Russian violence-are Games safe?

I just saw something about suicide bombers on intl news. Anyone know where, when, etc. It did say athletes and ceos were worried. Anyone have more news? I shuddered thinking of the 72? games and the massacre of the Israeli team. I recall very little as I was young. I recall Aly Reisman using hava nagila in tribute to these murdered athletes in her florr exercise.

Can someone comment on what is known or speculated yet? I have always been amazed since 9-11 that the Olympics were safe and not marred by terrorism. I have a bad feeling about Sochi, tho, ever since Putin brought hate and intolerance to the fore. Whether or not we disagree or agree with a way of life or love, persecution is very wrong.

I'll google for the latest...

What, have you got your head in the sand?

They were in Volgograd, two of them, twenty-four hours apart. Over thirty have been killed. One in a train station, the other on a trolleybus.

The Games will be perfectly safe. That they are in Russia makes them no less safe than anywhere else. London was bombed, too. The 9/11 attacks were less than six months before the winter Games in Salt Lake City. Atlanta - in America, that paragon of safety! /sarcasm - was bombed DURING the Olympics. The 2008 games were held in a country that is very unsafe if you dare to disagree with the opinions of the dictators; heck, one of the Australian athletes was told in no uncertain terms that the security would not protect him because he wore a "Free Tibet" t-shirt earlier in the year. The next summer games will be held in a country with the highest murder rate in the world.

I am no fan of Russia's new laws and many of the things that they have done. But there seems to be a conspiracy to try and undermine the games in any way they can in the Western press, a conspiracy rooted in the old Cold War sentiments. I swear there was not anywhere near this level of objection to the games in China, and they were a far, far, far more objectionable choice, IMO.

Sochi itself will almost certainly be safe. If there are terorist attacks during the games they will probably be somewhere else in Russia.

Karne, for reasons I can only say as "survival" I limit the news, especially this time of year. It is all I can manage, my full, full plate, first holidays alone without my mother, and enough to write a book about. I care very much about everyone, and truly get disturbed by constant violence, disatsers, always always bad news, nothing positive, uplifting. The news need not be always BAD NEWS but it is. Barring a few medical tidbits that may help, I can not take hearing this every day.

You obviously are not American. We are a huge country that is pummelled daily by weather related disasters and constant shootings. I won't defend my country or the press. I am very sad, fearful and sick unto death of what has become of America. And really, the whole world is soon to be in 10 years a horrible mess of even more suffering from the climate. The news is local for 3 half hours. They distract us with the usual car accidents, and quirky local stories, individual shootings and murders. Meanwhile 99% do not get that this is to keep the populace uninformed about the wallstreet bubble soon to crash, the decimated infrastructure, our economy as more jobs go overseas. Our news is owned by a few billionaires.

All the apocalyptic movies/books are really harbingers of near future. 30 years ago, when mary, the mother of Jesus began appearing to 6 teens, one thing she said was..."turn off your TV sets." So I can control what I see online to an extent, but never know what horror is about to pop up on the news. You seem a bit resentful of American news coverage, and seem to think Russia will have a safe Olympics. I hope you are right, but only God knows. 1996 was a small incident and I believe a home grown nutcase, not suicide bombers who have declared jihad on the west or anyone.

We just had the Boston Marathon Bombing, VERY close to home. Any event like this is going to be targeted. I am sure Russian intel is working 24/7 and spending millions and millions on security.

Given what I just read, I don't have your confidence that Sochi will be safe. Also, you can not blame us little people in America for the news censorship, the slant, or the spin put on events. We are in perilous times, and many believe the end of times.

I read a great deal about global warming, and we are doomed. That will give rise to wars over water, food, every commodity. Do I really feel this cannot be avoided? I do, because the changes in the earth are now happening so rapidly, much of it will be uninhabitable in 50 years.

For the secular, the science is there. For the religious. the apparition, prophecies over 2,000 years are there.

Maybe you feel well protected from much of this and the news does not disturb you. I feel very vulnerable. I leave it there.

Skating is lovely and a nice diversion. I cannot do much about my world, I am disabled, so I get frustrated, knowing what I want to do, and cannot. I do thing the snow ball is rolling and huge and there is no way back. Inhabiting other planets? Not likely? My govt. is evil and does not belong to us anymore. When we really lost control, we the middle class is difficult to pinpoint. Sometimes, all I can see to do is to pray about what is happening to our world. It is a dark and dangerous place. Most do not believe in a higher power, and live lives based on consumerism, selfishness and a sad knowledge things are getting worse every year for much of humanity.

Pope Francis is the perfect leader for these times. Daily he speaks to the ills and a world starved for truth. Where do you live karne? I wish I could sleep for a long, long time. Happy New Year, BTW. Thanks for info. Just wonderful news, eh?

I am sorry you feel that way, skateluvr. There is still much that is good in the world and much to enjoy.

I live in Australia, so perhaps I do not see things the way you do for other reasons; gun ownership is massively restricted here, so there are no mass shootings; every now and again the criminals shoot each other, but they tend to only shoot each other and not innocents. Yet shootings in America appear in our news far too often; we shake our heads and wonder when they'll learn. Weather related disasters - well, we're used to it, we go up in flame and flood every summer; it becomes an unavoidable fact, and the only thing that makes me angry in that regard is the evil Greens who would sooner see everyone and everything perish in flame than do any backburning, backburning which is vital for the health of the Australian flora as well as for our own safety. Australia has been swept with bushfires every summer for millions of years; our own flora actually REQUIRES fire to regenerate.

The bombings in Volgograd were terrible news for the Russian people, and I feel sorry for them, having been comparatively safe for so long now. But if anyone thinks that Putin is going to have any less than the highest possible security and then some around the Games site, they have rocks in their head. He doesn't want anything to go wrong with his Games.

karne said:

I am sorry you feel that way, skateluvr. There is still much that is good in the world and much to enjoy.

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I do understand that the constant bombardment that our current media situation (24/7) makes it seem like the world is umpteen bazillion more times scarier, but honestly? in some ways it's very much the same. When the Civil War was going on people in this country thought it was the end times. During the Cold War folks believed the end was near. I hold fast to the promise we were given that only God knows when He will return, He has it under control - I can watch and be ready, but I don't have to worry about it. The battle is already won. (doesn't mean I don't let the worrier in me out once in a while, but I don't obsess over it either. Nor do I let talking heads on TV tell me different than what I know.)

You can also hold to the promise that God gave way back in Genesis that He promised he would not flood the entire world again... so I'm not looking for the hollywood version of the global warming apocalypse to happen.

Australia has been swept with bushfires every summer for millions of years; our own flora actually REQUIRES fire to regenerate.

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Pretty sure that works elsewhere... it's when humans try to stop nature from taking care of itself that we get a lot of these "out of control" animal populations, disease, etc...

As for the safety of the Russian games vs past games - it was in Munich that nearly an entire Olympic team was wiped out by terrorists. As karne listed there have been many more - in more recent memory - where violence happened around the olympics - in countries that are supposed to be known for their secure/safeness. So do I think it could happen in Sochi - yes. It could also happen here, or in Canada, or Japan... according to the Alaskan athletes headed to Sochi some have been there in the last year and said there is more security measures there than there was in Vancouver. They're not overly worried. Other athletes outside of Alaska have said "yeah, there's a danger, but bad can happen wherever I am."

glad to hear security is high. Russia has many enemies, tho, just as we usa does. God protect them all.

karne said:

What, have you got your head in the sand?

They were in Volgograd, two of them, twenty-four hours apart. Over thirty have been killed. One in a train station, the other on a trolleybus.

The Games will be perfectly safe. That they are in Russia makes them no less safe than anywhere else. London was bombed, too. The 9/11 attacks were less than six months before the winter Games in Salt Lake City. Atlanta - in America, that paragon of safety! /sarcasm - was bombed DURING the Olympics. The 2008 games were held in a country that is very unsafe if you dare to disagree with the opinions of the dictators; heck, one of the Australian athletes was told in no uncertain terms that the security would not protect him because he wore a "Free Tibet" t-shirt earlier in the year. The next summer games will be held in a country with the highest murder rate in the world.

I am no fan of Russia's new laws and many of the things that they have done. But there seems to be a conspiracy to try and undermine the games in any way they can in the Western press, a conspiracy rooted in the old Cold War sentiments. I swear there was not anywhere near this level of objection to the games in China, and they were a far, far, far more objectionable choice, IMO.

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The objections for the 2008 Olympics were far, far worse compared to this. If this is a conspiracy then what happened in 2008 was an all out war. The negative coverage of Russia has (so far) been confined to the anti-gay law and safety concerns, compared to China's Olympics where every aspect of the country had a negative spin put on it and made into headline news. When it got to the point where a handicapped torchbearer gets attacked and media started using misleading photos/opinions as news I just stopped following the pre-game coverage because it was getting into blatant propaganda territory. Even to a Canadian like me the bias was ridiculously obvious.

At least so far I do not have to watch non-stop coverage about how "evil dictator Putin" (~16 years de facto rule) is brutalizing peaceful bombers. /sarcasm

I'm pretty sure that Sochi Olympics would be safe. Considering how much experience Russia already had with religious terrorism they'll probably put up a line of soldiers across the entire city if they have to.

I am sure Sochi itself will be safe. The 2002 OWG Games were held in SLC just months after 9/11. Security measures were very tight as I am sure they will be in Sochi. If you are going to Sochi for the Games, be prepared for long lines into each venue for security searches, so plan ahead.

I think Putin will work his *** off to make sure that Sochi will be safe during the games.

I m not afraid of Sochi town itself, although it is a big district with the Olympic train running every 15 miutes around the cities and to/from arenas. And with the spectator pass and the rule to have this and a ticket to even be close to Sochi, plus all the visa papers that became more strict, I hope the bureocracy pays off, but I m worried about other places around Sochi to be honest.

Well, the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Games were certainly safe. Vancouver spent millions on security, but thank goodness nothing happened. We had our riot after the Games, during the Stanley Cup playoffs, when Vancouver Canucks lost to Boston. We could have used our Olympic security then! I am sure the Russian authorities are doing all they can to secure the Sochi Games, but it will be a tougher call than it was for Vancouver.

This - just 200 miles from Sochi: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/0...killings-raise-security-fears-ahead-of-sochi/

I am way more concerned with the summer games in Brazil than I am these ones. It may not be pretty but there is at least an upside to the draconian iron fist of mother Russia.

Sorry folks
Travelling to USA frightens me more then travelling to Russia
The media will continue the beat up about violence and killing in Russia but no one publishes the daily count of people killed in USA by mindless morons with guns.

Possum Glider said:

The media will continue the beat up about violence and killing in Russia but no one publishes the daily count of people killed in USA by mindless morons with guns.

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Of course those get published! In 2010, it was the average of 85 people per day, about 60% of which are suicides.

*proud gun owner*

It's okay if you fear me, I'm an introvert and prefer to be alone.

Tonichelle said:

*proud gun owner*

It's okay if you fear me, I'm an introvert and prefer to be alone.

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As someone who works in Newtown CT and was there that day, there are a lot fewer big grins there, just so you know.

As to the topic at hand, my in laws had been going to Sochi and just canceled their trip. They didnt offer us the tickets. I would have taken them in a second.

scooter said:

As someone who works in Newtown CT and was there that day, there are a lot fewer big grins there, just so you know.

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Just because I own guns doesn't mean I agree with people misusing them. Lumping responsible gun owners in with the evil people that would no doubt do it no matter what the rules, though, is wrong.

I'm not lumping anyone or anything. I am saying that here in Newtown, both from the first tragedy perpetrated by Adam Lanza and the second tragedy of Congress not even allowing the debate to come to the floor there are not so many big grins.