Before We See a Bike Friendly World

ComandanteBanana

(Writing from Miami Beach, USA)

Originally Posted by SSP
"No offense, but the more you talk about it, the more Hellish it
sounds.

Bikes are meant to be ridden out of doors, for transport, commuting,
and recreation. Being forced to ride a stationary bike because the
roads are too dangerous for a 2 mile commute would be more than enough
for me to consider moving.

Life's too short to spend it living in Hell."


Well, life's more than a bike!

It's also kayaking, in which I use a survival technique developed by
the little mammals 100 million years ago... GO OUT AT NIGHT!

And besides, we have been promised a Green Beltway or something like
that would allow us to ride all the way up to Boston! Don't know
though if it'll happen before the Mars colonization.

Bill Sornson

Amy Blankenship wrote:
> "Bill Sornson" <askme@ask.me> wrote in message
> news:484f05a0$0$12934$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> Amy Blankenship wrote:
>>
>>> There's a republic near America {snip}
>>> ... the Conch Republic aka Key West. Lots of scooters, EVs and
>>> bikes, which you can rent. I love the atmosphere. I really think
>>> they are free down there.
>>
>> You misspelled "wasted". 8-)
>
> Misattributed. That wasn't me...

???

RicodJour

On Jun 10, 4:15 pm, ComandanteBanana <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>
> There's a republic near America where they do both and are the very
> happy... the Conch Republic aka Key West. Lots of scooters, EVs and
> bikes, which you can rent. I love the atmosphere. I really think they
> are free down there.

They rent things for free?

R

Tadej Brezina

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
> On Jun 10, 8:52 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
>> George Conklin schrieb:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> "Tim McNamara" <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
>>> news:timmcn-C116B6.23492309062008@news.iphouse.com...
>>>> In article <n6WdnXRM2u2_DdDVnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@earthlink.com>,
>>>> "George Conklin" <n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>>> "ComandanteBanana" <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:4645c510-69ea-4097-93ef-68d02ec25dde@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com
>>>>> ...
>>>>>> We need to be aware of things that must happen in the psychological
>>>>>> and physical world, namely "small is better" and traditional
>>>>>> neighborhoods, aka "New Urbanism" or European style cities.
>>>>> Only a small percentage of Europeans live in what you like to call
>>>>> "European style" cities.
>>>> What he's talking about used to be called "suburbs." Still are, for
>>>> that matter.
>>> The book "Sprawl: A Compact History" makes the point that most residents
>>> of Paris actually live in houses which we would call suburban (and he shows
>>> pictures), but tourists only see the older parts of the city. The summer I
>>> lived with a family near Paris showed that the houses had small lots, but in
>>> fact were not what is usually called the "typical" old-fashioned European
>>> city. The traffic jams in Paris attest to that too.
>> It is true that the one family house is common and popular, especially
>> in Germany, or in some regions of my native Austria (uppe raustria being
>> very strongly, rurally sprawled. But how much does the example of
>> continental Europe's biggest city of Paris cater for the whole system?
>>
>> True, Europe isn't perfect either.
>
> One reason may be that you watch too much American TV. European elites
> must get hints from the "happy life" in the American suburb along with
> the SUV to impress the neighbors...

True, the afternoon and evening-programs are full of low quality US TV
shows. Often subliminally glorifying American lifestyle and anchoring it
with the positive emotions of us being the allged land of the free,
beautiful, happy, etc.

Ad impress the neighbours.
I was always curious, regarding those MC-Mansion-Subdivisions, how do
you materially - if your' in desperate need to do so - impress the
neighbour with the same just in blue?

> How prevalent are the SUVs there nowadays? I saw a few in Oslo --and
> still too many.

The on-street perceived prevalence is dramatically increasing. But the
statistics say some other picture. Some low single digit percentage I do
not have at hand right now.

Tadej
--
"Frauen sind als Gesprächspartner nun einmal interessanter,
weil das Gespräch nicht beendet ist, wenn nichts sinnvolles mehr zu
sagen ist."
<David Kastrup in d.t.r>

Amy Blankenship

"Tadej Brezina" <tadej_usenet@gmx.at> wrote in message
news:484f75af$0$12126$3b214f66@tunews.univie.ac.at...
> ComandanteBanana schrieb:
>> On Jun 10, 8:52 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
>>> George Conklin schrieb:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> "Tim McNamara" <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:timmcn-C116B6.23492309062008@news.iphouse.com...
>>>>> In article <n6WdnXRM2u2_DdDVnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@earthlink.com>,
>>>>> "George Conklin" <n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>>>> "ComandanteBanana" <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:4645c510-69ea-4097-93ef-68d02ec25dde@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com
>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>> We need to be aware of things that must happen in the psychological
>>>>>>> and physical world, namely "small is better" and traditional
>>>>>>> neighborhoods, aka "New Urbanism" or European style cities.
>>>>>> Only a small percentage of Europeans live in what you like to call
>>>>>> "European style" cities.
>>>>> What he's talking about used to be called "suburbs." Still are, for
>>>>> that matter.
>>>> The book "Sprawl: A Compact History" makes the point that most
>>>> residents
>>>> of Paris actually live in houses which we would call suburban (and he
>>>> shows
>>>> pictures), but tourists only see the older parts of the city. The
>>>> summer I
>>>> lived with a family near Paris showed that the houses had small lots,
>>>> but in
>>>> fact were not what is usually called the "typical" old-fashioned
>>>> European
>>>> city. The traffic jams in Paris attest to that too.
>>> It is true that the one family house is common and popular, especially
>>> in Germany, or in some regions of my native Austria (uppe raustria being
>>> very strongly, rurally sprawled. But how much does the example of
>>> continental Europe's biggest city of Paris cater for the whole system?
>>>
>>> True, Europe isn't perfect either.
>>
>> One reason may be that you watch too much American TV. European elites
>> must get hints from the "happy life" in the American suburb along with
>> the SUV to impress the neighbors...
>
> True, the afternoon and evening-programs are full of low quality US TV
> shows. Often subliminally glorifying American lifestyle and anchoring it
> with the positive emotions of us being the allged land of the free,
> beautiful, happy, etc.
>
> Ad impress the neighbours.
> I was always curious, regarding those MC-Mansion-Subdivisions, how do you
> materially - if your' in desperate need to do so - impress the neighbour
> with the same just in blue?

I think it's more "Look how homogenous we are, especially compared to THOSE
people. Keep up the good work! You too!"

ComandanteBanana

On Jun 11, 2:49*am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
> ComandanteBanana schrieb:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 10, 8:52 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
> >> George Conklin schrieb:
>
> >>> "Tim McNamara" <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
> >>>news:timmcn-C116B6.23492309062008@news.iphouse.com...
> >>>> In article <n6WdnXRM2u2_DdDVnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@earthlink.com>,
> >>>> *"George Conklin" <n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >>>>> "ComandanteBanana" <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> >>>>>news:4645c510-69ea-4097-93ef-68d02ec25dde@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com
> >>>>> ...
> >>>>>> We need to be aware of things that must happen in the psychological
> >>>>>> and physical world, namely "small is better" and traditional
> >>>>>> neighborhoods, aka "New Urbanism" or European style cities.
> >>>>> *Only a small percentage of Europeans live in what you like to call
> >>>>> "European style" cities.
> >>>> What he's talking about used to be called "suburbs." *Still are, for
> >>>> that matter.
> >>> * *The book "Sprawl: A Compact History" makes the point that most residents
> >>> of Paris actually live in houses which we would call suburban (and he shows
> >>> pictures), but tourists only see the older parts of the city. *The summer I
> >>> lived with a family near Paris showed that the houses had small lots, but in
> >>> fact were not what is usually called the "typical" old-fashioned European
> >>> city. *The traffic jams in Paris attest to that too.
> >> It is true that the one family house is common and popular, especially
> >> in Germany, or in some regions of my native Austria (uppe raustria being
> >> very strongly, rurally sprawled. But how much does the example of
> >> continental Europe's biggest city of Paris cater for the whole system?
>
> >> True, Europe isn't perfect either.
>
> > One reason may be that you watch too much American TV. European elites
> > must get hints from the "happy life" in the American suburb along with
> > the SUV to impress the neighbors...
>
> True, the afternoon and evening-programs are full of low quality US TV
> shows. Often subliminally glorifying American lifestyle and anchoring it
> with the positive emotions of us being the allged land of the free,
> beautiful, happy, etc.

I'm all for labeling cigarettes and American TV shows with the same
message: "THIS IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND OTHERS, STUPID!"

>
> Ad impress the neighbours.
> I was always curious, regarding those MC-Mansion-Subdivisions, how do
> you materially - if your' in desperate need to do so - impress the
> neighbour with the same just in blue?

Well, it's not only the color, it's also the rims, which can sometimes
can be quite flashy --and expensive...

http://www.fastcoolcars.com/images/...chrome-rims.jpg

The thing is that you must stand out, even if you look cheap.

>
> > How prevalent are the SUVs there nowadays? I saw a few in Oslo --and
> > still too many.
>
> The on-street perceived prevalence is dramatically increasing. But the
> statistics say some other picture. Some low single digit percentage I do
> not have at hand right now.

So long as they remain under .001% of vehicles, they shouldn't be a
problem.

Tell me, how prevalent are the GATED COMMUNITIES, which I consider
another byproduct of Banana Republic (together with the SUVs). Quite
common in place like Costa Rica, and even South Florida, but out of
place in W. Europe, I hope. This is important since there are
proposals like these in the website above...

"The proposed germanization of South Florida is seen by many in the
region as the only way to guarantee some form of solidity and peace."

ComandanteBanana

Originally Posted by crhilton
"I think the trouble is that we're just too obsessed with our homes.
Your house is the American dream, and the American dream is the
brainwashing every child grows up with. Sometimes it's expanded to
cars and the consumption of meat, but it's mostly about the house."

You're right. The Big House is a Big Problem. And everything big is a
big problem.

And bicycles are a big part of the solution...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The revolution starts when you ride a bike. You think of it as a
kinder, gentler vehicle that will help keep Peace as well as save the
Environment, and make you Sexy."

http://webspawner.com/users/bananarevolution

Tadej Brezina

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
> On Jun 11, 2:49 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
>> ComandanteBanana schrieb:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Jun 10, 8:52 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
>>>> George Conklin schrieb:
>>>>> "Tim McNamara" <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:timmcn-C116B6.23492309062008@news.iphouse.com...
>>>>>> In article <n6WdnXRM2u2_DdDVnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@earthlink.com>,
>>>>>> "George Conklin" <n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>>>>> "ComandanteBanana" <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:4645c510-69ea-4097-93ef-68d02ec25dde@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com
>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> We need to be aware of things that must happen in the psychological
>>>>>>>> and physical world, namely "small is better" and traditional
>>>>>>>> neighborhoods, aka "New Urbanism" or European style cities.
>>>>>>> Only a small percentage of Europeans live in what you like to call
>>>>>>> "European style" cities.
>>>>>> What he's talking about used to be called "suburbs." Still are, for
>>>>>> that matter.
>>>>> The book "Sprawl: A Compact History" makes the point that most residents
>>>>> of Paris actually live in houses which we would call suburban (and he shows
>>>>> pictures), but tourists only see the older parts of the city. The summer I
>>>>> lived with a family near Paris showed that the houses had small lots, but in
>>>>> fact were not what is usually called the "typical" old-fashioned European
>>>>> city. The traffic jams in Paris attest to that too.
>>>> It is true that the one family house is common and popular, especially
>>>> in Germany, or in some regions of my native Austria (uppe raustria being
>>>> very strongly, rurally sprawled. But how much does the example of
>>>> continental Europe's biggest city of Paris cater for the whole system?
>>>> True, Europe isn't perfect either.
>>> One reason may be that you watch too much American TV. European elites
>>> must get hints from the "happy life" in the American suburb along with
>>> the SUV to impress the neighbors...
>> True, the afternoon and evening-programs are full of low quality US TV
>> shows. Often subliminally glorifying American lifestyle and anchoring it
>> with the positive emotions of us being the allged land of the free,
>> beautiful, happy, etc.
>
> I'm all for labeling cigarettes and American TV shows with the same
> message: "THIS IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND OTHERS, STUPID!"
>
>> Ad impress the neighbours.
>> I was always curious, regarding those MC-Mansion-Subdivisions, how do
>> you materially - if your' in desperate need to do so - impress the
>> neighbour with the same just in blue?
>
> Well, it's not only the color, it's also the rims, which can sometimes
> can be quite flashy --and expensive...
>
> http://www.fastcoolcars.com/images/...chrome-rims.jpg
>
> The thing is that you must stand out, even if you look cheap.
>
>>> How prevalent are the SUVs there nowadays? I saw a few in Oslo --and
>>> still too many.
>> The on-street perceived prevalence is dramatically increasing. But the
>> statistics say some other picture. Some low single digit percentage I do
>> not have at hand right now.
>
> So long as they remain under .001% of vehicles, they shouldn't be a
> problem.
>
> Tell me, how prevalent are the GATED COMMUNITIES, which I consider
> another byproduct of Banana Republic (together with the SUVs). Quite
> common in place like Costa Rica, and even South Florida, but out of
> place in W. Europe, I hope. This is important since there are
> proposals like these in the website above...

The only gated community in Austria I know of, are the streets, where
the Israeli and US Embassies are located. :-)
In our cities and towns the well off live quite normal within the city
fabric. There are of course better precincts, but everybody can walk,
drive, ride, stroll everywhere.
No urgent need to fence oneself off, as the social discrepancies aren't
that extreme.

Tadej
--
"Frauen sind als Gesprächspartner nun einmal interessanter,
weil das Gespräch nicht beendet ist, wenn nichts sinnvolles mehr zu
sagen ist."
<David Kastrup in d.t.r>

ComandanteBanana

On Jun 11, 2:27*pm, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
> ComandanteBanana schrieb:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 11, 2:49 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
> >> ComandanteBanana schrieb:
>
> >>> On Jun 10, 8:52 am, Tadej Brezina <tadej_use...@gmx.at> wrote:
> >>>> George Conklin schrieb:
> >>>>> "Tim McNamara" <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
> >>>>>news:timmcn-C116B6.23492309062008@news.iphouse.com...
> >>>>>> In article <n6WdnXRM2u2_DdDVnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@earthlink.com>,
> >>>>>> *"George Conklin" <n...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >>>>>>> "ComandanteBanana" <nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> >>>>>>>news:4645c510-69ea-4097-93ef-68d02ec25dde@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com
> >>>>>>> ...
> >>>>>>>> We need to be aware of things that must happen in the psychological
> >>>>>>>> and physical world, namely "small is better" and traditional
> >>>>>>>> neighborhoods, aka "New Urbanism" or European style cities.
> >>>>>>> *Only a small percentage of Europeans live in what you like to call
> >>>>>>> "European style" cities.
> >>>>>> What he's talking about used to be called "suburbs." *Still are, for
> >>>>>> that matter.
> >>>>> * *The book "Sprawl: A Compact History" makes the point that most residents
> >>>>> of Paris actually live in houses which we would call suburban (and he shows
> >>>>> pictures), but tourists only see the older parts of the city. *Thesummer I
> >>>>> lived with a family near Paris showed that the houses had small lots, but in
> >>>>> fact were not what is usually called the "typical" old-fashioned European
> >>>>> city. *The traffic jams in Paris attest to that too.
> >>>> It is true that the one family house is common and popular, especially
> >>>> in Germany, or in some regions of my native Austria (uppe raustria being
> >>>> very strongly, rurally sprawled. But how much does the example of
> >>>> continental Europe's biggest city of Paris cater for the whole system?
> >>>> True, Europe isn't perfect either.
> >>> One reason may be that you watch too much American TV. European elites
> >>> must get hints from the "happy life" in the American suburb along with
> >>> the SUV to impress the neighbors...
> >> True, the afternoon and evening-programs are full of low quality US TV
> >> shows. Often subliminally glorifying American lifestyle and anchoring it
> >> with the positive emotions of us being the allged land of the free,
> >> beautiful, happy, etc.
>
> > I'm all for labeling cigarettes and American TV shows with the same
> > message: "THIS IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND OTHERS, STUPID!"
>
> >> Ad impress the neighbours.
> >> I was always curious, regarding those MC-Mansion-Subdivisions, how do
> >> you materially - if your' in desperate need to do so - impress the
> >> neighbour with the same just in blue?
>
> > Well, it's not only the color, it's also the rims, which can sometimes
> > can be quite flashy --and expensive...
>
> >http://www.fastcoolcars.com/images/...chrome-rims.jpg
>
> > The thing is that you must stand out, even if you look cheap.
>
> >>> How prevalent are the SUVs there nowadays? I saw a few in Oslo --and
> >>> still too many.
> >> The on-street perceived prevalence is dramatically increasing. But the
> >> statistics say some other picture. Some low single digit percentage I do
> >> not have at hand right now.
>
> > So long as they remain under .001% of vehicles, they shouldn't be a
> > problem.
>
> > Tell me, how prevalent are the GATED COMMUNITIES, which I consider
> > another byproduct of Banana Republic (together with the SUVs). Quite
> > common in place like Costa Rica, and even South Florida, but out of
> > place in W. Europe, I hope. This is important since there are
> > proposals like these in the website above...
>
> The only gated community in Austria I know of, are the streets, where
> the Israeli and US Embassies are located. :-)

It seems that only those that have something to fear get behind
gates...

> In our cities and towns the well off live quite normal within the city
> fabric. There are of course better precincts, but everybody can walk,
> drive, ride, stroll everywhere.
> No urgent need to fence oneself off, as the social discrepancies aren't
> that extreme.

In other places the lions are separated from the monkeys. They should
instead tame the jungle, no?

ComandanteBanana

(These guys are pushing me to ride a bike to lead the revolution. Is
it fair?)

Originally Posted by noisebeam
"If you really don't like pollution and don't like cars, why don't you
just get up 10min earlier - be part of the solution you ask for.
Perhaps you are out kayaking too late at night."

....

I can understand the criticism of the last two posts (do what you
preach), but let me remind you that I'm not willing to die just as a
dog.

If I die riding a bike, it will be for a cause (the revolution),
wearing T-shirts that will make us part of an organized effort.

Hey, no profits. Just for the revolution.

***

Originally Posted by SSP
'No offense, but...what crap!

Real "revolutionaries" risked "their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor" to found this country.

Someone who sells anti-oil T-shirts, but is afraid to ride on the
streets, hardly qualifies as a "revolutionary".


It's as if George Washington didn't cross the Potomac in the dead of
winter, but instead sold silly signs criticizing the British.
Sheesh....'

....

Wrong metaphor: NO GENERAL WOULD LAUNCH A REVOLUTION WITHOUT AN
ARMY!!!

You'd need at least a troop of monkeys!

By the way, monkeys are smarter than dogs.

ComandanteBanana

(Here I re-take the subject of God and bikes. I hope I don't make you
think too much!)

IS GOD BIG OR SMALL?

It's not a trivial question since a Big God would favor the Christians
who favor Big Houses, Big SUVs and Big Business...

A Small God though would favor compact, environmentally friendly
houses, and everything that's small and smart. So I leave you to
ponder about the nature of God, and why he created such an incredibly
big Universe to house such small creatures as the humans...

Those who can't figure it out are probably Atheists.

Originally Posted by crhilton
"I think the trouble is that we're just too obsessed with our homes.
Your house is the American dream, and the American dream is the
brainwashing every child grows up with. Sometimes it's expanded to
cars and the consumption of meat, but it's mostly about the house."

You're right. The Big House is a Big Problem. And everything big is a
big problem.

And bicycles are a big part of the solution...

IN OTHER WORDS, GOD IS TOO DAMN BIG AND IT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM TOO!

Tim McNamara

It's too bad than Bananaman has confused being anti-car with being
pro-bike.

ComandanteBanana

On Jun 11, 6:27*pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
> It's too bad than Bananaman has confused being anti-car with being
> pro-bike.

I'm for anything small: EVs, scooters, bikes and roller blades.

In other words, anything alternative and smart.

ComandanteBanana

(You may say, "What the hell bikes have to do with God?" But if God
doesn't know left from right, it means that we have to find our own
way in the Universe --and roads)

On Jun 12, 8:18 am, Leon Hoeneveld <leonh...@antispam.zonnet.nl>
wrote:
> ComandanteBanana schreef:

>
> God is expanding. Because the universe is expanding, and if God would
> not expand he would relativeley get smaller, which cannot be.
>
> So if you imagine a man, he is getting fatter and fatter.
>
> Also there is a question if God has clothes.
>
> If so: Does he have something to hide?
> If not: What a pervert!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

You are leading to very deep questions here...

Also, does God knows left from right, and right from wrong?

Notice that in the Universe there are no such dimensions as left and
right, or up and down, so God may not even know right from wrong!!!