It Was Always...

About the Supremes.

With Ginsburg ill, Stevens is 88 and Souter wanting to reteat to his cabin Obama will appoint at least three supremes soon.

Size #10

Iraqi journalist throws shoes at George Bush. Apparently it is an insult to throw shoes in Iraq.
I'm afraid the Shrub will not catch a break in his last days a Commander in Chief.

67 Years Ago

But just a thought...

This is the fiftieth anniversary of the peace sign, originally designed as the official sign for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in England in 1958.

PEACE

BREATHE !!!

You can hear Justice Stevens

let out a sigh of relief now that President Elect Obama has been elected.
This election was always about the Supreme Court.

President Elect Obama will have the opportunity to keep the Supreme Court somewhat in balance for the future. He will probably appoint three justices before he’s done.

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Again the New Yorker says it all in a simple image.

The King Is Back

Velo News is reporting that Lance Armstrong will race with Astana next year.

IMO BUMMER!!!!

Contadore and Liepheimer don’t need the distraction of an egomaniac trying to relive his triumphs.
The only way Armstrong wins the Tour is having the entire team working for him.

That is just not fair to either Contadore and Liepheimer .

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The Tour Final Thoughts

This is a bit out of date as I was traveling but there are some things to consider after the Tour has concluded.
I think we have to put an * asterisk after this one.
Sastre deserved the win and put the hard work into the toughest climbs but another Spaniard was missing on the steep slopes.
Alberto Contador and the entire Astana Team were wrongfully left out of the Tour. No one can say what would have happened but combine Contador with Leipheimer supporting him and you have a much different race.
So now it’s time for one more race.
The Vuelta de Espana Starting the 31st of August.
They will all be there, it will answer some important questions and set the tone for the next year.

A word about the great George Hincapie .
He missed a win on Jausiers by just 24 seconds. After pounding himself for Cavandish there was no one from Team Columbia to help him.
A pity he deserved a stage. We can only hope he won’t retire yet.

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Alpe D’Huez

If you win on Alpe D’Huez you can win the Tour de France and Sastre did just that.

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Viva Sastre Viva Espana

With the ride of his career Sastre held off Cadel Evans and won the Tour de France.

Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle have done superb jobs, more on the entire day later.

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Barak Obama in Berlin

Europe knows a winner when they see one.
Listen to the speech and you will hear a man who can bring our country together and the world closer.

The speech is 26 minutes.

Viva Espana

A decisive win by Carlos Sastre on Alp D’huez put him in yellow and set up an epic time trial on Saturday between the Spaniard and Cadel Evans that will decide who will win the Tour .

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1986 Alp D'Huez

That day in 1986 was to go down in history.

We don’t know what is going to happen on Wednesday when the Tour again faces the three massive climbs culminating in Alp D’Huez but yesterday’s race put six riders inside one minute of each other and the attacks were furious.
Tomorrow is a serious climb but a down hill finish Wednesday ends going up on the penultimate classic climb.
Enjoy the video and tune in on Wednesday to history made anew.

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Double Edged Sword

Speaking of gentrification you might want to read Double Edge to Brooklyn’s Success
in the NYTimes.
It tells how the Brooklyn Brewery, Amy’s Cookies and Bagels by Bell are hard pressed to find space to expand in Brooklyn because real estate is expensive and being eaten up by residential conversions. Because of gentrification thier businesses are doing better and they need to expand and hire more people (i.e. gentrification is "good") but at the same time the success has made it harder to find space.
It would be a drag if “Brooklyn Brewery” had to make their (our?) beer in Long Island.

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OH NO RICCO!!

The “Cobra” was caught using a new form of EPO and thrown out of the Tour. What a disgrace.
Well good riddance. The only way to take the Tour back is test, test and test some more and when some one is caught give no quarter.

What a shame that it marred a day when again the great George Hincapie led Cavendish out to take the stage.

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“Gentrification…” is good

The following is a response to a post on the Ditmas Park Blog .

With apologies to Oliver Stone and Gordon Gekko…
“Gentrification…” is good.


I know many feel new buildings should provide a percentage of the apartments as “affordable” housing but in my opinion there are too many ways to get around that and the prices are only lower in relation to the highest priced apartment in that building, not truly affordable.
So I would argue that gentrification here helps develop other less desirable neighborhoods.
I moved here five years ago from the village and the price of my apartment was astonishing compared to other parts of New York including Queens and Brooklyn. Now we are at or near market rate but still quite low compared to Manhattan or the more developed parts of Brooklyn.
What that does for those who are still looking is make them search further south or across CIA in areas that were or still are marginal. Slowly the pattern helps all the neighborhoods take a step up. Those people who bought here many years ago are rewarded for their foresight and those who own in less desirable neighborhoods will slowly see new people move in and need services like groceries and restaurants. New businesses that couldn’t exist before will find they can make a go of it.
I lived in the Village back when it was the “Village”, small Mom and Pop stores and affordable café’s, well that’s gone but the new Village moved to East Village then down to the lower East Side. Friends who were willing walk past Tompkins Sq. Park at night in 80’s are now living in a very desirable neighborhood. Same here.
BTW – As I was being evicted from my regulated garden apartment in the Village I was traumatized, I now see it as the best thing that could have happened to me. I’m a home owner in a great neighborhood.
The artists, musicians etc. who bought these Victorian houses 10-15 years ago are seeing the neighborhood come alive. Those “pioneers” deserve their reward and we “newcomers” benefit from their courage.
The article about Jim Mamary and Allan Harding is another great example. Smith Street was not a destination to say the least when they started there. And who would have thought about putting a Bistro, of all things, in a bodega on Newkirk?
IMO - Pomme de Terre will bring major social changes to that area. By example the neighbors can see the possibilities.
The question is what happens to renters. If they are unregulated their rents will go up and they will have to either buy or move. But they will help the neighborhoods they move to by making grocery stores viable as well as other businesses.
I see gentrification to be the same as Darwinism.
Brutal? Yes in some cases but an opportunity to some that are willing to take a chance on owning their own place to live.
The one thing I think the government could and should do is help with affordable loans. The subprime beast of the unfettered capitol markets is exactly the opposite of what good government should allow and we will pay for it for a long time.

Why shouldn’t ALL of NYC eventually be a “nice” place to live?

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Ricco-Ricco-Ricco

Well the sailing was good and I came back in time to see Ricco do it again.
The little “Cobra” again timed his attack just right and soloed the first hard stage of the Tour.
Tomorrow is a beast of a day. Two of the hardest climbs in the Pyrenees. Both the Col du Tourmalet and the Hautacam are Hors Categorie “beyond category”.
The leaders stayed close today but war will break out tomorrow.

Sorry, not much time to blog with work intruding and just making it home to see the 8 PM recap on Versus.

Enjoy.

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Done Workin’ – Gone Sailin’

Ricco the “Cobra” has won his first stage of the Tour. He made everyone stand up and notice at the Giro when he took three mountain stages.
Today had just two category 2’s but the final 5 kilometers were steep and broke the peloton apart and Ricco timed it just right.

The real news is Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia takes the GC Yellow Jersey and also gets the Green jersey.
Amazing for our American team to hold the Yellow this early. It could be a two edged sword because now they have to defend it and tomorrow is another middle level climb then Sunday and Monday are the steepest of the first half of the race.

The weather here as taken turn for the better so I am off to Peregrine

and Oyster Bay.

Those of you that don’t have Versus can follow the Tour at Velo News and there are links to streaming video at Cycling Fans.

Enjoy.

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Leadership

George Hincapie may be the most selfless rider in the Tour. He worked for Armstrong all 7 winning years and today worked to get a young gun, Mark Cavendish, to the front for the final sprint. George was off the back of the peloton at 10 kilometers with a flat and worked himself back up to front and drove his team to control the finish. Watching him put his head down and power the entire peloton to set the pace so high that no one could run away with the finish was inspiring.
AND…
It worked Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia won the day.

Bravo!

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Americans in Paris

America has two strong teams in the Tour de France this year.
Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle
Not all the members of each team are American but we have Americans placed very high in the GC (General Classification)

Yesterday’s time trial pointed up just how strong the teams are.

Stage 4 Time Trial Cholet, France

American Team Members in Top 20

Stage Results
2. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Columbia, at at0:18sec
3. David Millar (GBR), Garmin-Chipotle, at 0:18
8. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 0:37
9. George Hincapie (USA), Columbia, at 0:41
11. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE), Columbia 0:47
14. Danny Pate (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 1:10

Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle are evenly split in the first time trials’ top twenty. It must have been a great incentive to see Danny Pate set the early lead and hold on for his 14th place finish.

A closer look at the GC paints a picture of what Team Columbia can do in the mountains. No one knows how to put together a winning day in the mountains better than Hincapie. He wants and is due some glory for himself but his team mate Kirchen may be the key to an over all win.

Americans in today’s top twenty

8. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 0:37
9. George Hincapie (USA), Columbia, at 0:41
14. Danny Pate (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 1:10

Americans in the top twenty (GC Today)

6. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 0:37
7. George Hincapie (USA), Columbia, at 0:41

There is so much racing left that today’s stats may be meaningless but the American Teams and the Americans near the top of today’s race and the GC are IMO going to stay in contention right into the last week.

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Ray Charles - America the Beautiful

OK! OK!
For those of you that couldn't get behind Hendrix playing the anthem here is a classic, flag and all.
Happy 4th.