Steel

Bill, truth never trumps truthiness. How we THINK things are is far more accurate than how they actually are. Geez man, get with it. Bill took a best guess from the information he had available. I took a best guess from the information I had available, hence the preceeding words "I think". On the other hand if you THINK that even though there are thousands of these case in the U.S. alone that Bill's assessment based on 4 specials that he saw on T.V. or whereever he saw them are the accurate "truth", then that says something about your reasoning and mathematical capabilities. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

That is an interesting theory and can't say I see and direct relation from which you are basing it. I am not sure what you mean by a martyr state, but it certainly sounds illogical to think that by easing pressure off a ruthless dictator, he would be more likely to be overthrown. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I doubt this is a, "let's see what happens" ploy or that he is dead already. ----------------------------------------------- I hope you are right as I would hate to see more Cubans die trying to overthrow the government unsuccessfully. Also I am starting to think that this is less likely. ============================= He probably is seriously ill, however, and chose to hand over power to his brother before he became incapacitated. Just this transfer of power alone has created uprising and talks of overthrowing the current regime, can you imagine the momentum such a movement would have if he died while still in office? F. Castro would want to avoid that at all costs. -------------------------------------------------------- This line of reasoning I disagree with. Ever since Fidel and his thugs overthrew the government, things have continued to get worse in Cuba and Castro knows or knew this. This is why he blocked out all comunication from the ordinary Cubans citizens to the free world, to keep them from see how much better life is outside the hell hole he created. Still even with the fall of the Soviet Union and all of the Socialist Republics he has maintained the status quo, knowing that he is keeping the country down. I think he has done so out of ego because he cares only about himself, and has agreed to the transfer of power because at the very least he is totally incapacitated and may even have been co-erced into signing a paper which he couldn't even read. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I wouldn't put it that way. I would say stating the facts as they are. Nationality I would put U.S.A. after all I am a U.S. citizen and NOT a citizen of anywhere else. If I ask somebody living in the U.S., who is not an obvious a full blooded Cherokee, where they are from and get an answer like American. I might leave it at that, but I still will walk away thinking that this person is an idiot who does not know his heritage. When you really break it down, it typically starts to get complicated. I think my background is probably one of the more simple ones, as you can easily go back 8-10 generations down my family tree and still everybody was living in or was less than 2 generations from Spain. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I thought you were 100% european? 100% European descent (SPAIN). If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

But you are Cuban, born in the US? Makes perfect sense to me... Actually I was born in Spain. I know it may be difficult to understand but, you may live in Canada and descend from Holland (Europe), and have been born anywhere. And if your family happened to spend 2 Generations in South Africa before ending up in Canada, you might identify with a South African culture, but completely descend from Holland (Europe). , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Quote***reply] I am not the one calling sombody calling all europeans and canadians stupid while working for a canadian company that does business with cuba... --------------------------------------------------- Didn't read the rest of your post as I saw a misstatement in the first sentence. I did NOT say all Europeans and Canadians were assholes. I was actually born and descend 100% from Europe. What I did make reference to was the Europeans or Canadians that helped support the regime I am so vehmently against, and I called them assholes not stupid. As for your statement of Nortel, I have receieved calls and worked issues all over the world but never from Cuba. If Nortel did business with Cuba then I would dissapprove but I am more helpful to Cuba by continuing happily at my job getting wealthier. This way I can save up money and open up a business from which I can possibly employ Cubans who have escaped from that nightmare that Castro has created and assholes have helped maintain. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Funny, you work for a canadian company that does business with Cuba. if your actual bravado was a quarter of the size of your internet babbeling bravado, you would have the balls to quit your job..... Guess you don't really feel that strongly about it...do you now.... So then I guess you approve of everything your company does, right. Or for that matter you approve of everything you country does. Or else you might just jump out in the ocean and surround yourself by people who do everything you do. Sounds to me you you really don't believe the jibberish you post or you would be to stupid to type. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Yeah there are a lot of people who base their opinions on mis-information. But if you want to get closer to the truth. Look to see what Cubans that have escaped the tyranny are saying. Then think of how many people have died at sea or been killed just off the Cuban shore by the current regime for trying to escape the horror. I know many people (typically lefties) want to find shades of gray and confusion in everything but here there simply isn't. Fidel Castro = the worst possible thing that ever happened to Cuba, period, end of story. A freind of mine with some fucked up (lefty) ideas wanted me to watch 'Motorcycle Diaries', a sick movie glorifying that worthless vermin Ernesto Guevara (Che). I asked him plain and simple would you ask a person who parents were concentration camp survivors to watch a movie glorifying Hitler in his younger years? Well that to me is equivalent. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

no I am not taking steroids, I am not a transexual and I am not an Israeli Jew. However, I do defend what I believe doesn't deserve to be witch-hunted. Oh btw. I am Cuban-American. Editted to add: I do not compete in bodybuilding, specifically because I know that a non-user could never compete with competitive users. But just as well, I know many who use and still can't compete even with me. Using or not is just another one of many factors in the outcome. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

There is a huge list of banned substances in international sport, some of them are completely legal, some are prescription only, some are completely illegal. I'm strongly against doping in competitive sport but have no opinion on whether other people should be allowed to use steroids etc for their own purposes. I like the prospect of being able to compete in a drug free level playing ground. However, I don't see enforcing that as possible. Its kind of like trying to stop computer viruses with Macaffe or some other program. Some hacker will always want to and therefore find a way to write another harmful virus. The only difference here is that the playing field can actually be leveled by letting people choose whether or not they want to use. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

You know that is an interesting senario, and although its happened, I don't think its happened often enough that lawmakers find it worth making a law about. I think far more often than not, those marriages fall apart. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

You are confusing seperate issues. When we say performance enhancing drugs are 'illegal' what we generally mean is that they have been banned by the sport's governing body, that they are against the rules. That has nothing to do with actual government type illegality. That makes sense coming from a Brit. But here in the U.S., in 1987, steroids were made illegal across the board in all cases of performance/appearance enhancement. I.E. except for cases of supplementing testoserone levels to bring them to a normal level for the person's age (no more than about 100 milgrams for an adult male with a low testoserone level). To make matters worse in the U.S. in 1990 they criminalized steroids. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

This idea is not new. The bodybuilding circuit has events open to all and other events that are only open to "natural" bodybuilders. We would have a problem doing that at higher-level sports. Two pro leagues in baseball sounds ludicrous. ------------------------------------------------- It is true that they have "natural" competitions. But its also true that the people winning typically are natural just long enough to pass the test. Stan Mcquay http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson46.htm is somebody competes in both leagues. Is he really natural? Nobody really knows because he is on the borderline of what can be achieved naturally and what can't. My guess is he is not, but I can't say for certain as I could for Ronnie Coleman that he does. ================================= So sadly, it comes upon the kids. Kids in high school use them. This needs to be stopped, ------------------------------------------------ Realistically you can't put a complete stop to it, but I agree, we need to fight to minize the number of occurences, kind of like we need to try to minimize the number of teens using ectsasy. ================================= Once a kid turns 18 or is out of high school, maybe we should have them available so long as there is proper education. I don't know. ----------------------------------------------------- No, 18 is still too young. 23 maybe even 25 is more like it. Also without maximizing the natural potential first, its kind of a stupid thing to do. For that reason I think a sports doctor's evaluation should first be required. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

And, evidently, no-one else does. What if Israel deliberately attacked American military units? Just wondering. Mike. A terrorist group would never be allowed to round up thousands of rockets on our soil, even if they were intended to strike somebody else. That is the difference between Lebanon and the U.S. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Playing the person rather than the argument again? Had the IRA deliberately killed 19 civilians, would the RAF have bombed Belfast, Londonderry, Dublin etc...? The IRA did... & The RAF didn't. The Birmingham & Guildford Pub Bombings spring most immediately to mind. That would be because Britain chose to focus on fighting the "freedom-fighters", rather than lashing out blindly & incompetently at the general population who may (or may not) be sympathetic. PIRA has also kidnapped, tortured & murdered British soldiers. We didn't bomb Belfast, Londonderry & Dublin over that either. What is surprising about the current poll is that so far no-one has voted that Israel is right, yet so far 4 folk have voted that "Israel is a terrorist state"! I honestly expected only ONE such vote on this board. Mike. no one voted Israel is right because that was not an option. Instead you tried to sway your pole by saying Israel can do not wrong. What is you said instead that Lebanon is a terrorist state as one option and the other that Lebanon can do no wrong? What do you think the results would be. Still although you managed to spin the question I asked you still haven't answered the simple question. If 2K+ rockets were fired from Dublin into the U.K., what do you think the U.K. response would be? , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

How about, no I always knew Israel would respond appropiately. Meanwhile during your happy Israel bashing, here is a question. Just think about it you don't have to admit that you see your error. Somebody previously made a joke to the effect of if the U.K. responded like Israel they would bomb Dublin back to the stone age when the IRA attacked them. Sounds poetic and the ignorant fool may fall for this but not one who really thinks it through. Imagine that the IRA got 13,000 Katusha Rockets and in the past three weeks from Dublin they had fired 2000+ rockets into Liverpool, London or any British city. Do you honestly think the U.K. would think twice before demolishing Dublin? I don't and for that same reason, I don't blame Israel in the slightest. Your poll did not allow for that choice. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

And the adverse consequences of doping have bitten athletes in the arse for just as long. Take for instance the great English cyclist Tom Simpson who's recipe for success on the notoriously demanding Mont Ventoux one hot july day in 1967 was the severely dehydrating cocktail of amphetamines and brandy. ----------------------------------------------- So this is cheating? ok lets ask some questions on the matter. Is having a good diet cheating? Is training twice as long as your competitor cheating? What if you had to take vivarins to do it? Would it be cheating to stay up the night before a test on caffine pills? How about the previous week? What about somebody who could afford to have a trainer? Does he have an unfair advantage above the rest? To be quite clear, I don't believe performance/appearance enhancing drugs are cheating. I believe they are a personal decision that people should make with the advice of their physician. Also, I specify performance/appearance because the fact is that most people using these drugs are not competing but are doing so to be happier with there appearance. Which leads to another group of questions. Should transgendered individuals be prevented from taking hormones to feminize or masculinize their appearance. If not then why should other not be able to take male hormones. Then an arguement could be made that plastic surgery is stupid because people overdue it and then look worse, just look at Wayne Newton. So should that too be illegal? Is or was he cheating to look younger/better? Or was it just a choice he made. Remember when you start judging others choices it comes right back at you very fast. As skydivers we should know that the general population would not loose any sleep over skydiving being made illegal. Think how many skydivers have died in the past two weeks. Do you really think that others would not think they can choose better for us? ================================ Granted most modern doping methods aren't as immediately fatal but take note those who don't think doctors and athletes will go beyond the realms of safety in the hope of a good performance. Shit can always go wrong but that is inevidable. I still think it will greatly improve the chances of sucess when professionals (not fat, smoking, alcoholic and judgemental politicians) are involved in those decisions. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I will say that this is the only post you have made in this thread that is 100% accurate. I agree that there would be no suspension if the roles were reversed. However, there is a blatant reason for that, which you are ignoring. There are implied statements in both senarios which are or would be obvious. The 100% woman is suggesting that the transexual has an unfair advantage from being genetically male. The transexual would clearly be about pride in herself. Although this does raise doubt, I am not so sure I agree. The transexual does not have testicles and has lowered her testoserone levels as low as a genetic female. Also she is on estrogen pills for the rest of her life. This often causes severe health complications and consequently a high percentage of these people live shorter lives. They are like on a permanent anti-steroid cycle for life. Finally to state that somebody would undergo the pre-requisites and then this surgery specifically for a sports advantage is a laughable or ignorant statement at best. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Because of the following. Especially, the ones concerning vital organs: Men - Reduced sperm count thats funny and bull shit. - Impotence IBID - Development of breasts Not all types aromitize, but I will give you that some do. - Shrinking of the testicles only temporarily because the high amount of testoserone causes the testes to stop working. However they don't stay on for ever, they do it in cycles and use PCT post cycle therapy to restart it. - Difficulty or pain while urinating this is bull shit Women - Facial hair growth this is true, but don't you think its obvious that a woman should not be taking MALE hormones, which is what steroids are. - Deepened voice IBID - Breast reduction Not true, unless she is dieting and loosing severe amounts of fat, in which case without the steroids, the same thing would occur. - Menstrual cycle changes this is true, but don't you think its obvious that a woman should not be taking MALE hormones, which is what steroids are. Both - Acne not all of them but some. - Bloated appearance IBID - Rapid weight gain Not true, as a matter of fact many types are using for cutting (loosing weight while preserving muscle) - Clotting disorders Doctors prescription needed would help determine who is prone. - Liver damage Bull shit, this is only with orals. Injectibles bipass the liver. - Premature heart attacks and strokes Only with pre-existing conditions or prolonged cycles not allowing colesterol to go down. - Elevated cholesterol levels IBID - Weakened tendons only if overdone Other - Behavioral side-effects This is totally not proven but speculated. Its hard to prove something when they make it illegal and don't allow doctors to study it. - Psychological addiction Psychological addiction also applies to any other form of training for a sport. How do you plan to make that illegal? - Can affect growth in adolescents Yes, which is why is should require a doctors prescription. Anabolic Steroids If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Great, so at what age do you think it should be legal? Do you think it would be okay for parents to dope up their kids in the hope of making it big? Doping up a kid with performance enhancing drugs is stupid because, they are naturally producing 2-300 milligrams of testoserone weekly, which is enough to improve they condition through exercise. Also doping a kid will cause other serious harmful effects, such as closing of growth plates. A full grown adult using perfomance enhancing drugs is an entirely different story. It helps when you clear all the bull shit and propaganda to get a real understanding of the true effects. I see it quite similar to lipo-sucktion. Some people eat like fools and then get lipo and then get fat again. Lipo for them is un-appropiate and gives a false sense of satisfaction. But what about the girl that diets correctly looses weight but when her waist looks decent, she has no tits or ass. At this point lipo may be her only choice. Now back to performance enhancing drugs/steroids whatever you want to call them. Take somebody like Arnold Schwarzeneggar: For anybody who doesn't know, he did indeed use steroids and it was perfectly legal for him to do so in the 70's. However, he did not wake up one day and say, I want to have the best body in the planet so this injection will do it for me. As a matter of fact it wouldn't under any circumstances. It took GENETICS, countless hours/days/years in the gym working out as hard as he could, eating & resting properly, and finally using a safe amount of performance enhancing drugs to get where he got to. In the end it was his decision and it was not made without consideration. This does not mean that everybody who uses has thought it through carefully, just as not everybody who has had lipo has attempted to accomplish their desired appearance through diet. For this reason, I believe steroids should be legal as performance/appearance enhancing drugs with a doctor's prescription. This is what the AMA (American Medical association) wanted when all the idiots were lobbying congress to make them illegal in 1987 and when they lobbied congress to criminalize them in 1990. A sports doctor will know if the person has exceeded their natural capability and will be able to make a safety assement to determine if the risk is valid. For instance no doctor would ever prescribe steroids to somebody will a pre-exsiting high colesterol or anybody under 23. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

The "Not-A-Clue" brit actually said: "Incidentally, Raul Castro is a given to follow Fidel as leader. He won't last long - he's only 5 years younger than Fidel. My money's then on Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Roque." And from the link: "Fidel Castro, suffering from a serious illness, ceded power Monday night to his brother, 75-year-old Raúl Castro, the leader of Cuba's armed forces." Now, Y'aAll will have to excuse me while I log into the Cuba Government website and send my hopes for Comrade Fidel's rapid recovery and a speedy return to his enlightened leadership & inspirational speeches.

Yes there is a separate point. This is new news, that just came out last night, and it is cause for celebration. I wish I could be in Miami or Union City right now to partake. , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Raul Castro is not the next in line, and Cubans Americans couldn't care less what happens in the Island as they have already assimilated in U.S. society. or maybe I was right in saying they haven't got a clue. Lets read what is going on in the Island and Miami right today. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/15168654.htm If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I would guess that they are NOT very popular in Miami. The site of these shirts makes me sick. I have heard stories about Cubans seeing people selling these shirts buying them and burning them right in front of the seller to make a statement. I would rather just let the person know what an ignorant asshole, I think he his. Carlos Santana has been boycotted by many Cuban-Americans, including myself, for showing up to the Oscars in Che Guevara shirt. http://www.killcastro.com/blog/2005/08/carlos-santana-rides-his-donkey-again.html Editted to add: Unless ofcourse this is the shirt you are talking about http://www.thoseshirts.com/commies.html , If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.