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Digital Fill – GUNS!
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Tag Archives: russia
Fashion Hangover a la Vancouver 2010
For better or for worse the Olympics have come and gone. For some of us their departure has left us with the sense of, “Hey, the party was just getting started!” for others, it’s a case of “Good riddance, no more frenzied crowds, no more line ups, no more searchlight thingies and no more incessant helicopter chatter overhead.” 
Still, lingering nostalgia remains, and it’s not for the spectacle of Koreans kicking butt at short track, Heineken at the Holland House or Robson Square Zipliners. These were great things, but nothing compares to the void that has been left by the departure of thousands of athletes. And their outfits. Their really nifty, nifty outfits. For two weeks the world’s athletes accomplished both amazing sporting feats and pushed athletic fashion to a whole new level. These Olympics can and should be remembered as a pageant of funky spandex designs, nifty parkas and everything in between. So, while i’m not sorry to see our speed skaters’ saran-wrapped thighs go, there were plenty of designs which i’ll remember fondly.
Some of my personal faves.
I like to call this number (above) the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Intimidation Suit”. The Austrailians did everything right here. Their opponents were probably left wondering, “Are these guys really ‘turtles in a half shell’? And if so, ‘do they have turtle power too?!’Pretty neat stuff. All part of the Australian amazing game plan to compensate for their lack of snow at home.
Personally, I don’t find curling very interesting. Probably because I never watch it for long enough to get into a ‘match’ due to my inability to comprehend anything that’s happening. With so many know-nothings like me apt to reach for the channel changer, Team Norway clearly knew what they were up against and came out with these funky attention grabbing harlequin curling clown pants. Hurry 
Hard Norway, way to build your curling community.
I’m at a loss for words with this one. But “brilliant” is the first one that comes to mind. This body-hugging spectacle of luminous spandex could do nothing but dazzle spectators and judges alike. Sure, the Ukranians made themselves easy targets with this creation, but let’s face it, it was a ballsy, all-or-nothing move which made them stand out from the pack. They flew in the face of figure skating couture convention. And I applaud them for it.
Ah, the Russians. Off the ice they set the bar pretty high with their street couture, which was flamboyant, s
tylish and boldly told the world that “watch out we’ll be seeing you in Sochi!” You just couldn’t miss them in any crowd, particularly since they often moved in coordinated packs. They also took Olympic Swag to a whole new level, with caps and fannie packs for added punch.
Lastly, there was us and our mittens. Something like 3.5 million of these things were bought before and during the Olympics. Well done HBC. Well done Vanoc. I have to say, these hand warmers were a master stroke of fashion and functionality, who wouldn’t want to keep their hand warm and wave the maple leaf at the same time?
Goodbye Olympics. You were fash-tastic and you will be remembered fondly.
Murdering Pirate Communities
Members of the Somali Coast Guard, searching for illegal fisherpeople
Leave it to Russia. Just when you think Somalia can’t get any worse, Russia takes things to an entirely perverse and morbid new level. At least that’s what this poorly translated story about the newest craze in Russian adventuretourism outlines.
The story goes like this. Tourists from The Motherland will pay thousands of dollars to hop aboard converted cargo ships and cruise the Gulf of Aden on the hunt for pirates. Perhaps a direct quote from the article will paint a more disturbing picture:
“Its business idea is simple: Its cruise ship is the seal for the pirates. If the genuine pirates try the apparently harmless ship too entern, the African experience their blue miracle. Instead of defenseless commercial sailors face them to Russian tourists armed to the teeth. A makabrer tourist fun.”
The trip goes from Dijbouti to Mombassa and, if history is any indication, it should be chalked full of many encounters with pirates. I mean, I know Barack Obama signed off on taking down pirates, but this takes things to a terrible new level. Read on…
“A submachine gun of the type AK-47 can be rented by the Russian cruise passengers on board for 9 dollar on the day. 100 shot ammunition costs 12 dollar. A grenade thrower costs 175 dollar on the day. In addition belong three shells, which are contained in the rent. The use one to the Reeling machine gun is 475 dollar would install firmly to cost.”
Are you kidding me?! The article goes on to outline the full breakdown of these cruise ships – these wolves in sheeps clothing. After all, these “toys” are provided for – ahem – killing people. Now, the team at Babel Fish (who translated the article) postulated that the piece might be in the vein of satire. But what if it’s not? After all, the article has been picked up by all kinds of reliable “sources” other than The Gumboot.
In an effort to put this ridiculousness in perspective, let’s talk about Somalia for a second. In his article, “You are being lied to about pirates,” The Independent’s Johann Hari examines the circumstances by which many Somali fishermen have been thrust into the world of piracy. After the fall of the country’s government in 1991, Africa’s longest coastline (Somalia’s coast spans about 2,000 miles) has been unprotected. This power-vacuum has provided a perfect opportunity for the international fishing industry to steal Somalia’s food supply and use the region as a dumping ground for nuclear waste (“yes: nuclear waste,” says Hari – cadium and mercury were also, allegedly, thrown in the mix). Hari interviewed Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, who claims that “there has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention” of such a gross example of pollution. They also don’t “fit” in the current economic system, which is probably why the independent Somalian news site, WardheerNews, found that 70 per cent of Somalians “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence.” Some even call them the “Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia”! And we can most certainly call them rejectors of an unfair system swirling in chaos.”
By no means am I excusing piracy or suggesting that Russia is solely responsible for the plight of the fish, fisherpeople and toxic coastal communities of Somalia – we’ve all turned a bit of a blind eye, in one way or another. But is an adventuretourism enterprise that provides well-to-do people from the Northern Hemisphere the opportunity to kill people from one of the poorest, war-ravaged places on Earth.
Sure, this article that I stumbled across may or may not be true (Editor’s note: 98% of things on the internet are true, so why wouldn’t this one be true?). But I hope the story provided you with a unique insight into myriad capacities of the human condition.
I still have hope for us. Do you?
- JCH
Go Mikhail Go!
That’s certainly not what the Canadian Border Services are saying, nor what the Conservative government is saying either. But it is what me, many of my friends, and many liberal and NDP politicians are saying. Most importantly, it’s what the church community that’s sheltering Mikhail Lennikov is certainly saying.
In case you haven’t caught the news recently, Lennikov is currently hunkered down in Vancouver’s First Lutheran Church off Kingsway. He’s seeking asylum from deportation by the Canadian government who want to give him the boot forworking as a KGB contractor in the 1980s. According the government, anyone who’s admitted to espionage against Canada or Canadians is subject to deportation.
According to First Lutheran Reverend Richard Hergesheimerm, his church was renovated several months ago to install a shower and make a livable space for Lennikov. They knew what the result of Lennikov’s appeals would be and set about to get ready to get ready for the long haul. When asked about the church’s desicsion to provide sancuary Hergesheimer replied “We know that what we’re doing with sanctuary is illegal. We know that. But it’s not wrong. We think were doing the right thing.”
Lennikov’s persecution and the desicsion to support his asylum has been fueled by a great deal of anger among the church’s 225 congregants.
It’s a reaction Hergesheimer hasn’t seen before. All of the sudden elderly women are writing to their politicians for the first time in their lives in support of a former KGB agent who is a member of their congregation.
“This has made people very angry. Angry at what they see is an injustice,” said Hergesheimer.
It’s an injustice that Lennikov doesn’t deserve. He has been a contributing member of his new home for decades. He’s a longtime congregationalist (an attribute hardly identified with hardcore KGB agents) and he’s got a wife and son who are settled and happily living here. He was not James Bonding about the country killing CSIS agents. He provided Japanese translation services. Too boot, if we send him back to Russia, he’ll hardly be heralded by his countrymen as hero. Instead he’ll have to start all over again – without his family – and that’s if he doesn’t find himself tossed in prison (as he says is likely). How does any of this make sense? Since when is the specific rule of law and lack of compassion of the Conservatives overrule common sense? Wait, don’t answer that question.
Let’s hope the conservatives come to their senses and realize they are persecuting a decent and contributing member of our society.