The Chainlink

Thanks to all who read, shared, and commented on yesterday's post on Chicago Now entitled Rahm Dedicates Dearborn Bike Lane to Dozens of "Little Bike People".  That was only the beginning of my efforts to refute the lunacy that goes by the name of John Kass.

Today's post parodies his demands to register bikes and license riders by comparing it to the gun control debate

Please consider dropping by and adding your comments at Chicago Now or below.

http://www.chicagonow.com/easy-as-riding-a-bike/2012/12/dont-regula...

Thanks!

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Replies to This Discussion

And I am sure regulating/banning/etc. weapons (notice, I said weapons, not just guns, to include bows and arrows/etc) will make our society and civilization the safest in the world.

If a person wants to kill people (on purpose or inadvertantly), they will find a way. Whether they go get a gun (usually illegally/stolen/taken from or give to another "friend"/gang member/drug dealer/ peed-off person/etc), or they use a syringe to inject bottles of tylenol, or getting drunk and driving down Milwaukee Ave. It is a choice. That is my point. Nothing further. Regulating alcohol has worked so well, hasn't it ? Regulating vehicles has work well also ? Regulating our narcotics (legal chems) has worked and have no abusers, right ?

It is always a choice. The first murder was a rock/stone/stick/club by one caveman to another. Let's start regulating those. The "evil" portion of society will still break the law and use the "regulated/banned/illegal" items to do their stuff. Just like the riders that blow through red lights/stop signs endangering themselves (as well as others - think of the post-traumatic issues of the driver that obeyed the stop sign/light and ran over and killed one of the many "bike ninjas" out there). That is what I am getting at. It's a choice. Not the right one, yet still a choice.

(and please don't get on the "So-who-says-what's-right" soap box)

Mr. Kass is going to find fault in something. We all do. It is human nature to seek what is different and attempt to better it/ignore it/etc. (again, a choice). He is just choosing bicycling. He lumps the few "bike ninjas" (as well as those others that blow stop signs/lights, etc - a.k.a. rule non-followers) with bike messengers (both the ones that follow the rules and those that do not), cyclo/triathalon/century/etc.-training individuals, commuters (like myself), mountain bikers, cruisers, and whatever other sub-tribes that we have (and I have failed to mention - sorry about that). Is it fair for Mr. Kass to blame all of us for the mistakes of the few? I lived that way for over 22 yrs while HONORABLY serving our GREAT COUNTRY in 2 branches of the military. I paid for other's mistakes. We still do, to a degree. Here is the perfect example. Another is, every law that we have...someone has broken it, and a law was created to punish the individual commiting it. (paid for by all of us via taxes, etc)

Joon, where would it, and how would you suggest we stop this ? Especially concerning our bicycling community....


 
Joon Kim said:

Manny,

When kitchen knives and other utensils are used to cause 30000+ deaths per year, we'll want to regulate those too.  Just like we regulate cars because of their potential lethality.  Just like we regulate poisons and hospitals.  Just like we regulate and license anything else that can cause great harm.  Hell, if my bike starts offing people left and right, you bet it'll have to be registered and I'll have to be licensed to ride it.  All these regulations except for guns.  And really, guns are the only thing that serve no other useful purpose but to kill.  And I know gun laws will not stop all killings and automobile regulations don't stop all accidents and wall street regulations don't stop all cheating.  But I don't want my kid to live in a Mad Max world and I don't think you do either so we should start somewhere.   So the argument you present is hollow, and this is a cycling forum and this is off topic but really, I've heard your tired argument too many times and it's still worth about 2 cents and 30000+26 dead per year.

Manny Fuentes said:

So, should we start regulating kitchen knives and other sundry utensils that are used to cause great bodily harm and disfigurement to another human being as well ?

I am just wondering what else we will have to register after some  ( I will keep my rude description of those people to myself) jerk decided to use it to hurt someone else. Axes. Chain saws. Sledgehammers. Screwdrivers. Nail guns (Pneumatic & Electric). Hammers. Basebal/Softball bats. etc.

We need to just let Mr. Kass talk his gibberish. If the mayor and such are behind us, there is very little that Kass can do. Let him spout his issues. It's like letting the grape die on the vine. If no one gives him any added attention, his message will go away. However, if you keep bringing him and what he says up, it will give his words power and he will flare up like a fire being fed wood/fuel.

He has his opinions. It is The United States. He has the right to voice his thoughts. It was guys like myself that have served that have given us all that right. His job is to right about "whatever". Our bicycling will eventually fall off of his radar, because in all honesty....if he wanted to really pick a topic of greater concern...he should probably have chosen the level of poverty in our city, or how the city wastes God-awful amounts of money through several city departments (just look at the DMV, City Hall, and see how many people are just "getting a coffee"...lol!) or the amount of crime on the south, southwest, and west sides. I bet because it doesn't affect him immediately, he doesn't care about those topics.

Some bicycle rider might have cut him off (maybe while avoiding some debris around one of the many "well maintained" manhole covers) on his way to some "lunch/meeting" that he deemed "IMPORTANT", and that is why he has us in his sights....for now.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Have a Great Day !

 

Respectfully,

 

Manny

Sure... and while we're at it let's see if we can seize the moment to end the senseless drug wars and legalize marijuana nationwide.  And has there ever been a better moment to mount a public outcry against the brutal oppression of the Palestinian people?  What else?

Tony Adams said:

I would argue just the opposite. If we really care as much about innocent human life as one might infer from all the discussion following last week's terrible events, then isn't now a perfect time to point out the inconsistency of an outcry about guns while we ignore the carnage of cars?

h' said:

I can see a lot of work went into this article, but the idea to draw a parallel to anything having to do with gun rights or gun control when the events of last Friday are still front and center on our collective mind should have been briefly considered and rejected.

I love it when white people hate on white people for being white.

Brent Cohrs said:

 but he seems like the typical angry white guy that can't accept anything progressive.

I agree. I come to this site, which is dubbed "a chicago bicycling online community" at the top of every page, expecting to read up on and discuss cycling advocacy and not the Second Amendment. A thread like this only divides The Chainlink membership, not unite us.

If the OP is allowed to promote his anti-gun agenda here disguised behind a cycling blog, then I should also be allowed to promote pro-gun advocacy here as long as I include bicycling.

Please consider supporting the National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association today and let's continue to fight for our country's constitution and our human right to defend liberty, life, and property.

Guns in the hands of honest and good people save more lives than a cop on the phone and two more on the way. Not enough cycling-related content in my promotion? Very well then. We have high crime in the city and a lack of a sufficient police force effectively patrolling the Lakefront Path and the streets of Chicago. With the recent federal court ruling that struck down Illinois' unconstitutional ban on right to carry, Chicago residents may finally soon have a chance to protect themselves no matter what method of transportation they choose, whether it be on foot, in a car, or while riding a bicycle.



Jason said:

This is a gun control piece, and off topic for this forum. I would debate you, but I have more respect for the forum rules than that. Take your anti second amendment hit piece elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong--  I savor the thought of being confronted with just out how politically uninformed and or batshit crazy some members of the chainlink membership may be as little as the next guy--  but you guys are just making up rules here.

This is a social forum for Chicago cyclists, not  a forum about cycling, and it's natural (and IMO desirable) that a wide variety of topics that affect us be discussed here. If you question someone's judgement or intent in bringing up a potentially contentious or divisive topic, take it up with that individual, but don't attack the medium because you don't like what someone has to say.

Dragonborn

I tried to separate my blog post into two parts; contrasting the scrutiny that cyclists fall under when we're branded a safety hazard to society and the lack of scrutiny a another product (that this year has generated 10,000 times the fatalities) doesn't fall under and my personal opinion about gun control.

It's possible to agree with part one and not part two, neither, or both.  Where the discussion goes - Kass and his unreasonable demands or gun control, I have no control once it's posted.  I'll try to be a little more discerning with the topics I offer up for discussion in the future.

Much of what we do - or need to do - as cyclists has to be political.  We have a lot of great advocacy groups to lobby on our behalf, but our invitation to the table is swayed heavily by which party controls Congress.  Yet on the gun side, there is a single organization with membership that barely crosses the threshold of 1% (which I presumed had to be closer to 30%) that holds the only seat at its respective table.  There was a post on Commute by Bike entitled Bike Advocacy from the NRA Playbook that was imploring cycling advocates to do a better job of controlling the message.  I found it an interesting perspective at the time, but didn't know quite what to do with it.

I appreciate the opportunity to be on the forum and receive a variety of opinions about cycling topics that affect all of us.  There will be disagreement on advocacy approaches within our group.  My opinion and my politics will clash with other members - as long as we have civil discourse, it should all be good.

Thanks for reading and joining the discussion.



Dragonborn said:

I agree. I come to this site, which is dubbed "a chicago bicycling online community" at the top of every page, expecting to read up on and discuss cycling advocacy and not the Second Amendment. A thread like this only divides The Chainlink membership, not unite us.

If the OP is allowed to promote his anti-gun agenda here disguised behind a cycling blog, then I should also be allowed to promote pro-gun advocacy here as long as I include bicycling.

Please consider supporting the National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association today and let's continue to fight for our country's constitution and our human right to defend liberty, life, and property.

Guns in the hands of honest and good people save more lives than a cop on the phone and two more on the way. Not enough cycling-related content in my promotion? Very well then. We have high crime in the city and a lack of a sufficient police force effectively patrolling the Lakefront Path and the streets of Chicago. With the recent federal court ruling that struck down Illinois' unconstitutional ban on right to carry, Chicago residents may finally soon have a chance to protect themselves no matter what method of transportation they choose, whether it be on foot, in a car, or while riding a bicycle.



Jason said:

This is a gun control piece, and off topic for this forum. I would debate you, but I have more respect for the forum rules than that. Take your anti second amendment hit piece elsewhere.

For the last several years I have considered myself a self-loathing white guy...

Juan Primo said:

I love it when white people hate on white people for being white.

Brent Cohrs said:

 but he seems like the typical angry white guy that can't accept anything progressive.

sheesh.....yikes.....when did Troll season begin ???

 

I guess I was so busy waiting on the end of the world that I missed the hunting season schedule (again) ?

 

DB

 

Police responded to a call of mayhem at a neighborhood intersection this morning.  Joe Shibilski was found under his bike.  He had run a red light plowing into a group of senior citizens taking their morning constitutional.  Witnesses heard Shibilski screaming,"take that mom. You never loved me." as he ran over an elderly woman.  Shibilski, after injuring six seniors and killing three others then took his bike to himself. He ran over himself and was found by police with spokes protruding from his chest.  Paramedics were unable to stop the bleeding. 

 

Local officials decried this latest evidence of bike violence.  Councilman Duffass told members of the press that he will initiate legislation to ban the sale, possession and use of two wheeled vehicles.  "How many lives must be lost due to this senseless violence."  Local cycling advocates planned to demonstrate by riding with their children.  Duffass commented, "They are teaching their kids to ride. What will come of this world?"

 

Shibilski's family refused comment but an unnamed source said that Shibilski had been riding bikes for years and had quite a collection of them.  He was often seen running over squirrils and other varmints in his neighborhood.  "We always thought he was a little strange, but hey, he rode a bike. What do you expect?" said one neighbor.

can someone p-u-l-l-l-l-e-e-e-z-e (?) second the nomination to close this thread. please ?

David Barish said:

Police responded to a call of mayhem at a neighborhood intersection this morning.  Joe Shibilski was found under his bike.  He had run a red light plowing into a group of senior citizens taking their morning constitutional.  Witnesses heard Shibilski screaming,"take that mom. You never loved me." as he ran over an elderly woman.  Shibilski, after injuring six seniors and killing three others then took his bike to himself. He ran over himself and was found by police with spokes protruding from his chest.  Paramedics were unable to stop the bleeding. 

 

Local officials decried this latest evidence of bike violence.  Councilman Duffass told members of the press that he will initiate legislation to ban the sale, possession and use of two wheeled vehicles.  "How many lives must be lost due to this senseless violence."  Local cycling advocates planned to demonstrate by riding with their children.  Duffass commented, "They are teaching their kids to ride. What will come of this world?"

 

Shibilski's family refused comment but an unnamed source said that Shibilski had been riding bikes for years and had quite a collection of them.  He was often seen running over squirrils and other varmints in his neighborhood.  "We always thought he was a little strange, but hey, he rode a bike. What do you expect?" said one neighbor.

Banning multi speed, high end, lightweight, composite framed bicycles is not the solution. A deranged bicyclist will always find some means to pedal. The only solution is to make bicycles more publicly accessible to all law abiding citizens so that pedestrians have a fighting chance. Pledge whatever you can to the National Bicycle Association in support of these efforts.

David Barish said:

Police responded to a call of mayhem at a neighborhood intersection this morning.  Joe Shibilski was found under his bike.  He had run a red light plowing into a group of senior citizens taking their morning constitutional.  Witnesses heard Shibilski screaming,"take that mom. You never loved me." as he ran over an elderly woman.  Shibilski, after injuring six seniors and killing three others then took his bike to himself. He ran over himself and was found by police with spokes protruding from his chest.  Paramedics were unable to stop the bleeding. 

 

Local officials decried this latest evidence of bike violence.  Councilman Duffass told members of the press that he will initiate legislation to ban the sale, possession and use of two wheeled vehicles.  "How many lives must be lost due to this senseless violence."  Local cycling advocates planned to demonstrate by riding with their children.  Duffass commented, "They are teaching their kids to ride. What will come of this world?"

 

Shibilski's family refused comment but an unnamed source said that Shibilski had been riding bikes for years and had quite a collection of them.  He was often seen running over squirrils and other varmints in his neighborhood.  "We always thought he was a little strange, but hey, he rode a bike. What do you expect?" said one neighbor.

I'll review the constitution later today. I'm still not sure about the intent of the original framers.

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