Most German athletes, who returned from Sochi, were thrilled by the high quality of these Olympic games.
I think Putin has discovered a way more effective way of subverting foreign governments. Dress up your special forces in insignia-less but obviously completely russian equiped uniforms and materiel. Call them "pro russian" and "anit-fascist" patriots of the country in play and start taking over key government offices and economic infrastructure. Claim its a sectarian civil war where ethnic russians are under severe threat, and that he must intervene to protect these NON-CITZENS of Russia. This could be the new formula of subervision. Imagine all kinds of American special forces, dressed in insignia-less uniformes with hidden faces fighting in say Syria, while the american president claims christians are under severe threat and claiming those "christian militias" are fighting simply to protect the rights of fellow christians. Geez, can't wait until the Chinese grab hold of this strategy for the west coast of north america. Putin isn't stupid. He is for all intents and purposes a dictator that is not answerable to the duma, but perhaps is to his fellow massively wealthy oligarchs. He paid off a lot of them with the $56Billion Olympics that some are claiming were the best ever (although the sport was pretty damn impressive) and despite the fact it was also by far the most corrupt. But he wasn't quite smart enough to avoid the fire sale of siberian gas to China. And he's been backing off a bit since he found so much resistence. His economy is like that of Saudi Arabia, almost totally dependent on energy sales, and the standard of living for most russians is WELL BELOW that of the rest of Europe despite its massive resource wealth. Oh yeah, that Putin is a powerful guy, but he isn't the second coming and compared to other world leaders is pitiful in managing the economy and seeing to the general welfare of his citizens.
Yep, this gift was valid only as long, as Ukraine was part of the SU. Nobody had any intention to give away Crimea to a hostile to Russia state. If Khrushchev was still alive, he would have regretted his step and would have agreed that after the collapse of the SU the Crimean Peninsula must return to Russia.
Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, conquered by force, against the will of the local people. The people of Ukraine clearly wanted independence, and tried to get it several times after WW1.
Please debate. Don't spontaneously attack me with a ad-hominen. I do not appreciate that kind of conduct Good day sir
Your not exactly helping the Russian cause, but its quite alright. If Russia's little display was of any real importance, then it would actually appear in American media 2 weeks after the fact. Good day, and I hope you go to heaven
Frankly I was appalled at what we did to Russia and Vladimir Putin during the Olympic games, and since then I have despised our leadership...
That's what the media said before the games in order to denigrate them, but it's not what the athletes said after the games. They considered them excellent. But look, if you're right, then maybe Putin should sue Turkey?
That's what I read too. The only problem is that the games were of such high quality and so expensive, that I don't know if other nations would be able to host the games, I mean who would be able to afford them?
Hitler was stupid. He grew up only because his opponents of the time were even more stupid. Eventually, German generals realized stupidity of Hitler and tried to kill him unsuccessfully. The following events proven stupidity of Hitler even more, so allies even wanted him to stay in power so they could finish with Germany sooner and will lesser loses, which they eventually did.
Foyer of one athletes apartment. Tasty water at another's. No plumbing for urinals. Got to be good friends. Yum. Ready for tourists. Check out my couch.
No, there was no Ukraine in the Russian Empire, there was Small Russia, the Russian Tsars were Tsars of ALL Rus and ALL Russians, be it Small Russians, White Russians, New Russians and Great Russians. Russian Tsars just inherited all these Russian lands from their royal predecessors, they were from the dynasty of Rurik, and Rurik was the founder of Rus. Kiev is considered to be the mother of all Russian cities. The Orthodox Church in Kiev, Moscow and any other Russian cities use in their liturgy the same old Russian language. Well, the people in the Crimean Peninsula and South-East of what was Ukraine also wanted their independence, that is why they voted in their referendums. The former Ukraine in the Soviet Borders is an artificial creation of the Soviets. I think that West-Ukrainians have the right to their national heroes (like Bandera), their national symbolic, their own version of history (they believe that Hitler was a liberator from the "Jewish Communism", etc), they have the right to be Catholics, and they have the right to speak their own language. But why should people from South-East of Ukraine be forced to accept what is not part of their history and their culture? Look at this map! Most inhabitants of the former "Soviet Ukrainian" speak Russian or a dialect that is more similar to the Russian language, than to the Ukrainian! Ukrainian is only spoken in West Ukraine! So let the former Ukrainians just separate from each others, that will be the best solution. Every part of Ukraine will be able to honour their own national heroes, speak their own language and stick to their own religion. If the West will support the Nationalists from the West-Ukraine, who want to impose their language, their culture and their version of history to the people of the South-Eastern regions of the former Ukraine, then there will be a long and devastating civil war, and the western governments will be responsible for the murdered civilians.
In trying to address (and deny) the reports of widespread plumbing problems in Sochi, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak didnt set many minds at ease with his explanation of how he knew it to be false. Said Kozak, We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day." He didnt further elaborate on the Russian shower surveillance system because an aide quickly pulled him away before reporters were able to ask any follow-up questions. Which is a shame, because that sounds interesting.
Hoosier8, you can collect similar and even worse pictures in our country. Go to Detroit, for example. Every nation has its poor undeveloped regions and groups of people.
I feared right from the beginning that we were going to turn Ukraine into another Syria. The situation is about the same in that we are going against the will of the people in Ukraine in order to hurt Russia as we did in Syria, and then using the media to manipulate people's minds into believing the opposite.
This is what our corporate owned media was looking for all the time during the Olympics. It was more "important" to them then anything else, except things like the lost airliner or marriage of Kardashian.
I don't think the athletes liked that very much. Anyway it a precaution from terrorism. Hmmm! Now that I think about it I don't think they were athletes. Whoever those guests were, they certainly didn't go to the games with the best intentions. I wonder if they were Americans? Maybe reporters looking for something to write? Then again I heard that certain reporters were deliberately given the worse facilities. I wonder why?
It's a joke. I was taking the first letters of the words of the title of the Op. No need to get elitist snob on me.
how funny that this map shows us directly the result of the Soviet's disgusting treaty with the Nazis. The area of all Ukrainian speakers is EXACTLY the same land that was given to Soviet Ukraine as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty. see what happens when you make deals with Nazi devils???
I mentioned the R2P doctrine earlier as it would be a valid, internationally accepted means for dealing with what is going on in Eastern Ukraine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Link: http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtml Prevention requires apportioning responsibility to and promoting collaboration between concerned States and the international community. The duty to prevent and halt genocide and mass atrocities lies first and foremost with the State, but the international community has a role that cannot be blocked by the invocation of sovereignty. Sovereignty no longer exclusively protects States from foreign interference; it is a charge of responsibility where States are accountable for the welfare of their people. This principle is enshrined in article 1 of the Genocide Convention and embodied in the principle of “sovereignty as responsibility” and in the concept of the Responsibility to Protect. The three pillars of the responsibility to protect, as stipulated in the Outcome Document of the 2005 United Nations World Summit (A/RES/60/1, para. 138-140) and formulated in the Secretary-General's 2009 Report (A/63/677) on Implementing the Responsibility to Protect are: 1. The State carries the primary responsibility for protecting populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and their incitement; 2. The international community has a responsibility to encourage and assist States in fulfilling this responsibility; 3. The international community has a responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international community must be prepared to take collective action to protect populations, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. T
