into recession and a poorly communicated budget in March which appeared to make the poor and elderly pay for a tax cut for the rich, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has faced his toughest period since taking office in 2010. ~ The millionaire heir to an Irish baronetcy has struggled to convince as the salesman of austerity cuts to ordinary British voters. - Halil from Bookmarklet

New Labour was a joke and con, we was all duped. I voted for him like so many in 1997, and have since never voted for Labour again, kind of floated from Green and Lib Dems. I can't stand the Green's now and feel betrayed by the Liberals, so who the friggin hell do I vote for now? The better of the 2 evils? That's not democracy. :-/ - Halil

LONDON -- Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou never made it to London, managing to be offensive on multiple levels via twitter. She made racist comments on her account and did not back down right away, and kept on going by also retweeting a political party member from the far right. Finally, she apologized on Facebook in Greek and in English, but Greek officials said she had not respected Olympic values and kicked her out of the Games on Wednesday. The track and field events do not start until a week from Friday. Media reports indicated she was still in Athens. Said Papachristou, in a statement: "I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights. "My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore,... more... - CarlC, spelling expert from Bookmarklet

No argument here. Oh, but such a hard lesson to learn (if she does). - CarlC, spelling expert

Green, who stood as a BNP candidate for Stevenage at the last General Election, sparked the siege in a bid to get back £1,000 he had paid for a HGV training course before twice failing the exam. He told office worker Ross Whiteman, who tried to attack him with a fire extinguisher, he had five kilograms of plastic explosives strapped to his chest and wired to go off. Green was also heard to say he wanted all 12 employees to stay in the building, including a pregnant woman, for “collateral damage”. He later allowed eight workers to leave. - Halil from Bookmarklet

Side note: There are still people out on the right who blame Muslims and 'the multicultural experiment' for the Utøya terror. They say multiculturalism created Breivik. (If they knew how to reason they wouldn't be out there on the right wing in the first place.) - Eivind

"Billions of pounds are being invested in regeneration, including new housing, however many older properties are in an appalling state and Newham Council is blaming bad landlords. There are 35,000 private rental properties in Newham and half do not meet acceptable standards, says Mr Moffatt. Of those around 5,000 are in a "diabolical" condition, he adds." - M F from Bookmarklet

I agree that bad landlords are bad but they have been allowed to get away with it. - M F

Private landlords are usually property developers with a large portfolios these days, out bidding 1st time buyers on homes, chopping them up into multiple occupancy tiny flats, then charging ridiculous rents, because they can. Also, interesting how the East End is being revamped, which is good, but Haringey is poor due to major cut backs from the government and has no money for repairs, let alone new homes :'( - Halil

"An 11-year-old boy took a flight to Rome on his own from Manchester airport without a passport or boarding pass. Liam Corcoran passed through security without being checked, before making his way on to the Jet2.com flight on Tuesday." - M F from Bookmarklet

Tired of the crappy weather? - Eivind

Possibly, he could have come to London then, it's very hot now and we have the Olympics as well - M F

"A little more than two years ago, the Library of Congress announced it would preserve every public tweet, ever, for future generations." - M F from Bookmarklet

not completely surprising - Halil

"HEAVY-HANDED security chiefs will ban Olympic spectators for wearing the wrong brand of clothes, it emerged yesterday. Games boss Sebation Coe warned anyone wearing a Pepsi T-shirt is likely to be booted out because it would upset sponsors Coca-Cola. And he only said spectators in Nike trainers “could probably” be allowed in although Adidas are also backing the event. Coe defended the draconian move and said it was to protect corporate sponsors who have paid a fortune to be involved. It’s the latest example of a ruthless brand crackdown in the run-up to the London games. A cafe manager in London who displayed five bagels in the style of the Olympic rings was ordered to take them down. A butcher in Weymouth, Dorset, also had to take down five rings made from sausages. And police have been told to put sandwiches, crisps and chocolate in clear plastic bags to avoid breaking rules on advertising. The Nike swoosh logo has also been blocked out at Old Trafford before the Manchester stadium... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Makes it that much more infuriating. Multi-national corporations SUCK. - Spidra Webster

"About one in every five species of mammal is a bat, which is to say, there are nearly 1,250 bat species out of about 5,700 mammal species (these numbers vary from source-to-source and time-to-time both because of the vagaries of classification and the discovery of new species)." - M F from Bookmarklet

"A New York Times journalist has written that 'low-grade grousing is [Britons'] default response to life's challenges, and part of the national condition – as integral to the country's character as its Eeyoreish attitude toward the weather'. Are Britons the worst for whingeing?" - M F from Bookmarklet

"There are at least four good reasons to reject this argument solidly and uncompromisingly: The rules may change, it’s not you who determine if you’re guilty, laws must be broken for society to progress, and privacy is a basic human need." - M F from Bookmarklet

"The Eternal Value of Privacy" By Bruce Schneier, May 18, 2006 https://www.schneier.com/essay-1... - Tinfoil 2.0

Natural England, who currently manage and maintain National Trails, have begun discussions to hand this power to new Local Trail Partnerships made up of local authorities, business and volunteers. The Ramblers, who played a key role in establishing the trails, is concerned that the lack of a national champion to oversee, guide and support these Local Trail partnerships will leave them vulnerable; resulting in a fragmented network with inconsistent quality between trails and cash strapped Local Authorities unable to sustain funding. - Iphigenie from Bookmarklet

:( - Spidra Webster

:( - M F

Is this G4S? - M F

or HMS Ocean :-) - Winckel

The collective principle may well assert that; decency and decent individuals assert it too and I think I'm fearful and angry that in Cameron's Britain, it is less and less true. Time to kick the bums out and Clegg could help us by causing some constitutional mayhem and refusing to co-operate with the Tories - Winckel

And I thought the last government was really bad. And when you think it cannot get any worse, it can. - M F

New terms could include pay cuts of up to 5%, an end to overtime for nights, weekends and bank holidays, and reduced holiday leave, the newspaper said...The document was prepared by 19 NHS bosses - Halil from Bookmarklet

I'm guessing these cuts are needed to pay for the 19 bosses bonuses/pay rise? :-| - Halil

Bosses are more important than doctors, you should know that. - M F

Quite wise this grey bloke. - M F

I've been using a more ethical bank for over 10 years but I have to admit that due to convenience and my own laziness I have still an account with one of the big 5. Not for long though. - M F from Bookmarklet

I should really talk to the coop or someone. problem is, lots of my card use, payment and bank transfers are international, and most banks offer really lame rates/fees on that. But I should ask, who knows? - Iphigenie

It's bad enough we have 2 BNP MEP's, do you really want them in the HoL??? - Halil

I'm prepared to run the risk, even if the BNP gets a few people elected they are unlikely to do much damage (and among the unelected Lords you find some unsavoury characters and views). Other minority parties might one day also get a couple of seats and that would not necessary be a bad thing as after all we are not exactly enamoured with the main parties. - M F

"Hundreds of thousands of unsold tickets for some of the biggest events at the Olympics are being sold behind closed doors to corporate sponsors instead of the British public." - M F from Bookmarklet

What's your thoughts on Blair coming back as post Olympics sports adviser then? - Halil