An Olympic Jamboree

 Oscar Dominguez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Dom%C3%ADnguez

On the Victoria Derbyshire show on Radio 5 live, this morning I heard some shocking facts about the negative effects the Olympics is having in East London where the games are taking place.

Currently there are 40 percent of children who are living in poverty in the Borough of Newham, East London.

Rent, rates have just been increased by 40 percent because house prices and rents have gone up due to the Olympic Games.

This is has been directly caused due to the high rents that the large high-street branches are paying in the new shopping centre.

Residents are not adequately informed of a variety of events, such as anti aircraft missiles being placed on the roof of several high-rise flats on housing estates around Stratford, east London where the Olympics are taking place.

They were also not informed that there would be a rehearsal of the fireworks display which will be part of the opening ceremony on Friday, nor were they asked to see the fireworks.

The combination of having these missiles on their roofs against their will, and hearing what they thought was gunfire and explosives, after midnight was dreadful.

Children were woken up screaming in terror, because nobody knew what was going on, for all they knew it was a terrorist attack.

Many shops in High Street in Stratford closed and are already boarded up; this is due to the effects of the large new shopping centre right next to the Olympic stadium.

Victoria spoke to many residents of Stratford, some of them businesspeople who have been experiencing major problems.

Many companies were based on the land where they wanted to build the Olympic stadium and other venues.

Companies, who had long leases and low rents, were made to move on to another site called Fish Island where they are now facing huge logistical problems.

Due to the Olympic Games the companies cannot guarantee their customers that they will be able to gain access to the industrial estate.

Some companies, such as building firms and a large printing company are facing a bleak future which may force them out of business.

On the high street a cafe is losing £500 every day because of the shopping centre, which is full of High Street shops.

When London won the Olympic bid in 2005, there was a lot of talk about this event regenerating the East End of London as well as leaving a legacy.

There doesn't seem to be very much evidence of a long-lasting regeneration nor the legacy for the area which can be used by local working-class residents.

So far I've just heard about the logistic nightmare traffic around the city, the fact that local cab drivers are not allowed to look for customers near the Olympic venues.

Local shops have lost their business to the new Westfield shopping centre, an enormous McDonalds will make sure obesity and diabetes gets even worse.

At the disaster of the recruitment of security staff by an international security company, G4S has cost many working-class people their prospect of employment.

An Olympic money making jamboree for the Olympic Committee and the multinational sponsor companies.

A Boxing Contest.

Oscar  Dominguez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Dom%C3%ADnguez 

Yesterday evening late we watched the boxing contest at West Ham’s football ground Upton Park, East London between David Hay and Derek Chisora.

David Hay came on to the familiar tune of McFadden and whitehead’s Ain’t No Stopping Us Now, he was totally concentrated on the fight ahead not a flicker of emotion visible in his face.

His entrance was simple, David Hay walked towards the ring wearing his blue white and red boxing shorts and a red T-shirt and with an umbrella held over his head to shield him from the pouring rain.

There were 40,000 spectators present at the venue, the rain could not dampen the crowds excited anticipation of the fight.

Derek Chisora’s entrance was more dramatic he was wearing a long coat with a hood which made him look like a ghoulish character from Star Wars.

The fight started immediately with a dynamic confrontation between the two boxers, Derek looked in good form.

Round one went to David Hay, as did the next three rounds, although Derek Chisora put up a good fight it became obvious that David had the upper hand .

This became more noticeable in round four and in round five David knocked Derek to the ground with a classic two punch combination, a huge left and a massive right punch.

The referee counted Derek back to his feet and the fight resumed but not for long as David Hay knocked him down for the second time with three left hooks and two left hooks all in one combination.

The fight was over in five rounds, and David Hay was the winner, when it was all over David Hay and Derek Chisora embraced, their enmity now forgotten.

Derek praised David and in his turn David Hay was complimentary about Derek Chisora saying there was no doubt in his mind that Derek was a future champion.

David Hay managed to knock out Derek Chisora in the fifth round something that the world middleweight champion Vitali Klitschko could not manage in their 12 round fight in Munchen, Germany earlier in the year.

David Hay winning was exactly what the crowd wanted to happen, Derek Chisora demonstrated that he was not only a good fighter but an honourable one too something that will be to his advantage in the future.