The Olympics in Brazil have already been an unmitigated disaster and the first race is weeks off. Despite warnings about the environmental and political conditions in Rio De Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee (which has distinguished itself for a long litany of moronic decisions) refused to yield to such warnings. Now, athletes, commentators, and fans are staying away of the country in fear of crime, pollution, and disease. The country is in financial and political chaos as the country still has not fulfilled many of its commitments. For all those reasons, the organizers must have been relieved to finally hold the Olympic torch ceremony in Manaus, but then were left reeling from another disaster. The organizers brought out a chained jaguar named Juma as a backdrop for the photoshoot. Once it was over, police used tranquilizers on the jaguar after it broke loose from its handlers. A soldier then killed it when it continued to move toward him.
A yellow jaguar known as Ginga is the mascot of the Brazilian Olympic team.
The event was held at a military training center. The local organizers apologized and said “We made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal. This image goes against our beliefs and our values. We guarantee that there will be no more such incidents at Rio 2016.”
Hopefully, changing the use of wild animals is one promise that the committee could keep. Now they just need to deal with the dangerous pathogens and bacteria in the water, riots in the streets, and uncompleted buildings.
By the way, the jaguar is a nearly threatened species and the use of Juma at the event was illegal. Welcome to the Rio games.
randyjet- do you mean that we overpay for government services which under-deliver? Welcome to the club of fiscal conservatism! Your T-shirt is in the mail. The cost of permits and licensing is outrageous, too! And a lot of the time, the permits don’t actually do anything for the people. There’s no safety inspection or special training. It’s just another fee. Fiscal conservatives want common sense to guide costs and regulations, which is really hard for an unaccountable bureaucrat to do.
The old Soviet bloc couldn’t charge a lot because they were socialist, so everyone was equally poor waiting for stale government bread.
The cost of a visa is WAY out of line. Last time I checked it was over $150. THAT is outrageous and even the old Soviet bloc did not charge that much.
Paul, Rio beat out Chicago. Now, the Olympics are all about graft and kickbacks. So, imagine how corrupt Rio must be to have beaten Chicago in the competition.
They have plowed their country into the ground. And yet, a lot of people want to emulate this model here. Their own leaders warn of imminent total financial collapse. Boggles the mind…
http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-economic-woes-deepen-amid-political-crisis-1458946356
Nick – I think they have already reached your condition you described. And it is only going to get worse.
Anyone else thinking these Olympics are going to be a cluster coitus?
So they had to kill the jaguar in order to save it. Gee, where did I hear that before?
The Olympics became a fraudulent revenue generator when NBA players were allowed to compete.
I think Brazil needs all the attention they can get right now. If anyone’s interested The Intercept has some great coverage on the real live Coup that almost went off and what’s happening since.
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/23/new-political-earthquake-in-brazil-is-it-now-time-for-media-outlets-to-call-this-a-coup/
I’ll be pleasantly surprised…no…shocked is the correct word, to read a post from Doglover that isn’t hateful of the United States.
Just as in Disneyworld in the US a two year old is eaten by an Alligator and mass murder occurs a few miles away, some locations in Brazil are also dangerous. Many places in Brazil are far more safe than many places in the US. Brazil is beautiful, with pleasant climate, kind and generous people, spectacular restaurants, parks, infrastructure and traffic control very similar or better than in the US. Don’t believe the horror stories about countries that some in US policy centers hope to dominate and exploit. Visit Brazil for yourself. You will be pleasantly surprised.
This was reported by Anthropologist, Dr. Glenn Shepard in Brazil on Twitter June 20.
Then re-tweeted to Ethnobotanist, Dr. Mark Plotkin, CEO of ACT, Amazon Conservation Team. HQ is in Wash. DC.
Scroll down to the 4th tweet.
https://twitter.com/docmarkplotkin
As a former Mssouri Tiger I am appalled.