Saturday, November 21, 2009
Use bikes to teach the rules of the road
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Use bikes to teach the rules of the road
Bicycles are not inherently dangerous. But riding a bicycle around this region is more dangerous than it should be because the average driver hasn't a clue about how to ride a bike well and safely.
The average motorist, if forced to ride a bike, would likely ride against traffic if there were no sidewalk and might walk across crosswalks at busy intersections. Such drivers might even think that anyone who isn't riding this way is a scofflaw and should be run off the road, even if they wouldn't do it themselves.
Let's change this by using bicycles as the vehicle to teach the rules of the road to all who can physically ride a bike. A bike is just as much a vehicle as a car, as the principles and laws are the same, up to highway speeds.
Cars can still be used to teach the dangers of mass and speed, and how to use the interstates, but that's about it. Once bikes become a normal way of getting around, our young folk would grow up accepting bikes and could lead healthier, happier lives.
Cyclo-Ward Bicycle Repair
Sharebike.org Bike Rental
The challenge: a duel; the weapon: words
It is a shame that we no longer have duels. Maybe I can request a duel of President Obama on a bloodless basis: a duel of words about abortion, at the White House picnic table, no alcoholic beverages.
He may have Vice President Biden as his second and I will bring the ashes of our Shih Tzu as my second. I realize this gives me an advantage, but it is his back yard.
Alas, where is Andrew Jackson when we need him (the last president to balance the budget for real)?
Obama voters get what they voted for
To the ladies who voted for President Obama:
When you voted for Obama, you got all that comes with his left-wing agenda. I guess you can see by his government-run health care plan it has started early. The government is already looking out for you. It wants you to wait to age 50 to get mammograms routinely. Maybe you won't be here by then if you get cancer earlier, but it was your vote.
I say get the Democrats out before we lose all our health care.
Republicans gladly spend on the military
There has been right-wing gibberish that health care reform is a form of socialism. In light of the vast history of taxpayer spending on the military, I think it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
According to Wikipedia, the Defense Department's base budget for the 2009 fiscal year is $518.3 billion. President Obama plans to spend $100 billion in health care per year over the next 10 years, one-fifth of military spending. Both the military and proposed health care can be considered socialist, inasmuch as they are tax-funded programs.
You don't see Republicans getting all teary-eyed about the encroaching socialism of the military, because the military is good for business. Does the right think it is going to shoo us away like bunnies with the word socialism? Socialism works well for needed areas like health care, transportation or education. It has done so for half a century in upstanding places like Canada, England and France.
Call your senators today and ask them to vote for Harry Reid's health care plan and the public option. And ask for a decrease in the military budget.
Traveling by train was a great experience
I would like to add to the recent accolades for train travel. For two weeks in October, my husband and I traveled 8,400 miles on Amtrak all the way around the country. We started at Newport News, went up to Washington, D.C., out to Chicago, down to San Antonio, out to Los Angeles, up to Portland, Ore., on to Seattle, back to Portland, Chicago, D.C., and Newport News.
The train was on time or early for all but the last leg of the trip, when it was 20 minutes late. The big plus for train travel is you can get up and move around. You can see the passing countryside, and there are no hassles boarding. It was a most enjoyable trip. Go Amtrak!
