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Should Russia Host The 2014 Winter Olympics?
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Far too late to be asking that question now. The untold ecological damage to the area has already been done. Endemic corruption has already made this the most expensive games in history. The latest repressive legislation in an already largely homophobic nation is just the icing on the whole dreadful cake.
Best approach now is either individual boycotts or to go there and make a point
Best approach now is either individual boycotts or to go there and make a point
Yes they should host the games. Representations can be made and the gesture that I saw Stephen Fry display on the news last night should be used on every occasion possible. It's completely inoffensive and non threatening but will show, through constant use, that others disapprove of what is in effect legislation against nature.
Mind you, Russia and Russians are likely to ignore any pressures brought to bear but you can only try.
Mind you, Russia and Russians are likely to ignore any pressures brought to bear but you can only try.
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As I said before the real reason Sochi should never have got the Games is ecological. The IOC don't want to be political but more attention should be focused on the host nations' plans for development beforehand.in my opinion they should insist on venues where winter sports facilities already largely exist or at least where development is not going to have such a drastic effect on the environment.
This is rather different from just a law we disagree with. While the law singles out 'homosexual propaganda', this is a fairly meaningless term which can be used to justify a crackdown on anything even vaguely supportive of LGBT rights. Even speaking about equal marriage, or consensual love between same sex adults has been elevated to the level of a criminal offence.
It has also acted as a green light to criminal gangs who happily indulge in this kind of behaviour while the police turn a blind eye:
http://
There is no such thing as "gay propaganda" - talking about people of the same gender falling in love and building happy relationships will "corrupt" nobody. This is not a matter of opinion: If you believe it, then there is simply not a shred of evidence available to cover your naked ignorance. Shame on anyone willing to make apologies for this appalling law.
It has also acted as a green light to criminal gangs who happily indulge in this kind of behaviour while the police turn a blind eye:
http://
There is no such thing as "gay propaganda" - talking about people of the same gender falling in love and building happy relationships will "corrupt" nobody. This is not a matter of opinion: If you believe it, then there is simply not a shred of evidence available to cover your naked ignorance. Shame on anyone willing to make apologies for this appalling law.
As for whether Russia should host - I don't know. But it would be a shameful crime not to protest the hate campaign recently launched by the Russian government. It's been compared (quite reasonably) by Stephen Fry and others to the 1936 Olympics - where the German government was allowed to bask in the glory of the international community while actively persecuting sections of his own population.
On the other hand, activists in Russia have asked Western countries not to boycott the Olympics, but to show up and violate a wholly unjust law by showing support for gay athletes etc.
On the other hand, activists in Russia have asked Western countries not to boycott the Olympics, but to show up and violate a wholly unjust law by showing support for gay athletes etc.
"Why should we hold a country to ransom because their political views are different to ours. "
This isn't about a tax rate, or welfare spending. It's about how a government treats the human beings it is responsible for. I think it's entirely acceptable to say that we are not comfortable with giving the limelight to a government that has green-lighted vicious gang attacks on its own people, legalised thuggery and violence against peaceful demonstrations, and is actively persecuting a section of its population.
If you had a chance to change our response to the 1936 Olympics, would you take it? Because that's effectively what's on the cards here.
This isn't about a tax rate, or welfare spending. It's about how a government treats the human beings it is responsible for. I think it's entirely acceptable to say that we are not comfortable with giving the limelight to a government that has green-lighted vicious gang attacks on its own people, legalised thuggery and violence against peaceful demonstrations, and is actively persecuting a section of its population.
If you had a chance to change our response to the 1936 Olympics, would you take it? Because that's effectively what's on the cards here.
Krom, the 1936 Olympics.
Owens said, "Hitler didn't snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."
This from Wiki:
//Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time African Americans in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. After the parade, Owens had to ride the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria to reach the reception honoring him. FDR never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the Olympics games.//
Owens said, "Hitler didn't snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."
This from Wiki:
//Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time African Americans in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. After the parade, Owens had to ride the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria to reach the reception honoring him. FDR never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the Olympics games.//
I don't think we should turn a blind eye to what's occurring in Russia at the moment. For no discernible reason, the Russians have decided that the gay community are a legitimate target, and the signals the government are now giving encourage that.
To understand just how disgusting this is, just replace the word 'gay' with 'Jew'. That tends to concentrate the mind.
In May, a gay man from the southern Russian city of Volgograd who was tortured to death in an apparent hate crime, was sexually assaulted with beer bottles, and had his skull “smashed with a stone.”
I think it would be foolish not to engage with he Russians to prevent this kind of thinking to spread. Do want to see Russia becoming like Iran and other parts of the Middle East?
To understand just how disgusting this is, just replace the word 'gay' with 'Jew'. That tends to concentrate the mind.
In May, a gay man from the southern Russian city of Volgograd who was tortured to death in an apparent hate crime, was sexually assaulted with beer bottles, and had his skull “smashed with a stone.”
I think it would be foolish not to engage with he Russians to prevent this kind of thinking to spread. Do want to see Russia becoming like Iran and other parts of the Middle East?
naomi
It's not the persecution of black Americans I'm referring to.
http://
I'm referring to the position in the limelight Hitler was granted shortly after the Nuremberg Laws.
It's not the persecution of black Americans I'm referring to.
http://
I'm referring to the position in the limelight Hitler was granted shortly after the Nuremberg Laws.
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