Off the doughnuts and on yer bike
In a city where the local government gets the most attention for big, brash moves like same-sex marriage and universal health care, Darrin Dill is doing cutting-edge work in San Francisco's adult probation department with little more than a bike, a helmet and mirrored sunglasses.
60 Minutes Report On Rove’s Dirty Politics Blocked In Parts Of Alabama Last night, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired its long-awaited report on Alabama’s incarcerated former governor Don Siegelman, featuring allegations that Karl Rove personally told a Republican operative in the state to find evidence that Siegelman was cheating on his wife.
Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted in 2006 for conspiracy, bribery and fraud. But observers from all sides of the political spectrum are now questioning whether his prosecution “was pursued not because of a crime but because of politics.”
Watch the report:
Though the report aired last night, it was not seen by everyone who may have wished to view it. In several Alabama locations, “the show was blocked - black screen - during the Siegelman segment of 60 Minutes only.” Harper’s Scott Horton, who has investigated the Siegelman prosecution and was interviewed for the segment, reports:
I am now hearing from readers all across Northern Alabama–from Decatur to Huntsville and considerably on down–that a mysterious “service interruption” blocked the broadcast of only the Siegelman segment of 60 Minutes this evening. The broadcaster is Channel 19 WHNT, which serves Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
WHNT originally claimed last night that the blocked segment was due to “a techincal(sic) problem with CBS out of New York.” But that claim was contradicted by CBS in New York, who told Horton, that “there is no delicate way to put this: the WHNT claim is not true. There were no transmission difficulties. The problems were peculiar to Channel 19.”
WHNT now has a different explanation on its website:
NewsChannel 19 lost our program feed from CBS. Upon investigation, WHNT has learned that the CBS receiver that allows us to receive programming from CBS failed. WHNT engineers responded as quickly as possible to restore the feed at 6:12 p.m.
WHNT says it “will re-air the broadcast of that segment.”
From the Sunday Boston Globe:
Average daily gasoline consumption in the United States has decreased in each of the past four weeks from a year ago, according to recent data. In the past six months, average daily consumption slipped two-tenths of a percent from a year earlier, after growing 2.5 percent in the previous year.
In the Northeast, gasoline demand has dropped as much as 3 percent, after growing 1 to 2 percent annually in recent years, said Joe Petrowski, chief executive of Gulf Oil LP, a Newton wholesaler and distributor that supplies about 10 percent of the region's gas stations.
So why did it take so long? Apparently since the 70's we are living farther away from our jobs (in places with fewer transportation alternatives) and our disposable income has increased. It is estimated that in the 1970's a 20% increase in gas prices curtailed driving by 6%, in 2008 it's only one percent.
Vintage and Cruiser Bike Ride –
* Sunday, February 24
* 2:30pm
* Huntsville Middle School on Adams Street between the back of the Woman's & Children's hospital and intersection at Lowe.
* Conversationally, fun slow pace, appropriate for heavy bikes, newbies, slowbies, tandems... all types of bikes welcome regardless of age or tire width.
* Children do need to be street safe though. Feel free to bring a friend or neighbor. Everyone’s welcome!
Cruise the downtown area / park/ historic areas or some combo for a hour or so with a coffee shop (note Stearns is closed today, so prolly Olde Towne) option (sorry, still too cold for malts).
Today and every friday our friend Ted in San Francisco @ Bagel Radio will be playing the best : Indie , Rock, Noise, Pop live from 11am till 7pm
Tune in here
I know I am the first to break on Alabama here, but this is a good article. You should be proud.
From The New York Times
Race Matters Less in Politics of South
By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: February 21, 2008
CULLMAN, Ala. — The racial breakthroughs have come gingerly in Alabama over the years: a black mayor there, an old Klansman put on trial here, a civil rights memorial there.
The Drunk Cyclist continues to write some of the best commentary I have read in a long time.
In other news Germans are just as corrupt as everyone else, especially when they’re loaded. Maybe more so.
Germany has begun an investigation into tax evasion using information from an anonymous informant, who was reportedly paid 5m euros(£3.75m; $7.3m).
Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein, the country’s leader, said Germany had broken the law by buying the data.
Liechtenstein considers the informant a criminal and is conducting its own investigation into the affair.Well, Im sure the millions that are owed in back taxes… no, wait… BILLIONS will go to something worthwhile. In other tax-related news let me throw this out there; While Europeans are taxed at much higher rates (as high as 50% in France) think of it in this frame. They all have health insurance. They all can go to college (if they choose). They all have the equivalent of Social Security for when they retire and are old and dying. Not some 401K gamble that can disappear in the blink of an Enron.
Looking at it in that frame, how much of your check goes to Soc. Sec? Then how much do you pay for insurance? How much do you set aside for your retirement? If you do the math and it gets to something akin to 50% of your paycheck, then you’ll see that its NOT that expensive nor it is prohibitive. It’s pain, to be sure, but changing for the better is in many ways.
Another $300 check Mr. Bu$h? No thanks. Even though I could use a Brooks saddle for each of my bikes.
1. You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but yesterday's gasoline prices are all Clinton's fault.
2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.
4. You have to believe that AIDS victims deserve their disease, but smokers with lung cancer and overweight individuals with heart disease don't deserve theirs.
5. You have to appreciate the power rush that comes with sporting a gun.
6. You have to believe everything Rush Limbaugh says.
7. You have to believe that the agricultural, restaurant, housing and hotel industries can survive without immigrant labor.
8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty.
9. You have to believe society is color-blind and growing up black in America doesn't diminish your opportunities, but you still won't vote for Alan Keyes.
10. You have to believe that pollution is OK as long as it makes a profit.
11. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.
12. You have to believe Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were really faithful husbands.
13. You have to believe speaking a few Spanish phrases makes you instantly popular in the barrio.
14. You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.
15. You have to be against government interference in business, until your oil company, corporation or Savings and Loan is about to go broke and you beg for a government bail out.
16. You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your hatred for AIDS victims, homosexuals.
17. You have to believe government has nothing to do with providing police protection, national defense, and building roads.
18. You have to believe a poor, minority student with a disciplinary history and failing grades will be admitted into an elite private school with a $1,000 voucher.
Walter Dawes from Houston is planning a 500 mile ride at Aktek Velodrome on April 12th. Walter is a veteran of the cross-country Big Fix ride in 2005, and this venture also benefits Histiocytosis Research. Check his website here for was to get involved. If you want to get involved with some sort of raffle and have something to offer, please let Walter know
Great site here check out the poster
http://www.fuh2.com/
http://www.fuh2.com/BuyPosterFlash.php
BTW: if you are driving a hummer and looking at our site on your blackberry................................. I hope you
A popular video on YouTube shows Kellie Pickler, the adorable platinum blonde from “American Idol,” appearing on the Fox game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” during celebrity week. Selected from a third-grade geography curriculum, the $25,000 question asked: “Budapest is the capital of what European country?”
Ms. Pickler threw up both hands and looked at the large blackboard perplexed. “I thought Europe was a country,” she said. Playing it safe, she chose to copy the answer offered by one of the genuine fifth graders: Hungary. “Hungry?” she said, eyes widening in disbelief. “That’s a country? I’ve heard of Turkey. But Hungry? I’ve never heard of it.”
Such, uh, lack of global awareness is the kind of thing that drives Susan Jacoby, author of “The Age of American Unreason,” up a wall. Ms. Jacoby is one of a number of writers with new books that bemoan the state of American culture.
read more at the ny times here
I rode on the bike lane on Oakwood Road or around there this morning. Has anyone else been on other bike lanes in Huntsville? I think a Critical Mass should go over there and ride single file in the bike lane sometime.
It’s been the biggest race in North America for the past two years, and the third edition of the 650-mile Amgen Tour of California, held over a north-to-south route from February 17-24, will be no exception.
This year’s Tour of California field includes two-time and reigning world champion Paolo Bettini and his Quick Step teammate Tom Boonen, two-time and reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC), three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and U.S. national champion and defending Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer in Astana’s U.S. racing debut.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will not race for Astana, but American Chris Horner will return to the Tour of California to race alongside Leipheimer.
more at velonews here
PARIS, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) - British cyclist Mark Beaumont on Friday claimed the world record for being the fastest person ever to pedal around the world.
The 25-year-old Scotsman rode into the Paris after pedalling 18,000 miles in a world record 195 days.
Averaging 100 miles a day for over six months, he took two months off the existing world record.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic feeling to achieve the world record after six months on the road,” said Beaumont at the finish in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
Beaumont set off from Paris last August and crossed 20 countries, including Iran and the Pakistan/Afghan border.
He endured storms, floods and road rage before being knocked off his bike by an elderly woman driver who failed to stop at a red light in Louisiana.
His bike was badly damaged and he was forced to stay in a nearby hostel, which turned out to be a drug den. A fight broke out during the night and in rumpus that followed he was robbed of his wallet and camera.
Most people looking at this film today would probably think that our present day congested, but reasonably orderly, streets have improved, that the chaos of this old street scene has been “cleaned up.” But what has been lost? Our streets in the United States are no longer the living, breathing, admittedly chaotic spaces they once were (Or still are in many parts of the world—witness this video of a present day intersection in India). Instead, the typical U.S. street is a monolithic traffic sewer, a blighted corridor with the only purpose being moving as many cars as fast as possible.
Today, all the pedestrians in this old film would be cited for jaywalking, the cyclists for “impeding traffic”, and the various equestrians and carriages would be harassed by the entitled, luxury car driving hordes. And while San Francisco still has its trolleys, most cities, including Los Angeles, ripped up the tracks in the 1950s.
This unquestioned idea that our streets are for cars not people would be extremely offensive to our founding fathers. Since it costs, on average, $8,000 a year to own and maintain an automobile this discrimination amounts to an unfair tax and worse, an infringement of our right to traverse public space.
This is why we need to assert our rights. This is why we need a Cyclist’s Bill of Rights.
Cyclist hopes to encourage bike use in downtown
By Pamela LeBlanc
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
That from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans in May to open a bike shop, commuting center, training facility and cafe in a 1950s-era building at the northwest corner of Fourth and Nueces streets.
"This city is exploding downtown. Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote (bike) commuting," Armstrong said Wednesday, gazing up at the towering 360 condos rising next to the site of his new shop. "This can be a hub for that."
Mellow Johnny's, named for the nickname Armstrong earned while wearing the Tour de France leader's "maillot jaune," or yellow jersey, will be housed in a yellow- and red-brick building next to the music venue La Zona Rosa. It is a block north of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, a path that will cut east-west through downtown Austin.
Armstrong said he'd like to see Austin evolve into a place like Portland, Ore., where biking is part of the culture and people pedal to work, to restaurants and to run errands. "Walk outside, and the streets are lined with bikes — because they have a safe place to ride," Armstrong said of the city long known for its bicycle-friendly amenities and policies.
So how does Austin get to that point?
"The (Lance Armstrong Bikeway) is a big start," he said. Armstrong and his general partner in the project, Bart Knaggs, said they'd like to see Austin create bike lanes separated from vehicle traffic and a system like a new one in Paris where people can use a credit card to rent a bicycle from a bike rack station and return it at any of the dozens of other stations around the city.
read more here
Minibike Winter - Feb 14-17 - Portland, OR
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages and sizes! Step right up and prepare to be amazed and aroused! For 5 years now, in the heart of Cascadia, Portland, Oregon, there has been only one winter bicycle festival in the Pacific Northwest, and that festival is Mini Bike Winter. Created by free-fun-minded individuals as an excuse to to get krunk and wreak some havoc. A combination of thrills, chills, spills, and liquor is just what the doctor ordered to warm the cockles of your heart and in your pants in these dreary winter months. Enjoyed by all walks of life, be it Zoobombers, daily commuters, bike messengers, weekend warriors, or the occasional passer-by, Mini Bike Winter is a free weekend of bike debauchery
brought to you by the local bike community, and open to everyone who wants to have a good time. This year, all the stops are being pulled out. Stencil night, Olympic torch ride, mini bike hill climbs, downhill races, bike-drawn chariot death matches, fashion shows, bike beauty contests, live music, DJ’s, community brunches, death, destruction, mayhem, no-pants dance parties, Olympic-inspired feats of bike strength and stamina, and of course, a little bit of nudity. Ok, so more like a lot of nudity. Mini Bike Winter is a phenomenon that should not be missed, and if you do, you will be ridiculed by all of your friends and family.
zoobomb.net/minibikewinter
BEN HURT II Chariot Wars
BEN HURT II Chariot Wars be a post-apocalyptic battle for life and limb. YAR! It be a true test of might and stoopidity. Can you ride a little girl’s bike and get hit the most hardest by a padded mace? Or would you rather cheat, (cheating is allowed) and use chicken-shit bombs made from real chicken-shit like the chicken-shit you are?! Or maybe just show up in your underwear and win anyway because you are badass? Hey, it happened last year… There will be a multitude of chariot tests, from speed to steed, gladiator to flatulator, chugger to bugger, flailing to wailing, and dying. Yes dying, and after that, drinking. Okay, fine, during too.
Just watch the video and it will all make sense. Maybe.
youtube.com
Thanks for helping spread the free-fun bike madness!
Ted from This Bike is a Pipe Bomb (and tending the bar at the Hemlock) is jumping on a bike of the presumably non-pipebomb variety for this year's AIDS Lifecycle. The event will take Ted and his friend Kristen from San Francisco to LA, raising money to combat AIDS.
You can donate to either rider via these links: Kristen, Ted.
The AIDS Lifecycle will take place June 1-7, 2008, as cyclists and volunteers will travel 545 miles through California from San Francisco to Los Angeles. You can find information on the beneficiaries here.
The Neverwood Collective in Madison, Wisconsin is organizing a bike ride to St. Paul, Minnesota, arriving a few days ahead of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in late August 2008. Dubbed the GrassRoutes Caravan, the ride will be hooking up with various grassroots organizations along the way, doing volunteer work and exploring regional struggles.
Madison is holding a counter-convention to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions called the People’s Networking Convention (PNC) August 15-17th. This ride will link the PNC to the RNC via two wheels and positive energy.
Who is riding more than Jim this month? February is extra long this year, so let's try to log over 1000 miles collectively. Bonus points for commuting. Do we want to add any group rides? Stearns in the morning? Tyler, I saw the Pista at school early this term but not since. Are you still riding to school?
Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day that Charles Darwin was born on in 1809. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin -- the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.
The Darwin Day Celebration website provides resources and publicity for individuals and institutions across the world to celebrate science and humanity every year, on, or near, February 12, Darwin's birthday. In addition to information about the life and legacy of Charles Darwin, this website provides practical examples, advice and templates for organizing and publicizing Darwin Day events. It also provides a directory of events where you can find celebrations taking place near you or register your own event for others to find.
Recognizing science as an international language accessible to all individuals and societies, the Darwin Day Celebration provides a new global holiday that transcends separate nationalities and cultures. Darwin Day can be celebrated in many different ways: civic ceremonies with official proclamations, educational symposia, birthday parties, art shows, book discussions, lobby days, games, protests, and dinner parties. Organizers may include: academic societies, science organizations, freethought groups, religious congregations, libraries, museums, galleries, teachers and students, families and friends. In Darwin Day, we are able to recognize the diversity among us, while celebrating our common humanity and the universal understanding we share.
For information, visit: www.DarwinDay.org
from bikehugger
Here’s a brake configuration that I had never even thought of. Sycip Designs put a disc brake caliper on the down tube which grabs a rotor mounted to the left side of a special White Industries crank. Since the rear wheel is directly linked with no freewheel to the crank, stopping the crank stops the rear wheel. Kinda odd, but you would never have to worry about disc/caliper alignment while adjusting the chain tension and you would use a normal track hub. But I think you’d definitely want a real track hub with a reverse-thread lockring.
For students waiting for a fun and environmentally-friendly way to get around campus, a fleet of 28 gold, spray-painted bikes might be the next big thing.
The Environmental Conservation Organization will release a fleet of 20 Gold Bikes on Monday to add to the eight bikes they already have. The Gold Bike program, introduced to ECO members by Cameron Walker, started tentatively with the 2007 release of eight bikes to the University community.
The Gold Bike program seeks to provide a pool of second-hand cycles for use by the University community.
At first, the program was regulated and people who wished to participate were required to register. They were then given the combination to a bike lock to secure the bike on campus.
Walker, who graduated from the University in 2007, explained the desire to keep the bikes from getting stolen.
"Originally, we were trying to figure out how to keep the bikes around," he said. "We put a lot of time into [the program] even though we didn't put a lot of money into it. We ended up deciding we would do combination locks and all of them would have the same combination."
The release of the 20 new bikes will change all of this.
Caravan/Prague is a feature-length documentary about a bicycle caravan -- with the theme, "Money or Life" -- traveling 500 miles across Europe to join the historic Prague protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The intent is to create a mobile utopian community which will be a living counter-example to the values of these powerful financial institutions. The landscape is beautiful, and bicycles possess their own poetry. But it's not always easy functioning without money. The authorities have their own ideas about policing the intersection of utopia and everyday life. And then there's the matter of shutting down the IMF/World Bank meeting...
More info is available at www.caravanprague.com; if you're interested, please view the TRAILER
Available on Netflix
Article from streetblogs, nice to see a mayor trying to do what is right or is this the heavy hand of government you figure it out.
Two news stories came across the wire yesterday that highlight vast differences in the way U.S. cities treat the use of bicycles for transportation. First, there was this story out of Chicago:
Chicago bicyclists, Mayor Daley (pictured right) knows your pain.The mayor introduced an ordinance Wednesday that would slap fines ranging from $150 to $500 on motorists who turn left or right in front of someone on a bicycle; pass with less than three feet of space between car and bike; and open a vehicle door into the path of a cyclist.Daley, an avid rider, said he personally has been involved in unhappy encounters with motorists, providing them with "a few choice words" and "salutes" that he said were delivered "in the Chicago way."
Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there's Los Angeles:
Last night, a group of cyclists from throughout the LA area delivered the Bicyclist Bill of Rights to the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee and asked the members to deliver it to the Mayor and City Councilmembers. After leaving the meeting (10:30 pm) the cyclists were riding on Virgil and approaching Melrose when four cyclists executed a "vehicular left turn" on the approach to a red light. The car to the rear and left continued to accelerate toward the red light and only yielded to the cyclists in control of the lane at the last moment, causing him to stop suddenly. The cyclists were riding in pairs throughout the left turn maneuver. Behind the cyclists was an LAPD Sgt. who looked at the incident and decided that the cyclists were impeding traffic, all on the approach to a red light.
He pulled over the cyclists, let the motorist go, called for backup and tied up an additional three squad cars and a helicopter while he lectured the cyclists on everything from "impeding" to pedal reflectors to the difference in weight between a bicycle and an automobile....
...As Enci told the Committee members, "I was born in a Communist country with limited freedoms and rights. When I moved the United States of America, I set foot on this ground and I immediately took possession of basic rights and freedoms. Why is it that when I climb on a bicycle I become a 2nd class citizen and get treated as if I have no rights? Those days end now and I'm claiming my rights!"
A group of vigilantes--calling themselves Anonymous, or Anon--are escalating their attacks against the Church of Scientology in what they consider to be Internet censorship by issuing new video challenges. In one video posted to YouTube, Anonymous addresses the many news organizations covering the war, stating that the group has been watching. While the individuals behind the effort generally support the coverage, they also severely fault the media.
"We find it interesting that you did not mention the other objections in your news reporting. The stifling and punishment of dissent within the totalitarian organization of Scientology. The numerous, alleged human rights violations. Such as the treatment and events that led to the deaths of victims of the cult such as Lisa McPherson.
This Cult is Nothing but a psychotically driven pyramid scheme.
Why are you, the news media, afraid of discussing these matters? It is your duty to report on these matters.You are failing in your duty."
Personally, I'm not in favor of bicyclists getting mowed down by cars. I've felt strongly about this since Stereolab keyboardist Mary Hansen was killed by a truck while bicycling in London in December 2002. I'd interviewed Mary for a now-defunct magazine, and besides being an integral part of one of my favorite bands, she was one of the most charming and self-effacing people I have ever conversed with inside a dingy rock club. So, just to reiterate: pro-bicyclist, anti-getting mowed down by cars.
Yet there's a certain subset of bicyclists that I have trouble relating to. A recent article in the Boston Globe about Critical Mass (a loosely organized group that advocates bicyclists' rights) included a scene of several members riding their bikes up and down an indoor hallway in one of MIT's main buildings. In the article, Critical Mass member Lindsey Barcebal argues for the group's assertiveness on Boston's short-tempered streets: "This is to show cars we have every right to take the road, even in the winter. There are a lot of fair-weathered bicyclists out there that need to be shown we can do this." You can't argue with that: Bicyclists have as much right to the road as cars do. But cars don't drive down that hallway, so bicyclists don't need to reassert their rights there. So it's hard to come away from that episode without the feeling that, basically, they were just being dicks.
That's unfortunately illustrative of the mindset of some bicyclists. By framing the streets of Boston as a one-on-one fight between cars and bicycles, they're establishing a hierarchy that puts both groups above my people, the pedestrians.
I think it's genuinely stupid to own a car in the city, so I walk as much as I possibly can. It's partially an eco-conscious choice, partially for health reasons and partially for economy: note that these are the same reasons bicyclists give when defending their choice of locomotion. We're on the same page here. So I don't understand why so many bicyclists are so openly hostile to pedestrians.
See, here's the thing: I'm very sorry that the few bicycle lanes in the Boston metro area suck, and I understand that biking on the streets around here is potentially life-threatening. But that doesn't make it okay for bicyclists to try to take over the public space assigned to pedestrians, who—in a complete inversion of the car/bike dichotomy—are smaller, slower and less safe than the bicyclists invading the sidewalks. For one thing, bicycling on sidewalks is illegal within the city limits of Boston. More to the point, it's simply rude, obnoxious behavior.
But what should really embarrass the testosterone-laden guys who blast up and down Comm. Ave.'s sidewalks is this: Riding on the sidewalk makes you look like a candy-ass. This was brought home to me when one of these guys plowed into me in front of the Paradise; when I told him to get in the street where he belonged, the guy sniveled, "Have you ever been hit by a car?" No, but I'd just been knocked over by a two-wheeled idiot who wasn't where he belonged, and I had a right to be pissed. If I were to start up an advocacy group for pedestrians ("Paths to Glory" would be a good name), one of our first tenets of solidarity with our car-free brothers and sisters would be to encourage bicyclists to follow the precepts of Critical Mass and take their fight to the street ... not the sidewalks.
This Toronto bike rack is a perfect illustration of how curbside parking sucks up valuable street space. Here, six cyclists are able to park in an area normally taken by one motorist, and since the rack was installed on the street, rather than on the sidewalk, pedestrians are unimpeded.
Photo: Spacing Toronto
Founded in 1972 by Jinbei Yamada, Arrow Bicycles has cornered the market with its clean designs and precision craftsmanship. Yamada has resisted the temptation to offer too many styles and instead encourages customers to choose color, frame and accessories. As a result, every bicycle that rolls out of his Tokyo atelier is bespoke but still instantly recognizable as an Arrow. So far, I've resisted packing one into the hold of a 747, but I don't think I'll be able to pass up the deep chocolate brown model with its stand-up two-wheel companion wagon on the back.
Join us this Thursday night for the second SCCC (and Bello Velo?) Film Festival at Stearn’s Coffeehouse at 6 PM.
The featured cycling flick is The Triplets of Belleville. It is an odd and entertaining animated story of a lonely French bike racer, his dog, his mom and some mafia plot kidnapping plot. The dog and the way over-the-top French/American stereotypes are priceless.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286244/#comment
It was up for the 2004 Best Animated Feature Oscar and won a pile of other animation and critical awards. As French-made, dialog-free, surrealistically animated, musical bike racing movies go, it’s quite a lark, but it may not be for everyone. Folks tend to run hot and cold on this flick, more hot than cold. Just don’t go in expecting Rattatouille. Finding Nemo and Lion King fans should stay home.
No matter what, it is still about 400% better, and twice as realistic, as American Flyers. ‘Triplets’ is only 80 minutes long. It’s not a bad way to spend a cold, dark, wet February evening.
Showtime is 6:15 PM at Stearn’s Coffeehouse. http://www.stearnscoffee.com/
Did you ride your bike to vote today? If you're sure who you want to vote for and why, go do it. I hope someone reps it. I was going to ride 32-35 miles this morning back to school after voting, but my dad ended up not going to work. I rode with him to the grocery store and rode the 15 miles from there. I was looking forward to having the bike outside the polling place, especially since it's in New Hope with few bikes, but I wasn't going to be that adamant about it.
from Wikipedia:
"In August 2007 Sheldon was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. After losing his ability to balance an upright bicycle to the disease, he was able to continue pedaling by using a recumbent tricycle. Sheldon died on February 3, 2008 after a heart attack."
More info from other blogs:
The Daily Randonneur
Tin Donkey Travels
Carfreedays
Sheldon, I never met you in person and I regret it. You have been a great influence on the many worlds of cycling, both old and new. You will be truly missed.
You know you want to rock this shit:
1. Bush: End of an Error
2. That’s OK, I Wasn’t Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
3. Let’s Fix Democracy in this Country First
4. If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran
5. Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
6. If You Can Read This, You’re Not Our President
7. Of Course It Hurts: You’re Getting Screwed by an Elephant!
8. Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed Yet?
9. George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight
10. Impeachment: It’s Not Just for Blow Jobs Anymore
11. America : One Nation, Under Surveillance
12. They Call Him “W” So He Can Spell It
13. Whose God Do You Kill For?
14. Jail to the Chief
15. No, Seriously, Why Did We Invade Iraq ?
16. Bush: God’s Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Full Of Crap
17. Bad President! No Banana.
18. We Need a President Who’s Fluent In At Least One Language
19. We’re Making Enemies Faster Than We Can Kill Them
20. Is It Vietnam Yet?
21. Bush Doesn’t Care About White People, Either
22. Where Are We Going? And Why Are We In This Handbasket?
23. You Elected Him. You Deserve Him.
24. When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.46
25. Pray For Impeachment
26. The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century
27. What Part of “Bush Lied” Don’t You Understand?
28. One Nation Under Clod
29. 2004: Embarrassed. 2005: Horrified. 2006: Terrified
30. Bush Never Exhaled
31. At Least Nixon Resigned
ripped from the drunkcyclist
DUBLIN — There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are taxis and buses. There are hip bars and pollution. Every other person is talking into a cellphone. But there are no plastic shopping bags, the ubiquitous symbol of urban life.
In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.
Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog. read more here
This would certainly cut down on the miles of cars sitting and waiting for kids at school...... might cut down on some pollution too. from cycleliciousness
Now here's a cool variation on the 'dropping kids off at daycare' theme in Copenhagen.
I doubt that he would venture out of the busy bike lanes like this, but it serves the purpose on quiet roads in this neighbourhood.
In Denmark we have 12 months of maternity leave and three months of paternity leave, on average.
Your children get a spot in a daycare [vuggestue] from the age of about 8 months, although most people I know start them at about 12 months. At the age of three they move on to a kindergarten [børnehave] until they start in school.
This model is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Emphasis is placed on developing social skills and placing kids together from a young age serves to help teach them to be a part of a societal structure.
It is extremely rare, in my experience, for parents to keep a child at home. Not only because they have jobs, but because the child will be 'out of the loop' socially if they start later.
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Nine salvaged bikes were reassembled into a carousel formation. The bike is modular and can be dismantled and reassembled. It is normally left in public places where it can attract a variety of riders. more here
Did you ride your bike much in January? Did you ride much in lieu of car? Did you take your bike on the bus any? I didn't this month, so maybe somebody repped it. Jim and I together rode about 800 miles this month. Much of it was cold by Alabamian standards. I rode to a Huntsville Chamber Music Guild concert and someone in the parking lot commented that there must be a warmer method of transportation. But 5 minutes into the ride I wasn't cold at all. It takes that long for a car to warm. And I didn't have a cold catalytic converter producing extra pollution during that time. There will never be a more efficient method of transportation on land. Or at least not in my lifetime.
Who knew that Randy Cohen, a guy who spends most of his day analyzing right and wrong as the New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed “Ethicist,” turns out to be one of New York City’s most captivating and articulate voices for Livable Streets.
The Open Planning Project’s Executive Director Mark Gorton recently interviewed Mr. Cohen on the ethics of urban automobility. The result has been condensed here into a 9 minute talk that touches on a multitude of topics ranging from Congestion Pricing to Parking Policy.
StreetFilms hopes this inspires even more debate as we approach these issues from the angle of personal responsibility. We think you’ll enjoy this.
ripped from street films
As the primary season continues, MTR decided to ask the question: To what extent does transportation factor into the political discourse of the U.S. presidential candidates? Though it’s unlikely that transportation and land use issues will end up determining the election, nearly all of the candidates list climate change or energy independence as key planks in their platforms (the main exception being Ron Paul, who told City Hall News that he had never used the NYC or Washington, D.C. subways because subsidized transit violated his libertarian principles; does he drive on [subsidized] highways?)
To date, only the three main Democratic candidates (Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama) address the link between mass transit and smart growth on one hand and reduced automobile use and oil dependence on the other.
Hillary Clinton wants to increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year. She mentions principles inherent in a smart growth approach to land use as she vows to encourage a shift away from commercial developments towards urban centers that balance residential, commercial, and transportation needs. She correctly points out that this will help discourage sprawl and fight congestion while also increasing mobility options for the elderly. She wants to invest an additional $1 billion in intercity passenger rail systems as this mode is a “critical component of the nation’s transportation system.”
John Edwards’ few sentences on transportation give a mere glimpse into his transportation priorities but he does reference smart growth and transit-oriented development and wants to create incentives to reduce vehicle-miles traveled in the US. He will “support more resources” to encourage greater mass transit use amongst workers and will encourage more affordable and environmentally sound transportation alternatives.
Barack Obama is the only candidate to connect transportation and economic access. He identifies lack of adequate public transportation as a barrier to low-income people seeking work and highlights the disproportionate share of income they spend on transportation. Like Clinton and Edwards, he wants to see increased transportation funding but he goes further by seeking to incentivize bike and pedestrian measures. He also wants to reform the tax code to equalize the commuter pre-tax benefits for parking and transit riding (currently, employees can use up to $220/month in pre-tax income for parking, but only $115/month for transit).
(Bill Richardson, who dropped out of the race last week, had called for increased transit funding, highlighted sprawl as a key cause of energy use, and said he would encourage local governments to build bike infrastructure using tax incentives.)
The rest of the candidates have little to say about transit or land use issues. Rudy Giuliani’s “plan to move toward energy independence” says nothing about getting people out of their cars onto mass transit nor mentions anything about investment in public transportation - a disappointing plan from the former mayor of the most transit-dependent city in the US.
Mike Gravel would be better off calling for something more realistic than an extensive national network of magnetically levitating trains, but at least he is thinking of public transportation.
Dennis Kucinich has called for increased funding for mass transit, but his environmental platform largely focuses on other issues. Mike Huckabee’s “comprehensive energy independence plan” has no details, though he plans to achieve this independence by the end of his second term in office. Mitt Romney is also mum on transportation issues, but believes we can reduce our energy dependence by opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration and increasing off-shore drilling. Unlike the other Republicans, John McCain identifies climate change as a key issue, but says nothing about transportation. Fred Thompson, on the other hand, is still not convinced by global warming, saying “While we don’t know for certain how or why climate change is occurring, it makes sense to take reasonable steps to reduce CO2 emissions without harming our economy.” (Those steps say nothing about investing in public transportation.)
As measured by the presidential campaigns, transportation policy on the national level is still dominated by debates over CAFE standards and investing in alternative fuels. But as more Americans move to cities and traffic congestion continues to worsen, national politicians must recognize that auto-dependent development is as big an issue - if not bigger - than old automobile technology. Notably, Democratic frontrunners Sens. Clinton (D-NY) and Obama (D-IL), who have comparatively extensive transportation plans, represent states with major urban centers and transportation infrastructure. New York City and Chicago have the largest and second-largest transit systems of all U.S. cities, and both metropolitan areas have significant commuter rail and bus networks. (Both city transit systems are also facing major funding crises.)
Locally, representatives from the Clinton, Giuliani, and Obama campaigns have confirmed their attendance at an “Presidential Candidates’ Forum on Infrastructure and Transportation” hosted by the NYU Rudin Center on Jan. 31.
This is part one of a two-part series on where candidates for president stand on transportation issues, authored by Streetsblog Los Angeles correspondent Damien Newton. Damien currently runs the blog Street Heat, which is soon to become Streetsblog L.A., our first foray into foreign territory. Damien was New Jersey coordinator for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign before relocating to California last year. Here, he examines the platforms and records of the Republican presidential candidates.
For Republicans vying for the White House, transportation reform isn’t couched in terms of fixing the environment or cutting carbon emissions, but in reducing dependency on foreign oil. Promoting alternatives to car culture is not something any of these candidates want to take up.The closest thing to an exception is John McCain. The senator is the only Republican candidate who recognizes climate change as an issue worthy of space on his web site. Recently, McCain resisted the knee-jerk reaction of promising to subsidize or prop up the auto industry, and he has been an advocate for higher fuel economy standards for automobiles -- two positions that may have cost him the Michigan primary. However, McCain’s recognition of the environmental and economic effects of auto dependency has not translated into a platform of transportation reform. Senator McCain made a name for himself as an outspoken critic of Amtrak. While the agency could doubtless be more efficient, McCain’s fear of government waste led to setbacks of high speed rail expansion and his supporting of the Bush Administration’s plan to segment Amtrak into several local rail agencies. The senator did stop short of calling for the agency to be shut-down completely.
from street blogs Read the rest of this entry »
Alabama is one of the three most polluting, least energy-efficient states in the nation, according to a survey conducted and published by Forbes magazine.
The survey compared air quality, environmental policies, energy efficiency, regulations governing hazardous waste disposal and other factors.
Alabama ranked as the 48th least "green" state in the nation, beating only Indiana and West Virginia, both of them homes to numerous Superfund sites and heavy industrial operations, such as coal mines or steel mills.
Mississippi and Louisiana ranked 46th and 47th, respectively. According to the Forbes article, the five states at the bottom of the list "all suffer from a mix of
toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way."
"There are obviously multiple leadership opportunities in the state of Alabama to help make us greener and healthier," said Dr. Bert Eichold, Mobile County health officer.
Famously "green" states Vermont, Oregon and Washington topped the list but were followed closely by states not normally associated with being environmentally progressive.
For instance, New Jersey ranked seventh, and New York came in ninth.
In part, the rankings for those states -- each of them including sprawling urban areas and numerous chemical factories -- reflect changes made in state and federal laws to counter significant pollution problems in the 1970s and 80s, Forbes said.
Though not mentioned specifically by the article, air quality issues in the Northeast, such as the "acid rain" problems tied to coal-fired power plants, spurred greater environmental awareness in the heavily populated region.
Naples community policing officers received a $1,500 "Share the Road" mini-grant this week from the Florida Bicycle Association to help address the education of motorists and bicyclists on how to properly and legally share the road.
The mini-grant will be used by Naples police to purchase bicycle light sets for an upcoming "Lights on Bikes" campaign, according to a press release from the Naples Police and Emergency Services Department.
During "Lights on Bikes" campaigns, light sets and blinkers are installed on the bicycles of needy restaurant workers throughout the city who ride their bikes to and from work at night, and can’t afford to equip their bikes with the proper lighting.
Officers received the grant on Sunday during the Naples Pathways Coalition’s second annual Pedaling for Pathways Bicycle Brunch at Lowdermilk Park. During the event about 520 registered riders rode in either 10-mile, 20-mile, 62-mile or 100-mile tours.
But what about our candidates, the men running to be the nominee for God's Own Party? I'm not sure what songs they're using, or if they're using any at all, but I do have a few suggestions.
Rudy Giuliani - They're Coming to Take Me Away by Napoleon XIV. Why? Well, because, as he announced during a speech to the Coral Gables Rotary Club, he actually is Napoleon XIV.
Mike Huckabee - Every Sperm is Sacred by Monty Python. We'd have no problem passing Huckabee's personhood amendment to the Constitution if every American heard this song.
Mitt Romney - The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Because when he passes, each one he passes goes "ahhhh." There's nothin' wrong with having a president who has a purty mouth.
Ron Paul - The Horst Wessel Song. Isn't it time to get the government off the back of your local jackboot cobbler?
John McCain - Bomb Iran - because he sings it from the heart.
From Greg Palast's One Bush Left Behind:
Here’s your question, class:
In his State of the Union, the President asked Congress for $300 million for poor kids in the inner city. As there are, officially, 15 million children in America living in poverty, how much is that per child? Correct! $20.
Here’s your second question. The President also demanded that Congress extend his tax cuts. The cost: $4.3 trillion over ten years. The big recipients are millionaires. And the number of millionaires happens, not coincidentally, to equal the number of poor kids, roughly 15 million of them. OK class: what is the cost of the tax cut per millionaire? That’s right, Richie, $287,000 apiece.
Read more.
Trust me it will make sense if you read it.... I hope
Veterans Day - 6:30 pm coming back from star market on foot walking down wellman and listening to ornette colemans "Peace". I take a left and one of the alleys are paved nice I say (since there are no sidewalks left) and decide to walk through it. It is on the way and a nice new addition to my route. so I am carrying my star market bags with my groceries and I think to myself " it would suck if a big german shepard jumped out and bit my ass.... then I look down and there is a shit zu on leash coming at me. another one attached to it's owner is yapping at me. I look up and laugh at them and this guy in his 30's kahki pant a very white shirt, starched pressed he looked like a sausage. Cue Tip haircut. So he says hey and I take my ear buds out and he says" let me ask you a question: where do you live?" I am so shocked by the question that I answer randolph ave......he says ok what address? I said why? he replies there have been a lot of break ins here and..... I said dude do I look like someone who would break in to your house? This fecker freaks out and his eyes roll back in his head and he starts to come at me like the crazed drill sergeant in full metal jacket. he goes"Dude" what do you mean do I thinkyou look like someone who would break in my house! let me tell you something Dude you are not allowed to walk down this alley ever.....then I hear his wife screaming Mike Mike leave him alone..... I am thinking this guy is barking fucking mad..... I just keep walking and going yea yea right and told him he might consider getting a bigger dog that I don't find shit zu's very manly.... he barks out his address and says any time dude anytime"...... So I go back the next day and his pick up truck (go figure) with his yellow ribbon and His Veteran of Desert Shield License plate is there and I coast my bike quickly thorough the alley.... So this is who I must blindly support so I can not walk two blocks from my house by being accosted by this wacko? I would just like to ask is that the freedom he thinks he is fighting for? Also why are people here so afraid of each other? Is this the community and southern hostility you would want to live in?
January 28 th 5:45 pm
Coming down wellman on my bike with the groceries about 3 blocks from my house and a mini van approaches the stop sign not fast and just kind of cruises through and towards me .... I scream hey and he is so close I reach and slap "pow" his back window....he just keeps going and I proceed to follow him we take a left and I see he pulls in and guess what he is commando mike the fascist (from the story above) neighbor on the corner. he is getting out of his van and I pull up and say excuse me did you see me back there? he said no why? I said you almost hit me? he said well I did not see you dont you have a light? I turned my bag and there is my blinking red light? he says well you need a bigger light I said you need to pay attention and maybe get your eyes checked....
So how long will I survive here? what is up with your peops here? Or is it me?
Black Chrysler Crossfire; had a temporary tag or something similar looking tonight. It was pulling out of a neighborhood west off Old Monrovia near University. The driver intentionally pulled out partially into my lane and stayed there until he got passed me, trying to get close to me but not hit me. Please be looking for this. I am busy tomorrow, but I may go there Thursday and spend some time to see if this person lives there or frequents the neighborhood.
I am too tolerant of bullshit. I should have at least hit the windshield and yelled. Or not slowed and scraped the car. I guess that's a good thing about having bullhorns with no bar ends, but I was riding the Trek today. My u lock is not easily accessible from panniers, but if shit like this becomes more common, I'll be keeping it around my neck when riding the Trek. $1 says he doesn't turn around when I bust out a window.
LA cyclists are joining LA City Council President Eric Garcetti on a bike ride in support of Obama.
Cyclists will gather at the Eco-Village on February 2 at 11:00 am for a leisurely ride through Silver Lake and ending in Elysian Valley with snacks and the opportunity to help with some campaign phone banking.
Cyclists in search of Leadership have to search hard to find Presidential hopefuls who support cycling and walking as transportation solutions and who have gone on record in support of funding that supports the full spectrum of alternative transportation.
Of the Democratic hopefuls, Obama is credited with the following platform position:
“As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
As for the Republican hopefuls, Mike Huckabee gets credit for being the candidate who still rides to the grocery store (no word on how many Secret Service cyclists ride sag support) but it remains to be seen if his cycling activities will translate into a “routine accommodations” stance on funding for alternative modes of transportation.
Regardless of where you fall on the issues and on the candidates, please keep in mind that the most significant action we can take is to get on a bike and ride to the polls!
See you on the Streets!
PORTLAND, US – Bicycle advocacies from city of Portland have unearthed a quote from US presidential candidate Barack Obama regarding his support for cycling.
He even seems to be the only one of the Democratic presidential candidates who explicitly encourages bicycle transportation in his energy plans. On the Republican side, the only mention of bicycles comes from Mike Huckabee.
A part of the quote of Obama’s energy platform:
“As president, Barack Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks. He will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country.”
If anyone has a spare extra long (up to 1m) 25.4 seat post, I'd like to borrow it for the Critical Mass. Thanks.
This one is for Clint, as always there are two sides to every argument.
from streetblogs
Not getting flattened by a 50,000 pound "big rig" is a good reason to stop at a red light if you're on a bicycle. But how about less skin-saving reasons? Are there in fact, good reasons to ignore traffic regulations when you can, because after all, they are really meant just for cars?
It's a question that comes readily to mind at times, particularly say when pedaling up a steep hill or going down one, and having to stop at a red light in the middle. Many of us often just cruise through with a careful glance in each direction, but we feel guilty about it. Should we?
Maybe not. If you look historically, you'll find that there were practically no traffic regulations as we know them before cars. No stop signs. No traffic lights. No left turn lanes. In the 19th century, the streets of New York were a seething mass of horse drawn wagons, walking adults, playing children and yes, in the late 19th century, bicyclists.
Cars changed this. In the 1930s, traffic congestion became a serious and unanticipated problem. How to handle it? Enter the new "science" of traffic engineering. With the addition of stop signs, street lights and all the other accoutrements that are common today, traffic congestion would soon be a thing of the past, the new professionals assured the public.
Of course, this wasn't true at all. What it did do was make that street much less convenient for someone on a bicycle or using any other form of non-motorized travel.
So here's my point. Given that most traffic controls were put into place solely for the benefit of drivers, why should the rest of us have to obey them? They're not helping us. In fact, they're impeding us.
What we may need to move toward is some sort of system where cyclists, non-motorized scooter riders, skaters or users of any other kind of self-propelled vehicle are exempted or partially exempted from traffic controls. It could be understood that a red light is there to control the car or truck, not everyone else.
There are a number of options. What Montreal does on some streets is to let cyclists proceed six seconds before the cars do at some red lights. This frees cyclists from being lost in a swirl of drivers going around them. In many Dutch cities, drivers are bound by one way streets, but not cyclists. Imagine such a thing here.
Most effectively, the state could rule, as most Scandinavians have, that in any collision between a pedestrian, a cyclists or a driver, the largest, heaviest vehicle is at fault. This means that pedestrians take precedence over cyclists, and cyclists take precedence over drivers. This would be a de-facto way of exempting cyclists and pedestrians from most automobile-oriented traffic regulation.
One particular regulatory device we could consider having cyclists relate differently to is one way thoroughfares, which are so ubiquitous in New York City.
One way streets are a fairly recent "innovation," many being put into place in the 1950s and 1960s, and again solely for the supposed benefit of drivers. There were many ill effects, and not just for cyclists. Jane Jacobs commented in her classic 1961 "Death and Life of Great American Cities" that every time New York City converted an avenue to being one way, bus traffic would take a significant drop, because people now often had to walk an avenue over to catch a bus traveling in the right direction.
I may be digressing here, but people give those poor delivery guys hunched over their bicycles so much grief for going the wrong way down one-way streets. But rather than penalize their employers, something currently proposed by the New York City Council, how about getting rid of a lot of the one way streets? Or even exempting cyclists from having to obey one way regulations?
This may sound insane, but the fact is it's often irresistible to a biker to go the wrong way down a one way street. If I'm at 15th and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, for example, to get to 14th and Eighth Avenue would require a very long journey if done legally. I would have to cycle down 15th to Ninth Avenue, and then up 14th Street back to Eighth Avenue. That's almost a half mile, given how long Manhattan blocks are. Or, I could travel illegally a 100 feet or so down Eighth Avenue. You can understand why to a delivery person, or I, for example, would be so tempted.
There's a school of cycling called "vehicular" or "integrated" cycling that advocates that cyclists in essence act like motorists. That is, they should take up a whole lane of traffic, and obey all traffic regulations. While this may make sense tactically at times, for example to avoid getting squeezed out by city bus, it's a stupid philosophy. A bicycle is not a car, much less a truck. It's a very different device, and it needs a different set of regulations, one that can be looser and more permissive, given its less substantive nature.
Photo: hen power/Flickr
This was sent in from Tyler please check it out.
http://www.contestedstreets.com/ContestedStreets.mov
There haven't been any rides recently that I've read about on here or heard about. There was an alley cat posted a little while back, but no one knew anything about it, and I think it didn't happen. Is anyone playing bike polo? Are we wussing out because of the cold weather? I'm still riding. Let's hear it if you have any group rides.
from treehugger.com
Yes, we all know that politicians pander to special interest groups in the hopes of picking up key votes. Unfortunately, bicyclists aren't usually one of the interest groups targeted by politicians (although there have been some funny photo-ops of, for instance, John Edwards riding his bike with Lance Armstrong). This bit of news isn't going to change how politicians view cyclists, but it may change how cyclists view a certain politician. According to C.I.C.L.E. (it stands for Cyclists Inciting Change Thru Live Exchange), the Portland bicycle community has unearthed a quote from Barack Obama's energy platform in which he expresses his support for cycling and mass transit. And It turns out that Obama is "the only one of the Democratic presidential candidates who explicitly encourages bicycle transportation in his platform." On the Republican side, the only mention of bicycles comes from Mike Huckabee who, apparently, "rides his bike to the grocery store." (Huckabee is a big proponent of health and wellness, having himself lost over 100 pounds). Read the quote from Obama's platform after the fold:
As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions."So, does this make you more inclined to vote Obama?
Via: ::C.I.C.L.E.
I owned a car from the time I was 15, in 1985, until December 2, 2006. On that day an SUV driver over-estimated the abilities of his vehicle on a downhill slope during the first snowfall of the year. He ran a stop sign and was headed right for me. I swerved to avoid being t-boned and possibly killed, and ran into a tree instead. The car was totaled. Had I not been on the way to an important doctor’s appointment, I would not have even been on the road. I’m glad to be alive and without serious injury. But so it came to be that I have been “car-free” for just about one year now.
To be fair, I’m really “car-lite” rather than “car-free.” I still rent or borrow cars for long distances or heavy loads, and I’m a member of Community Car. But for trips of less than 5 miles that do not involve moving a drum kit, I typically bike, walk, or take the bus now. more here
“Ghost bikes,” riderless and painted white, were placed at two busy intersections in Portland, Ore., last October, makeshift memorials to two bicyclists killed when they were hit by trucks in accidents that month. more here from the ny times
from our friends at bike blog
New Yorkers know there is no better way to ruin your critical mass ride than a Republican National Convention coming to town. We're still feeling the effects of a once largely attended worldwide event, reduced to 50 or so people brave enough to ride bikes in a group and challenge a childish police grudge from 4 years ago. An RNC is a golden opportunity for law enforcement to break out their shiny new 'non-lethal' weaponry they got for Christmas and put your hard earned tax dollars to work. Not to mention treat everyone like terrorists and turn up the Orange levels to maximum.
Since we've ignored the urgent calls for campaign reform, yet again...we've front loaded the primaries and have created such a rush in candidate selection that now only those with top dollars can stay afloat through super Tuesday in the first week of February.
The police activity is also front loaded and the cops in Minneapolis have wasted no time in preparing for the next Republican Convention in September of 2008.
The pattern repeats itself.
Back in August of 2007, Minneapolis' peaceful critical mass ride was...you guessed it...taken over by ANARCHISTS...or so the story goes by the police.
Minneapolis is hosting this years RNC, September 1-4th 2008, and people are already front loading the organizing to give these wealthy, war mongering, corporate welfare receiving, public service destroying delegates a proper HELLO (NOT WELCOME)
Not that any Republican has a chance this time around, but that won't stop Homeland Security form cracking down on our rights of free speech, free assembly and freedom to ride bikes.
Here's a little recap of what went on by Huffington Post writer Peter Smith.
Here's a little video:
Things seemed to have calmed down...since the ANARCHISTS left. Damn those ANARCHISTS, they hate our freedom. There like TERRORISTS only without a "T."
so in September the critical mass seemed to be more peaceful.
Here is a great video from the the uptake.
Check out the Uptake, a group of citizen journalists who happened to have a live stream from the primary in New Hampshire.
I'm sure they will be following the activities leading up to the RNC.
This is copied from Nolen. It should be a cool movie. This guy's handlebars are more aero than my bullhorns.
Stearn's Coffee has graciously agreed to show The Flying Scotsman (DVD) Thursday night, at 6:30ish pm. Stearn's Coffee is off Longwood & Whitesburg (southeast corner), more or less behind Steak Out & next door to Magnolia chocolate shop.
* FREE. (But please buy something so we can do this again. I love their Dirty Chai!)
* Seating is limited. If you let me know you & yours are definitely coming, then I can cue them in, in advance, on seating & we'll do the best we can (even if we have to tell you to bring your own chair or pillow...).
* Movie in the back room.
Here is the official link & a trailer:
http://www.mgm.com/sites/theflyingscotsman/
Check out our new tool! A web application that will give you the laws that are applicable to bicycles for your state. You can find our new tool on top of our sidebar or on our Commuter Tools Page.
An important note to our readers: while we at Bikecommuters.com have made every effort to ensure the completeness and applicability of the bicycle-related laws for individual states, the information provided in this
‘State By State Bicycle Laws’ area may not reflect current legal developments or statutory changes in the various jurisdictions and therefore should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal advice. The
information provided on this public web site is provided solely for the general reference of the visitors to this web site. We suggest that you seek proper legal counsel if you have additional questions about the material presented here.
47G648A
red/maroon 90s Ford Explorer
trailer hitch/ball/whatever
If you see this vehicle with that tag number of a similar one, please take note. I was harassed by 2 female occupants today, and I would like to file a police report, especially if they bother someone else. Or just go ahead and kill them if you want.
by Jason Wright
January 03, 2008
It appears last year's rash of bicycle bank robberies may have drawn to a close.
Roswell police announced Jan. 3 they had Carlos H. Arango-Mejia, 47, in custody at the Roswell Detention Center. He is being held without bond.
Arango-Mejia currently stands accused of two counts of bank robbery, both at the Bank of America on Alpharetta Highway in Roswell March 8 and July 25.
More charges are likely against the suspect accused of using costumes and bicycles to rob various banks from March until Dec. 26.
The FBI and various police agencies in Georgia and South Carolina believe Arango-Mejia is responsible for at least nine other robberies throughout North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties and Greer, S.C. more here
By David Lazenby
The Cullman Times
State Troopers say injuries sustained by a 6-year-old Cullman County boy were caused when he lost control of his bike during an attempt to avoid the vehicle that struck it.
Bicyclist Isaac Ludwig turned onto County Road 496 from County Road 498 when the accident occurred. He was transported to an area hospital Monday at the insistence of Cullman Police Capt. Hughel Sanford, the driver of the Chevrolet Blazer that ran over Isaac’s bike.
The extent of Isaac’s injuries were not known at press time. read more here
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