Trouble in Sochi?

8Here are 8 rather fascinating bits of info that I have found on various newspaper sites. Read them, and tell me what you think of the Olympics in Russia. 

1. Security issues. A mentally ill man from was able to use a homemade all-access pass at the opening ceremonies to clear several layers of security at and get close to the vice-president,  who authorities say the man had an infatuation with. Before he could reach him however, he was stopped by two plainclothes policemen who escorted him away. The man has been committed to a psychiatric facility.

2. Breakdowns. The men's 500 meter speed  skating event was delayed for over an hour when both ice resurfacers experienced  mechanical failures and a third ice machine was unable to resurface the ice properly. At least one skater withdrew from the race because of the delay and other racers stated that the delay hurt their race times.

3.  Safety issues with maybe a bit of corruption? About 28,000 tickets for spectator places along the slopes of a number of outside events were recalled for safety reasons; ticket holders were reimbursed but are having difficulty or are not able to gain access to tickets at comparable prices to these events. Visitors were also upset by a twenty dollar charge to attend ceremonies to honor medal-winning athletes. Traditionally, these ceremonies had been free of charge. Organizers also expressed concern about blocks of VIP tickets going unused leaving conspicuous empty seats at events.

4. Some bias in the biathlon? Observers and participants reported that several starter errors occurred during the men's biathlon  per suit. CompetitorsJeremy Teela and Jean-Philippe Leguellec were started too early, before racers who were seeded higher than them. Teela stated that the early start threw-off his strategy, contributing to his missing two targets in his first two shooting range stops. Said Teela, "We have a couple more races this week. Hopefully the organizers figure this problem out and they make the races fair."

Starter confusion was also present during the women's pursuit earlier that day. This time both Liudmila Kalinchik and Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek were held back and had to start several seconds too late. U.S. coach Per Nilsson stated that he had never seen an Olympic biathlon as poorly managed as the women's race.

5. Totally unacceptable!  After problems with malfunctioning buses and lost drivers delayed spectators trying to go to or return from Olympic venues, the games organizers called in an additional 100 buses and drivers. The problematic buses hired drivers from other states/provinces  instead of local drivers.

6. I'm not even going to get into the protests, the rally's, the demonstrations, union problems, cost overrides...I could write pages and pages and pages.

7. What a foolish place to have Winter olympics: to Almost 30,000 spectators have now been turned away from Cypress Mountain because the standing room area has become waterlogged and unsafe.

8. And worst of all...heartbreaking and disgusting, is the following article: Oversized neon Olympic rings illuminate the skyline, while a giant mural of a snowboarder mid-trick welcomes visitors to the airport. In the city centre, a sleek steel-and-glass Olympic clock is counting down to next month's winter games.

But for 51-year-old Nicholas, , a homeless drug addict, looking up at the snowcapped mountains where the downhill competition runs will be fills him with dread.

"We're all going to be cleared out of here before the Olympics," he said, wrapped in a flimsy sleeping bag and clutching a bag of bottles plucked from street bins which he will exchange for money. "The clean-up will happen – they all want to hide the city's black eye, right?" 

"Last month, homeless people started showing up in droves in towns 100 miles or so outside of the city.They had been given one-way bus tickets and were forced onto the busses. Local shelters in those communities have been completely overloaded. All so that the world can see a shiny and clean (and totally false) version of our city."

Doesn't that make you think? Think about all the things wrong with these Olympics, and with #8, whats wrong with humanity in general?

  And umm, by the way, all 8 of these statements are taken from articles about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Glass houses people, glass houses....