Urine or You're Out
So the Floyd Landis
public relations team rolls on. They're now claiming
that the lab that performed tests on Landis' pee that
ultimately showed that he had violated rules by
taking prohibited performance enhancing drugs "may"
have broken some rules by using the same technicians
to perform both the "A" and the "B" sample tests. I
guess there is a rule that says different technicians
should do the testing so that a single technician has
no reason to falsify a test simply to validate
his/her prior faulty testing. Confusing? It's
supposed to be. It's supposed to be confusing because
the Landis team goal is to make it sound as if
everyone involved in this case is a moronic dufus
with an axe to grind. Read about it HERE in an article that also
refers to a similar technicality that allowed
doper Inigo Landaluze to go scott free.
First, isn't Landis the guy who cried foul last
summer when his own team "outed" him by confirming
that his pee was the stuff that failed? He claimed
that the information was supposed to be confidential
and cited that reason as one of many in his attempts
to get the case dismissed. If he really believed in
the sanctity of the proceedings and the
confidentiality of the information then he wouldn't
be out there bla, bla, bla-ing about his case every
day.
Second, if he were confident that his pee was clean
he would not only allow but insist that it be
re-tested. He has fought this at every turn. He is
even refusing to allow re-testing on pee that tested
clean during the 2006 Tour as well as any testing on
pee he provided one week after the Tour. Now why
would a clean rider refuse such testing? Sure, this
is against normal procedures but remember, those
procedures are in place to protect the riders from
being subject to too many runs of a test. The rules
state; two samples, if the first sample tests clean,
all testing stops. It helps prevent abuse by
aggressive anti-dope proponents. But in this instance
it could only help Floyd (if he were truly clean). It
seems to me that Floyd's perspective should be the
more testing, the better. Any claim by Landis that he
won't allow further testing because of procedural
reasons is pure crap. He's hiding behind procedures
that are there to help dopers, not clean riders.
Maybe he risks even more failed tests with all of the
scrutiny any such re-testing would be under. Is that
why he is so afraid of further testing? But I
re-iterate; if you are truly clean you have nothing,
nothing to be afraid of.
He is also claiming that the operating manual for the
testing equipment wasn't in the lab and therefore
proper operating procedures were not followed. One
does not necessarily follow the other. When is the
last time you opened an operating manual? Real life
and death medical tests and procedures happen in
thousands of hospitals around the U.S. with nary a
technician or doctor sticking their noses in an
operating manual. They are highly trained individuals
who may look at the manuals as a reference for
unusual or unique circumstances, but not every day.
Same with pee testers. They are highly trained,
licensed and certified. I would be more concerned if
they had the operating manual out and open. That
would indicate an inexperienced and unskilled
technician, not the other way around. Again, it's
just more noise from the Landis camp.
All of this could be leading up to Landis getting off
on technical minutiae. But not because he rode clean.
He's been making so much noise and throwing so much
crap up against the wall it looks as if something
might actually stick. A victory for Landis would be a
defeat for cycling. More dopers would follow his lead
and look for technical issues to confuse matters.
Before you Floyd backers get too excited, please
note; the US Anti-Doping Agency, in reference to
Landis' most recent claims has said, "Our mission to
protect clean athletes requires that we follow the
evidence and only the evidence to get to the truth,
and not to be influenced by any external pressures".
In other words, they're looking at the facts, not the
noise Landis is making. They are moving forward with
the case and you have to ask yourself why. If the
Landis team is so convinced of technical errors and
faulty readings, why isn't the USADA? I presume that
they have a reputation to uphold and if they come out
of this looking silly or vindictive it would only
hurt their position. Not that Elvis hasn't seen
organizations and individuals do stupid things
(almost every day, actually) but surely the USADA
must feel confident in their position. And they know
a lot more about the facts than the public does. All
we hear and read is what Landis has been blathering
on about. The lawyers and others on the other side
don't hold press conferences and travel around the
country in fund-raising dog and pony shows disclosing
only that information which appears to be helpful to
their side of the case.
Speaking of which, have any of you actually gone
through the Power Point slide show that Landis and
his crew are running around the country showing?
Download and read it HERE (near the bottom of the
web page). Here is a sampling of what Landis is
claiming; sample mislabeled, specimen
contaminated, testing unreliable, tests were not
positive, pee wasn't Floyd's, undecipherable
handwriting on reports, improper notation,
inaccurate chain of custody paperwork, specimens
were contaminated (not just "A" sample, but "B"
sample too), testosterone levels too high for
further testing, results inconsistent, flawed
process for testing, test not infallible, test
criteria not met. Whew! And all of that is only
through slide 23 of 44. They might as well have
said, "Floyd wasn't there. And if he was he didn't
do it. And if he did you can't prove it". If
you're going to waste your time reading it like I
did just keep one thing in mind; it is wildly
skewed to one side of each issue. The presentation
is not an open debate, just one guy's desperate
attempt to confuse you into thinking it's a slam
dunk case in Floyd's favor. Noise. Open your eyes
and look around. Both the French and the American
doping agencies have reviewed all of the
information and still believe that it's prudent to
move forward with banning Landis. If it were as
open and shut as Floyd suggests this would have
gone away long ago. And keep in mind, it has been
Landis at every turn seeking to delay hearings and
procedures. It's only dragging on because he wants
it to.
The solution in the
Landis case is quite simple if we'd stop focusing on
all of the noise and get down to the pee. Under the
scrutiny of Landis' vast defense team a neutral lab
could perform tests on Landis' pee from the
following; all samples provided just prior, during
and shortly following the 2006 Tour. Even if all of
Landis' claims regarding procedural deviations are
true, and assuming that such deviations led to two
false positives, wouldn't having a neutral lab,
following tightly controlled and observed procedures
get to the truth of the matter? Isn't that what we
want and what cycling needs? Since Landis is refusing
such testing we are left wondering; is the truth what
Floyd Landis wants?
The same goes for Lance Armstrong; stop your childish
bickering with World Anti-Doping head Dick Pound and
have your pee from all seven Tours that you won
re-tested in a similar manner. And offer to keep the
pee available for testing in the future as the tests
for finding drugs improve. If, as you are fond of
saying, you've never taken performance enhancing
drugs, you should have no concerns over having your
pee re-tested with the more sophisticated testing
that will be developed and available in the future.
It mystifies me why you wouldn't be demanding such a
scenario. Come on, you're a big boy; what are you
afraid of?
Note; when I say pee I mean; urine, blood, saliva,
hair follicles and anything else needed to determine
the lack or presence of performance enhancing
substances.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Notes on the
Tour of California
Don't kid yourself, this
race is simply a showcase for American riders. It
will never compete with the one day Spring Classics
or a single stage victory in the Tour de France,
contrary to the claims of race organizers. Most
teams and riders use this event as an early season
tune-up, they are not at peak form. As a venue to
allow Americans an opportunity to see pro cycling
up close and personal it's great. As an event on
it's way to become prestigious, there's a lot of
work to do.
And they can start by not making crazy rulings that
serve no purpose other than to protect the year's
chosen favorite. This year the race organizers gave
the same finishing time to the riders that were
affected by a crash ten (ten!) kilometers from the
finish. Take a guess at who was in the pile-up?
That's right, the organizers favorite, Levi
Leipheimer. The international rule on this is that
crashers within three kilometers of the finish will
receive the same time as the main pack. But ten? Read
the race organizers sorry excuse HERE. The fact that no one
other than Elvis seems to care about this just
proves my theory that this race will never compete
with the big continental races. Can you imagine
the uproar if someone tried to make this kind of
ruling at the Tour de France?
I
worked in the TT, why should I work
anymore?
The hills along the course aren't challenging enough
to break up the main group of 40 riders. If you win
the time trial you win the race. Happened in 2006 and again this year. Why run seven stages
when the overall victor is just the guy that won
the time trial? With the exception of the time
trial Leipheimer doesn't have a single mile with
his nose in the wind. If Bernard Hinault were dead
this lack of panache would have him rolling over
in his grave. Like I said, a showcase not a
prestigious international event.
And of course it doesn't help when the major sponsor
is Amgen, a manufacturer of EPO,
the cyclists preferred illegal drug of choice. No
conflict there. And on top of that, USA Cycling won't even run drug
testing during the race even though the major
sponsor requested it (or so they say). How is any
of this good for the long-term health of a very
dysfunctional sport? Do you think the race
organizers feared what would happen if a rider
tested positive for using Amgen's drug? You bet
they did. It would kill the event and the only
sure way to prevent that was to refuse to provide
testing.
The race coverage was terrible. Choppy video that
made you sea-sick, footage that froze and garbled
signals. Since they replay the race hours after the
event occurs how difficult would it be to edit out
the lousy video? Much of it was cleaned up by the
final stage but you'd think that they would have done
a little preparation. Still, it was fun hearing the
voices of Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll
again. A sure sign of Spring. Unlike this weather
forecast;
Over twenty inches of the white crap on my driveway.
The added snow will push regular spring riding back
another two or three weeks as the snow-cover will
keep the roads slippery and dangerous and the
temperatures lower. Which will force us into more sad
rides like this;
When Nature Calls You Outdoors
Winter sunset in
Wisconsin
All of that was yesterday. Today I got a call from The Boss who was looking for a buddy to go with him on a ride. Since it was 46 degrees and sunny out and since The Boss is, well, The Boss, I went.
Riding on roads that we hadn't been on for a few months was a real pleasure. Most of the snow and ice had melted from the roadways, even in the shady spots. The spring-like weather had auto drivers in good moods too, so no trouble there. The only real problems were my legs. They felt like lead. Why is it that you can spend hours on the trainer, pushing your heart and body to near their limits and then you get outside on the road and it seems as if you haven't ridden in months? Yes, I know that wind, weather and road conditions can have an impact on your work-out but the difference in 'trainer fitness' and 'real world fitness' shouldn't be so remarkable. Just this past Saturday I did 50 miles on the trainer with Coach Troy, after which my legs felt a lot better than after today's 37 miles. Well, come to think of it, Coach Troy isn't near the whip cracker that The Boss is.
The Boss and I also had a chance to talk about logistics regarding our upcoming cycling trip to Texas. It's only a few weeks away. Item number one; get in shape. Item number two; get in shape. We also talked about how best to get our bikes down there (FedEx), how much on the bike food to take (lots), how many evenings will be spent at Texas roadhouses (all of them) and whether or not the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas was still operating (for research activities only you understand, so I have something fun to post in the blog). This last item also gives me a reasonable excuse to run the photo at the end of the post.
We also talked about how many miles we should plan to ride each day and how hard the miles should be. We agreed to ease into the week by doing two, two hour sessions for the first few days and then building to five hour rides by the end. Intensity is anybody's guess. We agree to avoid over doing things but my experience tells me that once the competitive juices start to flow all bets are off. In any event the trip is going to be fun and I'm looking forward to it.
Note: Dolly Parton starred in the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas movie. Jessica Simpson tried to sing Dolly's song, "Nine to Five" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. without success, which you can read about HERE. And there's the connection. Besides, you didn't really want me to post a shot of 61 year old Dolly Parton, did you? I didn't think so. Enjoy!
Elvis totally doesn't know what Jessica's IQ is, but he wants her.
Elvis' Mea Culpa
To admit to the drunken one-night stand in Las Vegas just over one year ago has been the most difficult thing that I have ever done. I am ashamed of what I did and I will not use alcohol or sexually abusive priests as excuses. The malfeasance was mine, and mine alone. To my family; I can only humbly ask forgiveness. If it is not forthcoming, I understand. Just remember, there are 88 million reasons to forgive and forget.
To baby Danneilynn I promise this; I will love you as I have my other children. I will fight for and then, as your legal guardian, wisely manage the 88 million dollars that your wacky mother's estate will get from the estate of that old fart she was sleeping with a couple of years ago. I will show you all that the world has to offer by traveling alone, or with a companion (or two) to fun and exotic locales around the world, before bringing you along, out of, you know, safety concerns. I will provide only the safest automobiles for us to be chauffeured around in. The finest, fastest and safest aircraft. I will send you off, for months at a time, to the finest boarding schools far from home. Our butlers, drivers, chefs, tailors, groundkeepers, housekeepers and handmaidens will all be British trained to the highest of standards (well, I do have my eye on a Vegas showgirl that would make a fine handmaiden, and as executor, my call).
As proof that I am the
That's Elvis in the
striped shirt, lower left. I was taking pictures and
she asked for a print. I said, "Sure, but when can I
give it to you?". She replied, "How about now?".
Vegas, what a city!
If the lab somehow makes a mistake
or otherwise mislabels or mishandles the DNA samples
which result in Elvis being named the true father -
case closed. If for some reason the testing comes
back negative I will call upon the
Fairness Fund
for assistance. Floyd
Landis is affiliated with the Fairness Fund and
promises that they can help to ensure fairness,
accountability and oversight. It's that oversight
thing I'm looking for and something that Floyd
Landis and the Fairness Fund have become expert
at. Together, Floyd and Elvis can win this thing.
Anna, I hardly knew
yee
Sticks and Stones
So along comes Dick Pound and he's not interested in hiding the problem. He's interested in fixing it and to fix something you have to first recognize that it's broken. Lance Armstrong, on the other hand, has no interest in having the world recognize the fact that top cyclists dope. Armstrong is much more interested in himself - he doesn't care about the sport of cycling. He also likes to whip out the cancer card at every turn because he knows that it's his way of tricking people into believing him on the one hand, and shutting up people like Dick Pound on the other. If the truth about Armstrong's vast doping program came to light he would be knocked off of his pedestal and become forever known as a liar and a cheat. For a man with Armstrong's ego and need to be in the spotlight that just won't do.
Dick Pound, no that's not my
porn industry nameThe cancer card has been the knock-out punch for Lance and he is simply not used to people being able to take the punches and keep standing. So what does Lance do? He files complaint after complaint regarding Pound. He demands that Pound be fired from his post. I love that one; a doper demands that the anti-doping chief be fired because he is doing his job as the 'anti-doping' chief. Get it Lance? Anti doping. Oh forget it. You wouldn't understand what riding clean means would you? Read HERE and HERE how Lance's complaining resulted in Pound being asked to "exercise greater prudence" when making public announcements. Lance, with his typical dishonesty calls this a "major victory". Major victory? You demanded that Pound be fired and all that happened was that Pound was asked to choose his words carefully. I'd call that a major defeat as well as further evidence that Lance is being dishonest about his motives regarding cycling. And note the headline of the NY Times article, "Ethics Rebuke for Doping Chief". What would be wrong with a more accurate headline like, say, "War of Words Over Lance Armstrong's Failed Drug Test Continues"?
Lance also said that the committee's recommendation that Pound only be asked to be more thoughtful was not the resolution that he had in mind. Wait a minute. I thought that you said it was a major victory. Wasn't a major victory what you had in mind? Is it considered a major victory when you don't get what you had in mind? I don't ever recall thinking that a little kiss on the cheek at the end of an expensive date was a 'major victory'. Then again, I'm not a rich and famous doped up egomaniac. They obviously think different.
Lance calls Pound a "clown" and an "absolute disaster". Nice. Nancy-boy Lance cries like a baby when Dick Pound speaks the truth and as soon as Pound is asked to be more civil Lance lowers the discourse even further by resorting to name-calling. What a creep! You see, this is where Lance's over-active ego will be his downfall. He'd be best served by keeping his mouth shut and going on a low-profile vacation with his boyfriend. All Lance does by this childish bickering is keep the words doping, EPO and Lance Armstrong in the same sentence.
Anti-Doping chief Dick Pound said it best; "He (Armstrong) keeps alive this whole thing that he should be trying to fade away, that a French accredited laboratory found that he had six positive samples for EPO in 1999. Maybe he thinks if he huffs and puffs, all of this will go away, but it won't". Amen, brother!
Positively False
Oh, Goody! Doper Floyd Landis will be publishing "his story", planned for release just as the 2007 Tour de France gets underway. It's just the way the timing worked. Floyd's just your average, clean-cut Mennonite who wouldn't do any self-promoting. Yes, that whole Mennonite thing. I'm sure that it will be a central theme in his book as he once again tries to portray himself as the innocent victim. The book's title? Positively False. Elvis thinks that it's a good title because everything between the covers is likely to be just that.
Elvis Has a Hero - Maybe
Could this man, Bradley Wiggins
become Elvis' new hero?Could Cofidis rider Bradley Wiggins become cycling's biggest hero? Wiggins, a 26 year old rider from Great Britain has said this regarding Landis' behavior at the Tour, "I was really angry with Landis. It sickens me. He tested positive and then he was denying it. He took us riders for fools". And more importantly he has said this, "Doping problems affect everyone in the peloton, I've got children, a wife and a house and I could lose my livelihood because someone who tests positive finishes ahead of me. It's about time someone had some balls and told it how it was. There are enough of us who think the way I do. They say it's only one or two but I'm sure more people are doing these things. So it's my role as a role-model to expose it and not pretend it isn't happening. I don't think it's right I should come up in front of everyone and put up a smokescreen and say everybody is OK and there are only one or two people doing this. My big motivation this year is to prove that you can win clean." (Read HERE)
Mr. Wiggins, you have an amazing opportunity right in front of you. If you do what you can to expose the dopers and their activities and if you stay clean Elvis Kennedy promises to name you the first annual Elvis Kennedy Man of The Year. I'm pulling for you. Really, I am. Cycling desperately needs someone to stand up and call things the way they really are. Especially because the current tolerance of ignorance has created a dysfunctional environment.
I don't know much about Mr. Bradley Wiggins but I did read his profile HERE and learned that he once rode for Linda McCartney's cycling team. I had no idea that Sir Paul's first wife sponsored a cycling team. I here forward and forever after forgive Linda for her terrible singing voice. It also gives me an excuse to include a racy photo of Sir Paul's current ex-wife; Heather Mills (see photo, below).
To give you and idea of what Bradley Wiggins is up against Elvis provides for your enjoyment these items;
Doper Floyd Landis continues his web of deceit. At the same time that he's traveling the country on his Girl Scout Cookie Tour (acting like a little girl, begging for money) he has refused to provide samples of his urine to the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (read HERE). If you'll recall Landis and his lackey's have consistently been claiming that the testing that showed testosterone in his urine was faulty. This would seem like the perfect defense for a guy who claims to be clean wouldn't it? Have the U.S. lab test his urine under controlled circumstances. If I'm a clean rider I would have been demanding re-testing from day one. But wait! Landis' knuckle-headed advisor/coach/spokesmouth (and retired doctor, as if that somehow makes him a urine testing expert) Arnie Baker now says, ""The sample was clearly contaminated and mislabeled. I'm not sure whose urine I'm looking at here". Ay, carumba! They've got an
And here's another Landis spin on truth; Landis tells ESPN (HERE) that he is increasingly pessimistic that he'll race professionally in 2007. He continually tries to portray himself as the victim. But it was Landis himself who requested that the hearings in his case be delayed. Originally set for February 8th, today, Landis requested that the US Anti Doping agency delay the hearing - now set for May 14th. He also requested that the French delay their hearings too. So here we have Landis crying that his 2007 season is lost when he was the primary factor in that outcome.
Then comes this nice little snippet from Velo News;
"Sadly, Hamilton's last day as a pro serves as a painful reminder of just what the sport has suffered through in recent years. That day's stage was won by Roberto Heras (stripped of the 2005 Vuelta title and suspended for EPO), who knocked Floyd Landis (facing the loss of the 2006 Tour de France title on a testosterone charge) out of the leader's jersey. Finishing second that day was Santiago Perez (suspended for blood doping), who finished ahead of third-placed Francisco Mancebo (named in Operación Puerto and ejected from the 2006 Tour)."
Doping Item #3:
Tour de France runner-up Oscar Pereiro (and eventual Tour winner if Floyd is found to have doped) was cleared (read HERE) of doping charges by presenting the French anti-doping agency with a medical excuse for using salbutamol (a banned substance). He claims that he forgot to send the paperwork in. Are you kidding me? In this day and age of cyclists getting hit with doping charges a Tour favorite somehow forgets to file such critical paperwork? He had apparently forgotten until he tested positive and then he quickly remembered. Plus, salbutamol is used by asthma sufferers (having asthma is a plus for endurance athletes, right?) to do what? Open breathing passageways to allow for more oxygen to enter the lungs. How lucky for Pereiro to suffer a disease which allows him to take a drug that actually helps him cycle better. What are the odds? I know what you're thinking; Elvis, you're not suggesting that pro riders and their doctors falsify medical documentation for a competitive advantage are you? YES! I am. Pereiro is a doper. There I said it. You have to stop listening to the teams and riders and look at the facts. Is it really possible for an asthma sufferer to be one of the best cyclists in the world? Wouldn't that be an impediment in a sport that relays so heavily on proper breathing and unworldly oxygen capacity? We don't need experts or testing to tell us that Pereiro is a doper. That fact that he takes a banned substance that, if honestly needed, would have prevented him from ever rising through the cycling ranks is a big chunk of obviousness.
And how is it that cyclists can find dishonest doctors willing to lie and cheat on their behalf? I'm not sure, but you might want to query Lance Armstrong on this. He spent six years working with and paying large sums of money to Dr. Michele Ferrari, convicted of malpractice by providing dope to cyclists. Armstrong will want you to believe that in those six years he and Ferrari had never spoken of or discussed anything in any way related to doping. All while Ferrari was providing dope, doping schedules and doping advice to his lesser known clients. Again, don't believe what these culprits are saying - believe your own eyes, ears and logic. Cut through the smoke, haze and mirrors that the cycling community/industry has throw up and understand that doping is rampant, especially by our heroes.
Landis, Pereiro and Armstrong are great examples of the axiom that; What matters is not what you can establish as true but what you can confuse people into thinking might be true.
___________________________________________________________________
Some
quick hits from the non-cycling world;
It didn't take long for Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi to show her duplicity, did it?
While campaigning she loved to point out the wastes
and abuses of the Bush Administration. Now that she's
got some power she's demanding an Air Force One type
aircraft to ferry her, her staff, her family and
lobbyists (what does that tell you about Pelosi) to
her home state of California as well as to personal
speaking engagements and other non-goverment related
destinations. Read about it HERE. Just as bad, Congressman Jack
"give government contracts to my brother" Murtha
warned the people at the Pentagon who could
approve or deny Pelosi's request that they'd
better give in to her request because both he and
Pelosi, as members of the House Appropriations
Committee, decide on allocations for the Pentagon.
Or in other words, give us the luxuries that we
want or you won't get what you need for our troops
overseas. Read HERE. Real class acts, Pelosi and
Murtha.
__________________________________________________________________
The Florida Supreme Court, in a
wildly activist decision, decided that a guy who was
duped by his tramp wife into believing that he was
the father of her child, must continue to make child
support payments even though DNA evidence proved that
we was NOT the father. The court found that "policy
considerations favoring protecting the best interest
of the child" override the interests of a sucker
defrauded by his ex-wife. Maybe the court should take
it one (minor) step further and say that the best
interests of the child out-weigh those of Elvis
Kennedy and that he, too, should send money to the
ex-wife who got knocked up by cheating on her
husband. The court also said that the husband was, or
should have been aware that in today's world there is
a high incidence of infidelity and that in-effect,
the husband should have seen this coming. Read all
about this wacky but possibly landmark
decision HERE.
While I whole-heartedly agree in protecting the "best
interest of the child" I cannot agree that taking
money from a guy who is not the biological father and
did not legally adopt the child is the correct
outcome. The alternative course is for the ex-wife to
find and sue the biological father and/or go on
welfare to protect the child. Probably not good
outcomes in either case but certainly better than
what the court decided. All of this is the tramp's
fault, why isn't she being held responsible for
anything? If you live in Florida, beware. You have a
supreme court that just might rule to garnish your
wages for things you have no relation to.
__________________________________________________________________
Elvis' impatient
thought for today; When is the future going to get
here?
__________________________________________________________________
Promised photo of
Heather Mills (ex-Mrs. Sir Paul
McCartney)
It's Cold (even if they say it isn't)
Elvis' youngest will not be in school tomorrow. Why? Wind chills are dropping to 35 degrees below zero. I've been on the planet for a long time and never did I get out of school because it was too cold. And aren't we being told that it's getting dangerously warmer? All of this makes Elvis question the intelligence of the global warming fear mongers who decided to release their major report in the dead of winter. Wouldn't this get better play in the dog days of summer? I mean it, can they really be that smart if they're that stupid?
____________________________________________________________________
Create Fear and Panic and Get Rich At The
Same Time
The scientists who stand to get rich with the global
warming scare released a report filled with loose
deductions, dire predictions and blatant fear
mongering. Why would these scientists do this?
Easy. A recent report showed that 57% of Americans
are "concerned over global warming". Why are we
concerned? Because the media has been pounding
this issue for years now. It seems as if you can't
have a conversation about anything these days
without someone shrugging their shoulders and
saying, "global warming". Weather, fuel prices,
food prices, earthquakes, vacations, salaries,
kids behavior, Da Bears Super Bowl loss (rain),
whatever. 57% of us might be concerned but less
than 1% of us understand global warming (it also
proves the theory that once you've got an anecdote
you can throw away the data). This is a major
disconnect and one that will lead Congress to
appropriate large sums of money to the
institutions and universities where these
scientists reside. The scientists will get higher
pay, better offices, cuter lab assistants, better
equipment, cool electronic stuff, worldwide travel
and their names front and center in newspapers, on
television and in books. (Scientists on both sides
of this issue are playing the same 'get rich
quick' game. Go HERE to read how they disagree,
and in fact admit to not understanding what the
implications are of the increasing ice in the
middle of ice sheets and the decreasing ice on the
edges.)
We like to think of scientists as benevolent
workaholic lab rats whose lives are dedicated to
making society a better place. But the fact is, the
scientific community is as cut-throat and competitive as
Wall Street. Getting a major grant can make a
career. Getting a cushy tenure at a swanky
university can make you rich. And global warning
is doing both for a lot of these people. These are
also the same people that predicted global COOLING
in a 1975 Newsweek report, HERE (Funny thing about the
article referencing the Newsweek report. The
author's been so jaded by the global warmers that
he even states that the 1975 article isn't 'wrong'
it was only a miscalculation, something that
surely couldn't happen today)
If the world is becoming warmer, and no one knows for
sure, Elvis Kennedy believes that it is due to
natural sources like, say, the Sun. The Sun, with
it's solar flares, dark spots and radiating heat and
emissions have a huge impact on our world. In fact,
our world wouldn't exist as we know it today if not
for the Sun. Ice ages, warm periods, life and death
are all a result of the Sun's watchful glare. Only
human beings would be so audacious to suggest that
their puny little activities could somehow
significantly impact our planet or solar system. And
secondly, none of the possible effects of such
warming will be felt by you or me. It'll be centuries
before any significant changes will occur to our
climate or sea-levels. And by then humans will have
adapted - like we always do.
So it's shameful for the greedy and self-serving
scientists to toss out dire predictions such as;
world wide famine, riots, unbearable heat, drought,
flooding (take your pick), and so on when the truth
is that they are taking bits and pieces of
information and then running them together in
computer models to show the worst possible outcome.
And don't forget; many of these people are
meteorologists. You know, the same guys and gals that
will pontificate with their 10-day weather forecasts
but in reality have no idea what tomorrow's weather
will be. Even if we remove competition from the
equation the scientific community is only as good as
what they can observe and understand.
Thunderstorms and lighting are created by angry gods,
the sun (and everything else) revolves around the
earth, acid rain will end life on earth, you will die
of SARS, mad cow and/or avian flu,
sticking leeches on your skin will cure any
disease. Oh, and the world is flat.
_________________________________________________________________
Notes on the Super Bowl
- Bears Coach Lovie Smith, lauded all week as a
genius for sticking to his beleaguered quarterback,
Rex Grossman, looks like an idiot today.
- After the opening kick-off was returned for a
touchdown the Colts screwed around by using the squib
kick on kick-offs which resulted in the Bears average
starting position being the 38 yard line. Why not
just kick it out-of-bounds and give them the ball at
the 40? Then there is no chance of a return.
- With a little over ten minutes left in the game and
down by 12 points the Bears were still in their
normal huddle offense and took their time about it.
How many chances did they think that they were going
to get? Why are you letting the clock run down?
Additionally, the Bears offense had shown little
signs of life and maybe a no-huddle offense would
have woken them up. Grossman was tentative all game
and this could have been the spark for him.
- Conversely, with about nine minutes to play Indy,
instead of running the clock out, choose to go
pass-wacky. Starting at 9:08 remaining; incomplete
pass, sack, short run on third and eighteen, punt.
Time off the clock? 1:22, and that included a delay
of game as Indy wanted better punting position. Had
they gone run, run, run they would have taken at
least 3:25 off of the clock. That's two extra minutes
the Bears had to work with. Luckily for for Indy the
Bears were just as ineffective. If the Bears had made
a run for it those two minutes would have loomed
large.
- With fourth down on the Bears 16 yard line the
Colts choose to hand off to the half-back instead of
kicking a game icing field goal. Indy was up by 12
and two Bears touchdowns would have stolen the game.
With Indy up by 15 the Bears chances were much
slimmer. Sure, the Bears had shown nothing on offense
up to that point but it was still possible. Indy
coach Tony Dungy likes to win with grace and that's a
good thing, especially in this era of flash and
dance. It was a foolish decision nonetheless.
- The ads were lackluster. This makes
Elvis long for the days when Cindy Crawford was in
two of every three Super Bowl commercials (or so
it seemed but in any event a good excuse to run
her picture (below)).
- CBS did a terrible job with the broadcast. The
sound levels were constantly going up and down, the
music or crowd noise was often louder than the
announcers. And why-oh-why didn't your $500K HD
cameras have $99 hoods on them to keep the rain off
of the lenses?
- 53 men make up the active roster of the
Indianapolis Colts and yet CBS kept the cameras (yes,
multiple camera angles) on one guy, Peyton Manning
during the entire post-game show. Yes, he was the
game's MVP but he didn't do it alone.
- Is there a more fortunate NFL player than Indy
kicker Adam Vinatieri? Five Super Bowls and four
rings in only eleven years. His only Super Bowl loss
coming at the hands of the 12-time Word Champion
Green Bay Packers in Vinatieri's rookie year. Will he
join Jan Stenerud as the only other placekicker to be
enshrined in pro football's Hall of Fame? He has had two
game winning kicks in Super Bowls and in both of
those games glamour boy Tom Brady received the
game MVP award instead of Vinatieri. Will the Hall
of Fame, just like Super Bowl MVP award voters,
continue to over-look kickers in favor of glamour
positions like quarterback and running back?
- The Bears still suck