America the Stupid: Bicycles in Crosswalks

I go walking a lot, usually 4 miles per day, 5 days per week or so. I often find myself sharing the sidewalk with bicycles. Now, where I grew up, bicycle safety was really drilled into you. In order to legally ride a bike in Whitehall, Ohio, you had to have a license. And you had to pass a test to get it. We learned that a bicycle is a vehicle, and as such, needs to follow the same rules that cars do. This means, no riding against the traffic, and no riding on the sidewalk.

The stupid! It burns!

But I understand why people ride on the sidewalk. It's less scary. It's safer. And with morons who text and drive (I still can't wrap my brain around what could make a person that stupid), even daredevils may want to get up out of the way. So, while it's against the rules, I get it. But all of that safety is cancelled out, and the bicycle riders are rendered almost as dumb as our driving texter when. . .

They ride their bicycles through crosswalks.

On three occasions I distinctly remember, and very likely more, I have almost run over a bicyclist in the crosswalk. I looked left, looked right, I looked left, and hello! ZOOM!, right in front of my car. A few fractions of a second different, and my life--and particularly their lives--could be utterly changed. . .or ended. And it's even worse if you're at an intersection turning right, and they come from behind you, zooming across the walk on a green. Who thinks it's necessary to check the rear view mirror when making an unobstructed right turn?

So, I'm putting this out there as a plea to the universe. Especially, a plea to bike riders. If you're riding your bicycle on sidewalks, when you get to the crosswalk. . .walk your bike across! You are not a pedestrian, you are on a vehicle! You have negated the safety of the sidewalk by being as stupid as a texter! Stop it! Or, I might kill you. . .

Oil, Oil Everywhere. . .Why Can't We Clean it Up?

Rachel Maddow has been hammering hard on the story of the BP Deepwater Horizon aftermath, with a target on the lack of safety planning.  Apparently research and development on safety, containment and cleanup (not to mention plugging a spewing leak) has been nonexistent in the oil industry.  Given the obscene profits made quarterly by the oil giants, it is unconscionable that they just thought this sort of planning was too expensive.

On Monday's Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel gave a little demonstration of just the most recent oil leaks  and spills in the US.  This is important, because the conservative talking point (and BP's as well) is that this sort of study wasn't needed, because there had never been a spill before.  It's such a stupid and disproveable argument, it's almost unbelievable that it is being used.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Let's Deregulate EVERYTHING!!!

This may be the dumbest "consumer awareness" ad I've ever seen.  Yes, there are a lot of regulations on a lot of things.  And when all plastered on the screen at the same time, it can look overwhelming. But even without the banking collapse, and the huge gusher of oil in the gulf (both very likely attributable to lack of adequate regulation), all you need is a little common sense to see that the things being regulated in this ad are a good thing.

I want clean air, clean water, safe food, non-combustible furnishings, safe cars. . .you know, reasonable regulations. It has been shown time and again that when businesses are deregulated, they do anything they can to boost profits, the public be damned. Even with regulations, they exploit every loophole available. But sure, deregulate everything. Lets go back to child labor while we're at it. With none of those pesky safety devices on the bone-crushing machinery! Yeah!  Idiots.

New Orders by Bush May Violate His Own Rules

Photo of the Commander Guy from source, Raw Story

Am I surprised that George W. Bush would break his own rules? Nah. He's broken laws, and violated the Constitution for goodness' sake. Why would breaking his own rules bother him? And I'm also not surprised that the issue at hand is making worker protections more difficult. The almighty dollar rules the day with the Bush Administration, at least dollars for big business. Nope, nothing surprising here.

So, why run an excerpt of this story? Immaturity. I find the doltish picture of The Decider a particularly good example of his ineptitude and ridiculousness. I'm sure he'll offer several new reasons for mockery before January 20, 2009, but time is short! I must get in every dig that I can.

[Excerpt]

Bush aides push for rule to hamper worker health protections

Bush administration aides are rushing to pass a safety rule which would make government regulation of workers' exposure to toxic chemicals more difficult -- a rule President-elect Barack Obama opposes.

Public health officials worry the decreased protections will result in additional, unnecessary deaths. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Carnival Ride Collapses

Image from source, AOL News

I've been out of the amusement industry for 11 years, and my heart still jumped a little on this one. This was my previous vocation, an area I was immersed in for 8 years. I worked as a ride operator, maintenance and operations manual writer, safety consultant, project manager--even a safety inspector "spy." It's still in my blood.

So there is a big "oh no" moment every time something like this happens. It is important for me to relay that the amusement industry is--by relative standards--extremely safe. I'm not in it anymore, but it isn't the kind of attitude that regresses. . .these types of rules and standards get stronger over time. And at the time I was in the industry, amusement rides were statistically safer than air travel. Think of it: millions upon millions of visitors attend amusement parks all over the country every season--not to mention the number that go to fairs and carnivals. Now think of how often you see a story like this. . .couple of times a year?

So while I sympathize and empathize with the people who were injured, it is important to keep it in perspective.

[Excerpt]

Carnival Ride Collapses, Injuring Dozens

State accident investigators were trying to determine what caused a Calaveras County Fair carnival ride to collapse and injure all 24 people on board.

The ride, called the Yo-Yo, collapsed shortly after 6 p.m. Friday at the fair, which features the famous Jumping Frog Jubilee. The event is held just outside the Gold Rush-era town of Angels Camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills. . .

Read more (with video) at: AOL News

Politics of Fear Ruin Halloween?

Image from Wikipedia

Halloween has come and gone. We got less than 20 trick-or-treaters at our house. And this is in a neighborhood that was only recently the fastest growing segment of the fastest growing city in the United States. Now, far be it for me--ha ha--to slip into tinfoil hat territory. . .

But could it be that the politics of fear, the all-pervasive "be afraid" bugaboo has even ruined Halloween? That may seem like quite the conclusion to jump to, but bear with me. As a child of the 70s, I remember trick-or-treating with massive hordes of kids, and virtually no adults. Sure, our parents let us do more--a lot more--than parents of today. But we were given boundaries, areas of the neighborhood we had to stick to, and would have been severely embarrassed to have our folks tag along.

I remember stories of razor blades in candy, and needles in apples, but we never took it very seriously. Mom's rule was that she got to go through our haul, and eliminate anything homemade, suspicious, or her favorite candy bar. And I seriously don't remember even one kid having anything unfortunate happen to him, beyond tripping over his costume, running into a tree because of a badly-formed mask, or maybe getting hit by a car because he was dressed all in black. And that was rare.

Today, police groups, and other organizations hold contained, "safe" Halloween events. Here in Vegas, there is a "Trunk or Treat" being held at the Hard Rock, where kids just go from car to car to get their treats. Police group or not, that sounds worse to me than house to house. Even weirder, here in Vegas sex offenders are banned from participating in the holiday in any way. They must keep the lights off, not answer the door, and pretend they're not home (and risk an egging).

Now, far be it for me to defend sex offenders, but tell me, doesn't that seem extreme? The class of "sex offender" is rather broad after all, not just kiddy-philes, and we're talking about people who have completed whatever sentences were handed out to them. They can't even be in the same home as someone who is handing out candy, or even take their own children out trick-or-treating. Sounds draconian to me, even accounting for the ick factor.

But back to the politics of fear, of which the above is a part. Parents go to great lengths to make sure their kids are safe, and that's a good thing. But like all good things in this country, we take them to ridiculous extremes. Parents take their kids to these "safe" events, with a sense of satisfaction that they've "saved" their children from the predators, the razor blades, and all manner of urban legends. And bravo! You've instilled in them a fear of their own neighborhoods.

Read about the Halloween Urban Legends at: Snopes.com

Read about the Las Vegas rules for sex offenders, and "Trunk or Treat" at: Las Vegas Review-Journal