Colinjb

Yes, I am perched on my head right now to compensate.

Turkish will be proud, we are dressed most smartly.

You forgot to send me a birthday card Turkish, was most upset. Xx

It's helped mellow the more abstract bits.

Move on man, it's olympic season. Peace out. x (Of course I wouldn't, that's a specific character... but where to draw the line, can only a certain child portray Jesus in a nativity? Dwelling over this, really? It means that much? It's an Olympic opening ceremony. If you read between the lines this much it will only have one outcome, and it won't be to your benefit. Chill. x)

Surely in a marriage that's the same thing.

No John Terry. He likes turning up for these things.

He's retired. They've got Graham Norton on now.

The crowd, have they been briefed to ge certain colours at a specific time? Or are they wearing something reflective?

It would be seriously bloody pettit though. Where is the practical benefit in descriminating at an Olympic Opening ceremony? An event which will be abstract and celebratory of the nation as a whole rather then aiming for painstaking historic accuracy. Not to mention the whole ethos/spirit of the games in the first place.....

So again, should we have bared performers a chance to be employed based on race? It's not PC ****** if the performing companies have a diverse membership. And we have no method to prove otherwise, especially considering that locals will more then likely have been employed for this purpose.

Only if you let it bother you. It's hardly a farce that modern british performers, regardless of ethnicity, celebrate part of their nation's history. Should all the Greeks in 2004 have gone home because their bloodlines had been contaminated by the Turkish Ottoman invaders?

No it hasn't. Please, again, for the sake of clarity, explain why people of different ethnicity to the indigenous populace who have become naturalised residents and part of our society celebrating the nation's history has distorted it.... I wasn't aware that someone of Caribbean/African extraction from a (possibly...) third generation Afro-British family doing a dance interpretation of the Industrial revolution, a key event in his nation's history, has distorted it...

So, to clarify. Are you saying that Black britains cannot publicly celebrate their nationality and the history involved?

They believe they did. Ignoring the fact that Manchester United had as many guys in the England squad that year as they did.

No, the history still exists, it just hasn't been used to cause offence. Trivialising oppresion is a far bigger sin then discretion. History is there to be learnt from, not to be flaunted foolishly. All countries have events they regret. I notice China didn't mention much of their domestic policies in the Beijing opening ceremony.

It's not been. Modern citizens retelling the genesis of this nation is not distorting it, regardless of whether their relatives may have been here at the time, its the nation they now call home and they are celebrating it.

I'm playing into your hands here you little scamp. I would expect to see history told with a little sensitivity. Any areas where oppression has played a factor are shameful and should be treated as events to learn from, not celebrate. As such, no I wouldn't expect white dancers to play a part in a dance retelling say of the massacre of Zulu warriors... that would be something never to be retold in this manner. This is modern britain. We are a nation of many colours, religions and creeds. I am proud we live in a nation that any viewpoint, so long as it is not directly criminal can be expressed, regardless of how incorrect or flawed that view may be. .

Yes, but Kenya (for example) isn't a multicultural society in the same way ours is. Whilst there may be areas of the country that are still relatively unicultural and natively ethnic, most city areas such as the one this ceremony is being held are not. Therefore the comparison is invalid.

Oh dear, West 'Am.

Could you imagine the outcry if non white performers were barred from that section? They are modern british citizens, they have every right to embrace this country's histroy and play a part in retelling it.

Well, it was never going to be anything other then self indulgent was it!?

Absolutely, they are just fitting into the overall theme.

How does the suffragette movement fall into that?

Or BBC HD, the IOC feed.