# Stop Giving Major Sporting Events to AWful or Incapable Countries **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 4, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497 "2014-02-04T17:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/101 "2014-02-07T00:53:30Z")
I’m really pissed off Russians are culling all stray dogs and killing them :mad: ☹ > **[Racing to Save the Stray Dogs of Sochi (Published 2014)](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/sports/olympics/racing-to-save-dogs-roaming-around-sochi.html)** > > A Russian billionaire has donated money for a shelter in a bid to save some of the hundreds of stray dogs that are being killed in preparation for the Sochi Olympic Games. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/102 "2014-02-07T01:32:07Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > \ > How does Putin react/overreact to try to recover from looking like a failure? He makes Stalin look like a piker? > [@BobLibDem](#): > > They’ve gotten so expensive I’m thinking why not have a permanent host city? Once the facilities are in place, you can just tweak the system between games. Plus the records could all be set on the same courses so you might compare say a 2020 marathon with a 2056 marathon and have it mean something. Gee, why hasn’t anyone in this thread come up with that idea yet? 😃 > [@aruvqan](#): > > mrAru pointed out that Canada hasn’t pissed off anybody that he knows of, and he pointed out that Calgary is perfect, it has infrastructure in place, an international airport, suitable for winter sports and with a few additions you could hold the summer sports there as well. It has hotels, and shopping, and food, and friendly people. They are already accustomed to dealing with large events _cough_ stampede_cough_ No way, man! We don’t want that madhouse here (again)! > [@Esco](#): > > I’m really pissed off Russians are culling all stray dogs and killing them :mad: ☹ > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/sports/olympics/racing-to-save-dogs-roaming-around-sochi.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/sports/olympics/racing-to-save-dogs-roaming-around-sochi.html) A quick, humane death for stray dogs is not the worst fate in the world for them. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/103 "2014-02-07T14:33:40Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Wrong. [The research was conducted in only six countries, not the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, and only two of which were equal to or higher than the rate in South Africa - Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X%2813%2970069-X/fulltext) Bangladesh has a population twenty times larger than Papua New Guinea, but you are weighting them almost equally. And the South African study was for two provinces out of 9. But that’s OK, seemingly. > [@Reyemile](#): > > Not true. From your own cite: And also from my cite: > [@](#): > > More than one in five men report “becoming so sexually aroused that they could not stop themselves from having sex, even though the woman did not consent.” That meets my definition of rape. Note that it’s not “_if_ the woman didn’t consent” it’s “the woman did not consent” as in actual incidents. Now, you could argue that college men are more rapey than the average American man, but that still doesn’t paint a lovely statistic picture. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/104 "2014-02-07T15:05:38Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > I’m really pissed off Russians are culling all stray dogs and killing them :mad: ☹ > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/sports/olympics/racing-to-save-dogs-roaming-around-sochi.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/sports/olympics/racing-to-save-dogs-roaming-around-sochi.html) They were getting all weepy about this on CNN yesterday too. The anchors were shaking their heads and expressing how shocking it would be if the stories about culling stray dogs are true. Fucking morons. I wonder if they, or you, have any fucking clue how many dogs are killed in the United States and other western countries every year because no-one wants to take care of them? Why don’t we ask the [Humane Society](http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/)? > [@](#): > > About 2.7 million healthy, adoptable cats and dogs—about one every 11 seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year. [and](http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/stop-animal-abuse/fact-sheets/animal-shelter-euthanasia.html) > [@](#): > > 56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. More cats are euthanized than dogs because they are more likely to enter a shelter without any owner identification. It’s harder to find a breakdown for dogs alone, but according to [this story](http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/artist-paints-5500-shelter-dogs-the-number-killed-in-the-us-each-day) from last September: > [@](#): > > He asked Dervan for the approximate number of animals killed in U.S. shelters each day and she told him: 5,500 dogs. That’s almost 2 million dogs a year, so the number seems a bit too high when taken alongside the Humane Society’s figures, although the [ASPCA](http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statistics) gives a higher number: > [@](#): > > Approximately 5 million to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year, and approximately 3 million to 4 million are euthanized (60 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats). Whatever the exact number, the idea that the Russians are committing some unique and morally reprehensible act by culling a few stray dogs is retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/105 "2014-02-07T18:39:55Z")
What I find morally reprehensible about the Sochi stray cull is that there doesn’t seem to be any concept of spaying and neutering pets there, and unwanted puppies are just kicked out onto the street. I have a lot bigger problem with that then a quick death for a stray. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/106 "2014-02-07T20:57:42Z")
I lived a couple of years in Russia and my friend volunteered at a Moscow animal shelter. In general, Russians see spaying and neutering pets as cruel and that animals should be allowed to be animals. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/107 "2014-02-07T21:34:13Z")
In Russia, stray dogs cull _you!_ Eh, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/108 "2014-02-07T22:32:29Z")
Didn’t they kill a bunch of stray dogs in Athens before their Olympics? And in Atlanta they gave homeless people one way tickets out of town (better than culling them I guess). I mean, you have a city that has a lot of undesirables (whether they be canine or primate) hanging around, and you have a big, international event coming up. What are you supposed to do with them? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/109 "2014-02-07T22:34:44Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And also from my cite: > That meets my definition of rape. Note that it’s not “_if_ the woman didn’t consent” it’s “the woman did not consent” as in actual incidents. Now, you could argue that college men are more rapey than the average American man, but that still doesn’t paint a lovely statistic picture. The one-in-four myth is such [repeatedly](http://www.iwf.org/news/2432517/One-in-Four-Rape-myths-do-injustice-too/) and [comprehensively](http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_1_campus_rape.html)debunked bullshit that I’m kind of surprised whenever intelligent people proffer it. But hey, some people still think Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet. TLDR: Ms. Magazine asked women about their experiences, and then choose to define 1 in 4 as having been raped. The large majority of the women so described did not, themselves, think they were the victims of rape, and the whole thing was a long way from impartial social science. Off the hijack: to me and 95% of the people on the planet, the whole thing is a TV show. So long as the events and the broadcast aren’t significantly affected, I could care less. So some reporters miss a shower or sleep in a dirty room? Fuck them, their job is still one of the coolest ones on the planet. I’ve stayed in shittier hotels on my vacations. I feel bad for the people of the countries that host them because they are such a colossal waste of taxpayer money. But when you’re talking about places like China and Russia, “wasted taxpayer money on olympics” is pretty far down the list of complaints about the government. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/110 "2014-02-08T15:14:01Z")
Does anyone know is there any sort of push-back in Russia about the whole 50 Billion price tag? Most places the public and media would be going crazy, do they not mind/shrug their shoulders, does Putin have media sources gagged? Surely some people must be pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/111 "2014-02-08T17:20:48Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I lived a couple of years in Russia and my friend volunteered at a Moscow animal shelter. In general, Russians see spaying and neutering pets as cruel and that animals should be allowed to be animals. At the risk of creating yet another hijack in this thread, that’s a fine attitude, except then you have to take responsibility for all the babies it creates. > [@DeptfordX](#): > > Does anyone know is there any sort of push-back in Russia about the whole 50 Billion price tag? Most places the public and media would be going crazy, do they not mind/shrug their shoulders, does Putin have media sources gagged? Surely some people must be pissed. I’m curious about that, too - are the Russian people so used to the leaders doing as they please, and this is just business as usual? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/112 "2014-02-15T04:17:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I suppose so, but can you imagine how much outrage there would be from every location that didn’t get selected as the permanent site? Greece is really the only objectively “fair” permanent site for the summer Olympics. The Winter Olympics arguably belong in either France or Sweden. The rest of the world - and non-Europeans in particular would howl. It would be nice if we could have used some of these sites more than once. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/113 "2014-02-15T04:58:08Z")
From the Economist: This grand enterprise, the largest construction project in Russia’s post-Soviet history, is also a microcosm of Russian corruption, inefficiencies, excesses of wealth and disregard for ordinary citizens. The Olympics are widely seen as an extravagant caprice of Russia’s rulers, especially its flamboyantly macho president, rather than a common national effort. The cost of the games has more than quadrupled since 2007, making them, at $50 billion, the most expensive in history. One member of the International Olympic Committee thinks about a third of that money has been stolen. Russia’s opposition leaders say the figure is much higher. More generally: As Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes, two American economists, have argued, the highly inefficient industrial structure of the old Soviet economy, based on misallocation of both resources and people, remains intact. The oil rent reinforced and perpetuated it: it has bought political stability and the loyalty of the population, but has slowed down modernisation. Inevitably, the result is stagnation. As for the future: Buying the loyalty of different interest groups is easy when the pie is growing, but much harder when it is shrinking. Once incomes began to fall, Gaidar predicted, the regime would face a choice between repression, which would eventually lead to revolution, and democratisation, which might also mean the loss of power. Mr Putin has tried to dodge that choice over the past year. He has made decisions ad hoc: staging show trials for political activists and locking up opposition leaders such as Alexei Navalny one day, then letting Mr Navalny run for mayor of Moscow the next. [Sochi or bust](http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21595428-conspicuous-dazzle-games-masks-country-and-president-deepening-trouble-sochi) (reg req) Also: Those who live around the Olympic park do not seem happy. “These are Putin’s games—not ours,” say Vladimir and Elena, a young couple who live on the outskirts of the park. Even those who work at Olympic venues privately complain. None of these of course makes it to the Russian media. Critical coverage of the Olympic games is strictly prohibited. One prominent Russian newspaper has been threatened with closure if it allows itself irony and scepticism. State television channels exude optimism and air blanket coverage of the Olympics. [Icy welcome](http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2014/02/sochi-diary) (reg req - 3 articles per month are free) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/114 "2014-02-15T15:57:36Z")
On the plus side, these Olympics are bringing these issues in Russia into the spotlight. Perhaps the short debt will bring long term solutions. Unfortunately, in a month everything will be ignored by the lamestream media and Putin will be back to business as usual. By summer we’ll all be raggin’ on how terrible it is in Brazil. ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/115 "2014-02-15T16:33:51Z")
I guess they forgot to cull this little pooch: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeoP8yFlvo) ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/116 "2014-02-15T17:22:28Z")
Winter Olympics weather report: 70 degrees and sunny. ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/117 "2014-02-15T19:28:00Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Winter Olympics weather report: 70 degrees and sunny How the heck can the snow-making machines work in that weather??! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/118 "2014-02-15T19:50:18Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Winter Olympics weather report: 70 degrees and sunny. If you’re trying to rub it in to the people on the eastern seaboard USA, remember they don’t have electric power in order to see it. (Joke stolen from NPR’s “Wait, wait don’t tell me”). ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/119 "2014-02-17T02:33:37Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Winter Olympics weather report: 70 degrees and sunny. I believe that that temperature is on the coast, where only the skating events are held (which are indoors anyway.) The outdoor events are all up in the mountains where it is still relatively cool. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/120 "2014-02-17T02:47:06Z")
Yah. For the xcountry relay at the Laura complex the weather was a sunny 40 degrees F. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497.md?page=7)