And then there's the raw sewage:
“2016 Olympians Will Be Competing In Poop Water, And The IOC Doesn't Care,” blared Deadspin in August. “Brazil Can’t Clean Up its Shit in Time for the Olympics,” observed Gawker.... Officials are still scrambling to implement emergency measures that will clean up the water venues ahead of the Games. If they make progress, the Olympic athletes may be spared stomach cramps and infections....
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58 comments:
Lesson learned: If a country applying to host the Olympics says, "Yes, our water is garbage, but we promise to clean it up in time for the Games," DON'T BELIEVE 'EM.
Why is it too late to move the sailing and rowing events to another venue? There are plenty of places where the water is already more pure than the best case for Rio.
PS -- you don't suppose they meant to write "especially" do you?
Brazil prides itself on being sexually unclean. That is its only attraction so far as anyone knows.
Ergo: It is a great place to hold the Olympic Games to honoring Zeus, Athena and Dionysus.
I am heading to the world figure skating championships in Boston!
Have a great day flyover, white and old and fat takers!
tits.
Wait, this can't be true. Brazil has been ruled by enlightened socialists for quite a while now. If ticket sales do reflect anti-socialist prejudice, Bernie supporters will make up for the shortfall to express their support for the Workers' Party paradise.
"PS -- you don't suppose they meant to write "especially" do you?"
No. "Epically" is not only a word, it's the word that made me interested enough to post.
New competition competition: Name That Event!
Track and Fecal:
- The Runs
- 100-Meter Diarrhea Bash
- 400-Meter TP Relay
- Manurathon
- Sh!t Put
- Mucus Throw
- Hammer Throw-up
- The Two-Step Javelin Toss
And... I'm done. I'll leave Aquatics, Athletics, Gymnastics, Team Sports, Individual Competitions (fencing, judo, etc.), etc., to others if they so wish.
I've never been to Rio... yet. Manila, Tokyo, Seoul and nearly every major city in the US. There are some wonderful sights in the world, and I believe its time for the Olympics to settle down and find 2 or 3 places to call home. -CP
This is the Olympics that Obama tried to get to Chicago.
If he'd succeeded, we'd be hearing Chicago trashed now.
The sailing events are problematic and the swimming, I hope, is in a pool. Teams have been practicing and there have been some illnesses.
Not to mention brazen theft and assault from street urchins.
I'm not going until they replace badminton with the traditional pankration.
Did you know? "Denmark's Poul-Erik Høyer is the only non-Asian badminton player ever to win an Olympic gold medal."
"Epically" is not only a word, it's the word that made me interested enough to post.
Except that the only definition I can find is "in the style of an epic," which doesn't quite seem to fit.
Good. Anything kills the IOC is a positive.
@Michael K, the 2016 Olympic program includes a 10 kilometer open water swim, and there's a 1.5 kilometer open water swim to begin the triathlon. Also the rowing events are right down on the water.
There's basically three fundamntal methods for dealing with waste, the first two have standard slogans describing and naming them, the third doesn't seem to have as common a name: "dilute and disperse" (D+D), "concentrate and contain" (C+C), treat and transform. Real systems are a mix of these three, but it's often useful to understand a real system by breaking it down into phases that fall into these three.
Dilute and disperse is useful when there is a large natural system to disperse the waste into which will, overtime, transform the waste into something innocuous or even useful. Human sewage into an ocean is a pretty good example. Your poop will be broken down into organic molecules over time. However, poop into a body of water which only slowly exchanges with the wider ocean, like a river or a coastal formation that is protected from the ocean (like a bay) is less useful since the dispersion doesn't happen well or quickly. So these sewage pipes a mile out into the ocean are probably not a problem. But sewage into a river feeding into a bay might well be. Another way D+D can fail is if you put stuff that nature doesn't break down. The ocean is large so it might take a awhile but eventually you could have a problem.
Here's what the OED says about "epically":
In an epic manner; in the style of an epic poem.
1804 Misc. in Prose I. 65, I will epically hasten in medias res at once.
1819 Lit. Gaz. 12 June 378 The ladder is epically raised in dignity.
1863 Athenæum 8 Aug. 176/3 We have seen Milton's vision of Eden treated in fond fancy epically..by a small versifier.
1882 R. L. Stevenson in Longman's Mag. 1 73 Typical incidents, epically conceived, fitly embodying a crisis.
1911 Musical Herald Aug. 246/1 The treatment of the subject is lyric throughout, with one exception, the story of the Birth of Christ being told epically.
1979 London Mag. Aug. 62 It is an epically conceived work.
2011 Telegraph (India) (Nexis) 31 May Despite being epically long, the film had to pare down the original story.
I think the quote from the article works in the sense of: The poor ticket sales are the stuff of legend.
Now, I can see that "epic" should at least relate to the large size of things, so it's — to put it charitably — oxymoronically humorous to call something epically small. But the humor worked on me.
From the NYT archive, recently:
"Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president. He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out. He insults the office Abraham Lincoln once occupied by running for it with less preparation than most of us would undertake to buy a sofa." (David Brooks.)
"And a disappointed Sanders voter with that yearning [to rebel] could, in a general election, sit on the sidelines or vote for Trump before siding with Clinton, unless she makes some adjustments defter than any that she has made so far. Worst of all, an epically nasty general-election campaign would do nothing to unite the country and give the next president much of a chance of governing effectively." (Frank Bruni.)
"Anything kills the IOC is a positive."
Yes. Same for FIFA.
Even for women's soccer events?
I hated Rio. The flight attendants warned us to not carry cameras (this was in the 90's, before cell phones) or wear jewelry or anything that could be snatched. The ride from the airport through the miles of shanty towns that had ditches full of shit ended at a tunnel in a mountain that emerged in the supposedly glamorous,fun loving city. Police stood on balconies overIooking and patrolling the beaches. I found it depressing as hell and it sounds as though it hasn't gotten better.
They proves how backward they must be compared to a superior country like the U.S. that merely only gives its people lead poisoning in the drinking water.
I always enjoy your OED references. I worked for the OED briefly, many years ago, and still contribute occasionally on a volunteer basis. Thanks to Google books, I was able to antedate your 1804 citation of "epically" to an earlier work dating from 1720; I just submitted the earlier reference to the OED.
@Althouse, but for epically to work in the sense of "legendary" there should be a hero. No one involved with the Rio Olympics has acted heroically. I also think the Times is misusing the term.
Whenever you hear the word "exciting" or "excitement" by sports broadcasters, replace it with the words "excreting" and "excrement."
"There's excrement in the air tonight, Bob!"
"Right you are, Tom. Rio is excreting tonight!"
-CP
They proves how backward they must be compared to a superior country like the U.S. that merely only gives its people lead poisoning in the drinking water.
Superior meaning run by Democrats in that case. Facts are important when you are going to be a smart as.
No, it's not some Zika! The public sanitation is what it's always been! If it's South of the USA border, you'll never lose money by betting it's corrupt & incompetent.
The entire Nation is swirling down the proverbial SA corruption drain!
"I can't think of an Olympics that's been played out against such a volatile political and economic backdrop," says Neil Shearing, chief emerging market economist at Capital Economics.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/17/news/economy/brazil-rousseff-lula-economy/?iid=EL
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/03/news/economy/brazil-recession-lower-middle-class/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom
This is a tough one for the competitors. They have worked all their lives for this chance and there is a very real threat they may never get to compete and might endanger any other competitions they might plan in the future. Sure as hell if I were a tri - athlete (Ha! Ha!) I would be tempted to pass on the sewer swim.
there's also this aspect, next door, the pcc provides the nice mad max milieu,
http://www.amazon.com/Nemesis-One-Man-Battle-Rio-ebook/dp/B00XT9ZJIC/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
when did bruni or brooks ever care about the fate of the country,
The public sanitation is what it's always been! If it's South of the USA border, you'll never lose money by betting it's corrupt & incompetent.
That shit flows North.
"They proves how backward they must be compared to a superior country like the U.S. that merely only gives its people lead poisoning in the drinking water."
Typical mindless R&B drivel. The country known as the US, let alone its national government, is not responsible for every decision made by politicians and infrastructure managers in every community.
Liberal: "Why do you conservatives always say that we liberals aren't patriotic? We love this country just as much as you do!"
Conservative: "Man, I am glad to hear that you are as I proud as I am of the United States of America!"
Liberal: "Proud? Are you crazy? This place sucks!"
All you need to know about Brazil is in "City of God" movie.
Brazil is a corrupt shithole. Perfect for the Olympics
there's also this,
http://www.hulu.com/watch/51872
@Terry, so true. So true.
Take the Models of Individual Success and then make them Swim in the Authority-provided Shit.
Thank Goodness that isn't a metaphor.
I am laslo.
This is the Olympics that Obama tried to get to Chicago.
If he'd succeeded, we'd be hearing Chicago trashed now.
Yeah, good thing there's no reasons to trash Chicago right now.....
R&B's: "They proves how backward they must be compared to a superior country like the U.S. that merely only gives its people lead poisoning in the drinking water."
I'll never forget the day that Paul Ryan and those other Americans pushed their grandmothers over the cliff and then proceeded to vote for "HR 666: Death and Destruction" which mandated lead poisoning in the water for US citizens.
Why, compared with that the leftist workers paradise known as Brazil is infinitely better.
Hey!
How come I didn't get no lead in my drinking water? If the government is giving out something for free, I want my fair share damn it!
Gahrie, you don't live in the Illinois Democrat satrapy. No lead for you!
I have traveled to Brazil a couple of times a year for the past 10 years, for no less than 6 weeks at a time.
Wonderful people, basically a beach culture, beautiful country, but way too many poor and poorly educated. The political class is very corrupt and leaves Brazilians very frustrated with the political processes.
One of the first things I think when I return to the US is how clean everything is here.
This cleanliness and order, that we take for granted, is cultural, and does not exist in most of the world.
My second thought is "Why would anyone want to fundamentally change the USA?"
"Ann Althouse said...
This is the Olympics that Obama tried to get to Chicago."
So: Poop Water > Obama
Sounds about right.
Isn't Rio the place where off-duty cops used to go around disappearing the street urchins?
Stay home.
I've never been to anyplace around the world that wasn't better overall--all factors considered-- on television. Hold a random drawing to choose winners for each event, every four years. The winners can be notified at home.
The main criterion for the IOC's choice is the availability of graft. Rio beat Chicago.
Bob R said...
The main criterion for the IOC's choice is the availability of graft. Rio beat Chicago.
4/3/16, 7:36 AM"
That would be worthy of an Olympic Medal. The Corruption Games, that would be epic. Imagine Howard Cosell's commentary in match between Rio and Chicago.
I've visited Brazil 3 or 4 times in the last 6 years. Except for airports and bus rides (and one three-day stay in Rio), I've been in the state of Santa Catarina, in the south of Brazil. Even in a city like Blumenau, a relatively prosperous European-esque city, you immediately sense and never forget you're in a third world country. The people I've met were welcoming, friendly and generous.
Something I noticed which says a lot about Brazil: I've yet to see a window screen in a nation of open windows.
Titus:
Skating championships, eh? No wonder the Boston Hostel International is full of sleek looking auslanders. (Mostly complaining about the judging, natch.)
Not one person I spoke with in Brazil mentioned the Olympics this year. It's not on their radar screen. Or, they're particularly unexcited after winning The Graft Bowl which awarded them the Games.
Impeachment looms on their horizon, and for them the sooner the better.
The modern Olympics should be allowed to die. They are as phony as the idea that March Madness is about student-athletes.
"Have you seen the ratings for March Madness?"
The Olympics will never die.
The Olympics needs to die. Very few people care about that crap anymore. Who cares which druggies win or lose?
If nobody cared, advertisers wouldn't spend money to appear on the Olympic telecasts. But they do, lots of money.
Conservative: "Man, I am glad to hear that you are as I proud as I am of the United States of America!"
Liberal: "Proud? Are you crazy? This place sucks!"
Conservative: "Man, I am glad to hear about the pride we share in how lazy I think America's leaders should be when it comes to the deteriorated upkeep and maintenance of our great institutions!"
Liberal: "Sorry, pride is something you feel for something you actively and constructively participate in."
FTFY.
Personally I think it's going to force a serious decision on triathletes -- can I get to the finish line before the dysentery hits after swimming 1500 meters through water that has a higher coliform bacteria count than sewage flowing into the average municipal treatment plant in the United States? As for the 10 kilometer open water swim, the IOC should just cancel it for Rio. It's one thing for an athlete to say he or she is "just dying to compete in the Olympics" but it's another for athletes to actually die of dysentery or cholera because they competed in the Olympics.
there's a brazilian connection here,
https://panamapapers.icij.org/video/
Are poor sanitation habits and processes the reason for the mass exodus of men, women, and children from second and third-world nations, despite the prevailing superior climate in those regions? Is this the deadly secret that the anti-native factions are protecting? Not including, of course, other causes including progressive wars, impulsive regime changes, [toxic] "green" industrial processes, sequestered lands, class diversity divisions, etc.
Liberal: "Sorry, pride is something you feel for something you actively and constructively participate in."
Liberal: "I condemn the poverty, disease, and general despair created by the policies and political philosophies I have consistently supported all my life, and I signal my superior moral sense in doing so. So STFU."
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