Male Silverback Gorilla killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by Brent Stirton.
Found on Delicious Ghost.
Archive for the 'Thought' Category
Last night a friend of mine was pulled over for driving bicycling without a license. Yep you heard it right. He had gotten pulled over for not having a license for his bicycle, an ordinance in Costa Mesa that carries a hefty $5 fine. The problem? No one has ever heard of this law and searching online I can’t find it anywhere. I have been a resident of Costa Mesa for 5 years now and the best thing I can find is a random post on a non-official blog that states you can get a bike license at the local fire department for free.
Why the need for a bicycle license? To keep it’s citizens safe? Sadly, no it’s simply broken tail light pullover. The policeman stops you to figure out what else he can get you for. Past crimes, illegals aliens, maybe he can get you for biking under the influence which nets the pd $250. In the below instance, they pulled over a latino man for biking on the wrong side of the street, then took him to jail for not having his license. He ended up getting deported.
Of those accused of being in the country illegally, 55 were suspected of misdemeanors, 39 of felonies, 9 of outstanding warrants, and one of jaywalking, an infraction. Another man who was stopped on suspicion of the infraction of riding his bike on the wrong side of the street was later detained because he did not have a bicycle license, a misdemeanor charge. In both infractions, police have said the men did not have proper identification and were brought to the station so police could determine their identities.
Now the counter argument here is “If you aren’t breaking the law, then why are you worried?”. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work. Lets play out a “hypothetical” situation:
I plan on spending the evening at a friends house nearby and know I might drink a few beers. Nothing in excess (even 1 beer will cause you to fail a breathalyser). I decide to be responsible and ride my bike for the safety of myself and others. Even though I know I will not drink enough to affect my driving, I am being overly cautious. So I ride my bike (on the sidewalk, which has no pedestrians), but I get pulled over and booked for no license. The police officer then makes me take a breathalyser that I fail. Now I get booked for a DUI and it goes on my permanent record. Maybe I disagree with this totally bogus law and get booked for “assaulting” a police officer (it’s only me and him at night).
While this situation might seem like an exaggeration or me simply hating “the man”, a police officer pulling someone over for this law doesn’t fall under the given credo “to serve and protect”.
More importantly, this law is a barrier to citizens doing something good. Riding a bike reduces emissions, is good exercise and promotes a community-focused environment.
Pulling over an unlicensed bicyclist over is almost as stupid as arresting a breakfast cereal mascot.
Police On My Back [CavemanMoses]
Of the so-called whitty cartoon shows making social commentary and pop culture reference, I haven’t seen anything as funny or as right on as The Simpsons That 90’s Show Episode.
Quote of the Day, from a college professor in the episode:
everything penis shaped is bad
They hit university curriculum on the head…and I went to college in the zeros.
Topics covered: Dreamcatchers, whale songs, grunge, bittersweet symphony (the song), divorce, tech stocks, beanie babies, popularization of cigar smoking, oxygen bar, weird al and more.
From Scott Adam’s Dilbert Blog
Let’s say you have a typical life and try to live it in the healthiest way. You might allocate your 24-hour weekday this way:
Sleep: 8 hours
Exercise: 1 hour
Work: 8 hours
Eating: 2 hours (leisurely)
Hygiene: 1 hour
Travel: 1 (Commute, errands)That leaves you three hours for family time, sex, shopping, food preparation, chores, household repair, volunteering in the school, and so on. If you have a dentist appointment, or your talkative relative calls, or American Idol has a two-hour special, you’re tapped out.
It’s a challenge to live a happy life if you aren’t giving enough attention to all of those categories, yet doing so is nearly impossible.
One time management strategy is to be independently wealthy, freeing up eight hours a day. But that option isn’t available to many. And apparently it isn’t fulfilling because most rich people continue to work full schedules.
Another strategy is to ignore the fact that you are slowly killing yourself by not sleeping and exercising enough. That frees up several hours a day. The only downside is that you get fat and die.
A third path is to work less than you could, live economically, enjoy each day as it comes, and try not to think about living on cat food when you retire.
Which strategy have you picked?
As I’ve grown older and began making my own entertainment decisions, I’ve realized how many of those decisions were made for me growing up. Every 3-4 years I would have a new oldest brother and every 3-4 years I would have a new musical taste (because they were my ride everywhere). Growing up I liked Shinehead, then Randy Travis, then Babyface and so on. I have the aggregate tastes of 5 brothers before me (which explains why my youngest brother is such a snob, just kidding J.)
This didn’t only affect me in the musical arena.
The oldest brother at home also usually chose what was on the television during family viewing hours (unless the evening news was on, then my dad was in charge). That brother then had a fairly limited choice of what to watch, our house being a Christian one.
That being said I’m not sure why I was allowed to watch this show.
EDIT: Supposedly that video player only works is the US. Here is a link to basically the same clip.
I have a brother (the one directly above me) who is known for his love of Sunday afternoon sci-fi/adventure programming i.e. Beastmaster, Stargate, etc. (actually, let’s be honest, we all love it). I have always wondered why he liked it. I think it’s because he was influenced by whatever brother chose to watch the above show while holding the post of Entertainment Commissioner.
I’m not sure if this is accurate but I’m gonna blame our Highlander viewing on the second oldest.
Wait…he moved to Ireland…is he? No…
Thou shalt not covet your neighbors wifi
