Posted on 07/02/2016 6:56:34 AM PDT by Zakeet
IT’S official: The Olympic Games in Rio are an unnatural disaster.
On June 17, fewer than 50 days before the start of the Games, the state of Rio de Janeiro declared a "state of public calamity." A financial crisis is preventing the state from honoring its commitments to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the governor said. That crisis is so severe, he said, it could eventually bring about "a total collapse in public security, health, education, mobility and environmental management." The authorities are now authorized to ration essential public services and the state is eligible for emergency funds from the federal government.
[Snip]
I went to Rio recently to see how preparations for the Games are going. Spoiler: not well. The city is a huge construction site. Bricks and pipes are piled everywhere; a few workers lazily push wheelbarrows as if the Games were scheduled for 2017. Nobody knows what the construction sites will become, not even the people working on them ...
[Snip]
Safety is of great concern to athletes and tourists. They are right to worry. According to local news reports, drug traffickers are involved in territorial disputes in at least 20 Rio neighborhoods.
Eight years ago, the government established the Pacifying Police Units, a heavily armed force that tries to reclaim favelas from the gangs. But these units seem to have worsened the drug war rather than ended it. This year, 43 police officers have been killed in the state, and at least 238 civilians have been killed by the police.
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HOW did everything get so messed up? Money is one problem. "The state is bankrupt," Francisco Dornelles, the interim Rio governor, admitted in an interview with a magazine two weeks ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Throw in a few hundred million militant Muzzies coming off Ramadan ... the zika plague ... pollution ... the drug wars ... bodies floating up on the beach ... corruption ... worldwide financial meltdown ... and it's safe to say that this probably won't be a happy track meet! The organizers should have gone with a better venue ... like Caracas, Havana or Chicago!
Is this the one Obozo tried to influence by going there, only to then be eliminated on the first vote?
Ain't socialism great!
Yes, that’s correct. It would have been interesting to see who would have a more of a shootout in the streets - Rio or Chicago?
Rio will be the greatest Olympics ever! At least, the most entertaining!
Cue the GOP-lead Congress for an Olympics bailout ...
They can award gold, silver and bronze medals to the athletes who were robbed at gunpoint the fewest times while trying to attend practice.
Yes, Obama gets a rare "I told you so"!
The Olympic Games have always been a huge waste of tine and money
Yeah but it may be worth all the insults, disease, or crime for a chance to see synchronized horse crap.
Exactly...the very reason Obamamamamama wanted them in Chicago.
Unexpectedly!
I think it is because Brazil wanted to be the first country in South America to host the games.
Some cities are starting to realize that. The new mayor of Rome passed on competing for the Olympics. Smart move!
And their president in under indictment for massive fraud involving the government run oil industry. The very one that our President gave billions to so they could drill off shore while at the same time he denying our oil industry off shore drilling permits.
The worlwide advertisement of how filthy and crime-ridden it is down there won’t do much for the tourist trade, either. Except for the pervert freaks, of course.
While NBC is touting Rio, CBS ran a feature story showing the cess pool that is the harbor where the rowing, etc will be held
I feel sympathy for the athletes and others who have to go there. I'd imagine a lot of those folks are rationalizing that they can stay safe and healthy; most people do set up some form of denial to deal with threats. It does seem that there is a percentage who've decided not to go, some with a well timed injury or another reason they chose not to be there.
Olympics as a massive endeavor where all these events happen same time, same place doesn't seem to be a real good concept with the realities of the modern world.. JMHO
There is still time to move them to a country that knows what the hell they are doing.
Obama wanted them in Chicago, because many of his friends would have made a lot of money off of them.
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