It's not until the journey is televised, that you realise quite how big a load of nonsense it all is. Apparently 3 lanterns were kept alight on the plane from Athens to Cornwall, so that David Beckham could first light a torch and then create a large flame in a larger bowl.
If they're flying with the "flame", why not fly direct to London City Airport, which is a lot closer to Stratford? I realise they are hoping people will get more excited as celebrity athletes and local people in turn carry the flame from Cornwall to London. I think they should put hurdles in the road, and have javelin throwers trying to hit them from 130 metres away.

I'd much prefer to see some old girl turn a hosepipe on them from a bedroom window.

The UK deficit could be a billion quid smaller if this circus had not been taken on.

Why be so mean I am not a bit interested in the Olympics but I saw a bit on the news and a lot of people had got up to join in at 7am. many of them young people walking aside. Some carrying the torch will be the disabled including wounded soldiers. No-one is forcing people to turn out and they are hurting no-one.

It is a tradition and it is done in all countries who have the Olympics. It is silly but why the nastiness

I hoped UK wouldn't get the circus but according to some it will boost the economy

You may have a point - we could make it a little like the old "It's a Knockout" and have water hurdles and big balloons stopping their progress. With a soundtrack of Stuart Hall p*****g himself in the background.
Still, the backdrop of the beautiful Cornish countryside may be a little help to their tourist industry, who must have been hit hard by the constant rains over the last 6 weeks. At least it takes the Greek v Merkel stuff (did she? didn't she?) off the news for a while.

Fair point - just the way that the Beeb is giving so much coverage to this on their news. I suppose they've invested our license money so much into the Games that they've got to extract as much coverage as possible.

Boost the economy? In a way, London is a good place to hold it, as the place is so big, it can sidestep an outlay of this magnitude. At one point there were lots of news stories of hotels hiking up accommodation prices. There are now stories that many City and (especially) Canary Wharf firms are either laying off contractors or getting them to work at home during the Games period. Also hotels and other tourist businesses on the west side are concerned a lot of regular visitors may give London a miss this year (with many locals trying to get away too). At least it's given east London a financial boost with all the new buildings and developments.

The French may cash in more than us.
They are expecting a big boost in tourist numbers from Brits trying to flee the Olympic Shenanigans.

Can't see the attraction myself.
It's about as exciting as watching paint dry.
People spending tens of thousands travelling half way around the World to watch in some cases an event that lasts less than ten seconds, and in any case they could see in far more detail at home on their TV.

I thought that it was common knowledge that the 'Tradition' of carrying the flame along a preordained route from Greece to the seat of the current games was a political ploy arranged the first time by Nazi Germany for the Berlin games in 1936.......Nice to see it kept alive?

What, with the designated private limo lanes, the restrictions on taking food and drink to events, the shambolic system of tickets sales and allocations, the complete ban on letting accommodation close to the ‘Olympic site’, unless you are a paid up member of the club.
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The court orders instructing current businesses within gobbing distance with names conflicting with anything ‘Olympic’ to change them.......
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The whole debacle of the building of the stadia with a majority of foreign labour.....The complete fiasco of 90% of memorabilia being manufactured out of the UK.
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The ******* unbelievable allowing of convicted drug cheats as contestants along side the picking and choosing which nation to compete for depending on your present demeanour...The list if ******* endless!!
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I wonder just how richer Seb and his cronies will be after the party’s over??
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Oh it will always be a massive gravy train for those involved in running the damned circus. That's why we'll never see the back of it, no matter what happens.

Consider also the competitors who are gifted millions of taxpayers and lottery money to give them a life of luxury during their long term preparations.

Maybe some of them are patriotic and others not but I don't doubt that their main aim is to livie the rest of their lives in luxury from the kickbacks of winning an Olympic medal.

Would be nice if some of them paid us back, but oh no not likely, just the opposite, they immediately demand huge increases in appearance fees alone, if Joe Soap ever wants to watch them perform again in public.

I find it hard to criticise the competitors. They normally only have a brief window to make it big, and injury could stop their career for good. Many do get involved in charitable events after they make it big too. As for the appearance fees - that is ultimately the fault of those who pay. Same with the overpaid football players - if everyone stopped going to the grounds for a year (and stopped subscribing to Sky etc) then the footballers would no longer be paid so much. You can't blame someone for trying to maximise their earnings in a short career span - I'm sure I'd have done exactly the same in their boots.

Quite a few games ago I recall one female UK athlete who had won an Olympic gold, being interviewed live just a few minutes after the event.

The interviewer congratulated her and said we all look forward to seeing you at a certain athletic event in the UK where she had already agreed to compete the following week.

Her reaction was basically,.... I don't think I'll even be prepared to tunn up now, unless they up my appearance money by quite a substantial sum.

I thought that just about sums up the true present day Olympic spirit.

To hell with having just won a medal for my country,
I want more money !
Not a word of thanks for all those who had freely contributed so much in so many ways to make it possible.

It's all mine now and I'll screw you all for everything I can get.

Short career span my arse, they're as fit as anyone else and fitter than most and also will have had plenty of time to make adequate preparations for a "proper job" if they were so motivated, but I doubt it, when they can just put their feet up for the rest of their lives if they so wish.

As for so called charity, many of them expect payments, whilst others put in ridiculous claims for expense fees and save themselves tax at the same time, all excellent publicity though for future appearances.

It's a far cry away from the time when it was a true amateur sport and they competed for more genuine reasons, rather than,... me,me,me,money,money money.

is the emission from the torch subject to EU carbon pricing?

Will Spain be refusing to attend the Olympics because we won't give back Gibraltar ?