Dear Readers, PEZ-Fans, and citizens of the world –
This morning I called Kevin at Ironfly Internet (solid company who built and host the PEZ site) – and asked him to block Russian access to the PEZCyclingNews main site.
Russia ranked 39th on our list of readers by country for the past 12 months, and my Google stats counted almost 2,600 visit from Russian IP addresses.
This is a tiny number, and insignificant to the viability of PEZ – both commercially and creatively. While I welcome readers from every country on earth, blocking this small amount of readers will have little to no impact on the daily functioning of PEZ.
What I do hope to accomplish – is to inspire the rest of my colleagues running cycling websites to do the same – block Russian access to your content. This will remove one more enriching part of being part of the global world, and serve notice that if your country can’t play nicely in the global sandbox, then you don’t deserve to be part of it.
I’m sure being cut off from our collective coverage of cycling will have little effect on the daily life of Russian people. But as their daily life becomes more and more miserable as they lose access to western trade, goods and entertainment, and their ruble becomes a useless piece of cage liner, I hope this will be just one more straw that will make life shitty enough that they’ll consider ridding themselves of their terrible leadership.
If enough of us pile straws on this camel’s flea infested backside, then eventually it will break.
I am totally opposed to Putin’s tyrannical attack on the Ukraine, but as I see the world unite against him and his army, with increasingly strong sanctions designed to cut Russia off from the rest of the world – the message should be clear – Putin’s path to total isolation will lead his country to ruin.
The more of us who start shouting, the louder and more clearly the message will be heard in Moscow.
Hopefully the sanctions will make life increasingly difficult for the Russian people, and this will motivate action on their part to get rid of Putin and his horrible regime. I myself am of Ukrainian descent – my dad’s mother was born there. But I’m not taking this up because of my lineage – my motivation is from the injustice I’ve already seen happen. After two years of covid, my patience is gone, so with inflation at record levels and all the rest we’ve endured, the last thing the world needs now is more disruption.
The disruption to freedom, and the global economy is too much to ignore, and should not be accepted by any of us.
I love that cycling is a global sport, and where two wheels and a ribbon of tarmac are all we need as cyclists to connect & create memories and friendships with other riders from different places, cultures and countries. We should not tolerate any of this kind of bullying conflict, and none of us should allow it to happen to our brothers and sisters enduring the wrath and horror that Putin is inflicting.
So please pass this message on – do whatever you can to make life even more miserable for Russia – keep piling on the straws until he’s defeated.
We will continue to post link to groups organizing aid and support for the people of the Ukraine, (like UkraineAndUs.com – where you can donate to the Red Cross and help erase Putin at the same time.) and encourage taking up the cause any way you can to help.
Thanks for reading and your support –
Richard
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