Putin Has Pussy Riot Members Detained

For those of you who like bullshit with your borscht:

This morning, Maria Alekhina and Nadezdha Tolokonnikova, two member of the protest group Pussy Riot, were sitting in a McDonalds in Sochi when "around fifty" plainclothes police officers arrested them "for robbery," according to their Twitter feeds. They were out of prison for a little less than two months, just enough for the world to feel slightly better about attending the gangster Olympics. And now the facade from Russia's Potemkin human rights has been abruptly pulled away. If Putin's plan with the Sochi Olympics was to mock democratic values, to show that everyone in the West can be played for suckers, and to demonstrate our hypocrisy to the rest of the world, he has completely succeeded.

After questioning, the two were released without charges being filed. Let's hope this causes much more trouble for Czar Vladimir than for these two courageous women.

UPDATE:  Russian security goons broke up an impromptu performance by Pussy Riot in Sochi by pepper spraying and lashing the group's members with whips.  (Remember this when you tune in to NBC's "nothing to see here, move along" coverage of the Olympics).  From now on, "Cossacks" will be synonymous to "cowards."

(Photo:  Maria, left, and Nadezdha)

So-cheap Picture of the Day

The Sochi Winter Olympics opened today and right at the start, there was a glitch in the Olympic rings lighting.

Perhaps Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin didn't pay the electric bill, or the missing circle symbolized the Circle of Trust.  Bwahaha.

(photo:  V. Kadobnov via Getty Images)

So-cheap Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

Russia has turned the Olympic venue at Sochi into a heavily secured site, bristling with police and security forces to discourage or prevent a terrorist attack during the games.

But, as athletes and visitors arrive, a more glaring problem is the state of accommodations and infrastructure to support tens of thousands of people.  Unfinished hotels, yellow-colored drinking water and unfinished roads and sidewalks are being noted by journalists, and may end up giving Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin more of a black eye than the garrison environment he's created there.

BONUS:  With a hat tip to Balloon Juice, here's a vignette by Katie Baker inside one of the hotels (read the full article here):

"As basements of hastily fabricated media housing complexes in corruption-plagued countries go, I imagine, it was not out of the ordinary: low, dripping ceilings; cords and cables slung inches away from dank puddles; workers’ belongings and equipment; a random Castaway-style handprint on a wall. Standard stuff. Then I came upon a small, poignant sculpture crafted out of tinfoil and propped up on a pipe. It was a hand, giving the middle finger. Whether the sentiment was directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin, or at some asshole foreman, or at me, I can’t say."

(cartoon:  Jack Ohman, via Gocomics.com)

Sunday Funnies

(click to enlarge)

As the Winter Olympics approach, a perfect storm of problems are plaguing the regime of Vladimir Putin.  Foremost, of course, is the threat of terrorist attacks similar to the ones last month in Volgograd, and Putin has turned Sochi into an armed camp of security forces and police.  Added to that is the unrest in the Ukraine over their government's desire to draw closer to Putin's Russia and away from the European Union, something that Ukrainians oppose.  Lastly, there's an atmosphere of intolerance and political oppression pervading the Olympics that are part of Putin's style.  We'll be watching some events, but not without holding our noses.

(cartoon:  Jim Morin, The Miami Herald, via Gocomics.com)

Wanker of the Week

What an ignorant bigot:

Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana on Friday to wish them success at the Games. During a question-and-answer session, one volunteer asked him about Russia’s attitudes toward gays, a subject that has provoked worldwide controversy, and Putin offered what was apparently meant to be a reassuring answer for visitors to the Olympics. 

"One can feel calm and at ease," he said. "Just leave the kids alone, please."

UPDATE:  Here's your runner-up.

They'll Have A Gay Old Time

The U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will include two openly gay athletes, tennis great Billie Jean King, and women's hockey star Caitlin Cahow.  Neither the President and First Lady, nor the Vice President will be attending the opening ceremonies, a clear rebuke to Russia's harsh, homophobic policies and laws, enthusiastically pushed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Instead, the U.S. delegation will be led by former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other dignitaries.

It is uncertain whether hostile Russians or Russian security services will create an incident in Sochi with our athletes or athletes of other nations who may have gay or lesbian athletes representing them.  What is certain is that gay and lesbian athletes will win medals during the games, just not for Russia.  It's their loss in more ways than one.