Danica Patrick raced full-time IndyCar from 2005-11, and holds the all-time record for most consecutive finished races in that series. Her mark of 50 consecutive finishes without a DNF, shattered the old IndyCar record of 32– and still stands. She was long ago recognized at the highest levels of competitive auto racing as a safe, fair & competitive driver. [1]
In 2012, Danica began racing in NASCAR, and has run full-time in its Sprint Cup series since 2013. In her NASCAR career of 123 races (as of this writing), she has 17 DNF’s– for an alarming rate of 13.8%. A check of the numbers in 2014, showed she was by far the most wrecked-DNF driver in NASCAR. [2]
Another NASCAR review in 2015 showed Patrick to have the 7th-highest crash rate, among all drivers with at least 15 starts. This study included all crashes, even those that did not produce DNF’s. [3]
This leads to the questions– why does Danica Patrick crash so much, and who’s at fault? Video analysis will be used to group Danica Patrick’s DNF-crashes into two categories: 1) her fault; 2) not her fault. Furthermore, wrecks which weren’t her fault will be divided into two types: A)wrecked unintentionally, which is racing luck; or B) wrecked intentionally, which implies being repeatedly targeted.
Accidents that were Danica Patrick’s fault
This is Danica Patrick in Kansas in 2012, her rookie NASCAR season. The video title is fairly accurate, and #83 Landon Cassill does a phenomenal job not wrecking, while Patrick fails to use her brakes well enough to maintain control– and that’s how the announcers call it:
A year later at Kansas in 2013, Patrick ‘got loose’ in the middle of the track and crashed on the first lap. Needless to say this was probably the worst performance of her professional career:
At Pocono in 2013, Patrick got too loose and wrecked herself and a few others. For the record, she owned it in the interview afterwards:
At Michigan in 2014, Danica Patrick got loose, lost control & spun out, causing this accident. It was clearly her fault, and all of NASCAR enjoyed pointing it out:
At Martinsville in 2015 Danica Patrick, who had gotten run up the track by #38 David Gilliland earlier in the race, attempted to retaliate with the same move, but ended up wrecking herself. What then ensued is best described as children acting badly in cars [4] :
At Darlington 2015, Patrick got too loose and wrecked herself. She owned it in the interview:
At the 2016 Daytona 500, Patrick tried too late to squeeze #16 Greg Biffle, who had the pass. She ended up wrecking herself instead. Patrick took responsibility:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_6uM4GBAc
That’s a total of seven wrecks that were clearly her fault, in 123 NASCAR starts, for a 5.7% rate– which is less than half of her 13.8% total crash rate.
Unintentional wrecks of Danica Patrick
At the 2014 Daytona 500, #33 Brian Scott bumps #43 Aric Almirola, who hits the outside wall and then caroms back across the track into several cars including Patrick, who loses control and hits the outside wall very hard. No one should question Danica Patrick’s toughness after seeing this:
At Charlotte 2014, Patrick is caught up in the wash, and there’s nothing she can do. Her comments on the radio are illuminating:
Danica Patrick [at around 50 seconds in the video]: “Idiots! I mean really, who the hell did not see that coming?”
Her spotter: “A lot of them, about five people behind you.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TCWVBtnYuk
Speaking of stupid– blame for this massive and dangerous wreck at Talladega in 2013 was mostly on NASCAR, and the drivers let their fans know it in the post-race interviews. They clearly shouldn’t have been racing in such conditions, and drivers should NEVER try to go ‘4-wide’ when it’s dark & rainy. Patrick didn’t appear to get clipped (as she claimed), but one can clearly see her trying to avoid a car (on fire) careening towards her. Outside of that, her post-race summary (confirmed by others) was fair, for which the rednecks now hate her even more:
Hardcore NASCAR fans don’t even like to acknowledge this incident, which happened in Kentucky in 2015; when #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rammed Danica Patrick from behind, wrecking her. NASCAR’s biggest hero later admitted he was “driving too hard with no brakes.” This one was borderline, but Dale Jr. is a great champion– so he gets the benefit of the doubt here:
These four accidents are ‘racing luck wrecks’ which happen, and no one could reasonably expect Danica Patrick to avoid them.
Intentional wrecks of Danica Patrick
At the 2012 Gatorade Duel #1, the replay around 2:00 shows Aric Almirola in the #43 car (Richard Petty team) sliding down and wiping Danica Patrick off the track– on the final lap. This was a HARD crash, that could have caused serious injury or worse. Patrick shows elite driving skills by letting go of the steering wheel before impact with the inner wall, avoiding breaking her wrists:
I love the title of this next video, which was obviously posted by a Danica Patrick hater. At Charlotte 2014, #22 Joey Logano clearly has plenty of room to go below, but chooses to run her into the wall instead. Classic NASCAR style:
As a bonus in 2015, Danica Patrick was wrecked in practice, qualifying for the Daytona 500– by #11 Denny Hamlin:
Shortly after, she was wrecked in the 2015 Budweiser Duel– by Denny Hamlin again. The video around 30 seconds is definitive:
Update 4-16-16 @ BristolMore Denny Hamlin stupidity…during practice! How are Danica Patrick and her SHR team supposed to set up a decent race car, when this keeps happening? Note to #11 car: that’s not how you’re supposed to pass a much slower car. Why didn’t Hamlin just duck under and blow her doors off, instead of crawling up on her ass? To ask the question is to answer it.
At Martinsville in 2014, #78 Martin Truex, Jr. slides up the track in the turn– wrecking Danica Patrick. Pretty cut & dried video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjeYj5BKLew
Regan Smith crashes Danica Patrick at Bristol in 2012. Pay attention at around 50 seconds into the video, to see #78 Regan Smith slide up in the turn and clip Patrick’s left rear– sending her into the wall. “That’s unfortunate” is the color commentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_nwOEONs6Y
Here’s Danica Patrick getting wrecked the year before in Bristol, by #99 Carl Edwards, who admits it’s his fault. Danica Patrick’s radio man says to her, “just one of those things.”
Fontana 2016 is the most recent of her wrecks, and was clearly intentional– as # 5 Kasey Kahne dug into Patrick’s right rear quarter-panel, and sent her into the wall and then airborne, in this violent crash. Kahne should have been black-flagged, and suspended for at least several races. Instead, the post-race chatter from NASCAR was whether Danica Patrick would be fined for going out onto the track– which is now prohibited [Update 3-25-16– she was fined $20,000 by NASCAR]. That wreck could have killed her, and you can hear it in her voice when she asks her spotter if it is safe for her to get out of the car– after it comes to rest:
That’s seven wrecks (plus another one in qualifying) where she was deliberately taken out by another driver. Furthermore, these intentional wrecks have been the most violent & dangerous of her crashes.
Final thoughts
Danica Patrick and her fans have been told over & over by NASCAR to “get over it.” It is no secret that Danica Patrick has gotten jerked around by her Stewart-Haas Racing team. [5]
NASCAR has been too reckless for too long, and now it seems intent on pushing out its biggest icon. Surely, #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the biggest name in NASCAR today, but #10 Danica Patrick is the superstar who (in many ways) transcends the sport– much to the disdain of its hardcore base.
There are plenty of good ‘ol boys who love to see her wrecked, and they can barely contain their glee when it happens.
This flows all the way up to NASCAR’s biggest names, including Richard Petty and his son Kyle.
Kyle Petty was a third-generation NASCAR driver who, despite having every advantage coming with his family name– had only 8 wins in 829 career starts, a win rate of <1%, which is comparable to Patrick’s career. Both Petty’s have been her biggest critics, and below is a sample of Kyle’s blather; which ignores all evidence that Danica Patrick is too often being intentionally wrecked, making it impossible for her to fairly compete in NASCAR.
Many of Danica Patrick’s fans are very new to NASCAR, and therefore don’t understand how to respond to her critics. This confusion allows hateful drivers to wreck her at will, which could help explain why she never wins, and rarely gets a top-10 finish.
Danica Patrick will probably never win a NASCAR race. She is now turning 34, and past her athletic prime. Besides, racing is a team sport and Danica Patrick isn’t getting enough help from her team– or her fans. On top of all that, she being disrespected by too many other drivers, the powers-that-be & the culture of NASCAR. Those are tough odds for anyone to beat.
It’s worthwhile to note that #24 Jeff Gordon and #48 Jimmie Johnson are the best drivers of this NASCAR era, and they have never tried to wreck #10 Danica Patrick. Patrick’s fans would be well-advised to stop exhorting her for wins, and start paying more attention to her safety.
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(3-25-16) Danica Patrick Horoscope:Birthdays comes once a year. Daily rebirth is a lifetime challenge in self-improvement. Rediscover your musicality by taking up the pan flute.
On March 7, 2016 Maria Sharapova hastily assembled a press conference in Los Angeles, announcing her failed drug test after the 2016 Australian Open.
Sharapova statement of admission:“For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received the ITF (International Tennis Federation) letter I found out that it also has another name of meldonium which I did not know. It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) banned list, and I had legally been taking the medicine for the past 10 years. But on 1 January the rules had changed, and meldonium became a prohibited substance which I had not known. I failed the test and I take full responsibility for it. I made a huge mistake.”
Speculation beforehand was that the 28-year old tennis superstar was announcing her retirement, after a series of injuries & disappointing tournament finishes. Sharapova responded, “If I was ever going to announce my retirement, it would probably not be in a downtown Los Angeles hotel with this fairly ugly carpet.” For the record, it was ugly carpet at the hotel, as seen at the beginning of the press conference in the video above.
Sharapova says she did not look at the new banned substances list, linked in a WADA email she received. She claims she deleted it without clicking the link, and was thus unaware the prescription drug she had legally used for 10 years, was about to be banned. WADA rules mandate a 2-year ban for ‘unintentional’ doping, and a 4-year ban for ‘intentional’ doping for first-time offenders.
Sharapova cited her meldonium use as necessary for “a deficiency in magnesium, irregular EKG results, and a family history of diabetes with one of the first signs of diabetes… and [meldonium] was one of the medications, along with others I received.”
Maria Sharapova is undoubtedly a rock star. As one can see by her Facebook post, she still has fans– over 112K ‘Likes’ in less than 8 hours. Sharapova is stunningly beautiful, along with being smart enough to get ahead of the press & her fans. That’s how to handle them.
She’s now fighting to protect her brand, which is exactly what top athletes do in competition– in order to win at the highest levels of professional sports.
No one should be surprised by this anymore. Professional athletes are all pushed, one way or another, into this taint. Maria Sharapova is only the latest sports icon turned into scapegoat, in order to distract fans from the true sources of corruption. Ironically, her announcement came the same day NFL quarterback Peyton Manning delivered his long-anticipated retirement speech, in which he broke down and cried repeatedly before finishing with a nauseating “God bless football.”
If Manning can shake the HGH & sexual harassment allegations which still persist, many lucrative business opportunities await him. If not, he will become the next Lance Armstrong. Carefully compare their simultaneous press conferences (and circumstances), and you’ll see that Peyton Manning doesn’t have Sharapova’s composure or brains– so anticipate the latter scenario.
Lance Armstrong on sports doping:“I don’t know what the number is, whether it’s 10 or 20 or 50%, I don’t know. That tells you that that system is broken, too. It’s probably the reason that Travis [Tygart] and the USADA [U.S.Anti-Doping Agency] needed something. They needed a case, they needed a story. I was that story, I was that case, it is what it is, and we’re here. But they needed something to show that they were effective. And they did, and it worked.” [1]
Anti-doping advocate Greg LeMond:“When I speak out about doping people could translate it and think it was about the riders. Actually I feel like I am an advocate for the riders. I look at them as being treated like lab rats that are test vehicles for the doctors. The doctors, the management, the officials, they’re the ones that have corrupted riders. The riders are the only ones that pay the price.” [2]
WADA was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999 to “promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sports.” Its presidents Dick Pound (1999-2007), John Fahey (2008-13), and now Craig Reedie (below) have been continuously rocked by corruption & doping scandals. The closed systems used by all the official anti-doping agencies do not allow independent statistical validation of their tests. IOC/WADA testing identifies <1% of all PED (performance-enhancing drug) users.
Taking a hard-line stance in high profile cases such as Maria Sharapova, obfuscates their overall ineffectiveness in the eyes of most sports fans. Image is everything. WADA president Craig Reedie has warned that it will step in if it believes that the ITF’s ban for Sharapova is too lenient: “We always have that right. In most cases we exercise that right when we think there is a really serious case to answer,” he said. “There will clearly be a great deal of interest after the last 48 hours in what the ITF do. My guess is we will watch this one very carefully.”
For comparison, men’s tennis star Marin Cilic (Croatia) was suspended for nine months in 2013-14, after testing positive for a banned stimulant, nikethamide. After returning to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, Cilic won the U.S. Open in 2014.
Maria Sharapova is the highest-paid female athlete in the world, according to Forbes magazine. [3] She has/had endorsement deals with Nike, Avon, Evian, TAG Heuer, Canon, Cole Haan, Ericsson, Gatorade, Head, Land Rover, Motorola, Porsche, Prince, Samsung, Sony, Tiffany’s and Tropicana. So far– Porsche, Nike & TAG Heuer have suspended ties with Sharapova.
WADA has focused on Russia ever since the German state news station ARD broadcast the documentary Secret Doping Dossier: How Russia Produces Its Winners, in December 2014. WADA used the evidence in the film to target the widespread use of meldonium by Russian athletes. Numerous Russian athletes describe their experiences in state-sponsored programs, where over 99% of competitors are compelled by coaches & higher authorities to use PEDs.
Compulsion towards PED use in American sports begins with pharmaceutical & Madison Avenue bombardment, in the form of ceaseless commercials for new drugs. The U.S. is the primary market for pharmaceutical companies, accounting for one-third of the global market. Lack of regulation means there are few barriers in marketing & distribution, once FDA approval has been secured.
‘Selling sickness’ to a healthy population is now considered standard pharmaceutical industry practice in the U.S. [4] The Affordable Care Act has made chemically refined prescription drugs more the form of treatment for physicians, while increasing their cost to consumers, with no controls over the prices that insurance & pharmaceutical corporations can charge under Obamacare. [5] The side-effects portions of prescription drug commercials are often more than half their running length, with a professional voice-over mono-toning at breakneck speed.
Combined with skyrocketing salaries for top athletes, the current model for illicit PED use is private-sector chemists & physicians (with questionable ethics) developing new drugs for athletes, keeping them ahead of the testers. PEDs can only be detected if there is a test for that particular drug– or class of drugs. Testing for every banned substance is prohibitively expensive for most organizations, especially at the youth & high-school levels.
‘New’ PEDs are often previously developed pharmaceuticals, originally intended for medicinal uses in elderly & sickly populations. For example, Sharapova’s meldonium (Mildronate) is an anti-ischemic drug developed in Latvia to treat angina and prevent heart attacks. In athletes it demonstrates increased endurance, improved rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activation of the central nervous system. [6]
Telmisartan (Micardis) is a prescription drug for high blood pressure, manufactured by Roxane in Columbus, OH. It is also frequently abused by top athletes, but it is accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is not on the WADA banned substances list– nor is the class of drugs to which it belongs.
Cytomel (T3) is a thyroid hormone, developed, patented & manufactured by U.S pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, to treat hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is defined as a deficiency of thyroid hormones– which can disrupt heart rate, body temperature, and all aspects of metabolism. Hypothyroidism is most prevalent in older women. Treatment typically consists of thyroid hormone replacement.
Cytomel, has been popular among bodybuilders for decades for its ability to promote rapid fat & weight loss. It is used by wrestlers & boxers, to come in under weight. One of the most important determinants of success in cycling is power to weight ratio, particularly in the mountains. Any substance which can help riders lose body fat provides a competitive advantage in cycling.
Track athletes have also used thyroid hormones for perceived performance-enhancing effects beyond those associated with weight loss. Victor Conte, the architect of the infamous BALCO steroid program, included T3 as an important drug in his recipe for success in his athletes back in the early 2000’s. WADA has refused to include thyroid hormones on its 2016 Prohibited Substances List. [7]
For clean athletes, ethical doctors and real fans who actually care about sports itself; milodium and other Western-EU and North American PED equivalents must be banned, as their misuse crosses too many ethical & safety boundaries. Banning only meldonium is a politically motivated act by the WADA (and the western political interests behind them), meant to discredit Russian athletes, while ignoring widespread doping throughout professional sports. [8]
In 2015, a whistle-blower leaked International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) blood test records from major competitions. The IAAF is the oldest international sports governing institution, in existence since 1912. Records revealed that between 2001 and 2012, athletes with suspicious drug test results won a third of the medals in endurance events at the Olympics and World Championships— a total of 146 medals including 55 golds—but the IAAF caught none of them. Adidas announced in January that it was ending its sponsorship deal with the IAAF four years early, costing them $33 million in revenue. [9]
The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) new president is Dmitry Shlyakhtin, as of January 2016. Russia has been banned from international competition by WADA, over a massive doping scandal that goes all the way up to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Mikhail Butov had been federation general secretary since 2008, occupying a senior post during the time when WADA alleges doping was rife. Butov remains general secretary “temporarily,” while the new management settles in. Butov told Russia’s Tass agency he intended to stay until December.
Shlyakhtin’s ‘anti-crisis’ presidency could last as little as eight months, since new elections are scheduled for September 2016, after the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dmitry Shlyakhtin succeeds Valentin Balakhnichev, who was banned for life by the IAAF over the alleged extortion of 450,000 euros from suspended Russian marathon runner, Yulia Stepanov.
Balakhnichev had stepped down from his federation role in February 2015 following a doping scandal. [10]
These suits mentioned & pictured above are just a few of the people (you’ve likely never heard of), who are mostly responsible for professional sports doping. A problem never gets solved without addressing its root causes.
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[3-13-16] Notes:
Maria Sharapova has been witch-hunted, it’s that simple. She has been caught up in a Western political vendetta against Russian athletics, and is being used as a pawn. She maintains certain medical privacy rights, no matter what. Her fans know the truth (as much as they need to hear), and overwhelmingly support her– as her Facebook page speaks for itself. Sharapova has handled this unfair situation brilliantly, so she will be hated even more by the media establishment & WADA. Meldonium has been used widely in Russian athletics as a stimulant and is relatively safe & non-toxic; as compared to EPO, of which 100+ forms exist, and are untested for. The issue is– was Maria Sharapova fairly informed of the changes in the banned substances list? Athletes under WADA jurisdiction are allowed to use any substances not on that list.
3-17-16 Notes:
Still no word on when or where the ITF hearing on her case will be held. After two perfect smashes on Facebook, explaining her situation to her fans & the media, there has been no response from the ITF. Here’s Sharapova’s 2nd serve on 3-11-16 on Facebook:
To My Fans:
I want to reach out to you to share some information, discuss the latest news, and let you know that there have been things that have been reported wrong in the media, and I am determined to fight back. You have shown me a tremendous outpouring of support, and I’m so grateful for it. But I have also been aware that some, not all, but some in the media distort, exaggerate and fail to accurately report the facts about what happened.
A report said that I had been warned five times about the upcoming ban on the medicine I was taking. That is not true and it never happened.
That’s a distortion of the actual “communications,” which were provided or simply posted onto a webpage.
I make no excuses for not knowing about the ban. I already told you about the December 22, 2015 email I received. Its subject line was “Main Changes to the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme for 2016.” I should have paid more attention to it.
But the other “communications?” They were buried in newsletters, websites, or handouts.
On December 18, I received an email with the subject line “Player News” on it. It contained a newsletter on a website that contained tons of information about travel, upcoming tournaments, rankings, statistics, bulletin board notices, happy birthday wishes, and yes, anti-doping information. On that email, if a player wanted to find the specific facts about medicine added to the anti-doping list, it was necessary to open the “Player News” email, read through about a dozen unrelated links, find the “Player Zone” link, enter a password, enter a username, read a home screen with more than three dozen different links covering multiple topics, find the “2016 Changes to Tennis Anti-Doping Program and Information” link, click on it and then read a page with approximately three dozen more links covering multiple anti-doping matters. Then you had to click the correct link, open it up, scroll down to page two and that’s where you would find a different name for the medication I was taking.
In other words, in order to be aware of this “warning,” you had to open an email with a subject line having nothing to do with anti-doping, click on a webpage, enter a password, enter a username, hunt, click, hunt, click, hunt, click, scroll and read. I guess some in the media can call that a warning. I think most people would call it too hard to find.
There was also a “wallet card” distributed at various tournaments at the beginning of 2016, after the ban went into effect. This document had thousands of words on it, many of them technical, in small print. Should I have studied it? Yes. But if you saw this document (attached), you would know what I mean. Again, no excuses, but it’s wrong to say I was warned five times.
There was also a headline that said, “4-6 Weeks Normal Treatment for Drug in Maria Sharapova Case.” That headline has been repeated by many reporters who fail to tell their viewers and readers what the rest of the story says. The story quotes the manufacturer of my medicine as saying: “Treatment course can be repeated twice or thrice a year. Only physicians can follow and evaluate patient’s health condition and state whether the patient should use meldonium for a longer period of time.”
That’s exactly what I did. I didn’t take the medicine every day. I took it the way my doctor recommended I take it and I took it in the low doses recommended.
I’m proud of how I have played the game. I have been honest and upfront. I won’t pretend to be injured so I can hide the truth about my testing.
I look forward to the ITF hearing at which time they will receive my detailed medical records. I hope I will be allowed to play again. But no matter what, I want you, my fans, to know the truth and have the facts.
First set to Miss Sharapova.Speculation has her suspension pegged down from a mandatory maximum of 4 years– to 1 year. This still seems all-too-unfair to too many, who are correct in their feelings, if not their understanding. Her UN ambassadorship has been revoked, once again underscoring the political nature of this sordid affair.
3-24-16 Update: Dated March 7th, 2016 ITF press statement on their site:
Following the statement made by Maria Sharapova in a press conference today, the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) can confirm the following:
– On 26 January 2016, Ms Sharapova provided an anti-doping sample to the TADP in association with her participation in the 2016 Australian Open.
– That sample was analysed by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory, which returned a positive for meldonium, which is a prohibited substance under the WADA Code and, therefore also the TADP.
– In accordance with Article 8.1.1 of the TADP, Ms Sharapova was charged on 2 March with an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.
– Ms Sharapova has accepted the finding of meldonium in her sample collected on 26 January.
– As meldonium is a non-specified substance under the WADA (and, therefore, TADP) list of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods, Ms Sharapova will be provisionally suspended with effect from 12 March, pending determination of the case. [12]
As of this update, there is still no update or mention of the upcoming Sharapova hearing on the ITF site or in the press. On 3-12-16, the London Telegraph reported that Maria Sharapova would have an ITF hearing “later this month.” [13]
Meanwhile, Grindex is the Latvian pharmaceutical company that manufactures meldonium, and they have strongly criticized WADA for adding it to their banned substances list. Grindex representatives claim they gave WADA strong evidence proving meldonium has legitimate therapeutic uses in athletes, and isn’t performance enhancing; but WADA ignored it. [14]
4-3-16 Update: The Russian Tennis Federation just announced that Sharapova’s hearing won’t be until “mid-June,” meaning she will miss the French Open (her best surface), and possibly Wimbledon– if she isn’t cleared by June 29. Until then she is still “provisionally suspended.” The hearing is expected to only take a few days, which begs the question: why such a long wait for her– when she’s ready now? [15]
Also now in question is her Summer Olympics eligibility. The 2016 games are being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To say all this is political, is a massive over-simplification. This whole case could have been handled in a week or two, but WADA & the ITF won’t allow it. Therefore Maria Sharapova is punished, even if proven innocent.
The players on tour dislike her [16], and have shown it by not standing with her in her right to a timely hearing as an international workers-rights grievance. This speaks more on their shame, than Sharapova’s; as any professional athlete is deserving of a timely & fair hearing in any PED suspension case.
It is obvious (with the political players involved) that backroom deals are being made left-and-right, and Sharapova’s career is the bargaining tool. It would be helpful to Maria Sharapova’s cause if her fans started speaking up & pointing out all this hypocrisy. She needs it because she is too big of a rock star, and thus has few real friends among her (jealous) peers. She has even less in the (hateful) media.
Does this look like a threat to the American ‘way of life?’
Asaad Al-Zoubi & George Sabra (pictured below) head the ‘Syrian opposition delegation,’ which represents the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in recent ‘peace talks‘ at the United Nations in Geneva.
The FSA is a CIA-organized coalition of spies, terrorists, defectors, al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra Front, and ISIS jihadist militants. Here is their Wikipedia page– [1]
The FSA has ravished Syria since 2011.
This is a large part of the current refugee crisis in Europe.
The White House & Pentagon have been conducting airstrikes in FSA support for several years, despite the fact that al-Qaeda has been the official U.S. enemy (in its phony ‘war on terror‘) since 9/11.
The governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar & Turkey have lent financial & military support to the US-led war in Syria.
In September 2015, the Russian government began airstrikes against the FSA, in defense of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, their political ally.
In U.S. ruling circles, nobody believes that Bashar al-Assad is any kind of threat to national security, but he is an ally of Russia and that’s enough for the warheads in Washington & Langley.
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany and European Union whip, insists that all of Europe’s external borders must be ‘secured.’
‘Fortress Europe’ will cut off Syrian refugees in Turkey, Greece and the Aegean Sea.
€3 billion has been made available for the building of mass internment camps for refugees on the Turkey/Syria border.
This is the foreign policy reality that is being ignored during ‘Election 2016.’
This political madness which sets mankind course for nuclear war, is Democratic White House policy. A Republican oval office will only insist on further escalation with Russia & China.
Working people need their own candidates– as this garbage just won’t do.
This is a cross section of U.S political polling in this ongoing election year. The numbers provided below are at the time of this publication, and will change over time. Only eligible and ‘likely’ voters are seriously polled.
Question that never gets asked:
“Do you approve of government secret services being able to unlock your cell phone and search all your data, at will?”
U.S. citizens are supposed to have constitutional rights, and it is the president’s sworn oath to defend the Constitution.
Question that gets asked instead:
“Should Apple unlock the iPhones of suspected terrorists for the FBI?”
Most voters don’t approve of new U.S. wars of aggression, despite the constant barrage of propaganda– but there remains a hardcore militarist/fascist element.
Question that never gets asked:
“Global warming– are we going to do anything about it, because it’s only getting worse?”
Capitalism has no serious answer to this fundamental question of human survival.
Question that gets asked instead:
“Should the government increase environmental regulations to prevent global warming?”
The truth is the U.S government is a plutocracy, so no fundamental class truths are allowed to be spoken officially, hence the confusion among many voters.
ESPN is head-quartered in Bristol, Connecticut and owned by Disney.
Grantland was an in-depth blog arm of ESPN online, and it’s founder & editor Bill Simmons was dumped by ESPN management in May 2015.
Simmons was also the brains behind ESPN’s 30 for 30 film series. He has since taken an assignment with HBO, and most of the remaining talent at Grantland went with him– or somewhere else. How does destroying such a popular site and alienating its valuable assets add value to their company? [1]
‘Tanking in MLB’ has been a leitmotif all 2015-16 off-season, with every hack writer producing a piece on the subject, most barely readable.
Example: ESPN & MLB writers have suggested the SDP & CWS are ‘tanking’ because the didn’t bite on declining, stone-gloved free agent SS Ian Desmond.
Many of these stories are plants, with MLB staff writers shilling for players’ agents– to create interest in their clients in hopes of landing a mega-contract.
The ‘DH in the NL’ discussion is clearly being pushed by MLBPA interests, who always seek to reward veteran players, for whom the designated hitter rule favors. Senior circuit fans have clearly said “NO!” to the DH in NL parks.
Ticker Bias: Following MLB on ESPN in an east-coast market, means an online schedule ticker that often excludes SDP, ARI, COL, OAK & SEA– especially when they’re playing each other.
FOX is an unwatchable baseball broadcast, which means the Saturday Game of the Week, the All-Star Game, and the post-season through the World Series are all ruined by Joe Buck, a cast of knuckleheads, exploding graphics, star searching, useless information, and endless promotion– with too many ads, rotating scoreboards, and beer commercials.
ESPN today is Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith and Lindsay Czarniak, the former representing black & white male obnoxiousness.
It’s moderated by a beautiful woman who lobs softballs, panders with a smile, and knows when to shut up– or kick it to a commercial. All this is carefully researched & choreographed by experts.
Note: ESPN has nothing to report about MLB’s refusal to lift its archaic blackout restrictions for streaming ‘in-area’ games. The ever-increasing number of cord cutters are left to follow the home team mainly through online box scores, highlights and interactive media. [2]
MLB consumers will wait for À la carte for live games, as they aren’t going back to cable.
All these broadcast deals, from the $8.35B disaster with the LA Dodgers to the Regional Sports Networks which are owned by Comcast, FOX, or the teams themselves (ex: BAL, BOS, NYM & WASH), cost over $1/month per subscription.
Some networks such as Time-Warner w/ the LAD, are demanding $5/month. DirecTV & Comcast said no to that deal, so around 70% of the LA market can’t watch a Dodger game on television. The Dodgers lead the world in attendance every year, but what’s the point in having a good team if two-thirds of the hometown fans can’t watch them on television? [3]
Two-thirds of pay TV customers (mostly women & gay men) don’t watch ESPN or any sports, yet are made to subsidize them. ESPN with Disney’s clout behind them, is the 800-pound gorilla that can buy up the rights to every sport, and control how the content is presented, if at all.
ESPN is partners with all the major sports, and broadcasts their live games which are the heart of sports TV ratings.
This creates conflict-of-interest issues, leading to ESPN’s (mostly) lazy journalistic investigations into the dark underbelly of sports. PEDs, concussions, player safety, retirement health & financial solvency are all broad scandals that are kept off the front pages– as much as possible.
Deflated balls, social media cat-fights, and press conference faux pas are the preferred narratives of professional league & media executives.
The political side-show circus, funded by an unlimited supply of super PAC money, stops in South Carolina on Saturday, February 13– with only the Republicans on prime-time TV this time. Anyone tuning in, hopeful of gaining a clearer sense of the serious political issues our world is facing today, will only be repulsed & disgusted by what they see & hear.
President Obama just submitted his last budget to congress. Two-thirds of discretionary spending is for military & policing, with huge increases in their budgets. Virtually nothing is left for education, environmental, infrastructure, or any other social service. [1]
“There is no money” is the lie that pours out of the mouths of pleading liberal Democrats & foul-mouthed Republicans, over & over. The corporate media ‘moderators’ and party supporter-packed audiences put on a show for their viewers, dazzling them with insults & sensationalism– no serious discussion is allowed on any topic.
The mainstream media pretends it has no clue as to why Donald Trump is leading the Republican nomination process; as if they never considered the effect of allowing a reactionary bigot to openly propose building a wall between the US & Mexico, or denying religious freedom to Muslims, or condoning known forms of torture (and worse), with audiences that enthusiastically applaud every misanthropic statement. Every hardcore racist, socio-path, and brain-dead narcissist loves the guy.
Trump has been aided-and-abetted the whole way by a vested corporate media, which never criticizes him for what he actually is– a fascist. He & his supporters may look silly & harmless on the surface, but underneath they are the toxic elements of fear, hatred and ignorance. Youth & working people everywhere need to rise up and meet this dangerous tendency with merciless opposition. Supporters of this filth need to be exposed, shouted down, and when necessary– beaten down. This tendency can not be allowed to seize power.
A Marxist understanding of the current political situation is that this is war, with survival for humanity at stake. Fake socialist Bernie Sanders will insist fascism can be tempered and restrained– with soothing language and a spirit of compromise. He is a fool who knows better, the latest in a long line of political dead-ends for those still willing to cling to the liberal illusions of the Democratic party.
It’s up to youth & working people to now organize themselves and take action towards building an independent political voice that listens to and serves their interests. Democrats & Republicans are both bribed by the super-rich, the class enemy of the workers. The only viable solution is throwing off the straitjacket of the two -party system, and building a revolutionary socialist party that unites the workers of the world in the fight against capitalism. The alternative is the fascist jackboot.
Sledge Hammer! was a half-hour sit-com created by Alan Spencer. It aired on ABC from September 23, 1986 until February 12, 1988– when it was cancelled by the network.
The show starred David Rasche as inspector Sledge Hammer, a Dirty Harry-meets-stand-up comic, San Francisco cop.
Hammer’s side-kick was Dori Doreau, played by the beautiful & talented Anne-Marie Martin. Their loveable quick-boil boss, Captain Trunk was brilliantly acted by Harrison Page.
Guest stars included: John Vernon, Jack Thibeau, Frank Doubleday, Janice Lynde, Dennis Fimple, Peter Marshall, Stephen Elliot, Tom Henschel, Mark Blankfield, Bill Dana, Martine Beswick, Patrick Wayne (the Duke’s son), Robin Leach, Mary Woronov, Nicholas Guest, Ray Walston, Robert Sacchi, Deborah Harmon, Bill Bixby (who also directed), Bud Cort, Richard Moll, Adam Ant, Davy Jones and James Karen.
Sledge Hammer! only ran two seasons, and was royally jerked-around by the executives at last-rated ABC. It deserves the silver screen today, but only if Alan Spencer is in charge. Spencer keeps insisting on the original cast. [1] Hollywood insists otherwise, so it will probably never happen. It’s the money that effs everything up.
Anyways, this show had its share of rabid & loyal fans, even back then– and here’s proof:
Introduction by Brian McHugh, quiz by Eric Meeker. Byline was inadvertently omitted. No one at the time answered more than six or seven correct, without cheating. Key: ACABBBECBCABABC
…you learned that Kurt Cobain was dead– apparently of a suicide. Answer: I was in my last days of dental school at Marquette, waiting for a presentation in the lab (Room 305) on how we could refinance and save $$ on our student-loan payments. Someone said Kurt Cobain was dead, and I whipped around exclaiming “What?!” in disbelief as the news leaked out- shotgun blast to the head, heroin syringes, suicide note, etc… After that, I only remember a bit of our mathematics-savant classmate busting the speaker as a scam artist. I was numb at first, which then gave way to resentment over Cobain’s cowardice & betrayal. It’s always been hard to listen to Nirvana since his death. Listener’s interpret them differently with the suicide ending.
…you learned that Kurt Cobain was murdered! Answer: I Netflixed Soaked in Bleach (2015) in my living room last night. Others found out much earlier by reading Love & Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain (2004) by Max Wallace & Ian Halperin. [1]
A brief review of the facts, background & suspects: Kurt Cobain was divorcing Courtney Love at the time of his death. Below is Cobain’s handwritten note found in his wallet at the death scene, which has finally been released to the public by the Seattle Police Department (SPD). In it, Kurt Cobain scorns Courtney Love as a “money siphoning whore.”
Tom Grant, a private investigator contacted & hired by Courtney Love on April 3, 1994 (less than a week before Cobain’s body was found), spoke to their attorney Rosemary Carroll at her office on April 13, 1994. Grant claims Carroll pressed him to investigate Cobain’s death, and that Cobain was not suicidal. Carroll also claims that Cobain had asked her to draw up a will excluding Love, because he was planning to file for divorce. Cobain & Love had a prenuptial agreement, which would have cut her out of the big money from Nirvana’s royalties.
Rosemary Carroll also provided Tom Grant (in a breach of client confidentially) with this handwriting practice note, which she found in Courtney Love’s backpack left at her home:
This is now widely interpreted as Love practicing the forgery of Cobain’s handwriting used in the final four lines of his ‘suicide note’:
Rosemary Carroll has not commented publicly on any of this.
Rosemary Carroll, attorney for Love & Cobain
Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain had a newborn at the time, Francis Bean Cobain; who was cared for by their heroin-supplying ‘nanny’ Michael ‘Cali’ Dewitt:
Dewitt remains the murkiest figure in this sordid affair. He’s likely the one who overdosed Cobain at Love’s behest, then staged the fake suicide. Michael Dewitt was never interviewed by the SPD, except for this statement taken over the phone:
Kurt Cobain’s best ‘friend’ at the time of his death was Dylan Carlson, a fellow heroin junkie and hanger-on:
Dylan Carlson it seems, was also used by Courtney Love to conceal the murder, particularly by keeping Tom Grant’s investigations away from the greenhouse room above the garage, where Cobain’s body laid for days before being discovered. Here is Dylan Carlson’s police interview:
Both Carlson’s & Dewitt’s interviews were done by Sgt. Don Cameron, who was at Cobain’s death scene and ran the SPD investigation:
Don Cameron’s corruption as a police officer is documented in this clip from Soaked in Bleach:
Courtney Love most-likely paid Sgt. Cameron to derail any attempts to classify Kurt Cobain’s death as suspicious. Also implicated is Nikolas Hartshore (long-time friend of Love), the medical examiner who did the initial exam of Cobain’s body. Autopsy findings were never publicly released, as they would likely prove that Cobain died of a heroin overdose, not of a shotgun blast to the head. [2]
Nikolas Hartshore died in 2002, in a base-jumping accident.
As mentioned earlier, Tom Grant is the PI whom Courtney Love retained to “find Kurt.”
He immediately became suspicious of Love during their first interview, and afterwards taped every conversation with her and her cohorts. They are damning evidence against Love, as the lead conspirator in the murder of Cobain. [3]
Equally helpful for those interested in justice, is Grant’s time-line summary of events, including all correspondence with Love, Dylan Carlson, Michael Dewitt, Rosemary Carroll, and the SPD. [4]
Courtney Love has destroyed most of the physical evidence in this case. The greenhouse crime-scene has been torn down, the shotgun melted, and Cobain’s body was cremated only 6 days after it was discovered on 4-8-94. Supposed ‘other suicide notes’ (always sensationally leaked to the press), have also claimed to have been burned by Courtney Love. [5]
One can only imagine the reaction from feminists if this situation was reversed. Does anyone believe Kurt Cobain would be allowed to get away with murdering his wife under the same circumstances? He would be in jail today, with little chance for parole. Not so for Love, who is rich with fuck-you money & clout. Being a woman & mother protects her in this sick society, even if she is a lying psychopath who murdered her husband (the biggest popular icon of his era), for a pile of money.
Knowing all this now makes me feel differently, but only somewhat. Kurt Cobain is still dead, and much of it was his fault. When you become a junkie, you render yourself helpless– becoming vulnerable to parasites & vipers who claim to be your friends:
When you are a rock-star who poses for photos like this, you allow yourself to be led in a bad direction:
Nirvana’s music sounds a bit more hopeful again, knowing the truth.
The evidence discussed here is just the tip of the iceberg. [6] Hopefully soon there will be justice– with this murderer (pictured below) facing a jury of her peers:
Alive Inside (2014) is the stirring account of Dan Cohen, founder of the non-profit organization Music & Memory, struggling against a broken healthcare system. Along with independent documentary film-maker Michael Rossato-Bennett, they demonstrate music’s ability to reverse memory loss– restoring dignity & sense of self. [all pics google]
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is characterized by cognitive impairment. Agitation is a symptom in 70%-90% of those afflicted with advanced stage ADRDs. This interferes with care delivery and social interaction, ultimately destroying their quality of life. It is a huge problem facing human society, and like most other issues facing humanity, it’s growing worse daily– as illustrated by the graph below:
It should come as no surprise that geriatric healthcare providers suffer some of the highest rates of career burnout. Burnout is a multi-factorial phenomenon, involving environmental, personality, and profession-related factors. Research shows risk for burnout in geriatric healthcare to be between 25-75%, depending on the study– with a likely overall average near 50%. [1]
The problem of elderly care is fundamentally capitalist. As explained in the film, “A doctor can write a prescription for a $1000/month anti-psychotic drug, and it’s no problem. But a patient getting reimbursed for a $40 iPod, as medical therapy, is next-to-impossible…nursing homes have become a shotgun marriage of poorhouses & hospitals.”
This is an accurate description and explains their motivation to over-medicate. It pays-off the big pharmaceuticals, while turning those afflicted with ADRDs into vegetated zombies. These sedated ‘living dead’ are easier for staff to manage, and easier for corporations to milk for insurance profits. Half the patients in U.S. nursing homes receive no visitors.
The WebMD tagline is “Better information. Better health.” Their recommended therapies for ADRDs are: anti-psychotics (major tranquilizers), benzodiazepines (psychoactive hypnotics) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (anti-depressants); all of which are highly toxic, with serious side-effects. These drugs were never meant for use on geriatric patients, and yet today they are the standard-of-care for Alzheimer’s and dementia.
WebMD covers its ass with this blurb (& qualifier) at the end of its ringing pharmaceutical endorsement, “The FDA has placed a ‘black box’ warning on these drugs describing these problems. They can be helpful for many people, though.”
Such is the cruel logic of healthcare under capitalism.
Individualized music as an alternative therapy for agitation in ADRD, involves carefully selected music, based on the person’s lifetime preferences. The easiest way to do this with anyone is to determine their years in high-school. The popular music from that era will usually be their favorite, or at least an excellent starting point.
Watch what familiar music does to 94-year old “Henry” in this clip from Alive Inside:
For this therapy to be effective, it needs to be individualized music. Research shows “a significant reduction in agitation during and following individualized music, compared to classical music. This study expands science by testing and supporting a theoretically based intervention for agitation in persons with ADRD.” [2]
Why does individualized music work? Because music evokes emotions that bring back memories. Any time we remember something, we are actually recalling where we were when we learned it. When we hear a favorite song from the past, we are instantly transported back to that time & place in our minds. No other medium has that power, and PET scans prove it scientifically.
The musicality within all of us is innately human, as chimpanzees don’t have this primal need to connect with other chimps through music. Our musicality remains one of the last areas of the brain affected by ADRDs. Music is a portal to reach people who have slipped into vegetative states, who are otherwise unreachable.
Artists & songwriters understand this better than anyone. They create music for people to enjoy, because it connects them with others. Their music IS the culture, and it’s power to communicate & heal will remain as long as human society exists.
