Welcome to.......Rio....

Christ the Redeemer.

Summer Olympics 2016

Pele is a retired Brazilian footballer who has a net worth of $100 million. Pele has earned his net worth as one of the greatest soccer players of all time. The IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics named him Football Player of the Century, after a vote in 1999.

According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal-scorer in the world. He was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football for this.  In Brazil, he is hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies that improve the social conditions of the poor. In 1961, Brazil President Jânio Quadros had Pelé declared a national treasure. During his career, he became known as "The Black Pearl" (A Pérola Negra), "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei).^[8]

Pele has pulled out of the Olympic Opening Ceremony due to health concerns.

Movement...*!

French police check documents at the French-German border in Strasbourg.

A teenager, who the police said in a statement was a Norwegian national of Somali origin, stabbed the woman to death and injured five other people near the British Museum. Mental health may have been a factor in the attack, police said, but "terrorism remains one line of inquiry."

Police confirmed to CBS News that the woman killed in Wednesday's knife attack in central London was an American citizen.

Madrid wants to see changes made to the treaty governing the visa-free Schengen area, which would allow Spain to introduce border controls to stem the tide of militants returning from the Middle East, the country’s interior minister has said. Many other European Countries want the same.

Would European Countries start  building walls on the border?   Just a thought.

Broken....?

Libyan protester outside Downing Street, London, cries for an end to the bombing of Libya- 2011

The United Nations-backed Libyan government has announced that the U.S. military has begun conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State group at the government's request.

Fayez Serraj, the head of the U.N.-brokered presidency council, said in a televised statement that American warplanes attacked the IS bastion of Sirte, adding that no U.S. ground forces will be deployed.

"The presidency council, as the general army commander, has made a request for direct U.S. support to carry out specific airstrikes," he said. "The first strikes started today in positions in Sirte, causing major casualties."

The strikes mark the start of a more intense American role in the fight against IS in Libya, as the U.S. steps in to assist the fragile, U.N.-backed government there.  [AP]

Haven't we seen the same "movie" before in Iraq and Syria?

Foreign Policy ?

Misery...

After months of fighting to encircle its opponents in Aleppo, Syrian authorities backed by Russia  offered safe corridors out for residents and rebels in the northern city's besieged quarters, underlining the government's determination to seal off the metropolis and force an eventual surrender by the opposition.

The encirclement of rebel-held eastern Aleppo sets the stage for a drawn-out siege with potentially huge implications for the future of the armed opposition to President Bashar Assad. The military continued to consolidate its grip, seizing a district on the northern edge of the city.

On the other hand, a representative announce "We declare the complete cancellation of all operations under the name of Jabhat al-Nusra, and the formation of a new organisation with no affiliation to any external entity," .

The supposed breakup comes less than two weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States and Russia had agreed to cooperate in Syria against al Nusra in an effort to "restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence.

This war went full circle with a terrible outcome and plenty of misery to the Syrian people and the expansion of migrants problems. Let us get out.   Just a thought.

Truth serum

Computer security researchers say it’s difficult to definitively say the cyber theft of files from the Democratic National Committee subsequently was the work of  Russian hackers, as some media outlets have reported.

On Friday, Wikileaks released 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments from leaders at the D N C.

The documents show antipathy toward Bernie Sanders, who had hoped to win the party's presidential nomination. They infuriated Sanders supporters and led to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s announcement she would step down.

Hillary Clinton's campaign manager,  said on ABC's that the emails had been extracted by the Russians to help Donald Trump's campaign.....?

 The Russians didn't write the e mails. Safety and Security of the Country, Terrorism, instability of the Middle East, Migrants, Immigration, trust, among others, are all pouring in together. So who do you trust at this time? Things may clear out in the coming three months.

Just a thought.

Investment

Prosecutors say the case began when several people were caught trying to sell 11 pounds of methamphetamine worth $500,000.

Court records show that Ronnie Music of Waycross pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and, being a felon, in possession of firearms. Federal prosecutors said that Music, who won $3 million in the Georgia lottery, used the money to buy methamphetamine to sell.

U.S. Attorney Ed Tarver said in a statement that Music tried to test his luck by using lottery winnings to deal drugs and now faces decades in prison because of his "unsound investment strategy."

Way to go Playa.... Just a thought.

New Problem

 A failed asylum-seeker from Syria blew himself up and wounded 15 people after being turned away from an open-air music festival in southern Germany, authorities said Monday. It was the fourth attack to shake Germany in a week three of them carried out by recent migrants.

The 27-year-old set off a backpack laden with explosives and sharp bits of metal outside a wine bar Sunday night after being refused entry to the nearby festival in the southern town of Ansbach because he didn't have a ticket.

A spokesman for Germany's interior ministry said the man had received two deportation notices.

Two days earlier, a man [German-Iranian] went on a deadly rampage at a Munich mall, killing nine people and leaving dozens wounded. Police said that he had planned the attack for a year.

And an ax attack on a train near Wuerzburg last Monday wounded five. A 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker was shot and killed by police as he fled the scene. 

These attacks came shortly after a Tunisian man driving a truck killed 84 people when he plowed through a festive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, along the famed French Riviera.

The culture, perceived religion, society norm, freedom of women, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, choices, respect for life, can be shocking to so many of the migrants. Just a thought.

Boos...

Ted Cruz defended his decision not to endorse Donald Trump after the real estate mogul’s attacks on his family during the primary. He added, “That pledge [to endorse the Republican Nominee] was not a blanket commitment.

[During the primary campaign, Trump retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz along with one of his ex-model wife, Melania Trump, writing, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Trump at one point insinuated that Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz’s father, was a conspirator in President John Kennedy’s assassination.]

The boos began during Cruz’s speech to the RNC after it became clear he would not be endorsing Trump as the party’s nominee. Cruz also received a hostile reception from some Texas delegation. One held a sign that read “Cruz-Clinton,” and others broke into chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!”

Cruz called it “troubling” that he was booed. “What I wanted to do is lay out the principles I believe we stand for as Republicans,” he went on to say.  Cruz vowed that he would not to say anything negative about Trump.

Ted is for Ted .....   He had a choice. He could stay home, attend and not speak, or speak and not waste our time.   Just a thought.