The ThunderDragon

It is amazing how well we have done so far in this Olympics, since we are now third in the medals table - and not all that far behind the USA in gold medal terms!

The current medal table, via the BBC:

There is no way that Team GB were expected to do so well, since we so massively under-fund our athletes. However, since the events in which we do well are very nearly over as the “real” section of the Olympics - the track and field section - gets going, we will just slip down the table…

Team GB has done us proud, no matter where we finish over all.

I have a few pet hates. One of them is so-called “NIMBYism” - “Not in my back yard”. People who don’t mind an idea in theory - until it sets up camp near to them.

When it’s objecting to the building of something like wind farms - then at least they’ve got some point. If everyone took that attitude then they’d never be any built. But, at least they’re trying to stop something changing.

What annoys me even more if people who move somewhere - then complain. Church bells are likely to ring on a Sunday morning. Airports will have the sound of planes. And, of particular interest to me - if you move to within the vicinity of a motorsport circuit, you’ll hear the sound of engines.

And yet, to give the most unfortunate example, Castle Combe circuit had a ‘noise abatement’ order slapped on it in 2005, following complaints from villagers. It’s widely accepted in the motorsport community that all of these are ‘new’ residents to the area. Now, the circuit can’t hold any ‘national’ (ie. high profile) events, as they’re too loud. There’s also evidence that a number of residents still complaining about the noise have done so - when there’s been no racing on!

Castle Combe isn’t the only circuit effected, many circuits are getting unwanted attention from local councils. And motorsport certainly hasn’t got louder - with technological advancements - it’s quieter. The noisiest parts of the day tend to be as every engine is revved up at stationary - for the obligatory noise testing. I think that’s a definition of irony…

Anyway, that’s I’m a keen supporter of this petition on the No10 website: Live with it. OK, it’s only a petition, and the government can ignore if they chose. That said, with enough signatures, it requires some attention - see the road charging petition. It’s a small impact, and why I’ve signed to say:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce a green paper proposing ways, that, where complaints have been instigated by resident(s) against a long standing activity (for example, church bells, sports facility, local airfield and similar), and where residence has been taken up since the start of that activity (providing there has been no significant increase in activity), a presumption should be made to protect the continuation of that activity and reject such complaint”

To me, it’s common sense. If you agree, you’ve until 17th September to sign up - and I hope you will.

Until last night, Murray was just another dour, bad-tempered Scot like the one who lives in 10 Downing Street. But now, Murray mania has hit Britain after his epic five-set victory last night - which pulled viewing figures of more than 10 million.

From being two sets down, Murray came back to win the match and get into the quarter finals - and is now declaring the he can win the title at Wimbledon. Just a little bit ahead of himself, I think.

This does have a certain parallel with the political situation at the moment - a dour, unliked Scot is way behind in the polls and fighting for his political life. But can Brown pull it out of the bag like Murray did last night?

Politics isn’t a sport, and it doesn’t just come down to the performance of the two centre-court players - but down solely to the choice of the people.

And unlike Murray, Brown doesn’t have the crowd on his side.

Last week, I was talking about the clash between sport and personal lives. No-one’s a winner as a result of “Spank-gate” - Mosley’s clearly lost out, but the sport too as it was the main point of discussion at Bahrain last weekend. Not the track action.

In the past week though, there’s been a different clash - that of sport and politics.
The Olympic Games are all about world unity. As the I.O.C. website says:

Bringing people together in peace. Setting aside differences in the name of sport.

Of course, with China’s human rights record and occupation in Tibet - yes, it’s a chance to protest and show what global condemnation there is for their activities. However, that’s what a peaceful protest is for. Protesting in the Olympic spirit.

However, some people seem to think that right way to protest is (at best) in a very disruptive manner, trying to steal the Olympic torch; or (at worst) violently.

I can almost understand it from the French. Any excuse to get out on the streets - as Tom Paine says, the spirit of ‘68 does live on. I can, once again, refer back to my time over in Paris during the Student strikes of 2006. My University was closed indefinitely because of the risk of violence. I witnessed people being thrown down the steps leading into the law department as they tried to cross the picket lines. One student had an arm broken at some point in the protests. I think I’m justified in saying that the security services probably provoke violence themselves. An example I gave at the time in “CRS = SS“:

But, protests turned ugly over here too. We’re British, we react to problems with a stiff upper lip and tutting over a pot of tea and scone.

The problem with this attitude is that it rarely gets results. A few marches in London didn’t do much for student Top-Up fees; but the CPE sunk without a trace (along with the Prime Minister) after the French protests. So, on the one hand, I’m in favour of our protests being a bit more direct. Not French style violent, but direct. Let’s have a National Strike over the abolition of the 10p income tax band. See if things get changed.

But, not when it’s part of the Olympic movement. Trying to steal or extinguish the torch? The torch is possibly the most physical symbolisation of peace we have. Attacking a symbol of peace because of an oppressive regime is an almost dictionary definition of irony.

Come August (whilst I might be washing my hair during the Opening Ceremony), I’ll be watching the games, and cheering on the British athletes. I probably won’t even think about Tibet whilst watching the Paralympics in September. And I hope that people won’t think badly of me for keeping sports and politics separate.

Asp

As TD has admitted that F1 is the only sport he really watches, I thought I’d save this for the weekly guest post instead of putting it ‘Bites.

I just had to make a bet on this years Grand National [racing at 4.15pm] after seeing the name of one particular horse that is just perfect and hilarious, considering my job, meaning that I just went and put a £10 bet on him winning:

Comply Or Die

If he wins, I get £95! w00t!

UPDATE: Comply Or Die won the Grand National! Now I just wish I’d put more on him!

The lighting of the Olympic torch as it begins it journey from Olympia to Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympics was disrupted by a group of demonstrators. The group, Reporters Without Borders, said that:

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, no matter what the human rights situation is in China what is the point of disrupting a sporting event? This is not a political event, but a sporting one. And it’s not like the Olympics could be held anywhere else at this late stage.

Rather than disrupting the Olympics, use the “symbol of peace” that the Olympic flame stands for as an opportunity to show where the Chinese government fail to meet what we consider to be the correct standards - but in a more effective way than the IOCs “silent diplomacy” [which means what, exactly? Saying and doing nothing].

By disrupting the Olympics, demonstrators are not helping their cause, but just ensuring that the Chinese become more intransigent to making any positive change.

Scotland’s dram of getting to Euro 2008 has been ended by an Italian victory on Saturday. This is a real pity, they had been doing so well. But coming third in a group including France and Italy is successful indeed. To have got through, and causing the dropping out of either of those teams would have been incredible.

Whilst there was bad news for Scottish football on Saturday, there was good news for England, as Russia lost to Israel, putting England’s chance of staying in the competition back into their own hands. To get through, England now need to just not lose to Croatia. So long as they get at least one point, then they are definitely in the main part of Euro 2008.

If Scotland had got through, there is no doubt that English supporters would have supported them in the competition had they got through, in any match except that was not vs England. But can Scottish supporters do the same? Unfortunately it doesn’t seem likely.