And big corp is doing a lot of things that aren't really in the best olympic spirit.

Well I'm going to nip in here. I've seen positive and negative articles by DM.

This headline is hardly negative:

How they made those magic moments: The secrets behind that jaw-dropping Olympic opening ceremony

clicky

I like the paper, always have done and always will. Some articles get on my nerves but then I don't read them *shrugs*

I'm biased as I used to work for them.

i have read the DM for years, along with the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent and the Times
all have good and bad points but the DM is my main newspaper, don't always agree with it but i love it ...

Well that explains a lot.

such as ? ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19048918

this is from the BBC, maybe i should stop reading the BBC news site not everyone agrees with the BBC style of reporting ...

Shameless profiteering I say.
They've had the cash off the sponsors for the seats, and NOW they dare sell them on if they're unfilled?!
For shame Seb Coe, for shame.

A lot will be from the "friends & family tickets" that the athletes get & the ones allocated to officials etc (i.e. the ones they had to give away for free, hence they're not being used)

just read the 18 year (very petite) british girl has just beaten the british weightlifting record on her 3rd attempt and the smile on her face sums up the Olympics
fcuk the big boys, the corporations can go screw themselves ...

with that i am in full agreement ...

The companies involved have returned them for the sale, it doesn't sound like they are selling them twice.

I missed the <mock bluster> tags off, clearly.
Empty seats.
Why so bothered?
Why do we care? I thought you'd be pleased that people are protesting the games via non-attendance, surely?
Ha, take that Seb Coe!

Or is it bad because people should come along if they have a ticket and so many don't, despite being a member of the profiteering oligarchs that have turned the games into a shameless capitalist glory exercise?

I'll need to go and think about this.

Zoe Smith? She's quite something that kid.

I think it's fair to say the empty seat thing has been a 'fail'. Apparently it happened in Sydney and Beijing as well for similar reasons - in which case the fail is 'not figuring out this was going to be an issue and figuring out a way round it before now'. If they can get a system to mitigate it in quick time - say by Thursday - then it's probably not going to be something the games are really remembered for. I guess we'll see how good their fire-fighting (in a non-literal sense) skills are.

Jon

i am glad that somebody is seeing the point ...

So we're very confident, then, that this was going to be an issue before hand?
Why did nobody mention it then?
Or is it more likely that a certain number of seats need to be allocated to friends and family, who may or may not be able to visit, but logistically, you'd really be better off worrying about getting the actual events up and running rather than who's going to watch them.