Article

2004-08-05 Europe

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by someone 2004-08-05 1:50:52 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Throw in a strike and a few thousand phones not working, and we have, as Gunny Highway would so eloquently call it, a genuine clusterfuck in the making.

Thanks, Athens!

Posted by Raj 2004-08-05 2:40:37 PM|| 2004-08-05 2:40:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 unbelievable!

Posted by Frank G 2004-08-05 2:42:00 PM|| 2004-08-05 2:42:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Uh oh... I thought it looked like the bad guyz were giving Athens a pass, in spite of the possibilities. Duh. Wishful thinking. This be very very bad. The stolen passes are one thing - one that could have been solved by re-issuing passes distinctly different from the old ones.

But if they haven't been doing background checks anyway, hell, all bets are off. I echo Franks' reaction: unfuckingbelievable. So much for security. I don't wonder if some group will try an attack, now, I only wonder how many groups will do so.

This is a major disaster in the making.

Posted by .com 2004-08-05 2:51:19 PM|| 2004-08-05 2:51:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 It's clearly in bad taste, but should we ape an old Marc Herold midwife effort and do an 'Athens Body Count' / Rantburg Future on the over / under? The only thing in question now is the actual number.

Posted by Raj 2004-08-05 3:01:45 PM|| 2004-08-05 3:01:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm betting on zero casualties. Not because of any security measures or lack thereof, but because I don't see the politics involved as favouring an Islamofascist attack in this place and time.

Most of my optimistic predictions have failed me in the past, ofcourse -- the pessimistic ones are the ones that tend to come true.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2004-08-05 3:34:46 PM|| 2004-08-05 3:34:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I hope zero is right, Aris. I've hated the politicization of the Olympics throught modern history - it's the one international event that truly deserves to be cleaned up and taken off the political table. [/idealistic foolishness]

Posted by .com 2004-08-05 3:47:56 PM|| 2004-08-05 3:47:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 MARK! 20040805104756Z

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-05 4:28:18 PM|| 2004-08-05 4:28:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 The problems began in mid-May, when organisers began recruiting 7,000 workers to undertake jobs from general receptionists to housekeepers at the Olympic village.

Let's do the math:

Mid-May to August = 3 1/2 months - 14 weeks - 70 business days

7,000 applicants in 70 days = 100 background checks a day, not including disqualifications and verification follow-ups. The actual figure is probably closer to 120 CHECKS PER DAY.

Now, consider that they needed 7,000 people and, more likely, some 14,000 applied for these jobs. That would suddenly double the figure of merit to 240 CHECKS PER DAY. That's processing over 30 PER HOUR or ONE BACKGROUND CHECK EVERY TWO MINUTES, by a staff of how many?

Whoever approved that optimistic completion schedule should be out on a street corner with a tin cup. They have effectively put in danger the lives of everyone attending the Olympics. In light of the extensive preparations required by an Olympic event, all of this was directly foreseeable. This is the exact opposite of rocket science. Any good police detective would have laughed out loud at such a throughput projection.

Posted by Zenster 2004-08-05 4:47:57 PM|| 2004-08-05 4:47:57 PM|| Front Page Top

06:40 Rosemary
22:13 Frank G
21:56 Anonymous6077
11:04 Shipman
01:39 trailing wife
01:28 Ernest Brown
00:37 Lucky
00:36 Super Hose
00:29 Frank G
00:27 Atomic Conspiracy
00:25 Frank G
00:09 Mitch H.
00:03 B
23:58 rex
23:55 Frank G
23:50 Frank G
23:47 muck4doo
23:45 Frank G
23:42 muck4doo
23:40 Atomic Conspiracy
23:35 Oldspook
23:25 Super Hose
23:15 rex
23:12 Fred