Boycott the Summer Olympics 2016

The Summer Olympics for 2016 have been awarded to Rio de Janiero, in Brazil. Well, that's great for Brazil and for the thousands of athletes who will attend.

What gets up my nose about it is, that Brazil would have one of the worst track records for environmental destruction, ever witnessed. Along with Indonesia, they are destroying millions of acres of natural animal habitat (jungle) at an alarming rate. A rate which already has unchangeable consequences and is a major contributor to Global Warming.

The prime reason for this destruction, whichever country you look at, is the same - industrial greed. In the Amazon, in the name of 'progress', rich industrialists are virtually stealing the properties of the ignorant poor. Through fancy legal means, namely obtaining the land through deception and threat, vast tracts of land are obtained and subsequently put to seed, for such crops as cattle, or soya bean. Enormous areas are required for the soy crop to be financially beneficial, so large areas of rainforest are targeted, as well.

An irony of this destruction, is the introduction of drought. The de-forestation, the clearing and burning of the fallen foliage, is in itself, causing changes in the rain patterns, through smoke pollution.

No trees = no oxygen, and no air-laden with water vapour.
Smoke from fires = no rain
No rain = drought


Boycotts of Olympic Games have happened before, for various reasons, and it is not out of the bounds of hope, that a boycott would happen for Rio. Global warming is a problem which we, as a participant in life on Earth, have not yet fully come to grips with. It's already too late!

Weather patterns are influenced by such mass destruction of forest and it's time the 'civilised' world took action - by boycotting products, or participation.

The biggest problem is that these money-hungry industrialists don't care. As long as they get their money, they don't give a hoot in hell. That's one of the big problems. How could you destroy over 40% of the rainforest in the Amazon, and sleep well?

Blairo Maggi ...

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"To me, a 40 per cent increase in deforestation doesn't mean anything at all, and I don't feel the slightest guilt over what we are doing here. We're talking about an area larger than Europe that has barely been touched, so there is nothing at all to get worried about."

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Really? Well, I'll tell you this, Mr Maggi, I will NEVER knowingly use any product from your company, nor even watch the Olympics, from your country - a country which supports this type of environmental rape.

I hope others will feel the same.


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