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As the cycling world deals with all the fall out of Operation Porto, and ALOT of big names not starting the Tour De France tommorrow (Our previous post about that TDF drama here.) there is another big cycling story out there today as well. As the majoirty of the cycling world is focusing on the tour and drugs it happens that Lance Armstong won a preliminary battle in London regarding his slander case against English newspaper that claimed had used drugs. Story here
The Hatemongers Quaterly has a excellent post discussing how the Guardian (a British paper that routinely is anti west) is pushing a anti Israel slant regarding the current issues along the border. THQ finds the comments more interesting then the actual Guardian post itself. THQ post here
In a two part series, Sigmund Carl and Alfred has analyzed why many visible Democratic leaders may be finding religion and faith more interesting at the moment. Give both parts a read and see if you agree or disagree. Part I here - Part II here
—- Update — 2:20 PM
Sigmund, Carl and Alfred has the final part of their series on the Democratic party talking about faith up now. Be sure to give it a read. - Read PART III here -
As a follow up to his pictures from Munich John Norris Brown now has a some pictures up in on blog from the Eagle’s Nest (a chalet built for Hitler by the Nazi’s that he rarely used). The scenery is AMAZING. Give them a look here.
[H/T to Sigmund, Carl and Alfred for this one - SC & A's post here]
Dr Sanity has a GREAT post this AM translating the current Bin Laden audio tape. It seems that Bin Laden is a bit of a crooner in the big band style, and Dr Sanity has been able to get the lyrics to his love song to al-Zarqawi. Great stuff. Give it a read here
Corey from Bald Man Blogging is following the World Cup and has a call for the winners of the next round. I do not care about soccer, but Corey makes it at least look / sound interesting. Give Corey’s full post a read Here
Well with one day left until the 2006 Tour De France launches the world of cycling is filled with drama. Top of the list and numbers 1 through 8 out of the top 10 is the fact that you have Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla, and their team manager Rudy P out of the Tour due to their association with a Spanish doping investigation. Ivan Basso, also considered a very good contender for the win and my personal choice as the winner, is also rumored to be involved in the investigation, though CSC - his team - has not taken the step of ejecting him from the team, and tour, like T-Mobile did almost instantly with Ullrich, Sevilla, and their coach. This fact will almost guarentee that Ivan Basso wins the Tour, that assumes he does not pull out, or is not arrested, in the middle of the race due to the Spanish case.
Stuff like this gives Floyd Landis, Levi Lepiheimer, and a few others great chances of winning, or very likely getting podium finishes. I still say that if Basso makes it to Paris he will win. If he does not, it is a open race and I would give Landis a nice shot. I am unsure of Levi due to the fact he has not raced a lot in the last few weeks.
Another interesting story is the fact that Discovery hung Azevedo with the #1 marker, not George H or Paulo, or … For those that do not know each team is given numbers starting with a digit and then 1 through 9 for their riders. The rider with the 1 digit in the series is considered the team leader. So one team gets 11 - 19, the next team 21-29, … through 171 through 179. The team of the winner from the previous year is given digits 1 - 9. SO, with Discovery being the team with last years winner they got 1 - 9 and gave the 1 digit to Azevedo making him the defacto team leader, even though Lance and Team Discovery says they will have 4 possible leaders on the road and let the race determine who is the team leader. Have #1 on your back automatically makes your a marked man on the road.
Bottomline, alll I have to say is -
HOLD ON THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE WILD!!!!
—– Update —– 9:10 AM
Ivan Basso, Santiago Botero, Joseba Beloki, Roberto Heras, and over a dozen other cyclist are now OUT of the tour due to their connection to the probe. This is due to a mutual decsion from team directors to keep anyone under investigation out of the tour.
This thing just got SO WIDE OPEN it is not even funny. At this point I am picking Landis to win and Hincapie to get a stage win or two. McEwin should just be given the green jersey because short of a aging Zabel (with a average Team Milram behind him) he has not competition in the race.
Dave Farquhar of the Silicon Underground is a avid model railroader, as well as a darn fine computer geek, but he has now found a way that his hobby can win him brownie points with his wife. Now that all the men (married and single) are paying close attention let me add that is does involve cleaning (I know big BOO HISS) but it also involves the use of a chemical that is strong enough that you have to mix it in a 15:1 ratio (GRUNT GRUNT GRUNT) and wear safety gloves to use it.
Bottom line David discovered that the same Purple Power (available at the auto parts store so you do not have to slum by going to a grocery store to get it) that cleans up oil spills, takes paint off old models, etc can be used to get stubborn stains out of the bathroom. David’s Full Post Here
David C Price of Espresso Roast has a excellent post dealing with Warren Buffet’s recent donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. One of Buffet’s quotes roughly paraphrased is that he believes there are multiple ways to go to heaven and his donation is a good way to get to heaven. David has a problem with that idea, as do I, and that discusses the underlying lie that there is more then one way to Heaven in his post. Give David’s full post a read here.
