after what seemed an eternity of mixed martial arts "combat" and beef jerky advertising, smiling bob and his army of minions--each sporting full on wood--have returned (along with the Tour of California).

it's great that versus is airing the coverage every night, but why can't they show it before 11PM?  how the hell can an old f'r like me be expected to stay up that late?  it's not as if the chicks from rock racing will be serving jello shooters to cipo off their nakit bodies while draped across michael ball's bentley.  what gives, versus?  do you only have one editor capable of putting an hour of coverage together between stage finish and airtime?

speaking of cipo, i wonder if he can hang past yesterday's performance.  he rode respectably, but he doesn't look right.... he's lost a good amount of muscle and it makes one wonder if he starved himself to drop weight. 

Racing Union Leadership Threatens MABRA

By Doug Miesterstuck
Consolidated Cycling Press Writer
 
FAIRFAX, Virginia (CCP) -- MABRA ordered its member clubs to be on high alert and USACycling put it's commissaires on guard to protect regional cycling institutions after racing union's leadership vowed Thursday to retaliate anywhere in the world for the assassination of one of its top commanders.

"Imperialist cycling plutocrats, who suckle at the teat of corporate sponsorship, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: let this war be open," Pavel Tarasov told a throng of fist-waving mourners who attended the funeral of Hector Ortiz Chuega, a cuban ex-patriot who served as director of internal security operations for the vast cycling and social movement.

Thousands of black-clad mourners raised their fists in the air, chanting, "At your orders, comrade" in response to Tarasov, who appeared via video. He has been in hiding since the end of the 2007 cyclocross season concluded.

Tarasov's fiery speech signaled the revolutionary cycling group was ending a yearslong policy of battling MABRA only on MABRA's territory, raising the specter of activities in other cycling districts.

Racing union and its backers blamed MABRA for Chuega's death in a multiple drive-by car accident Tuesday in Charleston, West Virginia, near a scenic cycling retreat.  MABRA denied involvement.

Tarasov accused MABRA of taking the fight outside the "natural battlefield" of MABRA and the mid-Atlantic region. "You have crossed the borders," he said.

Unlike more moderate racing union leaders who regularly indulge in exaggerated rhetoric, Tarasov is known for acting on his threats. In 2006, he vowed to take action to free racing union prisoners in MABRA, and in July that year, racing union guerrillas staged a daring mid-criterium raid in silver spring that snatched two MABRA administrators as bargaining chips.

The incident triggered a period of prolonged hostilities between MABRA and racing union that devastated the mid-Atlantic, with guerrillas using asymetic tactics and generating vast amounts of propoganda. It ended with the MABRA administrators still captive and no deal for a prisoner swap has yet been reached.

Fearing revenge attacks after Chuega's assassination, MABRA ordered its officials and member clubs onto high alert Thursday and recommended cycling institutions worldwide do the same.

Thursday's events in Charlestown, WV raised fears that internal turmoil within mid-atlantic cycling could worsen. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of racing union's young pioneers filled a downtown washington square to mark the anniversary of the revolution in cycling and the social order.

Fearing clashes, authorities deployed thousands of troops. The mass gathering ended with a few fights involving fists, sticks, and CO2 cartridges hurled between MABRA supporters and opponents that left at least four injured.

Officially, the MABRA board denied involvement, but speaking privately, senior MABRA leadership were more vague, refusing to confirm or deny involvement. MABRA has reacted with similar ambiguity after past assassinations widely believed to be the work of its spy agency, the PNK. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Some experts suggested that racing union could count on Venezuela or Cuba for help on any attacks against MABRA targets. "The only aspect that is uncertain about racing union's retaliation is its timing and location. Its happening and lethality are almost certain," said Giuseppe Verti, a cycling historian and researcher at the Major Taylor library annex of the Lehigh Valey Velodrome.

The funeral hall in the Oakton neighborhood of northern Virginia was packed with mourners in front of Chuega's coffin, draped in a racing union flag. Two giant posters of the bearded militant leader in a cap and military fatigues were hung behind the coffin, with a banner reading, "The Great Commander Martyr - Hector Ortiz CHuega." Some mourners cried as a band played racing union's anthem. Outside in the rain and cold, tens of thousands massed.

Tarasov warned MABRA that its alleged killing of Chuega was a "very big folly" which will be avenged.

"Chuega's blood will lead to the elimination of MABRA. These words are not an emotional reaction," he said.

"He's not the first martyr, nor will he be the last on this path," Tarasov said, reading a statement from the directorate of operations. "There will be hundreds and millions more" like him.

The coffin was then carried through the crowds of mourners, who marched with it to a nearby cemetery, praying aloud, as some chanted "Death to MABRA" and "Death to automobiles."

i don't have a clue where bryan finds these things.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=48097#

i'm torn.  i guess it's less objectionable to those mercedes benz bikes that comes with their s.u.v, but i'd feel obligated to chain smoke and drink weird cocktails when i was riding it.  flat black _is_ always in style though.  styles change, but style doesn't.

The Racing Union is pleased to announce the launch of the Eugene V. Debs Junior Racing Team, the most promising group of young riders to arrive in the MABRA racing community in many, many years. Watch this space for more details, photos, and information on how you can will contribute!

good morning, people of the union. on this chilly morning full of promises of rain, snow and ice, i give you a valedictorian, full of the jesus. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgHlrLlins

After slapping Lord Cardigan 'cross the face with a pickled carp culled from some potshards found amongst the rubble of a village at the base of the Fedyukhin Heights, VonDoctorstein giggled, spurred his stallion, and rode westward, ne'r to be seen again.

until now... more than 150 years later, a man steps from the shadows and claims to be the man himself. but how could it be?

man, this should have been my proposal at the mabra annual meeting.  all cyclists in a given field are required to shake hands before an event if a handshake is offered.

and as roy indicated to me earlier today, you really must see the finish to know that justice was served

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4402

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2008/wijk/games/short01.htm

      'There is a God. And he is not Bulgarian!'. 

priceless

-sg

yesterday afternoon, i got an email from a teammate about his use, in the gym, of the smith machine and how much weight he was lifting and how he was lifting it.  helplessly, as though i were in some trance, like a zombie, i abandoned my office responsibilities, and watched from a distance, a virtual out of body experience, as my mindless-body headed to the basement gym where i basically doubled my weights and did many, many, many sets of squats with waaayyyy too much weight.  And then I went home and passed out in bed in my clothes, where I slept until comrade randers-pehrson called and woke me this morning.  i believe i have some sort of pathology related to competitiveness.  i am leaving washington dc for the hinterlands of tibet and nepal to spend some time with the monks and cleanse myself of this cursed aggressiveness and seek peace.  and drink lots of yak milk.  i've heard that's good for calming the inner self.

 

aloha,

scott

an excellent example of reframing an issue and finding common ground. 

again, they come to us in terms of ideas.  we've been right, all along, and it's just dawning on them.  don't flip off the pickup trucks that cut you off.  speak to them as brothers.  bring them to the realization that we are all in this together.  don't mention that part about us having been right all along.  let them think they are living a beer ad.  i frankly don't care why they do it, but they must do it.  consider this yet another tool in your proselytizing toolbox.  spread the word.  bring the change.

when it comes to communciating the will of the people, i don't usually have much tolerance for dissent.  the will of the people is what it is.  and it's not what it's not.  that much is totally clear.  and it's also clear you can't have everyone running around, willy-nilly, expressing all sorts of opinions.  we've already accepted the fact that the people's will is what it is.  so i don't usually cotton to the idea of all sorts of different people telling me what the people's movement should be doing.  that said, there are some people who have earned, through thought and action, the right to speak out.  comrade heinz is one such person.  his recent work is very impressive.  certain lurkers on this blog who dislike authors such as chompsky may favor heinz as he tends to discuss things in direct economic terms.  a nice interview can be found here:

http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/15236

as i sat quietly in the administrative offices of the ministry of outreach and public affairs, taking in equal portions of the people's breakfast and the briefing on social unrest and class struggle in various locales around the globe, i was jolted abruptly by the following news:

http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080109/tbs-autoshow-india-tatamotors-02c71ef.html

Tata Motors, which will be unveiling its new "People's Car" priced at about $2,500 on Thursday, will sell the new generation Indica, the latest version of its best-selling hatchback, from the latter part of 2008, Chairman Ratan Tata said at an auto show.

hell no.  let me tell you something.  when you've been struggling and striving for years to bring about the glorious revolution in cycling and the social order, you don't roll over everytime the yugo manufacturer of the moment announces some new populist conveyance.  this is the people's portal and until further notice, you'll find out what the people think here.  to divine the will of the people from some hack who aspires to be the next henry ford or andrew carnegie: laughable. 

normal operations must now resume.  support the words of your brothers and sisters.  support the wheels of your brothers and sisters.  support the cause of your brothers and sisters.

-posted by scott