Rockin' in Rio in 2016

[deja vu]

The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro. Finally, South America gets an Olympics. In a vote of high drama, the bustling Brazilian carnival city of beaches, mountains and samba beat surprise finalist Madrid, which got a big helping hand from a very influential friend.

Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the International Olympic Committee. President Barack Obama’s last-minute hop to Denmark didn’t swing the games Chicago’s way. He came, saw, charmed but did not conquer. Even Tokyo, which trailed throughout the tight race, did better — eliminated after Chicago in the second round. On Rio’s Copacabana beach, where the city will hold beach volleyball in 2016, the party was heading into the night. In Chicago, there was bewildered silence.


http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33138973/ ... ic_sports/


Michelle and Barack are not happy campers today. Guess Oprah isn't either. Their celebrity status didn't mean much. The taxpayers are losers in this as well, 70 million down the tubes for the failed bid.

[CielOnTap]

Tokyo Governor Ishihara must be disappointed but considering that Japan has held two Olympics, he cannot begrudge South America a chance to host the Games. Now we wait to see if Ishihara's prediction that the 2016 event will be the last one turns true.

[mousepad]

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who as a boy sold peanuts on the street, beat the world’s two richest nations for the 2016 Olympic Games. Now, he must defeat Rio de Janeiro’s violent crime, which residents call the biggest cloud over their city’s postcard-perfect bid. Lula will also have to push Rio, the sea-side city of Carnival and the 2007 Pan American games, to improve its transit system, renovate its crumbling airport and double its hotel space before it can host its largest international event ever. “The security problem is very serious,” said Carlos Langoni, a former central bank president and finance chief of the organizing committee for the World Cup 2014, which Brazil will host. “The city’s transportation infrastructure also needs major work but the government is committed and will tackle these issues.”

Rio is one of the most violent cities in the world, according to a ranking by Web site RealClearWorld. Home to about 7 million people, it recorded 2,069 murders last year compared with 510 in Chicago, a city of 2.8 million and a finalist contender for the games. The police commit one in five of the murders, according to the United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... 5.4nzd_66s


Major issues to over come and they desperately need to overhaul the police force. You don't want tourists calling for help and the cops that come
are as bad as the criminals. The clock has already started ticking, they have about 6 1/2 years to get their act together.

[smitty]

Well after the ball-ups we have had with the Summer games being in Montreal, Que., to the winter games in Calgary to what we have in the B.C. area one has to wonder where(??) will the games be held, to so much more not to mention will those in poverty still suffer more Rio not theat that countries does not have povery striken people, to violence & all the other criminal activities I am glad we do not have in Canada or USA.

Greece ran out of money & time to set up the buildings for summer games so substitues were slipped in.

Also at a world wide recession time like this I am amazed that any group of people could believe their part of the country was the ideal place & they could hold said games.

[CielOnTap]

'Too many Olympics bids'
Only Rome and Venice 'serious' says CONI chief Petrucci
28 October, 13:51

(ANSA) - Rome, October 28 - Italy is hurting its chances of landing the 2020 Olympics because too many cities are unveiling individual bids to host the event, the head of the Italian Olympic Committee (CIO) said Wednesday.

''Rome and Venice are the only serious bidders, all the rest is so much talk,'' Gianni Petrucci said.

After the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio on October 2, Rome and Venice immediately come forward and said they would like to host the following edition. http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2009/10/28/visualizza_new.html_991465682.html

[deja vu]

Brazil has recently generated positive headlines with its 2016 Olympic bid victory, as well as its increased economic and political visibility.

Based on current economic trends, it could be one of the world’s five biggest economies — along with China, the United States, India and Japan — by the middle of this century, according to The Economist. Yet, the evidence of progress has been marred by the nation’s troubling crime statistics — and reports of unlawful methods employed by the security forces.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34324717/ns ... -americas/


This may be their biggest problem. Over zealous police and also the large number of poor and homeless. A taste of things to come.

[CielOnTap]

Social and security issues in the poor areas of Rio are getting magnified in advance of sporting events to be hosted by Brazil. Read on as to how the neighbourhoods face routines not unlike Haiti's capital.

Rio de Janeiro: Control of the Poor Seen as Crucial for the Olympics
Raúl Zibechi | January 18, 2010

Translated from: Rio de Janeiro: control de los pobres para el negocio Olímpico
Translated by: Isabella Weibrecht

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP) americas.irc-online.org


A favela in Rio de Janeiro.

The prospect of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 followed by the Olympic Games in 2016 has reignited the debate about public security in a country where there is an undeclared war taking place in the favelas between the military police, paramilitary groups, and drug traffickers, but where the principal victims are the poor.

"The day to day reality that Rio police confront in the favelas is very similar to that which NATO troops face in Afghanistan," says Kaiser Konrad, director of Defesanet, a magazine specializing in military issues.1 He goes on to say that Rio is one of the most complex theaters of war in the world, in part due to its diverse geographical terrains such as jungle and mountain ranges. "The danger encountered by a Western soldier patrolling certain parts of Kabul is the same as that encountered by a soldier or policeman called into one of Rio's hot spots," he concludes.

In the favelas, the drug traffickers have dug out ditches and built barricades with large cement blocks or boulders in order to prevent the progress of the "caveirao," an armored vehicle the size of a bus which is used by the military police when they enter the favelas. The same tactics are reproduced in the poor areas in Haiti, where the Brazilian military is in charge of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). There, as in Rio, the military police have to use diggers to first clear the streets, a form of "combat engineering" to overcome a logistical problem pioneered in Brazil.http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6656

A serious problem of insufficient services for the poor, having to deal with gangs and quasi-authority figures, leads to major stress for the Brazilian residents living in the hills. Where is the respect for others, especially from leaders who might also be seen attending places of worship? People in glass houses throwing stones can expect splinters or worse.

[deja vu]

SAO PAULO—The creators of the 2016 Rio Olympics logo have dismissed any claims of plagiarism, saying any similarities to one from a United States foundation is a coincidence.

The creators made the denial after Brazilian media noted similarities with the logo of the Telluride Foundation based in Colorado.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/ ... plagiarism

Here are the 2 logos, what do you think? Personally I don't see the problem, I think they are making too much of this issue, and the publicity for the Telluride foundation helps bring their work to the public attention.

Telluride:




Olympic Logo:

[pretzels]

The Telluride humanoids are dancing to a heart shape and the Rio humanoids are rocking and rolling their inner rhythmic gymnast. They share similar colors but not shapes. Will rings come out in the Rio logo? Can wear the rings on three fingers or one or two.

Matisse may have been the inspiration but whatever. The colors and shapes differentiate the two logos.

[CielOnTap]

Not connected with the games, this art project by a Dutch duo makes the homes in poor communities the canvas of large scale art paintings. Youth in the area get 30 days of work and a certificate. See the video to view past completed projects. Community members have expressed interest in one style to be applied to their homes.

Rather uplifting story about the favelas. Last time we posted a story about Brazil's favelas, it was about the police and drug gangs doing battle in the streets of favelas. Even the art video link shows some footage of such an exchange.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/dutch-duo-beautifies-rio-slums-murals-175445268.html