BUS 449 Post 2

Dear Reader,

Congrats with making it to the second post! Keep up the good work!

A lot of interesting things are happening this week in the world but the biggest event of this week is, of course, the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi. We are all excited about games and a great show, that is a fabulous end of a campaign where even the Olympic torch had to travel more than any other person on earth (and out of it).

However, not everything is as rosy as every one of us, but especially Mr. Putin wants it to be. A dark cloud on this bright blue sky appeared to be a number of protests and boycotts that demand Olympics to be banned. Sochi is facing many obstacles and problems, but among the rest the most important are: one third of the dedicated amount of money is gone as a result of a corruption; stray animals are being poisoned or shot so they don’t run into a stadium during the game; and, of course, the new-born legislature that makes LGBT propaganda illegal, and, therefore, effectively puts homosexual sportsmen and visitors in danger. (Note: according to the law, holding hands in public is propaganda as well.)

One of the first individuals who spoke about the latter issue was British celebrity Stephen Fry, who wrote “An Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC” asking to ban the Olympics over the anti-gay laws. Numerous online campaigns and petitions also occur, but it looks like nothing really had been changed.

Fun fact: the mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, claims there are no gay people in the city. Who knows what he bases his theories on, considering the fact that there are several gay bars that somehow survived in business environment and have revenue? As there are no gay people in Sochi, therefore everyone [Games guests] should “respect the laws of the Russian Federation and do not impose their habits on others”. And this is what amuses me the most in his interview.

"There are no gay people in Sochi." 

Anatoly Pakhomov

It's worth remembering that the Olympic Games are not about politics - they are about peaceful international competition, in the spirit of unity. In that spirit, let's all root for a happy, safe and prosperous Olympics. In this positive note, please follow here for an uplifting video.