2020 Japan Olympics

[wagyl]

Bottled Water Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction
http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/clinical/departments/medicine/divisions/digestive-health/nutrition-support-team/nutrition-articles/LeisingArticle.pdf

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the evidence available to date, it appears the
true health risks (if any) related to drinking commer-
cially manufactured bottled water or water in refillable
plastic bottles may or may not come from the plastic
itself.

I am glad that that is finally clear now.

[kurogane]

Are you including japanese tap water in your "hygienic countries" thing ?
Because my bunghole would really disagree with you...

Yeah, mine would too. Disagree with me, that is. I always drank supermarket big cheap tank water machine water until I moved to Kyoto's Other Water District (no joke). After that my bunghole sang Motown. I only tasted Tokyo tap water once. After that it was juice, Coke or beer. Does Nagoya's water taste like Nagoya Eki smells? It smells like poo, btw. Poo and Anko.

BTW, I meant Canada and the US, which I do believe were the original WTF? Not Necessary bottled water markets. I didn't touch a drop of tap water all through Europe in 1981. Slow flowing rivers in which people poo'ed until recently? Probably not what my guts need.

[Coligny]

Ok, I thought it was only me projecting. But you seems to confirm my phears, Nagoya eki, especially the taxi/dropoff parking smells like sewer backflow (or fermented stale diarrhea if you prefer). In summer I have to hold my breath as the stench makes me gaggle...
Not exactly adding to my love of the place, they seems to just barely understand that whole 'indoor plumbing' thing.
Never had this problem in Toyohashi, but with certain winds pattern, when it's low tide... You know it... (I take that over sewer smell anyday though...)

[Russell]

Speaking of bottled water, I buy it occasionally.

For the bottle.

The water is somehow drinkable, but since it has been long in that bottle, it usually has a terrible plastic smell.

Sooo, why do I need the bottle.

For water, of course... Refilled from the tap.

Not too bad around here. That is, unless the Fukui reactors contaminate Lake Biwako.

Recently bought some bottled water for 25 Yen per 500 ml bottle in Cainz home center. You get what you pay for, I assume, because it tasted like the sewers in Calcutta. Sheesh.

[Coligny]

Nalgene... For all your post apocalypse hydratation needz...

image.jpg

[Samurai_Jerk]

I've been told that smell is sulfur. You get it in some parts of Tokyo in the summer too.

[Coligny]

Yup, that's usually the smell linked to septic tank in need of a purge...
Not exactly a good sign when it's city wide... But it sure justify the "shithole" title...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Yup, that's usually the smell linked to septic tank in need of a purge...
Not exactly a good sign when it's city wide... But it sure justify the "shithole" title...

Cities like Tokyo don't have septic tanks.

[Coligny]

Yup, that's usually the smell linked to septic tank in need of a purge...
Not exactly a good sign when it's city wide... But it sure justify the "shithole" title...

Cities like Tokyo don't have septic tanks.

I don't think Nagoya either... That makes the smell even moar disturbing... Basically... Constant sulphur smell means the sewer system is flawed/undersized/clogged, one flood away from being a pandemic reactor...

[kurogane]

Ok, I thought it was only me projecting. But you seems to confirm my phears, Nagoya eki, especially the taxi/dropoff parking smells like sewer backflow (or fermented stale diarrhea if you prefer).

I could go with fermented stale diarrhea, but that is the exact location. I'm thinking South exit, but I don't remember (EDIT: I just Mapped it. East exit???). I was there for a few weeks for the Expo. Stinky poo poos. And that was still in spring. Funny thing is, I thought it was just me. The hotel was very nice, mind. It was somewhere over by a biggish park.

Speaking of bottled water, I buy it occasionally.

For the bottle.

Dasani makes a very nice, durable wide mouth 1 litre bottle I am a fan of, and it POs the hipsters when I support Coca-Cola or Pepsi. One or 2 of those per year and off we go. Nalgene is good, but it is heavier. I used to just use empty pop bottles but everything ends up tasting like 7UP, even when rinsed with baking soda.

[Coligny]

I describe it as the exit opposed to bic camera, with the round wireframe pyramid, seems to be east. But using east/west in Japan is an exercise of intelectual mindfuck since the commies are on the west and the kapitalist pigzors on the east... Makez brainz hurtz...

Sidenote, I never went a BicCamera ever... I think, it's like the Eifel tower for Parisian, you think you'll always have the time to go there somedays... Then you leave the country... Or here, more likely, it's going to be destroyed in the next earthquake... Only in Japan you can fight procrastination by telling yourself that if you don't do something today, there's good chances it won't be there anymore tomorrow...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Yup, that's usually the smell linked to septic tank in need of a purge...
Not exactly a good sign when it's city wide... But it sure justify the "shithole" title...

Cities like Tokyo don't have septic tanks.

I don't think Nagoya either... That makes the smell even moar disturbing... Basically... Constant sulphur smell means the sewer system is flawed/undersized/clogged, one flood away from being a pandemic reactor...

I've been told the smell in Tokyo at least is related to geology.

[kurogane]

I describe it as the exit opposed to bic camera,.

I don't remember that much of it, but that F'in Bic Camera ditty has been stuck in my head since 1987. I blame Ikebukuro.

But using east/west in Japan is an exercise of intelectual mindfuck ... Makez brainz hurtz......

Hahaha. Still, a personal pet peeve that. I have had far too many arguments with grumpy FGs insisting that Tokyo is north of Kyoto (it is,by 40 minutes of latitude; it's also 300 kilometres west) which in turn is north of Hiroshima. And again, it is. By a whole degree. And 300 kilometres east. I always suggest they avail themselves of the latest cutting edge technology and look at a map, but like most grumpy FGs they know better than to fall for that sort of deceptive sophistry.

[Taro Toporific]

Tokyo 2020 Olympics stadium to go ahead as planned despite cost issues
japandailypress.com Nov 18, 2013

New images of Zaha Hadid's modified
Tokyo Olympic stadium design
dezeen.com | 10 July 2014
News: these new renders of the controversial Tokyo Olympic stadium by Zaha Hadid Architects show changes to the shape of the building, which has been altered following a budget cut (+ slideshow).

tampon-stadium.gif

[matsuki]

Still looks like a pussy...oh wait, TIJ, good show good show

[IparryU]

Still looks like a pussy...oh wait, TIJ, good show good show

Arrest them!

[Taro Toporific]

"Sushi shoes"

oIympic-shoes.jpg

oIympic-shoes3.jpg

oIympic-shoes2.jpg

pic.twitter.com/XsJrzea39L -- Mulboyne (@Mulboyne)August 7, 2014

[Isle of View]

Tokyo 2020 Olympics stadium to go ahead as planned despite cost issues
japandailypress.com Nov 18, 2013

New images of Zaha Hadid's modified
Tokyo Olympic stadium design
dezeen.com | 10 July 2014
News: these new renders of the controversial Tokyo Olympic stadium by Zaha Hadid Architects show changes to the shape of the building, which has been altered following a budget cut (+ slideshow).

tampon-stadium.gif

Godzilla is still going to come looking for his missing bicycle helmet.

[Taro Toporific]

Tokyo is making great progress preparation for the 2020 Special Olympics…

"New event for the 2014 Tokyo Olympics"

special-olympics.jpg

pic.twitter.com/fURQmXbOlJ -- Tokyo Scum Brigade (@TokyoScum) August 15, 2014

[Russell]

Actually, that does not look like such a bad idea.

Cyclists can drive down on that slope really fast, and you don't want to get hit in your back as a pedestrian.

[Coligny]

Actually, that does not look like such a bad idea.

Cyclists can drive down on that slope really fast, and you don't want to get hit in your back as a pedestrian.

Chicane like for the straight at the 24h of Le Mans racetrack ? (Hunaudieres' straight)

[Russell]

A year after winning Olympics, Tokyo faces hurdles

Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics were meant to be different: compact, on budget and on time.

But now, as the Japanese capital moves to leap from bid to building a year after winning the games, the optimism is ebbing.

The National Stadium, built when Japan hosted the Olympics in 1964, symbolises the woes. Set to be demolished two months ago for a sleek new venue, it stands empty, its seats ripped out, waiting for a deal to bring the wrecking ball.

The city won the Games over Madrid and Istanbul by emphasising Japan’s organisational strengths and $4.5 billion in the bank. The rejoicing over the victorious bid on Sept 7 last year - Sept 8 in Japan - coincided with a surge of optimism over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival plans.

Abe put his personal prestige on the line with a vow to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to put on the best Games ever.

But now, even as “Abenomics” appears to be sputtering, the Olympics face ballooning costs, angry environmentalists and a fading vision of a cozy, downtown event.

“With the rivals we had, and evidence of problems for the games in Sochi and Rio, there was a sense in the IOC that they wanted the Olympics held by a place that had its act together,” said Hitoshi Sakai, chief executive of the Institute for Social Engineering think tank.

Instead, even demolition of the National Stadium - which half a century ago was filled with the roars of a triumphant crowd at the kindling of the Olympic flame for the 1964 Summer Games - has gone through two rounds of failed bidding.

Central to Tokyo’s promises was that nearly all the competition venues would be within 8 km of the Olympic Village.

But construction and labor costs have soared due to rebuilding after a March 11, 2011, tsunami, and a rise in consumption tax from 5 to 8% this April was not factored in to budgets, a Tokyo government official said.

Sounds like a brilliant planning.

Planners allotted 150 billion yen for venues in the bid but that estimate more than doubled late last year after re-calculations.

Budget worries may mean plans for a new basketball arena are dropped and the competition might be shunted 25 km outside Tokyo to an existing venue, although “sustainability” is being cited as the reason.

The yacht races may have to move some 27 km to the east, because the original venue is within the approach zone to Haneda Airport and helicopters need to fly above the races to film them.

Any such changes require approval of international sporting federations, which may be less than pleased.

“We have always been impressed by the proposals for sailing ... in particular the compact nature of the venue and the close proximity to the other sports venues and Olympic village,” Jerome Pels, chief executive of the International Sailing Federation, said in an email.

Sakai said organisers had to stick to their pledges.

“No matter how much it ends up costing, it’s a public, international promise to hold a compact Olympics. Japan has to keep its promises,” said Sakai.

Organisers said there is nothing to worry about.

“Tokyo will complete its preparations to deliver a well-organised Games with plenty of time to spare,” Hidetoshi Fujisawa, Tokyo 2020 executive director of communications and engagement, said in an email to Reuters.

“During the bid, the team ... prepared the best plan they could. Now, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee is reviewing this plan with an emphasis on the operational details.”

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe told a news conference that it was not a question of distance but travel time. He also noted that Tokyo Disneyland was not in Tokyo but still bore the city’s name, so out-of-town venues would be fine.

“Costs could increase by 30, 40, even 50 times. Can you persuade the voters to pay this kind of money?” he asked.

[...]

In Tokyo, sustainability is also a buzzword for corporations such as Panasonic, eager to showcase new technology in 2020, much of it eco-friendly.

But environmentalists fear the Games will damage rare green areas in one of the world’s most crowded cities.

At highest risk is a seaside park proposed as the site of the canoe and kayak slalom. It features pine forests and a bird sanctuary where up to 50,000 migratory birds - some of them endangered - gather each year.

“They’re talking about making this a real ‘hospitality’ Olympics,” said Nobuya Iida, head of the Tokyo Wild Bird Society, referring to another mantra of the Tokyo bid.

“But how does destroying nature equal hospitality?”

The 300-metre long course would require cutting down most of the trees and having 13,000 tonnes of water rocketing through each second, at speeds of 2 meters a second. Rules require fresh water, which would be trucked from far inland and then released into the sea - possibly damaging the wetlands ecosystem.

More

At this point it becomes a viable option to give the games back. But that would involve a lot of lost faces...

[wagyl]

The withering of the Olympic ideals?

Why no one wants to host the 2022 Olympics

The surest sign that the bid process for hosting the Olympics is broken is actually not the trail of bribe money or crony-rich government contracts at the feet of International Olympic Committee members.

Sure, bribery might – might, maybe, allegedly, perhaps – be how a now abandoned Olympic Village got built in some muddy, bulldozed acreage south of Sochi, Russia, rather than in Salzburg, Austria, home to Mozart, the Sound of Music and postcard pictures.

That's the cause, though, not the effect.

The effect is the bidding for the 2022 Winter Games, which is now down to just two cities. The final vote comes next summer.

There's Beijing, China, which doesn't actually sit within 120 miles of a usable ski mountain, and there's Almaty, Kazakhstan, which in its bid touted itself as "the world's largest landlocked nation."

It's down to these two cities not because the IOC narrowed the field, but because every other city in the entire world said no.

continues...

[Taro Toporific]

new-tokyo-stadium.png

Bidding reopened for Olympic stadium construction
Oct. 8, 2014, TOKYO (AP) -- A new round of bidding for construction of the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will delay the start of the problematic project.
Some of the bids were reviewed by someone in the decision committee before all bids were in, a violation of the rules, Japan Sport Council official Takayuki Ito said on Tuesday.
Another round of bidding is due this month...''We need to revamp the whole system of planning for the Olympic stadium,'' he said, acknowledging there were too many problems.
More...

akira-2020-olympics.jpg

True reason for the irrational waste of money on the craptastic 2022 Olympics...
The new Tokyo Olympic stadium is just a cover for the underground base being built beneath it for PM Abe's gray alien allies. Building these underground bases to house giant robots and giant robot research facilities is hard to keep secret; that’s the true reason for the construction rebidding the stadium project.

[Russell]

Wanted: Cities interested in hosting 2024 Olympics

Rejected time and again for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IOC will soon be seeking suitors for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

It will be hoping to attract a competitive, high-profile field to show there are cities that want to host the games rather than shun them.

Even before Oslo became the fourth city to drop out of the race for the 2022 Games, the International Olympic Committee had started reviewing its bidding system to make it more appealing and less expensive for future host cities.

Making the process more flexible — allowing cities to tailor a bid to their own needs from the start rather than adhere to strict IOC requirements — is central to IOC President Thomas Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” reform package.

Recommendations are being finalized this week at an IOC executive board meeting in Montreux, Switzerland.

Potential bidders for 2024 are waiting to see exactly what changes are being made. The new rules will be put to a vote at a special IOC assembly in Monaco from Dec. 8-9.

Bids will need to be submitted next year. The host city will be chosen in 2017.

It will be a critical test for the IOC after the 2022 debacle, which has left Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the only contenders following the withdrawals of Stockholm; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; and Oslo. Proposed bids from Munich and St. Moritz-Davos were rejected in referendums in Germany and Switzerland.

“There is strong interest (in 2024),” Bach said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “We are getting more and more signals and questions about 2024 and what changes they can expect. You can already see there is a very positive attitude.”

A look at some potential 2024 candidates:

___

RETURN TO THE USA?

The U.S. hasn’t hosted the Summer Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta. New York failed in a bid for 2012, while Chicago was shot down by the IOC for 2016. Stung by those defeats, the U.S. Olympic Committee stayed out of the race for 2020. But 2024 could be the right time. Relations between the U.S. and IOC have improved since the two sides signed a new revenue-sharing agreement in 2012.

The USOC is weighing bids from four cities before deciding whether to submit a candidate to the IOC next year. Vying for the U.S. nomination are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington. Los Angeles hosted the games in 1932 and 1984 and offers the easiest choice from the U.S., but does the world want to go back for a third time or go somewhere new?

Whatever happens, the U.S. would start as the favorite if it enters a bid.

___

PARIS CENTENNIAL?

2024 will mark 100 years since Paris hosted its last Olympics, so the timing and symbolism would be strong. France has a dubious record in recent Olympic bidding. Paris was the favorite for the 2012 Olympics but lost out to London. Annecy received only seven votes in the 2011 election for the 2018 Winter Games won by Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The French capital’s commitment to the 2024 Games has been called into question by Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ recent endorsement of a Paris candidacy for the 2025 World Expo. It might seem difficult to bid for two high-cost, logistically-challenging events, but French officials said they could do both. Meantime, they’re awaiting the results of a feasibility study on whether to go for the games.

___

ROMA ANCORA?

The Italian capital, which hosted the 1960 Olympics, lost out to Athens for the 2004 Games. Rome was a candidate for 2020 but pulled out after the Italian government declined to provide financial backing at the height of the economic crisis. Italian Olympic Committee head Giovanni Malago is due to meet Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino in coming weeks to discuss a possible bid.

With Italy back in recession, Premier Matteo Renzi will need to be on board. Compared to predecessor Mario Monti, who pulled the plug on the ‘20 bid, Renzi is a sports fan and often attends soccer matches.

___

GOLD FOR GERMANY?

Germany lasted hosted the Summer Olympics in Munich in 1972. Munich lost to Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics, then abandoned plans to bid for the 2022 Winter Games after voters said “nein.”

Berlin, which hosted the 1936 Games in Nazi Germany, and Hamburg have lodged their interest for 2024. The German Olympic Sports Confederation had been scheduled to decide in December on whether to submit a bid, but says it will now wait until next year after assessing the outcome of the IOC meeting in Monaco.

“The worst thing would be to decide on a city only for its citizens then not to support the project,” DOSB president Alfons Hoermann said.

___

TURKEY’S TURN?

Istanbul has bid unsuccessfully for five of the last six Summer Olympics. A law in Turkey’s parliament allows for the city to bid again and again. The anti-government demonstrations that swept the country in 2013 helped undermine the 2020 bid, won by Tokyo. Turkey’s current volatile situation involving neighboring Syria, Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants won’t help a 2024 candidacy.

___

DOHA’S DREAMS?

Doha was a candidate both for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, but failed to make the list of finalists. Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup and would like to add the Olympics to its portfolio. Just like for the World Cup, the dates will again be an issue. To avoid the searing heat of the summer months, the Olympics would have to be held outside the traditional July-August period.

___

AFRICA AT LAST?

Africa has yet to host the Olympics. Cape Town finished third in the 1997 vote for the 2004 Games. Durban is bidding for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and is mulling a possible candidacy for the ‘24 Olympics, though a ‘28 bid may be more likely.

___

AND ALSO

Potential candidates for ‘24 or ‘28 could include Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Baku, Azerbaijan; Budapest, Hungary; St. Petersburg, Russia.

Link

[Samurai_Jerk]

This May Be the Most Dangerous — and Most Costly — Photo In Japan

plz 2 click on the Vice link to see the piccy due to chronic metal baseball bat allergy of the site operator - TentacleOfDoom

The above picture may be worth more than $1 billion in Japan. At the very least, it's worth a severe beating by gangsters armed with baseball bats.

In September, the right-wing scandal sheet Keiten Shimbun obtained the photo of Hidetoshi Tanaka (left), the chief director of Japan University and the vice chairman of Japan's Olympic Committee. Sitting next to Tanaka is Shinobu Tsukasa, the head of Japan's largest yakuza [organized crime] syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi. (Note his left hand.)

The photo, which police believe was taken in early 2005, was anonymously sent to several media outlets including Keiten Shimbun; one magazine received a note with the photos that read: "I am an employee of Japan University, where many are in conflict with chief director Tanaka. Six or eight years ago, when Tanaka was elected as the chief director of the board, he went to a club in Nagoya and celebrated his promotion with the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi and many other Yamaguchi-gumi… members. He has shown us these photos over the years to intimidate us into silence. Please investigate."

[...]

According to police and other sources, a reporter for Keiten Shimbun attempted to seek clarification from Japan University and Tanaka about when the photo was taken and what Tanaka's current relationship, if any, is to the Yamaguchi-gumi. On the night of September 30, as the reporter was walking back to the newspaper office, he was assaulted by two men with metal baseball bats who struck him repeatedly in one place on his body. A police source said they will not specify the location of the injury "because it's something only the assailant would know, and we wish to weed out possible false confessions."

The day after the assault, almost every major media organization in Japan received threatening phone calls from people telling them not to publish the photo. One magazine editor, who spoke to VICE News on the condition of anonymity, said the threat was, "'We attacked Keiten Shimbun. If you get uppity and publish that photo of those two, you'll meet the same fate.'"

[wagyl]

Just to clarify, this mysterious Japan University they refer to is Nihon University.
http://www.nihon-u.ac.jp/about_nu/histo ... hairman12/

[Taro Toporific]

Just to clarify, this mysterious Japan University they refer to is Nihon University.
http://www.nihon-u.ac.jp/about_nu/histo ... hairman12/

And, Nihon University is considered Japan's "best" school for "college-educated" athletes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon_University#Alumni

[Samurai_Jerk]

Just to clarify, this mysterious Japan University they refer to is Nihon University.
http://www.nihon-u.ac.jp/about_nu/histo ... hairman12/

I thought maybe that was an article in Japanese by Adelstein that was translated by someone else but he's also making comments so I find it very strange that he would translate the "Nihon" in "Nihon University." Also why not call the guy the Chairman of the Board? Or maybe that sounded too Sinatraesque.

[wagyl]

Just to clarify, this mysterious Japan University they refer to is Nihon University.
http://www.nihon-u.ac.jp/about_nu/histo ... hairman12/

I thought maybe that was an article in Japanese by Adelstein that was translated by someone else but he's also making comments so I find it very strange that he would translate the "Nihon" in "Nihon University." Also why not call the guy the Chairman of the Board? Or maybe that sounded too Sinatraesque.

Yes it definitely has a "translated passage" ring to it all. I don't know what to make of it, it makes it all look a bit unprofessional. Anything is possible, possibly true, possibly manufactured muck, to make it easier to rake.