"Amazing benefits"!
Be still my heart! Two whole free hours if I have a Starbucks card and register it and use it once a month. Such a deal.
Or, I could walk three blocks to one of three local coffee shops, four bars, bagel place, hospital or Burger King that have as much free internet as I want.
Starbucks = Losers.
Image by Al_HikesAZ. Some rights reserved.
Have I mentioned Colorado's tradition of spineless and dopey senators? Oh, I guess I have.
From the Denver Post:
. . . Sen. Mark Udall will announce proposed legislation today that would funnel more federal dollars to help states build public shooting ranges.
. . .
U.S. Forest Service officials closed part of Lefthand Canyon near Boulder last year after several agency employees experienced near misses from an ad hoc shooting range near a road.
. . .
It would also reduce the liability of federal agencies when federal land is used for firing ranges or shooting activity.
Udall's aides said the law should give states substantial incentives to build new public firing ranges.
"By creating safe public shooting ranges, we will provide more opportunities for gun owners and sportsmen to target practice, reduce conflicts with other users of forest lands and generate more money for wildlife habitat restoration" by training a new generation of shooters, said Udall's spokeswoman, Tara Trujillo.
Seems like a joke but it's not April 1 and it's for real.
Jill Abramson, the managing editor for news, agreed with [the NYTimes "Public Editor"] that the paper was “slow off the mark,” and blamed “insufficient tuned-in-ness to the issues that are dominating Fox News and talk radio.” She and Bill Keller, the executive editor, said last week that they would now assign an editor to monitor opinion media and brief them frequently on bubbling controversies.
I guess it's sort of funny. Sort of "sad funny." Like the Darwin Awards.
I've always liked this sign's tact.
Mark Schiefelbein for The New York Times. NYTimes caption: "Like many truckers, Kurt Long uses a dispatching computer. 'We’re supposed to pull over,” he said, “but nobody ever does.'”
False comparisons come up every time someone proposes a rule to reduce driver distractions. From the NYTimes:
Crisscrossing the country, hundreds of thousands of long-haul truckers use computers in their cabs to get directions and stay in close contact with dispatchers, saving precious minutes that might otherwise be spent at the side of the road.
The trucking industry says these devices can be used safely, posing less of a distraction than BlackBerrys, iPhones and similar gadgets, and therefore should be exempted from legislation that would ban texting while driving.
“We think that’s overkill,” Clayton Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations . . . .
Yes. And using a computer while driving is less distracting than having a pack of angry monkeys in the cab, too. And much safer than driving with a bucket on one's head. Obviously using a computer isn't a problem.
Who buys this sort of reasoning? Maybe driving really does make people stupid.
Forty thousand deaths a year and no one really notices. Saving "precious minutes" is much more important to our car-addled population.
I have a friend who treats every discussion as a football game: "losing" is not an option. Spending an hour with him made me realize I would rather debate something with someone who is right rather than someone who is wrong. I can handle "losing" if I learn something.
These days I don't spend as much time trying to convince people who I know are wrong that they are indeed wrong. I am more likely to shrug and let reality correct the misunderstanding. Sometimes it works.
The recession and spike in gas prices got Americans out of their cars. One of the few good things about the economic turmoil.
But the effect was temporary. As the graph above shows, Americans are driving again.
Maybe it's all the clunker replacements. [DOT via Calculated Risk]
Line made by walking 1967, Richard Long.
Buying out the health insurance industry would save us money? From Doug Henwood at Institute for Public Accuracy:
A friend pointed out to me earlier today that the market capitalization—the value of all the outstanding stock—of the publicly traded health insurers is about $150 billion. Add a little premium to sweeten the pot and you could nationalize the lot of them for about $200 billion. The total administrative costs of the U.S. healthcare system, which are greatly inflated by all the paperwork and second-guessing of docs’ decisions generated by the insurance industry, are about $400 billion a year. Those administrative costs are about three times what a Canadian-style single payer system would cost. So that means we’d save about $250 billion a year by eliminating the waste caused by our private insurance system.
In other words, the nationalization could pay for itself in well under a year.
The Eruv (as it matters to me) and the art of Richard Long have a lot in common:
My first work made by walking, in 1967, was a straight line in a grass field, which was also my own path, going 'nowhere'. . . . my intention was to make a new art which was also a new way of walking: walking as art. . . . Each walk, though not by definition conceptual, realised a particular idea.
Walking also enabled me to extend the boundaries of sculpture, which now had the potential to be de-constructed in the space and time of walking long distances. Sculpture could now be about place as well as material and form.
I didn't know Muhammad Ali started boxing because of a bicycle:
On an October afternoon in 1954, a 12-year-old Clay attended an annual convention of the Louisville Service Club . . . . He arrived at the black merchant bazaar upon a new $60 red and white Schwinn. However, after Clay and his friend indulged themselves with free popcorn and ice cream they left the auditorium to find that their bicycles had been stolen. A tearful Clay was directed to the basement of the auditorium where a policeman was manning the boxing gym. Joe Martin listened to young Cassius boast about a statewide hunt for his precious bike and heard the threats he was making to the thief if he was ever caught. After a while, Martin asked of Clay, “Well, do you know how to fight?” Clay quipped back, “No, but I’d fight anyway.” Martin’s best advice to the hot-tempered preteen was to come back around the gym and learn to fight. “Why don’t you learn something about fighting,” Martin suggested, “before you go and make any hasty challenges?”
From Bike Denver:
What: BikeDenver’s Autumnal Equinox Ride is a casual, safe, ride for Denver cyclists. Come join us to celebrate the onset of FALL! We will ride from City Park’s Thatcher Fountain to Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub at 2030 Larimer. You’ll still have time to cruise over to Salvagetti at 8pm to see some great bicycle film shorts (6 minutes films) in the parking lot by Salvagetti’s new digs at 1611 Platte Street.
When: September 22, 6pm Ride, 7pm Social, Bike Film Shorts start at 8pm at Salvagetti.
Where: Start at City Park… End at Scruffy Murphy’s. Meet 6:00pm at Thatcher Fountain, just North of East High School, at 17th Ave. & Esplanade. We’ll have directions to Salvagetti if you want to cycle over for the film shorts.
How: On your bike, dressed as you like. Helmets strongly suggested. Front and rear lights are required by the City for night riding. We ride safely and legally. Secure bike parking will be provided at Scruffy Murphy’s. Enjoy the Happy Hour pricing they’ll be extending for us!
Why: Because FALL is a great time to ride your bike in Denver! At the autumnal equinox (Sept 22, 2009; 5:18 P.M. EDT), the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.
About Scruffy Murphy’s: Scruffy Murphy’s opened in 2005 in the up-and-coming Ballpark neighborhood. You’ll love this traditional Irish Pub with a cozy atmosphere and friendly staff.
Rick Smith captures (again) a truth about cycling.
I don't think there's much doubt that our car-addled reporters cover up the carnage cars inflict on our society -- rarely do you see a car killing story that mentions that it's an instance of an incredible, national problem. Or even that a person - as opposed to a car - was involved.
Forty thousand deaths a year. Mostly preventable. Mostly a result of illegal behavior that is routinely overlooked. Mostly involving people who have no idea how risky their behavior is because everyone behaves recklessly and no one - media, parents, friends - says a word about it. It's always "a terrible accident."
A note that made me laugh:
I am going to have fabulous back muscles by carrying my backpack full of a fabulous education around...
From the NYTimes:
The question of who gets to shop on the [new insurance] exchange has become highly politicized. As part of an effort to show that illegal immigrants will not benefit from an insurance overhaul, the White House and leading Senate Democrats have said that illegal immigrants will be barred from participating in the new exchange, even if they can afford to pay the full cost of insurance.
Because Republicans are assholes? That's the only explanation I can think of. (Actually, it might also be because Republicans are stupid. Or because Democrats are spineless.)
Fewer customers. Less revenue. Fewer economies of scale. More uninsured emergency room visits or otherwise uncompensated care.
That makes sense.
Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) seven proposed amendment[s] to [U.S. DOT's 2010 spending bill] include one that would "prohibit the use of funds for roadkill reduction programs, transportation museums, scenic beautification projects, or bike and pedestrian paths" until the nation's highway trust fund is on a firmer financial footing, according to a report in Friday's CQ.
And John McCain is trying to block funding for lots of transit projects including the West, East, and Gold rail transit corridors in the Denver area.
The Tour de Fat parade rode past the Capitol yesterday. The whack-jobs were out to protest Obama's simultaneous communism, facism, Frenchism, and Kenyanism. (Also, propaganda, taxes, debt, government, child abuse, and Hillary Clinton.)
I stopped to chat with someone holding a sign saying something like "Obama wants to kill me!"
Me: Obama wants to kill you?
He: I need chemo and he would take it away.
Me: You mean the government wouldn't pay for it?
He: Yeah.
Me: And the government pays for it now?
He: No.
Me: Well, who pays for it now?
He: No one.
Me: So you want the government to pay for it?
He: No.
Me: You want to pay for it but can't?
He: I can't afford it.
Me: You want the doctors to do it for free?
He: No.
Me: Cheaper?
He: No.
Me: I guess I don't get it.
He: Yeah you don't and people like you won't.
At which point he launched into a rant reminiscent of John Cleese's in the last 40 seconds of this clip. Cleese is funny; this guy got scary.
I don't think he needed chemo treatment. I think he needed the Bicycle Repair Man: He obviously had a screw loose.
Tour de Fat notes:
The Basics:
Ride Registration 9am-10am
Ride Times 10am-11am
Revival Times 11am-4pm
Benefitting: Bike Denver
Benefitting: Flight for Life
Benefitting: The Derailleur Bicycle Collective
Sustainable Support Alliance For Sustainable Colorado
Performances by: March Fourth Marching Band
Paper Bird
Nanda
Featuring:
- Sean Hayes
- The Pimps of Joytime
- Handsome Little Devils present: Squirm Burpee Circus
- The Dare Devil Chicken Club Presents: Honeymoon Cabaret
- Loyd Family Players Salsa Drum Corps
On the Grotto stage:
- * Oakhurst, Bela Karoli w/ Ian Cooke, George Inai and the Curious Ghost Orchestra, Dovekins Longspoon
The parade leaves at 10am...don't be late!
Leave City Park South on St. Paul to 11th. Take 11th West to Cheesman Park and do a lap around the park. Folks can shake what their mommas gave them at that park if they want to take a break and party. Leave Cheesman going North on Franklin St Go West on 16th down to Sherman and go pedal around the Capitol. Down Capitol Hill (careful crazy bikes) to Lincoln. Take Lincoln North through Downtown area to 20th. Take that all the way back to City Park.
The Denver Cruisers are meeting at The Shoppe before the parade:
The ride starts at 10am on the west side of City Park and we're meeting at 8:30 at the Shoppe on 3103 East Colfax Avenue for cereal and cupcakes.
We'll leave the Shoppe at 9:30ish and ride over to the park where the real fun will ensue.
The Cruisers were kind enough to pass this along:
If you want to win a New Belgium Cruiser Bike, check out these venues for give-a-ways on these dates:
Gov’s Park- 9/3 and 9/10
British Bulldog- 9/8
Salty Ritas- 9/9
3 Dogs- 9/9
Patrick Carrols- 9/10
Wymanns- 9/10
The Cooler- 9/11
Pioneer- 9/11
It's important to pay attention when someone changes the terms of a discussion or the goals of a project. Sometimes those changes, if they sound familiar, slide right past. From Obama's speech:
To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it.
I don't know about you, but these weren't my goals for universal health care. I wanted free, universal care. Insurance company reform was not part of the picture. And "affordable" is not the same as "free." (Gerty and I are staggering making payments for things that the seller keeps saying are "affordable.")
Is ending insurance company abuses and making coverage affordable for those without it enough or good? I suppose it depends on how it's done.
Forcing me to purchase anything doesn't sit well with me. Forcing me to purchase something from a private company is offensive.
I guess we'll see.
Artist: Blu. Location: Lambrate Rail Station, Milan. Image by Porpora60. Via Bike Lane Diary. Definitely check out Blu's site!
Image by pinkcanoe/Harold. Some rights reserved.
chiggins of It's Just A Ride:
I gotta say, I’d be proud just to know my wife if I wasn’t lucky enough to be married to her.
Part 1. Coors Field yesterday. When the middle of the seventh rolled around, Gerty stood up to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Gerty was puzzled when the PA announcer asks everyone to rise and remove their hats.
Gerty doesn't go to many baseball games these days. She was momentarily baffled. "Remove my hat to sing along with Harry Carey's oft-slurred anthem?" All became clear when the stadium launched into the jingoistic Irving Berlin song "God Bless America."
Gerty is not one to disrespect sappy, pandering musical numbers or those who sing them, so she remained standing. But Gerty is also not one to confuse sappy, pandering musical numbers with sappy, pandering national anthems, so Gerty's hat stayed on her head.
Once everyone had settled in for the bottom of the seventh, Gerty heard a woman behind her comment, "Did you see that? She didn't take her hat off." Gerty ignored it. The person repeated her comment: "Did you see that? She didn't take her hat off." Ignored by Gerty, the commenter repeated her comment two more times.
Then came the kicker. "I bet she voted for Obama!"
-----------------------------------------
Part 2. Is their audience stupid? Are they stupid? Or are they both stupid?
From Doug Patton's column:
Let us restate the obvious. Access to quality health care is denied to no one in the United States. . . . Callous HMO bureaucrats may arbitrarily refuse to pay for certain health care procedures, thereby forcing patients to consider other methods of payment. However, that is not the same thing as being denied treatment.
No. It's not the same thing as being denied treatment. It's the same thing as not being treated.
From Marta Evry at FDL:
[I]f Obama really does punt on the public option, it will be a disaster for him and for us. . . .
. . . We will feel that we have no more voice in this administration than we did the last.
True.
This is what I have been trying to express to Gerty. I'm happy Obama is president. I like his tone. But there's nothing inspiring going on to balance a bunch of stuff that seems mediocre or downright rotten. There's nothing that makes me say "YES!" and no prospect of real progress on the things that matter to me.
Not to say that the Obama Administration will be as odious as the Bush Administration, just that I will feel as irrelevant.
Image by Arthur Smokes. Some rights reserved.
People are getting so expensive, it's good to eliminate them.
I'm told, but don't know whether it is true, that there is only one bilingual detective on the Denver police force. And she now works only on "cold" cases.
Roughly 1/3 of Denver's population is Latino. About 1/5 is foreign born.
Original image by hradcanska. Some rights reserved.
All cars come equipped with turn signals. The lever is there behind the steering wheel. If you cannot find it or don't know how to operate it, please ask your mechanic.
If you have difficulty using the turn signal lever because you have an object in your hand, put the object down you fucking moron.
Looming beyond the publicized cases of these relatively low-level operatives is the fundamental accountability question: What about those who approved of their actions? If accountability is the standard, then it should apply to the policymakers and not just to the underlings. Ultimately, do we want to see Cheney, who backed these actions and still does, standing in the dock?
The answer is yes. Absolutely.
(Incredibly, this is one of Broder's arguments against Holder's half-assed investigation. Sometimes I despair.)
From the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado:
Ballyhoo and Beer
Join the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado at New Belgium's Tour de Fat Saturday, September 12, 2009 at City Park in Denver from 10am to 4pm.
Don't miss this rollicking, zany bike festival that helps spread the word about the positive societal offerings of the bicycle. [And helps support Bike Denver and the Derailer Bicycle Collective.]
Volunteers Needed
We are looking for 36 volunteers to help with the resource recovery efforts at this year’s Tour de Fat.
If you are passionate about sustainability, please consider giving an hour and a half of your time.
All volunteers will receive a free New Belgium T-Shirt and beer tokens!
If you are interested in helping please contact Anna at 303-405-6791 or nnaz - @ - sustainablecolorado.org
For more information about The Tour de Fat visit:
http://sustainablecolorado.org/events/
In the dark of the moon, in the flying snow, in the dead of winter,
war spreading, families dying, the world in danger,
I walk the rocky hillside, sowing clover.
-- Wendell Berry
Location
Edging away from the edge of American space
News and comments about tours, touring, & racing. Good things not seen elsewhere.
The Journal of One Family's Journey Toward Sustainability Sans Car
Many reviews, a DIY project or two, and some fun posts about biking.
A great, active blog.
Some bike stuff. Some other stuff.
The struggles of a fat guy on his way to middle age and the classic battle of the bulge. Against him, the entire agricultural and food production system, American Midwestern attitudes towards food and eating and a lifetime of sloth and drunkenness. His only weapon, his bike.
Lovely bike things, lovingly discussed and photographed.
Kent Peterson is Commuting Program Director for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. Useful, interesting, and fun (though his panniers look as if he didn't get enough cut and paste time in kindergarten.)
Sharp-witted cycling advocacy and photos
NYC city cycling
Jim, of . . . well some other places, is back.
Well-written posts on healthy living, family, and how to live better.
"I've been riding bikes for over 50 years. By my way of thinking, that makes me an expert on everything relating to bicycles. just ask me." And an expert on everything. I can identify.
It's a magazine, newsletter, blog, and the mind boggles to think what else.
A cyclo-centric exploration of alternatives to American car culture, as well as other musings of a cog in the machine.
Charming, "fresh" writing about biking in University of Illinois Land.
Great links from a London bike shop specializing in folders and commuters, with an unnecessary Flash heading.
Rick Smith's bikey comic.
Wrapped up effort to get a "share the road" vanity automobile license plate. In February 2008, failed to raise the maximum fine for running over a cyclist while the driver was failing to yield. (Bicycle Colorado was pushing for $1,000. Radical.)
Positive trajectory in doubt, trending back to ass-kiss mode. Too bad.
Published in Ft. Collins. "Your resolve to commute by bike is, indeed, the impetus for [Boneshaker:A Bicycling Almanac.] It is you who deserves weighty attention and significant accolades, not celebrity train wrecks and political hearsay, because you are not daunted easily. No, you keep pedaling quietly without recognition, and if you get recognized, it is most likely via a startling horn or outstretched finger. Imagine if we could harness or otherwise bottle your retenue and distribute it to the world’s leaders and workers and thinkers! Oh, the thought! "
You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll use a sidewalk.
The most experienced mechanics in town and the most complete collection of tools and parts in the West. No place like it.
Last Friday of the month. Meet at Civic Center Park at the Seal Fountain pool between 5:30 and 6:00 pm.
The Denver Cruisers meet at the The Ginn Mill at 2041 Larimer Street every wednesday at 6:30pm, until September 30th.
Adventures in Local Living
Biking, Walking, and Public Transit in Denver, Colorado
A free, non-profit, collectively run community bicycle shop on the west side of Denver.
The world's first and only cruiser magazine has it's home right here in Denver. Aren't we the lucky ones!
A east side (Park Hill) non-profit bike place that encourages folks to build and fix their own bikes and gives them the tools and help to actually do it. Nice dedicated folks who seem to know what they are doing. (As befits a foundation-funded operation, the website description is opaque and baffling, but I've been there and it's a good place.)
Friendly, competent, and cool.
A large collection of articles and links on cycling and sustainability.
To inform and inspire. And it does.
(Cyclists Inciting Change thru Live Exchange) dynamic site promoting cycling as a viable and sustainable transportation choice.
The NYTimes series on irresponsible, multitasking drivers.
The blog of the New York Streets Renaissance - advocacy in action - and as everyone knows, it happens in NYC first.
grassroots group that uses direct action and education to push for a sustainable NYC.
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Though it's about cooking and food, I love the writing - snappy and downright . . . rollicking. Read this.
"I want to learn about sustainable agriculture, as much as I possibly can. . . . I plan to hop on my bike and head north, following the growing season in a giant loop around the country, stopping to learn and work . . . I imagine this will take about a year, maybe longer."
"[They] built the bikes, sold the house, got married, quit a job," and are cycling around Asia. They finished their tour in May 2010.
THE place for cycle tourists. If you are planning, dreaming, or riding a tour . . . .
David Byrne cycled around in the world in 1975. Now retired, he's doing it again. Why? "I can think of nothing better to do."
The best, most knowledgeable, compulsive person to talk to about panniers and racks is Wayne. Has any business, internet or brick and mortar, ever know so much and been so helpful about this stuff? His prices are great, too.
Movie stars and their self-propelled vehicles.
Fukuoka, Japan.
Interesting photos and descriptions of Japan. No bikes.
No cycling here but a collection of glimpses of Asia, mainly Japan -- from baseball beer girls to beaches.
Calculates gearing in several useful ways and provides extra info like required deraileur capacity.
Lennard's Zinn's bike fit calculator. The link goes to the Road version.
Gardening in Denver from the staff Horticulturist with the Colorado State University Extension office in Denver. Good stuff.
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