Threats to prevent Russian athletes from competing.

[T.G.G. Moogly]

MSN

www.msn.com

Gymnast Ivan Kuliak caused outrage on Saturday by wearing a Russian war symbol on his shirt while sharing a podium with a Ukrainian rival.

Former Russian junior champion Kuliak had just finished third behind winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha.

And as the gymnasts were pictured standing shoulder to shoulder to collect their medals, clearly visible was a letter 'Z' taped across the middle of Kuliak's shirt.

The letter Z, which symbolically represents 'victory' in Russian, is daubed on to the front of Vladimir Putin's tanks and other military vehicles.

Thoughts now?

Young people do stupid things. Put him in Ukraine as a Ukrainian and he will do just the opposite, which of course would not be stupid.

 

[Harry Bosch]

MSN

www.msn.com

Gymnast Ivan Kuliak caused outrage on Saturday by wearing a Russian war symbol on his shirt while sharing a podium with a Ukrainian rival.

Former Russian junior champion Kuliak had just finished third behind winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha.

And as the gymnasts were pictured standing shoulder to shoulder to collect their medals, clearly visible was a letter 'Z' taped across the middle of Kuliak's shirt.

The letter Z, which symbolically represents 'victory' in Russian, is daubed on to the front of Vladimir Putin's tanks and other military vehicles.

Thoughts now?

I think that he's a smug little asshole.

 

[Harry Bosch]

MSN

www.msn.com

Gymnast Ivan Kuliak caused outrage on Saturday by wearing a Russian war symbol on his shirt while sharing a podium with a Ukrainian rival.

Former Russian junior champion Kuliak had just finished third behind winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha.

And as the gymnasts were pictured standing shoulder to shoulder to collect their medals, clearly visible was a letter 'Z' taped across the middle of Kuliak's shirt.

The letter Z, which symbolically represents 'victory' in Russian, is daubed on to the front of Vladimir Putin's tanks and other military vehicles.

Thoughts now?

Young people do stupid things. Put him in Ukraine as a Ukrainian and he will do just the opposite, which of course would not be stupid.

I'd boycott Adolf Kuliak. But I'd watch Daniil (if I liked Tennis):

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Toni]

I feel a lot worse for the people who have lost family or are being terrorized in an egregious violation of international law that has seen thousands killed.

So do the athletes, I believe.

I can well imagine that the athletes do.

But they've also got years of training and discipline and lost opportunities invested. I totally understand why they don't want their personal ambitions thwarted over something that they had no part in creating.
Tom

How is that any different that the lives in Ukraine that are being 'disrupted' i.e. lost, displaced, disabled, separated from loved ones, all of which is far, far, far worse than losing an opportunity to play a sport? Except in degree. Slight difference there. I know where my sympathies are.

Refusing to allow Russian athletes to compete is refusing to allow Russia to be associated with any sort of victory, excellence, domination, winning. Ultimately, who should remove Putin? I am assuming that we all believe that Putin needs to be out of power, right? If not, please play along. Putin has been in power for a long time and clearly has ambitions to restore the Russian empire. Who can remove him? Who should remove him? To me, the answer is clear: it should be the people of Russia. Restricting Russian access to world wide commerce, recognition, etc. will help clarify for the Russian people what maintaining Putin means: being increasingly cut off from the world. Let them decide. But don't let's pretend that they can have Putin and world renown, too.

 

[Toni]

I do not understand your reply Barbos. It doesn’t seem to relate to what I posted.
For example, you are claiming that I am “demanding” something.

???

I think that barbos is referring to this:

Metropolitan Opera replaces Anna Netrebko after Russian singer refuses to speak against Putin. Ukrainian soprano steps in.​

Updated: Mar. 04, 2022, 3:54 p.m. | Published: Mar. 03, 2022, 4:37 p.m.
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/20...ebko-with-ukrainian-liudmyla-monastyrska.html

Why allow Russia ANY bragging rights?

 

[blastula]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

MSN

www.msn.com

Gymnast Ivan Kuliak caused outrage on Saturday by wearing a Russian war symbol on his shirt while sharing a podium with a Ukrainian rival.

Former Russian junior champion Kuliak had just finished third behind winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha.

And as the gymnasts were pictured standing shoulder to shoulder to collect their medals, clearly visible was a letter 'Z' taped across the middle of Kuliak's shirt.

The letter Z, which symbolically represents 'victory' in Russian, is daubed on to the front of Vladimir Putin's tanks and other military vehicles.

Thoughts now?

Yeah, is there an echo?

 

[TSwizzle]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

 

[ZiprHead]

Yeah, is there an echo?

 

[Metaphor]

Poutine is off the menu:

Poutine not Putin: classic Quebec dish off the menu in France and Canada

Restaurant threatened for selling the fries, cheese and gravy snack that sounds like the Russian leader

www.theguardian.com

 

[blastula]

We're not using "freedom fries" anymore, they can borrow it.

 

[Trausti]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

 

[laughing dog]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

Is there a secret invasion of a neighbor by China? BTW, there were 49 countries in the coalition of the willing against Iraq.

A global reaction to the Putin's aggression seems consistent with the notion of a global community.

 

[Toni]

Poutine is off the menu:

Poutine not Putin: classic Quebec dish off the menu in France and Canada

Restaurant threatened for selling the fries, cheese and gravy snack that sounds like the Russian leader

www.theguardian.com

As far as I can tell from recent articles, poutine is still on the menus and very popular in plenty of restaurants in the US, at least those bordering Canada. And according to the article, the restaurant claiming to have given birth to the Canadian dish is temporarily retiring the name to avoid being associated with Putin and in solidarity with Ukraine.

 

[Trausti]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

Is there a secret invasion of a neighbor by China? BTW, there were 49 countries in the coalition of the willing against Iraq.

A global reaction to the Putin's aggression seems consistent with the notion of a global community.

We are not at war with Russia. There is no UN mandate against Russia. What is gained by fraying, or destroying, the cultural bonds we've nurtured since the fall of the Soviet Union? Why hurt the average Russian? There will be blow back from this. And for what?

International Cat Federation Bans Russian Cats from Competition Following Ukraine Invasion

The International Cat Federation stated that it was "shocked and horrified" by the conflict in Ukraine

www.yahoo.com

 

[Harry Bosch]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

Is there a secret invasion of a neighbor by China? BTW, there were 49 countries in the coalition of the willing against Iraq.

A global reaction to the Putin's aggression seems consistent with the notion of a global community.

We are not at war with Russia. There is no UN mandate against Russia. What is gained by fraying, or destroying, the cultural bonds we've nurtured since the fall of the Soviet Union? Why hurt the average Russian? There will be blow back from this. And for what?

International Cat Federation Bans Russian Cats from Competition Following Ukraine Invasion

The International Cat Federation stated that it was "shocked and horrified" by the conflict in Ukraine

www.yahoo.com

It's really simple. If you celebrate the death of civilians, then you are piling piece of shit. As far as I'm concerned, we need to bankrupt Russia for the crimes being committed by Putin. It's a crappy deal, but Putin isn't going to stop until the Russian military is so tired of their shitty economy that they overthrow him.

 

[steve_bank]

Not a fan.

I don’t feel like the athletes should be punished for what their country is doing. Banning doped athletes can be argued on the merits, as can insisting that they don’t fly the Russian banner. But the talk about the Russian para athletes didn’t feel justified.

Thoughts?

International sports, especially the Olympics, is always political. China wanted the Olympics to smooth over its image of human rights abus

You can go back to black American aesthetes making the black power gesture on the podium at the Olympics.

Russian gymnast wears national WAR symbol on his shirt on podium

Former Russian junior champion Ivan Kuliak had just finished third behind event winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha but the scandal came on the podium.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak causes OUTRAGE in World Cup event after wearing a national war symbol on his shirt while sharing the podium with Ukranian rival Illia Kovtun​

• Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak has sparked uproar at a World Cup event in Doha
• Kuliak wore a Russian war symbol on his shirt when collecting his bronze medal
• He was sharing the podium with the event winner - Ukrainian star Illia Kovtun

 

[Harry Bosch]

Not a fan.

I don’t feel like the athletes should be punished for what their country is doing. Banning doped athletes can be argued on the merits, as can insisting that they don’t fly the Russian banner. But the talk about the Russian para athletes didn’t feel justified.

Thoughts?

International sports, especially the Olympics, is always political. China wanted the Olympics to smooth over its image of human rights abus

You can go back to black American aesthetes making the black power gesture on the podium at the Olympics.

Russian gymnast wears national WAR symbol on his shirt on podium

Former Russian junior champion Ivan Kuliak had just finished third behind event winner Ukraine's Illia Kovtun in the parallel bars at a World Cup event in Doha but the scandal came on the podium.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak causes OUTRAGE in World Cup event after wearing a national war symbol on his shirt while sharing the podium with Ukranian rival Illia Kovtun​

• Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak has sparked uproar at a World Cup event in Doha
• Kuliak wore a Russian war symbol on his shirt when collecting his bronze medal
• He was sharing the podium with the event winner - Ukrainian star Illia Kovtun

I'm okay with athletes being proud of their country. Be proud of your soldiers. Support your people. I get it. But to support the shelling of civilians is absolutely sick. IMO, the US was justified in invading Afghanistan to kill Al-quada. I supported that war. But was I gleeful that civilians would die (and did die)? Of course not. Iraq, similar to Russian war on Afghanistan, was a war of choice. But I did not see Americans then proud of killing civilians. Kuliak was boasting of war next to Illia Kovtun who probably has family members directly under attack right now. I'm sorry, but anyone celebrating civilians dying is a sicko.

 

[TSwizzle]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

Russia should be treated as the pariah state that it is.

 

[laughing dog]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

Is there a secret invasion of a neighbor by China? BTW, there were 49 countries in the coalition of the willing against Iraq.

A global reaction to the Putin's aggression seems consistent with the notion of a global community.

We are not at war with Russia. There is no UN mandate against Russia. What is gained by fraying, or destroying, the cultural bonds we've nurtured since the fall of the Soviet Union? Why hurt the average Russian? There will be blow back from this. And for what?

International Cat Federation Bans Russian Cats from Competition Following Ukraine Invasion

The International Cat Federation stated that it was "shocked and horrified" by the conflict in Ukraine

www.yahoo.com

We are still in a cold war with Russia.

What cultural bonds with Russia are you talking about?

There will be blow back no matter what how we act or don't act.

The Russian gov't has no problem hurting the average Ukranian, Georgian, Armenian and Moldovan. It is the Russian way. Apparently it is the only language they understand.

I

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

This smug little asshole seems to be pretty damn proud of his country's war crimes:

MSN

www.msn.com

This is why Russia and its athletes should be barred from international competition.

Do we do this for Chinese athletes, too? Should American athletes have been banned for the Iraq war? We've spent the last 30 years building a global community. Let's not toss it so easily.

I have to admit that sometimes you actually make sense. But Iraq should have already been a pariah state as far as international competition and cooperation was concerned. The world was just not sophisticated and connected enough to carry that out.