Finally, I really know the world has gone mad. I thought Bahrain's $51 million indoor ski resort was bad enough. But it is totally eclipsed by the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which have cost $51 billion. More than the last three Winter Olympics combined. Or the Beijing Olympics, which had the record for over the top money spent.
As if that isn't enough, Sochi is a sub tropical beach resort. They have palm trees & grow tea there! The average winter temperature is 11 degrees C. It's a rural area & the resort of Rosa Khutor is only 3 years old. Only someone like President Putin would think it was morally right or sensible to build a winter sports venue there. But we colluded in that decision. We let them do it.
To add insult to injury the Russians have built the largest snow making system in Europe to create this man made aberration of human madness. There are 200 water reservoirs & 400 snow cannons. As if that isn't enough there is 710,000 cu inches of snow from previous years stockpiled in 10 insulated stockpiles in case they run short. You have to be some sort of megalomaniac to think it is right to try to control nature to this extent. There are also indoor arenas with refrigeration systems keeping the temperatures low enough.
It makes me feel physically sick to think of this complete waste of money and precious resources. 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation - 1 in 3 of the world's population. 68 million people in the world do not have access to safe water - Roughly 1 in 10 of the world's population.
What are our politicians thinking? How can their priorities be so criminally & thoughtlessly unbalanced. They just want the international kudos attached to a big event. How does the Olympic movement today bear any resemblance to the original concept? Only in the work & commitment of the athletes themselves as far as I can see. The rest is just hype, PR & territorial posturing.
How did we let this happen. We are sleepwalking into a catastrophe for our grandchildren. We should all be ashamed.
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