MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Despite all odds, Rio “the marvelous city” earned its Olympian record
Rio do Janeiro is the marvelous city, the heart of Brazil, are the lyrics of the song which identifies the sublime and the misery of Latin America's biggest country with the largest economy. This Sunday ended the almost three weeks 31st Summer Olympics hosted for the first time by a non developed country, and contrary to fears and uncertainties ended as a complete success, winning the hearts of all those who shared the Rio Games. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesThe English of Mercopress as always are mistaken. There was never the slightest probability of failure of the Olympic Games. Who said that it would be a failure were you English.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 11:49 am - Link - Report abuse 0And only you. The BRICS and the rest of the free world never had any doubt that would be brilliant games.
I wonder how long it will be before all the open water sports participants start developing illnesses?
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 12:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0From green pools, dodgy referees, floating body parts and terrible food; all can be forgiven.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 12:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0However what is unforgiveable is that Brazil spent so much effort and treasure on preparing for the games and then didn't bother turning up to see them. If you can't fill your Olympic stadium to see Usain Bolt complete his sprinting trilogy then the games should be elsewhere.
We've got the Paralympics to come and I fear half the teams won't be there due to the funding shortfall and the stadiums will be empty.
“Olympics hosted for the first time by a non developed country”
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 01:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Erm..... Athens 1896, Toyko 1964, Mexico City 1968, Moscow 1980, Seoul 1988, Beijing 2008!
Not the first time a non-developed country has hosted. People have very short memories.
Rio won't be particularly memorable in the history of the games.
It has been a huge success for the GB team and for that it will be memorable for us. :)
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 01:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It will be interesting to see the statistics in the long term. Were the local people priced out of the games? (If so, shame on the organisers)? Were they so fearful of a terrorist attack they were overcautious? (I don't think it was ever a high risk target). Were they expecting far more tourists who were scared off by all the negative stories prior to the games? (I think so and that too is a shame)
I would like to know the true level of crime against people attending the games. Was it just typical for tourists in Brazil? Probably safer. And the Zika effect was surely a factor.
Should the games have been awarded to Brazil is still questionable. The local people will benefit from the new infrastructure that they were banned from using during the games so that is a plus. But the money could surely have been better spent.
Interestingly the Argentines were voted the best fans of the whole games. It is interesting because TTT always claimed that no one in the whole of Argentina care about the Olympics.
I thought the games were extremely good and not just because Team GB performed so well. Rio did provide a magical backdrop for so many of the sporting events. It must be one of the most beautifully situated cities anywhere in the world. I think the biggest disappointment was the small number of spectators turning up to many of the events. Can anyone tell me how expensive the tickets were? I remember them being pretty pricey in London.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 02:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Tickets varied from 40 BRL to 1,200 BRL for the events and up to 4,600 BRL for the opening ceremony.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 02:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@Brasiliero
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 03:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In fact the BBC was constantly talking Rio up against all evidence to the contrary. The athletes were warned not to go out at night and one that did risk it was mugged. The athletes competed in front of half-empty stadia even for the big events and the free street events were as poorly attended as the ticketed ones. A French athlete was booed on the podium and reduced to tears. The opening ceremony was as bad as Athens' and the first hour of the closing ceremony was awful. It was like Brazil didn't really want the games after all and were just trying to get through them. Meanwhile everyone else was expected to be diplomatic and understanding or face being accused of being racist/imperialist/arrogant etc. The BBC couldn't have been more positive but there is no sense in which the games could be called “brilliant”. They weren't in the same league as Sydney, Beijing or London so if you consider success to be ranking close to but below Athens then well done - you succeeded. Meanwhile Tokyo 2020 will most likely be far superior and Rio will be best remembered best as an example of why developing nations should not host the Olympics. In fact there was even a discussion about whether the Olympics should always be hosted in Athens with the international community paying. Do you think that discussion would have arisen if Rio had been a success?
And as for the Paralympics.....
@6 I agree the backdrop of Rio was incredible. Remember the road cycling?
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 04:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@8 Did only one GB athlete venture out? One was mugged but I thought more went out. The environment in the village was not great; as one of our team put it 'It was very Latin - not much organisation'.
True the opening and closing ceremonies were poor but they had to par it down to what they should afford given the current economy and I would rather they did that.
I thought the BBC did a terrific job with the coverage and positive spin they put on the whole games. The constant booing by the crowd was rotten - it wasn't just the French athlete - and I can't recall that being a feature of other games.
The Paralympics were at risk of not going ahead but emergency funds have ensured it will happen. Great news. The 2012 Paralympics were incredible.
Personally I think there should be five permanent rotating Olympic venues in different continents.
I don't think Australia would want to pay and host the Olympics every 20 years as the only single nation continent.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Let's not forget about USA's Ryan Lochte's alleged robbery at a gas station that resulted to be a scuffle with security people over a damaged bathroom door.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 06:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The story initially seemed to justify Rio's street violence--it ended up being a fabrication by an athlete attempting to cover up his own misbehaviour.
Olympic Pool Tokyo 2020:
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 06:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No Running.
No Bombing.
No Heavy Petting.
No lying about being robbed at gun point.
And no green water!
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 06:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@10 If there were four or five rotating venues I would imagine the funding would be entirely different and not the burden of one country. For a start there would be not be the millions spent bribing in the bidding process.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 06:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@1 Brasshole
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 07:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“There was never the slightest probability of failure of the Olympic Games. ”
Wow, after hybernating through winter , is your small peanut-sized brain still asleep ? The Brazilian Olympic Commitee , as well as the Mayor of Rio, were crapping their pants before the games started......a lot of things were still unfinished , not to mention the quality water in the Bay of Guanabara and the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, both full of sewage. But of course, if you exclude all the problems, the rest went quite well.
As to the Ryan Lochte episode, quite lamentable - but he will pay the price for being such an asshole. On the other hand, his blaming it on Rio's street crime, goes to show he was pretty well informed about the daily reality of the Cariocas.
Quique....Lochte is an asshole and an exemplary malcontent. He was that way long before reaching Rio. The US Swimming body is about to put a hurting on his career, albeit meaningless at his age, but at least he can't coach.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 07:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But it that standout on the Americans for you over Ledecky's half pool length ass kicking in the 800 m freestyle, what more can be said about you?
Despite the robberies here and there and in the athletes building by the janitors, I thought they went rather well. I enjoyed them here and there.
The Olympic games are over,
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 08:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0a vast majority enjoyed themselves,
Team GB won over 60 medals, so we can be proud of that,
many other countries can be proud of what they achieved,
Yes their was some upsets , but overall a good games,
Next stop japan and lets see if we can better Rio 16,
in the meantime , world championships , commonwealth games,
The sport has improved over the last 20 odd years,
Lets look to the future.
just my opinion.
I think the biggest problem is going to keep these stadia going as we all know that Brazil is almost all supporters of football, hardly any other sport was supported as much as the football.So most of the venues will fall into disrepair in a very short time.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@18 That is not a problem unique to Brazil.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 08:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do we know what is going to happen to the athlete's village? I hope it is a similar scheme to London where it is part private and part social housing. They certainly need some.
Lack of funds & additional financial burdening of the Brazilians not a “news” - it is just the beginning.
Aug 22nd, 2016 - 09:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Watch the end:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3730579/As-Rio-Olympics-kicks-eerie-photographs-reveal-derelict-sites-past-games.html
http://en.mercopress.com/2016/08/22/despite-all-odds-rio-the-marvelous-city-earned-its-olympian-record#comment447194: I heard from an attorney that if the events that apparently occurred in Rio happened in the US then it would be considered a robbery. It sounds to me like more than one crime was committed on that night at that gas station.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 01:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0@21
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 06:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0But they weren't in the US, they were in Brazil. And the security guards were probably trying to do the swimmers a favour by NOT involving the police and the USOC by sorting it out at a low level and not escalating it.
But if these swimmers had damaged a gas station in the US they would certainly have been arrested...no chance to just pay for the damages and put it behind them.
Lets face it they were drunk (which is no excuse for people's behaviour), they committed criminal damage then attempted to flee the scene, they were then stopped by security guards and told to pay for the damages.
Lets face it, if they'd done that in the US, the police WOULD definitely have arrested them and probably charged them with being drunk and disorderly, criminal damage and resisting arrest (by trying to run away). They would then have spent at least 1 night in jail, followed by a highly publicised court appearance, and could have even landed with a custodial sentence.
It is the actions of these swimmers that were criminal NOT the security guards. Then to add insult to injury (and no doubt to avoid being in trouble with the USOC) they came up with a fabricated story about being robbed, which they weren't.
As for the Olympic Games themselves, I enjoyed them. I think Rio pulled it off. Yes there were problems, but EVERY Olympic Games has had its own problems in the past.
My main criticism is the fact that the Rio Olympic & Paralympic committee appears to have embezzled funds from the Paralympics and funnelled it into the Olympics.
In other words they had NO emergency funds for repairs (such as the pool), but maybe that was down to the poor ticket sales. I don't know.
As for the booing of athletes, it wasn't only Brazilian fans who did that. In the women's hockey final the Dutch fans booed the British hockey player as she took the penalty awarded GB in the penalty shootout. It didn't stop her scoring though. :)
While Lochte was behaving like an idiot was the security guard really asking him for cash to repair the damage? He only coughed up $30 (from memory) and it seemed more like a bribe to keep quiet about it.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 07:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0@23 He is paying a heavy price with possible sanctions from the governing body plus his sponsors are dropping him; four so far. The guy was stupid and drunk. Ugh.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 10:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0It got me thinking how people behave when they are away from home. It is like they think no one can see them and they can do whatever. I have seen some shocking behaviour from Brits abroad over the years and tend to avoid the tourists and ex-pat communities wherever I can.
I learned the hard way and early on in my military career to behave better than when I am off US soil. However, not everyone does. Even when I travel with my wife, we have a standing joke of trying to spot the “Ugly American”. He's easy to spot, usually the one ranting...“WTF!....don't they understand English!” I hate to stereotype, but I really have to say that I find the Asians, Chinese in particular, the rudest, crudest and most self orientated tourist I have every seen in my life. And their soldiers....total EGOs. I look to to the day of that encounter to temper their swelled head.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 04:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Brazil will be returned to Portugal in the next 25 years.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 04:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A lot of Chinese tourist are apparently yokel peasant farmers sent on foreign jaunts by their rich kids. They have no idea how to act with any respect for others especially hated 'foreigners'
@27 I have come across some Chinese tourists but for me the trophy for Rudeness Abroad goes to Russian tourists. Come to think of it, they get the trophy for Rudeness at Home too.
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 06:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#24
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 07:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Like you, I have cringed at the drunken behaviour of many British holidaymakers. I cannot understand why they carry on this way and think it is OK to do so. Mandatory jail sentences and/or heavy fines should be applied.
I avoided the popular tourist resorts in Crete, Cyprus and the eastern Med. and traveled by 4 x 4 into the mountain regions and other remoter areas meeting the locals who did not come into much contact with tourists. I spent money in the small restaurants and hopefully left a good impression of the British although I had to disabuse them of calling me English !
I remember in one small mountain village in Crete -in 1994- we had stones thrown at our jeep when they thought we were Germans. When I told them in halting Greek that we were Scottish, the atmosphere changed completely. We were wined and dined. It turned out that during the invasion of Crete some Scottish soldiers had fought alongside some Cretans to defend their village.
I would not be surprised if they had started throwing stones at Germans again with the austerity measures imposed on them..
Back to the subject. These swimmers were acting like boozed up yobs and were lucky to get away without jail sentences. However they must be ruing their actions now as it has financially hit their pockets.
@ 28 Clyde15
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 07:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“hopefully left a good impression of the British although I had to disabuse them of calling me English !”
Did you not recently state that your surgeon son was English?
Was he old enough then to realize you had denigrated his birthright and how did you 'square' that for him?
@29 ChrisR
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 08:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What, explaining that he's actually Scottish is denigrating the English now? What's he supposed to do, lie about it?
Anyway, what do you think about the swimmers now they've admitted they were lying about the robbery?
@19 Elaine B
Aug 23rd, 2016 - 08:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Do we know what is going to happen to the athlete's village?”
Your question has already been answered, asper my #3 under headline “As Olympic opening day approaches.....”....see below :
Aug 04th, 2016 - 06:06 pm
“@2 ElaineB
The Olympic village consists of 31 highrises, with a total of 3600 apartments. The construction company in charge of the project has admitted that the crisis has affected the sale of the apartments, as so far they have sold only 5% of the total. By the prices they are asking , doesn't look like they will be used for 'social housing' ; the privileged location - at least as far as the 'cariocas' are concerned - translates into R$ 650,000.00 for the more 'modest' apartments, of 78 square metres, and R$ 4 million for the 450 sq.mt. rooftop flats.”
http://en.mercopress.com/2016/08/22/despite-all-odds-rio-the-marvelous-city-earned-its-olympian-record#comment447228: And, it appears, some Brazilian attorneys believe that a robbery occurred: http://en.mercopress.com/2016/08/22/despite-all-odds-rio-the-marvelous-city-earned-its-olympian-record#comment447228:
Aug 24th, 2016 - 12:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0#29
Aug 24th, 2016 - 11:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0The “English” in a supercilious manner use the term England for the UK when they mean Gt. Britain and N.Ireland. Just listen to the BBC or even history programs.
It's the English navy POST 1707, the Battle of Britain was won by the English airforce. The English army gained victory at Waterloo. I don't believe the “English” mean anything by it BUT it seems to have been pounded into them at school level that England and Britain are synonymous.
As for my son-in-law, he was borne in Coventry of English parents who moved to Scotland when he was about 6. He is English by birth but identifies with Scotland but not in any nationalistic way .
If I had been asked if I was British, I would have said yes but they asked if I was English then I had to answer truthfully....NO.
I was also asked quite frequently by Germans if I was GERMAN and answered British to be followed by “from where” ....the obvious answer being Scottish.
I even fooled some Germans who asked for directions..again in Crete. To my amazement I directed them to where they wanted to go..IN GERMAN. By their reaction, they thought I was German. Where I dredged up the answer I don't know.
A combination of two years study at school and watching a plethora of WW2 films in the early 50's is the probable answer. I can still read French to a reasonable level and have a basic halting conversation. A little bit of Spanish gleaned from phrase books with a background of “Speedy Gonzales” and cowboy films set on the Mexican border. Turkish and Greek are purely phrase book to enable to order a meal, buy fuel and ask directions.
So, back to your point. If you were asked if you were Scottish, would you say YES or British or English. I would lay money that you would say English, and rightly so.
Probably you object to disabuse. I meant it as correcting a wrong assumption and nothing stronger than that.
@ 33 Clyde15
Aug 24th, 2016 - 01:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Excellent reply, thank you.
I had thought you posted the surgeon was your son (understandably - we do not differentiate with our daughter in law) and it was that that 'threw' me.
When I am asked in Uruguay where I come from I have to reply England (Inglaterra) because they do not have a concept of British / Britain. Before I came here I always said 'I'm a Brit' but the idiot Sturgeon has really made we question whether I was on my own, so to speak.
I know I wind you up occasionally about the head-bangers of Glasgow, etc. but I must admit to a fondness for Edinburgh, Inverness and Thurso where much of my company business in Scotland was conducted. :o)
@31 Thanks, I didn't see that before.
Aug 24th, 2016 - 01:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You know, it took a while for the properties to be converted and sold in London but I think they are 90% leased/rented now. Part of the reason they won the bid was to regenerate a pretty run down area of London and provide much needed social housing. Now it has great transport connections to the centre of London, a new shopping mall, restaurants and sports facilities. It is popular. And it was only phase one of the regeneration. Now more land is being developed for much needed housing. Quite a success story.
Shame about Rio not taking an opportunity to do something similar but I guess the gap is much wider between the haves and have nots. And the financial burden should have benefitted more than just the wealthy.
@28 I rarely visit tourist areas and sit well with the local communities. In SoAm they do call us English rather than Brits but I am English so it doesn't matter too much - maybe a little in Argentina in some places. :)
If I am honest I find the majority of English tourists I do come into contact with as boring. Always whining and complaining about something and often with a towering sense of entitlement. They are guests in a foreign country and should behave with respect.
@35 ElaineB
Aug 24th, 2016 - 08:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yr “@31 Thanks, I didn't see that before.”.....don't mention it.
Adding to your (and previous) comments on how one is called or identified -British, English or Scottish - to most Brazilians, and depending on the level of intellect with whom you are speaking, I found that the term “British” can be kind of vague ; I'm sure that when I used to say “Britânico” they didn't fully understand what it implied, so I started to use “Inglês”(English) , which immediately rang a bell in their heads.
@5
Aug 25th, 2016 - 01:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We don't care about the Olympics. You can't get it through your thick skull apparently.
The so-called great fans just went because the whole thing was a novelty. This is like saying “well, in 1994 the World Cup in the USA the stadiums were filled, and majority WERE Americans, so they must love the world cup”. Nonsense, it was just a novelty.
And of course if there is an Argentine team on the field we will support them. That happens at any event, and almost all are not called “Olympics”, so your theory again is debunked.
We don't care about 95% of the sports played in the Olympics, why can't you accept not everyone has to like what First Worlders like? Why does the UK drive on the left?
@4
You forgot Melbourne 1956 or are you going to tel us Ozzer was a developed country then? What a laugh.
@37 Hahaha Who is 'we'? The voices in your head?
Aug 25th, 2016 - 03:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Argentines would not have spent so much travelling to something they didn't care about. Unless you are claiming all Argentines are thick. Of course they are not. They enjoyed the games and you are not speaking for all Argentines, only yourself.
@39
Aug 25th, 2016 - 03:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What part of novelty do you fail to grasp?
American Football games in London...
Once a year, novelty, stadium fills.
16 times a year? It was tried some years back and failed miserably. People don't like it or were not interested beyond the one-off experience to see what it was like.
@39
Aug 25th, 2016 - 06:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But Capi, the Olympics is always a novelty. If it's held in your country or a nearby one it probably won't be again in your lifetime.
'First Worlders' don't follow all those different sports normally either, obviously. They are popular in different countries and with different groups of people.
I saw some fans with Argentina flags in the TV coverage, they were some of the most enthusiastic.
@37 Trolley
Aug 25th, 2016 - 09:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“We don't care about 95% of the sports played in the Olympics, why can't you accept not everyone has to like what First Worlders like? Why does the UK drive on the left? ”
You haven't changed one bit...which means you continue to disdain what you can't have. Whether you like it or not, loads of your better-off countrymen went to the stadiums to cheer for the Argentine soccer and rugby teams.....but they got nowhere. I suppose you didn't cheer for them, did you ? but then that's your right, no one forced you to, in the same manner that no-one is trying to push down your throat what you presumably believe the “First Worlders” like ....what a twat you are. And neither is the UK trying to make anyone drive on the left, but that shouldn't even be a problem to you, because , besides not knowing how to drive, you've never been to the UK.
And the facilities built for the Olympics will serve the Cariocas for generations to come: https://twitter.com/domphillips/status/766629285041934336
Aug 26th, 2016 - 12:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0Maybe some day foreigners will speak about Argentina after they had made the least of effort to actually know a thing or two.
Aug 26th, 2016 - 02:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0In the way EUians and NorthAmoans use alcohol to distend their normally stolid countenances, Argentines use sporting events.
Binge drinking and getting drunk are extremely frowned upon behavior here. There is no such custom as there is Firstworldland to get intoxicated as a means to loosen. Here it is sporting events, that is where behavior can be excused as long as you are cheering on.
Toby the tit, Nostrils, Off the Trolley. How can you possibly say what Argentinians are saying when you dont live there. The way you speak, your phrasing, and the lack of American spelling makes it clear to everybody where you actually are. You have no knowledge of Mendoza. The only thing that is clear is tbat you are seriously off your trolley with a strong sense of inferiority regarding Europe and America. Shut up…
Aug 26th, 2016 - 01:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“the marvelous city” earned its Olympian record:
Aug 26th, 2016 - 01:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do these records also include:
- Record spending?
- Record losses?
- Record stealing?
- Record money laundering?
@42 Hippy
Aug 27th, 2016 - 05:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“And the facilities built for the Olympics will serve the Cariocas for generations to come”......
D'you really believe that ? if the deteriorated condition of many of the sporting facilities of the Pan American Games, held in Rio in 2007, aren't sufficient evidence as to what will most likely occur with those built for the 2016 Olympic Games, you are even more naive than you sound.
Acclamation is not universal: http://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=32322
Aug 28th, 2016 - 03:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0@ 33 The “English” in a supercilious manner use the term England for the UK when they mean Gt. Britain and N.Ireland. Just listen to the BBC or even history programs.
Aug 28th, 2016 - 04:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It's the English navy POST 1707, the Battle of Britain was won by the English airforce. The English army gained victory at Waterloo. I don't believe the “English” mean anything by it BUT it seems to have been pounded into them at school level that England and Britain are synonymous.
Simply not true Clyde, I have never heard an englishman refer to the “english airforce” any englishman knows it as the RAF. Similarly the only time I heard english army referenced at school concerned 1066 etc. The same applies to Waterloo where I believe WE also had some help from the Prussians.
I have heard Americans use the term English when they mean British but that is hardly the fault of the english.
#48
Aug 28th, 2016 - 05:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well, our experiences differ. Yes everyone in the UK refers to the RAF but not necessarily historians. For decades I have been watching programs on the military and reading books and magazines on the same and have come across many instances of English armed forces being used instead of the British.
I am convinced that they do not realise they are saying it but it is just a mindset to use England as a synonym.
“The same applies to Waterloo” It may be you phrased this ambiguously but that read the “English” army if you read the prior sentence. The army consisted of English, Irish, Scots and presumably Welsh
The Queen is often referred to as the Queen of England when in the context of the discussion they are talking about the UK as a whole. The Americans are also the chief culprits in this as they are never corrected by the interviewer.
So, I have to disagree with you .
Clyde
Aug 28th, 2016 - 07:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I deliberately capitalised the “we” to emphasise inclusion.
My Great Grand Father served in the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in WW1. He was born, lived & died in Cowley in England. An Englishman, in a Scottish regiment in the British army. I am sure it works the other way too.
The RAF during the Battle of Britain comprised every flavour of Brit as well as Poles, Czecs, Yanks, Canadians, Aussies & Keith Park himself was a Kiwi
The Queen of England I'll cede, although that may have something to do with Mary Queen of Scotts............moving swiftly on :-)
http://en.mercopress.com/2016/08/22/despite-all-odds-rio-the-marvelous-city-earned-its-olympian-record#comment447761: And it now appears that RJ state is going to formally declare bankruptcy.
Aug 29th, 2016 - 12:49 am - Link - Report abuse 0#50
Aug 29th, 2016 - 11:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0We both have different experiences.
I have had English colleagues who were compulsory transferred to Scotland and came here screaming and kicking. They told me that since their arrival they had noticed England and English being used when it was the UK that was being discussed. It was an eye opener to them. They had not been aware of this until they came here.
As a by note, none of them wanted to transfer back south and had become vociferously more Scottish than me.
As I am obviously older than you I can remember this was prevalent in the 1950's and in a lesser degree as the decades rolled on.
There is nothing more I can say on the subject.
@ 52 Clyde
Aug 29th, 2016 - 09:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don't think its possible to be more Scottish than you, I suspect if they cut you in half they would find a Saltire running through you like a stick of rock - no bad thing.
You are right I can't comment on the 50's or really 60's. I do know that in any battle in living memory & beyond Englisman, Scotsmen, Welshmen & Irishmen have fought,and sometimes died, side by side as brothers in arms. In the final analysis that is all that really matters. I also work with four Scotsmen & my screen name is that of my next door neighbor - fair exchange is no robbery after all. :-)
#53
Aug 30th, 2016 - 05:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“This is evidence of what must be rescued of what has been a close alliance relation with England, ......taken from the current article about HMS Protector at Punto Arenas ..Shackleton was Irish.
@40 Demon Tree
Aug 31st, 2016 - 10:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Pls refer to your below question posted under # 27 regarding the subject “Argentina Supreme Court….”, which I am unable to reply to on the same thread, due to the fact that at the moment (of writing this), I was the last person to have posted on the mentioned subject :
”@22 jack Bauer
Do you have a source for people disappearing during the Perons' rule (other than your relative)? I have never heard of this.”
I have never found any official source either ; the likely reason for this is that in the 50’s there was no ‘internet’, and Peron made sure his wife’s persuasion tactics never became public….besides, which newspaper would be crazy enough to publish such accounts ?
While my sources are my father and two uncles, who at the time worked for different multinationals in Buenos Aires, I have no reason to doubt their veracity ; I clearly remember listening to conversations between them, in which they recounted various episodes of workers and managers who had complained openly against Evita’s “visits” to the company offices and factories, in order to ask for donations, suggesting that the employees, especially the high-level managers, be ‘generous’ with the poor ; one of my uncles, who was Personnel Director at Firestone, started to carry around a loaded Colt 45, to ward off ‘Peronista’ thugs acting under Evita’s influence….It didn’t take long for people to realize that not cooperating and to criticize Evita in public was risky business, but nevertheless, some of the more outspoken who “inexplicably” went missing, learned the hard way. The usual excuse was nearly always the same “ ‘so-and-so’ found better employment elsewhere”, but they were never seen again and the company directors knew damned well what had happened.
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