The State of Affairs in Russia

[Admiral Yi]

Too rough to be beet paper. 

I would have gladly traded a real pair of Levis for some supple, fluffy beet paper.

[Sheilbh]

Also Channel 4's changing their logo:

And have produced an advert wishing 'good luck to everyone out in Sochi' featuring a bear singing 'good luck gays on gay mountain' with a Putin-a-like DJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6RID82Ru-k

It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it is funny.

Also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMdPj3HXMgQ

[MadBurgerMaker]

This is nice:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956.html

SOCHI, Russia—Rooms without doorknobs, locks or heat, dysfunctional toilets, surprise early-morning fire alarms and a Welcome Wagon of stray dogs: These are the initial images of the 2014 Winter Olympics that foreign journalists have blasted around the world from their officially assigned hotels—and the wave of criticism has rankled Russian officials.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, reflected the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," he said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. "We're doing a tour of the media center," the aide said.

Just kind of slipped out, I guess.

[garbon]

Also Channel 4's changing their logo:

And have produced an advert wishing 'good luck to everyone out in Sochi' featuring a bear singing 'good luck gays on gay mountain' with a Putin-a-like DJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6RID82Ru-k

It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it is funny.

Also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMdPj3HXMgQ

WTF?

[derspiess]

This is nice:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956.html

SOCHI, Russia—Rooms without doorknobs, locks or heat, dysfunctional toilets, surprise early-morning fire alarms and a Welcome Wagon of stray dogs: These are the initial images of the 2014 Winter Olympics that foreign journalists have blasted around the world from their officially assigned hotels—and the wave of criticism has rankled Russian officials.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, reflected the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," he said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. "We're doing a tour of the media center," the aide said.

Just kind of slipped out, I guess.

[Grey Fox]

RoTW : Why you hate Olympics?

[Sheilbh]

RoTW : Why you hate Olympics?

The Winter Olympics

[Zanza]

I had also heard that flushing toilet paper is rare in other parts of the world.  Don't remember where I heard ti though.

I've seen the bucket thing in places with poor or no running water, e.g. in the Himalayas or in Sub-Saharan Africa. I guess without running water, toilet paper will inevitably clog up whatever sewage pipes they have...

[grumbler]

Or we can allow countries like Russia and China to host the games, but the IOC could hold lack of basic respect for human rights against them when it comes to making these decisions. Or the IOC could NOT hold it against them, and we could respond accordingly and decide to either take a pass on our leaders attending, or make some other clear gesture.

It isn't all or nothing.

Or you could just get over yourself & move on with your life.

I suppose that, if you lack an intellectual response to an intellectual argument, the ad hom works for you.  I think most of us recognize an intellectually bankrupt concession post, though.

[The Larch]

RoTW : Why you hate Olympics?

I don't think they're shown at all over here. Winter sports are not that popular.

[derspiess]

I suppose that, if you lack an intellectual response to an intellectual argument, the ad hom works for you.  I think most of us recognize an intellectually bankrupt concession post, though.

I was just trying to get a rise out of Berkut.  Relax.

[Maximus]

And no one told the Western, especially Americans, that most of the world's waterpipe don't have enough pressure to push paper thru them.

Generally speaking, in North America at least, sewers don't use pressure, but rather gravity flow. However this means the pipes need to be installed with a fairly high degree of precision, which is one of the reasons plumbing is a skilled trade. If you have shoddy workmanship you increase the chances of a fibrous mass of wet toilet paper clogging the pipe.

BTW isn't Drakken or someone here a professional plumber?

[Maximus]

I've seen the bucket thing in places with poor or no running water, e.g. in the Himalayas or in Sub-Saharan Africa. I guess without running water, toilet paper will inevitably clog up whatever sewage pipes they have...

Yea, this too

[Grey Fox]

Drakken is studying for it, yes.

[DGuller]

This is nice:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304680904579366712107461956.html

SOCHI, Russia—Rooms without doorknobs, locks or heat, dysfunctional toilets, surprise early-morning fire alarms and a Welcome Wagon of stray dogs: These are the initial images of the 2014 Winter Olympics that foreign journalists have blasted around the world from their officially assigned hotels—and the wave of criticism has rankled Russian officials.

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, reflected the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," he said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. "We're doing a tour of the media center," the aide said.

Just kind of slipped out, I guess.

This is funny in how it slipped out, but this is also very serious.  Who knows how many foreign sources FSB will recruit once they finish going through all the hotel room footage?