Audi Mocks Transit, Bikes in New Ad
It shouldn't surprise us that auto manufacturers promote their vehicles at the expense of "alternative" modes of travel, but still somehow it's always a surprise to be slapped in the face quite this hard.
Helping Low-Income Workers By Strapping Them Into Cars
CNN considers this woman a hero. Filed under "Misdirected Do-Goodery":
Since 2003, Wheels of Success has refurbished 280 donated cars for low-income individuals and families and helped another 280 clients with vehicle-related services. "Receiving ... the car is more than just the car," said Jacobs. "People literally see how it's going to change their life" by knocking down an obstacle that had gotten in their way due to lack of transportation.
Editorial: Rudeness No Surprise to Bicyclists
Rudeness has been in the news a lot this week. Congressman Joe Wilson yelled at the president, Kanye West was, well, Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards, and all of it has unleashed the media pundits. Speculation abounds about whether our culture has reached new lows of selfishness and entitlement. Everything from the Internet to recession-related social stresses have been advanced as explanations, but the general lack of civility seems to have reached crisis proportions, at least if you watch the 24/7 cable news networks.
But if you ride a bicycle regularly in San Diego, or in any other city, you know that uncommon levels of rudeness are nothing new, and in fact, are not uncommon at all. This is not a "oh, poor bicyclists" rant, but just a simple observation that bicyclists seem like particularly easy targets for misplaced bile. Verbal violence, actual assault, and aggressive anti-social behavior confront bicyclists daily. It has become a standby of bicycle blogs and message boards, and almost everyone has their own "war story".
While riding this week I was called "gay" by one driver (I didn't even know that was still considered an insult). A friend of mine was called a "f*cking hipster" while riding with his brother. Another was threatened with personal violence after riding into the lane to avoid a parked delivery truck. A while back, another friend was hit with an orange thrown from a car (yeah, an orange). Less dramatically, but no less inconsiderately, I spent my entire ride up and down Utah Street yesterday dodging trash cans improperly placed smack dab in the middle of the bike lane. And this was just locally.
Other dramatic incidents across the nation have recently highlighted the problem, but the media coverage of these incidents has generally not considered the problem of driver-on-bicyclist road rage as either a specific problem or as an indication of broader trends of incivility. I don't have the space to really consider the sources of this particular brand of rage, or why is seems so virulent, but I would like to make the observation that if we can't simply pass through space without screaming insults at each other, what hope do we have for civil discourse?
As bicyclists, as citizens, we have a responsibility to raise the level of our public discourse. Our response to road rage cannot any longer be, "oh yeah, well f*ck you, too!" There is more at stake than simply our right to the road. By failing to confront the issue in positive ways, we perpetuate the escalation of the very problem that threatens us, and we risk losing one of the foundational elements of civic democracy.
MTS Kick Gas Festival will not Include Bicycles
San Diego's Kick Gas Festival is being held on October 24th as part of the many activities held to draw attention to the mission of 350.org which is,
Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.
Specifically, the goal is to reduce CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million.
When we originally heard about the festival we were dismayed that bicycles were not featured as the main part of the festival. When we contacted Kathy Keehan, executive director of the SDCBC, she did admit that the SDCBC had been invited to sponsor the program and promote their mission at the Kick Gas Festival. However, Kathy didn't think the festival would be a good fit for many reasons. For one, the SDCBC has limited volunteer and staff resources, and for another Kathy didn't think that it would be worthwhile to spend 8 hours at the Qualcomm parking lot.
We agree. Qualcomm stadium, located in Mission Valley, is hardly the epicenter of sustainable anything.
The festival does seem like a terrible missed opportunity. The event could have been held in Balboa Park or the Convention Center downtown which would have allowed attendees to transport themselves in ways more in tune with the mission of 350.org. Bicycles could have been the focus at the festival, engaging more San Diegans to take advantage of the beautiful weather and open themselves up to the possibility of transporting themselves without using gasoline.
But, like they say, there is always next year.