What you say is possible, but doesn’t strike me as that plausible, for two reasons. The first reason is that the quote appears in translation, and the Russian-speaking WSJ reporter clearly had the impression that there was footage of people turning on showers and/or spycams inside hotel rooms. The second reason is that the subsequent Russian clarifications haven’t suggested what you’re saying, which is the opposite of what you would expect if that’s really what transpired.
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Now we have news of a Russian MP tweeting a racist picture of Obama.
These Olympic games could use a new slogan. Such as, “Sochi 2014. Carpenters wanted.” Or, “Sochi 2014. Come for the bigotry. Stay for the racism.”
We’re Spying on You in Shower, Says Russian Official
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/were-spying-on-you-in-shower-says-russian-official/
Russian Deputy PM: We’re Surveilling Sochi’s Showers
Martin Rose/Getty Images
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak (right) blurted out Thursday that surveillance video is being taken of tourists in Sochi hotel showers. He also told gay visitors: ‘Don’t touch the kids.’
If you’re going to try to convince journalists to stop complaining about Olympic hotels, don’t admit to watching them in the shower.
Seems to me that Cory isn’t the only one who interpreted the story this way. But don’t let me interrupt the routine, knee-jerk Cory bashing we see under nearly every one of his posts on this bbs. 
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this is where you and I disagree. Had I not also read the article, I would not have had the laugh that i did have when the truth of the matter came out; when the headline became punchline.
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Have you found any other news source claiming that an official told reporters they would release CCTV footage of them in the bathroom? If not, then you haven’t found anyone who “interpreted the story this way.”
I agree that the official’s original statement was easy to interpret as “We are filming you in the shower,” but we have since had statements clarifying his intent as being something more like “We have footage of showers left running, taken by maintenance workers. There are no surveillance cameras in the bathrooms.” Now, you can say the clarifications are lies, and the original inference was correct, but what you can’t say is that anyone has threatened to release the footage if reporters don’t stop complaining. Not unless you have a quote I haven’t seen.
There’s a lot of dipshittery and corruption in Sochi; why make things up?
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Oh, those darn Russkies. What’ll those rascals be up to next?
There’s a lot of dipshittery and corruption in Sochi; why make things up?
I fail to understand the actual harm here. Could you explain who gets hurt by a headline?
The reputation of a spokesperson for the most corrupt Olympics ever?
Here, let me play the worlds tiniest balalaika for him.
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No, I agree it isn’t. Like I said he is flinging a different kind of BS. I seriously doubt that people are leaving their showers running all day while they are gone to sabotage the Olympics. Thinking that statement would prove they are being maligned takes a special kind of crazy.
Say “there are no spy cams in the bathrooms” once and i feel safer.
Say “there are no spy cams in the bathrooms” twice and i’m likely to say…“okay, yeah i heard already.”
Say “there are no spy cams in the bathrooms” four times like he officially has now and I’m thinking…okay where are these f*ckin cameras, i know they are here somewhere!!!
sometimes more isn’t better.
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It seems today’s free ice cream disagreed with you.
When Cory stops making shit up, I will complain.
about people you don’t like
are you sure it’s Cory making things personal? It’s not like Cory shared his vastly overstated opinion of the officials obvious personal misconduct on the officials own personal website. Who would do that?
So, I don’t see any personal attack on the official, whose missive to the press from the center of corruptionville was so massively and obviously misconstrued, by a professional fiction writer.
Have you found any other news source claiming that an official told reporters they would release CCTV footage of them in the bathroom? If not, then you haven't found anyone who "interpreted the story this way."
Yep, and a movie is in the works as we speak. I found the poster:
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The US media DOES have a certain slant of cold war propaganda: A broken curtain rod is blown up and NBC fabricates a shoddy “Sochi Hacker” article
( http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/06/nbc-hacking-sochi-dispute/ ) are just two examples.
“LOLz look how shitty those Russians are. USA USA USA number One!1!!”
I get that the media is being histrionic when it comes to these stories. It seems the Olympics bring out the worst in the host country more often than not. And the IOC should just kill itself what with the spiteful and unnecessary enforcement of its trademarks to the detriment of its own reputation.
In the end, the Olympics aren’t about the Olympians, or sport, or even improving international relations anymore. It’s about selling beer and french fries and shiny new cars. And that’s enough bile out of me. I’m gonna check my eyes in the mirror for jaundice.
Of course they are going to video tape people’s rooms; how else are they supposed to put everything back in almost the right place after searching.
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Amazing. How do you get from “stop making shit up” to “come video me in the shower?” Last time I typed them, these were completely unrelated sentences.
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Jesus Christ, what is it with reading comprehension today? I specifically said “the truth is already plenty damning.” Videotaping people’s hotel rooms is obviously a huge scandal. If you want the Russian government to look bad, all you have to do is stand back and let them hang themselves. There’s no need to make up things that didn’t happen, like attempted blackmail with said bathroom videos.
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What I’ve learned from this is that Russians are getting porn all wrong. The plumber’s supposed to come in while you’re in the shower, not film the shower running while you’re gone.
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I’m fairly certain the NSA is running the show on this one.
Mod note: Stay on topic
The word surveillance was used. That is different than just regular video of something. If a maid discovered a running shower and then someone took video of it, that wouldn’t necessarily be surveillance video of it, it would just be video of it.
And if they just have some regular video of a shower running, that would prove nothing, anyone could have turned it on for the video. To make the point they are trying to make they would literally need video of someone actually doing what they said, a westerner turning on the shower, pointing it toward the wall and then leaving.
Does anyone know if Russian has a progressive tense? It might be the difference between “turn on the water” and “turning on the water” is nil if they don’t have a progressive tense. Or other obvious translation related issues could be involved as well.
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