Out with the Olympics; It's Corona Time

-




As The Corona continues to permeate throughout countries disrupting entire societies and economies, it comes as no surprise that the virus has affected the 2020 Olympics set in Tokyo for the summer. As of this week the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, agreed to postpone the events. One Olympic official stated, “the celebratory mood of the Olympics had already been fading due to the coronavirus. Perhaps it would not have been fully welcomed if the Games had gone on as scheduled. We just need to start afresh”. While it seems only logical to postpone to games this uncharted territory for the IOC could lead to the ultimate detriment of the Japanese economy. With six-years of planning already being implemented, buildings constructed, and nuclear waste sites SUPPOSEDLY being decontaminated enough to be safe to compete near, it is clear that Japan has invested heavily into the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The postponement will cost equivalent to $2.7 billion, or 300b yen,  and has destabilized the volunteer force prepared to work the events. While the coronavirus has left everyone in a state of liminality, one question has been firmly defined in black and white. Tokyo will not be hosting the Olympics in the summer of 2020. Thanks Corona.

Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Military Lockdown in the Philippines

-
Image
The Philippines is taking an aggressive approach to the spread of coronavirus, especially within the urban cities. President Duterte has implemented a military- heavy approach to the containment and enforcement of the countries quarantine restrictions. While quarantine is something the globe is now familiar with, the enforcement style of Duterte has so far resulted in the imprisonment of people leaving their houses in the search for food, homeless left to fend for themselves without government aid or places to shelter, and hundreds of thousands of poor urban communities waiting on government aid tied up in bureaucracy which has yet to reach their households. Similar to outcries from within the US and in places like Japan, apparently the Philippines is keeping the rate of testing low to reflect a low number of positive tests giving the illusion that the Philippines has yet to be crippled by the coronavirus. The lack of transparency from the Filipino government regarding this
Read more

Meltdown Over Fukushima

-
Image
The Fukushima nuclear power plant is currently still being dismantled almost nine years after its meltdown caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami hitting the islands of Japan. As a result, the area surrounding Fukushima is contaminated with various levels of radiation which proves to be a point of concern regarding the anticipated 2020 Summer Olympics. Locations such as J-Village, which is the starting point for the torch relay, is located 18 km (about 11 miles) south of the Fukushima plant which Greenpeace noted as a “radiation hotspot” in December. In addition to the already indicated radiation hotspots, the company that owns the plant has already had issues regarding water contamination issues and how to dispose of the excess of contaminated water. The article notes how athletes, specifically from South Korea, already plan to pack their own food and radiation detectors for their stay in Japan. While this may highlight the obvious cultural tension between the two nations
Read more

Duterte's Decision

-
Image
In breaking news from the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has dismissed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between his country and the US as of February 12. The VFA is defined as a “legal mechanism to promote defense cooperation between the two countries, enhancing the preparedness of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against external threats”.   This decision is met with trepidation from local political figures in the Philippines as the Vice President   Robredo and Senator de Lima both voiced concern over the hasty abrogation. Lima states, “Duterte’s termination of the VFA is epically wrong. It is a geopolitical blunder and a previous misstep that may further unsettle the functioning of our very own government - one that is supposedly built on the constitutionalism and principle of checks and balances”. The Filipino President firmly stands behind his decision claiming he was considering “national interests” but a lack of national security undermines any type of i
Read more