Rio Olympics: Terrorism Thoughts

[Abishai100]

Munich is a 2005 American -Canadian historical drama and political thriller film based on Operation Wrath of God, the Israeli government's secret retaliation against the Palestine Liberation Organization after the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics. The film was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth.

Based on the book Vengeance about Yuval Aviv, who states he was a Mossad agent, Munich follows a squad of assassins as they track down and kill alleged members of the group Black September, which had kidnapped and murdered eleven Israeli athletes (source of information from top: Wikipedia).

This August, the 31st Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The athletes and nations are excited, and Brazil's top-ranked men's volleyball team will be hoping to win a gold medal for their host nation.

Since 9/11, the world has been on eggshells regarding the threat of international terrorism.

The modern world is driven greatly by mercantilism-based networks (e.g., NATO, European Union, etc.).

Hollywood (USA) makes films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Insider, reflecting a new age consciousness about 'networking savvy.'

The world will be on guard for this summer's Olympics in Brazil, taking care to supervise traffic and ensure a smooth experience for fans and athletes. Terrorism will unfortunately be a keyword for the labouring security managers and 'globalization diplomats.'

There seem to be so many films about 'zany' derring-do acts of graffiti and 'bravado courage' --- e.g., men robbing banks dressed up as American presidents. It seems frighteningly realistic that a band of Middle Eastern terrorists dressed as clowns and armed with machine guns would find the motivation to storm the Rio Olympics in the name of frenzy, perhaps especially so because the Olympics receive great global television coverage in the modern age.

The question arises, therefore, "Has 9/11 effectively changed the way we look at traffic?"






Munich (Film)

 

[Abishai100]

Mad Scientist: Destiny?

In the popular Mega Man (Capcom) video game series, we find a diabolical fictional villain named Dr. Wily, an eerie and relentless old man who is something like a mad scientist.

Perhaps it was the advent of the Olympic Games in Greece that formally introduced humanity to the concept of controlled invitational competition, and perhaps today, illegal performance-enhancing steroids use has given sports the negative aura of 'mad science' and 'profiteerism.'

Maybe we can use a society art avatar such as Dr. Wily to understand 'contract culture' and the 'financing' of competitive sports.

 

[waltky]

Rio beset with problems...

‘Welcome to Hell,’ Rio police tell tourists
Wed, Jul 06, 2016 - Brazilian police protesting unpaid salaries and officers’ deaths on Monday once again welcomed travelers arriving at Rio de Janeiro airport with banners reading: “Welcome to Hell” a month before the Olympic Games.

The protest by more than 100 emergency services workers, including firefighters, took place in the arrival hall at Galeao International Airport, which will be a key entry point for the expected half a million tourists visiting the Games starting on Aug. 5. Officers held up a banner reading: “Welcome to hell. Police and firefighters don’t get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe.” Mannequins dressed in uniform were laid out on the floor to represent the more than 50 officers killed in Rio de Janeiro so far this year. A female officer with fake blood smeared on her face and hands clutched a mannequin dressed in a T-shirt reading: “SOS policia.” “We are here to show citizens and tourists from abroad the realities of Brazil,” veteran police officer Alexander Neto, 56, said. “They’ve been conned and we too have been conned. You have to understand there is no public security.”

Rio de Janeiro police began staging street protests, including one at the airport, last week, saying that they have not been fully paid for months as the state hovers on the brink of bankruptcy. An emergency federal bailout received last week started to be paid out on Monday, local news reports said, with the government beginning to meet delayed commitments to emergency services workers, teachers, hospital staff and prison administrators. Rio de Janeiro is set to become the first South American city in history to host the Olympics. However, there are growing fears about the ability of police to control crime during the Games. Murders in the first quarter of this year are up 15 percent on the same period last year.

Police officers and firefighters protest at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil​

Non-lethal crimes such as street robberies are also on the rise, highlighted by the hijacking on Friday last week of a truck carrying US$445,000 of television equipment to be used for Olympics coverage. David Cervantes, a Colombian tourist who came across the airport protest on his arrival in Rio de Janeiro, said he was shocked. “It’s not the best welcome we could get from Rio de Janeiro, which has the reputation of being such a wonderful city,” Cervantes said. “I’m not quite sure what to think.” Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes admits that crime has become a serious issue on the eve of the Olympics, but blames the security problems on the state, not the city government. “This is the most serious issue in Rio and the state is doing a terrible, horrible job,” Paes told CNN.

In addition to violence and the effects of a bruising recession, preparations for the Olympics have been plagued by Brazil’s political instability and a series of corruption scandals. Huge construction companies building stadiums and other Olympic infrastructure have been implicated in a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scheme centered on state oil company Petrobras. Now police are investigating the suspected embezzlement of subsidies for Brazilian athletes, O Globo television reported. The probe centers on deals signed by sports confederations and SB Marketing e Promocoes, a promotional company, the channel said in a report aired late on Sunday. The marketing firm was hired by the sports ministry to channel subsidies to fund athletes’ training, worth about US$9 million, it said.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Olympic Village opens...

New Zealand athlete 'kidnapped' by police in Rio
July 25, 2016 -- A New Zealand martial arts athlete said he was kidnapped Sunday at gunpoint by Rio de Janeiro military police and forced to withdraw about $800 from different ATMs around the city.

Jason Lee, a New Zealander who moved to Rio about a year ago, was pulled over, then forced into a police unit at gunpoint and warned by the officers not to report the incident, he said. They also were careful to try to avoid being seen. The incident comes as the Summer Olympics are set to begin in the city in less than two weeks.

Lee, who later reported the incident to a different branch of police, said "I don't think I've ever felt like I could possibly die," Lee said. "These guys have pulled me over, they have weapons. I'm not in any position to negotiate," Lee said. Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller said she felt quite safe within the Olympic village, but expressed her concern with Australian athletes arriving in just days. "Hearing that, that's not good news at all," she told 3AW.

New Zealand athlete 'kidnapped' by police in Rio

See also:

Olympic athletes welcomed with condoms, AC
Jul 24, 2016 - Some Olympians welcomed at athletes village Sunday

With a record number of condoms allocated and air conditioners in every bedroom, Rio's athletes village starts welcoming Olympians on Sunday. The new apartment towers built to house 11,000 athletes and 6,000 coaches during Rio's Games are being called basic, even austere. But when you step out on the balcony of one of the 3,604 apartments, the complex -- with its swimming pools, tennis courts and bike lanes -- looks downright five-star. "The athletes are going to have everything they could possibly wish for during the Games," said Paul Ramler, founder of RSG events, which has been supplying furniture for athletes' villages since Sydney 2000. "I've never seen anything like this during all my years at the Games."

Rio Olympics athletes village​

Local organizers describe the 31 17-story towers as a "city within a city" complete with a 24-hour cafeteria, beauty salon and florist. The rooms themselves are furnished with the basics: metal beds, bedside tables and disposable wardrobes made with recycled fabric. Ramler said the idea was to make the furniture sustainable but also inexpensive in keeping with Rio's bid to provide low-budget Games. The complex was built with private money and the developers are already looking for buyers post-Olympics. The main entrance is heavily guarded and equipped with metal detectors. Unlike in recent Games, there are no TVs in the apartments. Organizers did finally agree to install air conditioners in the bedrooms to allay fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus, despite the expected cool temperatures during the games, which fall during Rio's winter. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 5.

According to Ramler, the apartments are equipped with 13,000 toilet seats, 275,000 clothes hangers and 18,500 beds that can be extended in length for taller athletes. The spartan bathrooms sport plastic shower curtains and a single oval mirror, but no drawers or cupboards to store the 450,000 condoms that will be distributed to athletes -- equivalent to 42 per person. "I guess they're going stick those in the bedside tables," Ramler said.

Olympic athletes welcomed with condoms, AC

 

[waltky]

Olympic police officer shot in head after wrong turn into slum...

Olympic officer shot in head after wrong turn into slum
August 11, 2016 — A police officer was shot in the head after he and two others working security at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics got lost near a slum and encountered gunfire.

The officers from Brazil's national security force were using a GPS device to navigate unfamiliar streets Wednesday afternoon when they took a wrong turn off a highway leading to Rio's international airport. Their truck was sprayed with bullets, and officer Helio Vieira was shot. The Justice Ministry said Vieira was recovering after a four-hour surgery, and was in stable condition. The other officers suffered minor injuries when the windows of their vehicle shattered. Dozens of heavily armed commandos could be seen Thursday frisking residents and going house to house in the Mare complex of slums, one of Rio's most crime-ridden areas that is dominated by drug-trafficking gangs. Snipers took up positions on a nearby highway, as a low-flying police helicopter circled overhead. Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said two suspects had been identified but were not yet in custody. He denounced what he called a "cowardly attack."

The incident was the bloodiest of several that have marred the start of South America's first Olympic Games. On Tuesday, two windows were shattered on a bus carrying journalists from an Olympic venue in the impoverished Deodoro district. Rio organizers said the bus was hit by a rock, even though one passenger, who identified herself as a former American military officer, believed the cause to be gunfire. There were no serious injuries. The equestrian venue in Deodoro has had two brushes with stray gunfire since the games started. A bullet flew through the roof of a media tent there Saturday; officials said it had been fired from a hillside slum, and that the intended target was probably a security camera on a blimp. A second bullet hit Wednesday near the stables. Officials were adding more security at the venue.

Muggings have also been reported among Olympic athletes, officials and journalists. Pervasive violence is an everyday part of life in Rio. After declines in past years, homicides have spiked again as Brazil's worst recession in decades fuels violence and forces budget cuts. The number of homicides in the first five months of 2016 increased by 18 percent to 1,870 in greater Rio. Police killings are also on the rise, with the vast majority of victims black residents of impoverished slums that are fiefdoms of the city's many criminal gangs. More than 85,000 security forces — double the number present in London in 2012 — have been deployed to the city to keep thousands of Olympic athletes and an estimated 500,000 tourists safe.

Olympic officer shot in head after wrong turn into slum