The Agency for Cycling Ethics, which conducted independently monitored anti-doping testing for three U.S.-based cycling teams, is going out of business immediately, according to its CEO and the owner of one of those teams.
"I can confirm that the Agency for Cycling Ethics is closing operations," co-founder and CEO Paul Strauss, a Los Angeles anesthesiologist, wrote in an e-mail to ESPN.com. "We have no other comments regarding this."
ACE's dissolution after two years leaves Garmin-Chipotle, Team Columbia and BMC Racing scrambling for other options. All three teams felt the program was necessary despite more frequent and intensive testing by traditional anti-doping and sporting organizations and were willing to pay six-figure amounts for it in order to underscore their commitment to riding clean.
Wonderful narration by Carolyn Porco, the mission director. If you have science admirers, or--even better--know kids who can be awed by the wonders of science, steer the toward this.
This reminds me of a George Carlin line: "If you need sensitivity training to know not to shove a large, cumbersome object up someone's asshole, maybe you're too fucked up to be on the police force in the first place."
She apparently didn't know or care that Africa wasn't one country. And that's according to Fox News.
People in my own family can't stand the thought of an Obama presidency. My two-word counter is always, "President Palin." --- Update: Well, that was a lot of hot air over nothing.
In California, exit polls showed that those who attended church regularly voted against marriage equality 83-17%. Those who attended church only occasionally voted for marriage equality 60-40%. Those who do not attend church at all voted for marriage equality 86-14%. There is still much work to be done.
And yes, again, I'm being wildly generalizing. Sue me. Or better yet, try to prove me wrong. I'll wait.
It's coming through a hole in the air, from those nights in Tiananmen Square. It's coming from the feel that this ain't exactly real, or it's real, but it ain't exactly there. From the wars against disorder, from the sirens night and day, from the fires of the homeless, from the ashes of the gay: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. It's coming through a crack in the wall; on a visionary flood of alcohol; from the staggering account of the Sermon on the Mount which I don't pretend to understand at all. It's coming from the silence on the dock of the bay, from the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the sorrow in the street, the holy places where the races meet; from the homicidal bitchin' that goes down in every kitchen to determine who will serve and who will eat. From the wells of disappointment where the women kneel to pray for the grace of God in the desert here and the desert far away: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Sail on, sail on O mighty Ship of State! To the Shores of Need Past the Reefs of Greed Through the Squalls of Hate Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.
It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say that the heart has got to open in a fundamental way: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the women and the men. O baby, we'll be making love again. We'll be going down so deep the river's going to weep, and the mountain's going to shout Amen! It's coming like the tidal flood beneath the lunar sway, imperial, mysterious, in amorous array: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Sail on, sail on ...
I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean I love the country but I can't stand the scene. And I'm neither left or right I'm just staying home tonight, getting lost in that hopeless little screen. But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that Time cannot decay, I'm junk but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
My first effort at live-blogging. Let's see how well the typing skills hold up.
Probably half a million people in Grant Park. The guys selling loose joints are making a fortune.
Opening remarks about removing doubts about our founding principles--any doubters still out there?
Nod to the people standing in line all these hours/days.
"We are and always will be the United States of America."
Calls to an end to cynicism. However justified in the past, he's right...change has come to America.
McCain's name met with no boos. See how it's done, McCain supporters? This is how you're supposed to do it.
The girls are getting a new puppy. Cute.
Michelle Obama: First black first lady. Wonder how she feels about that.
Acknowledges David Plouff and David Axelrod. THEY DESERVE IT. He called it right: they put together the best campaign team in the history of politics.
He knows how far he's come in how short of a time. And he knows how many people ponied up their greenbacks to make it happen. "This is your victory."
Damn, this guy can talk.
Shades of MLK: "I know that we as a people will get there."
Good, he calls the partisan bickering "immaturity." And then invokes Lincoln as a contrast in the very next breath. Appealing to unity. Well done.
Gracious to his opponents. Speaks to the world. "A new dawn of American leadership is at hand."
"To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you."
Story of a woman casting her ballot in Atlanta. Ann Nixon Cooper, age 106. A woman who's lived in three centuries, who once would have been denied the vote because of color and gender. Shows how far we've come as a country, and goes into his "Yes we can" theme marvelously.
I'm just enjoying the performance right now.
Thank providence...no gunshot. I was more than a little afraid of that.
"Despite our differences, we are fellow Americans."
Well said, sir.
The crowd's reaction was interesting. They booed Obama at first, until he gestured to knock it off. They got it. They showed respect from this point forward.
I think this is the difference between Obama and Bush: a restoration of dignity and respect to the White House. It's about time.
Oh, crap, Palin got the biggest applause yet. Ladies and gentlemen, behold your future Republican party. I think she and Elizabeth Hasselbeck should have their own Fox show. It'd be a drool-fest for neocons.
Wow, is that Jim Brady in the crowd of McCain's speech? I haven't seen him in forever.
McCain conducted himself with class in his concession speech, anyway. One wonders if this is his swan song. He'll be 74 around the time of re-election, and he might not win even if he chooses to run. All I know is this, he can take a break and grab some sleep.
NBC News calls it. I'm stunned. I'm as white of a white man as it gets, and I'm getting choked up. I can't quite fathom it. It's incredible.
I think of all the times I've wondered in my life why I choose to continue my life, when the struggles have been so personally difficult for me. Other than the obvious reasons of friends and family, I'm now grateful I've held on. The Bush/Cheney/Rove cancer has been expunged. A black man is president. And it's happened in my lifetime. I think of all the people who have striven for this, bled for it, been jailed for it. And a schlub like me gets a front-row seat.
Funny world.
Andrew Sullivan is right. Know hope. --- Note to Democrats: Don't. Get. Cocky.
How fitting. NBC has been making use of Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert, to report on the "youth vote" from Indiana University. Sure, it's a token gesture, but how classy is that?
Interesting how NBC News is teasing us. Brian Williams is exhorting people to stay tuned for breaking news at the top of the hour. Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan has spilled the beans by saying Fox News calls Virginia for Obama. Looks like a lot of people in the traditional media (tradmed, if you will) still have something to learn from neo-media. Instant gratification hath no greater friend than the Internet.
If Obama wins this thing, I can't help but wonder how much of a trickle-down effect this is going to have. How many organizations are all of a sudden going to pay more attention to promoting minority figures and marketing their products to them as a result of reading the ethnic tea leaves? Katie Couric broke ground as the first female anchor for one of the big three tradmed news organizations. When will we have a black person heading the news division of such a place? All I know is this: racism looks more and more stupid by the day. GOOD.
Now for the next step: an end to the nasty demonization of people of the opposite party. Well, OK, that ain't never going to happen. But the practice will become harder and harder. Matt Yglesias had a smart take on how the right-wing liars have their work increasingly cut out for them to spread their damagogic feces because of an increasingly "progressive" (read: liberal) infrastructure in the media, traditional and otherwise. Fascinating stuff.
(W)e got what we got. Not because the political coalition of which Bush was a part was so rotten that nothing else could happen, but in large part because he was so rotten that he drove or suppressed the best elements of his coalition and spread the rot around.
FINALLY, someone does a spoof on KO's Special Comments that is even more over the top than the real thing. And remember, he did this WITHOUT CUE CARDS. You have no idea how hard that is.
Yes, John, I know I'm guilty of wild, blatant generalization. So what?
(T)he California Republican Party filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, in part because of a visit Sen. Barack Obama made to his dying grandmother.
"Obama for America violated federal law by converting its campaign funds to Senator Obama's personal use," the release stated. "Senator Obama recently traveled to Hawaii to visit his sick grandmother. This was the right thing for any grandson to do -- at his own expense -- but it was not travel that his campaign may fund."
The Obama campaign said it was cleared by lawyers beforehand, but I'm not going to pick legal nits...this is exactly why I hate these goons. They had the INFERNAL FUCKING GALL TO DO THIS THE SAME DAY HIS GRANDMOTHER FUCKING DIED!!!!!
And let's be clear...if the RNC has a legitimate beef with the Obama campaign over whether or not this trip was on the up-and-up, handle it behind the scenes, you craven slime. You're not just guilty of being tasteless, insensitive, and tone-deaf, you're also guilty of the worst timing in political history. And you deserve to have your asses handed to you on Election Day.
