Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Experts Call Florida's Request To Host 2021 Olympics If Tokyo Backs Out 'Mind-Bogglingly Stupid'

Experts Call Florida's Request To Host 2021 Olympics If Tokyo Backs Out 'Mind-Bogglingly Stupid'
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

It may be a new year and a new era with a new President, but so far one thing has remained the same in 2021.

Florida is still being extremely Florida.


Giphy

Amid rumors the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics might be postponed yet again as the pandemic continues to surge, a top official in the Sunshine State—among the most infected places on Earth—requested to host the games this summer instead.

The suggestion is so bizarre a top economist has called it "mind-bogglingly stupid."

Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, made the request after rumors began circulating the International Olympic Committee is considering canceling the 2020 Olympic Games, which were delayed a year due to the pandemic.

The IOC called those rumors "categorically untrue," but Patronis was undeterred. He wrote a letter to the committee touting Florida's ample hotel space, top-notch transportation network and 12 universities across the state with sports facilities that could host the various games.

But Florida's biggest asset, according to Patronis, is its officials with a can-do attitude.

"I think most importantly, however, we have a state with leaders who are willing to get this done."

It seems like "willing to not care about the risks of hosting a superspreader event" would be more accurate, given Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's handling of the pandemic and the state's startling virus numbers and death tolls so far.

This, coupled with the fact the pandemic is surging around the world, makes Patronis' idea "mind-bogglingly stupid" in the words of Victor Matheson, an economist and Olympics expert at The College of the Holy Cross.

As Matheson told The Huffington Post:

"Let's be honest here: If Tokyo is not safe enough due to COVID to host the event, there's no way in a million years, Florida is safe enough to host the event. It simply means that Tokyo actually cares about whether they want a mass superspreader event in their city while Florida doesn't."

Even putting the pandemic aside, the idea is "batsh*t crazy" from a logistical standpoint alone, according to Matheson.

"The idea that just because Florida has a lot of hotels that they could organize an entire Olympics event within six months is absolutely crazy."

Matheson wasn't the only one with rather pointed words for Patronis.

Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College, also an economist and Olympics expert, chalked the whole thing up to Patronis' ego.

"This is an idiotic, delusional, uninformed, ignorant Florida politician trying to put his name out there. And whether or not he himself believes this can be done, I don't know. It's got no chance. It's just stupid."

On Twitter, people were similarly gobsmacked.

Many couldn't help but howl with laughter.










For its part, the International Olympic Committee has said it has not received Patronis' request and the Games are still set to begin July 23 in Tokyo, with special safety measures implemented to protect everyone from the virus.

More from Trending

Signal app logo; J.D. Vance
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Signal's Founder Epically Roasts Vance Over The Disastrous Group Chat Debacle

Signal founder Matthew Rosenfeld, better known by the pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike, mocked Vice President J.D. Vance after the app found itself at the center of the Trump administration's group text scandal.

Rosenfeld's post came amid revelations that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was invited into a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
MTG, Martha Kelner
C-SPAN

MTG Blasted For Her Unhinged Reaction To A UK Reporter Asking Her A Question

Far right Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was bashed for viciously shutting down a British reporter who had a question about the Signal group chat scandal, AKA "Signalgate."

Republican President Donald Trump's administration continues to downplay concerns after The Atlantic'seditor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the Signal messaging app's group chat in which U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared with top intelligence officials the specific weapons programs regarding the U.S. war strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Rachel Maddow
MSNBC

Rachel Maddow Gives Trump A Blistering Reality Check After His 'Perfect' Presidency Claims

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow criticized President Donald Trump after he claimed "we've had two perfect months" to start out his presidency—conveniently downplaying "Signalgate" and ignoring all the scandals that have thus far struck his administration.

You can see his comments to reporters in the video below:

Keep ReadingShow less
train crossing in small town
craig kerwien on Unsplash

People Share Their Most Embarrassing Small Town Stories

I lived most of my life in a very small town in Northern Maine. There were about 200 kids in my high school and there were 56 kids in my graduating class—we were tied with the class of 1961 for the largest class ever.

When the primary employer in town—Pinkham Lumber Mill—shut down, the town got even smaller. Now the senior class is considered large if it reaches double digits.

Keep ReadingShow less
A post-it with "I Quit" written on it over a computer keypad
a yellow notepad on a keyboard
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

People Reveal Why They Quit Their Job On The First Day

As much as anyone may want to quit a job, at the end of the day it's easier said than done.

For one thing, even if people are working soul-sucking jobs that barely cover expenses, they still can't afford to lose the paycheck, until something better comes along.

Keep ReadingShow less