Russia has been selling Russian weapons all over the world for decades. That's why so many countries have been able to send parts for tanks and planes to Ukraine to help, but there are equally shady people who would be willing to sell those parts for the right price and that's something that he could assist with.
Russia has been arms shopping with Iran and N Korea since this war began...this happened long before Griner was even arrested. Iran sold them all their drones. N Korea sold them missiles. Arms dealers didn't magically disappear when Bout went to jail 14 years ago. Russian currency did dry up with sanctions though. Frozen assets aren't going to tantalize arms dealers....they'll go wher the money is good. Where the checks don't bounce. and Bout has been replaced long ago...he's history but Nic Cage gave him a cool scary movie name. In 14 years there's a good chance the CIA has picked his sources dry already and probably even flipped him as a double agent...no Russian gangster is going to trust someone who's been in American jails for 14 years. This is all just sensationalized fear mongering.
I'm so fucking tired of this straw man weak minded bullshit any time someone doesn't immediately and without question support whatever the far left liberal talking points are. I'm a registered democrat. I didn't vote for Trump. I voted for Obama. I voted for Hillary. I voted for Biden. I have argued with Trump supporters constantly about how shitty of a president he was. I have voted for any gay rights measures that have come up on the ballot. But since I don't agree that this trade was a good one, I must be a racist, Republican, gay bashing, Trump loving MAGA. When you try to put labels on people, you are literally doing the exact same thing that you accuse others of doing. You don't like their opinion, so you reduce them to a label. What does that sound like?
I wasn't singling you out...instead I was referencing the general direction the thread/subject seemed to have taken.
I would believe in disinterested concern if the concerned people can point to all their posts about how freeing 5000 Taliban endangers the US.
I would say that releasing 5000 taliban is a bigger risk to the women in Afghanistan than it is to the US, but why do you have to be a “whatabout” person? You can’t debate a topic for its own merit? You feel the need to try to come up with gotcha topics?
That wasn't the discussion. She went there for work. As did thousands of tradesman who have since left, just as Griner did (or tried to do). None of them deserved to spend a year in jail for making that choice. Let alone the 9 years she was sentenced to. Nobody asked you to feel sorry for her over her income.
Saying she didn't deserve sympathy because of her high income, did anyone say Paul Allen didn't deserve sympathy for getting cancer a third time?
That's not even remotely what I'm saying. I'm saying that I don't feel sympathy for someone needing to supplement their income when they make over $200k a year. Let's not pretend like she's starving and needed to work in Russia to make ends meet. She makes more money than probably 99% of people in the US. She didn't NEED to work in Russia.
Griner's career in basketball has a very short shelf life, as does her opportunity to make money. I mean what she going to do after her playing days are over? So I see nothing wrong with her supplementing her income by playing part time overseas just like over half of WNBA players do, mainly because they are paid nowhere near what NBA players make. ($78K vs $6.4 Mil average) If I were in her place, I'd would probably do the same thing, (with the exception of bringing a vape pen with me)...And I think it's safe to say that her playing days in Russia are over.
She can still dunk. Seems to be doing well although those who know say being hostage isn't something a person shakes off overnight. Got a haircut, ate barbecue, drank Dr. Pepper. Most important she is living with her wife.
I mean.... Brittney Griner's net worth is reportedly around $5 million. That's not too shabby. A lot of people could comfortably retire off that. And she's only 32. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-11353445/Brittney-Griner-net-worth-2022.html Diana Taurasi has a net worth of anywhere between $2 million and $5 million depending on the website. Personally I'd kill for that kind of money. When they retire they can go into coaching, or they can get a regular job like the rest of us. I get making hay while the sun is shining, but it's not like they're hurting for money. I don't know why people always bring up what the men make. It's a different market with vastly different profit margins. This would be like saying all teachers should make the same money, ignoring the fact that there are college professors at the top and there are people who teach pre-school or daycare at the bottom. It would be like saying all lawyers should make the same money, ignoring that there are lawyers who play at a much higher level in the corporate world, and there are public defenders who make significantly less money doing what they do. Comparing athletes is apples and oranges. Even in the NBA, there are the LeBron's making $44.5 million per year and there's the guy making the vet minimum at the bottom. LeBron is paid that money because he brings in a lot of money. It's really simple economics. But with all of that said, WNBA players are paid really good money compared to the rest of us regular folk to play a game. I'd wager most of them got a free education to play in college so they can leverage that education to either continue to work in sports or move on to another field when they retire. I'm sorry but I just don't accept the gripe that some people make about how Griner HAD to play in Russia to supplement her income. It's ridiculous to me. I have changed careers several times in the last 20 years and I haven't made even remotely close to even $1 million.
No one is going convince me that paying a male 82 times more money than a female is anywhere near equitable, regardless of the occupation. Griner was making 4 times as much playing in Russia as she was for the WNBA, can't blame her for that. And the majority of her "$5 Mil net worth" was likely made in Russia, not in the US.
Each person's salary as a percentage of their company's revenue being completely irrelevant, I assume?
There are no rules preventing a woman from playing in the NBA and earning as much as LeBron James. All women have this opportunity if they are talented enough.
Ok. Explain this to me then. If the WNBA is not profitable... as in, it doesn't make money..... and has to be subsidized by the NBA to even exist, why should the employees of said business make more money? Where does that money come from? If the league is losing money, A LOT of money, where does the revenue come from to increase player salaries? Are you saying that you're in favor of a guilt tax on the NBA? Aren't they already paying that? https://www.sports-king.com/wnba-lose-money-3361/ https://www.wsn.com/nba/nba-vs-wnba/ Look at this shit... (the data is old because LeBron makes more than that number for Curry)
So you think a QB in the XFL should be making the same money as Mahomes or one of the higher paid players in the NFL? No matter that one league brings in tons of revenue and the other struggles to be profitable? Then you are comparing men to men in the same pro sport. People try to make this a male female issue with the pay discrepancy, but it is not. It is all about league popularity and revenue.
