I think we haven’t had any mass shootings today, and the Feed

Yeah, it’s been that kind of day today. My Feed has been about ²/₃ filled with reactions to the latest shootings and ¹/₃ with bike stuff. It was depressing, even more than usual. So to lighten the mood here’s a picture of Mrs. the Poet in her new career as a cat bed.

I got 2 bits of good news not bike related. First off was notification that my cars shipped from CA this afternoon and are expected to arrive in 5 days. Second was a vendor for the engine I want to put in the Mini Sprint-T. When you click on this link click on the LS Engine kits button and you’ll see the LS7 kit (with a manual transmission) but they also sell a slush box that mounts in place of the manual tranny. If you click on the engine kits button you can see that kit listed.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Update: Bike rider killed in San Diego’s Mission Valley Thursday night; ; 12th cyclist killed in SD County this year

More on that wreck in Ted’s link. Bicyclist hit, killed by BMW in Mission Valley and Cyclist hit, killed in Mission Valley From all the information I got from all three links including the video linked in Ted’s post I kinda know what happened but not why. The cyclist was going as fast as he could across the road because there was limited sight distance and he estimated that he had just enough time to get to the other side. The damage done to the weapon vehicle shows a strong directionality from the right front corner to the center of the windshield, and a totally smashed windshield that testifies to a high rate of speed between 60 and 70 MPH. The bicycle showed the impact was to the side on the front of the bike.

Infrastructure news from GA. Seems backlash has killed plans for Peachtree bike lanes Enjoy your traffic jams and fatalities, you earned them. Instead of getting bike lanes that relive congestion and reduce speeds during periods of light traffic, you get more of the same.

If you want to reduce traffic fatalities which group do you do enforcement actions against, motor vehicles or bicycles? To Make NYC Streets Safer, Focus on the Cause of 98 Percent of Harm NYPD acts like all wrecks will go away if they ticket enough bicyclists, but given the relative lethality motor vehicles are where they should be concentrating their efforts.

Remembering a cyclist killed in the Great White North. Memorial Walk up Claremont to Commemorate Cyclist and ‘Ghost bike’ march calls for safer streets after cyclist killed The most telling quote from both links, “Noting the excessive lane capacity on the Claremont Access, memorial participant John Neary wrote, “Claremont was totally closed for [approximately] ten minutes. Nine minutes after one lane reopened, it’s empty again.”” One. Lane. Ten Minutes. And that handled all the traffic of a lunch hour rush. It’s no wonder traffic moves at freeway speeds in spite of the 70 km/hr (43.5 MPH) speed limit.

Over in Jolly Olde a young cyclist is killed when the way was blocked by parked cars. 11-year-old cyclist killed in crash with roadsweeper Hit from behind when cars blocked the road parked on a double yellow line when according to the law “Double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time even if there are no upright signs.”

Another law-breaker gets “severely” punished. Derek Cheney, 63, who killed cyclist on the B3147 near Dorchester gets banned from driving Yep, he killed a man while driving and gets “banned” from driving. I use the quotes because unless he gets caught the ban is worthless. Meaning he has to break a traffic law in the presence of LEO to the effect that he attracts their attention enough to stop him and ask for his license to make the ban mean anything.

A stupid cyclist has a wreck on video. Video: Cardiff cyclist hit by car as he rides through red light and from the Daily “we hate bicycles for no reason” Mail. Dashcam catches the horrifying moment cyclist was thrown into the air after pulling in front of a car without looking I lost count of how many times I looked at the Daily Mail version and TBH I couldn’t say for certain if the cyclist was running the red at that intersection or hit from behind crossing with the light. But people with access to the video with higher resolution say the cyclist ran the red.

More on the proposal to make traffic claims under £5K go up against insurance companies and their lawyers without representation. Injured cyclists could be big losers from Osborne’s autumn budget

Aaannnd another hit-and-run. Hit-and-run driver left cyclist with severe injuries after Epsom collision Including this because the mode of wreck was given as hit-from-behind, and y’all know where to find how to avoid a wreck like this in the protocols section at the top of the page.

Another hit-and-run in Oz this time. Champion hit-run cyclist suffers spinal damage as police reveal new lead Again, I loathe hit-and-run drivers with a purple passion.

And in Enn Zed a pinball wreck with a cyclist as the pinball. SUV knocks cyclist into traffic, flees scene AFAIK the cyclist was walking her bike through a dangerous intersection when hit by the first vehicle, that then left the scene.

And I’m finally out of links, and patience.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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My fingers are freezing, and the Feed

I don’t know why, but for some reason my fingers are painfully cold. The rest of me is quite comfortable but my fingers feel like I have been swimming in ice water.

I took the ham bone from the Thanksgiving feast home and used it to make a pot of beans today, and they were pretty good beans if I do say so myself. This one was a “thrown together” meal with a little of this and a little of that and a dab of something else. The ham had enough salt so that I didn’t need to add any to the pot. Throw some garlic powder in and add some cayenne pepper and a tiny touch of black pepper to get the flavor going and voila! Dinner.

Up first let’s go to LA for Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Curmudgeonly SaMo writers, LABAC meets tonight, and giving on Giving Tuesday

Also in CA. Beloved Trader Joe’s Parking Lot Attendant Badly Injured After Bike Crash Dude survived but will face years of rehab recovering from the spinal injury. Good luck and good health!

Still in CA we revisit an assault on a cyclist with a knife. Video: Man Stabs Cyclist Who Made A Simple Request, Police Say

Not out of CA yet a scooter rider gets hit in the bike lane. LAKE ELSINORE: Scooter rider injured after being struck by van They don’t say if this was a moped scooter or a mobility scooter, but the narrative suggests a mobility scooter since the vehicle was being riden ninja at night. I include this because the visibility and speed and location are exactly what a bike would have had.

Going from sunny SoCal to the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision with truck on Quinpool Road The location was given as an intersection, and the bike shows impact from the right front so my SWAG pn this wreck would include a stale green and a driver looking at the light and not the street. That would also include the witness description of the driver reaction to the wreck.

Over in Jolly Olde we get a blatant example of anti-bike bias when a cyclist is hit and injured. Woman driver who hit cyclist is filmed telling injured man: ‘I’m pregnant and I wear glasses’ If she had been wearing her glasses she might have seen the cyclist… Also Video: Driver left hooks cyclist on upgraded Cycle Superhighway

Some cyclists get a little “testy” after fighting with cars all day long for road space. Video: Moped rider crashes on bike path as cyclist slaps him I do not in any way condone physical assault on other road users.

Meanwhile in Oz. Call for bike safety fix after woman is fined $1000 in death-dooring case and Mother fined for cyclist’s ‘car-door’ death

This would be so cool. Bono Auctioning Off Bike Ride In Central Park For AIDS Charity

And these two links say so much about cars. Bad Street Design Kills People and Earth’s Car Problem Needs a Strong Mix of Bike Activism and City Hall Cars dominate the landscape and the transportation and the mode of death.

And I’m all outta links, and I’m ready to get outta these clothes because I spilled some sardine sauce on the shirt yesterday and the smell did not come out in the wash. So I have been smelling fish all day. This has made me super popular with the kittens, as you can imagine. But eventually they lost interest in me as they discovered there was nothing they could chew on and went to find better laps to sit on.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I was social again today, and the Feed

I went out this afternoon with one of the members of the kinky D&D group for another recon on costume supplies. We found remaindered fabrics and a sewing pattern for a costume she liked, but the cost for the pattern alone was more than the cash on hand. So we put everything back for better days, and slunk off with our tails between our legs. Not one of my good days.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Any links that may be shared are a result of converging sources, not because I copied Ted. Morning Links: New El Monte Bike Hub opens, let CD4’s David Ryu know what you think, and sexist socks at Interbike I admit I had to follow the link to the sock story.

I have to say I don’t think this would ever happen in the US. Police say sorry for ‘not wholly satisfactory’ probe I mean really, US police apologizing? Ain’t gonna happen.

Now we get to see how much the vaunted reputation of Canadians for politeness is deserved. Move Over! The main benefit of the law is that it provides a nearly unshakable reflection of blame from the cyclist to the driver. All that’s required of the cyclist is complying with light and reflector laws, any hit from behind is now solidly the fault of the driver.

I think this is probably a casual correlation to cars becoming safer for the occupants rather than formerly drunk rivers switching to weed and staying home. Since Colorado legalized marijuana, highway fatalities are way down

I’m sure this would have been hilarious as a scene from a Hollywood RomCom, but IRL this would have been terrifying. CYCLIST KILLED, ANOTHER HURT WHEN BOAT BREAKS FREE FROM TRUCK ON STATEN ISLAND Edit to add, The proofreading program tried to correct STATEN to SATAN. One thing that bugs me is they aren’t even willing to say the trailer wasn’t properly secured when the trailer is in a different lane than the towing vehicle. Seriously? More Bicyclist Killed, Another Seriously Injured When Boat Slips Loose From SUV

Speaking of RomComs, how about this video of a BMX street rider for Nike riding in NYC? Watch This Pro BMX Rider Terrify All Of NYC There is a few seconds of the rider doing a nose manual on the hood of a taxi parked in a sidewalk, I would have liked a lot more of riding over cars blocking bike lanes. And seriously could you not tell this was staged?

Even when you are doing everything right as a cyclist, it just takes one driver with a case of the dumbshits to ruin your life. Artist injured in bicycle crash talks about recovery, dangers And because of the destructive power of motor vehicles, it doesn’t even take a real bad case of the dumbshits, because even a momentary lapse of concentration on the part of the driver can leave a greasy stain where the cyclist used to be riding.

Drivers ignoring the bike lane? Buy them flowers. Boston Cyclist Crowdfunds for Tactical Urbanism “Tactical Urbanism” is another phrase for calling out the DIY DOT.

Another article on the study that found that drivers see “Share the Road” as “Bicycles Get Outta the Way”. A Simple Change to Road Signs Could Help Cyclists and Drivers Finally Get Along You think they could have found a better picture of a “cyclist” than a HD screen grab from the video for “Motherfucking Bike”?

Make the bike smarter and you can make the kiosks really stupid, or do away with them altogether. Portland Will Get “Smart Bikes” in 2016

Is your town trying to kill you? The government is trying to make walking American again

And now we are done for the day, because there ain’t no more links. Today’s post was about half the size of yesterday’s by word count.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Why do we have a for-profit health care system, and the Feed

Contact has been made with my PCP concerning the GOP presidential candidate sitting on the back of my neck (“ugly lump of useless fat” for the people not among my Facebook friends). There was a 3 working day delay caused by my HMO having to approve of the surgery and the surgeon I was getting sent to. Remind me again why we don’t have a single-payer system like the UK, where stuff like this only takes a day? I mean obviously, this thing has been on the back of my neck for almost a decade now so it probably isn’t going to kill me (again), but still the MRI came back as “atypical” so this also isn’t something that can be ignored until it goes away. I will hear back from the surgeon on scheduling later today or early tomorrow.

The Bug Story today is from Oz as a Fox Sports announcer is found guilty of hitting a cyclist. Bosnich pleads guilty to reckless driving which injured cyclist and Mark Bosnich pleads guilty to charge of reckless driving after road rage incident also Bosnich knocked cyclist down: court And of course they got a plea bargain that never mentioned assault with a deadly weapon when the driver turned his vehicle at the cyclist and hit him with it, knocking him to the ground with numerous injuries.

Our Daily Ted, round 1. Morning Links: LAPD ordered to turn over video of bike rider beating, and Redlands riders do the right thing Surprise, surprise, LAPD beat a cyclist half to death and he was not white.

Our Daily Ted, part the second. Guest post: BAC Vice Chair Glenn Bailey reports on efforts to undo the Chase Street road diet and bike lanes This was the meeting that may have had an illegal agenda item added at the last minute. In TX the item would have been illegal to discuss since the agenda had already been published.

In today’s NYC news, the DA actually grew a pair and indicted a killer driver. Driver Charged With Manslaughter For Killing LES Pedestrian The driver was doing 55 in a 25 zone and attempted to flee but hit a fire hydrant on a crowded sidewalk and could not continue driving. The hydrant probably saved having several more victims.

Usually “Take your kid to work day” does not include teaching bicycle theft. Stroller-Pushing Bike Thief Has Allegedly Stolen $16K In Bikes

And a bit Upstate from The City, drunk asshole in a Camaro takes out his and two other vehicles when he’s prevented from excessively speeding. Video: Sociopathic Camaro Driver Causes Terrifying Highway Crash The Camaro driver was tested at more than twice the legal limit for BAC%.

Apparently driving while blind is not a crime in NE. Prosecutor will not charge woman in crash that killed cyclist The cyclist was riding a recumbent tricycle with an 8 foot tall flag on the back. If you can’t see a normal-sized adult human with an 8 foot tall flag in the road, please stop driving immediately and seek medical attention.

Not your average wreck in South Africa. Cyclist trampled to death by giraffe in South Africa Usually the traffic I have to wrangle is more 4-wheel than 4-foot.

More on the Scottish clamor for presumptive liability in civil cases where a cyclist is hit by a motor vehicle. Cyclists call for ‘presumption of liability’ against motorists in civil cases Yeah, we cyclists are just throwing ourselves against light armored vehicles in the hopes of getting a huge lawsuit payout… And I have a bridge in AZ I want to get off my hands. Used to be owned by a nice English lady named Elizabeth…

After the second cyclist is killed by a truck turning across the bike lane at a badly-designed intersection in NOLA legislation to restrict truck traffic is considered. Cyclist’s death spurs bill to ban hazardous material trucks on St. Claude, North Claiborne Note that there was nothing done to change the bad intersection, just to restrict hazardous cargo from using it.

More infrastructure news from Portland. East Portlanders want one mode of transportation prioritized above all others, survey finds They just want to be able to cross the street without having to play “Frogger”.

There has been a paradigm shift in city planning while nobody was looking. End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile

It’s about that time again. National Bike Month: Hupy and Abraham celebrates safety and awareness and Community encouraged to participate in Bicycle Month Notional Bike Month, or as I see it National This Blog Is Important Month. I’m hoping I can get Blue up and running and be healed up from neck surgery by the Ride of Silence. Last year was terrible for me as I couldn’t see where I was going because my helmet was hitting the lump on the back of my neck.

Speaking of that lump, the surgeon did not call today, but I at least know his last name: Ritter. And thanks to the powers of the Internet I know something about him.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet