Look out...

This could be something:

German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal which erupted last year, is set to make a series of stunning revelations about current doping practices. Jaksche's lawyer Michael Lehner said on Friday the German, who has protested his innocence but been suspended from all competition due to his alleged links to the affair, will reveal all in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel on Monday... Jaksche, the 2004 Paris-Nice winner who joined the Russian second division outfit Tinkoff in April, appears ready to make his own contribution by revealing all he knows about doping. Lehner said the former Liberty Seguros rider "will not just admit to doping himself, but will shed light on what really goes on in the peloton, and who the main (doping) protagonists are."

We'll see on Monday if this is something or just more noise.

From Lance to Landis

Well, I finished the Walsh book. He makes a very compelling circumstantial case that Lance was doping. A few things stood out for me:

First is hCG. hCG is a hormone that stimulates the production of testosterone in males (oddly, it's also the hormone whose presence indicates that a woman is pregnant). In most males, its concentration is about 1 or 2 nanograms per milliliter of blood and it's almost always below 5 nanograms/ml. Synthetic hCG is also used after a round of steroids because the steriods suppress production of testosterone. As such, agencies test for hCG because higher levels of hCG point to steroid usage. A positive result for hCG will get you a 2-year suspension in the biking world.

Males with testicular cancer have much higher concentrations of hCG and a few cyclists have failed drug tests and have been found to have testicular cancer and have subsequently been cured of the cancer and, of course, cleared of doping.

When Lance was diagnosed with cancer, his level of hCG was over 50,000 nanograms/ml. The question is then, how did he not fail a test? He was tested numerous times during the year. What happened? Neither he nor the UCI has commented on how it happened.

Second is the weight loss (or lack thereof). The conventional story is that Lance lost 20 lbs. when he had cancer and being 20 lbs. lighter was a prime reason why he could suddenly climb. As it turns out, he may have only been 2-3 lbs. lighter. His racing weight prior to cancer was about 75 kg, and he's quoted as saying that he was happy starting his TdF's in the low 74 kg range. Strange, because he looked much different pre and post-cancer, but the numbers show that he may not have lost much body weight at all come race time.

Third is the re-testing of his old samples and having them come up positive for EPO (this was the big scandal from last year).

All in all, it's a pretty damning book for Lance, but I'd be much more comfortable if Walsh could tell us how he did it, and how current cyclists are doing it. How did Lance not test positive? It's apparent that doping is rampant in the peleton these days, how are all of the riders getting away with it?

The rest of the book tells a sordid tale too - George Hincapie is alleged to have received testosterone, there is a whole chapter that skewers Tyler Hamilton and another that puts the fork in Floyd Landis.

If you want to have your enthusiasm for the sport of cycling dampened right before the TdF, read this book.

I've been losing my enthusiasm for professional cycling for a while now and this may put the final nail in the coffin. I may have to switch 100% of my fandom to Formula 1 and America's Cup sail racing.

Or, there's always this.

Supreme Court

Wasn't it Justice Roberts who said he didn't want to release many 5-4 decisions as he thought they were bad for the Court? If I remember correctly, he was supposed to be working towards promoting more unanimity in opinions coming from the Court. Another great uniter I guess.

I...don't...care...

about the Apple iPhone. Sorry, I just don't. When I first read about it, I thought it was waaay expensive and other than the scrollable voicemail, didn't really offer anything new.

The first time I saw an iPhone commercial I was blown away, but then again I'm generally blown away by Apple ads. By the 1,000th time I saw the iPhone commercial (24 hours later) I started to feel some resentment.

Now? Resentment at watching the same commercial over and over again has turned to boredom. I'm left with my initial impressions - way expensive and not much new.

Then again, I was a few years late to the iPod too, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Lance and Landis

I'm reading David Walsh's new book on doping in cycling. The book focuses on Lance, but paints a really bleak picture about how pervasive doping is in professional cycling. I'll have detailed thoughts once I finish.

Random Thought

With Blackstone going public today, and KKR in discussions to do so, can we all safely assume that the market's pretty much topped out for now? If they don't think the market's topped out, why go public now?

Nathan Jessup

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to. "

Why start with A Few Good Men? Because:

Freegans are scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet, and to distance themselves from what they see as out-of-control consumerism. They forage through supermarket trash and eat the slightly bruised produce or just-expired canned goods that are routinely thrown out, and negotiate gifts of surplus food from sympathetic stores and restaurants.

What's the connection? Stay with me, I'm getting there.

“If a person chooses to live an ethical lifestyle it’s not enough to be vegan, they need to absent themselves from capitalism,” said Adam Weissman, 29, who started freegan.info four years ago and is the movement’s de facto spokesman.

[...]

Many freegans are predictably young and far to the left politically, like Ms. Elia, the 17-year-old, who lives with her father in Manhattan. She said she became a freegan both for environmental reasons and because “I’m not down with capitalism.”

[...]

Mr. Gutierrez’s lifestyle, like Ms. Nelson’s, became gradually more constricted in the absence of a steady income. He lived in a Midtown loft until last year, when, he said, he got into a legal battle with his landlord over a rent increase — a relationship “ruined by greed,” he said. After that, he lived in his van for a while, then found an illegal squat in SoHo, which he shares with two others. Mr. Gutierrez had a middle-class upbringing in Dallas, and he said he initially found freeganism off-putting. But now he is steadfastly devoted to the way of life.

I can't believe that these assholes got this much coverage in the Times. Mr. Gutierrez is upset because his landlord raised the rent on his midtown loft? A 17 year-old girl living in Manhattan is "not down with capitalism"? The founder of the movement, who lives in NJ with his parents spews nonsense like "absent themselves from capitalism" They must conversate a lot about ways to absent themselves from capitalism - maybe they met in Gutierrez's loft, or maybe they meet at Nelson's place in Flatbush:

Ms. Nelson, who is 51, spent her 20s working in restaurants and living in communal houses, but by 2003 she was earning a six-figure salary as a communications director for Barnes & Noble. That year, while demonstrating against the Iraq war, she began to feel hypocritical, she said, explaining: “I thought, isn’t this safe? Here I am in my corporate job, going to protests every once in a while. And part of my job was to motivate the sales force to sell more stuff.” After a year of progressively scaling back — no more shopping at Eileen Fisher, no more commuting by means other than a bike — Ms. Nelson, who had a two-bedroom apartment with a mortgage in Greenwich Village, quit her job in 2005 to devote herself full-time to political activism and freeganism. She sold her apartment, put some money into savings, and bought a one-bedroom in Flatbush, Brooklyn, that she owns outright. “My whole point is not to be paying into corporate America, and I hated paying a big loan to a bank,” she said while fixing lunch in her kitchen one recent afternoon. The meal — potato and watercress soup and crackers and cheese — had been made entirely from refuse left outside various grocery stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

ARRRGH! They make me want to scream. What I see here is selfishness masquerading as virtue. Nelson has a mid-life crisis of conscience and determines that capitalism is bad. Then, in response, she takes all of her dirty money, buys herself a house (cash) and puts the rest in savings. Hey, if you are feeling so guilty about the corporate world, how about using some of your dirty money to, I don't know, HELP PEOPLE?! Jesus H. Christ, if these people were going off the grid and living off the land in Montana, or if they were donating this stuff to people in need they'd have a point. But all Nelson's done is retire at 51. Call a spade a goddamn spade.

I think what has me so furious is that there are legitimate concerns about capitalism and its impact on people and these concerns have gotten worse over the last 6 years with Team Bush in the White House. Feeling guilty about your Bose stereo in your (dad's) Manhattan apartment is not a legitimate concern. Having the means to keep a roof over your head and not doing so is not a legitimate concern. Focusing on shit like this only confuses the larger, serious issues.

Rudy!

My oh my, Rudy's had a bad week now, hasn't he? Of course the ISG blow-off hasn't seemed to resonate as a big story, but man, running on 9/11 and having priorities (monetary at that!) that conflict with the most important policy group in the post-9/11 world? That doesn't look very good.

A part of me would like to see Bloomberg actually run just to see Rudy lose his goddamned mind.

They've lost their minds

If they think that Obama-Bloomberg is a winning ticket.

Seriously. Obama-Bloomberg?!

CBE first ride reactions

Despite some narrow-minded comments from some of my less fashion-forward readers, I took the Swobo out for it's maiden voyage today (white rims and all). My initial reactions were very, very positive. I was expecting a bike that looked cool and was OK to ride. It's actually a blast to ride. It's got a fairly tight wheelbase (making it nimble), deep section rims, and unlike the Van Dessel, 700x23 tires. Oh, and it weighs 14 lbs. fully equipped.

It's the kind of bike that you want to ride all day. Even thought it's a fixed wheel, I didn't feel nearly as fatigued on this bike as I did on the Van Dessel. Part of the difference could also be that the Swobo is steel vs. aluminum for the Van Dessel. Steel does a much better job of absorbing vibrations than does aluminum (generally). Whatever the case, I had too much fun on roads today.

Anyway, if you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket and you wanted to ride a fixed-wheel bike, the Swobo officially has two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

At some point I'll upload some pictures of the CBE so you can get your daily fix as well.

CBE has arrived

Yes, the coolest bike ever arrived last night. It is now in the middle of the build process. An initial ride review will be available tomorrow.

Guiliani

Did Rudy really release something called "The 12 Commitments" today? Yes he did.

You'd think that a man with his marriage record would shy away from something titled "Commitment". That, or I guess he can claim that with 3 marriages, he's 25% of the way to 12. I don't know.

Oh, and can he please keep saying that the Democrats want to take the country back to the 1990's? Remember those days? Heady, optimistic, entrepreneurial, yeah, why would we want to go back to those dark days?

See what happens when you reach out

to the huddled masses?

You get robbed.

Mr Bush had taken his jacket off on a hot day and was in a short sleeved shirt, the watch clearly visible. It can still be seen as the heaving crowd presses round him - but the next moment it is no longer there.

I have no idea if he did get robbed, but it would be pretty amusing if someone was able to rip him off in front of his entire security detail. Jon Stewart brought up another good point about the visit:

"How did those people get so close to the president? They're hugging him, they're playing with his hair. We're not even allowed to ask the guy questions."

There's a who's robbing whom story here somewhere...

Contranyms

A contranym is a word that can also mean its opposite. Examples include dust (to remove, or to place as in 'dust for fingerprints'), clip (clip to one's pants or clip off the end), fast (moving fast or stuck fast).

I heard a bit about these over the weekend and what usually happens is that one of the meanings goes out of style and disappears. There is no real point to this other than I thought it pretty interesting.

Does anyone else view the word "scheme" pejoratively? That is, whenever I hear the word I think of an underhand plot, not a plan. So when I hear pension scheme, I think 'people getting ripped off'. Am I alone here?

Struck a nerve?

This isn't the bike that is right now on its way to me, the aforementioned "Coolest Bike Ever" (CBE). It is, however, made by the same company as the CBE - Swobo. I'd never buy a Folsom, I'm not a BMX kind of guy, but jeez, I don't think I'd threaten to shoot anyone in the face over it either.

Escuche me!

No hablo espanol!

One of the many reasons why I don't think that Mitt will be the Elephant Man next year came out last night. He stated that English should be the official language of the country, while at the same time his campaign is running ads in Spanish. Someone should tell the Mittster that racism is best left to the true pros (like Tancredo and Hunter).

Watched some of the Republican debate last night. Those guys make my skin crawl. The difference between last night and Sunday night was striking - both in the composition and quality of the candidates as well as the substance and degree of sanity contained in the answers.

Beware the power of the spork

From the great state of Maine:

Bicyclists have been refused service or told they may not return to drive-up windows. Many drive-up windows have longer open hours than lobbies, while some businesses only have a drive-up window. This proposal will remove liability concerns and excuses and allow bicyclists equal access to businesses including banks, restaurants, pharmacies, ATMs, etc.

Oh shit

This could complicate things:

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials told The Associated Press. Two senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the raid was limited in scope and that it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks. ''It is not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands,'' one of the officials told the AP by telephone. The official is based in southeast Turkey, where the military has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since they took up arms in 1984.

This could be very bad. Of course Turkey has been signalling for a while that they were going to do this, so I bet the administration has a plan, right? Sure. Do we side with the Kurds or the Turks? Could we possibly sell the Kurds out for the second time in a couple of decades? Wait, don't answer that.

Bowing to reality

Finally went out and swapped the 42x16 to a more manageable (for me) 42x18. The hills are no longer alive with the sound of my raspy breathing.

Karma, Karma, Karma, Chameleon

C'mon, you know the words, sing along!

If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts. That, in essence, was the decision on Monday, when a federal appeals panel struck down the government policy that allows stations and networks to be fined if they broadcast shows containing obscene language.

[...]

Adopting an argument made by lawyers for NBC, the judges then cited examples in which Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney had used the same language that would be penalized under the policy. Mr. Bush was caught on videotape last July using a common vulgarity that the commission finds objectionable in a conversation with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. Three years ago, Mr. Cheney was widely reported to have muttered an angry obscene version of “get lost” to Senator Patrick Leahy on the floor of the United States Senate.

I wonder how big the smiles were in the halls of the 2nd Circuit when they released this gem. I bet they'd say they're happy they wrote it, they've been thinking about writing it for a long time, and they feel better now that they've written it.

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

Remember, it's what we do that counts, not what we say:

America will lose much of its ability to monitor global warming from space unless the Bush administration reverses course and restores funding for the next generation of climate instruments, according to a confidential report prepared by government scientists.

This is happening at the same time that Bush is in Europe talking about his bullshit aspirational goals for CO2 emissions. How much money is being diverted to the useless and asinine manned voyage to Mars?

On just about any metric you can choose, this administration has wasted prodigious amounts of money and made us less safe. They have fucked up just about everything.

The Debate

Caught the final 30 minutes of the debate last night from NH, so I missed the early fireworks between Obama and Edwards. I was pretty impressed with the way Hillary handled herself last night. There were two occasions when all the candidates were cross-talking and both times it was Hillary who emerged as the only one speaking. She controlled those on stage with her. She also slapped Bill Richardson hard.

Obama did well and I thought Biden showed great passion on Sudan. As much as I like Edwards, I didn't think he did much in the time I saw him last night.

Richardson looked awful, again. I don't think he is going to go anywhere in this race. Dodd didn't speak much and I wish he was able to speak more instead of Gravel and Kucinich.

I think they should really get the field down to 4 for the next one, 7 is too many and too few of them add value.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Oh, it makes my stomach hurt:

Only a low credit score stood between Alipio Estruch and a mortgage to buy a $449,000 Spanish-style house in Weston, Fla., a few miles west of Fort Lauderdale... Instantcreditbuilders.com, or ICB, helped Estruch boost his score by arranging for him to be added as an authorized user on several credit cards of people with stellar credit who were paid to allow this coattailing. Parents also use this practice when they add their children to their credit cards to help them build solid credit. The pitch to those who are essentially renting their credit history for pay is seductive: You don't need to worry about users of this service receiving duplicate copies of your credit cards, account numbers or any of your personal information. It's essentially free money, they are told. Brian Kinney, 44, a retired Army officer in Glendale, Calif., pulls in more than $2,500 a month by lending out 19 credit card spots on two old Citibank cards with strong payment histories. Kinney, whose FICO score is above 800 on the scale of 300 to 850, quit his job working at a Farmers Insurance agency and uses the ICB income to tide him over until he starts his own insurance agency. Lenders are worried, however, that they're taking on greater default risks by unknowingly offering lower interest rates than they otherwise would to applicants who artificially boost their credit scores. Their trade group has complained to the Federal Trade Commission and is talking with the credit reporting bureaus in case the practice becomes more widespread. Estruch paid $1,800 in December for three credit card spots, and by January, his FICO score jumped from 550 to 715. In mid-March, he closed on his four-bedroom beige stucco house after obtaining a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage from a unit of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. It carried a 7.5 percent interest rate and required no down payment.

And the punch line?:

"Everything now is score driven. I had a great mortgage history, but I got hurt because of my credit score," said Estruch, who also works as a mortgage broker, had bought and sold two houses previously, and currently owns another home in New York. Estruch said he's current on his mortgage payments.

HE'S A MORTGAGE BROKER!!!

So the mortgage industry is up in arms (pardon the pun) because they are issuing NINJA loans based on FICO scores and there may be people out there manipulating FICO scores? My heart bleeds for them.

Here's a question that I'll answer in a future post: Do mortgage brokers have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients? That is, when a mortgage broker is helping you find the financing for your house, whose needs are primary?