"Too Big to Fail"

That quote not only describes the banks and the banksters who all but destroyed the world economy but also describes the sordid saga of disgraced former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong. He was so "big" that is why organizations charged with enforcing the doping rules looked the other way.

There was simply too much money riding on Lance to do anything other than condone the cheating.

If Lance went down, so did everyone else. Even those who are pristine will be tainted, of course, in the same way Johnson's fall in 1988 created scepticism in millions of minds about whether anyone at the top was really clean. As with most scandals in the political realm, the questions have turned from ''who did what'' to ''who knew what?''

Remarkably, there are some well educated and thoughtful people who believed that, since drugs are so endemic in certain professional sports, we should allow athletes to use them.

In this ludicrous scenario, we would have the ''drug Olympics'' and the Tour de Drugs. The logic is that this would make it fair for everyone.

Cycling's terrible history demonstrates the folly of this anti-prohibition argument, because that sport literally has blood on its hands as a consequence of the sport's culture of cheating.

In short, there have been too many people who have literally died from this.

Saw This on Facebook

Greg LeMond · 10,933 like this
28 minutes ago ·
Can anyone help me out? I know this sounds kind of lame but I am not well versed in social marketing. I would like to send a message to everyone that really loves cycling. I do not use twitter and do not have an organized way of getting some of my own "rage" out. I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling's history- resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport.
Pat McQuaid, you know dam well what has been going on in cycling, and if you want to deny it, then even more reasons why those who love cycling need to demand that you resign.
I have a file with what I believe is well documented proof that will exonerate Paul.
Pat in my opinion you and Hein are the corrupt part of the sport. I do not want to include everyone at the UCI because I believe that there are many, maybe most that work at the UCI that are dedicated to cycling, they do it out of the love of the sport, but you and your buddy Hein have destroyed the sport.
Pat, I thought you loved cycling? At one time you did and if you did love cycling please dig deep inside and remember that part of your life- allow cycling to grow and flourish- please! It is time to walk away. Walk away if you love cycling.
As a reminder I just want to point out that you recently you accused me of being the cause of USADA's investigation against Lance Armstrong. Why would you be inclined to go straight to me as the "cause"? Why shoot the messenger every time?
Every time you do this I get more and more entrenched. I was in your country over the last two weeks and I asked someone that knows you if you were someone that could be rehabilitated. His answer was very quick and it was not good for you. No was the answer, no, no , no!
The problem for sport is not drugs but corruption. You are the epitome of the word corruption.
You can read all about Webster's definition of corruption. If you want I can re-post my attorney's response to your letter where you threaten to sue me for calling the UCI corrupt. FYI I want to officially reiterate to you and Hien that in my opinion the two of your represent the essence of corruption.
I would encourage anyone that loves cycling to donate and support Paul in his fight against the Pat and Hein and the UCI. Skip lunch and donate the amount that you would have spent towards that Sunday buffet towards changing the sport of cycling.
I donated money for Paul's defense, and I am willing to donate a lot more, but I would like to use it to lobby for dramatic change in cycling. The sport does not need Pat McQuaid or Hein Verbruggen- if this sport is going to change it is now. Not next year, not down the road, now! Now or never!
People that really care about cycling have the power to change cycling- change it now by voicing your thought and donating money towards Paul Kimmage's defense, ( Paul, I want to encourage you to not spend the money that has been donated to your defense fund on defending yourself in Switzerland. In my case, a USA citizen, I could care less if I lost the UCI's bogus lawsuit. Use the money to lobby for real change).
If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is.
Don't buy a USA Cycling license. Give up racing for a year, just long enough to put the UCI and USA cycling out of business. We can then start from scratch and let the real lovers in cycling direct where and how the sport of cycling will go.
Please make a difference.
Greg

Stay tuned for the fallout...

Etc.

An interesting report is here about the various attempts to privatize public education.
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People may throw sticks and stones at former pro cyclist Tyler Hamilton, but what he has to say about the doping era in cycling is devastating, to say the least.

It's another book I will have to get when I ever get any money again.

It must be a good read:

The drugs are everywhere, and as Hamilton explains, Armstrong was not just another cyclist caught in the middle of an established drug culture—he was a pioneer pushing into uncharted territory. In this sense, the book destroys another myth: that everyone was doing it, so Armstrong was, in a weird way, just competing on a level playing field. There was no level playing field. With his connections to Michele Ferrari, the best dishonest doctor in the business, Armstrong was always “two years ahead of what everybody else was doing,” Hamilton writes. Even on the Postal squad there was a pecking order. Armstrong got the superior treatments.

What ultimately makes the book so damning, however, is that it doesn’t require readers to put their full faith in Hamilton’s word. In the book’s preface, which details its genesis, Coyle not so subtly addresses Armstrong’s supporters by pointing out that, while the story is told through Hamilton, nine former Postal teammates agreed to cooperate with him on The Secret Race, verifying and corroborating Hamilton’s account. Nine teammates. That fact is the first punch thrown at Armstrong’s supporters—and it might be the most damaging one. Next Wednesday, when The Secret Race comes out, backers will probably make the familiar claim that Hamilton is a disgruntled, bitter ex-rival who got popped for doping and is now looking to cash in. But that doesn’t explain why nine former teammates agreed to cooperate.

Holy shit.
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Miscellaneous News

These passengers and crew were truly lucky.

More here.

I would never have held up as well as the passengers, I'm afraid.

Qantas is known for being one of the safest of all airlines.

An AP video is here. A passenger on the plane apparently videotaped some of it.

Apart from the oxygen masks, the flight seems fairly uneventful. There was applause upon the emergency landing.

Here is a video report with some passenger footage:



CNN interviewed the guy who recorded the video:




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How many more dopes will the Tour de France put up with before it is fully clean?
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Are racehorses today as hardy as those 30 or more years ago?
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A pair of National Enquirer "reporters" have filed a criminal complaint against the Beverly Hills Police Department about circumstances surrounding the John Edwards "affair."

More here in case you give a shit.
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But. But. But.

If you take the dopers and other cheaters out of the Tour de France, it and other cycling events will become boring spectacles.

Then maybe pro cycling should go the way of the dodo.

After All

of the bad publicity in recent years of drug doping, including last year's scandal, you'd think riders of the Tour de France would know better than to flout the rules.

But no. They have to continue wrecking the sport of cycling.

As the World Turns II.

Floyd Landis claims he didn't cheat by doping himself up in last year's Tour de France or cheat any other way.

Call me a skeptic.
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Accused killer Darren Mack simply couldn't keep his mouth shut.
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