Keith Olbermann: The Killing of Stray Dogs in Sochi

[highplainsdem]

[freshwest]

1. Add to his list where they destroyed a wetland that was home to 62 species of waterfowl. Hideous.

[SamKnause]

2. Thank you so very much for posting this video.

Last edited Thu Feb 6, 2014, 12:08 PM - Edit history (1)

I really enjoy Keith Olbermann.

I am sorry he left the political commentary arena.

I never get to hear him speak anymore.

The only sport I watch is boxing.

There is quite a lot of biological trash in this world.

Unfortunately they are usually the human.

[tblue]

3. I saw this. Horrifying but an awesome rant.

Man how I love Keith. He is as outraged as I am. You don't murder doggies. You just don't.

[Heather MC]

22. I miss KO so much

I had no intention of watching the Olympics. Although I did want to support the first ever Black Couple skating team

[tomm2thumbs]

4. Russia and Putin have embarrassed themselves to the entire world

Just look at what reporters are finding upon arrival for Sochi Olympics

Olympics arrive -- dangerous water, no lightbulbs, doorknobs...


Nice. Russia. Someplace you'll never want to visit... let alone spend money.



My hotel has no water. If restored, the front desk says, "do not use on your face because it contains something very dangerous."

[jakeXT]

9. The color reminds me of the NY Times articles I have read recently

Samples of tap water from Maywood, Calif., where laboratory tests have shown toxic levels of chemicals in the city’s tap water. When residents asked for cleaner water, they were told the water satisfied the Safe Drinking Water Act.

http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters

The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/us/17water.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all

[marble falls]

21. Well OK then, so long as it meets the clean water act. Who do these authorities think they .....

work for?

[delrem]

5. Of course stray dogs aren't killed in the US, Canada, Europe....

and if they are, the strays don't look cute, and if they do look cute they aren't killed by folk working for free enterprise - the US, Canada, Europe, etc. not being bastions of free enterprise.

Of course this isn't part of a general Sochi/Russia bashing meme sweeping the MSM and trickling on down.

[arikara]

6. We bash every venue and rightfully so

4 years ago, it was Vancouver's turn. Vancouver turfed hundreds of poor people out of their affordable rooms to turn them into luxury suites. They bussed street people up to small northern communities and put them up in hotels to get them out of town, hidden away for the games. One way tickets. These unfortunates plugged up the emergency rooms in the small local hospitals with their addictions and ill health problems. Vancouver spent billions of dollars that the province didn't have in order to put on a fancy party for the rich... the local working people certainly couldn't afford to attend the events. I wouldn't be surprised if they went on a stray animal killing spree too.

We're still paying the price here in BC.

[delrem]

7. I know.

But the fact is that we do that in the Lower Mainland of BC *anyway*, perhaps using different means at different times. The fact that we have reactive anti-human anti-poor policies has little to do with the Olympics, or Expo, or... because those are just different venues, eyecandy for the glitterati. The problem runs deeper than that.

In Vanc. we have a history of herding the poor into the downtown eastside where slumlords rule cockroach infested dives where rents are dictated *exactly* by welfare grants, and that's true before, during and after the Olympics. And Expo. I know because I lived in the heart of it for several years (and you wouldn't believe the cockroaches - quite literally painting the wall black behind the sinks...). On the other hand there *are* good people working to change the situation, or at least alleviate the situation, in various ways. People dedicating their lives to starting up and running one of Canada's first needle exchange programs -- joined by other people who dedicate their lives to working in community clinics, some of which are coupled with live-in rehab centers which are themselves coupled with nurse and doctor practitioner programs designed in our Universities, all aimed at giving people a chance to expand their boundaries.

A problem is that the work these people are doing isn't glamorous.

Solution to these problems has zero to do with the Olympics, Expo, or what have you. It's not like, all other things being equal, if there were no Expo and there were no Olympics that the situation would be a damn bit different for these people. *If* there were no Olympics *because* the general population were aware of the need for equalizing pressure that uplifts the poorest while it uplifts the general economy, including the Howe St. business elite, *because* such equalizing pressure is benefit to all, *then* it would make sense. Because in that case there would be no Olympics because the people as a whole had better, more profitable to all, priorities.

Talking, opining, about the fate of stray dogs in Russia on the eve of the $50-billion Sochi Olympics is.... oh shit. I've said enough. Hopefully you get my point.

[yeoman6987]

27. This surprises me

dedicate their lives to working in community clinics



Wouldn't that be the doctors and nurses who work in these clinics. I thought you guys had Universal Healthcare. You have the best healthcare in the World. I have been told that numerous times. If a person has a drug issue, does the Universal Healthcare pay for the treatment? Seriously, I thought it was done up in Canada.

[delrem]

28. Of course it's done in Canada!

(edited to fix spelling of 'Maté')

But doctors still have choices, of course - and specialties. That's what dedicating one's life to doctoring/nursing/etc *means*.

You realize that *none* of the people in that area, that I'm mentioning, could afford private health care. e.g. the homeless, the heavily addicted, etc.?

Suggested reading: _Hungry Ghosts_ by Gabor Maté. It gives a first hand account of what I'm talking about. It's suggested reading anyway, just because it's an incredibly informative book about the physiology/psychology/sociology of addictive behavior.

[arikara]

29. That book is amazing

it was recommended to me by a former co-worker / friend who I was surprised to find out struggles with addiction. After reading the book it wasn't quite so surprising. They should make it required reading in high schools.

[Cha]

10. But, we always have those standing up for Russia.. "they aren't really

that bad so leave Russia alone!"

[delrem]

17. That makes no sense to me, even as sarcasm.

[marble falls]

19. Funny how RT has't picked up on this crap from Socci. She makes sense to me.

[delrem]

23. Ah, I see. The refocus is on RT. Well, OK. nt

[marble falls]

24. Speaking of not making sense and sacasm.

[delrem]

33. well OK, whatever ....

[Nanjing to Seoul]

8. I love dogs. Raised them my entire life. But this falls into the cute and fuzzy factor

No one cares if rats, flies, mosquitoes, e-coli or yeast infection fungus is killed. But if the organism is cute and fuzzy, it's off limits.

Dear, rabbits, dogs, cats, mice, dolphins (never the tuna). . .nope.

I'm keeping endangered out of this.

Carlin said it best：　http://georgecarlinclips.blogspot.com/2012/05/george-carlin-conservatives-republicans.html

"But you know, the longer you listen to this abortion debate, the more you hear this phrase 'sanctity of life.'" You've heard that, 'sanctity of life.'" You believe in it? Personally, I think it's a bunch of shit. Well I mean, life is sacred? Who said so? God? Hey if you read history, you realize that God is one of the leading causes of death, has been for thousands of years. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, all taking turns killing each other because God told them it was a good idea. The sword of God, the blood of the lamb, vengeance is mine, millions of dead motherfuckers, all because they gave the wrong answer to the God question.

'You belive in God?'
'No.'
Bang dead.
'You belive in God?'
'Yes.'
'You belive in my God?'
'No.'
Bang dead

'My God has a bigger dick than your God!' That's how it is, isn't it? Thousands of years, and all the best wars too, the bloodiest, most brutal wars fought all based on religious hatred, which is fine with me. Anytime a bunch of holy people want to kill each other, I'm a happy guy. But don't be giving me all this shit about the sanctity of life. I mean, even if there were such a thing, I don't think it's something you can blame on God. No, you know where the sanctity of life came from? We made it up! You know why? Cause we're alive! Self-interest. Living people have a strong interest in promoting the idea that somehow life is sacred. You don't see Abbott and Costello running around, talking about this shit, do you? We're not hearing a whole lot from Mussolini on the subject. What's the latest from JFK? Not a god damned thing, cause JFK, Mussolini, and Abbott and Costello are fucking dead. They're fucking dead, and dead people give less than a shit about the sanctity of life. Only living people care about it, so the whole thing grows out of a completely biased point of view. It's a self-serving, man-made bullshit story. It's one of these things we tell ourselves so we'll feel noble. Life is sacred, makes you feel noble.

Well let me ask you this, if everything that ever lived is dead, and everything alive is going to die, where does the sacred part come in? I'm having trouble with that. Because even with the stuff we preach about the sanctity of life, we don't practice it. Look at what we kill. Mosquitos and flies, because they're pests! Lions and tigers, because it's fun! Chickens and pigs, because we're hungry. Pheasants and quail, because it's fun, and we're hungry. And people! We kill people, because they're pests... and it's fun!

And you might have noticed something else, the sanctity of life doesn't seem to apply to cancer cells, does it? You never see a bumpersticker that says 'save the tumors' or 'I brake for advanced melanoma.' No, viruses, mold, mildew, maggots, fungus, weeds, e. coli bacteria, the crabs, nothing sacred about those things. So at best, the sanctity of life is kind of a selective thing. We get to choose which forms of life we feel are sacred, and we get to kill the rest. Pretty neat deal, huh? You know how we got it? We made the whole fucking thing up! Made it up, the same way we made up the death penalty. We made them both up, the sanctity of life and the death penalty. Aren't we versatile?

[ejpoeta]

12. I miss him.

he could boil it all down quite easily

[Plucketeer]

30. Yeah - and how many who read this here....

are gonna chuckle - maybe nod in agreement with Carlin and then go back to hating cutesy animal eradicators? I live in a rural area and I have to contend with stray dogs and cats all the time. I haven't taken to shooting them because I don't like guns. I HAVE trapped and turned some over to the local animal control as well as just chasing some off.
We have pets (parrots) and chickens (for eggs), but I DO purposely eradicate gophers (they can DECIMATE a garden and kill shrubs and trees) and various other "vermin" we have here. So...... who speaks for the poor gophers? Who stands up for the Black Widows and flies and mosquitoes we have here year round? Are they not this "life" we all (not me) revere so ardently?

It's truly laughable - the fact that so many Americans (and other nationalities) are HORRIFIED at the prospect of eating the flesh of horses, dogs, parrots, snakes and monkeys and the like, just because we were brought up to regard them as pet prospects instead of lunchmeats.
And isn't it funny how seafood is so roundly touted as being really great in your diet. It must be something about them not breathing air as we do. And even "pet" fish aren't that easy to pet and cuddle with. So seafood gets a pass until it's threatened by extinction.

[eShirl]

11. WOW!

powerful

[MrMickeysMom]

13. If there's a point to be made about the Sochi Olympics, Olbermann will make it...

Thus far, I've seen he does his homework and delivers it like so few others can do.

Thank you, Keith!

Fuck you, Mr. Putin and your whole dog and poison show…

[tom_kelly]

14. On what network is he broadcasting?

I got rid of the TV.

[baldguy]

16. "Olbermann" is on ESPN2 weeknights at 11PM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbermann_%28TV_series%29

[baldguy]

15. Just call them Pit Bulls

And just watch how many people go from saying this is "barbaric & horrific" to saying it's "correct & justified".

Even here on DU.

[RoverSuswade]

18. Countdown at 8 on MSNBC

was the best show on TV.

[marble falls]

20. The show I miss most of all.

[swilton]

25. The modern Olympic games

have come to be a metaphor for corporatism's disposable society. It is not just in Russia where the pomp, ceremony and worship of athletic prowess disguise the horrific consequences of creating the new world order in the name of profits (aka might makes right).

Yesterday's (Feb 5) Democracy Now had an expose of this as well as other hallmarks of the contemporary Olympic games - what you see is not what you get.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/5/celebration_capitalism_the_olympics_global_protests


http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/5/an_olympic_snowden_us_athlete_on


I love dogs and cats and have 5 pets - these at Sochi are just a fraction of those abused (human and non-human species) in the name of a new world order. Those at Sochi won't be there first nor the last.

Hold your pets close and give them a hug - they are the lucky ones.

[classof56]

26. Thanks for posting this.

I watched Keith's show last night, but missed the first few minutes. Caught the very end of this segment, where he was talking about the dog who saved his owner by sensing that she had cancer. Keith was clearly angry about what was going on in Sochi re killing dogs. I will watch it later when I've screwed up courage to do so. He asked viewers not to patronize the advertisers, which suits me fine, but right now I think I'll take a pass on watching the Olympics at all. I have a terrible feeling about the whole event, where it's held and especially who's in charge there.

[Blue Owl]

31. Putin's own sick, deranged blood biathlon

Fuck you Vlad, if indeed you authorized such a heinous act...

[stg81]

32. Keith Olbermann is a brat who took a dump on Al Gore, when Gore was giving him a lifeline

I don't care what he has to say on any subject.

[dembotoz]

34. thank you for posting

at time i almost forget just how good ko is