Keith Olbermann’s Powerful Speech: A Must watch
Posted by Michelle Moquin on July 29th, 2014
Good morning!
I miss you Keith Olbermann….miss your take and approach on the things that matter. So good to see you doing what I love to see you doing: Calling people out on their shit. Thanks for standing up for women. You rock.
From the Huff Po:
Keith Olbermann’s Powerful Speech About Lack Of Respect For Women In Sports Is A Must Watch
Sports has a sexism problem, ESPN2 host Keith Olbermann argued in this powerful segment from his eponymous program, and it’s self-perpetuating. He began by listing instances where women in sports have been targeted by sexist comments. The list is long, rapid-fire, and only scratches the surface.
“By some tiny amount each one of those things lowers the level of basic human respect for women in sports. And sooner or later, there are so many tiny amounts that the level of basic human respect is gone altogether,” he says, his gaze trained on the camera and his audience. “Eventually after all the b-words and ho comments and penis remarks and nudity demands and waitress jokes, the most powerful national sports league in the world can then get away with suspending a wife-beater for just two games.”
Olbermann’s poignant commentary was inspired by the NFL’s recent suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. In February, Rice was arrested in Atlantic City for allegedly striking then-fiancee, Janay Palmer. Surveillance footage surfaced of him carrying a seemingly unconscious Palmer out of an elevator, his arms hooked under hers, her legs dragging on the ground.
In May, Rice pled not guilty to third-degree aggravated assault. The NFL announced on Thursday that he will be suspended for the first two games of the upcoming season, a punishment that has been widely criticized as far too lenient. The culture of the NFL and professional sports in general, Olbermann argued, not only permits but encourages the verbal and physical abuse of women.
“The message to the women who the league claims constitute 50% of its fan base is simple,” Olbermann says. “The NFL wants your money. It will do nothing else for you.”
*****
Readers: As the article states…Olbermann’s list only scratching the surface. What this says is something we’ve seem evidence of time and time again…women’s health, well-being, protection etc., is just not that important. We can keep HOPEing that men will “man up” like Olbermann and some others here…ya know…be a voice in support of women…but like I have said before, I am not holding my breath. But a girl can HOPE.
Speaking of being a voice for women…
Robert: Too bad. I was looking forward to seeing it. I just might out of curiosity, even though you gave it a thumbs down for some very good reasons. Thanks for the review. I wish more men would see what you are seeing, voice their thoughts, and take action.
Brad: Many years ago I read Sidney Sheldon novels. – loved ‘em. Reading the titles you posted brought a smile to my face. Read 3 out of the 4 you mentioned. I also started “50 Shades…” and didn’t finish it, I was bored, and like you stated…”What the hell???” Not the finest – I have read much better writing. It’s all in the timing and marketing, and “50 Shades…” got it.
Barry: Don’t be shy, the next time you see me, come up and introduce yourself. You too Owen. I won’t think you’re a perv. But. Hey, I might not mind considering I do have a “kinky side.” :)
TC: I am so grateful that you were there to assist Anonz. Thank you. He is a Hero and a Man like no other. As always wishing him and his men continued safety and success.
Happy Birthday T! Thinking of you today.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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July 29th, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Ahh…perfect example of how all you ‘good men’ who read here can speak up, if Keith Olberman can do it, so can you in your own environment. Luv his rants, he’s a hero of a different kind. Thanks for posting this video…things like this often get overlooked.
Luv, Zen Lill
July 30th, 2014 at 6:54 am
What do you expect from a business run by white men exclusively.
July 30th, 2014 at 6:59 am
It’s not up to Keith Oldermann to decide how our society is going to treat women …..it’s up to women ….
Women create 100% of all human beings and by and large they raise the majority of them to boot ….
July 30th, 2014 at 7:04 am
Mel#3, Nonsense. My wife may have carried our children for nine months but I was part of the decision to have them and I’ve had a fair bit to do with them ever since. I believe i have made an effort to raise boys who will treat people, regardless of gender, well.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:06 am
Mel#3, You wouldn’t dismiss it as easily if a woman you cared about got a beating and the assailant got away with it.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:07 am
Mel#3, C’mon. You have to admit, 2 games is a joke. The problem most people are having with this is the fact that there is such a huge disconnect between what the league does to someone that uses an illegal or banned substance vs. what Rice did by apparently assaulting his wife or girlfriend or whoever. Goodell should be embarrassed.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:10 am
Phillip#4, So your saying to me that on planet earth women are generally not the primary caregivers of children ?
July 30th, 2014 at 7:11 am
Mel#3, That would be fair statement if Ben Roethlisberger didn’t get suspended for 4 games for an alleged rape.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:12 am
Mel#3, How stupid are you?
July 30th, 2014 at 7:13 am
RBW#6, Cheating goes against the rules of the game /fair play and should be punished harshly. ..
The other is a domestic dispute between him and his wife ….
Do you people go around sticking you noises into your neighbors lives ?
July 30th, 2014 at 7:16 am
Here’s the dirty little secret — wife beating won’t get you jammed up with the Mob and lead to point-shaving or even throwing games. THAT is what the NFL is afraid of when it comes to drugs. Remember Sam Hurd?
Brief memory-hold claim that he had a list of NFL clients. Poof. NFL security — full of former FBI — made sure THAT never saw the light of day.
Most NFL fans today never heard of the Alex Karras-Paul Hornung YEAR LONG suspension for gambling and associating with mobsters, but it casts a long, cold shadow on the League to this day.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:17 am
What are you bitches upset about? At least it wasn’t cruelty to animals!
July 30th, 2014 at 7:18 am
He didn’t beat her. He knocked her the fuck out, there’s a difference.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:19 am
The way I see it, the bitch is still alive so it’s a fair sentence.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:21 am
RBW#6, Getting back to the facts, and of course the facts are what everyone prefers to gloss over, we do know that Goodell met with Janay separately, and Goodell has stated that he asked her what she thought should be the most appropriate punishment considering the message to (not just women) but their child.
According to the report, she was the one who stood her ground on 2 games. Say what you want about her wanting Ray to earn some money (2 games was I believe $700k for him), but when the wife and victim says so, then you think Goodell ought to just ignore that?
I won’t dramatize this punishment one way or the other, because I am not sure we know what truly transpired, nor do we know all of the testimony to the NFL office…of course that does not stop people from speculating and offering speculation as history…
Also, for the record and because I don’t get to bash this blowhard often, Olberman is an arrogant, elitist, socialist-for-the-ratings, pedantic, un-athletic, aggravating, pompous, secure-for-the-wrong-reasons, insufferable a-hole, who has the face of a rat, as expected.
Ship him off today to North Korea where he seemingly would be content to be a party apparatchik…and have his ass handed to him daily by people who work for the state but who actually work for a living and don’t merely blab.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:23 am
Irene#9, Should all workers be punished for activities out side of their employment?
I have no clue who this man is other than the negative PR he’s gotten ….
His personal problems are just that, personal.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:24 am
What she thinks shouldn’t decide it. Many victims of abuse clam up or never report it for fear of it happening again. Or for fear of their “lifestyle” disappearing.
It’s up to people like, oh, “Commissioners” (or, say, law enforcement) to decide what the punishment is. (BTW, did she not press charges, I guess?)
July 30th, 2014 at 7:24 am
Lance#11, Talk about a stretch. Marijuana leads to point shaving? It’s completely legal in two states!!!
July 30th, 2014 at 7:27 am
Brad#15, You honestly think the woman that married her abuser would then go and say, “yes, please punish him to the fullest extent. He deserves to be punished to the fullest for beating me unconscious and then dragging my lifeless body off of an elevator.”
I would never wish this upon anyone, but once you see a loved one get beat up by a man that she “loves” and then drop the charges because he “wont do it again, he was drunk, I pissed him off, he needs help,” it changes how you look at this situation drastically.
Look into Floyd Mayweather’s awesome relationships with his many women. He supports them, he beats them, and then throws money and a lifestyle at them, and they choose the lifestyle.
Women, men, athletes, everyone needs to start taking a better stance on domestic violence. Professional sports players are in great shape, and regarded for their strength, and when they use it on any human being, it’s wrong, and it should be considered a weapon.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:28 am
Adam#18, It is the MONEY associated with illegal drugs, that and threat of going to JAIL. Get fronted a couple kilos, now worries. Now someone comes looking to get paid. It can start innocently enough, just be a source of locker room chatter, insider dope. Any opening will do.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:30 am
Zen Lill#1, not the kind of response I would have hoped for from men, but what can you really expect from assholes.
Once again the fact that Michelle, doesn’t censor or demand email identification, allows to see what the creeps are really thinking.
July 30th, 2014 at 7:40 am
Let’s face the Right hates Keith because unlike most gutless Lefties, he nails their asses to the wall.
July 30th, 2014 at 8:06 am
Is Marijuana Addictive or Not?
I’m going to pose a question—Can a person get addicted to marijuana?—and then I’m going to duck, because people are going to start hurling sharp objects (or at least sharp words) at me.
Some people will no doubt declare, Of course people get addicted to it. Just look at all the “potheads” who smoke it day after day. Others will certainly scoff, No way is pot addictive!
Look at all the people who only tried it a few times or only smoke it once in a while!
So before we jump into the fray, let me say up front that I have no moral agenda here. I’m not anti-pot or pro-pot. I’m a health journalist, and I just want to get at the truth.
Why now? Because marijuana is increasingly accessible and acceptable. Last year, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana, and now four more (California, Arizona, Oregon, Alaska) are preparing referendums for legalization in 2014. Also, the drug has legitimate medicinal value, particularly for the relief of pain and nausea (click here for more on that topic), and already 20 states plus Washington, DC, allow marijuana for medical use.
More on Addiction
•. Are You Almost Addicted?
•. Addiction: It’s Not What You Think
•. Does a Loved One Drink Too Much? Have a Drug Problem? Warning Signs and What to Do
•. Staging an Intervention: How to Help a Loved
One Who Doesn’t Want Help
But when we set aside the issues of legal status and medicinal benefit, we’re still left with the question of whether or not it is possible for people to become addicted to this particular drug.
So I took that query to a top expert on drugs and addiction, J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Almost Addicted: Is My (Or My Loved One’s) Drug Use a Problem? His answer, in short, was, “Yes, marijuana definitely can be addictive for some people.”
Before we get into the reasons for his answer, let’s address one obvious concern. If pot is addictive, why do plenty of generally intelligent people claim otherwise? One reason is that regular marijuana use is less damaging than regular use of many other drugs, so by comparison it doesn’t seem like a big deal…but that doesn’t make it benign.
Another reason is that denial is a hallmark of regular drug use, meaning that those who are caught up in using a substance often deny that their use is a problem…because they don’t want to stop using. In other words, by denying that anyone has a problem with pot, they can more easily ignore what may be their problem with it.
Based on my previous research into this subject and on my recent discussion with Dr. Boyd, I would ask any doubtful reader to at least consider the idea that marijuana can be addictive for certain people, the same way that alcohol is addictive for certain people and not for others.
Then think about these reasons that pot should be recognized as a potentially addictive drug…
Pot use can damage lives. One defining aspect of addiction is that chronic use of the substance leads people to repeatedly engage in unhealthy and destructive behaviors despite the negative effects that those behaviors have on various areas of their lives.
For addicts, the negative consequences of their substance use often seem like an acceptable price to pay—because that is the only way they can justify their continued use. Dr. Boyd said, “If people are using marijuana all day, every day—and I’ve seen quite a number of such people in my practice—and if it is causing serious harm in their lives and yet they do not stop, then it’s an addiction.”
Of course, not all pot smokers fall into this category. Just as there are people who are able to drink alcohol in moderation, there are marijuana smokers who can use the drug occasionally or even with some regularity without becoming addicted. “Some people can smoke a joint in the evening and feel relaxed. I’d put that on par with having a drink or two in the evening after work,” Dr. Boyd said.
But: When people find they cannot make it through the day without smoking pot or have to smoke every evening, there’s a problem…just as there is a problem when people drink in the morning or have to drink every single evening.
Likewise, when people risk their own or their family’s safety or well-being—by, say, driving under the influence of marijuana, showing up high at work or hiding pot in their suitcase when they travel to places where it is not legal because they cannot be without it—that’s a sign of addiction.
The damage done to a person’s life can increase over time as his dependence on pot grows. Example: In researching this article, I spoke with a man (I’ll call him “Greg”) who identifies himself as a recovering drug addict and who says that marijuana was, hands down, his top drug of choice. Greg told me, “I started out smoking just occasionally with friends.
But after a while, I was smoking every day, then multiple times each day—in the morning, on breaks from work, late into the night. Eventually I stopped hanging out with friends who didn’t smoke, blew a whole lot of money buying pot, alienated my family and lost sight of my own values.
At the time, believe it or not, I thought I was having fun—but looking back, I realize that pot took away everything that had been important to me. If that’s not addiction, I don’t know what is.”
Marijuana withdrawal syndrome does exist. We’re all familiar with the popular image of the detoxifying drug addict—profuse sweating, shaking hands, nausea, vomiting, sleeplessness and a host of other terrible symptoms. None of that happens when a marijuana user stops smoking (or ingesting) pot…but that doesn’t mean the user won’t experience other symptoms.
For instance, Dr. Boyd said, halting marijuana can cause a withdrawal syndrome similar to nicotine withdrawal (and few people would argue that nicotine is not addictive). Pot withdrawal symptoms can include irritability, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and increased aggression.
Even more problematic, though, is the intense craving for the drug, which can make giving it up very difficult. The phenomenon of craving is another hallmark of addiction, Dr. Boyd noted…and certain users do indeed crave marijuana when they try to or are forced to go without it.
Greg recalls having very strong cravings for pot. “Some of my smoking buddies could take it or leave it. But when I finally realized that I had a problem and tried to give up marijuana on my own, I never lasted more than two or three days. I just craved it too much, and I felt pissed off and depressed when I couldn’t have it.”
Pot can become a “substitute addiction.” The long-term physical effects of marijuana are not devastating like those of long-term alcohol abuse (cirrhosis of the liver, dementia, seizures, etc.)…and nobody dies of a pot overdose the way so many do from overdosing on cocaine, heroin, opioid painkillers or other drugs. In that sense, marijuana certainly offers a safer high.
That’s one reason why some people who recognize their addiction to alcohol or hard drugs switch to pot instead—in effect, trading their substance of choice for marijuana. This practice is sometimes jokingly called the “marijuana maintenance plan,” and according to Dr. Boyd, it is quite common. “People often try to control an addiction by substituting one addictive behavior for another—and substituting marijuana often is preferable to continuing to use more potentially devastating substances.
But it’s not the same as being free from addiction, and it’s not an effective solution for the problems that active addiction causes,” he said.
It’s also important to recognize that chronic marijuana use is not benign in terms of its effects on health. Pot smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than cigarette smoke…it also increases the risk for chronic cough and bronchitis. Heart rate can escalate by 20% to 100% in the period shortly after smoking marijuana, an effect that can last up to three hours, dramatically raising some users’ risk for heart attack.
According to a recent study, long-term use may reduce motivation levels by reducing production of the brain chemical dopamine. And in rare cases, chronic users may develop a side effect—ironically, since pot can be an effective treatment for nausea—called cannabinoid hyperemesis, characterized by repeated episodes of nausea, vomiting and colicky abdominal pain. Just as alcoholics may ignore the health risks of heavy drinking, pot addicts may dismiss the health risks of chronic marijuana use.
HOW COMMON IS POT ADDICTION?
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 9% of people who use marijuana will become addicted to it.
By comparison, 28% of American adults drink at levels that put them at risk for alcohol dependence…and more than 90% of smokers experience some of the symptoms of nicotine dependency with more than 60% becoming fully addicted.
In a recent review of 120 studies, researchers from the University of Montreal and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hospital in New York found that about one in four teenage users of marijuana develops an abusive or dependent (i.e., addictive) relationship with the drug. Genetics appears to play a role.
For instance, the researchers noted that a predisposition to cannabis dependence can be inherited through the genes that produce the cannabinoid receptors situated in areas of the brain that govern learning, motivation, decision making, habit formation and more.
GETTING HELP
As I said, one insidious aspect of addiction is denial—addicts often have a very hard time recognizing that they are addicted. So if you use pot regularly, it’s important to be as honest with yourself as you possibly can in assessing your use. (For instance, when I told Greg about Dr. Boyd’s quote that “some people can smoke a joint,” he laughed and said, “The doctor means a skinny little joint, but potheads will tell themselves that this means it’s perfectly OK to smoke a big fat cigar-sized blunt every night.
We pot addicts fool ourselves that way.”) So: If you have any suspicions that marijuana is a problem for you, confide in your doctor and discuss your options.
Generally, treatment for marijuana addiction is similar to that used for other addictive substances—it might include psychotherapy, participation in a 12-step program, and even outpatient or inpatient rehab. In fact, in 2009, approximately 18% of people ages 12 and older entering drug-abuse treatment programs reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse, so you definitely don’t have to worry about being the only pot addict in a program.
There are plenty of other people who share the same problem…and plenty of dedicated professionals who want to help you find a solution.
To find a psychologist who specializes in addiction issues: Check out the online locator of the American Psychological Association.
For 12-step programs modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Contact Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Marijuana Anonymous (MA). If you have trouble finding NA or MA meetings in your area, consider trying “open” AA meetings, which anyone can attend. (“Closed” AA meetings are limited to people with a desire to stop drinking.
However, some marijuana addicts also identify themselves as alcoholics, in which case they generally are welcome at closed AA meetings.)
What happened to Greg? With the help of rehab, a 12-step program and a really great therapist, he got clean more than four years ago. Today he works as a substance-abuse counselor.
Source: J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and staff psychiatrist, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also is the coauthor of Almost Addicted: Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drug Use a Problem? (Hazelden). JWesleyBoyd.com
July 31st, 2014 at 9:08 am
[…] days ago, I’m happy I didn’t hold my breath. This one’s for you Lea and Holly. Lucy: Let’s see how the “creeps” comment on this […]