I was specifically talking about the Olympics, not sports in general. Come on, don’t you think it’s just a bit of a post-colonial / Cold War era fossil?
From a certain point of view, perhaps so. I’ll admit that the nationalism of the Olympic games as shown on U.S. TV irritates me somewhat. OK, a lot.
But, for the athletes, and for the fans of athletics, the Olympics are the end all and be all. There is nothing post colonial about it. They are competing against the best in the world to show that they are the best in the world, and that’s a perfectly valid goal. We have to put up with the rest of the shit in order to make that goal obtainable.
Sorry, but the “Show Must Go On” is not immutable. How much more damaged when the aspirations of the Olympics be if the site is a total disaster or, worse, a major public health problem. Wasn’t the Mishigas in Moscow bad enough?
Moved and cancelled Olympics (and World Cups) are the brokered convention of sports–it never happens, but that doesn’t stop people from talking about it every four years.
Usually Olympics being cancelled talk centers around stadiums not being built in time though. You must admit this is a little different. Not that I really think they will be cancelled.
So now they’ve mobilized 200k military personnel to a huge mosquito eradication program. Unfortunately there may be more bad news as some scientists fear the disease has jumped to the common mosquito which is 20 times the number and has a much wider climate range, meaning it could spread to North America.
Gonna have a hell of an impact on the whole abortion debate.
For some of us, the Olympics are the only sports worth watching. And I’ve been watching them like clockwork every single time since 1972. Don’t expect to stop now.
No kidding. You can’t escape people talking about it so I don’t see how anyone could say “who cares?”. I mean, I don’t but others obviously do.
I suppose a lot of people watch the Olympics. But, that’s different from saying they would be unhappy or even notice, if we slipped the event back a year or two. For me, it’s always “Oh, another four years has gone by already?” If 2016 came and went and I didn’t see a commercial for the games, I doubt I’d think anything was amiss.
And 90% of the events are such weird charity-case sports that can’t draw any interest outside of the Olympics anyway…
Are the Olympic venues themselves in the same regions as those with documented Zika infection? No cite, but I thought I read that most of the cases of Zika infection were mostly in the northeastern rural (and ?coastal) areas and had not been an issue around Rio.
The Guardian article I read (above) said the northeast is hardest hit but the region around Rio was “second hardest hit”. Not sure how bad that means.
Given Rio’s ongoing problems with sewage and water management, I expect that it’s only a matter of time before the Zika virus is in full swing there.
However, I also expect that the Brazilian government would fill Rio to the depth of five feet in DDT before allowing the Olympics to be cancelled. The IOC would cheerfully supply the poison.
Well they had a pretty successful mosquito eradication program in the 50s and 60’s. Wonder how much they can get done in time.
It is starting to look as though the Olympics will not happen
Zika virus outbreak IS a ‘global public health emergency’, says World Health Organisation, as graveyards and schools are desperately disinfected in South America
Outbreak of the Zika virus is a global public health emergency, the World Health Organisation warned today
The alert puts the mosquito-borne disease in the same category as Ebola, which killed 11,000 people in West Africa
Experts predict there could be four million cases of the virus, which has spread to 23 countries, this year
WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan called it an ‘extraordinary event’ and called for an international response
There is no cure or vaccination for the virus, which is linked to babies being born with abnormally small heads
For more of the latest news on the Zika virus visit www.dailymail.co.uk/zikavirus
By Kate Pickles For Mailonline and Press Association
Published: 01:27, 1 February 2016 | Updated: 23:29, 1 February 2016
Read more: Zika virus outbreak IS a 'global public health emergency', says WHO | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
If the Daily Mail said that the Earth was round, I would be sceptical of the story.
Be fair to the the DM* -they wouldn’t say the Earth is flat. Instead they’d do their calling card alarmist Question To Which The Answer Is No** headline such as “Is the growing weight of immigrants causing the world to flatten”.
And in fairness even the DM*** can just about re-post a WHO announcement that was already fucking terrifying without adding too much extra fear-mongering, though I’m surprised they haven’t asked if immigrants will spread Zika to Britain. Maybe next week.
**Please never make me write that again
**See previous DMQTWTAIN such as “Could Abu Qatada Trigger a Snap General Election”, “Is this proof the Virgin Queen was an imposter in drag”, “Is this spooky apparation the Grey Lady of Hampton Court?”,“Do aliens live 17 miles above us” and my personal favorite “Is the lake pictured on every iPad secretly CURSED by the ghosts of disabled babies who were thrown into its waters because they wouldn’t survive?”
*** You’ve made me do it again AK! I won’t forget this, you hear!*
I do not know about the DM but I did watch a one hour TV program about the Virgin Queen it explored the idea that the princess died when she was very young and was replaced by a young effeminate looking boy, the story was a little loose until the end when she died, the body was not examined and the burial took place in secret. Not enough evidence to prove the story correct but enough to make you think
You are wildly underestimating the avarice of the International Olympic Committee.
The Olympics will happen unless Rio de Janiero is destroyed by a nuclear weapon immediately prior to the opening ceremonies. No mere disease is going to stop it. The people who stand to make money from this are not going to let sickness get in their way.
They will kill every athlete in the Olympic village before they let the Olympics be cancelled.
Did the Olympics Committee shoot your dog or something, RickJay? Sheesh.