Selling Snake Oil

Tell this to the Hard Pressed Britons who are losing their Homes and
their Savings

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TESSA JOWELL - WHAT THE OLYMPICS WILL DO FOR US

Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister, explains why London 2012 will benefit the
nation.

Do you remember that Monty Python scene from The Life Of Brian asking what the
Romans ever did for us? There was sanitation, public health, irrigation,
education, the roads - and so the list went on, but it was never enough.

I sometimes think that substituting Olympics for Romans sums up the argument of
some of the more vocal critics of London 2012. What will the Olympics ever do
for us? Apart from jobs, homes, billions of pounds of business and tourism,
world-class sports facilities, and so on.

In all seriousness, I have no problem with the debate about 2012, but it needs
to be based on facts, not urban myths.

Perhaps the biggest is that the cost of the Games is #9.3 billion. Wrong.
That is the maximum set aside to deliver both the world's biggest sporting
event and Europe's biggest regeneration project, because what we are talking
about is much more than a few weeks of sport. London 2012 will transform one of
the most deprived parts of the capital, with 75p out of every pound in the
Olympic Delivery Authority's budget for regeneration.

So what does this mean in real terms? Aside from building five international
sporting venues, their conversion for use after 2012, and a 17,000-capacity
Olympic village, it means the regeneration of a 500-acre urban park, restoring
eight kilometres of waterways, and cleaning and removing one million cubic
metres of soil.

It means 9,000 homes built and 120,000 square metres for business, in what will
be the media centres during the Games.

But it also means benefits for the whole country. It is estimated that the
Games will result in a #2.1 billion dividend to the tourism industry spread
throughout the UK, not to mention the opportunities for companies all over the
country to benefit from the #6bn worth of contracts up for grabs to build the
venues and infrastructure. And of course there is the cultural Olympiad which
will extend throughout England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales bringing
the energy, passion and excitement of the Olympic Games to local communities.

And it is not just the public sector contributing. An estimated #7 billion of
private funding is being invested in the Olympics  this is in addition to
almost all the #2 billion budget of Locog, the Games organising committee,
which also comes from the private sector.

So far we have made good progress - such as underground tunnels completed on
time and on budget, or construction starting on the Olympic Stadium three
months early. This is progress so strong that the International Olympic
Committee gave London an almost perfect 9.75 marks out of 10 for our record so
far.

We bid for the Games because we wanted regeneration - but the Games are also
the greatest opportunity we will have to inspire young people to take up sport
throughout the UK.

One reason I believe public support remains so high, in the face of media
scepticism, is because parents grasp the benefits the Games will bring. I know
that there has been a lot of understandable concern about the budget. But let
no one be in any doubt: there is no more money for 2012. The Government is well
aware there is no public appetite for more contributions from the Lottery or the
Exchequer.

I never stop reiterating this to our partners building and staging the Games.
So if costs go up unavoidably in any part of the project, we will cut our cloth
accordingly or make savings elsewhere to stay within the #9.3 billion budget.
But the size of our ambition remains the same. We could scale down our plans,
but it would be at the expense of the Legacy Games we are determined 2012 will
be. That would be the worst type of short-term thinking - and a mistake we
would live to regret.

--
Davey Crockett
-
Screw the Olympics.
http://azurservers.com/rbr/englishdragon.jpg

On Jul 18, 7:28*am, Davey Crockett wrote:
Tell this to the Hard Pressed Britons who are losing their Homes and
their Savings

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TESSA JOWELL - WHAT THE OLYMPICS WILL DO FOR US

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_window_fallacy

You can grow the middle class by digging holes and filling them back
in. Believe it! lol

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Meanwhile, leftists tirelessly continue in their important work of
starving poor people:

"I was also proud to stand up for the ethanol tax exemption when it
was under attack in the Congress -- at one point, supplying a tie-
breaking vote in the Senate to save it. The more we can make this home-
grown fuel a successful, widely-used product, the better-off our
farmers and our environment will be." --Al Gore, Speech, Dec. 1, 1998;
http://clinton3.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OVP/speeches/farmj.html

From _Earth In The Balance_:
"by tripling U.S. use of bioenergy and bioproducts by 2010, we can
keep millions of tons of greenhouse gases out of the air...."