Saturday, June 7, 2008

BIG BROWN: A Dirty Trainer's Dues Are Called


Rick Dutrow, drugging trainer, and Big Brown.

There's no surprise today in Big Brown's failure to perform. Although this is a spectacular horse, he's been entrusted to some of the dirtiest hands in thoroughbred racing today.

The only one to come out of this race with any luster is jockey Kent Desormeaux. Desormeaux, realizing that, as he said, he had "no horse" under him, took care of his horse.

He put the horse first--a message that trainer that's not gotten through to trainer Rick Dutrow in his entire, dirty-brown career. For the past eight years, Dutrow, himself a drug user, has been suspended or fined every single years for illegally doping his horses.

Yet someone funded him, and somehow, this dealer of dirty business made it to the Triple Crown. Dutrow not only dopes his horses, but he takes full advantage of different state's racing laws to legally dope his horses with steroids.

Look at that sentence. There should be no way to "legally dope" horses with steroids. Human athletes caught using anabolic steroid, AKA Winstrol in horse racing circles, have found themselves losing titles, records, and even facing jail. Consider Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Ben Johnson, and most recently, Olympic track star Marion Jones.

Not only does Dutrow routinely dope his horses with dangerous drugs, he decided, no doubt to protect his own horse-appled image, to suddenly pull Big Brown off the steroids. With the longest race of Big Brown's career, in immense heat, and under incredible pressure coming up, Dutrow suddenly changes his medication.

Any human who is legally prescribed a steroid is cautioned: do not stop this drug suddenly. Side effects of stopping this type of drug suddenly can be enormous.

On top of all that, Dutrow ran his horse on a hoof with a quarter-crack at thoroughbred racing's longest challenge on a dirt track: the Belmont. Any good working horse person, or even good pleasure horse person, and definitely any Quarter Horse person, can tell you: a crack in the hoof is serious. Working and running a horse on a quarter crack is risky business.

It's long since time for thoroughbred racing's hierarchy to get itself together, remember that more stallions than geldings win the races. When it comes to adequately protecting horses, horse racing's overseers need to go on a scavenger hunt for their own long-unused, dried-up equipment. Dutrow should have been permanently banned long ago.

Racing should have banned steroids long ago, in every state. And, three track veterinarians should have to review and sign off on all medications given to horses--and any changes made, before races, with written rationale.

Thoroughbred racing has not yet recovered from the needless, cruel, and agonizing death of Eight Belles, literally run to death by a macho jockey and win-maddened trainer at the Kentucky Derby..Now they can add this to the tally of wins and losses: Big Brown, running after dangerous medications were suddenly stopped cold turkey, and running under the control of a trainer who's so dirty with drugs that he shouldn't be allowed in racing barns in America.

Big Brown, stalling out in full view of the world. Big Brown, a great horse, who's been jazzed with drugs, and run on an injured hoof, still calm, willing, and ready to go to work: far more than Dutrow or those who've supported him deserve.

No matter how much the media tries to pretty these stories up, no matter how they come up with cute little "underdog" vignettes about trainer Dutrow making a noble comeback, they can't bury absolute truth. Dutrow is back-of-the-track trash allowed to elevate himself due to greed, lust for publicity, and poorly-monitored racing regulations created and administered by a herd of aging geldings.

As for the race itself, Da' Tara won. Racing lost.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Britain: Fly-By To Help Celebrate World War I Veteran's Birthday

Was that a typo, the "World War I veteran" bit? Not at all: Henry Allingham 's 112th birthday celebreation will include a Royal Air Force (RAF) fly-by and parachute jump.

Britain's oldest man, thought to be one of three surviving UK World War I veterans, is celebrating reaching his 112th birthday.


Henry Allingham, who was born in London on 6 June 1896, is also the last surviving original member of the Royal Air Force - formed 90 years ago.


Mr Allingham, from Ovingdean, near Brighton, will celebrate at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Lincolnshire.


The event will include a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Examining the Media: Has the Press Deliberately KO'd Hillary? (Opinion)

Sen. Hillary Clinton's camp is emphatically denying an AP story announcing her resignation from her campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for president.


Regardless of what the Clinton campaign says, AP has announced the anointing of Barack Obama as well as announced that Clinton is dropping out of the race. Isn't it Clinton's job to announce what she's doing?


And isn't it the Democratic Party's job to officially nominate Sen. Barack Obama? Apparently not.


Here's what the Clinton campaign has to say, via Fox News:


"“The AP story is incorrect. Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening,” the campaign said in a statement.


Clinton aides told FOX News that the only concession she will make Tuesday night is that Obama “has a slight lead in the delegate count.”


They said Clinton plans to claim she has won the popular vote, and is working up a victory-type speech for her address in New York City.


“She is in this race until we have a nominee. We do not expect there to be one tonight,” Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said."


Still, media are following the AP's lead and accepting the AP announcement as though it came from Clinton herself. Apparently, there is no longer any reason to have a convention, because AP has just announced the nominee.


The intrusion of the media as propagandists and active PR agents for Sen. Barack Obama has been appalling, and something that I hope serious journalists take a long and hard look at. For weeks, indeed months, even before people voted, we've been told, by the media, that Clinton had already lost.


In the frantic rush to ordain Obama, the media seems to have forgotten that its job is to report factually, and not be part of the political system, but an objective  lenses on the process. These days, I think that a definition of the term "objective" needs to be given to most media.

There's a place for opinion: in the editorial section of a newspaper, or in the commentary segments of TV shows. There's an endless stream of newly-appointed pundits who drone on for hours about the slightest thing.


Their shows should have a message on the screen at the start and all commercial breaks: editorial and commentary only; this is not breaking news. Too harsh? I think not.


The media has told Hillary to quit many times--in a way they wouldn't have done with a man. They've announced her defeat so often that were this a prize fight, there'd be more announced knock-outs than rounds.


They've consistently used the least attractive photos of Clinton they could find, while finding attractive photos of Obama. One day, a supposedly objective news story gushed on about the "glamorous" Mrs. Obama, when the supposed subject was Obama policy as presented in speeches.


Watching today as the sheep stampede to follow AP's lead, I'm left wondering: when did the media get the idea that reporting news isn't good enough, and that making news is their job? 

Today, media outlets are rushing to carol the good news: AP has announced Clinton's quitting, tonight, and Obama is the nominee.


No, he's not the nominee. Even if Clinton concedes tonight, he's only the presumptive nominee.


Unless, of course, the media has now decided to take over democratic processes. In which case, everyone can save a lot of money by calling off the Democratic convention.


Personally, although Clinton hasn't been my candidate, I hope she stays in it as long as she chooses, not the media. I'd like to see her take her issues to the convention. I'd like to see Clinton supporters have the chance for some good, old-fashioned floor fights.


Above all else, I hope she doesn't accept the AP announcement as her own.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Quebec Will Repatriate 700 Acres to Kahnawà:ke Reserve (Breaking News)

Quebec has agreed to repatriate 700 acres to the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawà:ke. The land agreement is a small portion of  long-term negotiations about the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis grievance.

“This has huge significance,” said

Grand Chief Michael Ahríhrhon Delisle, Jr. “While Canada and Kahnawà:ke have been in formal Seigneury negotiations since 2005 Quebec has, until now, been reluctant to participate. This has now changed.”

“We’ve been discussing the return of lands and enlarging Kahnawà:ke’s footprint for many years,” he added.

“We’re finally sitting down with both levels of government to get down
to the business of settling our grievances and addressing the issue of
return of land.”


Quebec Will Repatriate 700 Acres to Kahnawà:ke Reserve (Breaking News) Quebec Will Repatriate 700 Acres to Kahnawà:ke Reserve (Breaking News) Quebec Will Repatriate 700 Acres to Kahnawà:ke Reserve (Breaking News) Quebec Will Repatriate 700 Acres to Kahnawà:ke Reserve (Breaking News)

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Sunday, June 1, 2008

Rowing The World's Oceans: UK Team To Try Unassisted NY to Europe Atlantic Crossing




And the owl and the pussycat set to sea--that aside, four men from the United Kingdom are setting out to join others in challenging the Atlantic Ocean--by rowboat. Amazingly, there's an entire organization dedicated to Ocean Rowing: the Ocean Rowing Society.

Among the list of ocean rowers: Roz Savage of Great Britain, who's aiming to be the first woman to row across the Pacific Ocean solo, in three stages, from the USA to Australia. The UK team that was scheduled to shove off from the New York's Hudson River today include Chris Jenkins, Tim Garratt, Wayne Davey and Joby Newton.

The UK team is trying for the first "unassisted row" record, meaning they'll have no food, drinks, or other human contact until they reach land at Scilly. You can track their progress here.

Man drops $11,200 from plane near Jakarta

Now this is what you call "throwing money around."



AN INDONESIAN businessman sparked a scramble for cash when he dropped 100 million rupiah ($11,200) in banknotes from an aircraft today to promote a book he has written.


A 13-year-old girl lost consciousness running after the notes and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital, the Detikcom online news service said.

Tung Desem Waringin, who is promoting his second business motivation book, got the aircraft to fly four times over a soccer stadium in Serang city, some 60km west of Jakarta.



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