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[Xander]

And you have the free will and thought to wish you could gamble online, which is comforting-Turner

I don't believe that they could gamble online there even if it was legal.  For starters I believe that most places don't even have internet.  Besides, most people there are busy standing in a line of some kind for food.   Sochi looks like a dreadful place to be.

[iggiv]

Xander your ideas about Russia are very outdated.   I am not saying that they live better than people of the West, still what you describe is not their reality at all. Russia is not North Korea.

for example u can read in Wiki about Russian Internet

"In September 2011, Russia overtook Germany on the European market with the highest number of unique visitors online.^[1] In March 2013 it was announced that Russian is now the second most used language on the web.^[2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Russia

[Xander]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/05/15-signs-that-russia-is-not-very-ready-for-the-olympics/

You're probably right.  But to us, it's very close to being North Korea or Pre 1985 East Germany.  In the US, we view the entire Soviet Union as being the third world.  We really can't fathom the living conditions.  The immigrants that come here from there reinforce that viewpoint with their stories.

[iggiv]

I am not gonna discuss Russian Olympics. Recently every time last Olympics are being criticized. You are not there and i am not there.

But about Russian life reality i know much better than you believe me. What you imagine is not reality. That's what you imagine. And i even don't know where you took this idea from.

don't get me wrong, they do have lots of problems. But this is not North Korea. And this is not totalitarism like in North Korea. And life is very different. Actually in many big cities life is not very different from West. In small cities it could be different picture though. And average Russian lives worse than average Westerner. Still it is far away from what your imagination tells u.

[Xander]

And i even don't know where you took this idea from. -Iggiv

From my wife and her family.  They're Swiss, and have visited there.  Also, some of my immigrant friends, and my friends that served in Berlin.

There's lots of documentation and pictures from Sochi available on the internet, proving that Sochi wasn't ready.  I've posted some of it, above.

Whenever the Olympics are held in the US or Europe, everything is run top notch and first class.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with terrorism over the next few weeks, since they're security is low tech and third world.  I see a big mess coming.


-Xander

[iggiv]

I don't know what they saw where and when. What you describe is far away from reality.

And read this about the "top notch"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics

[Xander]

SO?

Canada isn't the third world.    They did a great job with those Olympics. 

In Sochi, many people don't even have fresh water or fresh food! 

[iggiv]

this is simply not true. They do have some problems but not what you are saying. You exaggerate a lot.


Look, i am not an admirer of Putin and of what's going on in Russia generally, but you have to be FAIR instead of telling some horror fairy tales.

and Sochi is not the only place where Olympics had problems. I showed you already. But u don't wanna see.

[Xander]

The horror stories are true.  They are being told by the Swiss, Germans, French, British, etc...  It's not just the US media.

[iggiv]

Show me who tells that "many people there have no fresh food or water"? Do you know that Sochi  Olympics have much better food supply than Vancouver had? You don't. And you don't wanna know. This what the athletes ate at Vancouver.


http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/our_story/corporate_info/press_room/articles/PR_Best_to_Serve.html

[Xander]

You can't compare Vancouver Canada with Sochi.  For starters, Canada has fresh water, hot water, heat, power,  and food.  Many stores are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The hotel accommodations there are top notch.  Canada is a safe place to live and visit.

[iggiv]

yes it is. I am not saying anything bad about Canada. But the fact is that Mcdonalds served Vancouver Olympics.

And there are no problems with Sochi food and water either. And what athletes have in Olympic village is much better than Mcdonalds.

[Xander]

In Canada, they had access to McDonalds, and a very wide range of different restaurants from which they could freely choose.  Many of which were open 24 hours a day.  McDonalds was not there only option.

[iggiv]

Well, whatever. If you like that Sochi is like jungle of Africa, its your right after all.


Sochi is a very nice city. This is a RESOURT city for God's sake. It's a paradise for tourists. I haven't been there but i've been close to there. And this was long time ago. Now it's much better than it used to be.

[Xander]

Iggiv,

Are you from there?

If you are, then I take back some of what I've said about there.    ( I thought you were Canadian?)