I’m in the throngs of maybe moving from Blogger to here.  They don’t make it that easy, so gotta see if my designer is good to go and want to be sure this is as easy to use as everyone says.

You can hear the real deal and the true news over at

www.bitch-kittie.blogspot.com. .  . . at least for now.

Stay tuned because I rock.

bk

Well, George got his win. Stars and Stripes for him again. Looks like he worked with Levi “I’m gonna be working with you next year, George” Leipheimer. Good to see the future of Disco teamwork will be in tact. Velonews covered it. Go Georgie Go! You da man.

love,
BK

With some help, I finally figured out how to use this Blogger business and I found out that people actually read what I post here, so I thought that I would give you lovlies a little bit just for tuning in.

Gloria – The Cow
This whole journey started about 9 months ago, the end of last football season. My mom saw this ad in the paper calling for artists to design a cow. I know that sounds weird, but to make a long story short the Cow Parade is an international art festival celebrating the cow. Hey, I live in Wisconsin, it’s about time! Check out the link. It will explain it all.

101 cows were created and there were over 500 entries in Wisconsin, so I was pretty darn excited about getting chosen. I decopaged Wisconsin maps all over the life sized beauty. Photo album here. Super thanks to the DMV for donating the 59 maps to the great cause.

Did I say I was going to make a long story short? I’m trying, I’m trying. So the Cow Parade publishes a book in each city it goes to with all the cows that were done. The local Barnes and Noble hosted a signing with about 30 of the artists there. Everyone was absolutely amazed at how many people showed up. We sat and signed for three straight hours. It was pretty cool to see the turnout and the support from the community. This is the photo album from that event. .

Not sure how many of you get into the fall lineup, but I’m pretty stoked about Grey’s Anatomy season debut on Thursday Sept. 21. They made it to Thursdays now! Sweet!

I’m also pretty excited for the Rockstar:Supernova finale. We’ve got two weeks I think. I know Dilana is a bitch, but she’s damn good and right for Supernova.

Hope y’all are having a fab holiday weekend!

BK

I’ve had some comments on my new pictures. The funny thing is that my four year old daughter took them. She’s becoming quite a photographer. She has a lot of really good shots with even more total misses. I personally love the artistic eye with the one of the yellow crayon on the cement.

I got an in on a fun new blog that my super pal, Alyson (who is cuter than Christmas) got me on. It’s called www.slavetotarget.blogspot.com. Hi. Holy hilarious. Since I too am having a “red cart romance” as she calls it, I was taken aback by her similar love for the $1 section and the outrage that the crap there right now sucks and that not everything is $1. Damn.

I’m also going to plug www.thisnext.com/by/jessipacetti because I’m constantly adding new things and you can’t stop me.

I’m starting a new book . . . The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I’m very surprised this phenomenal book has passed me by for so many years. I hear there are a few by him. I am looking forward to reading them all. Maybe I can sway the book club to read some of them, as the Jane Green Summer Reading has peaked with me. Though, I will say that it has gotten me reading this summer and that was the goal. Comment on this post and let me know what y’all are reading. I’m always up for some new titles.

Ok. Signing off. . .
bk

Ok. Not really. I was asked to be featured on this site called www.thisnext.com. I’m a bit honored. I guess anyone can do it, but my new friend Alyson asked me to do it because she’s a Bob fan and . . . ok . . . he’s on there too. . . . Maybe it isn’t that exclusive, but it’s still a really fun site. Here’s how you get there.

http://www.thisnext.com/by/jessipacetti/

GO THERE NOW AND HAVE A LITTLE FUN.

bk

L-R: Bill, Biking Bob, Dave the Nacho King, Mr. BK, Holle, Mike, and Muffin in front

A Motley Crue, don’t you think? Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. These guys (except for Mike and Holle who are Trek Corporate suits) work for the Shereville Trek Concept Store. We discussed Bob’s upcoming visit there (date to be named later), Batman: the Figurine, how DTNK and I need to have BFF necklaces, Biking Bob’s kitchen skills and the joy of the PERFECT movie nachos. It’s no wonder that the crew is thinking about having Nacho Nights at the store. Maybe next will be Biking Bob’s Salsa Saturdays. Sweet. These guys are the best. I’m going on Nacho Night for sure.

BK and Muffin on Vodka

Muffin got us on some vodka kick. I’m sorry, VODKA. She is a rockstar because her store is #1 in the Trek family for WSD sales. How cool is that? I’m getting all the cool hookups on sweet tees from her since my store doesn’t seem to harvest an adequate WSD department. Unfortunate for them because I’m all about that stuff and I like to buy it. Anyways, Muffin is a gem. I wonder if you call the store and ask for “Muffin” they would know it was her. That would be funny if a litany of calls. . . man. Don’t do it this week, sad time at the store. . .keep reading.

I want to send my condolences and thoughts to all the friends and family of Gary Martin. Bob and I were lucky enough to meet this great guy on our last visit to the shop. He was funny, quick witted and the first to get a picture with Bob. You will be missed.

Until next time. . .

bk

In yesterday’s blog I beconed for the help of Bill Harris, my favorite DA to help decipher what is going on with Floyd and the doping. He took time out of his tragically busy day (go for a ride, Bill) to write this for me. He is DEFINATELY in the BK Fan Club. Actually, I think his family founded the whole thing when they adopted me in March. By the way, gotta get a shout out to my little brother who is apparently 6 inches taller than me now.

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY CAMERON!

Hope it’s super duper. Wish I could be snarfing cake with you today.

Love, Your Cheesy Sister in Wisconsin

Ok . . .here goes. . . .

Well, BK honey, you know where the hell I am: Deep in the heart of Texas trying to be the best father/husband, prosecutor, cyclist I can be (and not necessarily in that order!)First some ground rules: 1. My comments are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of my employer or the home office in Washington, D.C. (as Letterman might say), this website, or anyone else. 2. I am not rendering legal advise to anyone, and no one has any right or recourse based on my comments. 3. Finally, my comments are purely an interpretation of Bob Mionske’s two columns on this subject – put another way: Yours truly did not do any independent research.

OK, here goes: The first thing one has to understand is that none of this is a body of law that is imposed on people, as is the case with the laws of the land. Rather, the whole regulatory scheme (WADA, the UCI’s anti-doping rules, the procedures to be followed, the agreement to have the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be the last word, etc.) is part of a contractual agreement which in its bare essence is pretty simple: In exchange for my being allowed to race professionally, I the pro cyclist agree to follow the rules & regulations the UCI & U.S. Cycling have adopted. This is no different than the employment contracts many of us have. For example in exchange for my salary, benefits etc., I will perform my job in accordance with the specifications in the job description and will follow the rules & regulations (for example set hours, dress codes, office security and the like) that my employer sets forth.

One of the contractual terms for the pro cyclist is the acceptance of the “strict liability rule”, which as noted does not require fault by the rider. It can, but doesn’t necessarily have to, lead to the “game over” outcome which is causing BK such distress and resulted in her call out for me. In this sense, the word “fault” appears to be used to mean “intent”.

The easiest way I can explain how on the one hand strict liability (or lack of intent to violate) can be the standard, but not yet proof that a violation has taken place is to use the easiest parallel I can find. That would be the traffic code. Unlike the laws against tax evasion where the prosecution has to prove a defendant specifically intended to cheat on his/her taxes before the defendant can be found guilty, labeled a felon and exposed to being sent to prison (stated another way, a mistake on one’s taxes is not a crime), convicting someone of speeding does not require proof that a driver intended to go over the speed limit. So buckle up, here we go with our parallel:

A driver, call him Floyd, is zipping along in his Porsche Carrera. Maybe he’s paying attention to his speedometer, and maybe he ain’t. (That is, maybe he intended to violate, and maybe he didn’t.) The only one who will ever know is Floyd. The posted speed limit is 70 miles per hour (maximum accepted T/E ratio is 4:1; must be endogenous). Around a curve in the road up ahead is a cop, call him Dick, with a RADAR gun (urinalysis). Dick clocks Floyd as going 90mph (had a T/E ratio of 11:1 & exogenous). Dick pulls Floyd over and gives him a ticket for speeding, doing 90 in a 70 zone. The law says Floyd didn’t have to intend to speed – speeding is a strict liability violation. At this point has a violation been proven? Is it “game over”? No. We go onto the next step of the proceedings.

Floyd has a choice. He can mail in the fine, which is an admission of guilt (I did it), or he can contest it by going to court. In court, the prosecution calls Dick as its witness. Dick testifies he pointed his RADAR gun at Floyd’s car, and it read 90 (11:1 T/E, and exogenous). Dick testifies the posted speed limit is 70 (4:1, and endogenous). Floyd then gets to cross examine Dick. He can ask Dick whether the RADAR gun was operating properly. He can ask Dick when it was last calibrated. He can ask Dick who calibrated it and how. He can ask Dick how the RADAR gun was stored and handled and whether that could have put the calibration off. He can ask Dick about his training to operate the gun. He can ask Dick whether the curve in the road could throw the reading off, and so forth. (Challenge all the procedures, methods, handling, etc.) To try to further convince the judge that the test is unreliable, Floyd may testify that he is a safe driver who always obeys the traffic laws, etc., but he has no obligation to do so. He may also try to get the court to throw out the case if he can show that Dick violated police procedures in where he positioned himself, etc. (Releasing Floyd’s name publicly based only on the A sample; the French lab’s tendency to leak info to l’Equipe, etc.) You see where I’m going with this. If Floyd can convince the judge that there is some doubt as to whether the RADAR gun was correct when it said 90, then the prosecution has failed in proving Floyd went 90, and he’ll be found not guilty of speeding (gets to keep the Yellow Jersey). On the other hand, if Dick answers Floyd’s questions in a way which satisfies the judge, the judge will find that the violation has been proven, the judge will find Floyd guilty of speeding, and Floyd will have to pay the price.

Bottom line: a speeding citation is defendable, but it’s a hard road to hoe. I think the same applies to a positive doping test.

Sorry to be so wordy, but after all, I do belong to a profession which has the audacity to write a 300 page document and call it a “brief”.

Bill Harris

Well Bill, you’ve outdone yourself on this one. Thanks again!

bk

Ok Folks, I am BEGGING all of you who write into www.bobroll.com to ask about the doping procedure to read this VeloNews article by Bob Mionski. You will find the layman’s guide to the rules. The most interesting part I found was this:

“…when a B Sample has tested positive, the rider has not yet been proven to have violated the anti-doping rules; rather, the Anti-Doping Commission is alleging that the anti-doping rules have been violated. A violation of the Anti-Doping Rules is governed by the Strict Liability Rule, which does not require fault on the part of the rider to be proven; the presence of a prohibited substance is enough to establish a violation of the Anti-Doping Rules.”

EXCUSE ME? Do I have this right? Floyd has not yet been proven to have violated the rules but the ADC say that in theory the anti-doping policies have been broken? Did I read that correctly? Here’s my favorite part. Just because they found the substance the rules are broken? Game over? What? I think I need some DAs to help me decipher this one .. . Bill Harris, where the hell are you?

I am not a stupid girl. I’m actually very smart. Why don’t I understand this? I’ve read the article about 4 times and now I want some replies on this. You can comment to me because I am getting angry now and nobody needs an angry BK on their hands.

I DO understand that all the allegations that I have read about don’t add up. There’s something missing.. . plus I love that all the theories from people in the medical community to your average cyclist are rolling in. It’s killer. I may just have to start blogging the Floyd stuff so y’all can have an open forum on it. Would that be fun? I think it would.

In this entire TdayF I’m the one that was preaching for an All American podium and I want to see US Cycling succeed, but in all fairness, none of the info makes sense .. . kind of reminds me of another American TdayF winner . . .

Are the French just angry we keep winning their race? Is that the real question?

Here’s looking to some great comments. . .

bk

http://www.petitiononline.com/floyd/petition.html

Ran into this in the guestbook commnts at www.bobroll.com. Glad to see the people out there preaching the word. . . . let me know if there are any other petitions. I’m signing them. I want the guy to get a fair chance.
According to the poll on this Scratching Post 66.5% of you say that Floyd is all good, no goofing around with the druggies, 22% of you don’t know and 11.5% say he’s a dirty rotten scoundrel trying to pull one over on the sport.
We’ve gotten a lot of mail about this issue as you can imagine. Mostly, people are taking the info and really trying to find an honest answer. There are some who are genuinely wanting the knowledge and then there is a few that don’t believe Floyd and aren’t verry happy that Bob does yet haven’t found a constructive way to portray that. I was told quite recently by my very wise Uncle Tim to never get in a pissing war with a skunk, so www.bobroll.com has taken a pretty passive stand with those fellas. They have all been men, too. Hmm.

Georgie H. is doing well these days. . . Benelux is treating him well. Good to see him have some success this season. His Tour of Cali days were good ones, but July was tough. Except when he got to meet me. I’ll bet that was a big highlight for him. He will probably wait to call until he gets home from his race. . . yeah. . . that’s it. He’s waiting to get home.

Signing off . . .

bk

Nothing I can say about this would do it justice. That’s a first.

I wouldn’t try this at home.

bk