If you can't keep a consistant bare min. sustained speed of 35mph...then, yes...you are holding up traffic on about 98% of the roads most driver use...and are an impediment.
And sure, some people live in what I'd almost have to list as a micro-climate...where it is consistently good enough weather to ride a bicycle to work on a consistent basis.
Most people live where it is too hot and muggy most of the year, or too cold and icy...or rainy...or just too hot to ride to/from work, and have any hope of looking somewhat professional when you get there (clean, not sweat soaked, etc).....and that not even considering if you need to bring your laptop with you...possibly gym clothes if you like to hit the gym after work for some weight training or swimming....and work materials (ref. books,etc).
Sure a very few people have the climate to bike to work long term....but most of us just don't have that luxury...and it isn't worth the tax dollars to us for the few that do...
Kids going outside seems less common now too. I am a parent, so this is something I have noticed a lot. Me and a couple of my neighbors always take our kids outside to play on the weekends. They are all 6 and under, so we still stick around outside, but give them freedom to roam a bit. Or we take them to the park. But there are a lot of kids in the neighbourhood who you never see outside. We only know they exist because you see them going form their front door to the car. Otherwise, they never go outside. That park is almost always empty, except for my kinds and my neighbours.
I recently saw on the new...multiple channels...where this lady, who I guess was in a bit of a feud with a neighbor over dog crap in her yard one day....had said neighbor call child protective services on her...for "letting her kids play in the front yard and the street" in the cul-de-sac they lived on....and the freakin cops arrested her....even though she had been sitting there watching them the whole time.
I just can't believe this...hell, I'd not have though you'd have to sit and watch your kids even doing this?
Lord...I guess my parents...and all my friends' parents would have been locked up for life for the child abuse they'd been accused of in this day in time.
Lets see...during the summers (and both my parents worked), when I was in about 7th-8th grade or so, my typical day was....get up..get on my bike/skateboard...and run around by myself or with my neighborhood friends....ALL day, unsupervised. When I was really young, my basic only rule was to call home from a friend's house every 2-3 hours to check in. As I got older..didn't have to do that any more.
In one neighborhood, it was a newer subdivision...our street dead ended and for years..we had woods to play in before they developed it about a decade later....we'd run wild through the woods..build forts...shoot bb and pellet guns....etc.
I supposed we'd all be in foster care these days...what gives? What happened to letting a kid be a kid and go outside and fucking play...with other children in the neighborhood?
Do you even know any drivers who attempt to not exceed posted speed limits on roads by 5-10mph? This may be anecdotal, but almost all people I've met who bitch about cyclists have a history of rear ending other drivers and causing accidents, meaning they are terrible drivers.
Actually, I don't even bother to look at the speed limit signs...until the radar detector goes off, or I see a cop.
But, while I speed...all the time....I have cars that are performance cars and can handle it. I consider myself a safe driver...I drive at the speeds that I can manage given the road and traffic conditions.
I've not had a wreck in a LOOOONG time [knocks wood].
And while you claim roads were originally built for cyclists....that was just fine and dandy for "1870s and the 1920s." per the article.
This is 2012....back then, a car could hardly keep up with a bicycle or horse...but those times have changed.
Since a bicycle is largely for recreational exercise, and not a serious mode of transportation for most people and most peoples' lifestyles in the US in this day in age...we need to reconsider allowing non-motorized traffic on main thoroughfares.
Legally, cyclists have a right to be there, as does a guy with a horse and buggy or someone driving a backhoe or tractor
Then we need to change these laws.
If you cannot keep up with the flow of traffic, then, you should not be allowed on said roads....speed difference combined in this case, with significant mass difference...is just asking for trouble.
If there are bike lanes...then sure, they have their place, but if not...we shouldn't allow vehicles on roads that cannot keep up with the normal speeds of said road.
It just isn't safe.
The reason we don't have much specialized bicycling lanes and the like is.....bicycling is recreational, you generally drive a car for business (serious transportation, hauling things, going to / from work, shopping, etc).
A bicycle is mainly for recreational exercise....and the US is hurting for money for the infrastructure we need for commerce and basic needs...we don't have the spare cash to build bicycle additions to our roads.
Drivers who hit and kill cyclists never saw them in the first place, helmet or not. I had this debate with an anti-helmet buddy of mine who two weeks later was hit by a car and suffered a major concussion. The driver thought she hit a squirrel. He still has problems concentrating. I don't agree with helmet laws forcing people to not be stupid, but I know as many bikers who've been hit as I do that haven't.
Why don't we solve the main problem...that non-motorized traffic does NOT belong on the same road as motorized traffic....an exception being that if there is a special bike lane there.
I mean, we don't have pedestrians walking willy nilly on busy roads....why should a bicycle that cannot keep up with traffic flow speeds be in traffic like that?
This is just a problem that is constantly waiting to happen.
On a slightly different topic...where exactly do they have helmet LAWS for bicycles?
I never wore one as a kid...when and what states actually require helmets for just riding on bicycles?
Are you saying that some states actually have laws that require you to wear a helmet on just a regular, human powered bicycle?!?!?
wow...never heard of that.
I know in many states, they require a helmet on a motorcycle (stupid fucking, Katrina period LA gov Blanco re-instated our helmet law before she got her ass out of office)...but never heard of bicycle helmets being required anywhere...?
I mean, it is a bicycle...how hurt can you normally get?
putting that in perspective, if you're making a wine in a 30 litre fermenter, you'll be using about 5 kg of fermentables. this will yield about 4.5kg of ethanol, which will run you about 428 bucks of excise for 6 bucks worth of ingredients.
Is this for the home brewer?
Are you saying over there..they charge you all this tax for alcohol, on raw ingredients that 'could' be used to make DIY home brewed alcohol?
If so...wow....
Here in the US...the ingredients you buy are only subject to the usual sales tax any item sold is subject to...but, if you're brewing for personal consumption....there's no additional fees or taxes or licenses....
(i'm trying my hand at a Caribbean rum now, as those ferment out in 3 days),
Can you go more into the 'caribbean' rum thing? Are you saying you're fermenting...the distilling something into rum?
Where are you living....I don't know of any countries or US states really....where distilling, even for personal use, is legal.
Not that I'm not wanting to try it myself...hope to soon, guessing that a small batch set up won't draw attention...but just curious as to what you're doing...?
Excellent advice; I will definitely apply it. But apple honey mead, absolutely wicked! No, I couldn't wait for that. I would be counting bubbles until I went insane. Maybe if I could leave it in a different State while it aged.
Nah...just make 2-4 batches each time you make it....drink 2 batches....put two batches back.
When each batch is about ready...brew 2-4 more batches...that way, you are drinking the young stuff (to satisfy your thirst), but you are also putting stuff back...and if brewing every couple weeks...you'll have stuff coming out weekly to drink and put up, while others are fermenting....etc.
And hey, I used to have fun brewing with friends...we'd pay 'homage' to the old batch...by drinking it whilst brewing the new batch.
Probably something to do with that big ass oil spill a few years ago. He can look like he's protecting the environment here, while simply getting the oil from elsewhere.
And at the cost of many, many US jobs....and decimating industries in the Gulf south (LA, TX, etc)....and causing oil companies to move their rig deployment resources out of the Gulf to other countries....possibly never to come back.
It is our waters here....give us more a choice in allowing drilling. We're just fine down here....we've recovered....seafood industry has been tested (more than any other in history) and has been just fine for years now.....the oil spill was a bit of a burp...but we're over it....but Obama is killing jobs and money coming in here in this area by not allowing new oil leases....
As this looks to be a movie designed to enrage "Enemies of the State" yes they did track down the guy that made the movie to see WHY he made the movie.
Err...exactly WHEN did this become a duty of the federal, or state government??
When did it even become slightly against any law to make a film or publish anything that enrage an 'enemy of the state' of the US??
I certainly hope you're being cynical or sarcastic....and not serious.
I think that's a sad sign of how screwed up our priorities are, that we somewhat willingly put work before children, and how companies have too much power over workers that they can expect such things of us.
It isn't so much that men don't care...it is just the understood social arrangement...
Women are in charge of the kids...they take the extra time off (or are just stay at home moms as a career)...and the men earn the money and provide for the family.
Just mainly a carryover from human existence for hundreds of years....
Those of us in Maricopa County can worry about our sheriff; the rest of the country can worry about theirs. It's a local elected office. I do not understand the national media attention.
With that said, I do not support Arpaio or his policies and do not vote for him.
Hey, I feel for ya'll out in AZ....and I did live out there awhile back too.
With the federal govt giving absolutely no assistance in trying to help with the porous border there, well, I applaud ya'll doing whatever you have to to try to curb the problems with being for all purposes, invaded by foreign natiionals.
The problems with crime and the weight on schools and other social services is massive.
Good luck out there....whether you agree with everything Arpaio does or not...at least you can say he's trying to do "something" about the problems....the feds aren't doing their job, so ya'll have to try to do it yourselves.
I just recently watched that documentary, Freakanomics....it had some interesting things in it, one was how a name effects you through life.
Having a more common name in general..helps. Having a very bizzare and strange sounding name...will often keep you from being hired over someone else.
The show mentioned, that black and white names...until only a couple or so decades ago, were similar, but in the late 60's and 70's you started seeing black parents coming up with very unusual and stand out naming habits (Shaquillabonno, etc)....
It may sound sad to you that a name can do this to you, but you need to face facts that it does. Your are likely to get called in for that CPA interview if your name is Jack.....and not so much if your name is Rain, Ja'Quaelah , Sting or Cher.....
If you're a parent....have a heart and try to give you kids a name that will help them out later in life....right or wrong, that's just the way things are and sometimes you have to accept that.
It can just as easily mean "Giving false aliases whenever anyone at any time, including the Blockbuster video clerk...
While I understand in this guys case...due to his probation, that giving a false alias was not legal for him.....if this wasn't the case, as long as he wasn't giving this out to police officers investigating a crime, etc.....giving false aliases isn't illegal in general...??
I mean, I can't think of many times it is actually illegal to not give your real name, but even to give a false one.
Maybe I missing something, but except for a few cases (one of them apparently being on probation for fraud)....is it really illegal for you to give a false name? I do it all the time with regard to those store customer loyalty cards they used to give out....on internet polls....basically any time I don't want anyone putting me on a phone or mailing list....etc
Hell....My idea of commitment to a woman...is finally telling her my REAL name....
The answer is to have tiered education, the way the Germans do it. Kids that are troublemakers get put in special classes with other dolts, which are run by teachers trained to deal with them. They're not going to learn at the level of the smart kids, who are elsewhere in their own classes, but they'll learn something, even if it's discipline. The problem our country largely has is "mainstreaming": we want to treat everyone like equals, when they simply aren't. Parents get all pissed off when little Johnny gets held back a grade or put in a "special" class, so for decades we've been trying to stick all kids together in the same class, even when they don't learn at the same rate and some are troublemakers and need special attention. Get rid of mainstreaming and many of your problems will disappear.
Very nice!
This is largely what I was kind of thinking about...but expressed in a bit more concise terms!!
The mainstreaming thing...is it.
But, the second you try to even touch this...you'll see busing, segregation and racial arguments start to fly like crazy...even if it has nothing to do with race.
The government wanted to jail this guy for having an unpopular opinion...
It would be bad enough if this was the case of this guy's opinion being unpopular here in the US....(and from what I can see, most in the US couldn't care less)
But now...we worry about someone on US soil's opinion offending some radical idiots on the other side of the world??
We shouldn't suppress anyone's views, if they are unpopular here...but we sure as shit shouldn't do it because it pisses off someone outside the US.
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The needs of the many, outweigh the needs (and dollars) of the few.....?
And sure, some people live in what I'd almost have to list as a micro-climate...where it is consistently good enough weather to ride a bicycle to work on a consistent basis.
Most people live where it is too hot and muggy most of the year, or too cold and icy...or rainy...or just too hot to ride to/from work, and have any hope of looking somewhat professional when you get there (clean, not sweat soaked, etc).....and that not even considering if you need to bring your laptop with you...possibly gym clothes if you like to hit the gym after work for some weight training or swimming....and work materials (ref. books,etc).
Sure a very few people have the climate to bike to work long term....but most of us just don't have that luxury...and it isn't worth the tax dollars to us for the few that do...
I'd not have worn a helmet when I was a kid...no way....
Geez...govt trying to tell everyone what to do with themselves....*sigh*
I recently saw on the new...multiple channels...where this lady, who I guess was in a bit of a feud with a neighbor over dog crap in her yard one day....had said neighbor call child protective services on her...for "letting her kids play in the front yard and the street" in the cul-de-sac they lived on....and the freakin cops arrested her....even though she had been sitting there watching them the whole time.
I just can't believe this...hell, I'd not have though you'd have to sit and watch your kids even doing this?
Lord...I guess my parents...and all my friends' parents would have been locked up for life for the child abuse they'd been accused of in this day in time.
Lets see...during the summers (and both my parents worked), when I was in about 7th-8th grade or so, my typical day was....get up..get on my bike/skateboard...and run around by myself or with my neighborhood friends....ALL day, unsupervised. When I was really young, my basic only rule was to call home from a friend's house every 2-3 hours to check in. As I got older..didn't have to do that any more.
In one neighborhood, it was a newer subdivision...our street dead ended and for years..we had woods to play in before they developed it about a decade later....we'd run wild through the woods..build forts...shoot bb and pellet guns....etc.
I supposed we'd all be in foster care these days...what gives? What happened to letting a kid be a kid and go outside and fucking play...with other children in the neighborhood?
Actually, I don't even bother to look at the speed limit signs...until the radar detector goes off, or I see a cop.
But, while I speed...all the time....I have cars that are performance cars and can handle it. I consider myself a safe driver...I drive at the speeds that I can manage given the road and traffic conditions.
I've not had a wreck in a LOOOONG time [knocks wood].
And while you claim roads were originally built for cyclists....that was just fine and dandy for "1870s and the 1920s." per the article.
This is 2012....back then, a car could hardly keep up with a bicycle or horse...but those times have changed.
Since a bicycle is largely for recreational exercise, and not a serious mode of transportation for most people and most peoples' lifestyles in the US in this day in age...we need to reconsider allowing non-motorized traffic on main thoroughfares.
Then we need to change these laws.
If you cannot keep up with the flow of traffic, then, you should not be allowed on said roads....speed difference combined in this case, with significant mass difference...is just asking for trouble.
If there are bike lanes...then sure, they have their place, but if not...we shouldn't allow vehicles on roads that cannot keep up with the normal speeds of said road.
It just isn't safe.
The reason we don't have much specialized bicycling lanes and the like is.....bicycling is recreational, you generally drive a car for business (serious transportation, hauling things, going to / from work, shopping, etc).
A bicycle is mainly for recreational exercise....and the US is hurting for money for the infrastructure we need for commerce and basic needs...we don't have the spare cash to build bicycle additions to our roads.
Why don't we solve the main problem...that non-motorized traffic does NOT belong on the same road as motorized traffic....an exception being that if there is a special bike lane there.
I mean, we don't have pedestrians walking willy nilly on busy roads....why should a bicycle that cannot keep up with traffic flow speeds be in traffic like that?
This is just a problem that is constantly waiting to happen.
On a slightly different topic...where exactly do they have helmet LAWS for bicycles?
I never wore one as a kid...when and what states actually require helmets for just riding on bicycles?
I'd not heard of this one before....
Are you saying that some states actually have laws that require you to wear a helmet on just a regular, human powered bicycle?!?!?
wow...never heard of that.
I know in many states, they require a helmet on a motorcycle (stupid fucking, Katrina period LA gov Blanco re-instated our helmet law before she got her ass out of office)...but never heard of bicycle helmets being required anywhere...?
I mean, it is a bicycle...how hurt can you normally get?
Is this for the home brewer?
Are you saying over there..they charge you all this tax for alcohol, on raw ingredients that 'could' be used to make DIY home brewed alcohol?
If so...wow....
Here in the US...the ingredients you buy are only subject to the usual sales tax any item sold is subject to...but, if you're brewing for personal consumption....there's no additional fees or taxes or licenses....
Can you go more into the 'caribbean' rum thing? Are you saying you're fermenting...the distilling something into rum?
Where are you living....I don't know of any countries or US states really....where distilling, even for personal use, is legal.
Not that I'm not wanting to try it myself...hope to soon, guessing that a small batch set up won't draw attention...but just curious as to what you're doing...?
Nah...just make 2-4 batches each time you make it....drink 2 batches....put two batches back.
When each batch is about ready...brew 2-4 more batches...that way, you are drinking the young stuff (to satisfy your thirst), but you are also putting stuff back...and if brewing every couple weeks...you'll have stuff coming out weekly to drink and put up, while others are fermenting....etc.
And hey, I used to have fun brewing with friends...we'd pay 'homage' to the old batch...by drinking it whilst brewing the new batch.
Save Ferris....
And at the cost of many, many US jobs....and decimating industries in the Gulf south (LA, TX, etc)....and causing oil companies to move their rig deployment resources out of the Gulf to other countries....possibly never to come back.
It is our waters here....give us more a choice in allowing drilling. We're just fine down here....we've recovered....seafood industry has been tested (more than any other in history) and has been just fine for years now.....the oil spill was a bit of a burp...but we're over it....but Obama is killing jobs and money coming in here in this area by not allowing new oil leases....
Then again...guess it could be more benign....robotic fly swatters, seems they need a bunch of those in all the pics I see coming from Africa.
Maybe robotic farmers.....maybe they could figure how to feed themselves for a change....
Geez...what gives?
I know there are troubled people everywhere out there...but they aren't the majority, are they??
People are going to see this...think its cool and do the same on TV??
I have a hard time believing this will set of a trend.....
I mean, let the bastard off himself, but the poor dog....didn't deserve that.
Err...exactly WHEN did this become a duty of the federal, or state government??
When did it even become slightly against any law to make a film or publish anything that enrage an 'enemy of the state' of the US??
I certainly hope you're being cynical or sarcastic....and not serious.
It isn't so much that men don't care...it is just the understood social arrangement...
Women are in charge of the kids...they take the extra time off (or are just stay at home moms as a career)...and the men earn the money and provide for the family.
Just mainly a carryover from human existence for hundreds of years....
Hey, I feel for ya'll out in AZ....and I did live out there awhile back too.
With the federal govt giving absolutely no assistance in trying to help with the porous border there, well, I applaud ya'll doing whatever you have to to try to curb the problems with being for all purposes, invaded by foreign natiionals.
The problems with crime and the weight on schools and other social services is massive.
Good luck out there....whether you agree with everything Arpaio does or not...at least you can say he's trying to do "something" about the problems....the feds aren't doing their job, so ya'll have to try to do it yourselves.
The will take off work to have kids.
They often won't make the family time sacrifices for work that men will do without a 2nd thought.
Tell me you don't see that in real life in the modern age still?
Having a more common name in general..helps. Having a very bizzare and strange sounding name...will often keep you from being hired over someone else.
The show mentioned, that black and white names...until only a couple or so decades ago, were similar, but in the late 60's and 70's you started seeing black parents coming up with very unusual and stand out naming habits (Shaquillabonno, etc)....
It may sound sad to you that a name can do this to you, but you need to face facts that it does. Your are likely to get called in for that CPA interview if your name is Jack.....and not so much if your name is Rain, Ja'Quaelah , Sting or Cher.....
If you're a parent....have a heart and try to give you kids a name that will help them out later in life....right or wrong, that's just the way things are and sometimes you have to accept that.
While I understand in this guys case...due to his probation, that giving a false alias was not legal for him.....if this wasn't the case, as long as he wasn't giving this out to police officers investigating a crime, etc.....giving false aliases isn't illegal in general...??
I mean, I can't think of many times it is actually illegal to not give your real name, but even to give a false one.
Maybe I missing something, but except for a few cases (one of them apparently being on probation for fraud)....is it really illegal for you to give a false name? I do it all the time with regard to those store customer loyalty cards they used to give out....on internet polls....basically any time I don't want anyone putting me on a phone or mailing list....etc
Hell....My idea of commitment to a woman...is finally telling her my REAL name....
Not really if you work in the security industry...or need a special govt. clearance.
They understand....
Very nice!
This is largely what I was kind of thinking about...but expressed in a bit more concise terms!!
The mainstreaming thing...is it.
But, the second you try to even touch this...you'll see busing, segregation and racial arguments start to fly like crazy...even if it has nothing to do with race.
It would be bad enough if this was the case of this guy's opinion being unpopular here in the US....(and from what I can see, most in the US couldn't care less)
But now...we worry about someone on US soil's opinion offending some radical idiots on the other side of the world??
We shouldn't suppress anyone's views, if they are unpopular here...but we sure as shit shouldn't do it because it pisses off someone outside the US.