The Rio Olympics and the Zika Virus

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Rio Olympics and the Zika Virus

Lyesh: Apr 9, 2003

asdf32 posted:

Hence hosting in a major city doesn't require building much. Boston has 4 major sports teams and 142 colleges with facilities which were covering most things.

Fenway wouldn't be available for the entire two weeks because it's during baseball season (it's also old and fairly small), Gillette is out in Foxborough and inaccessible via public transit, and TD Garden is an indoor arena (that would, at least, be available).

There are a number of college stadiums as well, but even Harvard Stadium only has a capacity around 30k (and it is old/ugly). The one thing that bid had going for it was that there'd be tons of dorm space available for housing, but even then a lot of that space is not in the city proper. Bob Kraft really wanted to move the Patriots' stadium to South Boston (i think), but even that wasn't the best idea due to kicking out various employers there and would have involved several hundred million dollars from the city to build a stadium for the benefit of private companies.

In contrast, Olympic stadium was built in London for their games and has a capacity of 60k.

# ? Jul 5, 2016 19:48

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# ? May 26, 2024 15:00

clockworkjoe: May 31, 2000; Rolled a 1 on the random encounter table, didn't you?

Lucy_Cominato posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_zM7koJy8

That's slightly misleading - I mean clearly the walls on the highway conceal the shantytowns but that's probably not why they were built. They were built probably to stop stray fire from the gangs and keep them from robbing/shooting drivers like so

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mes-Brazil.html

# ? Jul 6, 2016 02:58

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

isn't the daily mail in the business of sensationalism and distortion?

# ? Jul 6, 2016 04:34

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

Real hurthling! posted:

isn't the daily mail in the business of sensationalism and distortion?

You are correct, it is, in fact, a British newspaper.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 04:41

Spoondick: Jun 9, 2000

Just about every terrorist organization has aspired to send delegates to the Olympics since the Munich games. Going to be interesting how well this perceived security clusterfuck works to prevent ISIS from medaling in the 100m Daesh.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 13:36

CheeseSpawn: Sep 15, 2004; Doctor Rope

Gawker actually had a good summary of the things hosed in Brazil today.

http://gawker.com/all-the-reasons-the-rio-olympics-are-hosed-1782463214

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:11

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

CheeseSpawn posted:

Gawker actually had a good summary of the things hosed in Brazil today.

http://gawker.com/all-the-reasons-the-rio-olympics-are-hosed-1782463214

Yeah, I saw this earlier. What a clusterfuck.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:22

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

remember when everyone marveled over the 'disaster' Sochi was going to be

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:35

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008

AriadneThread posted:

remember when everyone marveled over the 'disaster' Sochi was going to be

Indeed. A cat taking out a drop ceiling is funny. A swarm of mosquitos descending from that drop ceiling is scary as gently caress.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:37

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

hobbesmaster posted:

Indeed. A cat taking out a drop ceiling is funny. A swarm of mosquitos descending from that drop ceiling is scary as gently caress.

oh to have those days back

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:43

Inferior Third Season: Jan 15, 2005

CheeseSpawn posted:

Gawker actually had a good summary of the things hosed in Brazil today.

http://gawker.com/all-the-reasons-the-rio-olympics-are-hosed-1782463214

Remember four years ago, when everyone thought the London games would be a "disaster", to the point that Romney was willing to say it out loud? And that was over... what? I think it was mostly expected tube delays and longer commutes or something. I can't really remember why.

But I'm pretty sure four years from now, I will remember Rio already has a confirmed body count with superbug poo poo in the water. And that's not counting whatever terrible tragedies that are yet to occur, but are pretty much inevitable at this point.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 17:48

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

I think the London comments were more to the idea that the ceremonies were going to be boring artsy bullshit (remember, they had a tough act to follow with the Beijing Olympics) and everything else would be a wash. I actually had assumed that that was really what happened and Romney was right.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 00:48

HopperUK: Apr 29, 2007; Why would an ambulance be leaving the hospital?

Cliff Racer posted:

I think the London comments were more to the idea that the ceremonies were going to be boring artsy bullshit (remember, they had a tough act to follow with the Beijing Olympics) and everything else would be a wash. I actually had assumed that that was really what happened and Romney was right.

Nah, it was good times. The ceremonies were fun, the events went off great, the atmosphere in the city was weirdly positive and the traffic was only somewhat more of a complete clusterfuck than usual. I mean I'm sure it was annoying as gently caress for some, but my friend who lives in London enjoyed the whole thing, despite her commute being trashed by broadcasters camped out near Russell Square.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 01:05

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

Oh, I meant for the rest of the world, I didn't care how London itself felt. Maybe its just that I've grown up and unless there's an interesting geopolitical aspect like Beijing or Athens then it seems boring?

# ? Jul 7, 2016 01:09

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

quote:

The Australian Olympic Committee has become so concerned about security in Rio it has seen fit to hire a private firm to be on standby to protect the national team in the games' host city.

Miffed that Rio's mayor and games organising committee boss have ignored their escalating security worries, Australian Olympic chiefs have enlisted the additional and independent safeguards for the national travelling party that will number almost 800 athletes and support staff.

Fairfax Media has learned the extra protection resources would be mobilised at the discretion and direction of team security director Greg Nance, a former Australian Army officer who was also charged with minding athletes and officials in London.

Meanwhile, Australian team boss Kitty Chiller has effectively given up on a response to her official request that local authorities bolster security on the ground in Rio earlier than planned.

Oh great now we're going to have feuding PMC's guarding particular countries.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 14:47

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

Kitty Chiller

# ? Jul 7, 2016 14:53

Spoondick: Jun 9, 2000

AriadneThread posted:

Kitty Chiller

It doesn't matter how chill you are, she's Chiller.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 15:16

Ofaloaf: Feb 15, 2013

Cliff Racer posted:

Oh, I meant for the rest of the world, I didn't care how London itself felt. Maybe its just that I've grown up and unless there's an interesting geopolitical aspect like Beijing or Athens then it seems boring?

I liked the bit in the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics where the engineer Brunel tore apart England's green hills and replaced them all with a bunch of farting smokestacks.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 15:33

Comrade Fakename: Feb 13, 2012

Cliff Racer posted:

Oh, I meant for the rest of the world, I didn't care how London itself felt. Maybe its just that I've grown up and unless there's an interesting geopolitical aspect like Beijing or Athens then it seems boring?

In what way was the London Olympics a disaster for the rest of the world? Sport was promised, sport was delivered. What else do you need?

# ? Jul 8, 2016 18:12

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

Comrade Fakename posted:

In what way was the London Olympics a disaster for the rest of the world? Sport was promised, sport was delivered. What else do you need?

I needed a good show.

Good ceremonies, good stadium architecture (the main stadium was small and thus wimpy and there weren't many others built either, though I remember being impressed by the natatorium,) and hopefully some sort of athletic x-factor (which is really outside of the host's hands unless you are China and purposely fund teams in obscure sports for the purpose of winning the most medals.) An interesting landscape probably would have helped too, I despise the glass box/abstract object nature of the City of London's skyline. London's Olympic marketing was also bland and unappealing in my eyes. Like those overly corporate mascots China had? At least people still remember them, I can't even recall what London's thing was? I wanted to say that it was the potato people but that was Athens.

FWIW I thought Athens sucked too. Perhaps we just shouldn't give Europe any Olympics for awhile. London, Athens, Turin? Not much of a track record, I was tuned out during Sochi and don't know how that went other than the half built toilet pictures and apparent doping operation that went on in it.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 00:47

C.M. Kruger: Oct 28, 2013

Cliff Racer posted:

Like those overly corporate mascots China had? At least people still remember them, I can't even recall what London's thing was? I wanted to say that it was the potato people but that was Athens.

The London mascots were two anthropomorphized surveillance cameras, looked sorta like Teletubbies but with giant eyes instead of heads.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 02:22

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

Hmm, you know what, I think I was perfectly happy having forgotten about those things. Thankfully I'll probably return to that state five minutes from now.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 02:24

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

build olympic island in the middle of international waters

no
better
olympic station in earth orbit

# ? Jul 9, 2016 02:28

Meat Recital: Mar 26, 2009; by zen death robot

I know they weren't really, but to me London's mascots will always be Lisa giving Bart a blowjob.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 02:33

Rookersh: Aug 19, 2010

AriadneThread posted:

build olympic island in the middle of international waters

no
better
olympic station in earth orbit

I mean we aren't using Antarctica for anything right? It's supposed to be the global continent. :getin:

# ? Jul 9, 2016 04:13

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

Rookersh posted:

I mean we aren't using Antarctica for anything right? It's supposed to be the global continent.

that's for the winter olympics, duh

# ? Jul 9, 2016 04:17

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

AriadneThread posted:

no
better
olympic station in earth orbit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TICjEsvC8o

# ? Jul 9, 2016 04:18

Crabtree: Oct 17, 2012; ARRRGH! Get that wallet out!
Everybody: Lowtax in a Pickle!
Pickle! Pickle! Pickle! Pickle!; Dinosaur Gum

Lid posted:

Oh great now we're going to have feuding PMC's guarding particular countries.

Finally, we will have the PMC Olympics and witness their bloody war games.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 04:24

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Have some more!

quote:

POLICE attempts to recapture a drug trafficker who escaped from a Brazilian hospital have led to deadly gunbattles in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Ten people have been killed and about 50 schools have been shut over the past nine days, the O Globo newspaper reported.

Police would not immediately confirm the death toll, but said they had deployed 27 battalions of military police to various areas, including downtown and the touristy southern area of the city.

Nicolas Labre Pereira, nicknamed �Fat Family,� escaped on June 19 when assailants stormed one of the hospitals recommended for tourists travelling to the Olympic Games.

The raid to free the 28-year-old suspect left a patient dead and a nurse and an off-duty policeman wounded.

quote:

Human Rights Watch released a report on Thursday noting that police are responsible for 20% of all killings in Rio state. Three-quarters of the victims are black men, many of them killed in extrajudicial executions. Although many officers are also murdered, the groups observes that police in Rio killed 24 people for each officer who dies on duty, which is triple the level in the US. Very few are ever punished.

Amnesty International has noted an increase in police violence since April and said the deployment of troops in favelas could lead to an upsurge in violence as was the case in the World Cup year of 2014, when police killed 580 people in Rio State, an increase of 40% over the previous 12 months.

�Brazilian authorities are not only failing to deliver the promised Olympic legacy of a safe place for all, but are also failing to ensure that law enforcement agents, especially the police, meet international law and standards regarding the use of force and arms,� Amnesty warned.

Rio�s state government has yet to respond to requests for comment, though it has previously noted that many police are also killed, that officers found guilty of wrongdoing are punished, and that crime levels have improved compared to 10 years ago as a result of the �pacification� programme.

# ? Jul 9, 2016 11:21

davebo: Nov 15, 2006; Parallel lines do meet, but they do it incognito; College Slice

AriadneThread posted:

build olympic island in the middle of international waters

no
better
olympic station in earth orbit

Pretty sure Lonely Island did a music video that was exactly that on SNL once.

Edit: https://youtu.be/4TICjEsvC8o

davebo fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Jul 10, 2016

# ? Jul 10, 2016 15:13

Math Debater: May 6, 2007; by zen death robot

Right now I�m really excited about the fact that Monica Moorehead and Lamont Lilly of the Workers World Party have called for U.S. Olympic athletes to stage a Black Lives Matter boycott of the 2016 Olympics in Rio: http://www.workers.org/2016/07/08/an-appeal-to-black-athletes-boycott-the-olympics-until-black-lives-matter/#.V4J4zvkrKM8

I totally think Jill Stein and the Green Party should immediately embrace this call for a Black Lives Matter boycott of the Olympics! This will be a great way to build the progressive revolutionary movement for a better world and for the liberation of black and brown peoples and will also be a great way of working to position the Green Party as a major force within this progressive revolutionary movement! If the Green Party keeps respecting and acknowledging the important ways that socialist groups are contributing to the ongoing lefty revolutionist movement, it will also be a splendid way of promoting left unity and strengthening the Red-Green-People-of-Color Alliance that is continuing to develop.

With this in mind, I have made a 10-and-a-half minute youtube video featuring 2 parts that are each a bit more than 5 minutes long. In the first part of the video, I can be seen talking about the call for a Black Lives Matter boycott of the 2016 Olympics and encouraging Jill Stein and the Green Party to embrace this call for a boycott. The second part of the video features about 5 minutes of footage of a Jill Stein speech/rally that I recently attended. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut7Aaz4GfW8

Boycott the 2016 Olympics!

Black Lives Matter!

Fight for a Better World! Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

# ? Jul 10, 2016 20:15

Mr Shiny Pants: Nov 12, 2012

CheeseSpawn posted:

Gawker actually had a good summary of the things hosed in Brazil today.

http://gawker.com/all-the-reasons-the-rio-olympics-are-hosed-1782463214

I know news organisations like to embellish things, but even if only half of this is true, drat.

# ? Jul 13, 2016 06:01

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-olympics-could-use-a-mulligan-on-golf-1468366791

Incidental to Rio, the clusterfuck that is Olympic Golf.

Of course being Rio note the bit about they didn't have a golf course so they bull dozed a nature reserve between high rises.

# ? Jul 13, 2016 11:32

Inferior Third Season: Jan 15, 2005

Lid posted:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-olympics-could-use-a-mulligan-on-golf-1468366791

Incidental to Rio, the clusterfuck that is Olympic Golf.

Of course being Rio note the bit about they didn't have a golf course so they bull dozed a nature reserve between high rises.

And, of course, Slate gonna Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2016/07/rory_mcilroy_jason_day_and_dustin_johnson_should_be_ashamed_of_using_zika.html

:cry:

"These people should be ashamed for choosing to play in tournaments where they can earn millions of dollars instead of volunteering to play for free in a poo poo-water infested hellhole so that other people can get rich." :cry:

# ? Jul 13, 2016 11:56

plushpuffin: Jan 10, 2003; Fratercula arctica; Nap Ghost

Inferior Third Season posted:

And, of course, Slate gonna Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2016/07/rory_mcilroy_jason_day_and_dustin_johnson_should_be_ashamed_of_using_zika.html

"These people should be ashamed for choosing to play in tournaments where they can earn millions of dollars instead of volunteering to play for free in a poo poo-water infested hellhole so that other people can get rich."

That is a horrible summary of the article and you should be ashamed. He's saying it's disingenuous to blame Zika when they really just don't want to participate for a host of other reasons, including financial concerns. Did you even read the whole article?

# ? Jul 13, 2016 14:58

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

No, that's a pretty good summary of the article actually.

As much as Zika probably isn't the only reason they aren't going to Rio, my guess is if the tournament were being played somewhere without poo poo-water, violence, etc (in effect, if the olympics were being held in a first world country), many of these golfers would choose to go. I suppose it's unfair to blame Zika entirely, but I don't think it's unfair to blame the fact that Rio is, more generally, a shithole with many problems.

# ? Jul 13, 2016 16:17

A Buttery Pastry: Sep 4, 2011; Delicious and Informative!

Blaming Zika is, in a way, protecting their families. The alternative is calling Brazil a shithole and the Olympics a shambles, at the risk of incurring the wrath of Brazilians everywhere, as well as the the criminals behind it.

# ? Jul 13, 2016 16:29

plushpuffin: Jan 10, 2003; Fratercula arctica; Nap Ghost

PT6A posted:

No, that's a pretty good summary of the article actually.

I have to disagree. The slate editor isn't saying that they should go to the Olympics or that all the other issues aren't important. He's just calling them out for not being honest about it. They've all decided that they're not interested for varying reasons, and he didn't begrudge anyone choosing not to attend.

He specifically said in the article that stating "I'm not going because I would rather compete for money" is a perfectly valid reason, and he believes it's the main reason most of them aren't going. Inferior Third Season is misquoting the article by claiming that it's calling them out for their actual reasons rather than their stated reasons.

# ? Jul 13, 2016 16:58

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

In New York is the first ever confirmed case of a female to male zika transmission thrpugh sex.

# ? Jul 16, 2016 09:59

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# ? May 26, 2024 15:00

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Russia is staying in the Olympics! This is bad news for then as the athletes have nowhere to live!

quote:

The troubled Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games have arrived at their first major crisis, less than two weeks before the opening ceremony.

The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed on Sunday evening that the athletes' village has been deemed uninhabitable in the short term due to significant plumbing and electrical concerns.

It is unclear if and when competitors will be able to move in, with the International Olympic Committee is set to undertake "stress tests" to deal with serious issues with plumbing and fire safety.

AOC chef de mission Kitty Chiller confirmed late on Sunday night (AEST) that Australian athletes would not be moving into the village, having hoped to do so on Sunday.

"For over a week now AOC staff have been working long hours to get our section of the village ready for our athletes," Chiller said in a statement.

"Problems include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean.

"In operations areas water has come through the ceiling resulting in large puddles on the floor around cabling and wiring."

Chiller said the situation came to a head on Saturday nights (Brazil time).

"We decided to do a "stress test" where taps and toilets were simultaneously turned on in apartments on several floors to see if the system could cope once the athletes are in-house.

"The system failed. Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was "shorting" in the electrical wiring. "

Chiller added that Great Britain and New Zealand contingents had been experiencing similar problems.

The Rio organising committee has sent in large teams of cleaners and repair staff, but could not say when the village would be open.

The AOC arrived in Rio on the weekend. Staff will continue to work from a nearby hotel. The first Australian athletes, boxers and canoeists, also were scheduled to move into the village on Sunday. Contingency arrangements were being made as dawn broke in Rio. "From what we've seen," said a spokesman, "you wouldn't put people in there yet." Other countries found themselves in the same boat as Australia.

The unfinished state of the athletes village confirms some of the worst fears held about Rio's lack of preparedness for the Games. All Olympic cities end up in a last-minute flurry, but from accounts, Rio has left too much to too late. This builds on an impression formed by visitors to the World Cup of soccer in Brazil two years ago, that infrastructure would prove to be a big and perhaps insurmountable issue for the Olympic Games.

The timing of this latest drama is unfortunate, to say the least. All eyes were turning to Rio on Sunday as the IOC convened to consider throwing Russia out of the Games. This follows the release last week of a damning report on wholesale and state-sponsored doping of athletes in Russia up to and including the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. It was widely expected that the IOC would conclude that it had no choice except to exclude the entire Russian team.

In a small off-set, the AOC generally is satisfied with what it has seen so far of the level of security at the athletes village and in Rio generally.

# ? Jul 24, 2016 18:23

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Rio Olympics and the Zika Virus

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