This winter I didn't watch the OLYMPICS, which was staged by Russia, at all. I did listen to radio news and looked it up on the Internet quite a bit, but I didn't see a single televised performance.
I thought some of the press wasn't fair at all. So what if one of the flowers didn't open to become a ring? Wasn't there a similar failure when Canada hosted? Jokes about hotel rooms missing doorknobs and featuring two toilet seats in the bathrooms, so people who were used to outhouses could upgrade their mutual potty experience were everywhere. THAT CERTAINLY WASN'T EVERY HOTEL, just evidence of a rush to finish some of the accommodations.
So much focus on what went WRONG when so much went RIGHT.
I thought it was terrific that Putin sat and watched some of the performances and made the scene there. I thought it was terrific that royalty like Princess Anne of Great Britain and Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene (another person the press should be kinder to) made the scene. IT WAS TRULY INTERNATIONAL. It was a great opportunity for people from around the world to see another country, as all Olympics are. This is one of the reasons various cities apply to be chosen as a HOSTING site!
We in the United States still haven't really shaken off memories or impressions from the COLD WAR ERA, but as the days went by, I became more interested and worried about what was happening in the Ukraine. (I do have a few readers from somewhere in Ukraine and other parts of the Slavic world.)
This morning as I listened to very early morning talk radio I heard that there is speculation that the UKRAINE will split into an east and a west, one part going with Russia, the other part with Europe.
IT SEEMS THERE IS ALWAYS TURMOIL IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD.
Well, I also recently learned about a move to UNITE all Slavic speaking Countries. I don't know where this would leave Hungary, I think OUT, though it has historically had many Slavic people as well as German people within changing borders.
Not every person in these countries wants to be part of the EUROPEAN UNION.
MAYBE IT'S A GOOD IDEA?
First, the end of the various Slavic people fighting each other, economic cooperation, and a preservation of culture.
I watched a number of YouTube videos and the idea is also to stop Russia. Here is a link that is one of many I saw: SLAVIALAND.ORG
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