Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Tom Tancredo, Colorado Congressman and GOP Presidential Candidate. Here is his plan to stop further terrorist attacks on the United States:
If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina. That is the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they would otherwise do. If I am wrong fine, tell me, and I would be happy to do something else. But you had better find a deterrent or you will find an attack. There is no other way around it. There have to be negative consequences for the actions they take. That’s the most negative I can think of.
Tom, you are wrong, and you are an idiot.
Threats like this are not going to do anything to deter terrorism. All they are going to do is piss off a bunch of people who may have never had any prior motivation to be angry at Americans or consider an attack on the United States.
The reality is that you are never going to be able to completely deter someone from doing something that they are willing to give their life to accomplish. All you can do is attempt to create the conditions that make it extremely difficult to actually carry out an attack.
Rhetoric like this should make Tancredo a laughing stock. Instead, he is a serious candidate for the GOP nomination.
Posted by Smithers at 8:51 pm in Politics | Permalink | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
It’s on!
Only Category 1/2/3 riders will ride the two person team racing program. Women and Cat 4/5 riders will race as individuals.
I hope that we actually get some people to come out and race this Saturday and that it does not rain.
Posted by Smithers at 3:42 pm in Local Cycling | Permalink | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
From the new and improved comments section:
I also am allowing myself to have high hopes that Slipstream can pull it off — winning without selling its soul. I’d like for there to be at least one team I can feel good about my kids looking up to.
Cycling4all’s Kristian Deibjerg has done an analysis on all 20 of the Pro Tour teams in regards to their anti-doping programs. Points were scored for intra-team drug testing, team funding of anti-doping research and teams stating an interest in being a member of a new “ethical club” league. Points were deducted for team members and staff having prior involvement in doping, team members having involvement with suspicious doctors and the violation of ‘code of conduct” rules. How did the Pro Tour teams stack up? From best score to worst:
8 Bouygues Telecom, FRA
8 AG2R Prévoyance, FRA
7 Credit Agricole, FRA
7 Française des Jeux, FRA
7 Team CSC, DEN
6 T-Mobile, GER
6 Predictor - Lotto, BEL
5 Cofidis, FRA
5 Unibet, SWE
4 Gerolsteiner, GER
4 Rabobank, NED
4 Quick Step, BEL
4 Milram, ITA
4 Saunier Duval, SPA
3 Astana, SWI
2 Liquigas, SWI
1 Discovery Channel, USA
0 Caisse d’Epargne, SPA
-2 Lampre, ITA
-2 Euskaltel - Euskadi, SPA
It’s clear the the French have taken the anti-doping campaign seriously. With one exception, the Cofidis team that ended up pulling out of the Tour after one of their riders got busted, all the French Pro Tour teams are grouped at the top.
The Spanish and the Italian teams clearly have some work to do, as does the sole USA representative.
It would be interesting to see how the Slipstream team would rate but I would tend to believe that they would be right up there towards the top. As a matter of fact, based upon my research of the team, it’s staff and riders, I would expect a rating of between 9 and 11.
In the mean time, if you want to feel good about supporting a Pro Tour cycling team, cheer for a French squad.
Posted by Smithers at 1:16 pm in Pro Cycling | Permalink | 12 Comments »
