Bicycle Race - Queen
There are many articles that you come across during the course of a day whether from the television news, printed newspapers or facebook posts. Some just make you shake your head and question the mentality of society. There are many behaviours, choices and customs that I personally disagree with but I freely respect the freedom and ability to make your own decisions. There are times though that those decisions can affect my right to life as I choose it. That is different.
Livestrong
Like the helmet laws. You must by law where an approved helmet when operating a motorcycle and even bicycle in some parts of Canada. And no a turban does not qualify as an approved helmet. But there was a challenge to the law on religious rights. Quite frankly I don't care if you chose not to wear a helmet save for the fact that if there is an accident and injury because of the lack of helmet, I will pay for that in the insurance claim. Now it is my problem. Even if I don't have a physical encounter with an un-helmeted rider, my insurance rates are likely to go up because of the likelihood and the payouts the company must make. We all know that the corporations always pass on additions expenses to the consumer rather than absorb any increases.
Just as absurd but not affecting me at all anymore due to my advanced age is Trevor. Trevor made a life decision to "become" a man after being born a woman, but while he took medication to shrink his breasts, he still maintained his birth reproductive system due to the cost to alter. This allowed "him" to become pregnant and consequently breastfeed. Maybe because the concept is so new or maybe because of a generational gap, I can't wrap my head around this one. In the privacy of your own home your choices are yours and yours alone, but I don't think I want this visual. Growing up in today's society is tougher and tougher with the division between the perception of normal and not is wider and nothing seems to be private anymore. Like the photo on the magazine cover of the school age child perched on a chair to suckle at his mothers breast for a quick drink, it gives new meaning to the phrase "belly up to the bar." How is this child going to deal with this infamy 10 years hence? And the infant in the photo below? I feel for him. For all the world to know, he is forever the baby who sucked on daddy's nipple. We all strive in some way to be normal to fit in. This type of parental publicity will hinder not help this quest.
from MetroNews.ca
But it is Lance Armstrong whose recent public humiliation led me to ponder these quirky news items. I don't follow the sport of cycling and barely notice when the Tour de France is occurring, but you would have to live in a cave not to know of the name Lance Armstrong. Lance was diagnosed with testicular cancer and raised more than $325 million from the sale of his trademark yellow Livestrong bracelets to fund cancer research. Throughout his cycling career, Armstrong won an unprecedented 7 Tour de France championships and an Olympic medal. After years of fighting doping allegations, Lance recently went on record to state that he was not longer going to entertain the allegations against him. The United States Anti-Doping Agency officially charged Lance with doping in June 2012 based on allegations from 4 years prior.
I suspect that within the sport of cycling, as with many other sports, drug use is commonplace in the quest to be at the top of the game where the money and adulation is. There are many scientists who are working diligently to perfect the fool proof performance enhancing scam. Coming soon to a gym near you - gene replacement therapy to enhance muscle growth and performance and stem cell therapy to repair injuries quicker. My issue isn't so much with the performance enhancement aspect - for I don't idolize athletes for specific accomplishments nor elevate them to hero status based on standing of a particular sporting event. Additionally, for the most part, athletic competition is marked by 100th of seconds between 1st and 2nd etc. If the winner is alleged to have engaged in illegal habits, what does that say about the second place finisher? If a team or country is dominating a sport...what should that be telling us?
My issue is with the USADA actions against Lance Armstrong. They stripped him of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned him for life from all competitive cycling and included forfeiting all medals, winnings and prizes that he had been awarded. This is to me another fine example of the United States trying to exert their power and might where it doesn't belong. The Anti-Doping Agency has every right to ban Armstrong and take action against any accolades he may have received performing on American soil or as part of a National team, but beyond that....they have no business. If the organizers of the Tour de France wish to levy charges against Lance, they are within their right to do so. And the USADA has no jurisdiction from banning Lance from competing in another country either - again, unless he is intentionally representing the United States.
Like him or not, Lance Armstrong should be recognized and admired for what he did not only for the sport of cycling but for cancer research. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that it was the yellow Livestrong rubber bracelets that set off the craze for similar "Cause" bands. Cheap to produce and generic, I can't even imagine how much money has been raised from the various bracelet sales. Bravo to Lance Armstrong and his foundation!
Like him or not, Lance Armstrong should be recognized and admired for what he did not only for the sport of cycling but for cancer research. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that it was the yellow Livestrong rubber bracelets that set off the craze for similar "Cause" bands. Cheap to produce and generic, I can't even imagine how much money has been raised from the various bracelet sales. Bravo to Lance Armstrong and his foundation!
--------------------- SPECIAL NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER ----------------
No offence to all my American friends for you are respected on your own merit like every other person on the planet and not as an extension of your Governments will and actions - whether or not you agree with their policies. :)
(Originally published August 27, 2012)
(Originally published August 27, 2012)
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