Critical Mass planning to disrupt the Republican Convention



E

Elwood Blues

Guest
This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
purpose.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...0,2487081.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines

They will claim the war was all for oil and offer plenty of anti-Bush
invective - all while balancing on two wheels.

Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of demonstrators plan to
swarm the city during the Republican National Convention, blocking streets
and flouting traffic laws as they spin through midtown.

"We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said Ludmila Svoboda, 32, an
East Village nurse who will be among the mobile provocateurs. "The ride has
a life of its own."

This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National Convention" from Aug.
20-28, with subsequent rides during the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through Sept.
2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is growing at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said Brandon Neubauer,
26, an East Village cinematographer who is lead organizer of Time's UP!, an
environmental group organizing the bike protests.

The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and doesn't plan to, he
said.

One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in August, more than
1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square to the South Bronx in a monthly
ride called "Critical Mass."

They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on a motley
collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged with oversized handlebars
and audio speakers. Suddenly, a stream of bicycles gushed onto Park Avenue -
the riders ignoring changing traffic lights and cheering sporadic horn
blasts.

Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.

"It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker Toto Ramos when
told about the ride as he idled at the corner of Park Avenue near 16th
Street.

Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.

"They have to get some police around them to make the road easy," he said.

In fact, there were no police officers in sight. Organizers say the police
once helped guide traffic, but stopped about two years ago.

"[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's the fastest,
easiest way to deal with it," said Noah Budnick, project coordinator for
Transportation Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used to
sponsor rides a decade ago.

The Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The city
Department of Transportation referred calls to the Police Department.

There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine soapbox, protesters
say.

Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an environmental message
without a placard. Riders also acknowledge the tactical advantage of two
wheels during confrontations with cops.

Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who studies how
police respond to demonstrations, said, "There's a greater possibility of a
certain cat-and-mouse with the police."
 
Heh. They'll turn the RNC into a Critical Mess. It's pretty hard to catch
cyclists violating traffic laws with limited police deployment. They move
very quickly, and can go almost anywhere.

It's about time for pro-American pro-freedom protesters gave the Liar in
Chief and his criminal cronies the finger. Just say "No" to Republican
crimes.

@


"Elwood Blues" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
> purpose.
>
>

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...0,2487081.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines
>
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer plenty of anti-Bush
> invective - all while balancing on two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of demonstrators plan to
> swarm the city during the Republican National Convention, blocking streets
> and flouting traffic laws as they spin through midtown.
>
> "We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said Ludmila Svoboda, 32,

an
> East Village nurse who will be among the mobile provocateurs. "The ride

has
> a life of its own."
>
> This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National Convention" from Aug.
> 20-28, with subsequent rides during the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through

Sept.
> 2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is growing at the
> Brooklyn Navy Yard.
>
> The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said Brandon Neubauer,
> 26, an East Village cinematographer who is lead organizer of Time's UP!,

an
> environmental group organizing the bike protests.
>
> The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and doesn't plan to,

he
> said.
>
> One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in August, more

than
> 1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square to the South Bronx in a monthly
> ride called "Critical Mass."
>
> They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on a motley
> collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged with oversized handlebars
> and audio speakers. Suddenly, a stream of bicycles gushed onto Park

Avenue -
> the riders ignoring changing traffic lights and cheering sporadic horn
> blasts.
>
> Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.
>
> "It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker Toto Ramos when
> told about the ride as he idled at the corner of Park Avenue near 16th
> Street.
>
> Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.
>
> "They have to get some police around them to make the road easy," he said.
>
> In fact, there were no police officers in sight. Organizers say the police
> once helped guide traffic, but stopped about two years ago.
>
> "[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's the fastest,
> easiest way to deal with it," said Noah Budnick, project coordinator for
> Transportation Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used to
> sponsor rides a decade ago.
>
> The Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The city
> Department of Transportation referred calls to the Police Department.
>
> There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine soapbox,

protesters
> say.
>
> Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an environmental message
> without a placard. Riders also acknowledge the tactical advantage of two
> wheels during confrontations with cops.
>
> Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who studies how
> police respond to demonstrations, said, "There's a greater possibility of

a
> certain cat-and-mouse with the police."
>
>
 
"@" <@@@.com> wrote in message news:VazHc.57693$Oq2.45727@attbi_s52...
> Heh. They'll turn the RNC into a Critical Mess. It's pretty hard to

catch
> cyclists violating traffic laws with limited police deployment. They move
> very quickly, and can go almost anywhere.
>
> It's about time for pro-American pro-freedom protesters gave the Liar in
> Chief and his criminal cronies the finger. Just say "No" to Republican
> crimes.
>



Why don't they just register and vote the bad guys out?


--
When I was in politics, we would never
dream of telling a lie in order to gain an
advantage over our opponent. Now,
just look at those lying rascals. <G>

Brooks Gregory
 
On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:05:26 -0400, "ZenIsWhen" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"Elwood Blues" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
>> purpose.

>
>As opposed to insanely corrupt George Bush - a disgrace to humanity?
>


How come drunk drivers don't give cars a bad name? <bfg>

-B
 
On 2004-07-09, Badger_South <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:05:26 -0400, "ZenIsWhen" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Elwood Blues" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
>>> purpose.

>>
>>As opposed to insanely corrupt George Bush - a disgrace to humanity?
>>

>
> How come drunk drivers don't give cars a bad name? <bfg>


Good point. Shouldn't ALL drivers be ashamed of themselves because of
drunk drivers? Critical massers don't mame and kill people last time I
checked.

Preston
 
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer plenty of anti-Bush
> invective - all while balancing on two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of demonstrators plan to
> swarm the city during the Republican National Convention, blocking streets
> and flouting traffic laws as they spin through midtown.
>


If they want to protest, fine -- but protesting as bicyclists is a lousy
idea. That is, unless, of course, they want to assure that any future
Republican administration (including, let's face it, GW's possible second
term) goes out of its way to stick it to the interests of cyclists.

You can advocate for cycling and also protest the war in Iraq without doing
both at the same time. Sheesh.
 
They tried that in Florida in 2000---it doesn't work that way...
>
>
> Why don't they just register and vote the bad guys out?
>
>
> --
> When I was in politics, we would never
> dream of telling a lie in order to gain an
> advantage over our opponent. Now,
> just look at those lying rascals. <G>
>
> Brooks Gregory
>
>
 
Elwood Blues wrote:
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
> purpose.
>
>

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...0,2487081.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines
>

As a right winger myself, I think the R's deserve any punishment they get
for being so damn stupid as to plan their convention in NYC. It'd be as
stupid as the D's planning theirs in Selma, AL. I mean people this just plan
dumb deserve the worst that man and nature can dish out to them.

I only wish I was near NYC so I could get on my bike and join the protest.
Not that I agree with the protesters, but just to add to the punishment as
sort of a Darwinian punctuation point.

-paul
 
"Elwood Blues" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic laws on
> purpose.
>
>

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...0,2487081.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines
>
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer plenty of anti-Bush
> invective - all while balancing on two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of demonstrators plan to
> swarm the city during the Republican National Convention, blocking streets
> and flouting traffic laws as they spin through midtown.
>
> "We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said Ludmila Svoboda, 32,

an
> East Village nurse who will be among the mobile provocateurs. "The ride

has
> a life of its own."
>
> This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National Convention" from Aug.
> 20-28, with subsequent rides during the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through

Sept.
> 2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is growing at the
> Brooklyn Navy Yard.
>
> The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said Brandon Neubauer,
> 26, an East Village cinematographer who is lead organizer of Time's UP!,

an
> environmental group organizing the bike protests.
>
> The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and doesn't plan to,

he
> said.
>
> One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in August, more

than
> 1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square to the South Bronx in a monthly
> ride called "Critical Mass."
>
> They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on a motley
> collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged with oversized handlebars
> and audio speakers. Suddenly, a stream of bicycles gushed onto Park

Avenue -
> the riders ignoring changing traffic lights and cheering sporadic horn
> blasts.
>
> Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.
>
> "It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker Toto Ramos when
> told about the ride as he idled at the corner of Park Avenue near 16th
> Street.
>
> Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.
>
> "They have to get some police around them to make the road easy," he said.
>
> In fact, there were no police officers in sight. Organizers say the police
> once helped guide traffic, but stopped about two years ago.
>
> "[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's the fastest,
> easiest way to deal with it," said Noah Budnick, project coordinator for
> Transportation Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used to
> sponsor rides a decade ago.
>
> The Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The city
> Department of Transportation referred calls to the Police Department.
>
> There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine soapbox,

protesters
> say.
>
> Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an environmental message
> without a placard. Riders also acknowledge the tactical advantage of two
> wheels during confrontations with cops.
>
> Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who studies how
> police respond to demonstrations, said, "There's a greater possibility of

a
> certain cat-and-mouse with the police."
>
>


Have you noticed the advocators and supporters of this thread are not
regular posters to this NG, could it be some kind of organized BS ??
 
in reply to the question by [email protected] who asked:

>> Why don't they just register and vote the bad guys out?


"ie" [email protected]

wrote in part:

>They tried that in Florida in 2000---it doesn't work that way...



Yeah, it really stinks when you can't persuade enough voters to vote the way
you want them to vote. <g>
BTW, you should learn to quote and stop top posting. It would make reading and
responding to your posts much easier.

Regards,
Bob Hunt
 
>"di" [email protected]

wrote:

>Have you noticed the advocators and supporters of this thread are not
>regular posters to this NG, could it be some kind of organized BS ?


Organized? No. BS? Yes.
 
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.


Oh dear Lord, what a *terrible* disgrace!

> They will claim the war was all for oil


No! Say it ain't so!

Please just get a grip, Elwood, you dork.

--
Robots don't kill people -- people kill people.
http://www.irobotmovie.com/
 
"Paul Cassel" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I only wish I was near NYC so I could get on my bike and join the protest.
>Not that I agree with the protesters, but just to add to the punishment as
>sort of a Darwinian punctuation point.


Just a thought - if you want lawmakers to have evil thoughts every
time a piece of legislation that would help cyclists comes across
their desks, this would be a great way to do it (no matter which
party's convention you're disrupting).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame
 
On 10 Jul 2004 02:53:15 GMT, [email protected] (Hunrobe) wrote:

>Yeah, it really stinks when you can't persuade enough voters to vote the way
>you want them to vote. <g>


Yeah, it really stinks when thousands of voters from heavily minority
and democratic districts are suddenly, magically, and without cause,
un-registered and not allowed to vote by the republican candidate's
brother's administration. <g>

Cheers,
Steve
 
>Steve-o [email protected]

wrote:

>Yeah, it really stinks when thousands of voters from heavily minority
>and democratic districts are suddenly, magically, and without cause,
>un-registered and not allowed to vote by the republican candidate's
>brother's administration. <g>


And what stinks even worse is when such baseless canards are repeated as if
they were fact despite a year long investigation and complete vote recount by a
consortium of news agencies concluded:
1) there's little if any proof of allegations of widespread vote fraud,
2) that any vote fraud that did occur happened on *both* sides of the campaign
and likely had no effect on the outcome and,
3) that the candidate that was eventually declared the winner actually *did*
win.

But enough politics- does the Discovery Channel's team sponsorship deal
*require* Armstrong to ride past this season? I know he's announced that he'll
ride in 2005 but is his individual contract part of the three year sponsorship
deal?

Regards,
Bob Hunt
 
"Hunrobe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >Steve-o [email protected]

>
> wrote:
>
> >Yeah, it really stinks when thousands of voters from heavily minority
> >and democratic districts are suddenly, magically, and without cause,
> >un-registered and not allowed to vote by the republican candidate's
> >brother's administration. <g>

>
> And what stinks even worse is when such baseless canards are repeated as

if
> they were fact despite a year long investigation and complete vote recount

by a
> consortium of news agencies concluded:
> 1) there's little if any proof of allegations of widespread vote fraud,

Strike One!
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=122&row=2

> 2) that any vote fraud that did occur happened on *both* sides of the

campaign
> and likely had no effect on the outcome and,

Strike TWO!
> 3) that the candidate that was eventually declared the winner actually

*did*
> win.

Ssssstttteeeeeeerrrrrrrrkkkkkeeeee THREE! You're out...or at least Bush
will be come November

>
> But enough politics- does the Discovery Channel's team sponsorship deal
> *require* Armstrong to ride past this season? I know he's announced that

he'll
> ride in 2005 but is his individual contract part of the three year

sponsorship
> deal?
>
> Regards,
> Bob Hunt
>
>
>
 
On 11 Jul 2004 01:57:31 GMT, [email protected] (Hunrobe) wrote:

>And what stinks even worse is when such baseless canards are repeated as if
>they were fact despite a year long investigation and complete vote recount by a
>consortium of news agencies concluded:


Le canard, non. Baseless, no.


>1) there's little if any proof of allegations of widespread vote fraud,


U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:
• At least one unauthorized law enforcement checkpoint was set up
resulting in an investigation by state authorities.
• Non-felons were removed from voter checklists based on unreliable
information in connection with state-sponsored felony purge policies.
• Old and defective election equipment was found in poor precincts.
• Many Haitian-Americans and Puerto Rican voters were not provided
language assistance when it was requested.
• Many African-Americans did not cast ballots because they were
assigned to polling sites that did not have the resources to confirm
eligibility status.
• Voter registration applications were not processed in a timely
manner under the National Voter Registration Act.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/09/florida.election/
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/06/08/florida.vote/


>2) that any vote fraud that did occur happened on *both* sides of the campaign
>and likely had no effect on the outcome and,


Gore didn't have his Florida campaign chairperson in charge of the
voting, nor his brother running the state.

For perspective:

The former head of a country's secret police has a son, and the son
becomes president of that country -- despite losing the popular vote
-- based on suspect, hotly-contested, and unresolved results from a
state run by his brother.

If the US media reported a story like that from any other country in
the world, we'd be up in arms about the injustice of it all, and we'd
be all self-righteous'n'stuff and blabbering about how that would
never happen here 'cuz this is the greatest goddamn country in the
world and if you don't like it you can jus' go somewhere else you
unpatriotic *******. Like that. We'd likely even invade them to
enforce our peculiar version of democracy, if they had oil.

That won't happen though, because US media doesn't report news from
anywhere else unless Americans are getting killed or taken hostage.
(Quick -- who won the election in Canada on June 28th?) But that's
another non-bicycle-related thread.


>3) that the candidate that was eventually declared the winner actually *did*
>win.


He was effectively appointed to the presidency by the US Supreme Court
by default when it suspended the counting of the votes ordered by the
Florida Supreme Court. :)

Cheers,
Steve

p.s. I like bikes
 
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...0,2487081.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines

=v= Sigh. So many inaccuracies, so little time. Lemme
interject a few facts here.

=v= Contrary to the Subject: header, Critical Mass isn't
"planning" anything. Critical Mass is not an organization that
makes plans, it's an event and a movement. Probably the most
accurate quote in that article is, "The ride has a life of its
own." Exactly. Critical Mass is traffic and behaves as such.

=v= Critical Mass in NYC takes place on the last Friday of the
month, as it does in many locations. (A new Brooklyn CM takes
place on the second Friday of the month.) This happens to be
shortly before the RNC. CM in NYC will go on as scheduled,
quite independently of the RNC, but of course there will be
many on bikes (as well as on foot and in subways) who'll have
something to say about the Republicans coming to town to further
exploit the 9/11 tragedy.

=v= There is an organization involved, but it's not "Critical
Mass," it's TIME'S UP! Details here:

http://www.times-up.org/

TIME'S UP! is an environmental group that organizes a number
of rides for self-propelled people. They help quit a bit with
Critical Mass, and every three months or so will come up with
a destination for an after-party or some other event.

=v= TIME'S UP! is organizing something called the Bike National
Convention, a number of events planned as a positive alternative
to the RNC -- including a presence at Critical Mass. See the
above website for details.

=v= There will be demonstrations on bicycles during the RNC.
These are called "Bike Blocs" in New York City. They are not
"Critical Mass," but they do share something with CM: they
are bicyclists taking their rightful place on the street,
and thus do not need permits -- any more than, say, cars with
political bumper stickers.

=v= _Newsday_ talked to some folks in TIME'S UP! and ignored the
vast majority of what those folks said. Context, nuance, and
indeed, most adjectives, were absent from the article. I hope
that some of what I've written here provides the context that
the article lacks.
<_Jym_>

P.S.: _High_Times_ just published a more accurate article about
the BNC and RNC demonstrations. Imagine _High_Times_ being a
better news source than _Newsday_!
 
> Have you noticed the advocators and supporters of this thread
> are not regular posters to this NG, could it be some kind of
> organized BS ??


=v= I'm not sure whom you're referring to. Explain?
<_Jym_>