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As I have said before, our newsletter gives me an opportunity to write about anything going on in bodybuilding around the world. Sometimes, I write about other things as well — occasionally upsetting supporters of George Bush — are there any left — and former PM, Tony Blair. The last month or so has been very active for us and there are many things that I want to get off my chest.
The Pro Shows We have written on other pages about the Pro Shows but they gave another impetus to the progress of bodybuilders associated with The Forest Gym. Troy Brown made 15th in Montreal and 6th in Spain — terrific progress in his short pro career. Only three years ago, Troy was struggling to qualify for the UKBFF Finals as an 80 Kg competitor. Now at 108 Kg he does not look overawed by the likes of Marcus Ruhl and Paco Bautista, both men with huge muscularity and years of experience as pros.. Big H did not get his pre-contest preparations quite right — it is always easier to prepare someone else for competition than to prepare yourself. But next year will be different. Expect to see Harold taking a big leap forward in his placings in pro shows. If Big H can combine mass with class he will be pretty impressive.
Operation Raw Deal At the end of September, we heard that the authorities in the USA — police, customs, FDA and the DEA had carried out raids across America as part of a massive investigation into the supply and distribution of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs via the internet. The raids netted 124 arrests, the shutting down of 50 underground laboratories, the seizure of 11,400,000 doses of steroids [DEA figure], 240 kilograms of raw steroid “ingredients”, $6.5 million in cash, 25 vehicles, 6 boats, 27 pill presses and 71 weapons. Most of the raw ingredients had their origins in China — whether the Chinese government will take any action is difficult to know. It may not be clear exactly what all the numbers mean but it sure indicates a lot of stuff and a lot of activity. They have also picked up data bases with the names of thousands of customers across America and beyond. The anti-drugs industries in Mexico, Canada, China, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Thailand all contributed to this massive and very expensive undertaking. The USA agencies have been monitoring bodybuilding forums and web sites for ages and they will already have vast amounts of information about men [and women] who are committing the horrendous crime of using a few drugs to help build more muscle. Is this the end of civilisation as we know it? Although the UK is not mentioned in the story from America, UK Sport and a collection of other sanctimonious politicians and bureaucrats are already pressing for action by the UK government to up the anti on steroids. Only a few weeks ago the government gave authorisation for hundreds of organisations in this country powers to access all of our communications, data logs, mobile phone conversations, etc as part of their on-going plans to exert ever more restrictive controls and monitoring of ordinary people — just as arch-prat Bush has done in America. What will finally come out of Operation Raw Deal, I have no idea, but it is likely to have profound effects worldwide by increasing pressure on governments to introduce ever more restrictive legislation, including more severe penalties for supply and possession of steroids. The prohibition of drugs has always been a 100% failure and I don't doubt that this will be the same. On the other hand, already there are increasing numbers of people involved with crime and law and order in the UK who are pushing for legalisation in some form for all recreational drugs. The government has said that they will not consider such a proposal. They will carry on as before, wasting mega amounts of taxpayers money,trying hard to push up street prices, achieving nothing except increasing in the levels and severity of criminal activity associated with drug supplying. Why is it that I feel that the people who run this and every other country on this Earth exist on another planet and dictate from afar? Is this website being monitored at this very minute?
Bodybuilding Organisations
I want to complain yet again about the organisation of bodybuilding in the UK. Particularly the amateurishness of it all. I hope that one day the organisations that run bodybuilding in the UK will realise that without bodybuilders they do not exist. Or do they? I suppose it could be argued that their organisations would function perfectly were it not for bodybuilders. The issues that upset me most are the total lack of communication between the powers that be and the grass roots of the sport — the bodybuilders themselves, the gym owners, the show organisers, the people who make up the audiences, the magazine publishers and others etc. Why are there no press officers that communicate from Mount Olympus [the pantheon of the gods] to the mere mortals beneath; to tell them what is going on; to propose rule changes; to give results of all sanctioned contests immediately they have taken place; to organise the whole to pull together for the betterment of bodybuilding. It is only a couple of years ago that one national level competitor found out that he had been banned from a national level contest via a telephone call from someone who had seen it on a web site. In this day and age, surely it is not impossible for every organisation to have its own website that is complete and UP-TO-DATE? There could be a constant flow between the management and the bodybuilders. Is it so difficult? Or is it preferred that no one knows what is going on? The present fractious arrangements can never be good for the sport. The constant complaints about arbitrary rule changes, about poor judging, about supply of tickets, about treatment of competitors, about contests being on and off; I could go on. I am not the only complainer — not by any means. But nothing happens.
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