SAFE PASSING 101

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Letter to John Fahey of WADA !

An Australian that wants " Doping in Sport " , eliminated but is at the end of his term in the office at WADA !

Leaving a legacy would do good for Countless Sporting Federations , where " Doping " is the " Elephant in the Room "! WADA can do so much more than their present " Terms of Reference " allow , IF , those at the pointy end decide to put their head above the parapet !

My letter to John Howman , is to remind him of what i sought LAST YEAR , long before Stuey O'Grady decided to Perjure himself with those of the " Vance Report " and continue to mislead his Orica Team Colleagues about his past transgressions , now called into doubt by the French Senate reporting " Suspicious Findings "! A saving grace for him , is that he " Fessed Up " before this report was released . In the way he handled this "Confession " , he has cast Doubt & Suspicion on EVERY OTHER AUSTRALIAN ATHLETE ! Does ANY other Athlete deserve to be tarred with the same brush ? I can think of a few working for Orica who lost their way during their Cycling career , but my suspicions are pointless . What is important , is that a means MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE , so that any with " transgressions " can make their peace and quietly walk away , to grieve in private !

Well done Stuey , what is your next party trick ? AOC has rushed to distance itself from ALL your previous input ! Who is next ?

My letter to President of WADA , John Fahey :

Sir ,

Your minions seem to think that what i have to say , is an irrevelence !

That i receive no reply to any correspondence that i send you , is a FACT !

Last year i took the time to create :

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/office-of-the-governor-general-of-australia-create-the-means-for-a-sports-amnesty-in-australia#invite

As you will see , should YOU , or any of your staff visit the link , it has not had any result ! Had Stuey O'Grady used this route , had my idea been implemented , he would not be currently " Persona Non Grata with the AOC " and the great " Unwashed Aussie Public "?

EACH and every person addressing " Truth and Reconciliation Issues " , ducks action by declaring that WADA Code , currently does not allow !

Well John , since you are retiring later this year , don't you think it is time to leave a LEGACY ?

By creating the Environment for a " Truth and Reconciliation Commission " , you will save countless " CLOSET SPORTING FRAUDS " , from being lampooned in the manner that Stuey O'Grady now is experiencing .

WHAT HAVE YOU TO LOSE ?

Sincerely

Skippy Mc Carthy

Wonder if the Tweet link is the right entry point ?

Copied the following from :

http://gerard.cc/2013/07/04/the-truth-about-reconciliation/#comments

  •  "  Many of the bureaucrats ditched the concept after first seeming to embrace it “because the WADA code doesn’t allow for it”. But the WADA code was not sent to us from Mars with explicit instructions never to change it. Humans from planet Earth wrote the code, and if enough people make good arguments to change it, it can be. So if the bureaucrats think T&R is the way to go, they should not complain the WADA code doesn’t allow it; they should work to change the code. And personally, I think such a request would be seriously considered by WADA if it didn’t come as part of a salvo of sniping press releases and asinine public statements.
  • Can we allow people to “get away with it”? I wrote about that in my previous blog post, and we have to accept that there is no perfect solution. The outcome will feel insufficient and unfair regardless. But if it is possible to use the concept of Truth and Reconciliation in a country that has suffered murder, torture, bomb attacks and other unspeakable crimes, then surely it should be possible with something as insignificant as illegal drug use in sport. Furthermore T&R needn’t mean there is zero punishment for transgressions.
  • Ex-dopers can’t call for Truth and Reconciliation. It’s quite alright for ex-dopers to call for truth, but they should leave to others the call for reconciliation. Problem is, there is no real “other side” in this conflict. Actually there is, made up of clean riders, fans who were fooled, etc, but this is a rag-tag group that is not easily identifiable Even worse, until the moment a T&R process starts, every rider will continue to claim they were part of that small minority in the “clean rider” camp. Tough to start Truth and Reconciliation with such a fundamental lie.
  • Cycling doesn’t have a bishop Tutu. Whatever you may think of the man, he could speak to large parts of both sides with authority. Cycling doesn’t have a person like that – there is so much conflict on so many levels and so many topics. Who has the authority or even credibility with a large portion of the cycling world?
  • What is the purpose of a T&R process? Is is that (ex-)dopers no longer have to fear getting found out? Is it to avoid embarrassing stories appearing one by one for the next decade? Those are all pretty self-serving goals. But what is the goal for cycling, what will the sport get out of the process? You hear very little about that.
As a result, it is entirely possible cycling (and maybe other sports) will have a process through which people will confess their doping sins without penalty. The truth part is easy, it can certainly be “bought” with the prospect of never having to worry about getting caught up in your past anymore, and in essence future job and financial security. Just like any bank robber would confess to the crime if he could keep the loot and avoid jail.
But the question is, how does this help the sport? Will it make the environment any healthier for the next generation? Will it give riders who are doping as we speak an incentive to stop? Will it encourage their clean teammates or pelotonmates a reason to speak out about them?
As long as it is unclear how Truth and Reconciliation will help the sport – aside from giving peace of mind to the ex-dopers and avoiding future embarrassing media stories because all the sewage comes out at once – there isn’t any real point.
And as long as we don’t really know what reconciliation entails, and with whom, it’s an affront to South Africans to even use the expression.

Friday, July 12, 2013

YOU'RE IN MY WAY !


Driving straight at Cyclists as she was overtaking a farm tractor , involved dangerous driving coupled with an insulting gesture , indicating that she had the right to be on the wrong side of the narrow country road ! Too often Cyclists face this dilemna presented by thoughtless , self centred , childish & petulent drivers !

Was that gesture an indication that this driver thought that because she had been slowed by a tractor , that Cyclists should not be on the otherside of the road , because they were an inconvenience in the rush to get to the destination ? What was her hurry anyway , there was no traffic following us , so that manoevre , scattering 3 Cyclists , was totally unnecessary ! At best she would have lost several seconds , however , she may have misjudged and caused injury or even death . Was she in such a rush that she was prepared to risk a Jail Term ?

This incident today , i was told by the two youths that i was Cycling with , is becoming commonplace , an indication of an acceptance by them that they are unable to go training and return home to their studies without encountering several alarming incidents . As those reading my blogs will have noted , i have no time for accepting this type of behaviour , and will where possible , follow a perpetrator to their destination . I usually ask them if they remember meeting me before , then explain why it was necessary to persue them . It will come as no surprise to most of you that the driver will say that they did not notice you !

When the driver makes a gesture or shouts at you , they deserve all that comes their way . One wonders what they do when they encounter a truck ? Doubt they would attempt to bully another vehicle when they risk damaging their paintwork ?

Cities around the world are attempting to encourage more of their citizens to take to the bike for a greater percentage of their journeys . Many of these Cities have published plans to grow the percentages in the coming years and set aside considerable funds to implement the infrastructure to enable Cyclists to reach their destination in SAFETY !

Boris Johnson , Mayor of LONDON , for many years has enthused about his Cycling related plans , has even signed up Barclays Bank to Sponsor Bike Hire Facilities on a long term Contract . Over recent years he has caused to be created several " Super Cycling Highways " , with more in the process of being added to the London Metro network . Regretably , these plans whilst wonderful on paper , as a matter of actuality have proved to be the death of several Cyclists !

" Cyclists in the City " , a blog that i follow has today , reported that a third cyclist death has occured on the much vaunted " SuperHighway 2 "! Pertinent details below :

  "  It is not a cycling campaign group but London's own newspaper saying this: "Cycle Superhighway 2 follows the A11 trunk road, a busy multi-lane road but despite being one of the Mayor's flagship commuter cycle routes, the section of Superhighway 2 from Aldgate to Bow roundabout has no dedicated space for cycling. Instead, cyclists are expected to jockey for position among lorries, cars, motorbikes, buses and taxis, with only blue paint and a few bike symbols to protect them."

Something has definitely changed. Two years ago when people first took to their pedals to protest at the woefully inadequate plans for Blackfriars Bridge (two years on, they're unchanged by the way), we were regarded by the media and London's politicians as something of a novelty . Now, calls for safe space for cycling are starting to go mainstream. But they're only going to stay mainstream if you join in and show you want to push for a solution."

Seems that those involved in Boris Johnson's Team are unwilling to listen to the users of these facilities ?   

"NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE DEATH TRAP "!