Grantland: Boycott Sochi? [over Russia's severe crackdown on gays, which may include arresting athletes and spectators]

[skinsmarydu]

Yes, they have had events before the opening ceremonies before.

Thanks...old age is getting to me, and I guess I'd just never noticed.

[China]

In the absence of an Olympics thread, I'll just put this here:

 

Staying in Sochi Is a Hilarious Adventure

 

The North American media has descended on Sochi, and...how do we put this gently? Sochi's not ready.

 

The athlete accommodations are fine, if a bit cozy and, um, social. But the media hotels, along with much of the hastily-built city infrastructure, are decidedly lacking. Three of the nine hotels in the mountain complex simply aren't done, and the ones that are open are dirty, unfinished, broken, or infested with something or other.

 

 

Click on the link for more

 

And more on the subject:

 

http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2014/02/winter_olympics_2014_sochi_accomodations_not_quite_at_five-star_levels.html

[Predicto]

oh wow, thats crazy. "relocated" lol. whatever you say, Russia.

 

Yes Timmy, your puppy is living on a nice farm out by the mountains and is so happy....  ummm no, we can't visit him right now.

[pjfootballer]

Yes Timmy, your puppy is living on a nice farm out by the mountains and is so happy....  ummm no, we can't visit him right now.

The puppy is with Uncle Vladamir, who was taken to the mountains during the cold war to live out his days in the Russian Shangri-la by the KGB.

[Mr. Sinister]

"Uncle Vladimir". I lol'd.

 

 

Sounds like some weird crazy dude that specializes in human dismemberment. 

[China]

NBC: All Visitors to Sochi Olympics Immediately Hacked

 

Richard Engel reported last night on NBC that all visitors to the Sochi Olympics are getting hacked as soon as their electronic devices connect to any Russian network:

 

 

Click on the link for the rest

[visionary]

http://www.interpretermag.com/the-48-hour-dash-liveblog/#2204

2204 GMT: The Russian Olympic team has stirred up some controversy over a racy photo shoot of their women athletes wearing lingerie. According to the website, the goal was fight stereotypes that female athletes are “mountains of muscle with manly features.” Many are complaining, however, that the pictures perhaps reinforce different stereotypes.

 

This is two of the ‘safest’ pictures in the gallery:

[Larry]

NBC: All Visitors to Sochi Olympics Immediately Hacked

 

Richard Engel reported last night on NBC that all visitors to the Sochi Olympics are getting hacked as soon as their electronic devices connect to any Russian network:

In their defense, the same is true in the US.

[zoony]

Is Russia the biggest ****hole on earth? or is western media unfairly biased?

Good Lord what a corrupt, knuckle dragger society. Last night on the news they showed Todd Engels laptop being hacked minutes within connecting to the hotel wifi. Apparently that's just the way life is.

Is there ANYTHING redeeming about Russia? Anything? Serious question

[Predicto]

Is Russia the biggest ****hole on earth? or is western media unfairly biased?

Good Lord what a corrupt, knuckle dragger society. Last night on the news they showed Todd Engels laptop being hacked minutes within connecting to the hotel wifi. Apparently that's just the way life is.

Is there ANYTHING redeeming about Russia? Anything? Serious question

 

They have lots of hot women who are willing to get nekkid on the interwebs.

 

They wrote some great, heavy, hard to understand but ultimately worth it to wade through them novels back in the day.

 

They produced some awesome ballet dancers and ice skaters.

 

They get some hilarious youtube videos from their dash cams.

 

They kicked azz on the Nazis in WWII (after they evilly allied with them but got betrayed).

 

Most of them don't do crocodil yet.

 

But mostly no.  Right now Russia mostly is a big pile of :pooh: 

[FrFan]

Sotchi restrooms signs

I let you figure out the meaning of the last one.

 

[MartinC]

No question Russia is a mess and getting worse ......however as per the Washington Post there are 8 States in the US with similar laws to those in Russia about 'gay propaganda' though none quite as severe and certainly not enforced in the same brutal way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/02/03/eight-u-s-states-have-policies-similar-to-russias-ban-on-gay-propaganda/

Just saying.

[@DCGoldPants]

This is shaping up to be an epic disaster. Just wait for athletes to blame their loses on the conditions they are staying in. Wait for people to leave early because of the conditions and being robbed. I seriously just hope nobody gets killed. Not even joking there.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Is Russia the biggest ****hole on earth? or is western media unfairly biased?

Good Lord what a corrupt, knuckle dragger society. Last night on the news they showed Todd Engels laptop being hacked minutes within connecting to the hotel wifi. Apparently that's just the way life is.

Is there ANYTHING redeeming about Russia? Anything? Serious question

 

I bet they have a lot of lumber. Also, they probably have some cool wilderness filming locations.

[China]

Russian Minister warns athletes to 'leave the kids alone'

 

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed the Kremlin’s view on gay rights in Sochi, asking athletes to “leave the kids alone”.

 

Dmitry Kozak told a news conference today that Russian organisers will not discriminate against visitors or athletes because of their sexuality, but he backed the government’s support for the so-called gay propaganda law.

 

Mr Kozak said athletes are free to express their views and discuss their sexuality.

 

However, he asked them to stay away from children, saying: “leave the kids alone”.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Who knew Pink Floyd was so big in Russia?

[MartinC]

Who knew Pink Floyd was so big in Russia?

Should be big EVERYWHERE!!

[China]

SOCHI SCENE: Welcome, world _ where are you?

 

 

SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- Olympic fans of the world, where are you?

 

Sochi is (more or less) ready for you to come to its Winter Games. Thousands of athletes, soldiers, journalists and herds of smiley volunteers are in place, eager to help.

 

So far, though, it seems like the only spectators milling about are Russian.

 

Dina Kobolenko is waiting for you at her tourist information stand near the Sochi train station, armed with maps of this subtropical resort on the Black Sea. She says that as of two days before the Games, she'd seen only a single foreigner - a South Korean. They couldn't understand each other, though, so had to communicate in sign language.

 

Fears about terrorism and the hassle of reaching Sochi from points abroad may be keeping some foreigners away - and undermining Vladimir Putin's plans to transform Sochi into a magnet for international tourism.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

http://www.interpretermag.com/sochi-liveblog-the-1st-events-start-but-is-sochi-really-ready/#1639

1845 GMT: It’s not just activists that are trying to save Sochi’s dogs. After authorities said that they would have to kill many stray dogs in the city as a public safety measure, Russian billionaire and oligarch Oleg Deripaska has spent $15,000 to create an animal shelter, and has pledged another $50,000 to keep it running for one year:

 

A charity financed by Deripaska has stepped in to try to save the stray dogs around the Sochi Olympic site that have been systematically exterminated in the past few months. “We were told, ‘Either you take all the dogs from the Olympic Village or we will shoot them,’ ” Olga Melnikova, who is leading the rescue plan for the charity, Volnoe Delo, told The New York Times.

[visionary]

http://wintergames.ap.org/article/gay-rights-activist-detained-olympic-park

Gay-rights activist detained at Olympic Park

 

An Italian activist shouting "It's OK to be gay" and dressed in a rainbow-colored outfit and large headdress was detained Monday as she entered an arena to watch an Olympic hockey game.

 

Vladimir Luxuria, a former Communist lawmaker in the Italian parliament who has become a prominent transgender rights crusader and television personality, was stopped by four men and then driven away by police in a car with Olympic markings.

 

It was not known where she was taken.

 

Luxuria had been walking around the Olympic Park in Sochi for about two hours. She was shouting "Gay is OK" and "It's OK to be gay" in both English and Russian.

 

As she was being led away from Shayba Arena, she was shouting "I have a ticket."

 

Luxuria earlier said she was detained on Sunday evening by Russian police who told her she should not wear clothes with slogans supporting gay rights. Police denied detaining her.

 

On Monday, the Italian activist walked around the Olympic Park with a group of journalists, attracting onlookers. Some Russian fans stopped to pose for photos with her.

 

Luxuria and her colorful outfit did not attract much negative reaction except for a group of young Russian men who shouted to television cameras in broken English: "Trans not good."

[Slateman]

http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/speedskater-s-selfie-with-putin-gets-her-in-hot-water-021714

 

So, philosophical question

 

If having a spur of the moment selfie with  Putin is supporting his LGBT policies, wouldn't competing in the Olympics, in general, be considered supporting those policies? And if competing is supporting, then what is watching them on TV?