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ah. What is best in life?
A fleet horse, the open steppe, the wind in your hair, a new thread, and a falcon at your wrist.
Proof that Canada and Russia are very similar, especially when it comes to democratically elected leaders.
Under Pressure Over Aleppo Siege, Russia Hints at Seeking Deal with U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/world/middleeast/syria-aleppo-russia.html
Aleppo is the Stalingrad of the liberation of Syria. The Western and Gulf State funded terrorists are being beaten to a pulp. No wonder the Western MSM is full of wailing, fabrications, and so on.
Syrian Endgame: The Battle for Aleppo and ‘Plan C’
The Russian AF, along with other regional allies, has literally saved Syria from the blessings of Western "civilization" so amply demonstrated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on.
IIRC, Russia helped make a big mess of Afghanistan long before the West was there. Didn't they fight there for what, 10 years? It was their Vietnam.
Interesting point but I think we should try to avoid seeing one cold war proxy conflict as related to one side and another to the other.
Both Vietnam and Afghanistan were Cold War conflicts. Worthy of note that both were on the border with the Communist side which leads to interesting questions about the dynamics of the US involvement in a state bordering on the other side.
The rationale for the Soviets in Afghanistan had as much to do with securing their border as it did with anything else. The Korean divide is also related to a border concern even today. China might have a lot fewer concerns bordering on a united Korean state if it were not for the US role in South Korea. It is quite possible that without the US being present, it is the North that would have collapsed as the Chinese would have been less motivated to retain it as a buffer state, no matter what it does. The chief function of North Korea for China is to keep the US military a little further away.
Right, okay. But the USSR propped up a regime in Afghanistan that got the ball rolling there - whether it was ultimately about securing their border or not. My point being that ikosmos has a habit of claiming utter purity on the part of the Russians and that is one instance where their hands are anything but clean.
Ok I am with you there.
I don't accept the idea that one of these super powers is innocent and the other is not. They are all three bullies -- including China. I reserve my sympathy mostly for the small countries who are getting screwed time and again.
The game of choosing the least bad of nasty superpowers is not one I like to play.
My residual sympathy for China is as a developing country with a massive population that has seen desperation and needs a better standard of living but I am not about to pretend that it is a nice kid on the block either.
What a steaming pile of animal droppings. My claim was that the Russian AF, along with regional allies (Iran, Hezbollah, and, of course, the Syrian Arab Army) has SAVED Syria from the millions of deaths, millions of displaced persons, and mass destruction of infrastructure ... which is the "blessing" that Western countries brought to Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. There's no claim of "purity" or some shite.
This is simply a way for you to throw in a non sequitur and change the subject.
Right, got it. The blessings from Russia to Afghanistan were a steaming pile of animal droppings.
Not the phraseology that I'd have chosen, but paints the picture well enough.
ETA: Hold up, isn't Russia bombing Syria, too? So they're saving Syria by bombing Syria, but the West is destroying Syria by bombing Syria. Unless the Russian bombs are full of whipped cream and cotton candy, I'm guessing that there's a little soot on their hands now, too.
What a waste of time arguing with supporters of terrorism in Syria. Too fukcing bad your much-loved jihadists are getting wiped out.
Aleppo. Stalingrad. And, while it's too soon to predict, it surely looks like the tide is turning.
Choke on it.
Patrick Armstrong's usual brilliance.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 18 AUGUST 2016
Armstrong's sober analysis, his balanced reporting about Russia, the concise way he summarizes the facts, allowing the reader to investigate for themselves to the degree that they wish - all of this makes his reports just gold mines of information.
And it's nice to see that it's a Canadian doing this. Chew slowly! This is the good stuff.
Here's just a little taste.
Patrick's article on doping is written to an audience that presumably were already aware of the chronology of Stepanov. I think many people here and elsewhere may not have the benefit of that. The article acknowledges that she was central to doping and outlines her family connections to WADA but it assumes the readers already know the circumstances of her whistle blowing.
The way most of the media would have you understand it Stepanova had some crisis of conscience and blew the whistle on a doping scheme and then got punished for that.
Let's have a little closer look:
Stepanova is 30 years old. She was caught doping in 2013 and given a 2-year ban. A ban when you are 30 effectively ends your career. Stepanova was also not at the top of her sport anyway (the best she ever reached was a bronze medal at the Euro Athletics Indoor championship in 2011). When running she recieved prize money for a number of races. When caught the money had to be returned and her income dried up. She needed something to make money. She was involved in the documentary. WADA gave her family $30,000 to relocate to the United States). This was no crisis of conscience, she gave up no part of her athletic career as a whistle blower. It was already ended becuase she was caught.
So, in this context, you can see why she would not be allowed to compete.
By the way there is a translation of the Russian Olympic Committee response to the the WADA report -- might be good to ahve that here so I will copy that below:
When it comes to punishing those found to have cheated, fair play makes sense but to include those who were never found to be guilty is a presumption of guilt that is repugnant.
If my baseball team is caught cheating, from the manager on down, should everyone else make a special exception for the catcher, who had no part in it?
And if so, should s/he wear our disgraced team's uniform?
This isn't about rogue athletes, it's about a rogue nation. Why should sanctions be at the individual level?
Back in the USSR: did the West miss an opportunity after Stalin's death?
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/18/last-days-of-stalin-joshua...
Collective punishment is new. Widespread doping is not.
I don't see how you encourage compliance by punishing the innocent with the guilty or encourage fair play by treating the guilty no different from the innocent while providing no due process.
All of the allegations that are supported reference individuals and all can be sanctioned.
Gotcha. This isn't about fairness. It's about bigotry by babblers - ethnic racism pure and simple.
Magoo, by such remarks, you have effectively made your arguments worthless. Well done.
Punishing the nation by going after the individuals is not being a good sport.
There are already sanctions against the country and there could even be some from the IOC without the simplistic banning of the athletes. Like not allowing them to host in 2028 as they seem interested in doing.
Going after athletes who have not been proven guilty stinks and is unjustified.
Meh. I'll leave it to the market to determine the worth of my arguments.
So would allowing them to compete as "independents" have been sufficient, from the indvidual's point of view? No flags, no anthems, no proud country... but an individual athlete competing?
That's what WADA offered the Russian pole vaulter. "Fuck you", she said. And I can't blame her. Prove that someone has cheated, or STFU. This collective punishment ... that you have expressed your gushing enthusiasm for ... is just Nazi-like.
Christ, Magoo. Take your lumps and shut up.
Didn't they prove that a whole COUNTRY cheated?
And isn't that who gets to sit it out if individual athletes compete independently?
Sorry, I thought this was about the athletes, and their dreams.
No, they didn't prove shit, Magoo. Someone - who was already convicted of doping-related offences - after getting paid $30 K by WADA to move [and generously provided with a free lab in the good old USA] made unsubstantiated claims on the basis of which an entire track team was DSQ'd.
McLaren is going to need a big hole to hide in. Once the lawsuits get through the courts, he's going to be using the cheap toiletpaper to get by.
You're telling me there was NO investigation?
I think that is a fair question. The issue would be how they get there-- if they cannot represent their country will their country pay. It might be reasonable to do what you suggest though becuase then it would be up to the country to decide and the athletes would blame them for it.
And this is the case with Kuwait athletes right now:
http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/rio-2016/the-ioc-banned-his-country-...
And when you think about it -- if they did this for Kuwait's athletes why not do the same for the Russian athletes?
If I were to speculate, I might say perhpas there were some conflicts of interest -- with the Russians not there other countries will get more medals.
Based on the fact that one set of sanctions with respect for individual athletes was picked for Kuwait it really makes you wonder why they could not do it for the Russians.
But there are other sanctions they could have had -- like the country posting bonds they would lose if later samples prove to be doped.
But frankly the Russians have been embarassed by the scandal -- even making this public had an effect. So dealing with the individuals who were proven to be doping might have been enough.
The more I think about this the more unfair this handling seems to me.
I'm a bit confused here... isn't that basically what they did? Even while allowing Russia (the country) to participate? Because here's CBC's medal breakdown, as of a moment ago:
Unless those bonds were billions of dollars each, all that would do is set a nice low price tag on cheating.
If it costs $30 to park in a downtown lot all day, but the fine for illegally parking right outside my office is $12, I'll go with the $12.
They have? Are you basing this on their public contrition? Because I'm hearing all about lawsuits! And revenge!! If you feel that their tail is really between their legs then show us.
OK, well, since you've decided to stick around, tell us about the "rogue nation" of Russia. Should they all just die or should some be allowed to live? And who decides? Maybe you could be in charge. Because freedom.
Well, that escalated quickly. I was just suggesting that I haven't really seen any evidence that Russia is at all embarrased by this.
What about you? Are you embarrassed, on their behalf? Or is it unanimous that a li'l doping is nothing to be embarrassed about?