The Olympics Are Horrible. I Love Them Very Much. – Slate Magazine

Cesspools, Zika, trash fires, and cat burglars: Rio may well make the world long for the stray dogs of Sochi. This is the International Olympic Committee’s fault, not Brazil’s. It’s unfair and unrealistic to expect a country with far bigger problems to put on a spectacular, mistake-free show. The IOC’s research into Rio’s bid for the 2016 Games apparently consisted of listening to “The Girl From Ipanema” while enjoying a few rounds of caipirinhas. Now, it’s too late for do-overs, and even should-be Rio boosters are covered in flopsweat. In June, the acting governor of Rio de Janeiro admitted that “if some steps are not taken, [the Olympics] can be a big failure.” Unless those steps include “not holding the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,” some sort of embarrassing catastrophe is almost guaranteed.