If You Think Obama’s First Term Was Bad, Imagine a Second – Bloomberg

If You Think Obama’s First Term Was Bad, Imagine a Second – Bloomberg:

In other words, after winning he will lecture Republicans about how their positions are insincere and adopted purely for political reasons; he will insist that his existing positions are already a compromise with them; and he will try to govern unilaterally. These tactics seem unlikely to produce the desired results. Obama has, after all, adopted all of them, and they haven’t worked.

If the public renders a split verdict — returning Obama to the presidency and giving Republicans more power in Congress — both parties will insist that it’s the other that needs to “listen to the American people.” The choice before those people is looking more and more like one between Romney and a unified Republican government, or Obama and four more years that look a lot like the last two.

[And this is the mess I referred to earlier.]

Survivorship

[Feel free to skip the Lance stuff, it just illustrates my point…]

Lance Armstrong | Ritte van Vlaanderen Bicycles:

Doping will undoubtedly make you a faster cyclist, no argument there. What doping won’t do though is make you win the Tour de France 7 times in a row. A higher hematocrit doesn’t instill in someone a maniacal drive to not just succeed but dominate. HGH doesn’t help you climb back from the edge of near certain death and come back to the sport you love to not just compete but win. Corticosteroids don’t lift you off the tarmac on Luz Ardiden and propel you to victory. All those things will make you faster, they don’t make you win. Cycling is not some magical sport where as soon as a red blood cell agitating needle touches your vein you’re vaulted into the ranks of legends. Cycling is like every other sport in existence, there are amateurs and professionals. The professionals are so much better than the amateurs that it is literally impossible for us to understand the scope of their competitive level. All of the pharmaceuticals in the world aren’t going to turn me into a professional bike racer let alone a multiple Tour champion. There is a reason there are so few dominant athletes across the sporting spectrum. They all share a insatiable ferocity that equates losing with failure. It is not enough to just win, they must destroy. Jordan, Federer, Woods, Schumacher and Merckx (who tested positive let’s remember) all athletes who relished the opportunity to exhibit the superiority of their talent. The list of sporting legends is short because becoming one is so damn impossible. Doping doesn’t make champions otherwise I would have been on the cover of Wheaties boxes years ago.

Lance not only did something which has never been done in cycling but he also was the reason so many of you probably even know what the sport is right now. And rather than fading into mild obscurity only to emerge selling half decent bikes with his name emblazoned across the down tube like so many other past champions he funneled his fame and efforts into a cause that affects nearly each and every one of us at some level. Does doping change the fact that he beat cancer? Does doping change the fact that he decided he wouldn’t die? Does cancer give a shit if he doped? And before you talk about how his inspiration was fueled by deception lets just remember that World War II was ended by an lifelong alcoholic and a rampant philanderer. They did know a thing or two about great quotes though.

So while it seems that so many of you are so happy with this decision and relieved that we can finally move forward I sit here (in a Hermes scarf and Dolce slippers of course) sad. Sad for the sport and sad for a great champion. Because this embarrassing USADA charade masked in “unbiased fairness” has done nothing to clean up cycling. It has sullied it further. It’s the frothing at the mouth, pitchfork wielding mob who upon finally burning down the subject of their ire are left standing around a smoldering pile of smoke and ashes that lies on the front steps of their own house. Nothing will change because of this and if so many of you are so happy to see this outcome then I suggest you quit watching professional cycling altogether. It’s not cleaner now than it was, the sport will always have cheats and the science will always be one step ahead of the piss cups. This is a black eye for cycling, let’s just hope there’s enough ice to stop the swelling.

[I’m rereading Laurence Gonzales’ incredible collection of books about the systems related to accidents and the mental mechanisms that apply to survival. Well worth (re)reading. He finds an eerie uniformity in the way people survive seemingly impossible circumstances. Decades and sometimes centuries apart, separated by culture, geography, race, language, and tradition, the most successful survivors–those who practice what he calls “deep survival”–go through the same patterns of thought and behavior, the same transformation and spiritual discovery, in the course of keeping themselves alive. Not only that but it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are surviving being lost in the wilderness or battling cancer, whether they’re struggling through divorce or facing a business catastrophe–the strategies remain the same. LG writes: “Survival should be thought of as a journey, a vision quest of the sort that Native Americans have had as a rite of passage for thousands of years. Once you’re past the precipitating event–you’re cast away at sea or told you have cancer–you have been enrolled in one of the oldest schools in history.” And so with any life altering event you trigger survival mechanisms. And as with all things extreme and not some do, some don’t. Everyone who does has something to teach. Possibly too, those who don’t Or at least their stories. Years ago, fascinated by the history and often tragic stories that take place in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (where I’ve enjoyed so much outdoors time) it was interesting to go back and look at some of these stories from Gonzales’ standpoint. And also from my own and what I’ve learned about surviving. So whether or not you care about what Lance did or didn’t do to win, he’s a survivor. And taking a look at his story as relates to the stuff in LG’s books makes that very clear. Don’t assume that this is the last chapter. He’s more than just a badass bike racer. And if in these recent times you’ve survived being bounced out of job and have landed on your feet… If you were in a car wreck that have left scars on you… If you made it away from an abusive spouse and are now in the arms of someone who loves you… you have something to teach and share. Please do so.]

Open infrastructure and the common good

Open infrastructure and the common good:

At this very moment you’re using a magnificent outcome of this kind of “common good” approach that I’m talking about—the Internet. Yes, yes, I’ll pause for you to crack an Al Gore joke here, but let’s not miss the point. The Internet exists the way it does because no private or state actor owns it, right? The reason no private or state actor owns it is because of explicit decisions made by both its creators and funders to treat it as a common good. From TCP/IP up to higher-level protocols like HTTP and electronic mail, no company or government agency has the power to declare “from this point in time forward, things using this protocol will be different.”

Those protocols are open infrastructure. Sometimes they have nominal owners but control has been relinquished to a standards body; sometimes they’re true public domain. Businesses can build on them, governments can try to spy on them, and of course vice-versa—but they’re public roads, not private ones. Everybody can use whatever web browser they want or email client they want or MP3 player they want. People can (and do) build businesses on top of those protocols, just like businesses in the physical world are built on top of physical infrastructure that those businesses only pay for indirectly.

[Interesting thinking. But spot on in the above.]

Source: Coyote Tracks

Voting matters

Voting matters:

I’m exhausted trying to keep up with everything. I want it all to be simple. Like when I was a kid and my father made all the decisions.

And a vote for Barack Obama means the same damned thing.

[And that’s the real problem. The system is so broken that neither candidate is meaningfully different. And the selection process? Incurably broken. And yet, it still matters if everyone gets involved.]

Source: Scripting News

Physical location in connection with data

Bruce Willis in “DRM Hard”:

But at second glance, this really does bring up some interesting questions, doesn’t it? Digital copies of all our media is already becoming the norm rather than the exception, and it’s my suspicion that in the future—probably sooner than we think—the notion of physical location in connection with data will all but vanish. And, as in so many other areas, our social mores and the legal system that nominally reflects them will lag a considerable distance behind.

Source: Coyote Tracks

The Hidden Truths about Calories

The Hidden Truths about Calories:

We now have too many calories and too many of those calories are of low quality. One in three Americans is now obese. Over the last thirty years the number of calories we eat has increased, but so has the number of those calories that come from highly processed foods. In this light, we would do well to eat fewer processed foods and more raw ones. This is not a novel insight (Such foods, after all, tend to have more nutrients such as B vitamins, phytonutrients and minerals and so are good for reasons having nothing to do with counting calories). But what might be novel is the realization that in eating such foods you could lose weight while keeping the precise tally of the calories you consume exactly the same. However, this realization comes hand in hand with another, namely that how much weight you lose depends on the biology of the plants and animals you choose to eat and who you and your microbes are in ways we are only beginning to understand.

[As a whole the article is interesting. It still comes down to you figuring out what works for you, and that whole foods (anything that still looks like it did when it grew) are better for you and processing food more than a bit is not a great idea.]

Att: Folks who make presta valve extenders for deep section wheels

You know who you are…

I think we all understand the problem. Deep section wheels require longer valve heights than shallow section wheels yet there’s a variety of section depths. Since manufacturing the tubes or the tubular tires in a variety of lengths seems to pose a challenge (?), or because invariably the person who might be trying to help you with a flat has a short valve on the replacement tube they’re trying so hard to give you… valve extenders were born. Great! Except…

There’s a bunch of assumptions made about how these things work vs. how things go in the real world. Allow me to illustrate.

There I am riding along… and unbeknownst to me some viscous bit of glass or shrapnel or schist decides that inside my tire is the place to be. And let’s say this only causes a slow leak and I get home just fine. So a few hours later I glance at my bike and the tire is flat. Interesting because I put sealant in my tubular tires. But ok, it was only 30ml and at the beginning of the season. Fine. Whatever. We’ll get to that issue some other time. So now I have a couple of choices. I can try and save the tire that set me back $100+ because other than the slow leak it’s just fine, or I can run out get a new 100+ tire and spend the time getting it all glued up etc.

Oh wait. I can’t run out and do that because I’m a million UPS miles from anywhere. So I can try adding more sealant but hmm, now we’re risking my life and getting stuck with nothing but hungry bears and annoyed moose between me and civilization by riding on a less than whole tire. Maybe not such a good idea.

“I should probably change the tire.” thinks I as painful as that is with tubbies. I had prepared by bringing two extra tubular tires with me with their own extensions and even supplies to glue things in place. But lo and behold when I took a look to see whether I could manage all this far away from the comforts of my shop stand I learn (kinda the hard way) that Vittoria has their own removable stem standard which changes the needed length of the extenders and thus, though I had what I thought was all the right parts, I actually needed longer extenders *and* I’d have to use they’re not entirely inexpensive sealant since that would appear to be the only way to get sealant into their tires. Awesome. Of course, I didn’t have their system specific sealant with me even if I could get past the valve extension problem. Sooo… that was out. Sending those suckers back as I write this…

So now I’m home and like the crazy person I am, I decide that it’s worth the bit of time it would take to remove the valve and try adding some more sealant and see if that works before I spend all that money and time replacing the tire.

But gee, there’s no flat to grab the valve extender poking through my deep section wheel. And you know, sure as shooting’, that if I grab that thin round tube with a plier while I try and twist the valve out that sooner or later I’m gonna pinch the extender and I’ll be back to replacing the tire, gluing, *and* buying a new valve extender. So do me a favor and machine a couple of flats at the top that sticks out of the deep section wheel, not just the bottom that you can use while the tire is your hand *before* you glue it on? Thanks.

Now as luck would have it, when I tried to remove the valve it twisted the entire extender off the tire’s stem rather than just remove the valve. Ok. That’s not the worst thing. I removed the valve easily now that I had access to the flats and rethreaded the extender onto the valve. Again, I can’t ensure a really tight connection because there’s no way to hold the tire’s stem, but I think it’ll be ok. I add some new sealant, screw the valve in, re-inflate, and see just a bit of sealant leaking out a hole in the center of the tire. We’ll see if it holds. I’ll also find out if the item was in the tire or not… possibly not in a good way, so I’ll have to be careful. But I don’t think so. It seemed like clean cut. Still a risk, but at least I’m not a million miles from nowhere, with very spotty cell coverage, and the aforementioned bear, moose, and the not until now mentioned nutria and honey badgers (alright, I might be making up the last couple).

So can one of you geniuses figure out a way to make this work in the field? Assume I don’t have a team car waiting to pull up and hand me another wheel off the rack. And yes, I can use clinchers and tubes and probably will next time as I have for most of my riding through the years but I didn’t because I didn’t have time to also change the brake pads on my bike. So part of the solution is definitely gonna be disc brakes, which eliminates the brake pad changing for the sake of switching wheels, and then this all goes away because I would have switched out the wheels this time if I had 25 minutes to change them out, change the brake pads, a get that all reasonably tweaked up. But I think you guys can do better. Please do so.

[Since folks asked… yes, the tire continues to hold air, so chances are when you see me ride Sunday morning (and you really should) I’ll be on riding on it. Thanks for your (ahem) support.]

trivial things

trivial things:

But I do hope that as you read this, you stop, if only for a second and realize how truly precious life is.  In the past couple weeks, some of the trivial things that I thought mattered in life,  don’t seem to matter as much anymore.  A simple thing like getting out of bed is just one of many things we take for granted.  So just take a moment – close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let some of the trivial things you worry about go.  Think about the positives and how lucky you are.  Now open your eyes and love life.  It’s too short not to.
 
Johan
 
P.S. – For the cyclists out there –  a friendly reminder – have fun, but please be safe on the bike.  Wear your helmet, carry identification/wear an ID bracelet, be mindful of traffic and maintain a speed where you are always in control.

[No one leaves this world unscathed.]