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Military installations placed on the roofs of private citizens' homes without previously consulting said citizens? Major services for the poor and elderly being cut to provide Olympics security?

Are the 2012 Olympic Games worth all this? What do you think? (U.K. residents, especially, how do you feel about this?)

-- Nephele

I personally find the Olympics to be very bloated and overblown, I think far too much is going into them. But if one follows the money, they'll surely find companies exploiting it. It is very much like sitting next to the classroom bully and setting up your textbook so that he cannot punch your arm and saying "Now don't you go knocking over my textbook you big bully".

But then again, I am not much of a sports fan despite that I respect and admire the athletes.

So in short, no I do not think it is very smart. It looks more like an expensive taunting to me.

Edit: In further thought, I seriously doubt this obvious show of force is going to deter any madman who plans to blow himself up, nor will his madness be intimidated. In my opinion it only serves to intimidate the citizens it claims to protect.

That is quite....just wow. I do not believe they were right for doing that.

To cut all the help to the elderly to add weapons to the homes of the unsuspecting...then again why all this money goes into violence is beyond me anyway.

As for the Olympics...I watch the Winter Olympics. Actually- that is not precisely accurate. I only watch the figure skating in the Winter Olympics. I love figure skating...

I hope they remove the missiles from their roofs. It doesn't seem right to me to invade the citizens rights like that, unless their reasons were utterly sound and threat was sure to occur. Then again, if that were the case, I would assume an evacuation would be in order. To do what they are doing seems wrong to me.

The subject of the Olympics is irritating me now, and not just because it means I can't go to London this summer. The sheer amount of money being pumped into it is scary, all so that England can say 'Hey! Check us out! We might be in a recession but we're still wealthy as F*** so don't even worry about it!' Sigh. I just wish the UK government would spend its money more wisely.

Oh, and that missile thing is the most ludicrous thing I've heard in a long time. It makes me glad I don't live in London any more!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17351164

I live about half a mile from this^^... and no one around here has been consulted about the possibility of having missiles on our green space It should have been enough that our Royal Park is being totally over-run by the equestrian events, but now we will also have to endure this? Makes me angry!

Did anyone else hear about the toilet thing? No? I'll tell you then!

People have been detailed to go through the various areas of London declared to be relevant and go into all the public toilets with stickers. If they find that the hand-dryers etc are not from companys on the approved list of sponsors they have to cover the name. Yeah.

Arq, please tell me you're joking...

About the missiles on the roof. I understand that the Olympics have been highly protected since the events in München in 1972. I also understand that the London attacks of 2005 have shown again that any big city is vulnarable to organised terrorism (let alone individual madmen) especially if there are many people at the same place. Also, terrorists threats are usually not being discussed with the public, so maybe there's a good reason for the missiles on the particular roofs.

That being said, if it's just a general measure of safety, then it is too drastic if you ask me. I doubt it will scare off potential attackers. And if there are valid reasons to place missiles there, is that enough to protect the city and the citizens, athletes and spectators?

I also believe that a modern, civilised country should never have to organise an sports event at the expense of the funds for the poor and the elderly. The Olympics are very, very costly to host and if you cannot afford it, then you shouldn't do it.

Any AA missile in London will just prevent any plane from hitting the planned target and mashing into an apartment block instead. At best it'll kill other civilians.

They would have a hard job doing this around here as the only public toilets for miles have been closed for years. I guess there wasn't enough cash to keep them open... which I don't believe for a minute as we have had major unnecessary roadworks around here for nearly five years (unwanted islands being stuck in the middle of perfectly decent roads, bus stops being built out into roads, stupid "traffic calming measures" like putting cushions of tarmac in the middle of the road - which do not slow cars down, they just cause them to race between them and then brake harshly when they reach them ).

Ahhhh....the luxury of missiles and troops on top of your home...

Well by "public" I mean "accessible by the public" not "paid for by the public". So McDonalds and the like.

What happens if I decide to go round peeling these stickers off?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr ... 18677.html

More news, so basically we're going to fuck with people's lives as much as possible? Some trials are incredibly long and drawn out and complicated, and courts should not feel under pressure to finish trails early. Rushing things is never a good idea.

The missiles I think are a daft idea, I'm sure if anybody tried to hijack a plane, blowing it up in mid air and spreading debris all around the place is going to be just as destructive, if not more so, than any plans the terrorists may have come up with. I'd worry more about someone trying something on the Tube again, and all the missiles in the world won't help. But I'm not going to worry about anything happening, because if I do it probably will, and as I'm going to London next week I don't really want to scare myself when I go on the Tube.

Ah, I get it now... I wonder what happens if the particular business has a major problem with having their facilities defaced by people that really have no right to meddle with things that are none of their bloody business

Hiding company names is a legal problem as they have the right to have their names on their things, I wonder if anyone complains.

And the missiles...I'm not sure ,it is powerdemonstration which might help, and planes or similar can be pulverised in mid air and before they reach the city, those things can reach far.
Personally I'd prefer it a lot if they weren't even necessary anywhere in the world.

Missiles put on civilian buildings? That's bound to cause a tonne of controversy. I suppose that's the age we live in now though, global paranoia and constant watching our backs in case someone tries to pull one over on us. It makes complete sense why they'd want to defend the London Olympics well, regardless of any ethical issues (like the peace of mind for the people living in said apartment complex), not that I agree with any of it.