Putin Bans Protests In Sochi During Olympics

[Deleted]

At least the Russian economy isn't as horrible as it used to be.

Yes, it's better than it was after the collapse of the USSR. But it is still way behind how it was right before the collapse: Gorby had managed to overhaul the Soviet economy by introducing slowly economic freedom. His stated goal was to transform politically the Soviet Union into something that would work similarly to the viking socialdemocracies.

[FathomFear]

I wish my nation's own leaders had that kind of nerve to stand up to the tyranny of the weak.

Yeah, a barrel of fun until you're the one deemed "weak".

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Please stop comparing golden age of USSR with this shitardery called "democracy", aka "you can pass any insane law as long as you get enough votes in a country where you have lots of people, so you can always find some obscure demographic to rally and outvote anybody else". Why, aren't you westeren guys pushed it through all the cold war? So, happy now?

As a FYI, watchdogs groups don't even consider Russia to be an actual democracy. It's usually referred to as a "hybrid regime".

[Arlon]

As a FYI, watchdogs groups don't even consider Russia to be an actual democracy. It's usually referred to as a "hybrid regime".

Well, i don´t know what it says on paper, but to grab power, you only need to buy it. Sounds rather similar to certain other regimes.

[Deleted]

I bet Snowden's glad he went to a country that values civil liberties.

The irony is hilarious and befitting of his status.

[Rukentuts]

I honestly don't know how much of this is aimed at gays as much as it is aimed at Chechens.

They are pissed as hell the games are held in Sochi and are being played on "the bones of dead Muslims", and terror is a real threat.

[Deleted]

I bet Snowden's glad he went to a country that values civil liberties.

The irony is hilarious and befitting of his status.

It's pretty sad, actually. A place like Russia protects civil liberties better than most Western Government! Especially the UK.

[Rukentuts]

It's pretty sad, actually. A place like Russia protects civil liberties better than most Western Government! Especially the UK.

This is actually false, if you look at Freedom Indices.

[Deleted]

It's pretty sad, actually. A place like Russia protects civil liberties better than most Western Government! Especially the UK.

What? Snowden only goes there because he knows that Putin loves antagonizing with the West, believing that Russia is a world power like the USSR was, which means that they won't send him to the US to be tried.
It has nothing to do with civil liberties whatsoever. He's just doing his best to dodge another mockery of a sentence like Manning's.

[Felya]

I bet Snowden's glad he went to a country that values civil liberties.

The irony is hilarious and befitting of his status.

It's not meant to be hilarious, but be a public statement that is so loud, that it overwhelms what is actually going on in Russia.

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It's pretty sad, actually. A place like Russia protects civil liberties better than most Western Government! Especially the UK.

No they do not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya

[But I Hate You All]

This is actually false, if you look at Freedom Indices.

Australia is the freest county in the world

[Mayhem]

disgusting what´s going on, i hope they get it together and everyone has equal rights sometime

[theredviola]

The American equivalent was "Bush signed Patriot Act."

Zing!

At least it's being debated in Congress if it should be repealed.

That doesn't mean much though. Saying "Congress debates X" is like saying "Kindergarten class debates which is better: pudding or cookies."

[wowaccounttom]

disgusting what´s going on, i hope they get it together and everyone has equal rights sometime

This. The same way that the gays believe that it is okay to show any kind of affection in public, then the ones that are against it should have their rights respected. How about some equal rights for the majorities that are seen as the bad guy? After all, they have as much right as minorities.

They should be able to express how it might affect them to be in an environment in which gay couples openly display their affection or just their relationship. What about those parents that want to ensure that their young kids are not exposed to that stuff from an early age?

This entire thing is actually begging for countries to take firm action and either adopt or shun gays and should either be displayed in a country that has a different general point of view then to take action against that person -- whether it is pro or against gay couples.

[Ryve]

You really have no clue. Please inform me of the time of your life when you made a conscious decision on your sexuality. That's right, you can't. No one can. The closest anyone can get is someone who is bi/pansexual deciding what sex interests them at the time.

Actually, he has more of a clue than you do with his statement. Whether or not we agree with his homophobic stance. "Love" and arousal are nothing more than chemical reactions.

By default the human brain should naturally react to members of the opposite sex. This is obviously an evolutionary measure to ensure the continuation of the species. Attraction to the same sex is counter-productive to the continuation of the species and is often caused by chemical imbalance, likely why a lot of males with two X chromosomes (XXY) turn out gay (different chemical make up, though to a greater extreme).

Chemical imbalance, you say? I can practically see people choking on their Cheetos with rage. This is not an insult, nor does it make them lesser human beings. It pretty much just means they're not set up to default to what is the norm - look back to the whole "instinctive need in the species to reproduce". They're no more of a "lesser human being" than a straight person who has no desire to have kids. If you want to think anything of gay people, you can think "with billions of people on the planet, they're a statistical inevitability", or maybe "I'm so happy that they just want to have sex with people of the same gender, instead of having a predisposition towards enjoying hurting animals with a high likelihood of becoming a serial killer".

Back to choice... It is very much possible to train the human brain to experience said chemical reactions to things they previous felt neither towards, likewise with training the brain not to react in such a way to something it previously did. So someone who was previous sexuality A can become bisexual, or sexuality B either voluntarily or involuntarily. Stockholm Syndrome, anyone? There have also been some horrific experiments carried out trying to make programmable sleeper agents of people from enemy nations (something far more complicated and far less probable).

I know people like to think sexuality is some mysterious and inexplicable thing... But let's be honest, those people probably also read horoscopes and get nervous on Friday the 13ths.

Back to the topic of the thread: In recent times Olympic games have been considered major terrorist dangers with good reason. If you're stupid enough to think that is an appropriate time to be wasting police resources, no matter how just your cause is, you are dangerously stupid.

[Nakura Chambers]

He suspended the article of their constitution that allowed them to protest. The suspension, so far, only takes place around the Olympics. To be honest the way the country is handling things I could see them completely removing the Article.

The American equivalent would be "Obama repels the first amendment."

He's repelled the rest of the Bill of Rights.

[Jaxi]

People who think the olympics are nothing but games for contest are terribly ignorant about the history of the olympics.

Turned out real well last time we did that nonsense with Russia. In the end, only the athletes suffer. You've got all the opportunity and the majority of the civilized world rooting in your favor. Show some respect to other groups as well.

[Flutterguy]

The American equivalent was "Bush signed Patriot Act."

That's not the equivalent at all. Get the Amendments right. It would be the 4th Amendment if you were using the comparison properly.

[Deleted]

Yes, it's better than it was after the collapse of the USSR. But it is still way behind how it was right before the collapse: Gorby had managed to overhaul the Soviet economy by introducing slowly economic freedom. His stated goal was to transform politically the Soviet Union into something that would work similarly to the viking socialdemocracies.

This is absolutely false. Gorby's plans were good but left Russia in a dreadful economical state. Russia under Putin economically has improved massively.

[Puck]

it's true and it's funny. From russian side we can't understand why you protest against not letting childs to watch adv. of homosexualism. So we thinking about what you teaching your childrens 4-16 years to buttf**k and this kinda absurd, you know ?

So in a previous post you say we are ignorant and misinformed about Russia's treatment of gays, then you proceed to spout something as ignorant and asinine as this?

Nah, to be honest dude, I think we've got you are your people pegged.

[Elegiac]

He's repelled the rest of the Bill of Rights.

False, actually.