America is often referred to as “the land of opportunity.” The question I have is, what kind of opportunity? Here’s a stat to think about:
The percent of the world’s population living in the U.S.: 5%
The percent of prisoners in the world held in U.S. prisons: 25%
Jump to your own conclusions.
Each year since moving to NYC we had talked about catching a bit of the U.S. Open and this year it finally happened. Tennis is a funny sport because if you want tickets in advance, you are buying them with no idea of who will actually be playing. The seeds are announced about a week prior to the tournament and it is recommended that you purchase tickets a few months in advance.
The main goal was for us to catch Roger Federer in action. Ariel seems to like, um, his tennis I guess. In June I bought tickets to a day session and a night session thinking that we would get a chance to catch Rog. Our first night in action we did see a number 1 seed, but it was Justine Henin. I knew it was my night because both players were wearing orange.
So we struck out the first night with Roger. The next day was a day session and our tickets were not for the main court. On the way in we found out Federer would be playing that night so I inquired about night tickets. Luck was in our favor and we were able to secure a couple of tickets.
The seats were better than the first night and when Federer marched out they played the Imperial March from Star Wars. You know, the music that plays whenever Darth Vader is on screen. On the news commentators later said the music matched Federer because he is merciless and mechanical in the way he dispatches opponents. This night was no different and he won in straight sets.
All in all we had a good time but in all honesty, I think once is enough to catch the feel of the event. As long as Federer is playing, Ariel might think differently.
Shiver me timbers! It’s National Talk like a Pirate Day. Ahoy all you lily-livered land lovers, give a hearty yo-ho-ho to a stranger or friend to celebrate.
This from The Chronicle of Higher Education:
The United States boasts one of the most highly educated populations in the world, but other countries are overtaking it by turning out young college graduates at a faster rate, especially in the sciences, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
The annual report, “Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators,” presents comprehensive data on the education systems in the Paris-based organization’s 30 member democracies, and is scheduled to be released today.
Hmmm, I wonder if some of the money being spent in Iraq might be better used to educate our citizens so they are able to make logical decisions based on facts and foresight.
A few months ago Mayor Bloomberg announced PLANNYC 2030. As stated on the main web page, “The combined impact of this plan will not only ensure a higher quality of life for generations of New Yorkers to come; it will also contribute to a 30% reduction in global warming emissions.”
One of the goals is:
So how is our Mayor doing? Well, he just put his support behind a bill that will limit the number of pedicabs in NYC to 325. This represents about 1/3 of the total estimated pedicabs in operation right now. How many taxis are there in NYC? 13,000. Crunch the numbers and when you compare pedicab licenses to taxi licenses you get a whopping .025%.
An article from the NYT states, “The vehicles [pedicabs] have become popular as an unconventional way to get around Midtown, but cabbies, bus drivers and police officers have often complained that the vehicles clog the streets.”
Um, clogging the streets? Anyone care to visit 9th Ave. between 59th street and the Lincoln Tunnel during rush hour? What you will find is a parking lot. Emergency vehicles are constantly stuck in traffic and it is not pedicabs that are causing the problem. Mr. Mayor, how about first sticking to the goal of promoting cycling, and second, why don’t you propose a separate lane on major avenues just for emergency vehicles and buses? And while I am at it, help raise money by ticketing vehicles that park in bike lanes.
Grade as of now on point #9: D.
Streetsblog is one of new favorite sites. It’s ironic because most of the news seems to infuriate or depress me, but I can’t stay away. The latest news tidbit I ran into dealt a harsh blow to any confidence I have in our constitutional republic. The rhetoric used by some of our elected officials just downright depresses me.
The news relates to debate over the energy conservation bill that was recently passed in the House of Representatives. The bill gained the disdain of one Patrick McHenry from North Carolina. No text can do his remarks justice, you just have to watch the video. It’s two minutes long, and painful to watch, but please do so by clicking here here. If you have to read, you can do so here.
I am not surprised by dude’s opinion and he is certainly entitled to it, what I am surprised at is that he goes on his little tirade over the expenditure of $1 million dollars to promote a healthy and clean form of transportation – the bicycle. Now while a million bucks is nothing to sneeze at, it is an infinitesimal amount of our federal budget. The bill he is debating over alone came to a grand total of $6.58 billion. 1 million bucks for bikes is 0.015% of that amount. He wants to get all hot and bothered about 1 million dollars in tax credits for those who ride bikes?
Could it be that he was grandstanding, not saying anything productive, acting funny to no one but himself, not contributing to debate about the future of our planet but rather spewing unproductive and misdirected rhetoric? You mention clean coal plans in juxtaposition to the bicycle as a form of transit. What does clean coal have to do with transportation Mr. McHenry? Are you proposing we all drive clean coal fired cars? The more you speak, the less sense you make.
His web site is set up only to take comments from those living in his district, but since he is speaking about a national issue, I am going to jump to the conclusion that his national remarks merit a national response. Therefore I am encouraging you all to email Mr. McHenry if you feel his rhetoric is out of place. When you visit his web site you need to enter an appropriate zip code. I looked up an appropriate zip code and here it is: 28680-0798. So, if you feel rhetoric needs to end and productive comments should be encouraged, click here and make your opinion known to him
For the Streetsblog entry click here here.
You are watching the U.S. Open and your knees start to hurt just watching the ball boys and girls run around collecting the balls.
Brendon sent me a link a few weeks ago that appalled me, but did not surprise me at all. The Secretary of Transportation for the U.S. of A, Mary Peters, claims that bikes are not a form of transportation. When talking about funding transportation related projects our Secretary of Greenhouse Gas Transportation stated:
Well, there’s about probably some 10 percent to 20 percent of the current spending that is going to projects that really are not transportation, directly transportation-related. Some of that money is being spent on things, as I said earlier, like bike paths or trails.
Ms. Peters must have overlooked useless information like the fact that approximately 110,000 people in New York City ride their bikes to work everyday. I also spent some time this summer with a guy who lives in North Carolina. A year ago he sold his Subaru and bought a bike as his only means of transit. He has a 30 mile commute each day. Ms. Peters, how would you define his bicycle?
I can’t decide whether it is worth the time to look for her address and mail Ms. Greenhouse Gas a letter. It might make me feel good to do so, but with a bias such as the one she possesses, I am sure it would fall on deaf ears.
For more information, visit Streetsblog.
Part of my job is playing the role of travel agent. Most of my travel is domestic and I have an allegiance to SideStep for ticket booking. This fall I will actually be making an international trip and SideStep did not cut it. I ran into a site called Vayama and it is very cool and easy to use. If you need to do some international travel, I highly recommend checking it out.
And an added bonus – both incorporate the color orange in their logo.
