Yeah those were actually pretty well done.
Things looked pretty bad at the start because the hotels were practically not even built yet but the actual olympic venue itself was quite amazing. I think the hotels were probably a last minute thing and they probably ran out of time.
The sad part about all this is all the stuff the media is not telling us though, like the fact that they had to kick out people of their houses so they can build the venue. Lot of the stray dogs they were killing were actually people's pets that for some reason they could not bring wherever they were moving. Maybe apartments that did not allow pets or something. Odd they would just leave them there and not bring to a shelter though. There's probably more to it.
Then again this could happen anywhere, in the states and Canada too. Usually they'll try to accommodate though, and pay a very good price for your land and inconvenience. Still sucks if the house/property has sentimental value though, like if it's been passed down generations.
There was some good coverage of these facts, actually.
The thing is, it's more on the serious side of news, and even our media corporations didn't want to let politics and whatnot ruin the actual Olympic coverage. This was not done, any "covering up", in order to hide it or shelter us, it was done out of respect to the concept of the Olympic Games - so that we could focus our attention on what really mattered at the time, the sporting events and athletes who have sacrificed and risked so much to get to the top of their game and earned an invitation to the games.
Importantly, these political news items WERE covered and presented to the American public, on a few times. Honestly, I don't know what international/foreign media corporations also presented anything to their viewers, so I can't say whether the various Western European countries were shown anything, whether the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Israeli, Iraqi, Brazilian, etc etc etc were ever informed of any of that, or what have you.
It was all over the social media news coverage, so possibly anyone with uncensored internet access could have seen various pieces of importance.
That said, I do know the Russian citizens were completely prevented (as much as the Russian State and media organizations could control) from hearing anything negative, political or not, regarding everything about the Olympic Games. It was sad, but expected.
And regarding the "clean up" and whatnot, well... yeah, just about every country has had to take similar steps to put their best foot forward when it comes to image and community. That said, there are more reasonable methods to accomplish it.
What is said, and has been clearly demonstrated even in this thread, is that the Russian media was even basically forced to sell the idea that their cover ups were NOT cover ups, and it was basically said, I do believe by Putin himself, that foreign/Western media was going out of their way to paint Russia in a bad light, mostly due to ancient and hostile Cold War era political goals and beliefs.
Which, there is much that can be debated on that front. There is much on which I disagree with Putin/Russia, mostly regarding their twisting of fundamental human rights and their preservation of old ways (whereas we Western countries are now full of runaway political correctness and "sexual nihilists" run amok, according to them). Putin is, on that front, much like the fundamental religious Conservatives (as currently defined in the U.S.), and that is quite a bit like what much of Russia actually wants.
I do not agree with that, nor do I agree with their censoring and approach to treatment of those who disagree publicly. That said, there is much that is "good" or "right" about Putin and the current political atmosphere in Russia, in that it is right for Russia and can help carve out a good future for the world, including the U.S., so long as every major player on the international political stage respects each other and their autonomy. That is something the U.S. can clearly be said to lack at times, that respect, but that's a political debate in which I care not to partake, especially while this thread is still in O.T.