The Olympics are more about profiteering, exploitation, and cynicism than sport. Militarized London reflects something more.

Like America, UK democracy long ago passed the point of no return. Arguably it never existed.

By Wail Qasim - June 25, 2012

When what is meant to be the greatest show on earth is on your doorstep, it becomes terrifyingly clear that it presents more of a threat than an occasion to be enjoyed. Activists look to the U.S. and note the recent use of the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)...knowing that this weapon will be deployed on the Thames River during the Olympics...[A]ctivists understand that, if such measures are quietly tolerated, it will be less likely that they will disappear once the games are over.

By Julie Hyland - 25 June 2012

Last week the government announced plans to change the way child poverty figures are calculated [saying]...child poverty was “not about income alone”...[The government] added that this had to be part of people taking control of their own lives. “It’s about taking responsibility for yourself and your family, playing a productive part in your community, creating an environment where success through hard work is celebrated.”

By Robert Stevens - WSWS

The tens of millions of pounds spent on the Royal Jubilee is in stark contrast to the demands of the ruling elite that working people — the target of the most severe austerity measures since the 1930s — must make “sacrifices” for the good of the nation. It is estimated that the cost of the celebrations...will be around £1.2 billion.

By Paul Bond and Julie Hyland - WSWS

At the time of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, the Sex Pistols anti-royal song “God Save the Queen” stormed to number one in the record charts, despite being banned by the BBC. If anything, antipathy to the royal family is more widespread today. But no trace of oppositional sentiment could be found at any level artistically on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee.

Millions globally follow BBC reports regularly. Most perhaps don't know they get propaganda, not real news, commentary and opinion.

By Dave Zirin - May 30, 2012

Upon returning to the United States after two weeks amidst London’s pre-Olympic terrain, I have some final thoughts that I hope the International Olympic Committee and the UK’s Tory Prime Minister David Cameron take to heart. I also hope that the Olympics’ lead corporate sponsors...take a time-out from devising the latest cutting edge trends in evil and listen as well. Your games are in trouble. Your games are in trouble because the people who actually have to live in London alongside the Olympiad are mad as hell. And it’s only May.

By Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin - May 21, 2012

To be in London, two months before the 2012 Summer Olympics, is to feel a bit like a fish in an aquarium, with people constantly poking at the glass. Cameras adorn nearly every street corner and police vehicles are more prevalent than double-decker buses. It’s easy to understand why many are saying enough is enough...On Saturday, July 28, protesters will be gathering in London to just say no to the priorities imposed by these most corporate of Olympic Games, and it’s hardly difficult to understand why.

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 - Ainfos

On the 11th of May Roberto Adinolfi, CEO of an Italian state controlled nuclear engineering company, was shot and wounded. A cell of the insurrectionist Informal Anarchist Federation have claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement...Previous acts claimed by Informal Anarchist Federation cells include sending a letter bomb to the Italian tax collection office, almost blinding a worker at the office and risking the lives of the postal and clerical workers who unwittingly carried the bomb.

By Robert Stevens - 15 May 2012

Tenants in east London are being evicted from their homes in the run-up to the London Olympics Games...In one case a woman told the BBC that she and her four house-mates had been evicted after being given just two weeks to leave. Another couple reported they had been given three weeks to get out...Seeking to cash in on the Olympics, some private landlords are letting their properties for 20 times the usual rental price during the games.

By Dave Zirin - May 14, 2012

It’s not just the costs or the incredible invasion into people’s privacy. It’s the powers being given to police under the 2006 “London Olympic Games Act,” which empowers not only the army and police but also private security forces to deal with “security issues” using physical force. These “security issues” have been broadly defined to include everything from “terrorism” to peaceful protesters, to labor unions, to people selling bootleg Olympic products on the streets...

By Julie Hyland - 11 May 2012

The coalition is currently implementing cuts worth £155 billion. With much of this yet to feed through, unemployment and poverty are already soaring and the UK has officially entered a double-dip recession...The government’s response is further austerity, stretching over a longer period — at least to 2017, beyond the time-span of this parliament.

By Richard Tyler - 9 May 2012

Billions of pounds are provided to the police, military and intelligence agencies to fund a mobilization of state forces on a scale never seen in London in peacetime. Once more, the “war on terror” is being used to accustom Londoners to seeing soldiers on the streets, warships on the Thames, and fighter aircraft in the skies.

By Tim Dobson - Green Left Weekly

The 30th Olympic games will begin in July in London as Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democratic government imposes savage austerity measures on the public. The excitement of watching the world's sporting best compete is mixed with fears of social and economic upheaval.