I think we all had a pretty fair inkling that things in Paris during the Olympics were going to be spicy. Considering how the French street demonstrations go anytime their Left, anarchists, unions, or [Beege adds:] their hefty Islamic immigrant population melts down in a tantrum, we would be perfectly justified in betting on "lit af."

But we hadn't even seen the opening ceremonies yet, and I don't think anyone thought that these crazies would be trying to light things off so spectacularly quite so soon.

NEW: 🇫🇷 French rail company SNCF confirms its diagnostics teams have found “incendiary devices” in several locations along the country's high-speed rail network including in Eure-et-Loir, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Pas-de-Calais, and Yonne.

The arson attacks have brought France… pic.twitter.com/ZQHv1xuKFc

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) July 26, 2024

These lunatics are mass-chaos-inducing murderous maniacs.

The sabotage was widespread over the high-speed rail system so many French depend on for transportation, obviously well coordinated and timed to cause the ultimate in travel chaos and gridlock. My Lord, what if one of these trains had derailed at or near speed?

Arson attacks on France’s rail network have taken place in what authorities are calling a "massive attack to destabilize the railway system," just hours before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony is set to take place.

Trains at all major Paris stations have been delayed after fires and at least 800,000 people have been affected in the "arson attacks were set to damage our installations," according to a statement from rail company, SCNF.

Authorities have not called this a terror attack, but fires began to be reported overnight at 4 a.m. local time and that trackside signal boxes have were set on fire and cables on the lines had been cut, which has caused major disruptions in the north and east of France.

“Coordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend,” said the French transport minister. “I strongly condemn these criminal actions which will compromise the departures on vacation of many French people.”

France’s high-speed rail lines seem to be the intended target, officials said Friday morning, as fires were set along three lines while a fourth fire on another line was stopped.

The railway line says it will take at least all weekend to repair the damage and is warning people to delay their trips to Paris. 

Arsonists attacked key train lines in France just as the Olympics are set to begin in Paris. The attacks will affect some 800,000 people over the next few days. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of military soldiers are assisting Paris police maintain safety due to the threat of… pic.twitter.com/kbvefHICq2

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) July 26, 2024

If you had tickets to events or a block of rooms for only certain days, I guess you're effectively screwed unless you can get there some other way. Neither of those will wait for you and I'm pretty sure there aren't many terrorism refunds available to compensate for your trip interruption.

Dang.

Long before today's dastardly deeds, French authorities were already on edge. In the weeks before the opening ceremonies, they disrupted several plots aimed at destabilizing or disrupting the Games.

They even bagged themselves a scheming Russian TV chef who was reported to be cooking up some outside-the-kitchen chaos.

French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics, including the arrest of a Russian chef involved in one of them, officials have said.

These developments come just days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Paris.

...Paris prosecutors said on Wednesday they had arrested a 40-year-old Russian man on Tuesday at his Paris apartment on suspicion of planning to "destabilise the Olympic Games".

He was charged with "conducting intelligence work on behest of a foreign power" with an aim to "provoke hostilities in France," crimes punishable with a 30-year sentence in France, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office.

...Le Monde reported the suspect, known as K, was part of several reality TV cooking shows and worked at Michelin star restaurants and an alpine ski resort. 

The report also alleged, after having too much to drink and being refused to board a flight, the chef was overheard on a phone saying: "the French are going to have an opening ceremony like there has never been before."

They have to admit things could have gone a lot smoother, and there's a long way to go. The yips have to be high. 

Well before the Games were due to begin, resident Parisians took to warning visitors, particularly young women tourists, to be aware of their surroundings, areas that were unsafe, and to never travel alone.

Young French women made matter-of-fact informational videos that were simply chilling. In them, they relate how they deal with their own daily encounters, the true state of affairs in the city, and advise how to stay safe on the streets of Paris.

The French right is a great model for the rest of Europe. Having young, attractive people make sober, unsensationalist videos like this--which is addressed to female visitors to the Paris Olympics--is a great way to get the message across on social media. pic.twitter.com/bm7KN7DGx4

— RAW EGG NATIONALIST (@Babygravy9) July 25, 2024

Sadly, last weekend the warning was too late for a 25-year-old Australian woman who stumbled into a Paris kebab shop at 5 a.m., begging for help and with a ghastly story to tell.

French police are investigating claims a 25-year-old Australian woman was raped by five men in Paris, days before the city is set to host the Olympic Games.

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed officers were investigating the charge of gang rape, "likely to have been committed on the night of July 19 to 20, 2024".

Reports of the alleged assault in the early hours of Saturday morning in the French capital's famous Montmartre party precinct, began circulating in French media on Monday.

Not four days later, as the Olympics swung into gear, media staffers covering their countrymen on Team Australia had their own terrifying brush with Parisian hospitality.

Two Australian tech workers for Channel Nine have escaped serious injury after being attacked during an attempted robbery in Paris.

The pair were in the French capital for the Olympics as part of a 200-strong team working for the Australian TV broadcast rights holders.

Nine newspapers reported that the pair were walking to their accommodation in the municipality of Le Bourget, north-east of Paris, late on Monday afternoon, Paris time, when a group of people attempted to snatch one of their backpacks.

The alleged attack has been reported to police.

In addition to ducking safety concerns outside the gates, athletes appear to be having difficulties finding competitive-type nourishment inside the gates.

Apparently, the French version of "sustainable" food isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to a protein-rich diet for elite-level competitors.

It also helps if what real meat is available is, like, cooked thoroughly. 

EW

The Olympics’ opening ceremony hasn’t even begun yet, but one serious issue has already emerged surrounding the Games.

According to The Times of London, food at the Olympic Village has not lived up to the standards befitting international champions — let alone anyone.

British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Anson told the outlet there have been insufficient quantities of chicken, eggs and some carbohydrates, while some meat has been served raw.

...“They are saying the Games are more sustainable and there is way more plant-based food but sometimes if you go at peak times it’s challenging to even get a piece of chicken,” an anonymous British athlete said.

In the "Filed Under Pathetic" news, there's already been a cheating scandal in women's soccer - good grief. The Canadian coach has been sent home in disgrace after flying a drone over the New Zealand team's practice session at the beginning of the week.

The Canada women's soccer team will now be without head coach Bev Priestman for the rest of the Paris Olympics.

Canada Soccer announced Thursday that, after their 2-1 win over New Zealand to kick off the Games earlier in the day, Priestman was being suspended and sent home from the Olympics in the wake of their drone spying scandal. Assistant coach Andy Spence will serve as the team's interim coach throughout the rest of the Olympics.

Though a Canada Soccer staffer was caught flying a drone over New Zealand training earlier this week in France, which is what sparked the scandal in the first place, the issue has apparently been going on for quite some time. According to TSN, both the men's and women's national teams have "relied on drones and spying for years." They even apparently used them to film closed-door training sessions of opponents during the women's team's gold medal run in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, and the following summer as they were attempting to qualify for the Women's World Cup.

In the good old days, that would have been battlefield prep, but one would have done it from a hill with a properly named spyglass.

As for our own scandal, she's there.

Wow, she was not going to let her husband's total physical and mental collapse stop her from having the vacation of a lifetime.

You go, girl!

* she is an absolutely soulless, completely amoral nightmare of a person, but you have to admire her resolute commitment to the bit https://t.co/Cqv1WwlOLa

— Cruadin (@cruadin) July 25, 2024

You'd better believe she wasn't going to miss this for anything.

Probably why POTATUS didn't resign the other night, as many bet he was going to.

Makes you wonder about that bruised chin, though. Maybe he thought about it for a split second and made the mistake of saying so.

Is Dr Jill a righty?

Just kidding, JUST KIDDING.

Is she?