Today has been the last full day of competition at the games. Normally
the combination of a relatively light events schedule and everyone
getting excited about going home means that on this day hardcore
politics are replaced by sporting excellence and some good natured
mucking about in things like the Ice Dancing gala.
Unfortunately in Sochi the poisonous cloud of Ukraine has continued to
hang over the games. So in the Alpine events (skiing, snowboarding)
there were lots and lots of stupid mistakes and people falling over for
no particular reason. Although I can't speak for everyone this struck me
as the athletes collectively refusing to put in their best performance
for an organisation that is still refusing to punish the USA for its
role in the Ukraine violence.
Similarly in the speed skating arena everyone seemed happy to simply
wave the Netherlands team through. The Netherlands compete in the
colours of its Royal House of Orange meaning that they perfectly
represent the European old guard which alongside the USA has been
fuelling the violence in Ukraine which has its roots in the 'Orange
Revolution'. Therefore the idea was to let the Netherlands win in order
to highlight this fact. To the Netherlands credit they did take this
criticism on the chin setting Olympic records in the process of winning
gold in both the men's and women's Team Pursuit events.
Sadly the same can't be said for the USA who spectacularly threw their
bronze medal men's Ice Hockey match against Finland 5-0. As a result
Team USA will not appear in either the official list of medal winners or
tomorrow's medal ceremony. So it seems that not only is the USA
refusing to apologise for its role in Ukraine's violence it is also
unable to take any criticism of its actions.
As for events in Ukraine today they really went beyond satire. Yesterday
(21/2/14) both the Ukrainian government and the political leaders of
the opposition signed a, for want of better word, peace agreement. This
set out a transitional roadmap that would have seen the reinstatement of
the 2004 constitution, an unelected government of national unity formed
within 12 days and elections to be held in December 2014. All of this
is pretty standard stuff but the agreement also required that Ukraine's
police withdraw from the streets and do not attempt to uphold the law.
That was simply a ridiculous demand that wouldn't be tolerated in any
developed nation on earth.
As with Wednesday's (19/2/14) truce this agreement lasted about nine
hours before the opposition decided to break it using the absence of the
police to storm the Presidential compound. Fortunately bloodshed was
avoided because the President had already left and had rather helpfully
left the doors unlocked. This allowed people to wander freely around the
compound in scenes that were remarkably similar to those seen at
Libya's Presidential compound following the fall of Tripoli. Libya is of
course still effectively a failed state almost three years after its
'popular revolution' that NATO were in absolutely no way involved in.
With the Presidential compound stormed and the President absent the
Ukrainian Parliament which was occupied exclusively by members of the
opposition went a bit mental making all sorts of wild declarations. The
most notable of these was the announcement that Parliament had sacked
the President - something that neither the 2004 constitution nor more
recent versions allows it to do. The 'Parliament' also decided to
release Yulia Tymoshenko from prison where she was being held for her
part in an absolutely epic financial fraud. Despite having been expelled
by public vote in the 2010 General Election from the post of Prime
Minister she'd been appointed to in 2007 upon release Tymoshenko has
pretty much appointed herself as Ukraine's President. Tymoshenko's
supporters are now rushing to quickly hold an election before the
current hysteria dies down and people actually start questioning her
record. For example they can't allow the people time to realise that the
reason why Ukraine is caught between choosing a bailout from the
European Union (EU) or a bailout from Russia is because Tymoshenko
bankrupted the country by personally embezzling around USD188million.
Also today the USA's main reason for stoking unrest in Ukraine has been
revealed. As this recent burst of violence began on Tuesday (18/2/14)
the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) started work on a resolution
that compels the Syrian government to throw open its borders to anyone
and everyone. Officially the reason for this is to allow humanitarian
assistance. In reality it is to make it easier for foreign powers to
supply the Saudi and Qatari Irregular Army (SQIA). Due to the turmoil in
Ukraine this resolution wasn't properly debated and was today waved
through with the US, the UK and others celebrating it as a great victory
in their war against the Syrian government.
With all this going on and them rapidly losing control of the situation
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to do something to
deescalate calls from the USA to be expelled from the games. So this
morning it was announced that Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina
Lisogor has tested positive for a banned stimulant and is to be
expelled. This was intended to convey the message that the Ukrainian
insurgency has indeed been receiving illegal support/stimulation from
the US. It also draws attention to the general consensus that if anyone
in Ukraine or the wider international community thinks what it currently
going on in Ukraine is a good thing for the country then they must be
under the influence of some sort of mind altering drug.
(Originally Posted) 20:55 on 22/2/14 (UK date).
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