Roykirk’s Enterprises

As a long-time subscriber to John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Dickwad Theory…

…I foolishly allowed this blog to get off the ground with barely any limits on viewer comments other than moderating all comments before they’re allowed to go live on the site.

Not long after I started the site and allowed search engines to crawl it, I began to get spambots trying to fill the comments of one particular post with utter gibberish. Interestingly, the only post to get spammed was my article on Astana being denied a Tour de France bid. A few of those spambot comments had usernames with Cyrillic characters. With the mention of Astana and Cyrillic lettering, I would assume Russian spambots are cruising my site.

But, speculation aside, in order not to have to moderate multitudes of spam comments every day, I now require that anyone wishing to comment register on the site. I’m sorry to have to do this, but it will also prevent other abuses of comments, like the aforementioned Dickwads trolling my more inflammatory posts.

So, for those of you beyond my family and friends (should you actually exist) who read my little opinion and newsbites, I apologize for the minor inconvenience, but I don’t tolerate bad behavior on any sites or forums under my care.

Now back to your regularly scheduled rants…

Tags: Human Stupidity, Humor, Internet, Technology by Roykirk
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Utter happiness, I’d say, if you love the varieties of sweet ambrosia that can be found in any pub in Belgium.

Jupiler is building a pavilion completely out of beer crates near the Atomium, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Brussels World’s Fair, Expo ‘58.

There is no finer font of liquid happiness in the world than the land of my forebears. Drink it whenever and wherever you find it.

Tags: Beer, Belgium, Entertainment, Humor by Roykirk
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An update to my post yesterday.

It seems the riders of the Paris-Nice peloton are not happy about van Impe’s treatment, and they’re getting upset at the apparent overreach of doping controls at that race—I haven’t much sympathy for this since they were warned by the UCI that racing under ASO only would strip them of rights and dignity. Though whether the UCI’s controls would have been less invasive and time-consuming is a question for another day.
However, David Rebellin makes a strong point that is symptomatic of extremism of anti-doping efforts:

“We support the controls, but what I’m worried about is the invasion of privacy. They come to our homes and we are always available. They have to remember that we are people, too, and not gangsters.”

And there it is in a nutshell: all riders are guilty unless proven otherwise.

David, welcome to the insanity of drug wars everywhere. It’s only going to get worse.

This is certainly something we’re starting to become familiar with in the U.S. as our rights are being eroded by this administration and the fear they’ve generated in the sheep. I’m sure that once they have doping “under control” they’ll start testing for terrorists.

Then again, who’s to say they’ll wait that long. Remember, the indignities these riders suffer are really nothing compared to what hundreds, if not thousands, of people experience every day at the hands of the inept and abusive Transportation Security Administration.

Cycling: humanity and politics in a nutshell.

Tags: Cycling, Human Stupidity, Politics, Sports by Roykirk
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Belgian cyclist Kevin van Impe had his heart ripped out this past Monday, so leave it to a bureaucratic bloodsucker (I’ll bet he’s French) to drain whatever life was left in him.

I really hope this colossal screw-up turns around and bites them in the ass. At this point, I am as sick of the anti-doping crusaders in Europe as I am of the police state drug warriors here in the U.S.

Just another example of what happens when little bureaucrats get a taste of a little power. I hope this vampire and his masters get some stakes through the heart. Oh, wait…

…from reading this story, it appears they don’t have any. Or if they do, they’re shriveled, vestigial organs.

Tags: Cycling, Human Stupidity, Politics, Sports by Roykirk
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If this article on ridiculous school policies and their unintended consequences weren’t published by the New York Times, I’d swear it was from The Onion.

Does anyone else see the blatant irony and parallel to drug prohibition?  Visions of Candy-Free Zones and Zero-Tolerance expulsions are running through my head right now at a fevered pace.

Tags: Human Stupidity, Humor by Roykirk
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While I don’t know if the Ferraro fracas is so much to get worked up about, Olbermann takes the time to castigate Hillary for other failings as well.

At this point, with the Republicans trying to game the Democratic nomination, her growing unpopularity, and her stupidity at suicide-bombing her own party, it’s time for her to take the high road and step back.

Unlike Keith, I think it’s already too late for her, and now she’s just causing strife and attrition within the Democrats that will only lead to President McCain, a far worse prospect than President Obama.

Tags: Human Stupidity, Humor, Politics by Roykirk
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Seems a lot of creators I grew up with are passing on lately, in all industries.

Dave Stevens, artist extraordinaire, and creator of the Rocketeer, passed away from leukemia.

I loved Dave’s work. His clean, detailed, and nostalgic art really gave a sense of history to his tales. But most of all, he loved the lines and curves of the female figure like no other. I’ll always be thankful to him as the man who introduced me to Bettie Page, through Betty in the Rocketeer.

Thank you, Dave. I only wish there had been more of Cliff Secord and Betty to leave us even more of a legacy.

Tags: Comics, Entertainment, Movies by Roykirk
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They are starting to speak up, coming out of the woodwork, and ones like this former Clinton (both) apologist say what I’ve been saying for a while: she wants power at any cost.

“She’s proven that she cares more about “Hillary” than “unity.” More about defeating Obama than defeating the Republicans. She’s become a political suicide-bomber, happy to blow herself to bits — as long as she takes everyone else with her.”

Can anyone still want this strident, vicious, unprincipled woman in the White House? If so, what are they doing to remain so ignorant of the darkness within her that is becoming ever more apparent as the nomination slips away?

Time for the Democratic Party leadership to come down like a hammer on this. She’s destroying everything that they could have gained from this election.  But I doubt they will, probably because the Clintons know where most of the bodies are buried.

And again, my family and friends wonder why I’m a libertarian. Take a look around. The Republicrats and Demagogues are ruining this country, almost as if it were planned that way. Though that’s hard to believe considering how stupid the people in charge appear to be.

So long as you think that you have to settle for the lesser of two evils, evil will continue to gain ground. Stop self-fulfilling the prophecy.

Tags: Human Stupidity, Politics by Roykirk
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“…We’ll take your children now, and you can go to straight to jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.”

Oh, and welcome to the Nanny States of Hillary, the rest of you. You’re next.

Sheesh. And people wonder why I’m a libertarian.

Tags: Uncategorized by Roykirk
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Larry David hits the nail on the head in a column for The Huffington Post. He helped me figure out why it is I think Hillary Clinton is so very wrong for the presidency: she wants it far too much.

And then he proceeds to explain in two sentences the essential difference between her and Obama, and at the same time ask the question we should all be answering:

“How is it that she became the one who’s perceived as more equipped to answer that 3 a.m. call than the unflappable Obama? He, with the ice in his veins, who doesn’t panic when he’s losing or get too giddy when he’s winning, who’s as comfortable in his own skin as she’s uncomfortable in hers.”

He must see the same things in Hillary that I do, for though his comments made me laugh, they have such a truth about them that it makes me sad as well:

“There have been times in this campaign when she seemed so unhinged that I worried she’d actually kill herself if she lost. Every day, she reminds me more and more of Adele H., who also had an obsession that drove her insane.”

Read Larry’s comments. The article is very short, with the kind of brevity I strive for.

What was going through the minds of voters in Rhode Island, Texas, and Ohio, I don’t know, but they must not actually try to watch and listen to the candidates. Unless Rush Limbaugh’s exhortation to Republicans actually had an effect?

Tags: Humor, Politics by Roykirk
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