It's Not About the Bike
B. Lafferty
outlets have reported on various aspects of a federal investigation into
American cyclist Lance Armstrong, currently competing in what he has
said will be his last Tour de France. The seven-time champion has faced
an array of obstacles on and off the course this year. Several costly
falls have all but doomed his hopes for a victorious final Tour, while
renewed scrutiny of doping allegations threatens to tarnish his highly
polished image.
French prosecutors have been investigating Armstrong’s 2009 team,
Astana, after authorities raided a team vehicle during that year’s race
and found syringes onboard. Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
are apparently looking into the allegations. Doug Miller, a federal
prosecutor, has reportedly convened a grand jury in the Central District
of California. Greg Lamond, three-time Tour de France winner — and
ardent critic of Armstrong — has stated publicly that he has received a
subpoena. Trek Bicycle Corp., which has sponsored numerous Armstrong
teams, may also have been served, though a spokesman for the company
refused to comment on the matter.
Mr. Miller, of BALCO fame, may prove as formidable an adversary as any
competitor Armstrong is facing on the roads of France. Ironically,
Miller obtained a long prison sentence for Troy Ellerman, a defense
attorney in the BALCO case, who was convicted of leaking grand jury
testimony to reporters. Now Tim Herman, Armstrong’s attorney, has
accused Miller of damaging his client’s reputation by spilling details
of the Armstrong investigation to the New York papers, while refusing to
provide the target of the investigation with any information about the
probe. Armstrong himself has promised to cooperate with the inquiry, so
long as it does not become a “witch hunt.”
While rumors of doping have swirled around Armstrong for many years, the
accusations gathered new force recently. Another American cyclist, Floyd
Landis, abruptly admitted his involvement in doping and incriminated his
former teammate – Lance Armstrong. Landis was stripped of his own Tour
de France victory in 2006, after he tested positive for a banned
substance. Armstrong has repeatedly protested his innocence and rebuked
the allegations of his disgraced teammate.
One might consider whether Armstrong, who has yet to be indicted for any
crime, should have to answer accusations arising from a legal proceeding
he has no right to attend. The institution of the federal grand jury
serves two distinct interests. On the one hand, its subpeona power
provides prosecutors with the means to investigate crimes. Secrecy
obviously advances this interest, as the target need not be aware of the
investigation.
On the other hand, the constitutional requirement that grand juries —
not prosecutors — issue indictments also protects the citizenry from
unfounded accusations by the federal government. Of course, even
frivolous allegations may cause irreparable harm, so the secrecy of
grand jury proceedings is necessary to protect this interest as well.
Any leaks to the press eviscerate this important safeguard.
As the investigation reportedly widens to include his business
arrangement with the team, Armstrong has been left to wonder whether –
and when – his day in court will come.
– Nathan McGregor
http://jetl.wordpress.com/
Scott
How many times do you need to be reminded that you do not need to
barrage rbr w/ links to news articles? Those who are interested will
find these articles themselves, and those who aren't interested don't
need/want your faux rss feed.
DirtRoadie
> How many times do you need to be reminded that you do not need to
> barrage rbr w/ links to news articles? Those who are interested will
> find these articles themselves, and those who aren't interested don't
> need/want your faux rss feed.
To BL:
What he said. A link is MORE than sufficient.
You might as well be quoting the Bible for all the credibility it
gives you.
Copying may also be a violation of the original author's rights.
You being the one preaching honesty and integrity.
DR
GoneBeforeMyTime
If they are good articles, I appreciate the link. There are two reasons
someone might post the whole thing here.
RicodJour
If someone posts the link and the most/all of the article, the two
reasons being:
1). The person is a noob.
2). The person is LaughingAssity and he knows most people don't
bother clicking on his links.
R
derf...@gmail.com
> someone might post the whole thing here.
hey, did you know, there's this really cool site called "google"? I
just found out about it.
Anton Berlin
> What he said. A link is MORE than sufficient.
I disagree. A lot of links evaporate. If you post the text it's here
(and searchable) when needed.
bar
agreed. also stop bitching -- if you don't like Lafferty's posts,
don't open them.
GoneBeforeMyTime
Correct.
The problem with Google is the content can disappear over time. If it's
something very worthwhile to have a record of, usenet archives at least so
far are a solid repository. The archive has many such articles people posted
over decades of time. Some of those are gone now from Google, but not from
usenet archives.
The other reason, at least one I think is valid is some sites required
registration and login to read the article. If it's something of great
interest, posting it here avoids a huge amount of hassle for people. Most
people won't divulge their email to acquire a free account to an online
newspaper. Used to be you could fake your email and still can in some online
papers or comment sections.
In fact I noticed even some like Velonews started using registration
companies now if you want to comment. In the past, they had a simple guest
log in which you did not have to give your valid email to comment. With
validators this usually requires a source of validation or sometimes a link
to be sent to your valid email account because you have to click through to
validate access to the forum, news or comments section.
This is going to keep a lot of people out of the comments section who were
in the past, bold enough to speak their mind without worrying that the news
outlet knew their ID and could be forking it over to corporate spammers.
What this does is water down the comments section, probably reducing it to
fluff comments from well-wishers instead of straight talkers. Straight
talkers often have valid points, so it tends to push things toward the pie
in the sky, not the reality. I noticed the change in registration after a
rider got massively flamed in the comments section of Velonews. I don't
believe it was a trend though by bashers flocking to Velonews. I've seen
other riders get solid 99 percent positive feedback in the comments section
in some articles.
RicodJour
The point is to keep the post short - edit out the filler. Please
point out anything, anything at all, in that entire posted column that
hasn't been reported and posted online ad nauseum. Chaff is
_supposed_ to disappear over time.
Barry is just posting his jerking off material, nothing more.
R
Michael Press
"GoneBeforeMyTime" <Fa...@EuroForums.com> wrote:
> Anton Berlin wrote:
> >> What he said. A link is MORE than sufficient.
> >
> > I disagree. A lot of links evaporate. If you post the text it's here
> > (and searchable) when needed.
>
[...]
> The other reason, at least one I think is valid is some sites required
> registration and login to read the article. If it's something of great
> interest, posting it here avoids a huge amount of hassle for people. Most
> people won't divulge their email to acquire a free account to an online
> newspaper. Used to be you could fake your email and still can in some online
> papers or comment sections.
>
> In fact I noticed even some like Velonews started using registration
> companies now if you want to comment. In the past, they had a simple guest
> log in which you did not have to give your valid email to comment. With
> validators this usually requires a source of validation or sometimes a link
> to be sent to your valid email account because you have to click through to
> validate access to the forum, news or comments section.
>
> This is going to keep a lot of people out of the comments section who were
> in the past, bold enough to speak their mind without worrying that the news
> outlet knew their ID and could be forking it over to corporate spammers.
> What this does is water down the comments section, probably reducing it to
> fluff comments from well-wishers instead of straight talkers. Straight
> talkers often have valid points, so it tends to push things toward the pie
> in the sky, not the reality. I noticed the change in registration after a
> rider got massively flamed in the comments section of Velonews. I don't
> believe it was a trend though by bashers flocking to Velonews. I've seen
> other riders get solid 99 percent positive feedback in the comments section
> in some articles.
It's a funny old world, isn't it?
--
Michael Press
GoneBeforeMyTime
True, unless he has a personal reason for archiving it, I don't know why.
RicodJour
Hello...? Barry, LANCE, jerking material? Of course he's archiving
all of the drivel.
Anyone care to wager that he's got a dressing room with LANCE articles
and pictures posted all over the walls? Don't kid yourself - he puts
on lipstick and dances around the room and kisses the pictures.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3CqE_g10dg And, yes, yes, there IS
something wrong with that!
R
GoneBeforeMyTime
Laff's admitted to having one signed autographed of Lance I believe. It's
been a very long time since that confession. It's in the archive somewhere.
However, I was wondering if Laff's going to write a book?
RicodJour
> been a very long time since that confession. It's in the archive somewhere.
> However, I was wondering if Laff's going to write a book?
With what? His mad literary skillz? Let's see where his expertise
falls...
Okay, I'm stumped.
The autographed picture is unsettling, but it does help explain his
obsession.
LANCE done a fanboi wrong!
R
B. Lafferty
Geneviève Jeanson somewhere.
B. Lafferty
entertaining. Carry on.
Anton Berlin
I have Lemond's in his book when he came to the springs around 86-87.
I remember having a kind of pity for him because no one showed up at
this bike shop where he was signing and selling his book. So I bought
one and pretended like I was fascinated. The book was crap
GoneBeforeMyTime
Greg Lemond's complete book of Cycling?
I have it, date, 1987. I got it too about that time. For way back then, it's
wasn't really all that bad. I liked a few of his tips, and some of the
stories.
Anton Berlin
> >>>> And, yes, yes, there IS something wrong with that!
>
> >>>> R
>
> >>> Laff's admitted to having one signed autographed of Lance I
> >>> believe. It's been a very long time since that confession. It's in
> >>> the archive somewhere. However, I was wondering if Laff's going to
> >>> write a book?
>
> >> Nope. I have George Hincapie and Eddy Merckx autographs. And a
> >> Geneviève Jeanson somewhere.
>
> > I have Lemond's in his book when he came to the springs around 86-87.
> > I remember having a kind of pity for him because no one showed up at
> > this bike shop where he was signing and selling his book. So I bought
> > one and pretended like I was fascinated. The book was crap
>
> Greg Lemond's complete book of Cycling?
>
> I have it, date, 1987. I got it too about that time. For way back then, it's
> wasn't really all that bad. I liked a few of his tips, and some of the
> stories.
At that time he had won the Tour once and looked to never ride again
because of the hunting incident. I recall that it was strange that I
felt sorry for him but that's the feeling I had at the time. I was
only in the store to pick up some tubulars. It was a store on north
academy that always had a stock of cheap training tires.