photo copyright Giles Price, from The Art of Dissent
by Isaac Marrero-Guillamón

Every other year the Olympic machine lands at a different city, where it nonetheless encounters a familiar scenario: by the night of the opening ceremony all the necessary infrastructures will have been built, free of charge, by the host; all of the city’s advertising space will have been occupied by the official sponsors of the event; state of the art security and military measures will have been deployed to protect the event; high-speed lanes connecting the venues with certain hotels will have been made exclusively available to the convenience of the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC); and, if everything has gone according to plan, tickets will be long gone and an army of eager volunteers will be at the disposal of the organisers.

Following earlier extraordinary legal decisions, including the acquittal of PC Harwood and the ruling in the High Court that pre-emptive arrests were not unlawful, comes the news that Save Leyton Marsh's application for judicial review of the planning permission for the Basketball Training facility had been thrown out without the applicants even knowing it had been heard. Even more extraordinary was the fact that the ODA had taken over the defence from Waltham Forest, even though it was not the defendant and it had not granted the planning permission. And as if that was not enough the ODA, using public funds of £40million to defend itself, applied for and has been granted an order for costs of £20,142.96, and another £4,140.00 for Waltham Forest, against the Save Leyton Marsh campaigners!

a couple of snaps from yesterday's cabbies protest on Whitehall

The former Arena Field, site of the Media Centre, in 2008

Runners are sent ahead to drum up excitement; the circus rolls into town, and the people pay. Show over and profits taken, the circus pulls out, leaving behind mere memories and mess.

The five ring circus works on similar lines over a longer eight-year timescale. Why did London agree to host this circus? The time to reject a London Olympics was during the bid stage

Historic Olympic Protest Torch Relay in East London

(Contact Julian Cheyne after 1pm on 020-3560 4064 and 07988 401216)

Press Release from Counter Olympics Network – 16th July 2012

Further to Leyton, this is where we're headed. Constant interference with the freedom of expression and the press particularly, but by no means exclusively, on private land.

On Monday July 9th representatives from Counter Olympics Network were told that TfL has something called an Alternative Olympic Route Network although an attempt to locate this network would be foiled if you chose to search Tiffle's own Olympic Route Network website. They were told Bow Road, the first part of CON's July 28th Demonstration against the Corporate Olympics, was part of this prized alternative network. TfL's representative informed CON that the AORN enjoyed the same status as the ORN itself and no way would Tiffle allow a march up their precious alternative Zil lane.

After the Real Torch Relay, the Olympics for the People have begun, the ones you can actually participate in. Fattylympics kicked off the season at the Memorial Park in West Ham - without a corporate logo in sight. Regrettably this writer missed the opening but was there for some critical parts of the day, maybe others will provide further more detailed reports!