Lectured by whom?

"Since the last two Olympics were held in cities which have the dirtiest air on the planet, I would like to one simple question - what is wrong with the IOC?"

Last night I felt like I was getting a lecture on truthful investing from Bernie Madoff. No actually, it was worse than that. The entire world who was watching the opening ceremony in Rio, also received a lecture on the environment. In particular, "global warming". And that lecture came from one of the most polluted places on Planet Earth.

Brazil is a county which is the home to one of the largest rain forests in the world. Most of us have known since elementary school that air breathers (us), and trees are dependent on each other. We inhale oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide. Trees are just the opposite. And the properties contained in the rain forest make it a perfect environment for those oxygen producing trees. 

How is Brazil doing in protecting that most valuable resource? All I can say is better than they once did. In fact just a few decades ago, Brazil cut down so much of their rain forest, the deforested area was about the size of Belgium. Even today, only 20% of the Brazil's rain forest is considered "protected" by the government. Bottom line? Before they lecture us about "warming", they need to first get their resource stewardship under control.

How about that pollution in Rio? It is legendary. Today. the only debate which has any merit in Rio is which will make you sicker - the water or the air. First, let's look at the water. Rio has a population of about 10 million people. Of those 10 million people, about 5 million have no sewerage treatment facilities. That means raw sewerage flows directly into rivers and steams. Many are now considered environmentally "dead". From those "dead" rivers and streams, raw sewerage then makes it directly into the ocean. Yuck! 

Then there is the air. If not for the games in Beijing, Rio would have the dirtiest air since Olympic games in the 1980's. What? How can that be? After all, dirty air - that was so yesterday, so 80's! Since the last two Olympics were held in cities which have the dirtiest air on the planet, I would like to one simple question - what is wrong with the IOC? I mean I am no fan of Chicago, but at least you can swim in Lake Michigan and breathe the air without dying. Chicago would have been a much better pick for 2016.

Here is the irony about Brazil. I did a research paper on Brazil. I learned that Brazil is a country rich in natural resources. Rich in beauty. Instead, Brazil has turned out to be a corrupt nation, squandering its resources, and killing its people with pollution.

Before Brazil lectures anyone on any kind of pollution or "warming", it would behoove them to get their act together first. Failure to do so only leads to one thing. People like me turning off the TV. It really did ruin the opening ceremonies.