OT: Russia wants to trade B. Griner for convicted arms dealer
Thought this was too crazy not to share. Apparently Russia wants to prisoner swap Brittney Griner for a convicted arms dealer known as the Merchant of Death. Hopefully she gets home safely one way or another.
https://sports.yahoo.com/russias-asking-price-for-brittney-griner-may-be-notorious-arms-trafficker-004449470.html
I think we would want to throw in a second round pick to sweeten the pot.
“Sweeten the pot”
what you did there, I saw.
Eh, but it was kinda lame...considering she didn't get caught with pot.
And even if she did, it doesn't make this story any less ridiculous.
This whole situation is disheartening. I hope she gets home safely. 😕
It'd be nice to get Whelan home. Dude's been locked up for years for reasons that are still murky at best.
Jesus should erase all doubt about the nakedly political nature of this detention
Prisoner swaps are pretty standard and normative among nations. Russia-US just negotiated a swap a couple of months ago and have been doing so for decades. It’s not uncommon.
My advice to anyone that travels globally: Do not assume local laws are “dumb” and you can skate by them. I don’t agree with the detainment of Griner morally, but I also know she broke Russia’s laws (as well as International law). She wasn’t targeted by Russia; drug dogs caught her with “pounds” of cannabis cartridges. She seriously fucked up. Obviously the detention has now become politically motivated, but she’s extremely fortunate her layover wasn’t in Riyadh, Doha, or Dar. Her experience would be very different and much worse…
it would be an absolute travesty to human rights to swap Griner for Bout. Whether as an American or as just a human, hopefully the powers that be can appreciate that…
I very much hope the US isn’t even considering this. Bout is a bad, bad dude. Terrible for Griner, but this would be a tragedy of a swap.
Based on my knowledge of the situation, we unfortunately are considering it. Sadly, we have no leverage in this situation, and - not to come across as political- this admin wants and needs a “win.” I fear it will become a reality soon…WNBA Star >>> Guy responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Bout back in Russia is existentially bad…
Sweet mercy. I mean you have to leave her in prison, right? Regardless of the short-sighted political optics.
Read the damn laws of every country you visit, especially the drug laws. What a clusterfuck.
No shit. JFC it's illegal to cross US State lines with it.
My buddy Nick is horrible about this. He is convinced that drug laws are no big deal and he's fine to travel with that shit wherever he goes. I straight up refused to drive him to Metro Detroit when I knew he was bringing tons of weed with him. I told him "fuck you, Nick. I'm not gonna be responsible for you facing federal drug charges." Obviously the odds are small, but with the consequences that there are I have zero interest in giving implicit approval for someone I know to test it. And I'm a pretty big stoner, it's certainly not any kind of anti-drug statement from me.
Read the damn laws of every country you visit, especially the drug laws. \Comment checks out.
I would not call that a win trading her for the merchant of death
Why would she try to leave Russia with oil she could just buy when she got home?
Logic isn’t exactly commonplace when you’re a recognized star. Nevertheless, I travel with gummies and a vape pen. I’ve travelled with them globally on accident and have been fortunate to dump stuff en route before getting to customs…
But - to directly answer your question - people can be arrogant or stupid or both. Griner wouldn’t exactly be the first or even a novel entry into the “bad decision” category. I’m not saying she’s a bad person. She made a mistake, and one many of us make (albeit not to the point drug dogs come after you)…it’d be great if the situation ended with some human compassion but it won’t.
I think she was actually going into Russia, to start her offseason season.
Did she really have that much on her? I read a few opinion pieces that suspected she didn’t have any at all.
According to Russian police, which arent exactly targeting WNBA stars, she’s had 3+ pounds on her…the people that think she had “a vape” are wrong.
it’s okay to admit she fucked up
What prompts such a high level of trust in the Russian police for you?
I mean, any story out there indicates she didn't have a personal supply unless she smokes several per day.
According to Russian police...
This is entire story is incredibly politicized, and since the only information we have is coming from the Russian authorities, we can't assume their version is exactly what happened. They said whatever they were told to say, in order to keep a high profile American in prison, and use that to negotiate some BS deal like they one they are trying to negotiate now.
However, although what happened is unfortunate, it annoys me that given the history of political repression, corruption, and anti LGBTQ legislation in Russia over the past decade at least, people like Greiner still think they can go over there and make a bunch of money and everything will be ok. She should have know better, regardless of how true the charges she is facing are.
I mean it speaks to the salaries issues in the WNBA. They don't get paid enough money that WNBA players plays overseas to earn more money. Russia is paying her six figures to play in their league. That's why Griner is in Russia.
I don't disagree that WNBA players do not get paid enough, however just because someone will pay you more money doesn't always mean its a better deal. You kind of have to weigh the pros and cons (no pun intended here), and it seems like Griner didn't put enough weight on the negative aspects of being employed in a country such as Russia.
A lot of the USA players in both men and women play in less than desirable countries. It's just bad timing with Putin declaring war on Ukraine. She's getting paid millions of dollars to play at Russia whereas at WNBA, she only gets paid less than 300K a year. Sure 300K is comfortable living in USA but they have a short career so they want to maximize their earnings.
I mean Becky Hammon played at Russia, Sue Bird played at Russia, etc. Britney isn't the only one.
My point is that I won't feel sorry for you if you chose to get paid in one of these "less than desirable" countries when the effects of that lower desirability bite you in the ass.
Nobody watches WNBA. Its propped up by corporate donations, uh sponsorship, and NBA goodwill. In an actual free market they have careers beyond college due to good will.
Ok Borat.
She wasn't caught with pounds of anything... If you believe that then you probably believe the Russia denazification bs.
Haven't read all the comments, so maybe others have pointed this out, but even under normal circumstances, planting drugs is a fairly common practice by Russian police.
See for example, here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-51390001
Or here, in the "frequent practice" section:
That's just a few of the examples on the first page of google results.
So did she fuck up? It's hard to say. Unless of course deciding to work in a country where it's well known that police frequently plant drugs on innocent people itself counts as fucking up. (Probably does.)
Jesus, eh...? He might be able to do something to help. Send him in.
It sadly sounds on par with the recent behavior involved with Putin. Am I the only one that's not surprised?
Thankfully, Putin is on death's door.
from your mouth to god's ear
Ha! We will see…lots of commentary about his health. He’s in rough shape for sure, but I’ll believe it when I see it…
He won't make it to August.
Is that Smooth Jimmy's lock of the week?
watched a video of him last month where he was in total parkinson shakes, trying to shake the hand of the belarus dictator. stories about his 'blood cancer' on the web, could be true. saw pics of him with a blanket over his lap when it was ~50 in moscow and clutching that right hand (tremor hand), with a bunch of much older vets around him sitting comfortably with normal clothes. weird
problem is, will the 'new boss' be just as bad or even more brutal than the old boss.
That's what they said about Trump and he unfortunately made it through his term. The health stuff I just tend to ignore until it's done. Though your username lends some credence to its veracity.
I don't recall seeing a lot of people saying Trump was on death's door, honestly. (Except for maybe that time he caught covid.) But there's never been any real evidence for it.
Putin, on the other hand....well, did you see that video of him talking to Sergei Shoigu? I was chalking up all his so-called health issues to wishful thinking until I saw that video. He sits in the chair like Steven Hawking, all hunched over, and spends the whole 11 minutes death-gripping the table so his hand won't shake. His legs are wasted away. He skipped his usual hockey game. If he has "blood cancer" (which kind, who knows) then his crazy paranoia about catching covid makes sense given the immune-system problems he'd have. He looks even more bloated now than he did in February.
Unfortunately, he'll have hand-picked a successor and that person will be just as shitty. Nicolas Maduro is no better than Hugo Chavez.
Such a disgusting comment Wolverheel, Also, Trump would've had her home by now...Hope you get sent to Bolivia for wishing ill will on a US President.
Putin signed his virtual death warrant on 2/24, at 5 o'clock in the morning. If he survives his health issues, bathing in reindeer blood or not, he won't survive this travesty.
Raback it.
Imagine being so hated that your own blood turns against you
according to articles I have read the guy that is in line to replace him is much worse than he is.
Wasn't the DuPont family the original Merchants of Death? The heirs should sue this asshole for stealing the name. Or, come to think of it, maybe they should let him have it...
We'll update that to the Sacklers.
Yikes. Tough crowd.
Just shut up.
Both unfunny and in poor taste… wow.
What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously.
You have to be a special kind of an asshole to make such a ridiculous comment. And miss me with any reference to it being a joke.