Filippo Pozzato Only God Can Judge Me

This is new to me. I did know that Filippo Pozzato was and still is a great cyclist, but I didn't know that he likes writing and that he likes body tattooing.
His writing is very down to earth, I mean, he is not pretentious at all and thanks CyclingNews for letting him write articles for them. I wish him the best as a blog writer and look forward to read more about his experiences, thoughts and knowledge as a cyclist and human being.

This is what I learned from his article:
"Of course some people think we should still live like the riders in Fausto Coppi's era did. They lived like monks and only thought about riding their bikes but they also raced for 400km and knew little about modern day physiology."

Interesting. Fausto Coppi was the first cyclist ever to win a double the same year. He won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1949 and became a hero worldwide. He was known as "the Heron", because he had long long legs.
Can you imagine any of us biking 400 km on one of Coppi's bikes? Not me!

Respect to Fausto Coppi's memory and respect to Filippo Pozzato for enlighten us with his words of cycling knowledge.

Just one thing I didn't like, the gigantic tatoo on his back. But hey, it's his body, he can do whatever he pleases with it.

Marie Osmond Son Suicides on the Rise

Hollywood celebrities and their children are, either commiting suicide or over-dosing on drugs, this year and 2009 more often than in past years. This is sad, but I noticed that in San Diego the suicide rate has gone up also amongst regular people since 2007, dramatically.

People often throw themselves from the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.
I wonder, could it be that the financial situation in the country is putting a lot of stress and anxiety on many? Possibly. But it is a trend that it's a fact and a reality.

My deep condolences to all relatives and friends who are left behind. Suicide is a very tragic event in anybody's life.

Peace to all.

“People are feeling insecure and vulnerable,” said Jim Dubois, a team leader with San Diego County's Access and Crisis Line, which has seen a rise in calls from people distressed about their finances.

The county Medical Examiner's Office has attributed at least seven suicides in recent months to money troubles. Medical Examiner Glenn Wagner said such deaths may foreshadow a terrible trend if the gloomy economy continues to push people to the brink.

“As more and more people get laid off and face tough times, they look at this as a solution,” Wagner said. “They can't see beyond the immediate loss of what were once secure lives and to the future where they can recover that security in their lives.”

Because Wagner fears the sinking economy will become a greater factor in suicides, he has asked his office to track and record any connection.

“I'm looking for any trends that we can interpret and translate into prevention,” he said. “Once people are dead, there is little I can do for them, but what I can do is look at the numbers to see how they can be translated into a community response.”

Source

LIST

1. Michael Blosil(1991-February 26, 2010) 18, son of Marie Osmond, committed suicide Friday night. The LAPD confirmed to Access Hollywood that a body fitting the description of her son was indeed was indeed pronounced dead.

2. Joshua Andrew Koenig (August 17, 1968 – February 25, 2010), also known as Josh Andrew Koenig or Andrew Koenig, was an American character actor, film director, editor and writer. His father is actor Walter Koenig.
Cause of death: Suicide

3. Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE (March 16, 1969 – February 11, 2010) was an English fashion designer known for his unconventional designs and shock tactics. McQueen worked as the head designer at Givenchy for five years.
Cause of death: Suicide

4. Brittany Murphy(November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and recording artist. She starred in films such as Just Married, Clueless, Girl, Interrupted, 8 Mile, Sin City, The Dead Girl, Uptown Girls, and many others.
Cause of death: Drug overdose, severe anemia due to anorexia.

5. Steve Cinabro(1960-April 30, 2009) The Chicago actor Steve Cinabro died at the age of 49, according to an announcement from his family.
Cause of death: Suicide

Earthquake in Chile Cyclist On Bridge

My heart goes out to the people of Chile, suffering the devastation that the 8.8 magnitude Earthquake left.

Lance Armstrong tweeted: "Thoughts go out to everyone in Chile after the 8.8 earthquake. Massive. Hope everyone is ok!"

Just a crazy fact that shows how realistic some news is (there's not tsunami warning for Tijuana, BC) and how over-dramatic others can be (there's tsunami warning for San Diego, CA -LOL)

These are some pictures of the aftermath. The first picture shows a cyclist taking photos of a collapsed bridge in the chilean ocean.

 

 

Mish Sci Fi Musings Has Done It Again!

That's right. Mish wrote another article that says it all, right and clear, beautifully written with that special science fiction-reality flavor that she has in each of her musings.
I have nothing else to say. Please feel free to enjoy her post and comment at your will, either here or on her blog.

Would You Live in a Sanctuary District?

I have discussed in many posts that the economic depression we are in is not being fully or truthfully reported in the mainstream press and if you want the truth you have to rely on bloggers. I also found a great website that lists all of the jobs being cut on a daily basis, DailyJobCuts.com.

We were discussing a few posts back about two episodes in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 entitled Past Tense parts one and two, in which Sisko, Bashir, and Dax get beamed back in time to the year 2024. Capt. Sisko and Dr. Bashir get picked up by the police and placed in what was called a Sanctuary District for those who have no home, no work, or are mentally ill. These people are walled in, have ID papers, and are not allowed to leave but are going to receive help in finding work, which of course does not happen. Sound familiar? We have so many unemployed in the USA what will happen when there are no more social nets like unemployment insurance? Bernanke and company cannot keep printing money forever, and soon hyperinflation will come and food will be expensive. The writers of these two episodes had great insight into what could happen if too many people were without work and how the government would handle it: put them out of sight, in over crowded conditions, supply very little food, while those on the outside who do have jobs need to work with the government and follow all of their rules and ignore those in the Districts. Wow, this is a great story and a scary one at that. What is going to happen to all of the unemployed, will they get "put away" somewhere?

Here is a short clip from the episode, but I suggest watching it all if you have the DVD.

Health Care IS NOT A RIGHT

I have been blogging about this topic for many years now, and having Mr. President, Barack Hussein Obama on TV today, moderating the Health Care SUMMIT, makes me want to throw up. And do you know why? Because all this is a friggin' SHOW, a political circus preplanned to distract people from reality.
This is reality: There are millions of people waiting for Congress to extend unemployment, which expires February 28, and nobody is talking about it, Congress is not working on it, and I wonder why...?!

Hello, is anybody there? If the US government cannot feed their people, has millions and millions unemployed and on food stamps, THEY ARE GOING TO GET SICK, sick from lack of food, lack proper housing -tent cities, homeless, etc-, sick from being WORRIED all the time about the uncertainty of the future of themselves, their children and pets. And they are busy-busy putting on a show debating on health care reform????!!!! OMG, are they dumb or what!

I am an admirer of Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D., who delivered an excellent lecture about health care not being a right, at a Town Hall meeting on the Clinton Health Plan, Red Lion Hotel, Costa Mesa, California, on December 11, 1993.

I will just post here some points of interest, but if you want to hear or read the whole lecture you can go to the links provided below:

Americans for Free Choice in Medicine -AFCM offers a:
video of this lecture,and a
PDF download, suitable for printing (requires Adobe® Reader).

You can read Leonard Peikoff article in its entirity.

"The right to life, e.g., does not mean that your neighbors have to feed and clothe you; it means you have the right to earn your food and clothes yourself, if necessary by a hard struggle, and that no one can forcibly stop your struggle for these things or steal them from you if and when you have achieved them. In other words: you have the right to act, and to keep the results of your actions, the products you make, to keep them or to trade them with others, if you wish. But you have no right to the actions or products of others, except on terms to which they voluntarily agree."

"To take one more example: the right to the pursuit of happiness is precisely that: the right to the pursuit -- to a certain type of action on your part and its result -- not to any guarantee that other people will make you happy or even try to do so. Otherwise, there would be no liberty in the country: if your mere desire for something, anything, imposes a duty on other people to satisfy you, then they have no choice in their lives, no say in what they do, they have no liberty, they cannot pursue their happiness. Your "right" to happiness at their expense means that they become rightless serfs, i.e., your slaves. Your right to anything at others' expense means that they become rightless."

Today, however, we are seeing the rise of principled immorality in this country. We are seeing a total abandonment by the intellectuals and the politicians of the moral principles on which the U.S. was founded. We are seeing the complete destruction of the concept of rights. The original American idea has been virtually wiped out, ignored as if it had never existed. The rule now is for politicians to ignore and violate men's actual rights, while arguing about a whole list of rights never dreamed of in this country's founding documents -- rights which require no earning, no effort, no action at all on the part of the recipient.

You are entitled to something, the politicians say, simply because it exists and you want or need it -- period. You are entitled to be given it by the government. Where does the government get it from? What does the government have to do to private citizens -- to their individual rights -- to their real rights -- in order to carry out the promise of showering free services on the people?"

NOTE:

Dr. Leonard Peikoff, author of The Ominous Parallels and Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand was a long-time (30 year) associate of the novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand and upon her death in 1982 was designated as her intellectual and legal heir. He received his Ph.D. from New York University in 1984 and taught at Hunter College. Over the years, he has served in the capacity of professor of philosophy, lecturer and chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute and is currently one of the principal lecturers and instructors of the Objectivist Graduate Center. He has lectured extensively at such prestigious speakers' forums as Ford Hall Forum in Boston on several topics including philosophy and current events. Additionally, outside of academia, he has taught courses on philosophy, rhetoric, logic and Objectivism audio version of which are available from Second Renaissance Books listed above. Source

Bike Hills Repeats Cycling Better

If you are as passionate about cycling as I am, then you will agree that to become better and better everyday as a cyclist we need to train on different roads, environments, altitudes, weather conditions, etc.

Having said so, hills are a very important part of our weekly cycling training to build strong legs and a powerful muscular core.

This is a video I want to share with you that is very short but has essential information to help you climb those hills more efficiently, therefore to become a heavy-duty cyclist.

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Write An Article and Publish it

If you would like to publish an article of yours in my blog, go ahead, write it in your own words and submit it for revision. I will review it and publish it within 48 hours after submission.

The article has to be about:

1. Sports (Cycling, swimming, running, golf, tennis, Olympics), exercise and fitness
2. Health, medicine, medical research, medical and biology scientific discoveries
3. Business, economics, finances, world news.
4. Politics, political opinion (it does not matter what your political views are)
5. General musings about life. Anything to enhance our well being.

You can email to me your questions and submit your article for revision.

High Speed Bicycle Chase Downtown LA

HA! I really don't like it when TV dedicates so much time to police pursuit cases. I think it's a waste of time, for me anyways, I'm sure other people love it and it's OK.
But this kind of bicycle pursuit is different. I would have liked to have watched it live on TV!

Two bike messengers saved the day for a Los Angeles man Monday when they chased a bike thief for five blocks downtown and then knocked him to the ground, causing him to flee, police said.

Jesus Tobar, 43, said he was working out at 24-Hour Fitness in the 500 block of Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles when he emerged to find his green Iron Horse Desperado Mountain Bike gone.

Tobar returned to the gym to ask if there was any security surveillance video. But two bike couriers had seen his $500 bike being taken and had already set off after the thief.

The couriers pedaled through downtown at high speed on a chase that traversed sidewalks and busy streets-That must have been so exciting!- said LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith. Eventually, one of the messengers was able to grab the thief's shirt and pull him to the ground.

This event reminded me of this funny but very real bicycle fight!

"This was a wild, high-speed bicycle chase through crowded streets of the Jewelry Mart," -Oh, man, what I'd do to participate in sometthing like this!- Smith said. "

Although this case had a happy ending, officials say bike thefts have been on the rise, increasing 29% last year and bucking an overall drop in crime. Los Angeles Police Department detectives believe the increase is in part a result of more people using bikes to get around in some neighborhoods.

A Times analysis of LAPD data found the USC campus area, Venice, parts of Hollywood and downtown L.A. to be hot spots for bike thefts.

As the thefts have increased, some people have taken matters into their own hands. Last month, bike messengers downtown caught two suspected thieves, teenage boys who attended a local Catholic high school, and stripped them down to their boxer shorts before taking their cellphones, backpacks and clothes.

Source: LA NOW, Southern California

Secret of Lance Armstrong Train in Space

This is a fantastic artistic photo by Paul Raats. He posted it on TwitPic and the comments and suggestions for a title for the pic are quite interesting.
Click on Pic to go
to the original on TwitPic

US Government Broken Most Americans Believe

This is an interesting poll that CNN published today, Sunday, February 21. It is a poll about Americans believing that the US government is broken, although a big percentage of them still have hope that it can be fixed.

"The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted February 12-15, with 1,023 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points." -The article says.

Yes, you read well, only 1,023 adult Americans were questioned. Where is the opinion of the other 315,533,693 million US citizens? OK, I admit, it would be impossible to question all, but let's also recognize that a sample poll based on only 0.0003% of the population is really risible, especially when only 86% (882 people) out of those 1,023 interviewed still have hope.
Better, why don't we interview the 37.2 million US citizens who are currently living on food stamps (soup lines anybody?).

"Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A record 37.2 million people, or about one out of every eight Americans, received food stamps in September, as the recession drove a surging jobless rate, according to a government report. "

Why don't we interview the 14.8 million unemployed people, according to the BLS US Department of Labor, and ask them if they still have hope that the government can be fixed. I would love to see the results of this poll.

I wonder. What response would we get if we ask the politicians and 'banksters' if they can feel the despair and hunger that regular human beings do? I'm sure they will lie, saying:

Yes, we can

Cyclists If You Lose A Race

...what do you do, how do you handle it?

1. Gracefully
2. You are a sportsman
3.  Denial
4. Egotistically
5. Disrespectfully
6. Other...let us know "the other" way, would you?

...maybe you give the finger to the winner?!

I will start with myself.

I have thrown horrible tantrums...

...but I have NEVER thrown my bicycle into the dumpster!

Economy Reality Check US Commercial Real Estate Meltdown

Mainstream media doesn't care about reporting the truth, and I am not talking only about American TV, most mainstream media of each country of the world either. Most of them manipulate data or just don't care to report real data, actual and important events. That is why it is essential that we all keep ourselves well informed by doing intelligent investigation and research, reading newspapers, websites and blogs from all countries of the world, and then make up our own minds.
Thank goodness, there is still a TV channel in the US that has kept its impeccable journalistic reputation and do care about excellence, elegance and culture. I am talking about PBS, and more specific about PBSNewsHour.

Financial Recession Depression Briefs

1. "Honestly? I didn't think the country would stay that bad this long," Gevedon finally says. He is 23 and works part-time doing cleanup work at a surgery center. He would like to apply his biology degree toward a full-time job, perhaps doing research back home in Kentucky. His advice to Obama: "Forget about healthcare. . . . Get back to stuff that is a little more reasonable and feasible than what we're focusing on right now."
It's getting worse.
"I just think the feeling in the country is overall a feeling of dejection, or depression," said Gevedon, as he headed into a video shop with a friend. "People aren't happy like we were in the '90s." (Los Angeles Times)

2. Thousands are discovering an unexpected kink in the system that can mean drastic cuts in their unemployment benefits. Workers who seek to renew their benefits for a second year are finding that their new benefits are based on their most recent wages, even if it was low pay for temporary or part-time work. (Boston Globe)

3.  The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.7% in January. But that big number blurs what’s happening in hundreds of local economies during this harsh, job-destroying recession. The nation’s 372 metropolitan areas are experiencing an extraordinary range of jobless rates — from a low of 4% in Grand Forks, N.D., to a high of 27.7% in El Centro, Calif. (USA Today)

4. Federal and state officials, many facing record budget deficits, are starting to aggressively pursue companies that try to pass off regular employees as independent contractors. (New York Times)

5. States underfunded their pension plans and retiree health benefits by $1 trillion in 2008, a new report says. The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, says 21 states had less than 80% of the money they needed to pay for future retiree pensions. In 2006, that was true of 19 states. (Gannett News Service)

6. The Obama administration is facing increasing pressure from lawmakers and housing advocates to retool its troubled mortgage relief program a year after its debut as the housing crisis continues to deepen and spreads to more creditworthy borrowers. (Washington Post)

7. Women comprise just under half of the U.S. economy and have lost fewer jobs than men in this recession, putting them in position to become the majority of the nation’s workers. Yet women remain concentrated in low-paying sectors of the workforce. (Forbes)

8. Experts fear that a new wave of foreclosures will hit this year as prolonged unemployment makes it difficult for millions of homeowners to pay their mortgages— and many of them aren’t likely to get much help from a federal program aimed at keeping them in their houses. (Los Angeles Times)…

God Invented The Bicycle

Please friends, have fun reading this hilarious article about how God invented the bicycle. Please, if you don't want to read the whole thing just scroll down to where the 10 commandments are; the 10 cycling commandments that is. They are hysterical. Have fun!

CYCLISTS' APOCRYPHA

In the beginning God created the bicycle, saw that it was good, then went for a nice Sunday ride on the bike lanes He'd made the day before, and they were good, too, because they were new and He had the angels keep them clear of debris. Later, of course, God would get cross and have the flood wash all the good ones away.

And God said to Himself, Let us create man, because cycling is too much fun to keep to Myself, and so He created man, him did He create, create did He him do. And God put man in paradise, and commanded him, Glideth upon the earth anywhere thou wisheth, except for that big hill over there. For on the day thou goeth down that hill, thou shalt surely die.

And God said, Man needs a companion to keep him from spending too much money on new bicycles. So God caused man to fall into a deep sleep by asking him if he wanted to go clothes shopping at the mall, then took a rib from him. Then God said to Himself, Who am I kidding, I'll never hear the end of it when she finds out she was just a rib, so He created woman from frankincense and myrrh and a certain je ne sais quoi.

And God said, Let man have dominion over lathe drills and Philips head screwdrivers, and let woman have dominion over everything else, and as long as thou art naked and unashamed, thou might as well be fruitful and multiply.

Lastly, God created the chicken and the egg, in that order, which should clear up that matter.

Now the serpent, he was a wily one, and he said to woman, Yea, hath God said you may cycle anywhere but down that hill? And the woman said unto the serpent, That's about the size of it: go downhill and die. And the serpent said, Ye shall not surely die, you probably won't even fall off. For God doth know that on the day you go downhill, you will not need to pedal for a long time. Go on, give it a try.

And the woman saw that the hill was good, she did not need to pedal for a long time. She told the man about it, and he also went downhill. Their eyes were opened, they saw they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves into padded cycling shorts because sometimes it got bumpy going downhill.

And they heard the voice of God as He was offroad, fully suspended of course, and they hid their bicycles at the bottom of the hill and started whistling nervously. And God called unto the man, and said, Where art thou? And the man said, We art down here. And God said, Hast thou cycled downhill, whereoff I commanded thee that thou shouldest not? And man said, It was her idea.

And God said unto the woman, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow whilst climbing hills; in pain shalt thou perch upon thy saddle.

And God said unto the man, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, cursed is regular bike maintenance. The inner workings of the hub gear will be beyond thou to repair. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou service thy freewheel.

And God said, Behold, the man doesn't listen very well, so he kicked him out of paradise and guarded the entrance with a sign of a picture of a bicycle in the middle of a red circle. And He had a Cherubim with a flaming sword stop by a few times a week for good measure.

This is the book of the generations. The first bicycle was a single speed, Godspeed, but after that it got complicated. Sprockets begat sprockets and cables begat kinks. Celerifere begat Draisienne begat Macmillan begat Michaux begat Ariel begat Bayliss Thomas begat Lawson begat Rover begat Boneshaker begat Ordinary begat Raleigh.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth in a critical mass, God saw that the wickedness of man was great and he did not like to give way to anyone on the road even his mother, so He directed Noah to build an ark made out of renewable resources. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark every type of bicycle: one to ride and one for spare parts. And Noah gathered two touring bikes and two mountain bikes; two recumbents and two tandems; two road racing bikes and two cross bikes; also four unicycles, just in case there was a misunderstanding, and a brace of Bromptons, as their folded countenance pleasethed Him. And God said there might be Some strong winds in the Southeast. And it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, then drizzled for another fortnight.

And God remembered Noah and asswaged the waters, and Noah opened a door on the ark and set loose Japheth on a unicycle, and God said This is a covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature: that a man on a unicycle is a hilarious sight. The waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

A bit later, God spoke unto Moses, saying, Here are a few ground rules, I hath numbered them for thou for easy reference:

I. Thou shalt hold no other races above the Tour de France.
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee helmets which cost more than £100.
III. Thou shalt not take My name in vain everytime thou gettest a flat tyre.
IV. Remember to oil thy chain, to keep it rolling.
V. Honour the Zebra Crossing and those walking upon the face of it.
VI. Thou shalt not ignore other road users, nor cycle recklessly upon the pavement.
VII. Thou shalt not steal bicycles.
VIII. Thou shalt not kill, except bicycle thieves. (LOL)
IX. Thou shalt not hang onto moving cars.
X. Thou shalt not covet they neighbour's new Cannondale, nor his groupset, nor his £3000 mtb, nor even his stylish shades.
Forget not the Titanium Rule: Signal unto others as thou wouldst have others signal unto thou.

And moving right along, there came four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and they were the Taxicab Driver, and the Motorcycle Messenger, and the White Van Man, and the Man Opening a Car Door Without Looking.

Amen

Published originally by:

Sam Walker 
Cycling Plus, January 2001

Economic Recession Depression Joke Post

Laughing and joking are excellent ways to ease the anxiety, tension and sadness that come in with troublesome times. I hope you enjoy the sense of humor displayed in this article released yesterday by The Onion.
 
WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.

Calling it "basically no more than five
rectangular strips of paper,"
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke illustrates
how much "$200" is actually worth.

What began as a routine report before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday ended with Bernanke passionately disavowing the entire concept of currency, and negating in an instant the very foundation of the world's largest economy.
"Though raising interest rates is unlikely at the moment, the Fed will of course act appropriately if we…if we…" said Bernanke, who then paused for a moment, looked down at his prepared statement, and shook his head in utter disbelief. "You know what? It doesn't matter. None of this—this so-called 'money'—really matters at all."
"It's just an illusion," a wide-eyed Bernanke added as he removed bills from his wallet and slowly spread them out before him. "Just look at it: Meaningless pieces of paper with numbers printed on them. Worthless."
According to witnesses, Finance Committee members sat in thunderstruck silence for several moments until Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) finally shouted out, "Oh my God, he's right. It's all a mirage. All of it—the money, our whole economy—it's all a lie!"
Screams then filled the Senate Chamber as lawmakers and members of the press ran for the exits, leaving in their wake aisles littered with the remains of torn currency.

U.S. markets closed as traders
left their jobs and resolved
for once to do or make something,
anything of real value.

As news of the nation's collectively held delusion spread, the economy ground a halt, with dumbfounded citizens everywhere walking out on their jobs as they contemplated the little green drawings of buildings and dead white men they once used to measure their adequacy and importance as human beings.
At the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday morning's opening bell echoed across a silent floor as the few traders who arrived for work out of habit looked up blankly at the meaningless scrolling numbers on the flashing screens above.
"I've spent 25 years in this room yelling 'Buy, buy! Sell, sell!' and for what?" longtime trader Michael Palermo said. "All I've done is move arbitrary designations of wealth from one column to another, wasting my life chasing this unattainable hallucination of wealth."
"What a cruel cosmic joke," he added. "I'm going home to hug my daughter."
Sources at the White House said President Obama was "still trying to get his head around all this" and was in seclusion with his coin collection, muttering "it's just metal, it's just metal" over and over again.
"The president will be making a statement very soon," press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. "At the moment, though, his mind is just too blown to comment."
A few U.S. banks have remained open, though most teller windows are unmanned due to a lack of interest in transactions involving mere scraps of paper or, worse, decimal points and computer data signifying mere scraps of paper. At a Bank of America branch in Spokane, WA, curious former customers wandered aimlessly through a large empty vault, while several would-be robbers of a Chase bank in Columbus, OH reportedly put their guns down and exited the building hand in hand with security guards, laughing over the inherent absurdity of the idea of $100 bills.
Likewise, the real estate industry has all but vanished, with mortgage lenders seeing no reason to stop people from reclaiming their foreclosed-upon homes.
"I don't even know what we were thinking in the first place," said former banker Nathan Collins of Brandon, MS, as he jimmyed open a door to allow a single mother and her five children to move back into their house. "A bunch of people sign a bunch of papers, and now this family has no place to live? That's just plain ludicrous."
The realization that money is nothing more than an elaborate head game seems to have penetrated the entire country: In Wilmington, DE, for instance, a collection agent reportedly broke down in joyful sobs when he informed a woman on the other end of the phone that he had absolutely no reason to harass her anymore, as her Discover Card debt was no longer comprehensible.
For some Americans, the fog of disbelief surrounding the nation's epiphany has begun to lift, with many building new lives free from the illusion of money.
"It's back to basics for me," Bernard Polk of Waverly, OH said. "I'm going to till the soil for my own sustenance and get anything else I need by bartering. If I want milk, I'll pay for it in tomatoes. If need a new hoe, I'll pay for it in lettuce."
When asked, hypothetically, how he would pay for complicated life-saving surgery for a loved one, Polk seemed uncertain.
"That's a lot of vegetables, isn't it?" he said.

Arrest Warrant for American Cyclist Floyd Landis

A French judge has issued an international arrest warrant for American cyclist, Floyd Landis because he did not respond to a summons last November after being accused of hacking into a French anti-doping agency laboratory computer.

Landis won the 2006 Tour de France in a "spectacular" way that put him at the level of Mercx and Armstrong, a master stroke win with superhuman courage...the problem was, he did it within 24 hrs. Something never seen before. He flat out cracked in the final climb of Stage 16, giving up a lead and falling 8 minutes, 8 seconds behind Spain's Oscar Pereiro. Then, next day, he does the unbelievable. He pedals like a mad man determined to win what was -even for the regular cyclist hero- lost, and finishes only 30 seconds behind Pereiro!
The turnaround was so impressive that Jean-Marie Leblanc, Tour de France race director,  called it "the best performance in the modern history of the Tour."

Let me tell you, it was indeed a fantastic win, I enjoyed seeing him climbing the mountains like that, but I have to admit: It was so magic it had to be won with a trick, it couldn't have been without the help of some good power, but testosterone takes a while to kick in the system, that is why I think he used something else than testosterone. But then again, what do I know. I'm just a simple mortal cyclist who wishes to have the physical powers that some great cyclists have had in the past.

Anyways, later on Floyd Landis was brought on charges of excess levels of testosterone,  reason why he was stripped of his 2006 TdF title and finally banned 2 years from pro-cycling. He returned to the world of pro-racing last year under the umbrella of OUCH cycling team.

To end my post. I sincerely wish that Floyd Landis gets some protection from the American authorities. There are real criminals out there who DESERVE to go to jail, -"banksters" and street gangsters-.
Please, leave Floyd Landis alone.

Los Angeles California Job Cuts Unemployment

Los Angeles City is now facing a dire budget crisis that threatens to cut thousands of jobs and its credit rating could be seriously downgraded.

"The last time we saw this kind of drop in revenue was the Great Depression," Miguel Santana, the city's chief financial officer, told Reuters. "It speaks to how severe this budget crisis is."

The City of Los Angeles has been cutting jobs already by the thousands before this news was published today in Reuters, they have also cut off funding for bike lane projects since last year. More job cuts underway is a clear signal of a financial decline in California. And if California goes down, US goes down, the world goes down.
I just wish that more people in the world were aware of the situation we all are going through, but some people still in denial thinking that this is a temporaty financial crisis.
Hopefully we can educate through blogging, because frankly, mainstream media has become pathetically apathetic and does not report the truth.

"It's pretty simple. They are going to need to make some serious spending cuts," said Ian Carroll of Standard & Poor's.

I wonder if Bernanke is going to print another 1.5 billion that the city of LA needs for its budget this fiscal year that ends in July.

1000 LA job cuts to stem budget crisis

LA Unified may cut school year by 6 days

CBS job cuts

"In recent days, gloom has settled over the newsroom as news of the cuts has spread. “Nobody is saying anything except for, ‘It’s bad,'” said a network source."

1500 LA police and firefighters will be layoff

NUMMI auto plant closure next month with put 1500 people on the unemployment line

40,000 to 50,000 employees of NUMMI suppliers in CA could lose their jobs

And the list of layoffs ONLY in the state of California goes on, and on and on.

Livingstrong Personal Beliefs

This is one of my bikes
enjoying the sunrise at 6:14am
on top of a mountain

I have received some emails asking me questions about my personal beliefs. Due to my latest posts about how much I oppose national health care, some of my readers want to know more about me, they are curious about my political stand and general thoughts about topics of interest that affect our society which are very controversial.

They are not satisfied with the General Short Bio that I publish on my different web pages. So there it goes.

Politically I am very independent, and not because I support the American Independent Party, I am just independent in my political beliefs
I am conservative in some areas, very liberal in others and kind in between in some.
I do not have faith in any government of the world, but I would like to live long enough to see the rise of a government that stands up for those weaker members of society (abused children, elderly, people with special needs and others)

I am a strong supporter of animal rights and PETA (cats are my adoration)
I am definitely pro-gun.
I am pro-union and support the right of anyone to choose to be with the person they love and makes them happy, whatever the sex. I do, however, have problems with gay marriage.
I am strongly against the patriot act

I am totally against most abortions, EXCEPT in cases of rape and incest.
I think that all pedophiles should be executed at once (I know, wishful thinking only)

I love music, all kinks, dance, electronica, balads, classical music, instrumental, American, Brazilian, Mexican, Italian, French and Japanese are the ones I prefer the most.
I hate racism however, I am classist person based on social class and education (NOT economic status)

You can call me a crazy fundamentalist when it comes to cycling.
Medical science is my profession but I have developed a great interest in economy, finances and history of the world.

My favorite movies:

John Livingstong Seagull
Deja Vu
The Who
Artificial Intelligence
City of Angels

I was raced Catholic in my childhood, then Baptist in my teens, then atheist, but now I find myself in a better place. I am not a religious person, however, I am very spiritual and hope with all my heart and mind that there is an after life. I have friends who are religious and atheists as well. They respect me and I respect them.

After all, respect for each other is what a decent society should be all about, shouldn't it?

Cycling Tom Boonen Third Tour Of Qatar 2010

Tour Of Qatar 2010
Photo Credit: Roberto Bettini

Tom Boonen could not retain his title and finished 3rd in the final classification after stage 6. He has won 3 Tours of Qatar but was unable to beat Wouter Mol (Netherlands) nor Geert Steurs (Belgium). Frankly, I am surprised that Steurs simply could not gain time over Mol when yesterday the gap between the both of them was only 9 seconds. I truly and honestly thought that Geert was going to win this tour, but I was wrong, Mol was really strong and determined not to let this win go.
Congratulations, Wouter Mol!
Tom Boonen did fine the last 2 stages gaining enough time to be placed 3rd in the general classification.

Final general classification

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team	15:55:17
2	Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator	0:00:35
3	Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step	0:01:45
4	Roger Kluge (Ger) Team Milram	0:01:59
5	Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team	0:02:05
6	Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Katusha	0:02:09
7	Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma - Lotto	0:02:17
8	Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo	0:02:28
9	Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam	0:02:37
10	Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank	0:02:40

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• Steurs Pays Tribute to Frederik Nolf Tour of Qatar (livingstrongandhappy.blogspot.com)
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American Medical Doctors Are Mad

Yes they are, because they are seeing their medical practice being controlled by the government, they are feeling they cannot provide medical care in peace, they are mad and uncomfortable. Most doctors decided to become medical practitioners to care, cure and save lives without limits, to first do no harm.

But now, there are a bunch of innepts in congress who are not medical doctors, who are not medical scientists and are clueless about the beauty of our profession and only care about robbing the dignity and money of the citizens.

How is it that a bunch of  cronies (Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Liberals, and all the Presidential Cabinet) without medical license feel that they are capable to decide for the well being of patients? What makes them think that they are entitled to decide how doctors should practice medicine? Fools, they are all fools!

Cyclists Drink Coffee to Kill Pain

I love coffee, its flavor, its smell and the way it makes me feel, that is why any scientific study that comes out (even though I might already know everything about coffee) supporting the benefits of it makes me very happy.
This recent study shows that caffeine actually helps to reduce the physical pain that comes with hard exercise work out sessions (like long distance cycling, mountain cycling climbing, weight lifting and more) and pain in general by blocking the adenosine (which is a neuromodulator) in the brain and in the spinal cord. Adenosine accumulates in the extracellular space of the tissue of the forebrain and the hippocampus during sustained fatigue, wakefulness, seizures, hypoxia, ischemia and decreases during sleep. During seizures, hypoxia or ischemia. In the heart, hypoxia dramatically reduces adenosine kinase activity, which also promotes adenosine accumulation. So, figure out how good coffee can be not only to diminish physical pain but it also helps to increase the levels of oxygen in the body (more chemistry, don't want to bore you with more specifics)

A former competitive cyclist, University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl says:
"The notion was that caffeine was helping us train harder … to push ourselves a little harder."

"I think intuitively a lot of people are taking caffeine before a workout and they don't realize the actual benefit they're experiencing. That is, they're experiencing less pain during the workout."

So let's drink up, the coffee!

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Obama Works for Bankers Not for The People

I thought that Mr. President Barack Obama promised to work FOR THE PEOPLE of United States of America, not for the banksters, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JP Morgan Chase & C.

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay. 

President Obama talks too much, lacks manners and common decency. He's always putting down other human beings, and now  the very people of the United States who voted for him and trusted that he was going to do a good job get put down by him, saying:

The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that while $17 million is “an extraordinary amount of money” for Main Street, “there are some baseball players who are making more than that and don’t get to the World Series either, so I’m shocked by that as well.”
“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen,” Obama said in the interview yesterday in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.”

"Free-market system", Obama says, allow me to LAUGH ad infinitum. What a hypocritical statement! If he were really for free capitalism market he wouldn't be bailing out his bosses (the banksters), auto-makers (GM, Chrysler, etc), and he would not be pushing so hard for the ridiculous, non-sense, very badly organized, horribly planned National Health System he wants to implement!

Interview Report

Be Safe Know What is Being Recalled in the US

This month of February 2010 is busy for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Lots of recalls in the US due to Salmonella and E. Coli present in several food items. The recall also applies to different damaged medical products (see list below) and other items.


1. Italian Sausage contaminated with Salmonella

As of 9:00 pm EST on February 8, 2010, a total of 217 individuals infected with a matching strain of Salmonella Montevideo have been reported from 44 states and District of Columbia since July 1, 2009. The number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is as follows: AK (1), AL (2), AZ (5), CA (30), CO (4), CT (5), DC (1), DE (2), FL (3), GA (3), IA (1), ID (2), IL (14), IN (3), KS (3), LA (1), MA (12), MD (1), ME (1), MI (4), MN (5), MO (1), MS (1), NC (9), ND (1), NE (1), NH (1), NJ (8), NM (2), NY (18), OH (9), OK (1), OR (9), PA (6), RI (2), SC (1), SD (3), TN (5), TX (7), UT (9), VA (1), WA (15), WI (1), WV (1), and WY (2).
Recall information

2. Fresh Boneless beef contaminated with E. Coli

Now, this is so terrible that I don't know if I should laugh or cry in disbelief. Seriously, it is so pathetic that this kind of thing can happen in the 21st. century:

3. (H1N1) Influenza Vaccine with WRONG EXPIRATION DATE!

Sanofi Pasteur has notified CDC and FDA that some lots of monovalent 2009 (H1N1) influenza vaccine in prefilled syringes will have a shorter expiration period than indicated on the label.
The 50 lots subject to this change in expiration date include approximately 12 million doses. These lots were shipped to providers between November 2009 and January 2010.

4. Children's Toy Jewelry Set due to abnormal levels of lead

This recall involves charms sold with the Tiny Tink and Friends toy jewelry sets. The charm is attached to a cord using a metal ring and cylinder and included with the sets as a separate accessory that children can attach to the toy necklace, bracelet or key chain. The toy jewelry sets containing the charm accessory were sold in a variety of styles.

5. Children's Greeting Cards with Bracelets due to abnormal levels of lead

6. Discovery Kids Lamps due to fire and burn hazards

7. Target pulls Valentine toys over lead concerns

8. 12,200 automated external defibrillators CANNOT, I repeat, cannot resuscitate!

I am so mad at these ones, really. Patients lives could be seriously compromised just because an IV set, a simple IV set for regular IV fluids infusion. I am shocked and appalled.
I'll stick to Baxter, thank you very much.

9. IV Extension Sets totally defective

Use of these affected products may cause an air embolism or leakage of blood and/or therapy, which may result in serious injury or death.
The approximately 217,000 IV Extension Sets with BD Q-Syte™ that were recalled were distributed in the United States exclusively to BD for distribution worldwide, which includes the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South American Countries.

10.Closed IV Catheter damaged

Use of the affected devices may cause an air embolism or leakage of blood and/or therapy, which may result in serious injury or death. This device is intended for use with other infusion therapy products in the administration of fluids into the intravenous system.