What moron thinks this is the gang to run our healthcare?
Anyways, I am starting a new war. Our local city of Colorado Springs is generally a decent place. But this time, some idiot got it in his head that his farts would smell just a little sweeter if he wiped out the third lane on each side of a busy street (Research) so they could turn it into a bike lane for some of the zero bikes you see in this part of town.
This is ridiculous. They've turned a busy but usable street into an angry, aggressive street where people jockey for position as they dodge the women in minivans who can't get their heads out of their asses or their phones long enough to approach the speed limits. Seriously. I have nothing against bike lanes, but what kind of asshole wipes out an entire lane on a busy street to create an unwanted bike lane?! The very kind of people who should never be allowed to make decisions. The kind of people who spend their days picking at their butts and counting to eleven on their toes. Government.
Well, hopefully, they will cancel this project after enough people die.
With a nod to Graham Parker, you've got people in charge of pens (and phones) who shouldn't be in charge of brooms ...
ReplyDeleteIn Omaha, our bicycle system is nascent, but it is focused on connecting recreational trails that run parallel to major thoroughfares rather than stealing lanes from them. Obviously, this isn't 100% possible, and the cyclists have to cross the major streets somewhere, but the focus is on putting distance between bicycles and cars, not shoving them together. The approach is unarguably safer and I have yet to hear of complaints that cyclists are being treated as second class citizens.
ReplyDeleteEric, That's how ancient Egypt ended up buried under sand... they handed out brooms to government workers and told them to keep the place clean.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, There are other bike lanes all over town and they're done right. They have a lane and a little barrier and the drivers only lost a shoulder. This time, they wiped out two full lanes out of six on a road that gets clogged during rush hour and is otherwise 45 mph. They should have put in a regular lane or, better yet, put the bike lane on the nearby less used, slower road. This is city engineering by idiots.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone marveled at Obama's attempts to eulogize Shimon Perez? Obama keeps saying how great he was and how he changed the world and it all sounds like platitudes. Did his people even Google Perez to find out what achievements he may have had, if any?
ReplyDeleteThe man is lazy.
Think that's bad. We endured months of construction on a road that leaving town went from 3 lanes down to 1. After the construction the road now goes from 3 lanes down to 1 with a 2nd lane designated only for buses. I would love to give that engineer a kick right in the crotch.
ReplyDeleteMoving the bike lanes away from the road doesn't seem to discourage the idiots around here from biking or running right down the middle of it. I think the high elevation has caused brain damage in the California and Texas transplants.
Wow, the latest on the NFL ratings.... marijuana.
ReplyDeleteThat's right. The NFL's ban on marijuana is causing ratings to dip. What's more, stopping employees from smoking is "unreasonably regulating the lives of employees."
That is so stupid I don't even know if stupid is the right word or if delusional might be the right word.
Koshcat, That is maddening. The job of the city engineer types should be to affect the smooth flow of traffic around town, not to f* it up out of stupidity or politics.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, we had two accidents the first day including a role over. Nicely done, City of Colorado Springs, nicely done!
ReplyDeleteDon't....get...me...started on bike lanes. I feel your pain. I will be back later to explain.
ReplyDeleteCentral Parkway is the main northbound street out of downtown Cincinnati into the outlying neighborhoods. Even the name,Central Parkway, kind of provides a hint to it's significance. Well Central Parkway is two lanes north and two lanes south with the far right lane on each side being a parking lane. No more, my friends. The city turned the parking lanes into bike trails. Where do people park, you ask. Well I'll tell ya. They turned the right lane of each side of the street into parking lanes. Voila! Hijinks ensue! For the sake of a handful of bicyclists they cut Central Parkway from two lanes into one in a city that already has congested traffic. But there's more fun. You see, you can still drive in the parking lane if it's not occupied. Just be sure that car in front of you is moving because OH SHIT! SCREEECH BAM! Yes, assholes indeed.
ReplyDeleteGypsyTyger
OT LOLZ: Video of Trump interviewed for a lawsuit deposition have been released. This seems to be an attempt at an October surprise, but late Friday seems a poor time to do it. So far, the press seems to agree that the video is damaging to Trump even as they scramble to sort out why.
ReplyDeleteTrump's bizarre yet predictable sex tape tweet is consuming most of the oxygen. Hillary's hope.
ReplyDeleteThe key word is "predictable." You don't change minds (or votes) with predictable behavior. Should I point out that "bizarre" and "predictable" are antonyms?
ReplyDeleteWhat was unpredictable was how unremarkably normal the first presidential debate was. That has shocked the electorate into stagnation. Polls have been flat for a week, about the longest they've been all election. Nobody knows what to make of it. The focus on three tweets is an attempt to bring this election back to the normal bizarre of this cycle.
BTW, I think we're nearing peak confirmation bias. As Andrew has pointed out, it seems that whoever is in the news does worse in the polls. That's an oversimplification; Hillary struggles to get out of the margin of error even as Trump dominates headlines. But the fact remains, whatever the news is, it's assumed to be bad for the candidate in question.
ReplyDeleteA demonstration:
Trump says Clinton surrogate has sex tape = bizarre Trump behavior
Clinton says Trump surrogate has sex tape = Trump has bad associations
There is a flip-side:
Trump makes bizarre sex-tape tweets = media trying to slander Trump
Trump reported on for just about anything = media trying to slander Trump
Tryanmax,
ReplyDeleteActually bizarre and predictable aren't antonyms. They often are but not necessarily. For example an obsession with collecting empty fast food wrappers could be considered bizarre, but a person known to have said obsession would be predictable when collecting said wrappers.
Anyway, one can change minds with predictable behavior on the wrong target. Guy makes a habit of mocking Republicans, after a while he stops moving the needle. But lets say to spice things up he , then he mocks a woman who at a pro-life rally stated she is an abortion survivor, saying he wishes she hadn't, then he would get a negative response he wouldn't have gotten if he had stuck to mocking say, Obama or Clinton.
Also, I subscribe to the notion that whoever gets the most coverage will suffer at the polls (because both are horrible candidates/people).
The fact that some Republicans draw comfort from a close race with a famously uncharismatic, corrupt politician strongly tied to an unpopular president never ceases to amaze me.
Sad. The six year old in South Carolina has died. RIP
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I don't want to get into the weeds about how context affects the meaning of words. I think if you review your example you'll see where you went wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that you're amazed by the least amazing aspect of this election.
"The six year old in South Carolina has died."
ReplyDeleteShit.
Damn shame about Jacob Hall. Heaven's gain is our loss.
ReplyDelete