Archive for the ‘New Media’ Category
Ride 2 Recovery Day 3: BIG!
Posted by Ride 2 Recovery in New Media on October 7th, 2009
Nate making the grade
Peter Gabriel once sang about the Big time. He probably did not have Big Sur in mind when he wrote that song, but it sure came to mind today as we set off from Carmel on our way to San Simeon. The 92-mile ride featured more than 7000 feet of climbing. The riders were in great spirits after the great event at Carmel Mission Ranch the night before.
In the song Gabriel talks about Big Boys, Big City, Big Adventure, and Big Heaven. Well, that pretty much sums up the day today: Big Hills, Big Scenery, Big Adventure and Big Heaven-on-Earth views.
At the ready...
The groups left in the early morning calm that led way to a Big Tailwind, especially the last 20 miles. The riders were almost giddy when they pulled into San Simeon with most saying that this was the best day of the ride. The riders worked hard to ride together to save energy and the inspiring site of Nate Hunt on the R2R USO handcycle along with the constant site of the beautiful landscape kept everyone going. The local NBC station was there to greet Nate as he pulled into the hotel and they also are doing a feature on Sgt. Anthony Brooks from Ft. Eustice. Tony is perhaps the tallest R2R participant, which is saying something. The Ft. Eustice group traveled the furthest to get to California and Sgt. Brooks is their leader here.
Cambria kids welcome the warriors
Many of the general public riders who have raised money in order to participate supported the warriors as they went up and over the constant undulations of the California coast. One of those couple was former Mercury cycling team member John Peters and his wife Brenda. They are participating in the ride and have never enjoyed riding a bike so much. It was great to see them with Scott and Lisa (also former Mercury staff) chatting about the good old days.
The Biggest difference was that they had more time to prepare coming into the ride. The clinics that were set up at the LA area VAs and Camp Pendleton really seemed to pay off. This program is something that R2R hopes to expand as more funding comes in.
John and Brenda
The day was capped off with a dinner next to the ocean that was sponsored by kids from the local high school. Just as they did last year, the kids created their own placemats and posters and put them out throughout the room. They baked dessert and gave the warriors a sense of support that is only going to grow as the riders head off south tomorrow towards Pismo Beach.
ALG Condemns House for Blocking Resolution Removing Rangel as Committee Chair
From Americans for Limited Government:
October 7th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today condemned members of the House for voting to refer a resolution that would have removed Congressman Charlie Rangel as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
“Once again, the Democrat-controlled House has voted to sweep outright corruption under the rug on behalf of a fellow party member who failed to report more than $1 million in outside income as required by House rules,” Wilson said.
“The least Congress can do is not have Rangel serving as Chairman of a committee that deals with taxes while an ‘ongoing’ ethics probe into his undisclosed income is taking place,” Wilson added.
The Resolution, proposed by Congressman John Carter, called for Rangel to be removed as Ways and Means Chairman until the Ethics Committee concludes its probe.
Instead, the House voted 246 to 153 to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee. “A vote to refer the Rangel resolution to the Ethics Committee was a vote against the resolution, plain and simple,” said Wilson.
Rangel is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, but Wilson stated that the committee may be deliberately stalling, writing in a letter last month to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, “[T]he Ethics Committee — comprised of some of Mr. Rangel’s most ardent apologists — has clearly decided to turn its ‘internal investigation’ into an ‘eternal investigation.’ And justice delayed has long since become justice denied.”
According CBS’ Marcia Kramer, Rangel may have gone as far to “influence” members of the Ethics Committee to look the other way: “CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.
The report continues, “Charlie’s ‘angels’ on the committee include Congressmen Ben Chandler of Kentucky, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Peter Welch of Vermont. All have received donations from Rangel.”
“The House Ethics Committee is a joke. And despite months of inquiry into known and blatant infractions of law and House rules, no action has been taken,” Wilson said, comparing the delay to the speed that Congressman Joe Wilson had a resolution brought against him for shouting “You lie!” at Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress. On September 15th, the House voted 240-179 in a resolution against Congressman Wilson, just six days after the speech.
Wilson cited several transgressions that he said could have already been acted upon by the House at large:
1) failure to report over $1 million in outside income and $3 million in business transactions as required by the House,
2) failure to disclose at least $650,000 in assets he had previously failed to list on his House financial disclosure forms,
3) failure to disclose to the IRS or on his financial disclosure forms $75,000 in rental income for a beach villa in the Dominican Republic,
4) violation of state laws by claiming three primary residences and broke municipal laws by maintaining four rent-controlled apartments,
5) violation of House rules by using congressional letterhead to solicit donations for an education center bearing his name at City College of New York, and
6) delinquency in paying his property taxes on two New Jersey parcels and failure to report the sale of a $1.3 million brownstone.
“There was no reason why these repeated violations could not have been addressed today by the House,” said Wilson
Americans for Limited Government recently a petition website, RangelOutNow.org, to encourage Attorney General Eric Holder to immediately investigate Rangel’s “repeated violation of public disclosure laws… [and] exactly how Mr. Rangel came into at least $650,000 in undisclosed income, and to audit the extent of his income.”
Wilson also called upon Holder to “prosecute Mr. Rangel to the fullest extent of the law for any and all infractions of the law.”
Said Wilson, “This is completely upside down. The Ethics Committee is supposed to act on a non-partisan basis. But instead, it is stonewalling the conclusion of the Rangel investigation. And now the House majority has made it clear that no matter what the ethics probe produces, they will do nothing to remove Rangel from his powerful chairmanship. Nancy Pelosi is encouraging the culture of corruption in Washington to blossom.”
Attachments:
ALG President Bill Wilson Letter to Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, September 16th, 2009.
“The Man Who Knew Too Little,” by Carter Clews, August 31st, 2009.
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
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The Oprahfication of David Letterman
Posted by John Nolte in New Media on October 6th, 2009
Sure, holding it all in might have taken 15 years off of our lives but at least when men were stoic they died with their dignity intact. Watching the once mighty David Letterman confess, apologize and then re-apologize like some narcissistic nobody who suddenly finds Oprah’s attention and camera on him is just another exhibit in the trial of How Far Men Have Fallen.
Compounding his mistake from last week, we got this last night:
[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
–
Of course Letterman didn’t think about how the media would hound every female who ever worked with him as he bared his precious soul for ten minutes last week. How could he when he was thinking only of himself? Anyone who spends ten minutes confessing their sexual indiscretions on national television obviously hasn’t yet figured out that everything isn’t all about him. If he had, he would’ve issued a short statement, taken the incoming fire without comment, and quietly and privately begged forgiveness from those he hurt.
Instead, it looks as though all the pain he says he caused his wife is nothing more than the latest muse for his joke writers and certainly not more important than retaining the good opinion of those who don’t matter.
The Oprahfication of David Letterman
Posted by John Nolte in New Media on October 6th, 2009
Sure, holding it all in might have taken 15 years off of our lives but at least when men were stoic they died with their dignity intact. Watching the once mighty David Letterman confess, apologize and then re-apologize like some narcissistic nobody who suddenly finds Oprah’s attention and camera on him is just another exhibit in the trial of How Far Men Have Fallen.
Compounding his mistake from last week, we got this last night:
[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]
–
Of course Letterman didn’t think about how the media would hound every female who ever worked with him as he bared his precious soul for ten minutes last week. How could he when he was thinking only of himself? Anyone who spends ten minutes confessing their sexual indiscretions on national television obviously hasn’t yet figured out that everything isn’t all about him. If he had, he would’ve issued a short statement, taken the incoming fire without comment, and quietly and privately begged forgiveness from those he hurt.
Instead, it looks as though all the pain he says he caused his wife is nothing more than the latest muse for his joke writers and certainly not more important than retaining the good opinion of those who don’t matter.
Road 2 Recovery Day 2: Go Ahead, Make My Day
Posted by Road 2 Recovery in New Media on October 6th, 2009
Santa Cruz to Carmel:
Nice spot for dinner
What can you say about a day in the saddle that anyone in the world would love to experience? The icing on the cake was a dinner at Clint Eastwood’s Carmel Mission Ranch. The whole day was about as good a day as anyone could imagine. The weather was perfect, the ride less hilly than the day before, and the riders were stating to gel. Nate continued to impress everyone as he looks to become the first R2R participant to handcycle from SF to LA.
Make my day...
The biggest difference this year is the participation with the VA system in California. All of the major VA teams have brought new injured vets into the program. One such group is from Antelope Valley; in all, six riders made the trip to join the ride. Many of them received their bikes just two weeks ago. Although they would have like to have more time to prepare, they have had a great time. Today two of their members, David Balladarez and Gary Sandoval, made the first group. They could not have been happier. They learned about drafting and how much you should eat when you are riding.
American Legion Riders lead the way each day
At dinner tonight, they were joined by another AV rider Anthony Cabrera and Navy Seal Lt. Robert Ramirez. Lt. Ramirez was awarded a bronze star with V for Valor for his service in Iraq. He was part of a joint integration team with the US Army Special Ops and the Navy Seals that help counter the insurgents in Irag. A famous novel called the Sheriff of Ramadi chronicled this effort. Ramirez is now attending the Naval College in Monterrey.
Nate leading the way
The riders are now looking forward to the biggest day on the tour as we leave Carmel and head down to San Simeon and through the beautiful Big Sur national forest.
Lt. Ramirez with AV
Road 2 Recovery Day 1: How Do You Know?
Posted by Road 2 Recovery in New Media on October 6th, 2009
Day one of the 2nd annual Golden State Challenge with more than 150 participants headed of from the San Francisco VA towards the seaside town of Santa Cruz. The 75-mile ride took the riders thru scenic Northern California coastline including Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, and the climb of Bonnie Doon. The weather could not have been more perfect with sunny skies and a nice 15 mph tailwind. The ride is made up of groups from the Palo Alto, San Francisco, Livermoore, Fresno, Antelope Valley, West LA, and Sepulveda VA’s. Military groups come from Walter Reed, Brooke Army MC, San Diego Naval MC, Ft Irwin, Ft. Eustice, California National Guard, and several Viet Nam vets. One of the best scenes of the day was SF VA’s Eric Downing come out on his tandem with his 5 year old son.
We had the Hospital Director from the Fresno VA along for the ride for the first couple of days showing the growing importance of the program.
One of the things that people always ask is how do you know if you are really making a difference?
Last year 14 wounded heroes took part in the ride without having ridden a bike since childhood. They received their bikes the day before the ride started and had no time to prepare. Fast forward to 2009 and thanks to a grant from the USO, 78 bikes have been given to wounded heroes throughout the US. This has given the participants time to train and set up their riding position. The wounded vets have been training for months just to prepare for this event. Our first handcycle and trike cycle riders are trying to overcome the hills of California. Nate Hunt, a veteran of 2 R2R events this year has taken California as his personal challenge. 75 miles down and no one doubts that he will make it all the way.
One of those 14 riders was Elmer Urgarte. Ugarte, a native of San Diego, said he signed up for the ride as a tribute to 2 of his friends that did not make it out of Iraq. Urgarte was shot in the chest by a sniper while patrolling Karmah, Iraq, on July 23. He was rushed to the hospital in Iraq and was dead for 5 minutes. Because of the great work of the medical staff, he was eventually given a new lease on life. A chance that he did not want to waste. The surgery from Ugarte’s wound left a scar from his sternum to several inches below his naval.
He had several subsequent surgeries and had trouble breathing. Despite all this he decided to show up to San Francisco last year. He rode most of the ride but suffered greatly. Few will forget the heartfelt impromptu address he made at the Solvang dinner.
This year, Urgarte showed up to San Francisco a completely changed man. Gone was almost 50 pounds and a new found dedication of health and fitness.
“Cycling is my new addiction, and because of this ride, it will become yours,” he told the participants prior to the start of the ride. “Last year I struggled and this year I came to have a great time.
The new improved Elmer…..
This is a great example of how the program affects the participants and how they can benefit.
