A Rant on Dubious Freedom (Buddhism and Bicycles)

My biggest personal insights on freedom occurred around 2003 when Bush was going on and on how we had to shed blood for our “freedom”.

At that time, I was reading books on Buddhism. One of the biggest lessons I got was how our defilements take away our freedom. Buddha was a man who sought to liberate himself. However, instead of taking up arms against an external oppressor, he sat and examined what things were making him unfree. This is kind of interesting if you understand his background. He was a wealthy prince who had three palaces. Basically, he could do whatever he wanted. Yet he still felt unfree.

At the time, I was struggling to make ends meet. Worse was the huge student debt I had. I felt trapped by my circumstances, and I felt that if I only made enough money that would be the way out. All I wanted was enough money so I could have enough free time to write and to not worry about making ends meet.

Now here’s someone from 2600 years ago telling me that even if I had as much money as Gates, I’d still be unfree.

In a sense, that sucked. In another sense, that all ready made me feel more free. Like the Buddha, I began to question what it really meant to be free. I had all ready known that having a big house and an SUV wouldn’t make me free.

Also, free time wasn’t looking like the big benefit that I thought it was.
I had all ready spent over a year working part time only, student loan payments be damned, and I still wasn’t completely happy. I was spending more time cyberslacking as well as trying to put together enough part time jobs to keep myself in rent, food, and beer. I had no discipline, and I vacillated from one extreme of wanting to work long hours and make a lot of money to wishing I could work not at all.

In meditation, I found, in very short intervals, freedom from the oppressive thoughts of my own mind. I didn’t have to worry about my junky PC getting repossessed, nor getting tossed into a gulag, nor living to be 40 and feeling that I had wasted my life. I could just spend some time at peace.

This feeling made me really sit up and take notice when Buddha spoke of freedom. According to Buddha, one was under the influence of three poisons: hate, greed, and delusion. Only when free of these poisons was one really free. I saw the wealthy politicians constantly losing their anger (hate). No matter how rich they were, they were always struggling to secure more contributions (greed), and nothing they said really made any logical sense (delusion). If even the president was not free, how could I ever hope to gain freedom?

Then I read that my mind was all ready pure, clean, and radiant beneath the mental poisons. That really gave me hope.

I thought I had a really profound thought. However, having had trouble articulating even my most pedestrian ideas to others, I really didn’t talk about this notion of freedom too much. It would only lead to BS arguments except, of course when speaking with my wife or my good friends (you know who you are).

I really thought I had an original idea: “Americans talk so much of freedom, but while they continue to let the media poison their minds, they are just making themselves less free.”

It turns out I wasn’t so original.

In a back alley, I found a stack of books called Book of the Year from Britannica. Of course, I took home, 1973, my birth year which to me is the nexus of all things cool. It turns out that in this book, they speak of the same notion: “…most of us wanted freedom to do anything our hearts desired…this notion of freedom is only a childish desire to violate the laws of cause and effect, and you pay a heavy price for this delusional freedom.”

Seeing the economy collapse beneath consumer and housing debt, isn’t that what’s happening right now?

It goes on, “…we think we have freedom in everything we do, but our behavior is shaped by influences that our cultural traditions hide from us.”

This ties in with another book, I am reading, Autophobia. It’s a great book because it tries to take a balanced view in the automobile debate. This is huge for me because I am trying to find my way as a cycling advocate. I am finding that in many ways cycling is seen as a threat even though where I live only one in two hundred people regularly cycle.

Cyclists are blamed for traffic jams, car accidents, and all sorts of ills, probably swine flu.

Cyclist advocates are accused of trying to take away people’s freedom that the car offers. For years, I had been trying to be neutral in the car debate. I reasoned that cars and bicycles can co-exist. I do still believe this. However, to focus on the feelings of automobile drivers puts cycling advocates at an extreme disadvantage. It severely limits what an advocate can do.

It’s also an absurd situation to put cycling advocates in as it’s a double standard. No negotiator has to factor in their competition. Good negotiators figure out what they want then they ask for me with the intention of backing off from there so they still get what they want. Cycling advocates are too afraid to even ask for what we have been promised by law because we don’t want to offend anyone. We are weak, and we wonder why we never get anywhere.

We are too afraid of what other people think of us. For example, in latest news, McCain called cycling and pedestrian advocates elites. Of course nobody in the media mentioned the obvious. Here’s a guy who, on one hand, is advocating a fight for “freedom”. On the other hand, he’s taking away choices (biking and walking) and basically mandating in terms on infrastructure that we have to drive. Taking away choices is the opposite of freedom.

A strong cycling advocate would mention this. A weak advocate would try to prove why we are not snobs perhaps by showing how bicycles take cars off the road and make things better for motorists. A good negotiator doesn’t really care what McCain thinks. They would take steps to eliminate McCain by campaigning to get his ass out of office.

I have heard cyclists who don’t like critical mass because it might turn people against us. People all ready are against us. These people are selfish and they have bought into the billion dollar auto industry delusion that a car means freedom and that “roads are for cars, only.” This is seen as fact, but it’s just a belief and a recent one at that.

Because most of us were born with legs and none of us with wheels, we are all pedestrians at one time or another. Therefore, idea of roads is delusional.

Worse, people are so threatened by bicycles, it’s not even funny. Even some so called liberal environmentalists go ballistic when you mention critical mass. “It should be banned,” said a friend of mine. That’s right, we must save the earth, but do it in a way that makes driving as much as we want feasible.

Note most of the 0.6% bicycle commuters own and operate automobiles. So it’s not even like a small elite of cyclists taking on drivers. Many cyclists swing both ways. If that’s not weak enough, figure that while cyclists are accused of being “elites dictating how people live,” note that the US government supports driving directly. Not only by building highways and destroying any other way of getting to places, but by actively helping auto lobbiests using taxpayers money. How does this work?

I got a CA license recently and shortly afterwards guess what I got? A letter from the AAA asking me for a membership. Why would an organization that I despise contact me without my permission. Where could they have possibly gotten this information. That’s right, my private information was given away by the government to an organization who’s job was to lobby the government. It’s one big happy circle.

Imagine if the local cycling club wanted the government to divulge the names and addresses of all the new motorists so they could solicit them for donations. People would go ballistic. This is an outrage. Communism. Unfairly using the government to dictate how people act. And so on.

But automobile advocates all ready do this. How many bike lanes should we have according to the AAA. None. They are against any bill that allows for any alternative to driving. They feel this way because they are interested increased “mobility.”

What does “mobility” mean? For me, it means making things further apart so we need to drive more. Why do this? Because there are many groups that get money the more that people drive: the oil industry, the automobile industry, the insurance industry, healthcare (obesity and accidents), and the asphalt industry (see Autophobia for details).

I wonder who’s interests AAA really supports. If they supported the common person, they’d advocate for more “accessibility” that is things being easy to get to instead of their empty and pointless “mobility”. People want to get places and do things. To drive for driving’s sake is a big waste of money. In fact, if it were seen as a tax most people would be against it. Imagine all the money you’d save if you didn’t have a car. That money is in your pocket. You could retire quicker, work less, and worry less. You’d have more time with your family. If you walked places, you’d get fresh air, excercise, and a chance to meet people. This is how I live, and it’s great.

Instead, the auto industry spends vast sums of money getting the government to limit our choices under the banner of empty “mobility”. And they see cyclists as “elites dictating how we live.” Give me a break.

If you think of things this way, you will see how vastly unfair this advocacy is. There’s not a single politician in California who really gets behind bicycles. Even so called environmentalists go for the dead end solutions such as electric cars and monorails. The media is totally against us in every way. Not only do they slant everything towards auto drivers, but they demonize us by printing nonsense like what McCain blathers without even putting in the other point of view.

With everything stacked against me, why do I cling to the piece of metal between my legs?

Because it makes me happy. I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, stand on a street corner of a busy street. Is it pleasant to be there? No. Look at the faces of the drivers. They will be distracted and look a bit annoyed or bored.

Look at me when I cycle. I usually have a smile on my face even when people are trying to drive me off the road. Why am I happy? Because I made a choice. Most people drive because they think that they have to. I actually thought things through and cycle because I want to.

Do I want auto drivers to be unhappy. No. That’s why I am a cycle advocate. I want to share the joy I have with others. I practice sending goodwill to drivers each time I bicycle. At this point, it’s a habit to wish well to drivers.

Think about all the money people spend on their cars, and the amount of money the government spends catering to their every whim such as the huge boondoggle that the highway system is. Yet people’s commute times are roughly the same as they were 100 years ago, and people don’t seem any happier. Truly an example of running to stay in place.

Yet, mention any downside to driving and people get hostile and angry. Then they blame cycling advocates for being hostile and angry. Sounds like projection.

May all drivers be happy and without hostility. May they see me so they don’t run me down.

I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for…

Words can’t express how sick I am of this statement. I’m writing this post to put an end to this stupid lie once and for all so we can get on with our lives.

DISCLAIMER! YOU HOO! READ THIS FIRST: Note, this is going to be directed towards people who have said this stupid phrase. This includes me. If you hadn’t said it, read no more. There’s nothing for you to see her. You have been warned.

First of all, most people say this when the government is actually going to help people. Why someone would be so opposed to helping people is beyond me. It’s almost like they are Darth Vadar fans or something. Why not just wear a Hitler mask around; it’s so much more direct than your insane babbling. If you wear your selfishness on your sleeve people are going to think you are a dick. So just don’t speak out against being nice or helping people again, it makes you look like an asshole.

Next, why do we actually think that we have tax dollars? All our money is made by the government thus it’s the government’s money. We are just using it for a short while. The tax code has been around for a long time, longer than any of us were born unless our name is McCain so let’s just deal with it. Nobody is making us work a job. I don’t work so I don’t pay taxes. If it’s really hurts your feeling so much to help another human stick to the barter system.

Finally, why do you think your money is going to welfare or whatever? How much do you pay in taxes? A couple of grand. That’s chicken feed when the budget is trillions of dollars. You lose more cells when you mastrubate (if you are a guy) or menstruate (women) than your relative contribution to the federal budget. You aren’t even big enough to be a fly to the cow that is our government. So stop worrying about it. The military is 50% of the budget. Just pretend your money goes there. Or the highway system.

Anyway, that’s how the government works. They take your money and spend it on what you want. If you want to spend the money on Stinger missiles, well you bought part of that. Medicare, welfare, Other People’s Money pays for that. Who are you to tell them how to spend their money.

…but I’d have to kill you.

Whenever I hear the phrase, “I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you” it makes my blood boil. What a way to combine arrogance and stupidity.

It’s always stupid to say such a thing.

First of all, how many people have these secrets that are really important? Not very many. In fact, many of these secrets are really just arrogance.

An example is the torture memos. There was a prediction that all hell would break loose if they were released. Guess what? All hell has not broken loose. In fact things are pretty peachy today. So those idiots who said that we need to keep this stuff classified are discredited forever.

Second, you’d have to kill me? Why would you have to kill me? Let’s say you could kill me, which is highly arrogant. “I could kill you just by thinking about it.” Do it, GI Joe.

Why would you have to kill me? Let me tell you a secret, “I have no credibility.” Not on TV, not in public, not anywhere. I’m not an expert on anything. If you told me a deep secret, and I called the news, nobody would listen. I could go to a street corner, and I’d be just another crazy. So to say you _have_ to kill me is dumb.

It’s also kind of aggressive and rude. “I’m going to kill you b/c of the contents of your head.” WTF? Say that and you sound like a complete asshole.

So if you want to sound idiotic, arrogant and kind of like an asshole living in an imaginary Bond world say stupid shit like this.

Or even better yet, just kill me anyway. Just fuckin’ kill me and spare the stupid drama. No need to tell me these stupid, precious state secrets.

I’m going to pop some pills now. I’d tell you what I’m on, but…oh never mind.

Critical Mass I: Kindly Informing a Slight, Forgivable Misunderstanding

This was originally going to be used as a comment for a Critical Mass ride video on youtube.com which claimed that Critical Mass was a protest by crazy left wing bicyclists who sought to “take over the city” and “shut down the streets”. There was a seething hatred toward the ride.

Just as I have purchased, insured, and drove an automobile for many years, I challenge anyone who has problems with Critical Mass to ride a bicycle to work, to school, to pick up their children, to purchase groceries, and to visit people for a single day. You are also welcome to come any of the lovely bicycle rides in San Diego. I feel that only when we have sat on one another’s Brooks saddles can we truly speak from a point of reason and experience rather than from that of ignorance and hatred.

Also, I’d like to clear up some misunderstandings regarding Critical Mass. For me, the ride is not a protest ride. In Critical Mass riders, there are as many political views as bicyclists. Just as you can’t dismiss a driver as a right wing homicidal maniac, don’t judge a cyclist until you meet and speak with them. This requires getting out of your car.

When I traveled across the US, many automobile drivers took us into our house, fed us, and treated us like royalty. When I see an automobile driver, these are the people I see. When you see a bicyclists, I want you to see a smiling face of someone who is enjoying every second of their life: the fresh air, the sunshine on their face, the exhilaration of freedom, and the good night’s rest that a day’s cycling leads to.

The reason I ride is because it’s a lot of fun. I hope all the driver’s out there forget their tempers and come and enjoy their night with us. You are all welcome to come.

In San Diego, the police escort us, so the ride is actually sanctioned by the city just as other events that have police protection.

Also, if you study the CA state driver’s exam book, bicycles are allowed on the city streets by law. There is nothing in the book saying how far bicyclists have to ride from one another just as there is no law against many cars clogging up the streets on a daily basis in what people describe as a “traffic jam”.

No need to tell people to stay home. It’s a free country. The more cars on the road, the more the streets get clogged, and the safer cycling is. Yet we can ride just as fast traffic or no. Jealous? Don’t be. There’s plenty of room out here for another cyclist. Join us.

As for protests, what is there to protest? All the drivers are nice people here. The streets are large enough for automobiles, bicycles, skateboarders carrying surfboards, and pedestrians to ride side by side as long as we are all willing to respect one another. I often yield for automobiles even when the law does not permit it for my own safety as well as my own peace of mind. Sometimes drivers don’t see me. I understand. Often drivers will yield to me many times when it is not required by law. In the vast majority of cases, both cyclists and drivers are kind and patient. We remember things in a way that reflects our world view.

Again, come to ride, watch from the sidelines, or sit in traffic. Whatever the case may be, I hope you enjoy every night. Life’s too short for anger.

Fallacy of Equality

There is a little misunderstanding in advocacy groups. I made this mistake myself for about a decade.

I like to call it the Fallacy of Equality. Basically it states that if you are advocating for an alternative, you must give equal time to all sides including your opponents.

This is complete nonsense. When has anyone who has tried to sell us inferior, dangerous, and unnecessary products had to point out that there were inexpensive or free alternatives by their competitors?

About never. So why should advocates be “fair”?

I am both a Linux and a bicycling advocate. For years, I believed that I had to give equal time to Microsoft products. Then it occurred to me that Microsoft spends billions of dollars a year in advertising (that’s corporate for advocacy). Do they ever mention that you can download a bootable alternative that runs circles around their software? No. They mock Linux.

In the Linux community, I try to be positive and to welcome everyone with equal arms. This means being kind to MS Windows users as they might not have realized that there are alternatives. However, this does not mean that I am going to accept that every expenditure for the government, corporate, or otherwise should take Windows into account? Again, see above. Microsoft does not do this why should I?

Similarly with bicycles. I was recently told that I should give equal time to automobiles because no form of transportation should be privileged. Again, this is nonsense. There is only so much money for transportation. Every cent spent promoting automobiles detracts from cycling. In fact the number one reason that people don’t cycle is because they fear getting hit by a car.

Need I mention the yearly automobile company spending in advertising? Need I point out the countless free advertising that auto companies get every time a cyclist is the butt of a joke in a movie? Should I mention the millions spent in pushing autos with public money with driver’s education programs across the country? Why should I give up the pennies for bicycles to give “equal time”.

When are the big guys going to have to give “equal time” to my views? Imagine Microsoft spending a few billion in Linux promotion? Linux would “eat their lunch” in a level playing field. Imagine a true cost comparison of a lifetime of either cycling and driving including the 40,000 victims of driving a year, countless cases of diabetes, heart disease, and childhood asthma that our car crazy legacy. Again, there would be no comparison and bicycles would win every time.

So the next time you want to advocate X and someone asks you to be “fair and balanced” or give equal time, ask to split the total cost in promotion down the middle. I’d gladly take half the transportation budget in dedicated bicycle paths. Never happen? Then don’t bother me with equal time. Now excuse me while I chase some more funding crumbs from the table of crappy, mass produced products.

Shamelessness

Not to belabor the point from yesterday, but I was still thinking about it on my ride home today.

I realized another thing about some drivers. They have such a deep hatred of bicycles that they don’t realize how dangerous they are. When you are on a bicycle, a car is the Nemesis, the Big Bad, the Terminator.

Driver’s don’t seem to get it.

When I violate a traffic law on my bicycle by mistake, I feel real shame. If it works out then I feel like I let the whole bicyclist community down by making us look like a bunch of outlaws. If there’s a near accident. I apologize to the people who would have hurt me. I realize that I really messed up and I almost paid a big price for not paying attention. That’s totally on me. I want to crawl in a hole.

My question is, why do drivers,when they break the law, and almost kill me, get angry at me? What’s their problem? Don’t they have a sense of right and wrong and the notion of shame? Don’t they care?

I have come the conclusion that no matter what I do, I’m always going to appear to be a criminal to many a driver. I could be the caregiver for their grandmother. I could support their favorite cause.

They just don’t get it. They think it’s all a big joke. Or they get really pissed. “Bikers why can’t they stay off the street.”

This knowledge is not depressing to me, it’s a big relief. I feel a big weight off my shoulders. It means that I will be hated by some NO MATTER WHAT I DO. I read in a book called The Science of Fear by
Daniel Gardner that people fundamentally think different when they think in political terms or are emotional. That’s why the guy didn’t even hear me yesterday. I could have been offering him a million dollars no strings attached, it would have all been nonsense to him.

When people are driving, and they encounter a cyclist, the cyclist is a nuisance. They are vermin. They are terrorists even. Not people we can talk to. “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.” Closed door. End of story. Good-bye.

That’s great. I don’t have to feel a big burden to make people like me. I don’t have to make excuses for riding a bicycle because no excuse will be needed.

Oh, I’m still going to carry out my plan of yielding for everyone no matter who’s right or wrong. I’m still going to smile to everyone I see. I’m not going to let a few assholes turn me into them. I’m not going to lose this fight.

Right now I’m going to turn to my favorite text that always makes me a better person: The Perfection of Patience.

“Anger destroys all the good conduct, such as generosity and worshipping the Sugatas, which has been acquired over thousands of eons.

There is no vice like hatred, and there is no austerity like patience. Therefore, one should earnestly cultivate patience in various ways.
The mind does not find peace, nor does it enjoy pleasure and joy, nor does it find sleep or fortitude when the thorn of hatred dwells in the heart. “

A Road Rage of My Own

I should just change this blog to rile to rile (or just rile) because there has been little “haha” laterly. This will change. However, we are going to have a little more rile today. Here’s my story of losing my mind with road rage today.

My wife rides her bicycle everyday to work because she enjoys the ride, gets great exercise. I go along for the ride for the same reasons. Having traveled the US, I can safely say that our ride is the most beautiful in the country. We cut through Balboa Park to enjoy the mix of natural beauty, architecture, and the skyline from the bridge on El Prado.

It was on this bridge on April 16, 2009 at 8:30 AM where we had the encounter with the angry old man. I was riding and talking to my wife when suddenly a mini-van came out of nowhere from behind it. It started honking and came close to hitting us. I lost it.

Ignoring protests from my much more intelligent wife, I went after him. I know it is petty, but I don’t like someone to threaten the lives of wife and myself. Also, my wife has a speedometer. We were riding at 15 MPH which is the speed limit on that road. He had to be speeding to even catch up with us let alone pass us. So he broke more than a few laws.

When I caught up with him, he tried to speed away. I was shouting obscenities at him like, “Come back here, you asshole. And come on tough guy.” I’m not proud of that. Like I said, I was really angry. Finally, I caught up with him at the stop light. I was able to get next to his window where I informed him of the two laws he broke.

He parked along Sixth St. Then he reached into his side holster, and I was sure he was going to brandish a gun.

“Great,” I thought. “He’s going to shoot me. My wife will be so pissed.”

“Send a car,” he said into his cell phone.

I was perfectly OK to waste his time waiting for the police because I was in the right.

He got out of the car and started to go off on me. “You run stop signs. You have no right to be in that lane. That’s for cars to get through. You can’t block the lane.”

(He’s wrong. Bicycles don’t block lanes, they ride in them. Under California law, they are vehicles just like automobiles and have all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of other vehicles.)

He continued, “You want to ride your bike into my truck and fuck with me? Come on fuck with me.”

I thought that this was really funny. He almost killed us, but now he’s an innocent guy being bullied in his giant vehicle by a tiny bicycle. I still chuckle when I think of this as it’s so wrong on so many levels. Yes, automobile drivers get run down daily while driving by tiny bicycles. The death rate is, um, zero per year.

I told him that I wasn’t there to “fuck with him, but to inform him.”

He looked shocked. “Inform me? What are you going to inform me about?”

I said, “I all ready told you. I am now respectfully listening to your position.”

He looked even more astounded. It was like he was realizing that I was a human being for the first time. I know his feeling. When driving it’s easy to see humans as impediments and not as people with flesh and feelings. I started to feel compassion for this man.

I realized that although I had all ready told him he was speeding, he had not heard me. He only saw me as a crazy person. This is understandable because I was very angry. I was yelling. How could he hear me otherwise? He was in a sealed off car, and he was trying to speed away. I realized that he hadn’t planned on a discussion. He thought he could harass me, threaten me, and not deal with me again. I believe that the nature of driving encourages bad behavior in people who would not think of acting out while walking around.

I repeated what laws he broke. I explained that my wife had a speedometer and that we were riding at 15 MPH. I informed him that the speed limit is 15 MPH and that he had broken the law by passing us.

Suddenly he didn’t want to talk anymore. He had to run. He wasn’t even going to wait around for the police he pretended to call. He ran back to his truck, jumped in, and sped off.

I wanted to tell this story because I realized that there are many misconceptions about bicycles. I would like to debunk them.

1.Bicycles “block the road”.

Actually, by law, bicycles are traffic like the rest of vehicles. When cars have to slow down at a light or to park, people don’t get into a fit. Likewise, if there is a slow moving vehicle, you need to slow down to a safe speed.

Unless they have a death wish, bicyclists do not try to impede traffic. If they are risking their lives in the middle of the street, they are there for a good reason. Perhaps they are turning. They probably know what they are doing, and they should be given space and accounted for.

2.El Prado is through traffic only. Bicycles are not even supposed to be on the road.

Although it’s possible to drive through Balboa Park, legally, by going on El Prado, the route is a bit convoluted. There are frequent, mandatory stops. Pedestrians will walk into the street without looking. For this reason, the speed limit is 15 MPH even though it does look at if that tiny stretch of road, across the bridge is designed for much faster traffic. This is a untrue. You will stop in about 10 seconds after accelerating. Sometimes pedestrians will walking into the road without looking. For these reasons, it’s best to stick with the legal speed limit.

3.Bicycles are law breaking loons who ought to be taught a lesson by nearly killing them and honking at them. After this, they will gain a clear grasp of the law, and never break a traffic law again.

Bicyclists don’t break traffic laws anymore than automobile drivers. Do you honestly know anyone who drives the speed limit all the time? If you do any amount of driving, you will realize that you must drive a safe speed for road conditions. Usually this is within the speed limit, but not always. Even though you may not be caught, you have just broken the law and became a criminal.

For similar reasons, bicycles might roll through a stop sign if conditions are safe because it takes a lot of effort to go back up to full speed. This practice is legal in some states and will soon be legal everywhere. For a bicyclists to break a traffic law is to assume a lot of personal risk, and this is not advised.

However, even if a bicyclist is in the wrong, is it OK to almost kill someone? Everyone makes mistakes and should be corrected. The proper way to communicate is not violence, and it is not to blow your horn. A honking horn carries no information and escalates any situation.

If you would like to discuss traffic laws and reform a bicycles. Pull up next to them and calmly offer to sit down and share a cup of coffee. Nearly everyone responds well to kindness. Over the cup of coffee, you can share you gripes, concerns, and express what the bicyclist did wrong and how you’d like them to change. You will get more results with this method.

If you try to kill them you might succeed and now you are a killer. If you fail, you’ll look like a petulant and cowardly asshole especially if you get stuck at a light and the bicyclist catches up with you. This happens far more often than drivers believe.

Left Wing Media Update

Here’s a video of Fox News whining that the New York Times is too RIGHT–yes right–wing.

My head hurts, but this further proves my point. They go on to show how Obama is actually going to put forth many conservative programs, but this is not covered by the media.

So basically, Fox’s point is that they hate Democrats even if they support their policies. It’s not about the policy, it’s a popularity contest. You’re wrong even if you’re right because you aren’t in our shitty club. How old are these people anyway?

Left Wing Media Debunked

I’m sick and tired of hearing that old lie–yes lie–about the “left wing” media. This is something that Limbagh has been saying for years, and people are starting to repeat it. If enough people repeat it on the radio and TV, it must be true.

Actually, it’s complete nonsense. My argument is that everyone on TV are moderates and the LEFT HAS NO VOICE IN THE MEDIA. None. In fact, Chompsky pointed out the intellectual gulag that left wingers are thrown into. If a story is left of the New York Times, it must be crazy, right? Because the crazy left has its voice. Its the New York Times. Therefore, if it’s even more left, it’s crazy. Welcome to the idiotic world of circular logic. Circular logic is false.

Actually, nobody really has left wing opinions unless they do some hard thinking. This requires disconnecting from the media for a while and hashing it out on your own. If you do, and you reconnect you will find some stunning things. One of them is that all the most important issues in your life, the things you really care about and want are completely ignored by the media.

People look at me like I am a crazy person when I tell them this. Therefore, I am going to put out a table that shows the difference between the Right, the Left, and Moderates. I am not going to apologize for this table. It seems like these positions are distorted but that’s only because the media actually distorts what’s going on. I took out all their bullshit euphemisms and made things very clear.

Whatever side you are one, I have a lot of respect for you, as a sentient being. I realize that you only want to be happy and free for suffering. I hope that this is so. I feel the same about everyone else as well.

Topic	Left	Moderate	Right
War	Withdraw all troops today.	Reduce the troops a little.	Invade more countries.
Automobiles/Energy Policy	Ban cars. Switch to bicycles. Become energy independent over night. End funding for terrorism and end the deaths of 40,000 Americans/year due to our destructive automobile habit.	Electric cars which uses more fuel than regular autos.	Burn all the gas as quickly as we can, after all, it’s our, “way of life.” Forget about the children.
Economy	Congress has slumber party until homelessness is over. After all people are sleeping out in the cold now. If they have time to bail out the wealthiest companies they should give fair time to those without homes.	Give money to big corporations with oversight. After all, the companies failed so they should be propped up but not rewarded. They need to watched for a few years.	Give money to big corporations with no strings. After all, the “market” can take care of itself. It certainly knows who to give tax money to: rich people.
Nuclear proliferation	Assist all other countries with nuclear programs. If we help others then they are not likely to attack us. After all, the fact that the Soviet Union had nukes prevented World War III.	Talk to the countries that are proliferating to try to get them to realize that nukes are a bad security investment. After all, the biggest nuke stockpile in the world sat idle while terrorists used our own airlines to destoy our biggest buildings. We need to have more friends in the world.	Alienate countries. Invade and kill their civilians. After all, if they are all dead, then they can’t harm us. If anyone tries to get nukes, we’ll kill them. Hopefully countries will disarm when they see this.
Islamization	Non-issue. Why bother with other country’s governments? Our own country is messed up as it is.	??	Secularize other countries while at the same time we introduce Christianity and our own morality in our own courthouses, laws, and classrooms by any means necessary.
Taxes	100% tax cut for those making less than $250,000. Give the people, overnight, the tax cuts that Bush promised, but never delivered. Moderate taxes on wealthy. A small percent of a huge portion won’t be noticed by wealthy, but it can be used to pay for everything.	Minor tax credits for things we like. Increase overall taxes. After all, Bush ran up quite a big bill. Obama is trying to beat him on debt. If we don’t start to pay interest then our creditors will cut us off.	Tax cuts for wealthy. High taxes for middle class and poor. Don’t give anyone any benefits for their taxes. Use non-issues such as abortion and homosexuality to distract voters from the fact that their taxes are the same as they were eight years ago. Rack up massive debts until the government ceases to function. After all, the wealthy do the best in countries where every aspect of the government is for sale.
Guns	Keep guns in the hands of the law abiding. Don’t collectables. Allow for hunting. Ban sales of cheap hand guns, shut down gun shops that evade the law. Prevent straw purchases by limiting the number of sales per month.	Ban guns aren’t really popular in most murders, but look scary on TV. Mild restrictions on cheap handguns, the biggest killers.	No regulation on guns. Rich people can buy bigger guns than the poor and afford their own security. If the poor kill one another, who will really cares?
Drugs	Deregulate and tax.	Use in college then pretend that drugs don’t exist.	Keep millions in jail, as long as they are minorities. Ignore drug users if they are white and wealthy. Elect them to office. Party with coke, but publically denounce its use.
Food Bill	Ban unhealthy food. People don’t know what’s best for themselves. They’ll be happy when they are healthy. Regulate industry to make sure that they are not selling toxins to the public. Make food more local and agriculture more sustainable. Limit pesticindes. Ban GMO foods as they are not proven safe and they are completely unnecessary and a trojan horse for consumer lock-in and theft of agricultural knowledge.	Fund unhealthy food. Mildly regulate unhealthy food. Allow crappy food to proliferate as the “market has spoken.”	Give top dollar to promote unhealthy food. Cut funding for study of dietary disesase. Fund creation of exotic seeds which can be patented by big corporations. Eliminate natural seeds from the market driving up the price of food while making it unhealthy, and wasting fuel shipping food around the country.
Abortion	Non-issue. Like other healthcare, it should be free with no questions asked.	Ignore this issue. It is political dynamite.	Pretend to oppose abortion. If someone related needs one, secretely ship them to another country where they can get one done safely and without annoying activists. Do nothing to actually stop abortion even while you have complete political power.
Homosexuality	Non-issue. Treated like normal couple by constitutional amendment.	Pretend to care, but stall on issues. Also politcal dynamite.	Demonize them. It’s a great distraction from economic issues. Have people vote for morals so they forget their pocketbooks.
Immigration	People immigrate because their own countries are treated unfairly by large corporations. Level the playing field and everyone will be happy where they are. After all, immigrating is dangerous, and it’s sad to leave one’s family. It’s something only the most desparate try. Breaking minor immigration laws is part of dealing with the constantly shifting rules, and uncaring and unhelpful immigration officers who never knew struggle. Besides Americans disregard laws they don’t like all the time even if it’s a minor inconvenience such as traffic laws.	Be vague. After all, we don’t wish to offend the white, sensitive people who don’t live near immigrants. We also don’t want to offend our large minority voting base who feels their jobs are threatened by immigrants.	Immigrants are illegal. Throw the book at them; just make them go away. Unless, we need cheap labor then employ them once they scale the Communist era, Berlin style wall we are building. But don’t let them live in my neighborhood.
Education	Step back and wonder why we are so over-educated. Is it useful to spend all one’s youth studying? The jobs aren’t what they were ever since the unwashed masses started going to college. Focus on career training and leave the esoteric stuff to the rich kids.	Give more money to schools. Public education for all. Make student loans available for everyone and encourage them to go to college thus insuring a generation of wage slaves forced to work merely to repay student loans.	Only for the wealthy. For all others, not my problem. Pour massive amounts of corporate money into colleges in the forms of military and medical research and then bitch that all schools are too “liberal” because they don’t support genocide at least not all the time. Spend a huge amount of time playing word games which distract from the real problems.

San Diego, Only a Few Dollars Short of World Class Bicycle City Status

Here’s the letter I sent to the San Diego budget suggestions.

This should be good for a laugh in their offices. Known fact that auto fumes and sedentary transportation cause neural death resulting in pathetically, poor judgment

San Diego has great weather all year round.

However, many of us are trapped in our autos because there is no safe access to parts of the city. There are places that are two miles away from me that I can only reach by auto or by an hour bus ride.

Why can I not cycle?

I suggest that all places be accessible by bicycle.

This will make San Diego a world class bicycle city. It’s known that cyclists make up the most creative and economically productive members of society.

This will attract people from all over the United States who will drive economic growth. It will allow people to abandon their autos which are literally driving them into bankruptcy for cycles which will make them healthier, happier, and will leave them with more money to spend on things that last.

Bicycle routes cost a fraction of the cost of highways, and they can be maintained mostly by volunteer labor. The city will save millions on wear and tear on the highways as people take to the bikeways.

Look at any city that has invested in its cycling infrastructure, and you will see a city that is very strong economically. These cities are well thought of, well respected, and people flock to them from around the world.

Stop wasting millions of savings for the citizens and lost revenue for the city brought on by poor planning. Help to make San Diego a world class cycling city. I’ll be happy to point out examples of where cities have benefited from a modest investment in dollars.