Rio De Janerio Becomes First South American City To Host Olympic Games
South America will host the Summer Olympic Games for the first time in 2016, as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil was awarded the honor on Friday. Rio beat out the US choice of Chicago, Illinois along with Tokyo, Japan and Madrid, Spain to earn the right to host the games. Despite a high pressure effort from the American power elite–including President Barack Obama and TV gabfest queen Oprah Winfrey–Chicago was the first city eliminated from contention.
Bookmakers offered odds on the host city choice, with Rio listed as second favorite at +200. Chicago had been the wagering favorite at most books, particularly after President Obama got involved personally in the US bid effort. Chicago was bet as high as a -300 favorite, while Madrid and Tokyo were priced in the +250 range. Some suggest that Tokyo didnt deserve to have such short odds, but was the beneficiary of regional pride from the notoriously enthusiastic betting population of Japan.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, got the better of his US counterpart with a passionate speech that stood in marked contrast to Obamas typically baleful collection of talking points. The Brazilian leader stressed the unfairness that South America had never hosted the games in his speech to the committee;
“It is a time to address this imbalance. It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country.”
The Olympic committee was apparently swayed by this presentation and paid no mind to Rios many downsides. It is without a doubt the most dangerous of the finalist cities, where drug cartels and armed bands of thugs roam without impunity. Well do to Rio citizens are used to removing watches and jewelry before they drive anywhere lest they be targeted by carjacking brigands. Rios murder rate is also one of the highest in the world. Brazilian bid officials have stressed that security will be a priority at the games and it better be lest the Olympics turn into a bloodbath.
Some IOC members suggested that the summary dismissal of Chicagos bid was more of a rebuke of the notoriously corrupt USOC. The last two Olympics held in the US were tainted by crime and corruption. The’96 Atlanta Olympics were disrupted by a terrorist bombing, while the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games were marred by a well known bribery and corruption scandal. Some suggested that US President Obama’s quick and perfunctory visit was taken as more of an insult by the delegates than anything else.
Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
Gaelic Language – Language Of The Scots
In the Tenth and eleventh centuries Scots Gaelic had been at its most widely used as a language where a lot of people who resided in Scotland spoke the language. Nowadays there is actually only about 1.6% who are able to speak Gaelic. The majority of pro- Gaelic speakers might state that this had been the strategy of the English – in order to free the British Isles of its Gaelic language and substitute it by the English language. However there are many of causes of the decrease of Gaelic as a language.
First, by about 1400 the differences between the Highlands and the Lowlands was definitely acknowledged. A scholarly man known as John of Fordun had this to note regarding the distinctions between the highlanders and the lowlanders in 1380:
“The people from the coastal areas tend to be of domestic and civilised conduct, trusty, patient, urbane, reputable in their dress, likeable, as well as quiet, devout in Divine worship, yet continually ready to deny a wrong doing at the hands of their opponents. The highlanders and also people from the islands, in comparison, are a savage and untamed land and peoples, rude and obnoxious and self-sufficient, given to rapine, ease-loving, wise as well as quick to master, comely in person, yet unappealing in apparel, inhospitable to the English men and women too and are also known to be very aggresive in nature. These types of individuals tend to be nonetheless faithful and obedient to their personal king and country, and very easy and quick to submit to regulations, if suitably ruled”.
Therefore it may be asserted that the key reason for the decrease in the Gaelic language was because of the great divide among the varying areas of Scotland. And by the sixteenth century the divergence concerning both was at a record high because of in the main, historical reasons and a diverse language being spoken. James VI had two major concepts for his Highland policy – one being methods to make profits and the other was for it being useful for plantation. He considered that the highlanders and especially the islanders were not paying their own reasonable taxation and he wished to alter this.
In 1597 he set up three burghs in the Highlands with the intent of allowing a number of the lowlanders to rule. With the strengthening Campbell clan and the dislike for the lowlanders of the Highlanders and the Islanders, more disruption was to follow. It was costing the King more money than he cared to spend.
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