January 9, 2008

Biological Passports to 3 Quadrillion Dollars

So what would you do with $3 Quadrillion? With just $1 quadrillion you could buy the world...literally. In 2006 it was estimated that the world GDP (or GWP) was around $65-70 trillion ($US), well short of $1 quadrillion. If you would stack 1 quadrillion US pennies, it would reach 986,426,768 miles into space and weigh 3,125,000,000 tons (English units). So whats with the quadrillion rant? Well one individual who was affected by Hurricane Katrina decided to sue the US government for that exact amount. Crazy...well this is Louisiana!

The sporting world is trying to make the process of getting a passport even more tedious. Not only do you have to supply your birth certificate but now you have to give blood. Ok, just kidding. But in the hopes of trying to get the cycling world and the Tour la France clean, the powers that be are trying to develop a biological passport that each athlete would need in order to compete in the race. Basically its just a baseline reading of your body's chemistry so that when testing is performed, if you are significantly different than your baselines you could face punishment. Lets home the FAA doesn't get ahold of this...think of having to pee in cup just to get on a flight to Memphis...whew.....

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