I’ve been obsessively tracking news trends for most of my adult life and I can report that the start of every Olympics is preceded by a series of articles explaining why the whole thing will be a disaster. Then the Olympics happen, and everyone has a nice time. But this is 2016, the year of Trump, Brexit, and Icelandic soccer victories. And this is Rio, where we’ve got Zika, super bacteria, a police strike, body parts washing up on a beach, and a dead mascot. So yes, I still cling to the belief that all pre-Olympics disaster pieces are little more than hype. But this is definitely the year we test that theory. From PRI: Seven very bad omens for the Rio Olympics.