So, lots of fun articles in the news about the Rio Olympics, scheduled to start in a month.
We've got cops shooting lots and lots of people, and bitching because they aren't getting paid to do so:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/05/sport/rio-olympics-2016-security/index.html
Of course there is the Zika virus thing.
And now apparently there is some kind of issue with drug resistant bacteria:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/05/americas/rio-de-janeiro-super-bacteria/index.html
Quote
According to lead researcher Renata Picao, the "super bacteria" entered the city's waterways when sewage coming from local hospitals got channeled into the bay.
...
"It's a nice sailing area but every time you get some water in your face, it feels like there's some alien enemy entering your face," German Paralympic sailor Heiko Kroger said during a recent visit to Rio. "I keep my nose and my lips closed."
Kroger believes the super bacteria may have caused a severe skin infection in one of his teammates during recent training.
How in the hell did Rio get the Olympics when it is such a disaster?
Or is this being exaggerated for journalistic lolz?
They got it through bribes, same as every third world country that gets it.
Everyone's expected a disaster for at least the last couple of years. This is not surprising.
It's curious considering they already had the far more important world cup. I wonder what impact that had on attitudes.
I bet it has made things worse vs if they just had the Olympics
Quote from: Berkut on July 05, 2016, 08:44:09 AM
How in the hell did Rio get the Olympics when it is such a disaster?
Or is this being exaggerated for journalistic lolz?
It could be both.
These days Olympics are sought after mainly by shitholes, to show how much of a not-shithole they are. The non-shitholes are just content to continue not being shitholes, and not hosting Olympic games helps with that plan.
It could also be exaggerated. Remember how Sochi games were supposed to be such a disaster? It didn't really work out that way once the games started. :(
Olympics? :yawn: #WGAF
It is unfortunate that Brazil hit the skids just before their big party. I suspect that all will be well though, most places seem to have pulled out the extra to put on a good show in the past.
Dont know why they wanted it in the first place. They never recovered from the World Cup.
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 05, 2016, 09:13:10 AM
Go back to #tinder.
If countries want to 'compete' then they should just invade each other. :showoff:
This is standard operating procedure for the media before any olympic games. Remember the run-up to Sochi? Hell remember the run-up to the Brazil World Cup just two years ago?
I'm sure the games will be fine.
A lot of the preparatory work for the Olympics are nice to haves. It will be nice to have more bridges or underground lines, but the games can go ahead without them. Most people watch from a screen anyway.
Quote from: Barrister on July 05, 2016, 09:43:39 AM
This is standard operating procedure for the media before any olympic games. Remember the run-up to Sochi? Hell remember the run-up to the Brazil World Cup just two years ago?
I'm sure the games will be fine.
Those Sochi hotel rooms were hilarious. This is going to be way worse.
Bope will save the day!
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/be/2c/89/be2c897fa44952670209eb6e516d363a.jpg)
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 05, 2016, 08:47:05 AM
They got it through bribes, same as every third world country that gets it.
Everyone's expected a disaster for at least the last couple of years. This is not surprising.
Tim, does it blow your mind to read the posts disproving your statement that everyone expected a disaster?
I have never cared about spear throwing or hurdles before, and I will continue to not care during these Olympics as well.
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 05, 2016, 12:08:39 PM
I have never cared about spear throwing or hurdles before, and I will continue to not care during these Olympics as well.
You will care after trump sparks wwiii, and this may be your last chance to observe expert spear throwing techniques on tv.
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 05, 2016, 12:08:39 PM
I have never cared about spear throwing or hurdles before, and I will continue to not care during these Olympics as well.
:hug:
Quote from: alfred russel on July 05, 2016, 12:07:50 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 05, 2016, 08:47:05 AM
They got it through bribes, same as every third world country that gets it.
Everyone's expected a disaster for at least the last couple of years. This is not surprising.
Tim, does it blow your mind to read the posts disproving your statement that everyone expected a disaster?
By everyone I mean the analysts, not the mouthbreathers on Languish.
I hope you're not trying to teach your students how to talk smack.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 05, 2016, 06:51:50 PM
I hope you're not trying to teach your students how to talk smack.
I've got around 15 kids that are fluent in English. They're already pretty good at it.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 05, 2016, 06:44:52 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on July 05, 2016, 12:07:50 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 05, 2016, 08:47:05 AM
They got it through bribes, same as every third world country that gets it.
Everyone's expected a disaster for at least the last couple of years. This is not surprising.
Tim, does it blow your mind to read the posts disproving your statement that everyone expected a disaster?
By everyone I mean the analysts, not the mouthbreathers on Languish.
RH and BB are mouthbreathers? :hmm:
Tim, keep in mind that your "analysts" are journalists, which means their jobs are increasingly about generating clickbait articles. No one is going to be excited about a story along the lines of, "there is going to be crime during the Olympics. there has been a massive amount of corruption to get ready for the games, but not as much as in Russia, which set the standard on that score. a decent portion of the infrastructure promised for the olympics doesn't seem to be coming to fruition. But the competition venues are basically complete, and it appears that most hiccups will be offstage and the Olympic competition that takes center stage will be mostly unaffected, and will produce the memorable moments we tune in to the Olympics to see."
Traditional Olympic journalist excesses or not, still doesn't change the fact Brazil is a third world shithole.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 05, 2016, 10:53:06 PM
Traditional Olympic journalist excesses or not, still doesn't change the fact Brazil is a third world shithole.
Now now they're lets fortunate than us.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 05, 2016, 10:53:06 PM
Traditional Olympic journalist excesses or not, still doesn't change the fact Brazil is a third world shithole.
Been there, can confirm.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 05, 2016, 08:47:05 AM
They got it through bribes, same as every country that gets it.
FYP.
And if you guys consider Brasil to be 3rd world, what does that make of the real 3rd world?
Quote from: alfred russel on July 05, 2016, 12:11:39 PM
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 05, 2016, 12:08:39 PM
I have never cared about spear throwing or hurdles before, and I will continue to not care during these Olympics as well.
You will care after trump sparks wwiii, and this may be your last chance to observe expert spear throwing techniques on tv.
if Trump kicks of WW3 spearthrowers will be our next overlords!
Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on July 06, 2016, 05:12:41 AM
if Trump kicks of WW3 spearthrowers will be our next overlords!
:lmfao:
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 03:53:55 AM
And if you guys consider Brasil to be 3rd world, what does that make of the real 3rd world?
Brazil doesn't have a fully developed modern economy, and they're not a Communist country. That makes 'em Third World. A less shitty part of the Third World than, say, Haiti or the Sudan, but still Third World.
Quote from: dps on July 06, 2016, 08:00:47 AM
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 03:53:55 AM
And if you guys consider Brasil to be 3rd world, what does that make of the real 3rd world?
Brazil doesn't have a fully developed modern economy, and they're not a Communist country. That makes 'em Third World. A less shitty part of the Third World than, say, Haiti or the Sudan, but still Third World.
What do they lack to have a fully developed modern economy, then?
Third World? Hey the personal Putin Empire of BRICS is going to rule the world any day now.
Quote from: Berkut on July 05, 2016, 08:44:09 AM
How in the hell did Rio get the Olympics when it is such a disaster?
Or is this being exaggerated for journalistic lolz?
Exagerated? Maybe no more than usual. But when a government wants to do something, it can move very fast.
See, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. A few months before the beginning, there were talks of disaster. Same for Athenes and Sotchi.
It turned out to be pretty much fine, from a public point of view.
Of course, for Quebec, we had to pay the bill, and we still do. Lots of fraud, corruption, union strikes&empowerement, huge deficits, an olympic stadium that is not good at all for music, not really good for baseball, definately not good enough for football, took 30 years to get a decent roof on it and it has to be permanent, and has structural issues that are costly to repair.
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 08:11:27 AM
What do they lack to have a fully developed modern economy, then?
Strong rule of law, for one.
Quote from: viper37 on July 06, 2016, 08:43:01 AM
Quote from: Berkut on July 05, 2016, 08:44:09 AM
How in the hell did Rio get the Olympics when it is such a disaster?
Or is this being exaggerated for journalistic lolz?
Exagerated? Maybe no more than usual. But when a government wants to do something, it can move very fast.
See, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. A few months before the beginning, there were talks of disaster. Same for Athenes and Sotchi.
It turned out to be pretty much fine, from a public point of view.
Of course, for Quebec, we had to pay the bill, and we still do. Lots of fraud, corruption, union strikes&empowerement, huge deficits, an olympic stadium that is not good at all for music, not really good for baseball, definately not good enough for football, took 30 years to get a decent roof on it and it has to be permanent, and has structural issues that are costly to repair.
You have a lot more faith in the Brazilian government than you probably should.
Quote from: DGuller on July 06, 2016, 08:44:20 AM
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 08:11:27 AM
What do they lack to have a fully developed modern economy, then?
Strong rule of law, for one.
"Third World" is a pretty meaningless term these days, but I'd agree with you that the main thing holding Brazil back from being an advanced economy is that such a huge percentage of their economic activity is in the shadow economy. GDP per capita isn't that great compared to, say, Argentina, so they have a ways to go there as well.
Argentina itself has a pretty big shadow economy, FWIW.
Quote from: derspiess on July 06, 2016, 09:15:46 AM
Argentina itself has a pretty big shadow economy, FWIW.
I remember our Spanish posters saying there was a fairly big one there as well.
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 09:20:00 AM
Quote from: derspiess on July 06, 2016, 09:15:46 AM
Argentina itself has a pretty big shadow economy, FWIW.
I remember our Spanish posters saying there was a fairly big one there as well.
And even more in Italy, that doesn't make them third world.
Quote from: derspiess on July 06, 2016, 08:50:27 AM
You have a lot more faith in the Brazilian government than you probably should.
I think the Olympics are going to be okay. But the aftermath, it may look like Greece.
Sarajevo is still the gold standard.
If you guys (Spicey, Larch, Valmy) are defining "Third World" as any country with a shadow economy, then every country in the world is Third World. I don't think that that is a very good definition.
Eh?
Quote from: grumbler on July 06, 2016, 10:44:09 AM
If you guys (Spicey, Larch, Valmy) are defining "Third World" as any country with a shadow economy, then every country in the world is Third World. I don't think that that is a very good definition.
I'm not, I was challenging that assumption.
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 11:32:05 AM
Quote from: grumbler on July 06, 2016, 10:44:09 AM
If you guys (Spicey, Larch, Valmy) are defining "Third World" as any country with a shadow economy, then every country in the world is Third World. I don't think that that is a very good definition.
I'm not, I was challenging that assumption.
You should challenge that assumption in the thread where the assumption has been made, then. No one has made that assumption in this thread.
TBH, when I visit the U.S., large parts feel like a third world country.
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 06, 2016, 12:20:04 PM
TBH, when I visit the U.S., large parts feel like a third world country.
You mean Capitol Hill in Washington DC?
Clearly he couldn't mean the sophisticated beacon of civilization that is Alabama.
Probably meant Texas!
Quote from: garbon on July 06, 2016, 01:16:14 PM
Probably meant Texas!
East Texas maybe. Well ok probably South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley as well.
Though West Texas can get pretty low rent.
And some places in North Texas.
But besides East, South, West, and North Texas I don't know what he could be referring to.
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 01:20:34 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 06, 2016, 01:16:14 PM
Probably meant Texas!
East Texas maybe. Well ok probably South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley as well.
Though West Texas can get pretty low rent.
And some places in North Texas.
But besides East, South, West, and North Texas I don't know what he could be referring to.
Austin :contract:
Quote from: garbon on July 06, 2016, 01:23:09 PM
Austin :contract:
Are you implying Austin is does not lie on any point of the compass but rather exists in some kind of ethereal heavenly place that cannot be be accurately measured? Because I agree!
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 01:20:34 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 06, 2016, 01:16:14 PM
Probably meant Texas!
East Texas maybe. Well ok probably South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley as well.
Though West Texas can get pretty low rent.
And some places in North Texas.
But besides East, South, West, and North Texas I don't know what he could be referring to.
:lol:
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 06, 2016, 12:20:04 PM
TBH, when I visit the U.S., large parts feel like a third world country.
Check you privilege.
Quote from: dps on July 06, 2016, 08:00:47 AM
Quote from: The Larch on July 06, 2016, 03:53:55 AM
And if you guys consider Brasil to be 3rd world, what does that make of the real 3rd world?
Brazil doesn't have a fully developed modern economy, and they're not a Communist country. That makes 'em Third World. A less shitty part of the Third World than, say, Haiti or the Sudan, but still Third World.
If you were to visit say Paris, Rio, and Port au Prince, I don't think the outlier would be Paris.
Hey Valmy, what exactly do people mean when they say East Texas? I've heard Texicans crack on East Texas before, so I'm curious.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 06, 2016, 02:15:53 PM
Hey Valmy, what exactly do people mean when they say East Texas? I've heard Texicans crack on East Texas before, so I'm curious.
East Texas is where the culture most resembles that of the South. Also it is heavily wooded so it tends to look like it as well. It is also where most of our Cotton Plantations were back in the day. It is sometimes called 'Western Mississippi'.
Generally it is all the area north of Houston and east of I-35 corridor.
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 01:14:53 PM
Clearly he couldn't mean the sophisticated beacon of civilization that is Alabama.
Are you comparing Alabama with a third world country? :o
What a horrible person you are! :mad: Why insult poor third world counties like that?!
Quote from: alfred russel on July 06, 2016, 02:11:55 PM
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 06, 2016, 12:20:04 PM
TBH, when I visit the U.S., large parts feel like a third world country.
Check you privilege.
Thanks for the reminder, I checked it, and it's appropriate.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 06, 2016, 02:15:53 PM
Hey Valmy, what exactly do people mean when they say East Texas? I've heard Texicans crack on East Texas before, so I'm curious.
Read the collected works of Joe Lansdale and you will know all there is to know of East Texas. :D
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 06, 2016, 02:43:23 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on July 06, 2016, 02:11:55 PM
Quote from: Hamilcar on July 06, 2016, 12:20:04 PM
TBH, when I visit the U.S., large parts feel like a third world country.
Check you privilege.
Thanks for the reminder, I checked it, and it's appropriate.
CHECK IT AGAIN
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 02:19:05 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 06, 2016, 02:15:53 PM
Hey Valmy, what exactly do people mean when they say East Texas? I've heard Texicans crack on East Texas before, so I'm curious.
East Texas is where the culture most resembles that of the South. Also it is heavily wooded so it tends to look like it as well. It is also where most of our Cotton Plantations were back in the day. It is sometimes called 'Western Mississippi'.
Generally it is all the area north of Houston and east of I-35 corridor.
I was wondering, does Texas make good wine? There aren't any on sale over here, but looking at Wikipedia, it seems there's a growing wine industry over there.
Almost every state has a growing wine industry nowadays. According to Wikipedia, Texas is 4th among US states in wine production, behind California, New York, and Washington. (I would have bet that Virginia was 4th, because all the domestic wines I can remember ever seeing in stores were from either Cali, NY, Washington state, Virginia, or whatever state I happened to be in). While I've been to Texas, to my knowledge I've never tasted a Texas wine, but there are over 200 wineries there (again according to Wiki), so you'd think at least some of them are good.
North Carolina has a lot more wineries and wine production than West Virginia, but while there are some WV wines I've found quite good, so far I haven't tasted a NC wine that I like. OTOH, while I've tried wines from 8 or 9 of WVs 11 wineries, I've only tried about 6 NC wines out of over 100 wineries here.
And, yeah, by all means, lets derail this thread with a discussion of regional American wine-making. :)
Quote from: dps on July 06, 2016, 05:25:53 PM
And, yeah, by all means, lets derail this thread with a discussion of regional American wine-making. :)
very interesting. Do they export or is it just local production?
Looking at the
Société des Alcools du Québec, I see wines from California, Oregon, Washington, 4 from New York and 1 from Virginia. Too bad it's so costly to import, I would have tried some from NC :)
I have not found many American wines from outside of the West Coast and parts of NY that I've enjoyed. We have a local winery that people here rave about, but they only have a couple wines I would call drinkable.
Quote from: derspiess on July 06, 2016, 10:20:28 PM
I have not found many American wines from outside of the West Coast and parts of NY that I've enjoyed. We have a local winery that people here rave about, but they only have a couple wines I would call drinkable.
Idaho's Snake River Valley has heat and volcanic soils similar to Columbia Basin. Might want to try something from those areas.
I thought Arizona wines were all the rage with the wine fags these days, what with similarities to southern Italian productions and whatnot.
Quote from: viper37 on July 06, 2016, 05:02:17 PM
I was wondering, does Texas make good wine? There aren't any on sale over here, but looking at Wikipedia, it seems there's a growing wine industry over there.
We have a big winery tourism industry growing out in the Hill Country. I am going to be taking a trip there soon I will let you know what I think.
Yeah, there seem to be quite a few vineyards up there around Fredericksburg and Johnson City. I'm not a wine guy though, so I've never stopped anywhere and tried them out (or picked up any from HEB, which stocks a shitload of them, understandably).
Quote from: viper37 on July 06, 2016, 09:24:31 PM
Quote from: dps on July 06, 2016, 05:25:53 PM
And, yeah, by all means, lets derail this thread with a discussion of regional American wine-making. :)
very interesting. Do they export or is it just local production?
Looking at the Société des Alcools du Québec, I see wines from California, Oregon, Washington, 4 from New York and 1 from Virginia. Too bad it's so costly to import, I would have tried some from NC :)
I'm pretty sure that none of the WV wineries export anything out of the US, and I kind of doubt that any of the NC wineries do either. I checked some of the websites of some of the bigger wineries and none of them mention any exporting.
Shamelessly stolen from MSN.com, which stole it from USA Today, apparently:
QuoteTo celebrate the upcoming Rio Olympics and the latest advances in technology, NBC will be giving a few lucky viewers rotary phones and cathode ray tube TVs!
But you'd better hurry if you want to have a chance to win these high-tech marvels. Clip the entry form from this weekend's newspaper and send it to NBC along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Winners will be hand-selected at random and notified by mail!
I was thinking about this the other day.
Which recent Olympics were a success?
London I guess. Barcelona for sure. Otherwise?
Quote from: Tyr on July 15, 2016, 02:45:39 PM
I was thinking about this the other day.
Which recent Olympics were a success?
London I guess. Barcelona for sure. Otherwise?
Which ones would you consider failures? Taking a broad view Sochi and Athens certainly had problems, but the games themselves seemed to go well. Sydney, Beijing, Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver all seemed to me to be successes.
Quote from: Valmy on July 06, 2016, 11:06:08 PM
Quote from: viper37 on July 06, 2016, 05:02:17 PM
I was wondering, does Texas make good wine? There aren't any on sale over here, but looking at Wikipedia, it seems there's a growing wine industry over there.
We have a big winery tourism industry growing out in the Hill Country. I am going to be taking a trip there soon I will let you know what I think.
cool!
I just visited a winery south of Montreal, it was pretty nice with a decent white wine :)
Florida wines, I have found, are almost always sickeningly sweet. :yuk: There's a lot of tropical fruit wine produced down here (:yuk: again).
Michigan wines are similar to those of upstate New York or Southeastern Ontario; decent whites, okay reds. Michigan also produces its share of Ice Wine (:yuk: one more time.)
All's well in Rio. Should've gone with a foam extinguisher.
https://twitter.com/maxwellstrachan/status/753936365323186176
If Mass and NH can produce good wine then so can Alaska or Texas.
Quote from: viper37 on July 06, 2016, 05:02:17 PM
I was wondering, does Texas make good wine? There aren't any on sale over here, but looking at Wikipedia, it seems there's a growing wine industry over there.
Depends on the varietal. Hill Country Tempranillos tend to be good. Pinot noirs are a bit hit-or-miss, but there are a few good ones (e.g., Sister Creek). Some wineries like Pedernales have good red blends. The biggest problem is that many are overpriced for what you get. It's $15/bottle - $20/bottle wines being sold for $35/bottle - $45/bottle.
So Russia might get banned from the Olympics.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/36829318
(https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/NUjq6354zOornouTj2icGg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MDtpbD1wbGFuZQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/204fbcacc130bb074c0f6a706700eb6f.jpg)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the countries who voted for Bach won't care that he let's this one slide and keeps Russia in.
If Russia does get banned will they all start boycotting all the KFCs in Russia to protest?
Oh hell the Russians probably do that anyway.
Well, KFCs should be boycotted for healthy diet reasons anyways. :P
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on July 19, 2016, 08:26:07 AM
Well, KFCs should be boycotted for healthy diet reasons anyways. :P
What? It is just regular fried chicken. Not very good fried chicken but still.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36855244
QuoteA decision to ban Russian track and field athletes from Rio 2016 over the country's alleged state-sponsored doping regime has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(where's the "banned" smiley?)
Quote from: Valmy on July 19, 2016, 08:26:46 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on July 19, 2016, 08:26:07 AM
Well, KFCs should be boycotted for healthy diet reasons anyways. :P
What? It is just regular fried chicken. Not very good fried chicken but still.
Regular? More like bottom of the barrel or bucket. Or is it this Bleu commercial?
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.ou-dejeuner.com%2Fblog%2Farticle%2Fbon-plan-euro-2016-chez-kfc_3951.jpg&hash=cd3c719917fa583e3acc48680b41418315e47068)
Maybe they had one bucket before the final. That would explain their performance. :P
Quote from: Solmyr on July 21, 2016, 05:06:40 AM
http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36855244
QuoteA decision to ban Russian track and field athletes from Rio 2016 over the country's alleged state-sponsored doping regime has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(where's the "banned" smiley?)
:banned:
There's still room for appeal, but CAS rarely overturns itself.
IOC has to rule about banning Russia from the games outright in the few days, too.
The Olympics without Russia will not be as good. Hopefully they will be let in. Watching a doped up Russian team get beat will be fun.
We don't need some stinkin' Rooskies.
Quote from: Savonarola on July 15, 2016, 02:56:19 PM
Quote from: Tyr on July 15, 2016, 02:45:39 PM
I was thinking about this the other day.
Which recent Olympics were a success?
London I guess. Barcelona for sure. Otherwise?
Which ones would you consider failures? Taking a broad view Sochi and Athens certainly had problems, but the games themselves seemed to go well. Sydney, Beijing, Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver all seemed to me to be successes.
Athens was a complete disaster. Poster child for the Greek collapse.
I don't know enough of the situation in the other places really.
So you made a general statement without anecdotal evidence on your side?
The World Cup in Brazil doesn't seem like it went well. For Brazil anyway...in so many ways.
Quote from: Valmy on July 22, 2016, 07:41:02 AM
The World Cup in Brazil doesn't seem like it went well. For Brazil anyway...in so many ways.
The only things I really remember were the competitions. Which in my mind what makes for a successful organization of the games. Of course the major world memory is Brazil getting beat by Germany 7-1. :lol: