Gef’s Daily Roundup

Beach Buddies In Port Erin

Beach Buddies have joined in the Port Erin Festival of the Sea and Beach this weekend. They’ll be attending the event both days but are hosting their beach cleaning from 10:30-12 on Sunday. The festival will also see music on the beach stage, a dog show, local business stalls, sand castle competitions and more taking place from 10:00 till late on Saturday and 12:00 till 17:00 on Sunday.

Police Look for Suspected Thief

The Western Neighbourhood Policing team are looking for people who were at Peel Castle on Tuesday evening for information on a theft incident. A young man had his prescription sports goggles picked out of his belongings and thrown into the sea by an unknown male whilst he was swimming. As the swimmer could not locate the goggles after the incident, the police are now investigating it as a theft and would like anybody with any information on the matter to come forward. 

They said: ‘Peel has been very busy during this period of good weather and the vast majority have been enjoying it in the right way. Incidents like this are very disappointing and totally unnecessary.  If the person responsible for this recognises their actions please get in touch. We appreciate that this may have been a moment that you now regret and this is your opportunity to come forward.’ If anyone has any information about this incident, they are asked to contact PC Richard Barker at Peel police station on 842208 or via email Richard.barker@iom.pnn.police.uk

Harbour Swimmers Face Fines

The DoI’s Harbour division has reminded swimmers that ‘Swimming in harbours and jumping into channels used by vessels accessing ports around the Isle of Man will not be tolerated following a spate of dangerous activity. Following reports from the Isle of Man Constabulary in respect of behaviour in the area of Port Erin’s Raglan Pier, steps are being taken to close the area in order to prevent increasingly dangerous and antisocial conduct of swimmers.’

Director of Harbours, Mark Kenyon said: ‘Unfortunately the offences are now not only related to swimming but also to disorder and in some instances vandalism. Safety notices and lifesaving equipment are being defaced, damaged or removed completely and such behaviour cannot be allowed to continue. The seaward section of the Raglan Pier will be inaccessible to the general public unless they are directly involved in vessel operations including excursion trips. This closure is directly due to continued disregard for safety advice and by-laws, and the aggressive conduct of a minority.’

Olympics Begin Amidst Controversy

Today saw the opening ceremony for the 2020 Olympics games in Tokyo, a year later than planned and after one of the most drama-filled lead ups to an Olympics in recent years. This week, Guinea pulled all their athletes from competition and the opening ceremony director was sacked for previous jokes about the Holocaust. Guinea’s sports minister Sanoussy Bantama Sow said the move was made in response to uncertainty around Covid-19 variants but some media are reporting that a source close to the government is saying the decision was actually a financial one as ‘the ministry cannot pay’ the costs. The withdrawal affects five athletes across four different sports and though the country has never won a medal, it will be their first missed games since Montreal 1976.

Following the departures of the opening ceremony composer after stories of extreme bullying  of disabled classmates, the Olympics’ creative chief for suggesting a local plus-size comedian could appear as an ‘Olympig,’ and the head of the organising committee for sexist remarks, the Tokyo games have seen yet another scandal around their lead staff. The director of the opening ceremony, which took place earlier today, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired only a few days before the event after a video emerged from the 1990s where he appears to make light of the Holocaust. The remarks came in a joke with his colleague where he refers to paper dolls as ‘the ones from that time you said “let’s play the Holocaust.”‘ The Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, called the joke ‘outrageous and unacceptable,’ whilst the director and former comedian said in a statement: ‘Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it.’ The scandal is just one of many in the run up to the games which have seen a disabled contestant pull out of Team USA after not being given a space for her mother and personal care assistant, a Spanish swimmer and former medallist saying she felt forced by restrictions to leave her breastfeeding child at home and the pulling of virtually all fans from the event.

Supermodel Sponsors Small Town Basketball

Supermodel Emily Ratajkowksi has stepped in to sponsor the under-15 and under-16 boys basketball club in the small town of Bantry in Ireland. The sponsorship comes thanks to the model’s family history with the coastal town where her parents have a home, her father John also played for the club ‘about 20 years ago.’ Coach Pat Curran told the BBC: ‘I was speaking to John the other night so I just said to him if Emily would be interested in sponsoring one of the teams, He texted her and she was back within five minutes, saying: “Absolutely I’d love to do it.”‘