It's been called a shambles and disastrous. It's been accused of benefiting the wealthy, the famous and the powerful. It isn't a source of pure evil. It is the Olympic ticketing system!
As the BBC today published an article all about the general publics reaction to the money they bidded to have drained out of their accounts being actually drained out of their accounts the Olympic committee has again come under scrutiny.
However, despite a minor controversy over some civil service members involved in the bid being able to get hold of another pool of tickets, the Olympic bid has remained largely unpoliticised. True it has come under great scrutiny, and great criticism.
However, the reputations of the last two governments have remained almost entirely untouched by the games. In fact if anything this issue has been a perfect example of the art of not getting involved. Scour the Internet for government commentary on the games and all you will come up with will be general gesticulations about the benefits for Britain's image and economy.
Perhaps, then, we might suggest that the government review their PR response to this issue as an example of what to do in association with issues that simply aren't governmental.
No medals for that one though.
Alternative Road
Tomorrow the first UK referendum for years will take place giving citizens of that country to increase the opportunity for more direct involvement in their democracy.
The referendum on its own is rare in comparison to the regularity of such votes in similar democracies such as the USA, Canada and France. However, the opportunity to change the UK voting system to a more proportional one gives the nation further opportunity to pull alongside it's peers, many of which established proportional voting systems at at least some level years ago.
Alternative Vote means that more votes will be relevant as it is actually relatively rare for candidates to gain 50% of the vote. Although many Tories have tried to paint this negatively it is impossible to ignore that it is normal in the UK for 65% of votes to be entirely wasted. Clearly this system will further democratize the UK.
However, it remains to be seen how campaigning has affected the referendum. What I have noticed from canvassing friends is that many of them are simply ignorant of many of the details of both systems. The best place to get information is the BBC news website that has comprehensive coverage of the vote: I urge you to read this if you are at all unsure before using your powerful vote tomorrow.
The referendum on its own is rare in comparison to the regularity of such votes in similar democracies such as the USA, Canada and France. However, the opportunity to change the UK voting system to a more proportional one gives the nation further opportunity to pull alongside it's peers, many of which established proportional voting systems at at least some level years ago.
Alternative Vote means that more votes will be relevant as it is actually relatively rare for candidates to gain 50% of the vote. Although many Tories have tried to paint this negatively it is impossible to ignore that it is normal in the UK for 65% of votes to be entirely wasted. Clearly this system will further democratize the UK.
However, it remains to be seen how campaigning has affected the referendum. What I have noticed from canvassing friends is that many of them are simply ignorant of many of the details of both systems. The best place to get information is the BBC news website that has comprehensive coverage of the vote: I urge you to read this if you are at all unsure before using your powerful vote tomorrow.
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