London's Olympic Air Defences

It has now been confirmed that, in addition to the Typhoon fighter aircraft temporarily stationed at RAF Northolt, Rapier and Starstreak High Velocity Missiles are to be deployed in London to offer air defence in the event of an Olympics related attack.

I'm a little confused by this.

Presumably, in the event of a 9/11 style attack, either the Typhoons will be sent up in an to attempt to deter the offending aircraft and, if necessary, shoot them down. Or, they will cut out the fighters altogether and go straight in with the missiles!

There does seem to be a flaw in this plan. Anyone involved in this kind of attack has to see it as a one way trip. The threat of being shot out of the sky seems very unlikely to deter them. Therefore, the use of fighters or missiles as a deterrent seems to be a non starter, which leaves the military with only one option which is to shoot down the threatening aircraft.

As there is no way to control, or even to know, where a downed aircraft will crash, the end result of this would be much the same as if the initial attack had been successful. The devastation may not be where the terrorists planned it to be, but it would be devastation all the same and the crew would have achieved the martyrdom that their cause demanded of them.

I'm not here to discuss the political implications or the beliefs of others. Nor am I here to simply dismiss the military response to this type of threat. I may have completely missed the point of these defences, but I don't think I'm alone there.

Without giving away the tactical details of these deployments, we need some explanation as to how the authorities plan to handle an incident and some assurance that the consequences of the defence strategy will not be just as destructive as a successful attack.

If all of this just turns out to be a bluff, or a show of strength, with no real expectation of success, then perhaps we should just call it a day and hope for the best.

NIMBY

Firstly, I should make my position clear. I’m not a fan of the Olympics. No one asked me if I wanted them inflicted on me. No one asked me if I wanted to be paying for them for the rest of my life. No one asked me if I was happy to put up with the disruption. No one asked!

This morning the 70 day Torch Relay kicked off from Lands End and the news coverage sparked the following text conversation………

Friend: What is the point of this torch thing? Why why why? And why are so many people enthused by it? What am I missing?

Friend: They are just talking about it but I have seen no actual footage of any actual torch carrying. Oh I am confused. It’s a PR exercise.

Me: The point is to try to drag in the needy, the misguided, the provincial and the indifferent into the Olympic Party. To unify the nation behind the Olympic ideal and to induce councils to spend money they haven’t got to prove what a great deal we are all getting out of this event. I think propaganda would be an appropriate word.

Mind you, the best thing about the last Olympics was Konnie Huq and the Torch Relay being attacked by Chinese dissidents in Ladbroke Grove. I can’t remember why the torch was in Ladbroke Grove in the first place but then again I DON’T CARE!

To be honest, my tongue did venture into my cheek during this statement but only to the extent that I wouldn’t have wished this  experience on Konnie Huq, or indeed anyone else, she seems to have had a tough time from both the Pro Tibet protesters and the Chinese torch guards. The rest of it really does reflect my opinion.

These are troubled times both with regard to the economy and the political situation. We are spending vast amounts of money on a few weeks of  “fun” and we are inviting those with an axe to grind to treat this event as a stage on which to forcefully present their views.

I’m not convinced by the legacy arguments. On the sporting front, history has shown that events like this do stimulate some people to take up some of these activities. Sadly, history also shows that it doesn’t take long for the vast majority of those people to fall back into their naturally lethargic state. As far as the social legacy is concerned, the basic fact is that if  “they” wanted to revitalise the East End, then “they” should have spent the money that has, suddenly and miraculously, become available for the Olympics directly in the area.

Of course we have gained a great deal from the Olympics.

Disruption to public transport.

Large payouts to transport staff for extra duties.

Disruption to local businesses.

Postal delays and surcharges on Parcelforce deliveries.

A proliferation of rather tacky imported Olympic souvenirs.

A confused and vastly overpriced ticketing system.

Sponsorship deals that are seemingly restricting the publics personal freedom to wear what they like, eat what they like and drink what they like.

Sponsorship deals that are seemingly in conflict with the spirit of the Olympics (burger and chips anyone?).

Sponsorship deals with organisations that some consider to be socially and politically incorrect.

Huge increases in private security including, according to many reports, the use of heavy handed and seemingly poorly trained operatives.

More armed police on the streets (and the river!) with heavy military backup..

Typhoon jets on standby.

Surface to air missiles on the roofs of residential and commercial premises.

Snipers on the ground and in helicopters.

The opportunity to pay through the nose for something many of us didn’t want.

The worst Olympic logo of all time.

……….and so much more.

Finally, I consider myself to be a tolerant person. If people want to support the Olympics, that’s fine by me, but tolerance goes both ways. I am tired of “personalities” and “celebrities” telling me to get off of my backside  to show my support for the whole show. I do have a mind of my own (after a fashion!) and am well able to form an opinion without their assistance and, although it’s too late to do anything about it, my opinion is……..

…….Not In My Back Yard!

I have no Olympic photographs to accompany this post.

No sportspersons, celebs, personalities, security operatives, military personnel, sports fans, games officials or politicians were harmed in the writing of this blog.

Other opinions are available.

I dedicate this post to the Grumpy Old Men of this fine nation.

That’s it, there is no more.

The Sewer and the Olympics

I saw a report yesterday about the Thames Tideway Scheme, the controversial plan to run a rainwater sewer from Hammersmith to Beckton/Crossness. Apparently  Chicago has one of these that works quite well there. However, their experience has led them to suggest that a similar system may not be suited to London and many experts here, as well as several of the councils affected by this hugely expensive scheme, seem to agree.

The really interesting thing is that in addition to the sewer, Chicago is developing an innovative system to control rainwater runoff. Known  as the Green Alleys Program, they are using permeable surfaces on a number of side streets and in the parking lane of some larger streets, allowing rainwater to drain directly into the earth rather than being channeled into the sewers (the direct opposite of our obsession with paving over our front gardens). The scheme is in its early stages but shows great promise and is being extended. It has also been used on parking lots and at least one school has a graded parking lot that drains into a kind of pond/bog garden which ultimately has the same effect. This, and a whole range of other schemes, aim to make Chicago the Greenest City in America. We could do far worse than steal a few of these ideas for our own use!

I don't like paved over front gardens for all kinds of reasons but there are existing systems in use here that utilise a kind of concrete honeycomb with grass growing in the cells of the comb so that you have a hard standing that is barely visible AND drains water away............mind you, you still can't have a garden wall or a decent bit of privet!

.......and another thing. One year from yesterday will be the busiest day at the Olympics and nerves are starting fray with regards to the transport system. We, Londoners that is, are apparently being advised to change our travel arrangements, take our holidays, or even to work from home to relieve the pressure on the buses and the tube. These people clearly do not live in London but surely inhabit the homeland of the mysterious Cloud Cuckoo. Despite the wonders of the internet and the mobile phone most people are still tied to a work place and a job that is site specific and some of those people are involved in jobs which, if they were to take the current advice, could have an adverse affect on the visitors experience of the Capital.

.........bugger it's too late now to dump the whole lot into the laps of the Parisians, can't we just sell it to a corrupt Russian oligarch to use for his own dubious ends.

Enough for now, maybe I'm just grumpy because I've been too hot and uncomfortable for the last couple of days, and I'm tired because sleeping hasn't been easy. We are, after all a temperate, if not a temperant, society..........but good news........the weather is getting worse hoorah!

24 Hour Tube

London Underground are apparently considering running the tube around the clock for the duration of the Olympics in order to cope with the expected influx of visitors. How is this going to help? How will we persuade these visitors to sensibly stagger their travel plans to make use of all of these extra hours?

We could, I suppose, hold all of the events late at night and time them so that they finish between 1.00 am and 6.00am in the morning, thereby forcing these visitors to travel at the dead of night, when the trains are completely empty.

Or better still, we could simply lock them into the venue, feeding them out into the underground at a steady and regulated rate. Thereby ensuring that the tube doesn’t rattle through the night like the world's least popular and least demanding ghost train.

Or, we could just put up our hands and a say sorry, we’ve made a mistake, we don’t really want the games at all. This last option, although the most sensible, is also the least likely!

In reality, the Games should have gone to Paris in the first place. I’m sure that the average Parisian would have loved the disruption, the crowds, the closed roads and the overloaded transport systems. The added bonus for Londoners would be that they would be paying for all of this for the rest of their lives instead of us!

Of course, some people actually like the Olympics. I'm not one of those people (surprise!) but for the record I would like to wish our athletes every success, we all hope that they will rise to the occasion and that they will be rewarded with fistfulls of medals, especially those nice golden ones, but personally I also expect outstanding results from those responsible for managing the finances and the logistics of the whole affair.

If it ever came down to betting on our gold medal successes versus a financial and logistical triumph, I think that my money would be firmly on the athletes!