The Lance Armstrong Story - Stop at Nothing

Quotes from “The Lance Armstrong Story - Stop at Nothing”

BBC Documentary Aired on July 6 2014

Betsy Andreu who was the first to expose Lance Armstrong said of Armstrong: “His Modus Operandi ‘Don't attack the message, attack the messenger’.”

Jeffery M. Tillotson, lawyer, “Great Liar Lance Armstrong: ‘I never doped. I passed every test. And anyone who challenges me, I am currently suing and are proving they are lying.”

“They were very mean and very dismissive of Emma O’Reilly, as they were really almost of all the women that testified against Armstrong.”

Emma O’Reilly, Armstrong’s former masseuse,“You don't talk about people like that.. By calling me those names. Calling me basically an alcoholic prostitute. Its just attacking me personally, but it’s not addressing the points I brought up.”

Jeffery M. Tillotson, “Either everyone who I had talked to, and all the evidence I had gathered, and all the scientists and other people were liars, which I found frankly were impossible, or Lance approached basically clinically a sociopath, someone able to do wrong without remorse, or care who they hurt in the process. The former was unpalatable, and the latter was scary. That we were litigating with someone who would do anything to prevail.”

Floyd Landis said of Armstrong’s cancer campaign: “The Longer it went on the more impressed I am that Lance could maintain a story like that that was nearly 100% fabricated, and still live such an obnoxious life, and not even tried to hide it.”

David Walsh, journalist, quotes: “Lance came back, because he couldn't stay away. Why couldn't he stay away? Because its like the oldest theme in Hollywood that you ever come across: The Jewel thief, the bank robber the assassin. They do their jobs brilliantly. They win every time. They kill all the people they should kill, they get all the jewels they should get, they get all the money from the bank they should get. Somebody comes and says, One More Job.”

Speaking of Floyd Landis, one-time Tour De France Champion who maintained his innocence of doping, “And Lance and Bruyneel, both kindred spirits, in terms of having no emotional intelligence, decide they don't want to have anything to do with Floyd, he is just a loser, he got caught. They don't realize they are actually handling a ticking bomb here. Floyd has offered them the chance to diffuse the bomb. To just take out that little pin or whatever, give him a little, small job in the team, everything is OK. They tell him to get lost and the bomb blows up in their faces.”

“You know the information kind of started trickling out of me, and then after 15 minutes or so it just poured out of me. I don't think they were expecting any kind of testimony like they got. Lance Armstrong didn't appreciate that. A few months later I was out at dinner with some friends, and he must have eyes on me because he had people contact me, and let him know where I was, and he you know, approached me, and tried to intimidate me. He said he was going to make life living hell both in the court room and out of the court room.”

“It goes to show the power that Armstrong has. He got a Federal Investigation shut down, despite having all that information out there, and all that evidence out there.” “I was so disappointed in the whole system, you know.this corruption can happen, and, you know, favours can be granted.”

Tarvis Tygard picks up the baton:”…This was not just about Armstrong getting away with doping for a few years.. He (Armstrong) was the boss, the evidence is clear. He was one of the ring leaders of this conspiracy, that pulled off this grand heist, using tens of millions of tax-payers dollars, that defrauded millions of sport fans and his fellow competitors.”

“Lance immediately went on the attack, immediately sued them in his home court, and immediately started saying, ‘you saw it as a terrible, bad, kangaroo organization.’. I thought, here we go again. He is going to bloody them up. He is going to walk away from this.” “Almost every turn the lobbyists for Armstrong and his criminal defence attorney, and others, want to bankrupt us and take us down. Whether it was claiming to the world media he had not authority or we were on witch hunts or the jurisdiction didn't rest with us, there were numerous efforts by them to ensure this information never got out.”

“He is like the guy who robs a bank, and then says, ‘Oops, forgot to frisk the tellers for any money they might have in their pocket’. So he essentially wanted it all.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b048wq0z/storyville-20142015-2-the-lance-armstrong-story-stop-at-nothing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048wq0z

Fashion mogul changes stripes for tigers - CNN International: Eco-Soluti...

NEGATIVITY OR CREATIVITY?

"Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge." -Eckehart Tolle.

In a situation where, figuratively speaking, my life hangs in the balance, the sayings of E.Tolle become particularly relevant and insightful. I have now come to appreciate many of his sayings as well as those from other sages much more in context. They provide me with tranquility and courage to deal with my surreally challenging personal problems.

Two years have gone by since my life was put on hold, and I have been living in limbo, in every sense of the word. I had dreams that were broken, plans destroyed, and hopes dashed. However, my spirit has not been broken. If anything, I have discovered a spiritual realm which I would not have found a merely two years ago.

The spiritual teachings of E. Tolle took on new meaning recently when I was invited to speak and attend an inspiring workshop which explored alternative ways of helping conservation of big cats. This taps into the vast reservoir of ancient spiritual wisdom of our ancestors.

Even in not too distant past, tigers were worshipped in Chinese culture as gods, much like tigers in India as well as White Lions in Africa. It was only with the onset of modern weaponry that the mysterious powers of the tigers were challenged and destroyed. What followed was the rapid demise of tigers in China. Parallel exist for almost all big predators around the world.  It may not be possible at all to restore the suitable historical status the big predators once occupied in our society, but if we don't try in every way we can, we would lose these magical and mysterious symbols of the wild even faster.

Many big predators were once worshipped as gods and regarded as sacred. They protected our lands and waters. Their disappearance happened hand in hand with the destruction of nature. If we don't act now, WHEN should we act?? If we don't do anything about it, WHO should do anything about it?

Although I have lost physical contacts with the Chinese tigers I rewilded and bred during ten years of my work, my mission in wildlife conservation appears not only not yet finished but has become wider and even more important, as I have been invited to speak at and become part of a larger group of inspiring people with the same goals of saving the sacred big cats and their ancestral lands from destruction. I feel very privileged to have been able to exchange and learn at various workshops & conferences in the last two years, which infuse our new charity China Tiger Revival with new energy and identity.

Well, in Chinese tiger symbolism, we say “Riding the tiger, one can not get off”.

Isn’t this one of these spaces created from negativity?

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." Said Laozi.

Out of Africa-Chinese Government Announces Chinese Tigers to Go Home

Global Times* | Huang Jingjing 
Published on August 17, 2014 19:28

A controversial African "rewilding" project, engineered to save the South China wild tiger from certain extinction, may finally be about to bare its teeth. Three tigers, sent to the African wilderness, are finally expected to return home after a decade, along with their 15 surviving offspring.

"As early as the end of this year," Fu Wenyuan, director of the Meihuashan South China Tiger Breeding and Research Center in Longyan, Fujian Province, told the Guangzhou Daily about the tigers' planned timetable.

It was about 10 years ago that China's State Forestry Administration (SFA) agreed to a proposal to raise cubs in South Africa's Laohu ("Tiger") Valley Reserve, where it was hoped that wild tigers could not only be protected but "rewilded" - reared for release back into their natural habitat.

To continue reading the article please go to: http://backup.globaltimes.cn/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=99&tabmoduleid=94&articleId=876668&moduleId=405&PortalID=0

COMMENT:
I am lost for words reading this article. When I initiated the effort to save the Chinese tigers in 1999, little did I expect the tremendous challenges along the way. I lost complete access to these tigers that I took from China, re-rewilded and bred since August 2012. I so look forward to seeing them again when they return to China. They are like the children I have never had. I pray for their safe return to their homeland, where their ancestors have lived for two million years.

*The Global Times is a Chinese daily in both English and Chinese under the auspices of the Chinese government People's Daily newspaper, focusing on international issues.

REVELATIONS

“Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. “

This was read at the mass conducted by the Priest Vicar of Westminster Abbey by Reverend Dominic Fenton yesterday. I was touched by his sober sermon discussing the sad state of the world -troubles in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Europe.

These were of course the most noticeable of troubles however. There is much other turmoil around the world that goes on unreported. Wildlife is being decimated and nature depleted, for example.  I am very pleased that someone, such as the Reverend Fenton, is bringing our attentions to these issues in such public gatherings as most of us are simply caught up in our own little world of worries and problems. I myself, am one of these people. My life has changed dramatically since two years ago when I filed for divorce, and my energy is mostly spent on fending for my survival to be able to engage in world issues at large.  This, however, is not an excuse to be indifferent to what’s going on elsewhere as a citizen of planet earth.

Events took a sinister turn for me two years ago. As a result I lost complete access to the charity and the South China tiger project that I conceived, established, implemented and ran for over ten years. But the positive side of that is I now have the luxury of time and what’s more, liberty, to pursue other interests. I started making regular visits to the many beautiful churches and cathedrals in London, particularly in my neighbourhood of City and Shoreditch, the true heart of historical London.

Although not born into any religion (on the contrary in fact), I have always liked visiting churches, cathedrals & monasteries.  Many of those I had the opportunity to attend while living in Italy are not just breathtakingly beautiful, culturally enriching, but spiritually enhancing.

The calming influence the ecclesiastical institutions provide has often given me strength and clarity at these trying times of extreme uncertainty and challenges. I feel particularly lucky to be surrounded by these beautiful living monuments that provide services to the local communities. One of the Christopher Wren churches that I am particularly fond of is St. Michael’s Cornhill. This little jewel of a church is almost hidden in the bustling City of banking, making it a precious refuge for those who seek solace and consolation. When its rather majestic organ sounds, it is simply powerful and entrancing.

I can not sing enough praise about the organ concerts held at these London churches which in my humble opinion rival the most wonderful of concert halls in the world. If there is anything that I feel addicted to at present, it got to be these heavenly sounds in such pleasing surroundings. Not too bad a consolation prize though, I’d say.

Rembrandt Clothed in Rubens

I was recently in Switzerland and was taken out for lunch by a friend, SH, whom I knew from eternity but haven’t seen for ages.

After lunch and before my flight is due back home I still had a couple of hours to spare.  SH offered to take me for sightseeing which I enthusiastically accepted.  Shortly after SH discovered that the back window of his car would not close so we took a detour to head to his house in the country to change the car.

Upon entering the house, SH disabled the alarm. I was rather curious, as this would be the last part of the world where one would need alarm for a house. I could not leave this question unanswered.

“Well its pretty safe here but always better to have one, particularly if you have this thing around”, SH replied, turning on the spot light that shone onto a painting hanging on the wall directly opposite the entrance.

“It’s a Rembrandt”, SH added.

You can of course imagine my utter astonishment at facing this masterpiece in a not- so-extravagant house in a rural part of Switzerland.

The portrait was a man in dark garment with a hat, not unlike this one shown to the right here in style, except that it has been in the private possession of SH’s family since the time of SH's grandparents.

“You know how I found it?” SH continued, “in the cellar when I inherited this house from my parents”.

Well people inherit things in their cellars but what I was about to hear next could only be regarded as ethereal.

“I saw this carton box in the cellar marked ‘Rubens’ so I called my parents asking what was inside. My parents said it was a painting by Rembrandt. Of course I asked why the box was however marked as Rubens? They said this was to confuse people so they wouldn’t steal it”.

Yea, a Rembrandt “disguised” as a Rubens. That would surely fend off a few art-thieves.

This, I must admit, got to be one of the most quirky stories I have ever heard.

But Switzerland is not short of quirky people either. SH also told me that he uses a foot reflexologist, who charges sixty Swiss Francs per hour, and who also owns a luxurious safari lodge in Botswana. Being a seasoned visitor to Africa, I sense that this can not be your ordinary foot masseuse. Indeed, she is a major shareholder of a major fortune 500 hundred company and is only worth a few billion dollars.

Only in Switzerland!

CHINA TIGER REVIVAL CO-LAUNCH FORUM FOR CHINESE WOMEN IN UK

The first Forum for Chinese Women in UK was launched on March 10th at the Asia House. Ms. Li Quan of China Tiger Revival (UK) was proud to be co-founder of Forum for Chinese Women in UK.

This is a new initiative by Chinese women for Chinese women. The objective of the forum is to increase the awareness of diverse achievements by Chinese women in British society as well as inspire others to contribute to and integrate into our adopted country which has given us a lot of opportunities, the Great Britain. China Tiger Revival hopes to increase the awareness of wildlife conservation among the Chinese community in UK and encourage more women to participate in local environmental endeavors. 

Chinese women enjoy perhaps one of the world’s most equal status with men in modern China. They have accomplished tremendously in such areas as business, academia, sports, politics as well arts and literature. Yet their achievements are not yet as well publicized and celebrated in Britain. With the increasing number of Chinese women assuming important roles in various sectors of British society, we believe it is time to bring awareness of their achievements to a wider British public.

The forum aims to achieve the following:

-Showcase achievements by Chinese women living and working in UK from different fields

-Inspire more Chinese women to contribute to their adopted country

-Encourage integration of Chinese women within Britain

-Facilitate exchange between Chinese women and women of other ethnic groups in UK

Future events will be organized to continue this effort. Watch this space!

For more event details: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chinese-women-british-success-a-forum-to-inspire-chinese-women-in-the-uk-tickets-10750078775

Report by Propeller TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfrcXgVGT_w&feature=youtu.be