Open Carry and Free Beer, let’s really fix the RNC in Cleveland, and do we need a “No Drive” list?

LEO in Cleveland have been asking (pleading, begging, weeping) for a temporary reprieve from OH’s open carry law because it’s impossible to tell the “good guy with a gun” from the deranged maniac out to shoot up the convention. Not wanting to be accused of being anti-gun I have a suggestion: Keep open carry, and set up free beer stations on every corner. The ones not wanting to shoot up the convention will grab a pint or 12, and get happy. The ones wanting massive mayhem and body counts will eschew the alcohol while continuing to carry.

Obviously I don’t want to see someone shoot up the convention. After all those people have families that love them just like the rest of us. I’m just taking things to their logical conclusion. If more guns make us safer then making sure everyone has one means that everyone is perfectly safe, right? And if local (and Federal) LEO want to prevent open carry on the grounds of safety, how can those two statements be reconciled? I mean it’s almost as if more guns don’t make us safer.

I just want to know in the wake of the Nice terror truck attack when the US will adopt a “No Drive” list. Last report I read stated more than 50 of the 84 victims died from getting hit by the truck, and that most of those shot are expected to survive.This attack puts the Orlando Some Asshole to shame, much higher body count over a much larger area (more than a mile!). I mean seriously, how long will people be able to just walk up and put down a credit card and walk away with a WMD with significant room for explosives when you run out of steam from just running people over? I mean it’s like a 2-for-one murder weapon sale. Run over as many as you can, then detonate the massive shrapnel disperser in the back and go out in a literal blaze of glory destroying as many infidels as remain in the blast radius. Of course you will not be around to personally assess the damage…

PSA, Opus

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Hello, Monday, and the Feed BTW did you know it is MLK Jr. Day?

Well I did it last night, I burned the two hats I used to focus the spell that caused the guy that tried to kill me to kill himself. And I did it without causing the karmic backlash that a “Kill Yourself” spell would have caused me, all I put in the spell was “All that you wish upon me will happen to you instead”. Had the guy decided to wish I would win the lottery, then he would have won the lottery, but he didn’t, and now he’s dead.

And today we celebrate the legacy of a man who only asked that people be judged by their character instead of their skin pigmentation. Sadly people today judge by the size of the checking account(s) first, then skin pigmentation, so that it’s hyper-rich, mega-rich, super-rich, rich white (all the preceding are white), rich POC, middle-class white, middle-class POC, poor white, Everybody Else. It’s the color of your money, not your character that counts. I wonder what Martin Luther King Jr. would have thought about people and culture in the second decade of the 21st century?

On those lines here is Our Daily Ted: Do something today to make the world a better place

Someone in TX had a good time using a bike to get to camping. Bikepacking Colorado Bend State Park Using a bike to carry your stuff instead of walking with it on your back is a much smarter way to do it. There are few places that you can go backpacking that you can’t get to with your stuff strapped to a MTB.

Sometimes you just feel so good you have to go for a bike ride. WATCH: Michael Bennett celebrates Seahawks win with bicycle ride

Someone else stealing a cop’s police bike won’t get the same results. MAN CAUGHT ON CAMERA STEALING PHILLY COP’S POLICE BICYCLE This is the bicycle equivalent of stealing a cruiser with all the junk in and on it and expecting to be able to fence it. And in reality everything except the frame and maybe that trunk bag can be removed and sold to someone.

On making a vice into a virtue, if they won’t clear the snow from the bike lane just make it a linear skating rink when temperatures are below freezing. Edmonton Freezeway Could Let Workers Skate To The Office

I think the whipped cream is easier to write and draw with than the shaving cream idea from a few weeks back. Illegally parked cars marked with whipped cream in Berlin

If you think that all the HiViz clothing does is make you an easier target, you might be right. HIGH-VIS CAN’T SOLVE DRIVERS’ INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS AND ITS PROMOTION HAS FAILED and On becoming a Christmas tree on two wheels Along those lines I find it is funny that drivers can’t seem to see my bike, but they can spot a ball peen hammer in my left hand a quarter of a mile away.

Going after the wrong thing and ignoring what is really dangerous seems to be a universal failing among LEO as this UK report shows. Spokes Woman: Caversham crackdown shows why we need to change our attitudes towards cyclists

Infrastructure response to a NYC cyclist’s death? Hoyt Jacobs becomes first NYC cyclist to die in 2015 The infrastructure response that is kinda buried in the story is mandatory sideguards in front of the rear wheels of a truck that would push a cyclist or pedestrian away from the rear wheels and turn a near absolute death wreck into a survivable collision.

MN infrastructure is starting to look better and better. St. Paul’s downtown loop offers latest skirmish in battle of bike lanes vs. parking spots Now if they could just convince local business that people on bicycles can actually get stuff bought in their stores home after they make the purchase.

Another link to the trial that found a truck driver and the company he drove for negligent in the death of a SF cyclist. Woman’s Family Awarded $4 Million In San Francisco Trial For Negligent Big Rig Driver That Killed Cyclist I guess the reason this was news today is the judge may have issued the final decree in the case.

A little non-news from Oz. Cyclists or drivers. Council campaign to make roads safer Things cyclists do annoy drivers, but things drivers do get cyclists killed.

What might road vehicles look like in the far future of 2050 when all the easy oil is gone? The Future Cycles The “luxury vehicle” is set up “wrong” though. Real rich people would not pedal their own cars, not when they could pay someone else to do that for them. The “real” luxury vehicle of the future will have the two people up front pedalling while the rich person(s) ride in the back in the comfy seat. Or they will have a low-speed electric vehicle that does the same thing with solar power and without the sweaty, smelly, people in the front. More Designers Morph Bikes and Cars into Green Frankenvehicles

The previous paragraph assumes an orderly transition from fossil fuels to HP, but in case there is a somewhat less orderly change you might want to have this vehicle. Could the Survival Bike be your Bug Out Vehicle of Choice?

And that looks like all the links for today, slow day for a Monday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

It’s Tuesday again yay! and the Feed

Welcome to another day that I pump artificially by taking portions of Monday’s Feed and holding them until now. That gives me a few more links to post today and lets me finish quicker on Monday. Otherwise I wouldn’t get Monday’s post finished until about 0200 Tuesday…

First up I’m trying to get hit-and-run with injury upgraded to the same crime as it would be had a drunk driver remained at the scene, because right now in TX a drunk driver can take years off his/her sentence by claiming ignorance of the wreck and turning themselves in the next day, after all the alcohol gets processed out of their body. Hit-and-run should be as great a crime as DUI manslaughter The only thing that can get hit-and-run investigated and prosecuted is to treat it like any other assault with a deadly weapon. One step at a time…

A potential source of hit-and-run drivers for Portland, OR. Travel site says ‘driving cyclists off the road’ is rite of passage in Portland – UPDATED The article has been taken down, but Google Archive and the Wayback Machine (thank you Mr. Peabody) never forget…

Who wants to live forever? How Exercise Keeps Us Young Not live “forever” but be as healthy and physically happy (I can’t say what cycling will do for emotional happiness beyond make it easier to find) as you can be until you do die.

And getting more of these may let you do more of what was recommended in the preceding paragraph. Traffic Gardens Galore “Traffic Gardens” are park-like settings with lots of paths painted up like streets and roads so that children can practice their “road sense” in an environment where mistakes would not be fatal but easily correctable. The small size and frequent intersections keep speeds low so that any collisions are more scraped knees and elbows than broken bones.

Remember that year they recalled every car because they were killing so many people? Citing Indefinite Safety Issues – Car Companies Recall Every Vehicle Ever Made If any other mode of transportation killed like motor vehicles it would be regulated into non-existence or safety. Look at trains and airplanes, when I was a pilot I had to take a flight test every 2 years if I hadn’t gotten a new rating in the meantime. When was the last time you had to take a retest at the DMV?

Speaking of cars killing people. Is “Safe” Road Design Killing Bicyclists and Pedestrians? I think it has become quite obvious that making streets that are specifically designed to move lots of cars makes every other mode dangerous.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Aaron Paley talks CicLAvia; a visionary from the past; and a pedal-by fooding in Seattle

Given how cyclists trying to get to sidewalk bike parking are treated by the NYPD, how is this guy not dead or in a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds? Cabbie Rams Cop Cars & Drives On Midtown Sidewalk In Crazy Rush Hour Rampage Seriously, he rammed multiple cop cars and drove on the sidewalk, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk without endangering anyone gets you a ticket that looks like the interest payment on the National Debt, and so far the driver does not even have a ticket (though the TLC did suspend his hack license for 90 days).

Philly works to get drivers out of the bike lanes, how well did they do? So, How Did #UnblockBikeLanes Work Out? I think (hope?) that picture at the top is pre-campaign.

How long should I celebrate the schadenfreude on this one? Bail Set For $2.5M For Bishop Charged In Cyclist’s Death That said, there is something in the Constitution about “excessive bonds or bails” when holding someone for trial.

Hit 3 cyclists from behind and then after it comes out the lights were pulled from their bikes after the wreck to make it look like they were riding ninja file a suit about how hitting them has harmed you, now going on for 2 years. Canadian Driver Who Hit Three Bicycling Teenagers Suing Victims’ Families For Emotional Trauma How about filing suit against this driver because knowing she is still out there driving makes you traumatized, Canadian readers (I know you’re out there, I get regular hits from Canadian IP addresses)?

Another court link, this one from Oz. Driver sobs in court over death of 70yo Perth cyclist Paola Ferroni I wonder is she sobbing over the death of the cyclist, or because she may have to go to prison or jail because of it?

Another Wounded Warrior ride. Bayou-to-Brookley ‘Indy Ride’ cycling event celebrating veterans to be part of Mobile Aerofest This looks like a good ride except that it is in AL.

And I’m fresh out of links now.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (still an unkillable badass)

Bean day, and the Feed

Yep, it is another Bean and Rice day here at Casa de El Poeta, with ²/₃ cup each of lentils, black beans, and small red beans slow cooked for about 4 hours, then seasoned and spiced and the evaporated water replaced and a cup of brown rice added and the combination allowed to cook for another 2 hours or so until the rice is cooked through. Yum!

Up first is another “cyclist gets shot” from south TX. Man shot, killed while watching son ride bike and SAN ANTONIO MAN KILLED WHILE TEACHING SON HOW TO RIDE BIKE also San Antonio Man Killed While Teaching Son How to Ride Bike At this time LEO either don’t know or are not saying why the man was shot…

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike parking loses to BBQ in Sunnyvale, bike rider shot in Carson, and more bike giveaways And there is yet another “cyclist shot” story.

Our Daily Ted Pt. 2. 81-year old cyclist killed in San Bernardino rear-end collision Well, it was a good run while it lasted…

Update on another cyclist shooting. Canadian cyclist shot in random attack qualifies for Paris-Brest-Paris Now that he has healed I wish him the best of luck in the P-B-P ride.

A bit of Infrastructure! news from SC. 5 ideas from transportation planner Gabe Klein’s Peninsula Mobilty Report I don’t think bike sharing is going to work until they get some decent (Dutch quality) bicycle infrastructure.

Some Infrastructure news from the UK. Police fail to fine a single illegal cyclist in Grimsby town centre pedestrian zone in a year And despite there being no tickets issued for a year, there were no reported deaths or even injuries, just a few near misses. Because bicycles are not as deadly or even injurious as cars.

Another link to that Volvo system to help prevent wrecks between Volvos and cyclists using the correct brand(s) of cell phone(s). Volvo promotes bicycle safety with vehicle-to-cyclist technology I wonder how many more links I’ll get to the same story?

And on a similar tack, a “smart” dash run by a smart phone. A new bicycle dashboard, inspired by Audi and COBI. World’s Smartest Connected Biking System. I wonder if a smart phone is smart enough to run the Volvo and COBI apps at the same time, or do you need to have two phones?

And someone wrote a book about the Wounded Warrior Ride. New Commemorative Book Celebrates CanAm Veterans’ Challenge Bike Ride

And now I’m fresh outta links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I’m so glad I quit hitting my head against that wall, and the Feed

I got a link in today’s Feed about the lack of credible action against a child-killer driver, that made me remember why I quit covering bike wrecks. I’ll put that link in the body of the post later. Also today Mrs. the Poet bought the plane ticket to go meddle in her birth family’s affairs (almost $100 cheaper than the bus!), and I bought more parts for the Sprint T, to wit the steering wheel and the support structure for the windshield. I bought those because I need the steering wheel to mock up the steering column, and I need the support structure to mock up the windshield. I got the 30° layback posts because using that and a set of wind wings leads to much less turbulence in the cockpit compared to the vertical mount. Also you notice I didn’t say anything about Mrs. the Poet’s meddling? That’s because I like closing both eyes when I sleep. 😉

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: BOLO alert for El Segundo hit-and-run driver; Brit bike benefit-to-cost ratios off the charts

That link that brought back so many bad memories. Driver Kills 3-Year-Old In Queens, DMV Voids His Tickets If you aren’t like me and already inured to senseless violence and deaths, don’t click on the video. You’ll want to gut the driver and strangle him with his own intestines. More on the concept of not hitting pedestrians at DeBlasio’s official FB page. Vision Zero

Still in NY but Upstate, we get Infrastructure! news. SENECA STREET’S NEW BIKE LANES tl;dr The lanes are OK as far as they go, but getting to them is downright scary.

How to be a bike advocate in the ‘Burbs. Three Regional Advocacy Structures to Win Better Biking and Walking in the ‘Burbs Note that WoaB is none of those while we advocate for better bicycle infrastructure in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell.

How can a cyclist reduce his carbon footprint even more? This Solar-Powered Electric Bike May Be Even Greener Than A Regular Bicycle Basically the only way to have a smaller carbon footprint as a cyclist is to grow all your own food, and only wear natural fibers from locally-grown sources. I guess you could also wear leather from locally-slaughtered cattle if you really wanted to.

A Tesla outruns a SUV with 66 more HP by 0.3 in the ¹/₄ mile. Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG Pitted Against A Tesla Model S Notice the Benz has a tiny advantage at the light, but the Tesla is several car lengths ahead at half-track. That’s the effect of torque in the short run, also a motor controller that adjusts power out to just what the tires can hold traction with so the car accelerates as fast as conditions will allow.

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02,

Trying to stay calm on Wreck-Free Sunday

First of all, before I get into this post I need to let everyone know I got the post on turning a Halloween costume mask into winter gear fixed. I got the right URL for each picture and loaded that URL into the post where that picture went, and Voila!, pictures in the blog post. I still can’t get the alt text to work, but that’s not as important as the pictures were.

At the moment I’m watching the Daytona 500 on the idiot box. I can’t help it, I love NASCAR. Some of those guys are family to me, and I’m a geek for technology and finding an engineering solution to a competition problem. The new car is a very small box to work inside metaphorically, and the crews are NOT allowed to “think outside the box”. I’m still trying to find out some of the changes that were made for safety in the new car. I have heard that there are new roll bars added to the cage front and back, but all I have seen so far is the front bar that goes across the top of the windshield just in front of what used to be the halo hoop under the roof. So what I can find out about the car is that the extra bars are to give more bearing area to keep the roof from collapsing into soft dirt in a roll over. This allows the roof to be lower without much chance of the roof getting into the driver’s head in a wreck.

I had planned to do a huge diatribe about how dangerous cars are with the release of the preliminary numbers from the government of the people killed by motor vehicles, but that would be redundant for this blog. We already know that motor vehicles are more deadly than guns, by about 6K per year last year. All told more than 36K people died as a result of motor vehicle crashes, while just over 30K died from getting shot. But the attention is on guns because children were killed at school by a man with a gun. Make no mistake Sandy Hook was a tragedy, but guns are not even in the top 10 of things that kill children in this country. What’s the number one killer of children in the US? car wrecks. Until recently with the introduction of infant car seats that are miniature crash cocoons that make an armored car even more armored for infants, that statistic went all the way down to birth, now car wrecks are the number two killer under the age of five. Guns are not even close at any age up to 35.

Back to the race, Danica (yes, only one name just like a real celebrity) led some laps under green to be the first women to lead green flag laps at Daytona after being on pole to be the first woman to be on the pole at Daytona. Two of the three JGR Toyotas had engine failures just a few minutes ago, one a big blow-up (Kyle Busch) and the other just a bit of smoke. And after watching the race instead of blogging, the race is now over and Jimmie Johnson has won the Daytona 500. Danica finished 8th after the fustercluck behind Jimmie sorted out, and Mrs. the Poet’s favorite driver Mark Martin finished 3rd. The driver I was cheering for was taken out in an early race wreck, sorry Smoke (Tony Stewart). It was such a good race that even Mrs. the Poet was glued to the tube watching it with me. She usually hates racing (“cars going around in a circle”), but this one was such a nail-biter that even she had to watch. My friend Mikey managed to finish 22nd (I used to hang out in Darrel Waltrip’s speed shop in Franklin TN, and bought kart parts from Bobby and talked to Mikey from time to time).

OK I don’t like cars on the roads, but I love cars on the track. AFAIK nobody has killed a cyclist on track during a NASCAR race.

PSA, Opus