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London Olympics: "We're pretty much ready..."

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Steve19

Steve19

Watching. Always watching.
Staff member
Remembering all of those Brit concerns before South Africa hosted a flawless FIFA World Cup, it's a bit sad to see the rather silly problems that are emerging in London.

Who's the third world country now, England?

Paul Deighton smiled as he walked through the Athlete's Village at London's Olympic Park.

Nothing appeared to be bothering the chief executive of the London Olympics. Not the growing scandal over security, or the smattering of unfinished venues, or the transportation tie-ups. Not even the pouring rain seemed to get under his skin. "Welcome. Enjoy," he said with a smile when stopped for a brief interview Monday afternoon. "The sun is going to creep through."

[snip]

The venues "are pretty much ready," added Deighton. "There are always some final bits and pieces, like putting on the look. It has been raining a lot, so at outdoor venues, you sort of wait for the last minute and polish things up and get them ready."

Construction workers could be seen around the Olympic Park which houses the massive stadium and a dozen or so other venues.

But the bigger concern, as athletes and officials begin to arrive, is security. Games organizers and the government have been scrambling to cope with the failure of security giant G4S Plc. to deliver a sufficient number of security officers. The company won a $440-million contracts in 2008 to provide most of the security staff for the Games, including 10,400 officers and 3,300 student trainees. But last week the company?s CEO Nick Buckles announced G4S had only managed to train about 4,000 staff and the company won?t be able to meet its target.

[long article continues at this (link)]
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I remember the ramp up to the Salt Lake Olympics. Everything was a busy whirlwind of a mess and suddenly whoosh! The air cleared and there were new roads, shiny new light rail, a finished U of U stadium, all the village setup, the big Medals plaza, all set. I had some indirect involvement in the opening ceremony and other events during the Games, and knowing how incredibly carefully the details had to be coordinated with security, traffic, other events, and so forth, it was simply amazing that it all worked. The training they had for volunteers was especially impressive. It went from "We're doomed!" to "Stupid traffic cones!" to pervasive nervousness and then the giant happy party.

I was flat broke at the time, but being across from the Medals Plaza, there wasn't really a need to buy tickets. They had huge screens set up outside the Plaza, so I'd watch the games there with tourists and athletes who had finished their events, and listen to the bands playing in the Plaza. It was awesome.
 
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Deety;2179925; said:
I remember the ramp up to the Salt Lake Olympics. Everything was a busy whirlwind of a mess and suddenly whoosh! .....It went from "We're doomed!" to "Stupid traffic cones!" to pervasive nervousness and then the giant happy party.
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The first Olympic event was held today and no security was present. The security company already has been called to account by Parliament and admitted that they will not even come close to hiring half of the intended complement.

Career limiting move: Testifying on live TV about your companies failure to hire even half of the promised guards--despite such a large budget and one of the highest unemployment levels in decades in the UK--and admitting that the situation is an embarrassment to the nation.
 
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Brutus1;2179919; said:
Steve19;2179865; said:
flawless FIFA World Cup.
Not exactly flawless.....
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I refer to the security and smooth functioning of the World Cup. The Vuvuzela's were due to Joe Pa...

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Steve19;2179939; said:
The first Olympic event was held today and no security was present. The security company already has been called to account by Parliament and admitted that they will not even come close to hiring half of the intended complement.

Career limiting move: Testifying on live TV about your companies failure to hire even half of the promised guards--despite such a large budget and one of the highest unemployment levels in decades in the UK--and admitting that the situation is an embarrassment to the nation.
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Do they have enough hookers at least?
 
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