Sochi Winter Olympic 2014 Discussion :)

Fifth Set

Professional
The FSB has spent a lot of Sochi money trying to emulate american nsa-style surveillance, so give them some credit.

Well they have done a lousy job, haven't they?!

"NSA-style surveillance" is focused on Al Qaeda and making sure people don't plot bombings while on Google Hangouts.

In Sochi, the main focus appears to be hanging out on the pot in the company of many, many friends.

NOTE: The KGB has been brought back for this special two week reunion. Mother Russia lives!
 
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Bartelby

Bionic Poster
Why do you feel the need to re-run Cold War style propaganda?

And, as added above, the KGB was disbanded in 1991.



Well they have done a lousy job, haven't they?!

"NSA-style surveillance" is focused on Al Qaeda and making sure people don't plot bombings while on Google Hangouts.

In Sochi, the main focus appears to be hanging out on the pot in the company of many, many friends.
 

Fifth Set

Professional
Why do you feel the need to re-run Cold War style propaganda?

And, as added above, the KGB was disbanded in 1991.

:confused: What do you mean, man?!

We, the humble viewers of countless hours of tape-delayed commercials...err... I mean, enchanting and perfectly executed Olympic competitions in a free, democratic, human rights-preserving and peaceful new Russia, only make one small, simple request:

Mr. Putin, tear down these toilets!!!!
 

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
The FSB has spent a lot of Sochi money trying to emulate american nsa-style surveillance, so give them some credit.

Note: The KGB was disbanded in 1991.

Yes, it is now SVR/FSB/GRU, and FSB does internal intelligence, but they have different ground rules and are more free for this kind of surveillance than U.S. services. It is very common for hotels in Russia and China to have cameras set above work stations in hotels, even for businessmen who have a small chance for having useful information.
 

Manus Domini

Hall of Fame
really :confused:

is that a rationalization from you or defense?

sorry, but Russia has many characteristics of a '3rd world' nation; decreasing population not with-standing...

You ever been to the Appalachians?

Russia is 2nd world. It's a developed country, though not as developed as America, South Korea, Japan, Western Europe, or Britain (or any other 1st world country).

Have you ever been to Russia? It's technologically poor compared to us, but rich compared to many other nations in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World (Wikipedia's easiest; if you want a better source, lemme know.)
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
Maybe more free inside their own country, but that's about it.

But in any event, the whole point of the Oympics is to suspend politics for two weeks, not to use it as a platform for politics.

The Israeli Government recently hijacked the Superbowl via the Sodastream ad for political purposes, so on it goes.



Yes, it is now SVR/FSB/GRU, and FSB does internal intelligence, but they have different ground rules and are more free for this kind of surveillance than U.S. services. It is very common for hotels in Russia and China to have cameras set above work stations in hotels, even for businessmen who have a small chance for having useful information.
 

Backbored

Hall of Fame
Now these guys I look forward to watching.

NY Daily http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/jamaica-bobsled-team-back-track-sochi-article-1.1604274

Everything’s cool and running with Jamaica’s bobsled team.
<snip>
After their equipment was delayed in arriving to the Sochi Games, driver Winston Watts and his teammates got in their first two runs down the Sanki Sliding Center track on Thursday.

<snip>
Watts said the team got its gear around midnight, enabling them to take part in the second day of “unofficial” training.

It wasn’t until the Jamaicans got to the track that they realized their belongings had been tampered with. Watts said security opened containers of protein powder and the contents spilled out on his clothes and equipment.

He even got powder in his eyes after putting on his helmet.

“Security went through them. I don’t know who, but the lids were open,” he said. “I didn’t look at my bags last night and all of the stuff was all over my stuff. Protein. They take the seal off and open. They may think there was something else in there.”

<snip>
Qualifying was one thing, but the Jamaicans weren’t sure they were going to be able to make the trip because they didn’t have enough to cover the travel expenses as well as purchase additional sets of runners.

Jamaica needed help, and got it as the team quickly raised $178,000 before telling fans and friends to stop donating.
“We didn’t want them to think that we’re greedy people,” he said. “We said we wanted this to make it possible to get better equipment and that’s what our goal was.
 

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
So that’s how they know folks have been fishing in the toilets.

Russian Officials Fire Back at Olympic Critics
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...0001424052702304680904579366712107461956.html

<snip>
Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, seemed to reflect the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "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 said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. "We're doing a tour of the media center," the aide said.
People don't realize how often this can happen. Today, many have cameras in their homes, and don't realize the feeds are easily intercepted. Things like "nanny cams" in a stuffed animal are also familiar. Spy agencies are always years ahead of consumer technology.

In the 1970s and 1980s, hidden camera surveillance was expensive and consequently limited to targets like diplomats and suspected spies. By the mid-1990s, surveillance technology became very cheap and widespread.

In Russia and China, it is very common to have cameras and other surveillance technology in hotel rooms, often for economic espionage. People who may be of use (even in the distant future) are targeted by honey traps and often filmed if they have sex.

Many hotels are set up for surveillance. Even if someone is of no interest, their privacy can be violated. There are devices that can detect audio and visual surveillance, but intelligence agencies are ahead of commercially available devices.
 

r2473

G.O.A.T.
Dudes... It only looks like they spent $50 mil on these Olympics. $50M gets you one minor venue (sans W.C.) if lucky. We're talking $$BILLIONS$$, baby.

$50+ BILLION.

$50 million didn't even cover the bribe to the IOC to get the games in the first place.
 

Backbored

Hall of Fame
People don't realize how often this can happen. Today, many have cameras in their homes, and don't realize the feeds are easily intercepted. Things like "nanny cams" in a stuffed animal are also familiar. Spy agencies are always years ahead of consumer technology.

In the 1970s and 1980s, hidden camera surveillance was expensive and consequently limited to targets like diplomats and suspected spies. By the mid-1990s, surveillance technology became very cheap and widespread.

In Russia and China, it is very common to have cameras and other surveillance technology in hotel rooms, often for economic espionage. People who may be of use (even in the distant future) are targeted by honey traps and often filmed if they have sex.

Many hotels are set up for surveillance. Even if someone is of no interest, their privacy can be violated. There are devices that can detect audio and visual surveillance, but intelligence agencies are ahead of commercially available devices.

I remember when the meteorite hit over there, there was loads of videos of it b/c many Russians have dash-cams in their cars
 

Goosehead

Legend
Sochi rules for the bathroom.
BfYN6ojIMAAHfkR.jpg


No fishing in the toilets what’s the world coming too.

awww oh no..i'm not going over there then, If I cant fish in the toilet. :shock::twisted:

the 2 toilets side by side pic was also disturbing. :neutral:
 

Goosehead

Legend
The first three toilets seem to be a result of a classic money grab, with the people awarded the construction contract being ordered to make a set number of toilets, but saving money by not providing dividing walls. The last toilet looks like a joke from "Monty Python."

anyone up for some social sh1tting ?..:confused: :shock: :neutral:
 
Anyone noticed Google's homepage is of rainbow colored and has the Winter Olympic Sports in the banners?

Haha, well done Google, suck it Russia.
 

CyBorg

Legend
Most of the Sochi disaster pictures are fakes (which has not stopped journalists from using them in articles, without verifying their authenticity). The hacking story (NBC one) has also been proven to be wrong.

Twitter has been a real cesspool of hate and misinformation in the past couple of weeks.

While these Olympics have not been perfect, they are at worst par the course. Some media people and athletes have been extremely complimentary about facilities and other surroundings, but no one is paying attention to such things. Many people, especially Westerners, want to believe that Russia's games are a big disaster. And demand leads to supply.
 

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
This article from The New Republic seems to have been made for this thread:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116507/russians-hit-back-west-cool-it-olympic-schadenfreude
This is an incredibly condescending and dismissive view of the dynamics involved. Personally, I thought about attending the hockey events, but decided not to. I have friends attending events.

People are responding to first-hand encounters and reactions to incredible incompetence. Most of these images are coming from reporters, shocked by the state of disrepair, and bizarre cutting of corners regarding things like putting walls between toilets.

Plumbing, in general, seems to be another issue. Why don't you, Manus, go to Sochi and drink rust water or enjoy these toilets.

Russian people were robbed by cronyism and corruption with these Olympics. Everyone made as much money as possible by cutting corners, after getting overpaid by their connected friends.

This is far worse than the mafia in NYC in their top days. At least they made sure that construction was up to standards.

You, Manus, have no clue about the corruption. It is very ugly. Certainly, everyone in Russia and in most of the world are hoping for a safe and great Olympics. Maybe this should be your focus, or would you rather take side-by-side turds with The New Republic reporter?
 
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CyBorg

Legend

Case in point. Even the twitter exchange between Reekie and Chernyshenko is misreported. I saw it with my own eyes and the journalist intentionally re-ordered the tweets. Here Chernyshenko is replying to a completely different tweet. You can tell if you look carefully, because the posted Chernyshenko tweet was made before the posted Reekie tweet.

And, again, many of the pictures are fakes. The Sochi problems account is basically a troll.
 
It's true. Some of them are real; that is, the ones coming from the people actually there. The buzzfeed article is at least 50% fakes.

... ok, let's assume you're correct and that at least 50% of that article is fake. Don't you think that for an event that's been in the making since 2007, with virtually endless finances, even if only 1% of that article is fact, it's just sad.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
The New Republic is not exactly the kind of journal that would be friendly toward Russia ...

but denouncing Putin has to be distinguished from denigrating Russia and the journal realises that much.


You, Manus, have no clue about the corruption. It is very ugly. Certainly, everyone in Russia and in most of the world are hoping for a safe and great Olympics. Maybe this should be your focus, or would you rather take side-by-side turds with The New Republic reporter?
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
So how many really shared toilets are there?

Have the authorities responded to this problem?

Will the contractors involved make good defects?

Have these negligent contractors engaged in corruption?


These are journalistic questions that should be asked. The cultural denigration of a people based on fraudulent social media outlets is another form of corruption.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
The American Defence of Marriage Act also discriminates against gays, as the spies from google should know.
 
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Bartelby

Bionic Poster
Take home to the West a stray Russian dog while you visit the Olympics?

Really! It is very disturbing that this nonsense is published.
 

Manus Domini

Hall of Fame
This is an incredibly condescending and dismissive view of the dynamics involved. Personally, I thought about attending the hockey events, but decided not to. I have friends attending events.

The article is criticizing Western reactions. Do you not think that the Western media is taking shots at Russia specifically because it's Russia?

People are responding to first-hand encounters and reactions to incredible incompetence. Most of these images are coming from reporters, shocked by the state of disrepair, and bizarre cutting of corners regarding things like putting walls between toilets.

So, wanna tell me how many reporters claimed that past nations were forcibly relocating residents to make room for their comfy hotels?

Plumbing, in general, seems to be another issue. Why don't you, Manus, go to Sochi and drink rust water or enjoy these toilets.

If Sochi's anything like Peter, you don't drink the tap water.

Russian people were robbed by cronyism and corruption with these Olympics. Everyone made as much money as possible by cutting corners, after getting overpaid by their connected friends.

Yes.

This is far worse than the mafia in NYC in their top days. At least they made sure that construction was up to standards.

And worse than Tammany Hall.

You, Manus, have no clue about the corruption. It is very ugly. Certainly, everyone in Russia and in most of the world are hoping for a safe and great Olympics. Maybe this should be your focus, or would you rather take side-by-side turds with The New Republic reporter?

I have no clue about the corruption, that's true. Living in Peter for just 8 weeks can only give so much knowledge about the city--much less, the country.

But I didn't share it to take shots at Russia or the Olympics or any unfortunate circumstances. I shared it because it seems very clear that the Western media is engaging in schadenfreude.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
You ever been to the Appalachians?

Russia is 2nd world. It's a developed country, though not as developed as America, South Korea, Japan, Western Europe, or Britain (or any other 1st world country).

Have you ever been to Russia? It's technologically poor compared to us, but rich compared to many other nations in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World (Wikipedia's easiest; if you want a better source, lemme know.)

yes, i agree Russia is '2nd World', yet with many 3rd world characterisitics.

again, nearly every 1st world nation has pockets of 3rd 'worldem'; its to the degree that makes the distinction. and Russia is largely going in the wrong direction...
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
Most of the Sochi disaster pictures are fakes (which has not stopped journalists from using them in articles, without verifying their authenticity). The hacking story (NBC one) has also been proven to be wrong.

Twitter has been a real cesspool of hate and misinformation in the past couple of weeks.

While these Olympics have not been perfect, they are at worst par the course. Some media people and athletes have been extremely complimentary about facilities and other surroundings, but no one is paying attention to such things. Many people, especially Westerners, want to believe that Russia's games are a big disaster. And demand leads to supply.

rationalization much?

enough anecdotes can be awfully revealing...
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
The notion of the third world collapsed with the rise of newly developed countries and that of the second world collapsed with the end of the Soviet Bloc.

Russia is part of the globalised world.

And the analysis of the latter confirms the general idea that countries are too internally stratified and divided to be thinkable in these now obsolescent categories.

There are stray dogs, corrupt building practices, money wasted on industries with political connections and democratic legislatures that listen to nothing but the incoming rustle and clatter of cash everywhere.

The care of animals, health care for humans, gay rights including marital rights, protection of the environment and action against global warming aren't exactly on the agenda in most of the West either.
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
Take home to the West a stray Russian dog while you visit the Olympics?

Really! It is very disturbing that this nonsense is published.
I actually have an email from someone.

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]I am in Sochi. The local animal lovers are hugely outnumbered. One of the foreign journalists saw eight large dogs lying dead in a bunch. He took a picture. I was at the IOC press conference where Mark Adams said the IOC had no updates on the dog issue and that the Russian authorities had told them a sterilisation program was being done.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The sterilisation should have been done when the Olympics were awarded. But these people do not seem to know much about how the sterilisation program works.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Now, it is a losing battle. I am seeing scared dogs running and avoiding humans in the complex where I am staying. Earlier, dogs came up to me, wagging their tails, at the bus stop. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Olympic Park and its periphery have been cleared. No dogs visible there now so I think the pest control company has done its job thoroughly. Reports here said they were using traps and poison. Dog-haters also leave meat laced with poison in the open.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The number of dogs is low, not like in India. The real trigger was on the 2nd of Feb, during the dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony. A dog ran into the stadium. But that shows that the perimeter is not properly guarded, like the 2011 Indian F1 GP. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The foreign journalists here who are dog lovers are trying their best to use the social media. But there is little time because there is so much work. Please do what you can at your end. That's all we can do. I will have some free time after the Olympics end and will go to the shelter and give a donation. That is the pitifully little I can do.
[/FONT]

Anyway, I am sorry for hijacking this thread. Carry on without bringing stray dogs in.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
If there were dogs then Russia is a third world country.

If they get rid of the dogs then Russia is a third world country.

Everywhere animals are euthanised. Perhaps they should be doing it better, but really the 'bring home a stray dog from Sochi' line is pure propaganda.
 

Vanhool

Hall of Fame
anyone up for some social sh1tting ?..:confused: :shock: :neutral:

I suppose if I were to do this socially, you would be one of the more amusing sh1tmates :)

These pics aren't that bad to me. If it's biathalon or xc, these people have probably seen each other pooping out in the woods before., especially teammates. Maybe the chairs are for equipment storage or waiting inside where it's warm. At least the toilets are nice. When I was in China, I had several incidents of semi public toiletting, or trenching, or squatting in the foresting. Most memorable: my wife had the runs and had to squat side by side with someone at twin dirt trenches; me pooping into porcelain trenches while being stared at by a child (two incidents). Good times!
 

Backbored

Hall of Fame
I suppose if I were to do this socially, you would be one of the more amusing sh1tmates :)

These pics aren't that bad to me. If it's biathalon or xc, these people have probably seen each other pooping out in the woods before., especially teammates. Maybe the chairs are for equipment storage or waiting inside where it's warm. At least the toilets are nice. When I was in China, I had several incidents of semi public toiletting, or trenching, or squatting in the foresting. Most memorable: my wife had the runs and had to squat side by side with someone at twin dirt trenches; me pooping into porcelain trenches while being stared at by a child (two incidents). Good times!

Gee I wonder if one of the banned substances would be Metamucil?
 

Overdrive

Legend
Anyone noticed Google's homepage is of rainbow colored and has the Winter Olympic Sports in the banners?

Haha, well done Google, suck it Russia.
Google said:
"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

images


The pseudo liberal babble by most Americans on here is disgusting.

Can't we just talk sports?

I believe that the Russians will win the Team Figure Skating competition. As soon as I saw that man in his formal Russian outfit, I knew that they were serious. :lol:

The men aren't doing as well as the women.
 
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