Brazilian authorities seem determined to find out what happened with American Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte

AP:  Lochte's swim teammates to meet with authorities on robbery

Three American Olympic swimmers planned to meet with Brazilian law enforcement Thursday to discuss a reported robbery targeting 12-time medalist Ryan Lochte and his teammates, a U.S. Olympic Committee official said.

USOC spokesperson Patrick Sandusky said Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were released by local authorities after being pulled from a flight at the Rio de Janeiro airport, with the understanding that discussions would continue amid uncertainty over what truly took place during a late outing the night Olympic swimming wrapped up at the Rio Games...

NBC reported Wednesday night that Lochte backed off some of his earlier claims about the robbery. He now says the taxi wasn't pulled over by men with a badge, but that they were robbed after stopping at a gas station, NBC reported. Lochte also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said police went to the athletes village to try to collect the passports, but the swim team had already moved out.

Lochte's father told The Associated Press by phone from his Florida home that his son called him Tuesday after arriving in the United States.

The 32-year-old swimmer was going to pick up his car and buy a new wallet to replace the one that he said was stolen. "I'm just happy he's safe," Steve Lochte said. "It was an unfortunate experience for him and the other three. I don't know what all the controversy is. They were basically taken out of the taxi and robbed. The main thing is he's very lucky that he's safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet."....

A police official with knowledge of the investigation told the AP that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses from the robbery.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said.

The swimmers also could not say what time the events occurred. Lochte's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, has said there is no question the robbery occurred.

"Why would anybody fabricate anything?" Steve Lochte said. "It's just ridiculous." Lochte told USA Today that he and his teammates didn't initially tell the U.S. Olympic officials about the robbery because "we were afraid we'd get in trouble." Steve Bentz, father of Gunnar Bentz, when reached by phone late Wednesday night, said: "I really don't want to say anything," and hung up.

The Depps Confess Their Crimes

"Johnny Depp and his wife smuggled their dogs into Australia, which is verbotten. They were caught and forced to make this public apology."

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Voor Pampus Liggen

There's an old Dutch expression, voor Pampus liggen, which literally translates as "to lie before Pampus." Today the phrase means passed out drunk or in a food coma as after Thanksgiving. But there's more to the story than that; I first heard it from a Dutchman on a sailboat in sight of the island of Pampus in the Zuiderzee -- that big brackish interior of the Netherlands.

In the olden days -- before the dikes were built and Amsterdam was still a major seaport -- heavily laden ships returning from the Far East used to lie anchored a few scant miles from Amsterdam waiting -- sometimes for days --for favorable tide conditions to allow them to pass over an enormous submerged sandbar (actually a submerged silt channel) which blocked easy access to the port. There was no proper island then (that came later) and Pampus referred to the murky submerged shoal.

Someone devised a plan to ease the boredom and impatience of the randy sailors. Smaller craft, bearing vices: food, liquor, and women, plied the waiting ships like a captive audience. The sailors were easy marks. There must have been some commercial collusion going on for who would pay a seamen his wages before disembarking the ship?  Anyway, the phrase came from the condition many a sailor found himself in after coming so close to and yet so far way from home.