Rendering Unto Caesar: An Absolut Russia‏

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The recent efforts to boycott Russian vodka must come as good news to the Swedish competition. I can imagine an ad campaign where an Absolut Russia is judicially homophobic. The boycott also brings to mind an earlier event in US/Russian relations when people in the US responded to Soviet military action against a Korean airliner by spontaneously destroying bottles of Russian vodka in the streets. I remember being concerned about the way that people got their knickers in a twist over the Soviet action without thinking about it rationally or waiting for unbiased reporting. It also seemed rather self-defeating to destroy a personal stash of Russian vodka in response to Soviet military action.

The incident of the Soviet downing of Korean Air Flight 007 turned out to be a dual edged sword. In an effort to convict the Soviets of a crime against humanity the US government released information obtained from an unauthorized listening post in Japan. The Japanese people were not happy to find out that their territorial sovereignty had been violated by a secret agreement with US military intelligence. The way that the US government selectively released a transcript of the Soviet military interception also impugned its credibility in the case. It turns out that the full transcript showed that the intercepting pilot had no idea that the airliner was a civilian craft that had wandered off course. Pundits used the pared down transcript to claim that the communication was proof positive. I recall a number of people being completely convinced by the observation of a flashing strobe as proof that the pilot and his superior knew that the plane was not on a military intelligence mission.

R. W. Johnson published an analysis of the events surrounding Flight 007 that put the US government in a negative light. He made a case that the plane was flown off course deliberately over a Soviet military installation in an effort to tickle Soviet military radar. Radar intelligence is essential for crafting anti-radar weaponry. There was also a controversy over whether the Soviet radar installation at Krasnoyarsk violated the ABM treaty. Years later I encountered a claim that there had also been some provocative action on the part of American navy craft near Soviet waters in the days before the downing of the airliner.

I will not participate in the vodka boycott because I prefer rye. I suppose I could start my own rye boycott over the whole metadata espionage scandal. On the other hand, I think not. Russians may want to boycott American whiskey as long as Snowden is on the lamb and the NSA is snooping on LJ subscribers.

What will you do to support the plight of homosexuals in the Former Soviet Republic of Russia? Have you considered a caviar boycott?

Links: Wayne Self promoting the vodka boycott. R. W. Johnson on the KAL Flight 007 incident.

Comments

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I dont drink that shit - not my drug of choice - so its a moot point for me. But what is the companies position? And is boycotting a company in America the same as boycotting a Russian company conceptually (http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/26/the-terrible-bad-no-good-plan-to-boycott)?

READ: An Open Letter From Stoli Premium Vodka’s CEO To The LGBT Community (http://www.queerty.com/read-an-open-letter-from-stoli-premium-vodkas-ceo-to-the-lgbt-community-20130726/#ixzz2b6oWLOmQ)

But was that just a rich man feeling the pinch? Should the heat be kept up (http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/07/25/dump-stoli-well-weve-got-their-attention)?


My general philosophy is "every pin prick in the ballon counts", and I have picked my side on this issue.

What will you do to support the plight of homosexuals in the Former Soviet Republic of Russia?

Good question. I should do more. I wonder what is effective? For now, I'm just learning and trying to effect positive change in my immediate circles, where sadly there is still much room for improvement.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

A couple of great comments:

"Dear Russian Oligarch: You and your friends control your nation via your fortune and connections. Fix this or GTFO."

"So is the CEO of Stoli now subject to arrest and incarceration in Russia for writing this pro-gay letter?"

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The answer to the question is probably yes. We shall see whether or not a warrant is issued. Failure of the Russian government to act could be used against it.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

One of my colleagues gave me grief for driving a VW. She pointed out that Germany was the country where the holocaust took place. I responded by asking that if we applied such standards to automobiles, which manufacturer would be okay? We would have to boycott Japanese cars because of the conduct of Japan in China. We would have to boycott Swedish cars because of Swedish exploits in the Baltics. We would have to boycott American cars because of the treatment of Native Americans, et al. We would have to boycott Italian cars because of the brutal policies of ancient Rome. We would have to boycott French cars because of escargot.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Fuck it, nuke the planet from orbit, its infected with humans.

doing what we can

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

Something that actually effects me!

We sell a LOT of vodka at my establishments, by far the No 1 spirit of choice ITP of Atlanta (Inside the perimeter, our equivalent of the Maginot Line). OTP? Tequila rules.

One of my managers begs us to carry Stoli and Absolut. I refuse. Even though Stoli is not really made in Russia and yes, it might hurt some workers.

We are not a 'gay bar' but the LGBT community is well represented here. Even if it is symbolic, I refuse to stock Russian Vodka. Because it is symbolic of unity and support.

Skyy, American Harvest and Well. We don't even sell Goose anymore. Fuck escargot.

As a matter of fact, I'll make a sign that says WANT TO FUCK RUSSIA? DRINK AMERICAN HARVEST.

Or I could write my congressman, but, you know..Georgia politics, etc.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle makes escargot seem rather effete.

BTW, I'll bet there are almost as many American distillers of vodka as there are of bourbon.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

http://americanharvestspirit.com/

Made in 'merka by the people who made Grey Goose. Irony.

tbh not so much about being gluten free and homespun, they are a major sponsor for a street festival we are doing next month, so we have to push it as our almost exclusive top shelf.

Except ciroc. We do carry that as a VIP bottle. But still, Fuck the French!

PS

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

I understand if you eat the worm you will see God.

I'd probably wind up seeing the porcelain god *grimace*

[telemann.livejournal.com]

The pilot that shot KAL007 down, Genadi Osipovich, said he thought the strobe lights were a rouse. Osipovich's warning shots weren't seen by the pilots because his jet didn't have tracers on that flight and the KAL pilots would have never seen or heard them. Osipovich gives his account in this documentary on the tragedy (minute marker 39:00)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

So horrorific. And he still thinks it was a spy plane. Depressing.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Russians freaking out over a rainbow flag flown by a single brave soul.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Those buff beret boyz look like the Russian equivalent of the Village People. (An English translation would be cool.)

BTW, did you notice that the OMOH spells something backward?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

What a bunch of thugs and screaming closet cases.

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

I don't understand the basis for ruling against gays in russia.

Is it a sin to be gay in pussy riots place of origin?

Is it a political ploy aimed at earning brownie points from middle eastern countries who do not approve of the gays?

I doubt it has much to do with personal preference as it does russia's homosexual stance being a bargaining chip for other things.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Can you say "scapegoat?"

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Almost forgot about this

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Your contributions are always highly welcome.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

Those who can afford Russian caviar ain't going to boycott it. The snotchewers who can't are welcomed to do so.
An alternative would be switching to Iranian caviar.

PS. "Stolichnaya" is vodka brand, owned by Lithuania.
Fucking market economy (sigh).

PPS. 'Boycotte haute cousine' isn't new at all. I guess there was already attempt to boycott french fries in place?
Some years ago? Or no?

PTO.
A nice bridge from one theme to another would be mentioning that caviar was served on that flight blah-blah-blah.

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

Surely Russia exports something other than vodka and caviar.

It is my understanding that most Russian vodkas aren't even made with potatoes anymore, but with grain. This makes me sad.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The french fry thing was a Bush administration jab at the French after France failed to kowtow to Washington. The idea was not to boycott fries, but to call them "freedom fries" instead. It would have been really stupid to boycott something made in the US just because it was named after the French. (As opposed to moderately stupid to rename food in a hissy fit.)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

The best vodka I have yet to try (that I can afford), Tito's, is made just up the road in Austin, Texas. So I don't buy Russian vodka anyway.

Yay! I'm helping!

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

Right.
Stick to knitting, as we say.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

In a local bar there was some bottle of vodka founded by Dan Aykroyd that I regretted never trying