Tour, etc.

The Tour went to Colmar today, and it was a good stage, but it didn't have the fireworks and drama I wanted... mostly because this was supposed to be a radio free day, and they had the radios on the stage after all.
In the end, the break stayed away all day, and there was no change in the top. Except for Levi, of course. Levi breaking his wrist was a huge blow for Lance. Levi was the most reliable Lt. that LA had, and his departure puts a bit more pressure on Lance when we hit the mountains.
Levi was not gonna win this race, but he was gonna play a role in the decisive stages. This hurts. Does it open things up a bit? Maybe. Will the other teams exploit it? I don't know, because there is a big time gap to guys like Evans and Sastre and Menchov... those guys are out of it. Maybe Andy Schleck can do something, he does have a strong enough team. Also, Liquigas. They have guys in striking distance... but, boy, those guys are green (and I don't mean the jersey) and experience counts for a lot in this race.
I still think it comes down to Lance and Alberto... and it looks more like Alberto. Lance, and by extension Astana as a whole, lost the Ace in the Hole, the X Factor. And it hurt Lance more than Alberto. Alberto will win this race, and I am more convinced of it with the absense of Levi.
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I will not be able to watch the decisive stage to the Ventoux. I will be taking part in the Cascade Stage Race, which is the amateur version of the Cascade Cycling Classic. I will be racing in the Cat 4's, and the race starts a week from today.
I will try to go over each of the stages, covering what I expect to happen for myself. There are two hard road races, a TT and a Crit. Three days, four races. I'll try to break it all down this next week... we'll see.
The truth is, I have low expectations for this race. Not because I think I suck, but because I want to be realistic. I think that when compared to other Cat 4's out there, I'm solid. I can finish in the top ten, I think that is doable. But I also think I can have a bad Crit and that's that. I mostly want to have fun, because I love racing and I love cycling. This is gonna be a fun race, the first time I have ever done my home town race and I want to have a good time. Bottom Line: I want to finish and I want to not crash. If I come out on Sunday all in one piece, than everything else will be gravy.
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OK... I sorta vowed to stop any blogging about political stuff, because it totally depresses me. But I have a few comments about bills winding their way through congress, as well as the so-called Stimulus. Here are my thoughts, for what it's worth:

*The President says repeatedly that the so-called Stimulus "saved or created" X amount of jobs. Here is an illustration of how Washington "saves or creates" jobs:
Let's say that you want to buy a tent that normally costs $300.00, but it's on sale for $250.00. As an added bonus, you get a mail in rebate for $50.00. Sounds like a good deal, so you buy the tent. But your spouse ain't so happy about it, so to justify it you say that you "saved or created $100.00 with the purchaces of this tent." Because you saved fifty with it being on sale, and you created fifty when you got the check for the mail-in rebate... irregardless of the fact that you spent $200.00 on the tent. That is the math of Washington D.C.
And, don't forget, this is the same way we're gonna save money with any medical insurance reform.

*I have said it before and I will say it again: The Carbon Tax bill (AKA Cap and Trade) is going to do to this recession what the Smoot-Hawley protectionist bill did to the recession of 1929: That is, turn it into a Great Depression.

*Insurance reform is great... as long as you never get sick. Look, of all the bills going through Congress these days, this is the one that worries me the most. The fact of the matter is that we are a family that is living with MS. I received an e-mail from the National MS Society, and they were all gung-ho about this bill, and were practically singing hosannas for Obama and Socialized Medicine.
Do they really thing that all the MS patients are going to get Tysabri? Really? Let me tell you what MS patients will get under the ObamaCare plan: They'll get a pat on the head and they'll get hospice. There won't be and 3rd generation treatments, and all research will grind to a halt. It will be a disaster for all those who suffer with a chronic condition, have no doubt.
You really thing this will be free? The only thing free will be the pasture that they set all the old and sick people into for them to die. This bill is a disaster.
Yes, I think it's terrible that so many people don't have insurance. But the fact of the matter is that a large part of the uninsured are illegally in this nation. Another large part of the uninsured are in no need to shell out a lot of money for health insurance, since they're young and fit and don't need it.
Lastly, the two biggest problems with medical insurance is 1) rampant and runaway costs from litigation and 2) we expect all our insurance to pay for everything all the time.
About the last thing... do we expect our auto insurance to pay for an oil change or a tune up? Who are we to think that medical insurance should do the same?
Why don't we do small step reform of medical insurance and see where that goes, why do we need to overhaul what is without a doubt the greatest health delivery system in the world... or, at the minimum, the least worst of all the alternatives. The reason why the Democrats need this massive overhaul is because they want to control the behavior of Americans. Once you have the national government in charge of health costs, everything becomes a health issue and every part of our behavior can be regulated because it affects the bottom line... not just smoking, but what you eat and when and what you do on a daily basis. Make no mistake, the allure of controling the lives of individuals is to tempting a target for many in DC.

*I am convinced that the Democrats not only like a minimum wage, they absolutely are agitating for a maximum wage. And that wage would be the much talked about $250,000. I am convinced they want to have every penny that people make above that amount. The thing is, I don't begrudge the rich. The "rich" are also known as employers and small business owners. When you soak the rich you end jobs, pure and simple.
And I hate to say it, but the policies of the president are not going to succeed. Not because I say this and I don't like him and I'm a hater and want to see him fail, it's not that... it won't succeed because everytime that Socialism is tried, it has failed. And we're trying Socialism on a massive scale.
It will fail.

*Any energy plan, may it be cap and trade or a carbon tax or whatever, that does not include Nuclear Power will fail. Nuclear is the safest, greenest, cleanest, most reliable alternative to Oil. And that we won't even consider it is criminal.
France is 60% Nuclear.
Also, why can Iran have Nuclear Power but we can't?