Let the French try to get him on doping charges. Burn Novitsky at the stake instead for being a traitor. We’re spending millions of dollars to take down a national ‘hero’ in the name of fraud against the US Postal Service? Come again? Amazing all the harm those 7 victories did the US Postal Service. Sounds a little like trying to impeach Bill Clinton for getting a blow job (oh that’s right; he lied under oath… how high and mighty of us). Americans should stop trying to feel so good about themselves and just get over it.

The problem with the sport isn’t doping but the politics and egos of the people behind it. Who cares if Armstrong doped? Seriously. If Armstrong was the only one, then maybe, but they ALL dope and that puts them all on the same LEVEL playing field. Does it make Lance any less of a cyclist? No, he trained and worked at winning the tour harder than anyone else. Anyone who believes these superstars of cycling are cheats and should stripped of their victories should get a grip. They’re an elite group of cyclists that have the physiology other cat racers can only dream of. They didn’t reach their level by doping but through hard work; they are elite cyclists because they are the best.

Knowing their rivals all dope, what is an elite cyclist to do, take the high road? Because that’s what you would do? Good for you, so glad you feel better about yourself, but these guys aren’t YOU. They’re the best cyclists in the world, with millions riding in contracts and sponsorships, they have no other choice. They’re fierce, competitive, and have a burning desire to beat everyone else no matter what, and it makes for some exciting cycling!

Today’s cyclists are no different than they were 40 years ago. Are we really going to discredit Eddy Merckx, Poulidor and all the prior greats for the sake of righteousness? Are we really going to hand Lance’s tour victories over to Jan? Should Pereiro really be credited for his tour victory over Landis? Why should Lance come clean and lose everything he worked so hard for his entire life? Because we don’t like how doping makes us feel, for the greater good? Can we stop crucifying the riders and let them entertain us please? If we really want to clean up the sport, let’s go after the ones really accountable, the team managers who encourage doping and don’t stand behind their riders once they’re caught.

Just because everyone does it doesn’t make it right. But neither is targeting a few select riders. How is destroying the career of a cyclist by banning him improving anything? Give the riders a break. No matter how strict you are on doping you can never change human nature. The witch hunt is no fairer than if only a few riders were doping. Stop singling out individuals and control doping instead of banning it. Establish limits and continue testing riders and disqualify anyone above those limits. When the race is over, destroy remaining samples and move on to the next race. Continue the research and test for new substances the following year. ‘Cheating’ will continue but be controlled, riders will be treated fairly, and you and I can get excited about what matters most, watching our favorite riders duke it out in the Alps!

And please don’t get me started by asking about the message it sends our future athletes, or showing a concern for their health, or the message it sends our children. Our nation is made up of Coke guzzling Twinky eating McDonald loving couch potatoes who can’t even run a quarter mile or discipline their children. Take care of your own backyard and leave my Lance alone!

Until the next rant,

Paul

I bought a “Pay as You Go” data plan with 100MB/$19.99. When the ‘sales associate’ installed the sim at the store, I could place a call and send a text message but was unable to access data (email, web, etc). After farting around with it for over 30 minutes, the AT&T employee eventually called a support technician and was told that data plans for iPhone 4s were not supported on any AT&T Prepaid cards! So I say to the guy ”ok, we’ve messed around with it for long enough and you’ve tried to make it work, now can i have a refund and call it a day?” Simple enough right? Not really. ”We don’t refund Prepaid cards”. Come again? So I say “but I just bought the card 30 seconds ago, from YOU, you took my cash and said it would work, I haven’t even left the store!” “Well, I thought it would work, but it doesn’t, and we don’t offer refunds on prepaid cards, so it would have to come out of my own pocket.” 

There was a day I would have thrown a shit fit. I might have become more the wiser, but probably just more the complacent; either way what little rage against the machine I had left wasn’t enough not to make me feel bad for the guy, so I kept the card and transferred the $20 to a voice-only plan.

At least I get to bash AT&T on my blog…

AT&T sucks. The whole North American cell phone industry sucks. I took my iPhone to Italy in the fall of 2010 and bought a prepaid SIM from WIND:

10 Euros for unlimited data for a month !

Rant aside, are there any Prepaid cards/SIM that will work with an unlocked Canadian iPhone 4 in the US?!

Paul

PS – F   AT&T!!!

So, here’s what’s on my mind: In reflecting on the recent events in Tucson and reading all the commentary in the International Herald Tribune, which is really the New York Times, plus listening to CNN, I have reached a new level of confusion over certain ideas and attitudes held by many of your fellow citizens.  There is no doubt that the all-pervasive violence in America has once again sent a loony over the top.

Just think back for a momemt, those of you who are old enough to remember to a time when in movies and television the most violence we saw was the Lone Ranger, the Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers or Hoppalong Cassidy, shooting the gun out of some bad guy’s hand and the bad guy grabbing his wrist in agony.  Now there is almost nothing presented without the warning to the effect that “the show you are about to watch contains violence and ‘adult’ material not suitable for all viewers.”  And almost all the time that meams real violence – cars, helicopters, buidings and people being blown to smithereens by enormous explosions or cold-blooded in -your- face murders with blood and guts all over the place.  For well-adjusted people maybe this sort of stuff has no real serious side effects, but remember in the modern society everyone isn’t ‘well adjusted’ and it takes very little to send some whacko off the deep end. Our society is also made up of its share of impressionable youth who grow up thinking all this craziness is ‘normal’ behaviour.

So why don’t we get it?  The latest trend according to all the pundits I’ve been reading is for politicians to use target-like images to indicate where their party needs to attack next.  The NRA continues to be the most powerful lobby in Washington despite enormous statistical evidence that gun violence in America is hundreds of times greater than in other civilized countries around the world.  The easy access to weapons of such destructive capability, far beyond that needed to bring down a deer or a duck, boggles the mind.  Since the Brady Bill way back when, things have only gotten worse instead of better.  And finally I read where many of the recent verbal attacks against politicians - and even going so far as vandalism against their offices or vehicles – are linked to their support of Obama’s health care bill.  For those of us who have lived most our lives with universal health care(Kathy and I), what is it about such a programme that strikes such hatred and fear in huge numbers of the population in the United States, even to the point of violent attacks on members of congress supporting such legistaltion ?? Can any of you explain this to me at least?   Is it wrong to say that Universal Health Care should be an inalienable right to all citizens of a country as rich and ‘civilized’ as the United States ??  Okay, I’ll stop now, but I could go on for ever, especially if I get rolling on the fact that I saw governors of Texas and Pennsylvania saying  on TV that America can’t afford Obamacare.  How much is it costing daily, weekly, monthly to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq? Without exact figures at hand I would guestimate that the weekly, or at best monthly, cost of the wars would pay the annual cost of health care.   I sincerely hope that you will all weigh in on these comments from a puzzelled Canadian

The announcement by Serge Arsenault about the Pro Tour coming to Quebec got me thinking about the state of Montreal roads.

No longer can we refer to the giant gaping trenches lining Quebec roads as potholes. These nids-de-poule as locals refer to them, are larger than any Thanksgiving bird I’ve ever seen. The roads are patched, filled and re-patched and much like a pointillism painting, only create the illusion of a road. Freshly resurfaced roads develop cracks before the first frost, new concrete sidewalks are falling apart just months after being built.

Those that blame the harsh Quebec climate must not get out much. This may come as a news flash to some of you, but the snow and freezing temperatures don’t magically disappear when you cross into Ontario, Vermont or New York. And yet, roads on the other side of any Quebec border are infinately superior…

What does this say about the infrastructure of this province? Are skilled laborers simply un-skilled? Did someone lose the cement recipe? Who is responsible for managing government funds? Where does all of our money go? Are the Quebecois so complacent they just don’t care anymore?

Exaggeration?! You tell me!

Rue Molson (shops Angus) – brand new sidewalk after 1 month (July 2009)

Rock! Paper! Scissors! Wood covers cement.

Secret cement recipe #1

neu Pointillism

Ongoing rant – check back for frequent updates!