Jul/100
Rio Beats Out Chicago, Two Other Cities To Claim 2016 Summer Olympics
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. Tokyo was the next to go, before Rio got the nod over Madrid in the final round of balloting.
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 Barack Obama 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. For the time being, however, the mood in Rio was one of celebration with over 50,000 residents dancing and partying in the streets.
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 freelance 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 Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
Apr/100
Brief Story About Britain, Northern Ireland And Republic Of Ireland
Seventeenth century was the period of invasion, plundering and insulting incidents for the people of Ireland which were so drastic in nature. Everyone in the Irish soil will tell such stories about the true past of Ireland that will make our hairs stand on end. Many have died and many have survived this brutal period just long enough to tell the tale to their children and grandchildren. The small groups of rebels in the Irish lands were brutally suppressed by forcing them to follow the ideals of their religion and culture; this was a dark period in the Irish history.
The inception of the Act of Union between the people of Ireland and England, after the memorable seventeenth century, brought a hopeful improvement in the situations at hand. However, all hopes were quelled by the internal differences between the northern and southern regions of Ireland. All these events had only one reason which was differences in the principles of the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland.
When the northern part of Ireland prospered immensely with the growth in industrial and manufacturing sectors, the uneven regions of the southern regions prevented optimistic growth in their lives, forcing them to resume their past again. Britain was blamed for all these troubles and they were forced into sending troops to solve these matters at hand. Both the regions suffered again under this newly renewed fight for freedom and prosperity and it brought about the permanent division of the northern and southern regions.
The Catholics were all for getting their complete freedom from the British and their counterparts, creating a new problem in a more diverse subject, Politics. The aftermath of these events was the birth of the Government of Ireland act in the year 1920; however, this did not solve problems and Guerrilla warfare methods were used by the Irish Republican Army to attack the British soldiers, claiming more lives brutally.
Then came the era of the legendary treaty of peace in the 1921; the treaty was signed with the agreement of combining six counties under the region of the Northern Ireland and the remaining twenty three counties in the south along with the three counties from Ulster were brought under the region of southern Ireland. The independent republic of Ireland was formed and things seemed to have come under peaceful times from then onwards.
Ireland had to face more problems in the year from 1960 to 1990 in the form of bloody violence between the Catholics and the Protestants in the land. Intensive armed attacks between the Independent Republican Army and the Protestant paramilitary forces broke out, forcing them to seek help from the British troops again to resolve matters. This brought about the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement between the British and the Irish Prime ministers. Following the cease fire from the IRA, the implementation of this treaty was successful in 1994. At last, in 2010, all the governing powers of Irish lands were given back to Ireland, but the echoes of the past still resound once in a while.
If you interested in Ireland and Irish news and events - please find out more about New events in Ireland and recent Irish cultural events and news in our blog posts.