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Week 1717

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Writing

3 Notes

Note from February 1st, 2007

The UCI’s threat to reduce the grand tours is the single biggest threat our sport has faced in years. And if they do it, it will be the nail in the coffin of a sport that was born out of the ashes of long-distance suffering. The very thing that makes our sport so popular will be destroyed.

Phil Liggett

From the RBR newsletter, on a proposal to shorten the tours of France, Italy and Spain from three weeks to two. The theory is that easier tours will mean riders are less likely to resort to doping.

I think Phil’s engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but I agree with his point nonetheless.

Note from February 4th, 2007

While I’m on the subject of Constitutional rights, here’s another from Mark Jaquith:

Racial slurs may be covered by the First Amendment, but you’re still an asshole for using them

Note from February 4th, 2007

…the Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right to habeas.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the Senate Judiciary Committee (transcript not available online, see coverage by the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times)

The best reaction to this attitude towards habeas corpus I can imagine is Mark Jaquith’s: it wasn’t long before he went from “pedantic tool" to “the reason for the 2nd Amendment" in my mind.