Report: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dealt Drugs for Spending Money

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By Tony Lee 

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspected Boston Marathon bomber who was captured alive last Friday, reportedly dealt drugs on the side for spending money while in college.

Students at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and three people who bought marijuana from Dzhokhar who did not want to be named told the Boston Globe that Dzhokha "earned at least some cash selling marijuana." 

Another person said "there was a permanent stench of marijuana in his room." Dzhokhar reportedly sold what he did not smoke himself, according to friends.

The students describe Dzhokhar, who received a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, as a scholarship student who had money for food and expenses but did not live a lavish lifestyle. He "drove his father’s green 1999 Honda Civic" and also may have had a "mysterious" side business helping friends fix cars.

La viuda de un narco boliviano relata la conexion Cuba

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Roberto Suárez Gómez, apodado «El Rey de la Cocaína» (1932 – 20 de julio de 2000)

De las confesiones que Roberto me hizo en Tamarindo acerca de su reciente viaje a Colombia, Cuba y Panamá, sin lugar a dudas la más sorprendente fue la razón de su visita a La Habana. La relación entre el régimen comunista y los narcotraficantes colombianos se inició a comienzos de la década de los ochenta. El Departamento América, en cumplimiento de una orden expresa de Raúl Castro, mandó como embajador en Bogotá a Fernando Ravelo, uno de sus mejores agentes. La misión principal del “diplomático” era hacer las gestiones que fuesen necesarias para conectarse con la cúpula que manejaba el tráfico de drogas en Colombia. En el año 1981, como dije antes, la intermediación del gobierno de Cuba ante los guerrilleros del M-19 y el MAS fue determinante para la liberación de Nieves Ochoa y fue, además, el primer puente de confianza tendido por los comunistas a los narcotraficantes. El primero en ser contactado por Ravelo fue Carlos Lehder. Las negociaciones que éste realizó con las autoridades cubanas durante su larga visita a la isla lo convertirían a la postre en el conducto perfecto que los llevaría hasta sus principales objetivos: Roberto Suárez y Pablo Escobar. Desde el año 1982 Lehder les había manifestado a mi marido y a Escobar, en reiteradas oportunidades, las persistentes invitaciones del embajador Ravelo para que lo visitaran en Bogotá, pero no aceptarían ninguna. No los necesitaban todavía.

Ayda Levy, la viuda de Suárez Gómez

En el mes de mayo de 1981, ante las cuantiosas pérdidas que les ocasionó la marina cubana en el Paso de los Vientos, y cansados de los continuos cambios de humor de las autoridades de las Bahamas para dar su visto bueno a las naves marinas y aéreas que llegaban desde Colombia y Costa Rica para reabastecerse  de combustible en sus islas, Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, a nombre del cártel, conseguiría al fin la venia de las autoridades estatales de Quintana Roo para que sus transportistas, que partían del puerto de Barranquilla, reabastecieran sus barcos y aviones en la isla de Cazumel. Desde la Riviera Maya atravesaban el Golfo de México hasta las aguas de los Cayos de la Florida, donde realizaban el trasbordo o bombardeo de la mercancía. Pero casi dos años más tarde llegaría el boom del narcotráfico mexicano. El incremento progresivo de los volúmenes de droga que éstos transportaban por aire, mar y tierra les permitiría tomar el control total de las rutas del Golfo.
Ése fue el motivo para que, en el mes de enero de 1983, Roberto y Escobar aceptaran al fin reunirse en Bogotá con el representante del gobierno cubano. Ravelo los recibió en la embajada, acompañado por el jefe del Departamento MC (Monedas Convertibles), dependiente del Ministerio del Interior, el coronel Antonio de la Guardia, quien les transmitió la invitación del general Arnaldo Ochoa para visitar Cuba. No había más tiempo que perder. Fijaron la fecha del viaje para el día siguiente. Al salir de la residencia, Pablo dijo en tono burlesco: “¿Departamento MC, Marihuana-Cocaína? Los tenemos donde queríamos, mi don. Estos cubanos están apestados por plata. Cada vez las limosnas que reciben de los rusos son menores. Se las dan con cuentagotas”

A la mañana siguiente se embarcaron en el aeropuerto El Dorado junto al coronel cubano en un jet Comander propiedad de Escobar, quien no se cambiaba por nadie. El vuelo hasta la isla duró más de dos horas y media. En el aeropuerto de Varadero fueron recibidos con bombo y platillo por René Rodríguez, presidente del Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (ICAP), y el almirante Aldo Santamaría, jefe de la marina de guerra cubana. Durante el trayecto al Comando de Operaciones Navales, Rodríguez y Santamaría les comentaron acerca del marcado interés que tenía Fidel  y su entorno en usar el narcotráfico como un arma contra el imperialismo yanqui, y apoyar con los fondos provenientes del tráfico a los grupos guerrilleros colombianos, en especial a los M-19, quienes serían los encargados de velar por la seguridad de los laboratorios del cártel. “En el comando nos esperó el coronel Humberto Francis Pardo, una simpatía de negrazo que se las sabe todas. Se puso a nuestra entera disposición y nos mostró hasta el último rincón del complejo naval. Lo que más nos impresionó fue el alcance de unos modernos radares recién llegados de Rusia, que te dan la ubicación exacta de los guardacostas gringos”. Mientras más se explayaba Roberto en su relato, yo entendía menos su intención de volver conmigo. Cada palabra suya alejaba en forma diametral esa mínima posibilidad.

Por orden de Fidel, en La Habana los hospedaron en una de sus mansiones en el barrio del Vedado, la misma donde habría reposado junto a su comitiva Leonid Brézhnev durante su visita a la isla, en la década anterior. Esa noche los generales Arnaldo Ochoa y Patricio de la Guardia les ofrecieron una recepción en el Club de Yates de la Marina Hemingway, donde compartieron con los miembros de la Nomenclatura y otras personalidades relevantes del régimen hasta entrada la madrugada. El general Ochoa se encargó de escoltarlos en persona hasta la fortificada casona de la calle 11. Al despedirse, les dijo: “Hermanos, como dicen ustedes que al que madruga, Dios lo ayuda, mañana temprano tendremos un desayuno de trabajo para hablar de negocios. Los mando a buscar con Tony a las siente en punto”. Cuando quedaron solos en el búnker, Escobar le preguntó a Roberto: “¿Qué irán a decir los gringos cuando se enteren de que estuvimos negociando por acá?” Mi marido le respondió, tajante: “Me tiene sin cuidado lo que diga la CIA. Te repito lo mismo que le dije a Manuel el otro día: les vamos a enseñar a jugar a dos puntas”.

Al día siguiente, el coronel estuvo puntual a la hora indicada para llevarlos a las dependencias del Ministerio del Interior, donde los esperaban para desayunar el mismo José Abrantes y el general Ochoa. Después de un par de horas de regateos, llegaron al fin a un acuerdo. Pagarían un millón de dólares diarios para tener la cobertura del gobierno cubano y el libre acceso a sus aguas territoriales y espacio aéreo, lo que les permitiría usar sus puertos y aeropuertos a su antojo para reabastecer sus barcos y aviones. Y, por supuesto, el acuerdo incluía la escolta oficial de la flota y de la aviación cubana en todas sus operaciones. Después de felicitarse mutuamente, Abrantes se comunicó con un colega, el ministro de Defensa: “Raúl, hemos llegado a un acuerdo satisfactorio con los señores Suárez y Escobar”. Mientras, el general Ochoa les decía, en referencia a Fidel: “Señores, ahora viene la mejor parte, vamos a ver al Caballo”. Roberto dijo para sus adentros: “Primero el gusto, después el susto”.

En el aeropuerto de La Habana abordaron un helicóptero Mig-24 que los trasladó hasta el Cayo Piedra. Al sobrevolar la paradisíaca propiedad, quedaron deslumbrados ante la magnificencia de la construcción. Aterrizaron en el helipuerto, donde fueron recibidos por el ministro de Defensa. “Sean ustedes bienvenidos, señores, mi hermano los está esperando arriba”, dijo Raúl Castro, quien los condujo en medio de una fuerte vigilancia de decenas de guardias civiles y francotiradores militares hasta la sala principal de la mansión. “Gracias por haber aceptado finalmente la invitación de Ochoa. Ustedes serán el misil con el que agujerearé el bloqueo y el injusto embargo que sufre mi país”, les dijo, mirándolos fijamente a los ojos mientras les estrechaba la mano. Luego continuó: “Pepe me ha informado sobre los detalles del trato. Es menos de lo que yo esperaba. Pablo habría replicado: “Treinta millones al mes es un mundo de plata, presidente, son como trescientos sesenta…” El dictador no lo dejó terminar y en tono jocoso les dijo: “Tienes razón, Escobar, eso es mucho dinero para nosotros. En cambio, para ustedes son centavos. Lo ganan de un solo envión”. Se acercó hacia ellos frotándose la barbilla  y les dijo sonriendo: “Mejor cambiemos de tema. No hay por qué hablar más del asunto. La palabra empeñada por el ministro Abrantes tiene casi el mismo valor que la mía”.

Luego se dirigió a Roberto para pedirle que interpusiera sus buenos oficios ante el gobierno del presidente Siles Zuazo, para que de una vez por todas iniciara la búsqueda del cadáver del Che. Mi marido no le prestaría mucha atención a su charla. Seguiría pensando en la última frase dicha por el dictador, mientras que éste le mostraba los informes erróneos que manejaban sus servicios de inteligencia, según los cuales el guerrillero argentino-cubano estaría enterrado en las proximidades de la población de Vallegrande. De acuerdo con informes, fidedignos que el general Mario Vargas Salinas le proporcionó a Roberto, el Che habría sido enterrado debajo de la pista de aterrizaje del aeropuerto de Vallegrande. Su hermano Raúl notó la falta de interés de Roberto sobre el asunto y prefirió finalizar diciendo: “Lo único que pretendemos es repatriar sus restos para darle una sepultura digna junto a los otros héroes de la Revolución”. La reunión se extendió por un lapso de media hora más, en la cual ajustaron algunos detalles logísticos y definieron comenzar sus operaciones de inmediato. Luego de despedirse, cuando se disponían a abordar el helicóptero, Fidel le dijo a su general: “Ochoa, me cuidas a estos señores con tu vida. A partir de hoy, ellos valen más para Cuba que Vasili Kuznetsov y el Sóviet Supremo juntos”.

---------------

Fotos:  www.taringa.net

Mexican drug cartels reportedly dispatching agents deep inside US

Fox News

CHICAGO –  Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States -- an emboldened presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the world's most lucrative narcotics market and maximize profits.

If left unchecked, authorities say, the cartels' move into the American interior could render the syndicates harder than ever to dislodge and pave the way for them to expand into other criminal enterprises such as prostitution, kidnapping-and-extortion rackets and money laundering.

Cartel activity in the U.S. is certainly not new. Starting in the 1990s, the ruthless syndicates became the nation's No. 1 supplier of illegal drugs, using unaffiliated middlemen to smuggle cocaine, marijuana and heroin beyond the border or even to grow pot here.

But a wide-ranging Associated Press review of federal court cases and government drug-enforcement data, plus interviews with many top law enforcement officials, indicate the groups have begun deploying agents from their inner circles to the U.S. Cartel operatives are suspected of running drug-distribution networks in at least nine non-border states, often in middle-class suburbs in the Midwest, South and Northeast.

"It's probably the most serious threat the United States has faced from organized crime," said Jack Riley, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago office.

The cartel threat looms so large that one of Mexico's most notorious drug kingpins -- a man who has never set foot in Chicago -- was recently named the city's Public Enemy No. 1, the same notorious label once assigned to Al Capone.

The Chicago Crime Commission, a non-government agency that tracks crime trends in the region, said it considers Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman even more menacing than Capone because Guzman leads the deadly Sinaloa cartel, which supplies most of the narcotics sold in Chicago and in many cities across the U.S.

Years ago, Mexico faced the same problem -- of then-nascent cartels expanding their power -- "and didn't nip the problem in the bud," said Jack Killorin, head of an anti-trafficking program in Atlanta for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "And see where they are now."

Riley sounds a similar alarm: "People think, `The border's 1,700 miles away. This isn't our problem.' Well, it is. These days, we operate as if Chicago is on the border."

Border states from Texas to California have long grappled with a cartel presence. But cases involving cartel members have now emerged in the suburbs of Chicago and Atlanta, as well as Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., and rural North Carolina. Suspects have also surfaced in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

Mexican drug cartels "are taking over our neighborhoods," Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane warned a legislative committee in February. State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan disputed her claim, saying cartels are primarily drug suppliers, not the ones trafficking drugs on the ground.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/01/mexican-drug-cartels-reportedly-dispatching-agents-deep-inside-us/#ixzz2PDi329mB

Avital Ronell: The Day Off [forgiveness, drugs, ontic, ontological, friendship, blush,...]

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Avital Ronell discusses the concepts of forgiveness, drugs, ontic, ontological, friendship, blush, nausea, otherness, alterity, referring to Heidegger, Holderlin, Levinas, Susan Sontag, Lyotard, Kleist, Nietzsche, Wagner, Derrida, Lacoue-Labarthe, Alfred Hitchcock, Hegel. Free public open lecture for the students and faculty of the European Graduate School EGS Media and Communication Studies Department Program in 2012. EGS, Saas-Fee, Switzerland, Europe, Avital Ronell 2012.

Avital Ronell is Professor of German, comparative literature, and English at New York University, where she directs the Research in Trauma and Violence project. She is a member of the faculty of the European Graduate School, interested in Literary and other discourses, feminism, philosophy, technology and media, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, performance art, and has also written as a literary critic, a feminist, and philosopher.

Avital Ronell was born in Prague to Israeli diplomats and was a performance artist before entering academia. She received a B.A. in 1974 from Middlebury, studied with Jacob Taubes at the Hermeneutic Institute at the Free University of Berlin, received her Ph.D. under the advisement of Stanley Corngold at Princeton University in 1979. Avital Ronell taught at the University of California at Berkeley from 1984-1995 and at New York University from 1995 to the present. She served as Chair of the Department of German from Spring 1997 to Spring 2005. She taught an annual seminar in Literature & Philosophy at NYU with Professor Jacques Derrida and has taught with Professor Helene Cixous at Université of Paris VIII. She regularly teaches at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland and in Mexico. She was invited by the Humanities Council to offer a seminar at Princeton University in spring 2006.

Avital Ronell has produced English translations of Derrida's work.Her books and works include: The Uber Reader: Selected Works of Avital Ronell Ed. Diane Davis. 2006; 2005 The Test Drive, 2001 Stupidity, 1998 Finitude's Score Essays for the End of the Millennium , 1993 Crack Wars: Literature, Addiction, Mania, 1993 Dictations: On Haunted Writing, 1989 Telephone Book Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech, 1989 The Ear of the Other, trans., Jacques Derrida, and Dictations: On Haunted Writing 1986.

MLB investigating Alex Rodriguez, Miami clinic

nbcsports

NEW YORK -- - Major League Baseball is investigating whether players, including Alex Rodriguez, purchased human growth hormone as recently as last year from a Miami health clinic, the league said in a statement Tuesday.

The league statement was issued in response to a report published in the Miami New Times, which cites files obtained from a former employee of Biogenesis, a now-closed South Florida clinic, that show Rodriguez was one of several athletes to purchase HGH and other substances.

"We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. ... Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida," MLB's statement said.

ALSO ON THIS STORY

HBT: Clinic records suggest A-Rod purchased steroids in 2012

Rodriguez, the New York Yankees slugger currently recovering from hip surgery, has admitted using steroids from 2001-03 but insisted he stopped after that. Rodriguez issued a statement denying having a link to Anthony Bosch, the owner of the South Florida Clinic.

"The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true," the statement read.  "Alex Rodriguez was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story -- at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez -- are not legitimate.”

Other players named by the New Times as appearing in the records at Biogenesis include Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon and Nelson Cruz. Cabrera, the All-Star game MVP for the San Francisco Giants last season, was suspended 50 games in August for failing a drug test. The outfielder has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent.

Colon, a pitcher for the Oakland A's, was also suspended 50 games in August.

Gonzalez, who went 21-8 for the Washington Nationals last season, and Cruz, who hit 24 home runs for the Texas Rangers, had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

The Rangers said in a statement that after being contacted by the New Times late last week, they notified Major League Baseball. The club said it had no further comment.

Gonzalez posted on his Twitter feed: "I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, I've never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance."

The report said that Bosch's notes list the players' names and the substances they received, including human growth hormone and steroids. Several unidentified employees and clients confirmed to the publication that the clinic distributed the substances, the paper said. The employees said that Bosch bragged of supplying drugs to professionalthletes but they never saw the sports stars in the office.

Any player found by MLB to use banned, performance-enhancing substances, is subject to suspension.

Is the public buying Lance Armstrong's narrative?

Armstrong's most humbling moment: Losing Livestrong

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Watch Lance Armstrong's confession

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Armstrong: 'Yes,' he used performance-enhancing drugs

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"Yes."

That was Lance Armstrong's response to Oprah Winfrey's initial question in her much-publicized interview with the former seven-time Tour de France winner on whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to aid his victories in all seven of the prestigious races.

Armstrong said a "win at all costs" mentality and "arrogance" were behind his cheating, and accepted blame for his mistakes, saying he deserves the scrutiny he's now come under in the wake of being stripped of his titles.

Armstrong answered "yes" to separate questions about whether he used EPO, whether he partook in blood transfusions, whether he used took human-growth hormone and whether he used performance-enhancing drugs in all seven of his Tour de France victories. He answered "no" when asked if he felt his accomplishments were possible without the assistance of banned substances.

Armstrong did insist that he did not use performance-enhancing drugs beyond 2005, and that his third-place finish in his 2009 comeback to the Tour de France was clean.

Reflecting back on his era of cycling dominance, Armstrong said that "the winning was almost phoned in," and he did not feel bad about using banned drugs, and furthermore did not feel that using banned drugs was cheating, revelations that he now, in hindsight, finds "scary." In a moment of contrition, Armstrong said that his longtime supporters "have every right to feel betrayed," and that he'll spend the rest of his life apologizing to make it up to them.

On the topic of illegal testosterone use, Armstrong had a controversial excuse, saying he used it because he was running low on his natural supply of the hormone due to his battle with cancer.

Armstrong insisted that there was no directive within his U.S. Postal Service team requiring riders to conform with the doping program in which he and other riders partook. That stands in contrast with statements from former teammates, notably Christian Vande Velde, who says he was threatened with being kicked off the team before partaking in the program.

Armstrong also confessed to being "a bully," and wanting to control the narrative, reacting negatively to statements he didn't like. It's a pattern of behavior Armstrong said has followed him his entire life, and one evident in Armstrong's frequent denials of doping over the years before and since his retirement.

When asked pointedly whether he required or expected teammates to dope for the sake of achieving a certain level of team success, Armstrong responded, "absolutely not."

Armstong hesitated before responding, "No," when asked if Dr. Michele Ferrari was at the head of the team's doping program, but also said he was reckless to be involved with the Italian physician and cycling coach, who's been issued a lifetime sports ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for multiple anti-doping violations. Armstrong characterized the entire period of his life as "reckless."

Armstrong said a donation made to UCI, cycling's chief organizing body, was made "because they asked me to," and not in an attempt to bribe officials to hide positive test results.

Winfrey pressed Armstrong on the topic of lawsuits filed against people who spoke out against Armstrong, among them Emma O'Reilly, a former masseuse for the U.S. Postal Service team. "It's a major flaw," Armstrong said of lawsuits against O'Reilly and others who were speaking the truth. "It's a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted and control every outcome. It's inexcusable."

The International Olympic Committee didn't wait to listen to Armstrong's interview.

The IOC on Wednesday stripped Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal, sending him a letter asking him to return it, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

For others who will tune in Thursday, it's not just what Armstrong said that matters. How he said it, whether angry, tearful or matter-of-fact, will be judged as well.

"I left it all on the table with her and when it airs the people can decide," Armstrong said of his interview in a text sent to the AP on Wednesday. He dismissed a story earlier in the day that described him as "not contrite" when he acknowledged doping while dominating the cycling world.

Livestrong, the cancer charity Armstrong founded in 1997 and was forced to walk away from last year, said in a statement it expected him to be "completely truthful and forthcoming." A day earlier, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said nothing short of a confession under oath — "not talking to a talk-show host" — could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events. And Frankie Andreu, a former teammate that Armstrong turned on, said the disgraced cyclist had an obligation to tell all he knew and help clean up the sport.

"I have no idea what the future holds other than me holding my kids," Armstrong said in the text.

Armstrong has held conversations with officials from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a reportedly contentious face-to-face meeting with USADA chief executive Travis Tygart near the Denver airport. It was USADA's 1,000-page report last year, including testimony from nearly a dozen former teammates, that portrayed Armstrong as the leader of a sophisticated doping ring that propelled the U.S. Postal Service team to title after title at the Tour de France. In addition to the lifetime ban, Armstrong was stripped of all seven wins, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with Livestrong.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Armstrong has information that might lead to his ban being reduced to eight years. That would make him eligible to compete in elite triathlons, many of which are sanctioned under world anti-doping rules, in 2020, when Armstrong will be 49. He was a professional athlete in the three-discipline sport as a teenager, and returned to competition after retiring from cycling in 2011.

That person also said the bar for Armstrong's redemption is higher now than when the case was open, a time during which he refused to speak to investigators. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential matter.

Armstrong, who always prized loyalty on his racing teams, now faces some very tough choices himself: whether to cooperate and name those who may have aided, abetted or helped cover up the long-time use of PEDs.

Armstrong left his hometown of Austin, where the interview was taped at a downtown hotel, and is in Hawaii. He is named as a defendant in at least two pending lawsuits, and possibly a third. The Justice Department faces a Thursday deadline on whether to join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping.

That suit alleges Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong could be required to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty fine. The AP reported earlier that Justice Department officials were likely to join the lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Even with apology, Armstrong's brand value 'near zero'

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OPRAH ON LANCE: He Did 'Not Come Clean in The Manner' I Expected

Oprah Winfrey said Lance Armstrong, who she said confessed to her that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his string of Tour de France victories, did 'not come clean in the manner' she expected, Reuters reported.

Winfrey went on to say that she would leave it to others to decided if the former champion was contrite during the interview that was taped on Monday in Texas, but she did call him thoughtful and serious.

A group of about 10 close friends and advisers to Armstrong left a downtown Austin hotel about three hours after they arrived Monday afternoon for the taping. Among them were Armstrong attorneys Tim Herman and Sean Breen, along with Bill Stapleton, Armstrong's longtime agent, manager and business partner. All declined comment entering and exiting the session.

Soon afterward, Winfrey tweeted: "Just wrapped with (at)lancearmstrong More than 2 1/2 hours. He came READY!"

In a text to the AP on Saturday, Armstrong said: "I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I'll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That's all I can say."

Speaking on "CBS This Morning," Winfrey said she had not planned to address Armstrong's confession before the interview aired on her OWN network but, "by the time I left Austin and landed in Chicago, you all had already confirmed it."

Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour titles last year following a voluminous U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that portrayed him as a ruthless competitor, willing to go to any lengths to win the prestigious race.

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart labeled the doping regimen allegedly carried out by the U.S. Postal Service team that Armstrong once led, "The most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

Cycling's governing body urged Armstrong on Tuesday to testify before its independent commission on doping.

The International Cycling Union, or UCI, said it was aware of media reports that Armstrong had come clean and confessed to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped Monday.

"If these reports are true, we would strongly urge Lance Armstrong to testify to the Independent Commission established to investigate the allegations made against the UCI in the recent USADA reasoned decision on Lance Armstrong and the United States Postal Service (USPS) team," the federation said in a statement.

The UCI said it would not make any further comment until it has viewed the interview, which is to be broadcast on Thursday night.

The UCI set up an independent panel in November to investigate the Armstrong case and what role the governing body had in the scandal. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency raised suspicions of UCI collusion with Armstrong in its damming report that led to the cyclist being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life.

The UCI has been accused of covering up suspicious samples from Armstrong, accepting financial donations from him and helping him avoid detection in doping tests.

Armstrong is reportedly considering testifying against UCI officials.

Former UCI President Hein Verbruggen said Tuesday he wasn't ready to speak about the Armstrong case.

"I haven't seen the interview. It's all guessing," Verbruggen told the AP. "After that, we have an independent commission which I am very confident will find out the truth of these things."

The three-member independent commission is chaired by retired British judge Philip Otton. He is working alongside Australian lawyer Malcolm Holmes and Tanni Grey-Thompson, a 10-time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair racing who is now a lawmaker in the upper chamber of Britain's Parliament.

The three-member panel will meet in London from April 9-26, with a June 1 deadline to deliver its report.

The cycling body has said the three will have access to "all relevant documents in the control or possession of the UCI," including bank and telephone records and laboratory test results.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/15/oprah-says-lance-armstrong-did-not-come-clean-like-thought-would/#ixzz2I3he3mmq

Lupica: Armstrong part of a 'giant, athletic Ponzi scheme'

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Lance Armstrong apologizes to Livestrong staff

This Just In

Cyclist Lance Armstrong apologized to staff on Monday at the Livestrong foundation's office in Austin, Texas, according to a publicist for the foundation.

Katherine McLane did not provide any information about what Armstrong was apologizing for.

The apology came ahead of Armstrong's scheduled interview with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey - his first since he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in a doping scandal.

O'Reilly: The unintended consequences of a liberal America

ONU acepta el mascado de coca en Bolivia

Caracol Radio

La Organización de Naciones Unidas readmitió a Bolivia en la Convención de Viena de 1961 sobre drogas y estupefacientes, y aceptó el pedido boliviano para que se permita el mascado de coca en el país, informó la organización mundial en un comunicado divulgado este viernes en La Paz.

"Bolivia reaccederá a la Convención Unica de la ONU sobre Estupefacientes, con una excepción que permitirá el masticado de coca", informó la Oficina del Centro de Informaciones de Naciones Unidas en La Paz. 

en el 2009 cuando solicitaba en Viena a la ONU retirar la planta de la lista de estupefacientes prohibidos por los convenios internacionales. complacido mr. morales

What Are Mass Murder Pills?

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ONU reconoce politica agraria de narcoguerrilla colombiana

'merecido' homenaje de la onu al denonado, sistematico y lucrativo esfuerzo desplegado durante decadas por las narcoguerrillas colombianas farc y ep en su politica de desarrollo agrario integral sustentado en el cultivo de la coca, y la fabricacion y comercializacion a escala planetaria de la cocaina.

Olga Virginia González Reyes funcionaria de la ONU en Colombia, entrega al jefe de la delegación guerrillera Iván Márqueza de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) los resultados del foro sobre Política de Desarrollo Agrario Integral celebrado en Bogotá.

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Funcionarios de las Naciones Unidas en Colombia y de la Universidad Nacional de ese país entregaron este miércoles a las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) los resultados del foro sobre Política de Desarrollo Agrario Integral celebrado en Bogotá en diciembre pasado, durante un encuentro en La Habana

Mas en el Granma >>

STEROID STRIKEOUT: Bonds, Clemens, Sosa Rejected for Hall of Fame

foxnews

NEW YORK –  Steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have been denied entry to baseball's Hall of Fame with voters failing to elect any candidates for only the second time in four decades.
Bonds received just 36.2 percent of the vote, Clemens 37.6 and Sosa 12.5 in totals announced Wednesday by the Hall and the Baseball Writers' Association of America. They were appearing on the ballot for the first time and have up to 14 more years to make it to Cooperstown.
Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits, topped the 37 candidates with 68.2 percent of the 569 ballots, 39 shy of the 75 percent needed. Among other first-year eligibles, Mike Piazza received 57.8 percent and Curt Schilling 38.8
Jack Morris led holdovers with 67.7 percent. He will make his final ballot appearance next year, when Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are eligible for the first time

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/01/09/no-players-elected-to-hall-fame-by-baseball-writers/#ixzz2HW9PqQVT

Lance Armstrong to address alleged doping in interview with Oprah

theclicker

Lucas Jackson / Reuters file

By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

Oprah Winfrey has landed a sit-down, "no holds barred" interview with Lance Armstrong, her network OWN announced Tuesday. The cyclist will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career, according to the release.

An exclusive interview with the disgraced cyclist is precisely what media outlets have been clamoring for. Not only have rumors of his use of performance-enhancing drugs been rampant for years now, but in recent months he's been given a lifetime ban from the sport of cycling; was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles; stepped down as chairman from Livestrong, his cancer-research foundation; and has lost nearly all endorsements, including those from Nike and Budweiser.

Since these developments, Armstrong has said very little. In fact, the last statement he made publicly, which he linked to on his  Twitter account, was in October, in response to stepping down from Livestrong. In that statement, he did not explicitly admit to wrongdoing, but only said he was leaving Livestrong "to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career."

Rumors that Armstrong might be considering admitting to his drug use originally surfaced during the weekend of Jan. 5.

The Winfrey interview, which will air as a 90-minute episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter," will be broadcast on OWN on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 9 p.m.

Iran plans to legalize marijuana

Follow The Money

http://dailycurrant.com/2012/12/14/iran-plans-legalize-marijuana/

The Iranian government announced Thursday that it plans to legalize marijuana for both medical and personal use, according to state media.

Iran’s parliament approved a bill that would allow Iranian citizens to purchase up to 2 ounces of marijuana from private, state-licensed stores and cafés.

The proposed law taxes marijuana up to 25 percent. Commercial marijuana growers would need to apply for a permit from the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture.

Middle East experts say the proposed law is unusual for Iran, an Islamic theocracy that has been governed by a highly conservative clerical elite since 1979. Under Islamic law, the country strictly forbids alcohol and drug consumption.

But the law is endorsed by ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has championed the measure as a way to cut down on Iran’s prison population and to bring in extra revenue to the country, which has experienced a prolonged economic crisis because of economic mismanagement and international economic sanctions.

“Iran’s prisons are filled with thousands of people who have been arrested and imprisoned for possession of what is, quite frankly, a harmless plant,” Mr. Ahmadinejad told the state-run IRIB television. “It doesn’t make sense to spend our resources imprisoning such people when other serious crimes, such as the consumption of alcohol or women disobeying their husbands, are happening each day.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad said the measure will bring an important economic boost for the country’s agricultural sector and raise much-needed revenue for the state through the collection of permits and taxes.

“I was quite impressed when I visited the cannabis coffee shops in Amsterdam (Netherlands),” he said. “I thought, ‘Our country’s soils are quite suitable for the cultivation of marijuana, so why not grow it here and sell it in our coffee shops?’ The evil Western countries have made life in Iran difficult through the sanctions, so marijuana will help our people forget their troubles and relax.”