\n
\n<\/p>\n
The front page of the London paper for <\/p>\n At last those good souls plus their It What We I <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The front page of the London paper for April 28 (London has only one paper, the Evening Standard; the rest are national papers) had a huge headline saying that Occupy, the group that formerly targeted St Paul’s, has moved on to the Olympics. (Oddly enough, the only other stories I’ve seen about this were a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbv6zV-c1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApril 28 (London has only one paper, the Evening
\nStandard<\/i>; the rest are national papers) had a huge headline saying that
\nOccupy, the group that formerly targeted St Paul’s, has moved on to the
\nOlympics. (Oddly enough, the only other stories I’ve seen about this were a
\nfollow-up the next day in the Standard<\/i>,
\nand one story in the Independent<\/i>. I
\ndon’t know whether the news is being actively suppressed, or whether our free
\npress and broadcasters are just too gung-ho Olympics to print or broadcast this
\nnews. But what wonderful news it
\nis.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nfellow-travelling agitators, troublemakers and those just looking to make
\nmischief, have a worthy goal. Disrupting the 2012 London Olympics before it
\ncripples the national economy, brings London traffic to a stand-still and makes
\nthe entire place (even my broom-cupboard-sized flatlet in green and pleasant
\nHampstead) unbearable for three weeks, plus some more for the disgustingly
\npatronizing Paralympics, is very worth doing. I wish I were young enough or
\nbrave enough to do it myself.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nis the wretched Games that are siphoning off money that should be directed to
\nthe arts, and that are making good arts administrators prostitute themselves
\nand pretend they are making a contribution to culture, when all they are really
\ndoing is providing a smokescreen for the unparalleled rape of public resources
\nby the corrupt, sometimes depraved members of the IOC and the various bodies
\ncharged with “delivery” of Olympics projects. The opening and closing
\nceremonies have a budget of \u00a341million!<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndo we get in exchange for this wodge of cash? Save for Barcelona, no country
\nhas ever had any “legacy” from hosting the Olympic Games. And we will be no
\nexception. We already know, for example, that the housing being built for
\ncompetitors will have no kitchens. Can they be converted into flats after the Games,
\nfor housing-poor London? An acquaintance tells me that they are all 3-bedroom
\napartments, and that, after the Games, one of the bedrooms will receive a
\nslot-in kitchen, making them into useful 2-bedroom flats (that is, if any middle-class person who
\ncan afford one of them wants to live in that dreary part of London). I wonder,
\nespecially as I’ve heard rumours that the builders have failed to provide mains
\nservices necessary for kitchens. I hope the rumours are false, but no degree of
\nincompetence would come as a surprise to me.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nhave already been warned that it will be impossible to travel around London
\nduring the Games – we’re told to avoid hotspots, such as Tower Bridge tube
\nstation. But as the imbeciles who run London transport are closing the Mall to
\ntraffic, and as special lanes, exclusively for Olympics bosses and cadres, are
\nbeing instituted on many main roads, we already know that London will be one
\nbig traffic jam. I’ve asked each of the London cabbies who have driven me for
\nthe past few months whether he’s going to work during the Olympics? We’re
\ntalking dozens and dozens, but only one, a single enthusiast, said he was
\ncertain he’d be on the job come July. The authorities are encouraging Londoners
\nto stay at home during the Games – it will be like the War: “Is Your Journey
\nReally Necessary?” In fact, you’ll
\nhave no choice, unless you can walk everywhere you need to go.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nsuppose that means Londoners will be more fit as a result of bolding the Games.
\nBut with the prospect of theatres and concert halls going dark because the
\naudiences can’t get to them, and restaurants either empty because of the
\nabsence of their regular patrons – or else full up with foreign plutocrats,
\nwho’d choose to be a Londoner this summer?<\/span><\/p>\n