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This machine kills fascists, fat, and bankers
"No single raindrop ever feels like it is responsible for the flood."
Speaking of raindrops, one of my favorite movies of all time is Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. The bicycle scene with Butch and Etta is unforgettable. Like many, I grew up riding a bike. I learned at a young age how to fix a flat and put on the chain. I loved the freedom of riding around town. My first stitches, five in the chin, were earned in a bike wreck that was caused by me. Consequences are such a powerful thing.
Sadly, kids these days tend to text their friends, or chat virtually inside an x-box game, rather than ride over to each other's home.
The bicycle is an amazing piece of technology that is capable of solving at least a few of our modern day health, financial, and energy problems. Consider that in many parts of the world where bicycles are the norm there is usually far less obesity, debt, and reliance on imported oil and the offensive war machine that is required to invade nations and murder people so that we may take their oil.
Bicycles are elegant...
Bicycles are efficient...
Bicycles are effective...
When widely adopted, bicycles can have a big effect on a population.
One reason, possibly the main reason, the Dutch are not getting more obese is bicycles:
In the Netherlands 27% of all trips and 25% of trips to work are made by bike. The average distance cycled per person per day is 2.5 km. Holland and bicycles go together like bread and jam. Despite the recession the cycle-happy Dutch are still spending a lot of money on their bicycles – nearly 1 billion euros’ worth a year. About 1.3 million bicycles were sold in the Netherlands in 2009, at an average price of 713 euros ($1,008) each. Amsterdam (the capital and largest city of the Netherlands) is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world. It has 400 km of bike lanes and nearly 40% of all commutes in Amsterdam are done on bike.
For comparison:
In the USA only 0.9% of all trips are made by bike. The average distance cycled per person is 0.1 km.
Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland, Denver, and Boston are consistently ranked among the top bicycle cities in the USA. You will not find one of these five cities among the 25 fattest cities in the USA. Houston is the fattest city in the USA, is also probably the very worst for bicycles, and was ranked second by county for gasoline consumption, just behind Los Angeles.
The economics are obvious:
- The estimated average transaction price of a new car or truck sold in the U.S. in April was $33,560.
- Annual Cost to Own and Operate a Vehicle in 2015 is $8,698, according to AAA.
- According to Social Security data, the median net wage for a working individual in the US is $28,031.
How do average people afford a $33,560 car when they make $28,031 in a year? Debt, of course!
Through early September, Wall Street firms issued nearly $70 billion in securities backed by auto loans, up 9% from the same period a year ago, according to J.P. Morgan. About $21 billion of those were backed by subprime loans to relatively risky borrowers.
Subprime car-loan originations have taken off in recent years as lenders have loosened underwriting criteria in this sector, allowing for borrowers with low, and often no, credit scores to get access to financing. During the first half of 2015, lenders gave out $56.4 billion in subprime auto loans, up 13% from the same period a year ago and up 181% from the first half of 2009, when the market for these loans bottomed out, according to credit-reporting firm Equifax Inc.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-22/auto-loan-market-reminds-me-wha...
In contrast, I recently bought this folding bike for less than $300. It was made in China, which I now regret, but if you are willing to spend more than $1,000, then you can get one made in the USA. They easily fold up in about 10 seconds to put it in the back of a car, carry it on a train, throw it in the storage under a bus, or take it up the elevator to an apartment or office. No gasoline expense. No insurance expense. No parking expense.
So, if you are are sick from being overweight, tired of bombing brown people to steal their oil, and want to know something you can do about it, TODAY , that will also improve your personal financial situation, then ditch the car and ride a bike. You will feel better, and better about yourself, and remember, no single raindrop ever feels like it is responsible for the flood.
Go Dutch!
Be well!
Peace!
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Woody Guthrie's guitar.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/75/47/a2/7547a2ccf06972c5...
next for HH, the horse..no tax, no gas, no oil or tires, and let someone try and eat that carbon fiber steel fucking bike.
just taking your bike's are the answer to the next fucking level..
single, in short distance urban areas like much of EU with many streets designed before the auto..bikes work..in Dallas tx with 50 mile commutes not so well.
ps i rode a bike to work for a few years when much younger liked it, but as business demanded my commuting to hospitals across the state well bikes then suck.
Independent thinkers understand that one size does not fit all. Not sure why so many are down on bicycles just because they aren't the perfect choice 100% of the time.
You are too kind, Billy. The two intellectual paths leading from my statement...
...to his or her statement...
...either proceed through a fallacious argument (evil), or very poor reading comprehension (stupid).
Which is it in this case? It's a coin flipper.
I take it author has never lived in the west or the above counties in Texas...good luck on a bike and enjoy those cross town trips.
9 months out of the year you can't ride a bike in TX without having to take a shower when you get to the office. I have a 3 mi trip to my office in Dallas, but it is suicide on a bicycle. The sidewalks have guy wires and all sorts of obsticles in them, and the narrow lanes on the streets are instant death when someone in a Navigator talking on their cell phone just runs you over.
Considering that most of suburban Dallas was built in the last 20 years, bicycle lanes could have been designed in, but they weren't, and they still aren't.
Not everyone thinks bike lanes are best. They tend to gather debris and not be cleaned often enough to be safe. Then you ride outside it and the drivers are pissed. The drivers also expect you to stay in them and if you need to make a left, you have to take up a position in the left lane. They get angry that you have not "stayed in your lane" or worse, they simply do not expect you.
Stats show that bike accidents go up with the installation of bike lanes. Now it may be the case that biking in general goes up, thus there are more accidents, so I do not know that correlation equals causation.
Just letting you know that there are indeed debates around this issue.
"Not everyone thinks bike lanes are best. "
problem=>reaction=>solution:
1. Bike license plates and registration fees
2. Bike license plate readers.
3. Mandatory bike safety gear, including airbag backpack
4. Bike riding license including bike license school and bike riding instructor schools
5. Minimul bike riding age: 15
6. Fines. Loads of them
7. Cops on armored Ebikes with drones patrolling overhead.
~ lmao
There are two sides to that. Turning left is one thing, because if you've gotta turn left, you've gotta turn left. But when cyclists ride too far in the traffic lane, they put the motorists in the position of having to at least partially change lanes, which can be a real PITA if you're stuck behind a 15mph bicycle having to get over into a lane where traffic is going 40mph. That raises the likelyhood of an automobile accident. But they generally keep the bike lanes near me clear anyway, so it is rarely an issue here, especially since the further you are from the traffic lanes, the nicer the asphalt is.
There's also a third side to this concerning cyclists' use of "blinkers", i.e. their active engagement in notifying other trafic participants about their intention to turn left (or right, or change lane, or stop).
Maybe not on a folder, but gears are your friend.
There are plenty of folders with gears, and I grew up and went to school riding a bike in the Mountain West.
I live in Texas, now, where at least the weather is perfect for riding a bike 8-9 months of the year, if not all the roadways.
One big issue that I, and many people, must wrestle with is the distance of a daily commute. Doing a portion on a bike, and a portion on mass transit, does help ease that part of my psyche that considers such things.
You're right about the bike weather, I live in Central Texas. That reminds me I need to get a new bike.
I live in rural East TX. There are a few places you can ride a bike but 70 mph in the breakdown lane with your back to traffic (by law) is a poor way to stay in shape when it can all get snatched away in a split second. It's not easy finding a good ride on horseback. Damned fencing everywhere. Bicycles are best left to city/suburb folk.
My old next door neighbor was a fireman but worked a few cities over. He used to commute to the fire station by bike, a ~22 mile (one way) trip. I always thought that was pretty damn impressive, especially since the journey transited a decent mountain pass and a treacherously narrow canyon road with heavy traffic.
-Chumblez.
Upon arrival at the firehouse, a long siesta before taking the fire tanker to the supermarket to pick up some steaks barbeque for the boys for lunch. All paid for, of course, by the monopoly on force at the threat of violence. Saying a fireman rides 22 miles to day for work is like saying a retiree rides 22 miles per day.
I ride year-round in Canada.
-40º is rough on the lungs, but doable.
-40º is rough on the lungs, but doable.
-lol... doable ??? you must be darth vather...... or similar.... you will freeze said lungs in time.....
WHY ?
are you a cave man ?
-lol
you must have Iron Lungs Logical, that's hardcore !
Yes it would be rough as unless you lived in the Yukon or NWT no town hit minus forty.
I have ridden in -40º , whether you believe it or not matters little to me.
Last year I missed riding ONE day due to weather.
Missed a few weeks with broken ribs and damage to my liver & spleen though, due to a slight mis-judgement on a downhill stretch of a trail, though.
spleen, and liver damage? um....you're doing it wrong.
Yes it would be rough as unless you lived in the Yukon or NWT no town hit minus forty.
http://www.montaguebikes.com/folding-bike/
You could even live in it when tents, containers and campers get too expensive.
Yeah lets kill some Brown fascists....
http://redicecreations.com/article.php?id=34687
...only white demons bike....
i would say "i'd like to be the bicycle seat" in the 1st picture, but i won't, too off subject:)
Pussy is always on topic! (except for pole smokers)
OH SHIT!! lold
Bikes also make an excellent prepper vehicle/bug out vehicle option for those of you who are so inclined. Excellent post, Hedgeless.
Cars and trucks run on money and make you fat.
Bikes run on fat and save you money!!
rubbish.....
nice romantic article... yet... all bs in the real world.... (unless all these up arrow romantic 'optimists' decide to take up arms against the system that they are ... oh so romantically attempting to.... attack ? -lol)
otherwiae..... as stated... all rubbish....
but i admit... i like the 'elegant bycicle picture' (rather the woman in the picture).... and yes.... i will attest to the benefits of excercise and keeping active in the older years...
healthy living etc.... it DOES make a difference in living well.... (it includes drinking generous quantities of wine, particularly red)
the rest..... all rubbish
:^)
I have a decent scott. love it, has hundreds if not thousands of miles on it. it was still a funny joke.
Bicycles "kill" fascists? No. Bicycles encourage the delusion that they "kill" fascists when in fact they have let the fascists win. Look, bicycles are a great idea. If you want one, then get one, or two or ten. But if all you are doing is ignoring the fact that you can no longer afford to buy a car, are you really winning??? All that money you save by not having a car - are you doing something fun with it or does it just mean you are paying a larger mortgage / rent? Do you happily work 20 / 30 hours per week and spend the time you save surfing ( / painting / flying model aeroplanes / building boats or else insert whatever hobby you have here) or do you still work just as hard as you have ever worked, only now you don't have a car? And if you are better off, is it because you own a bicycle or is it because everyone else owns a car? Competition tends to keep everyone poor. If someone else is willing to do without, they're willing to work cheaper, and it's all downhill from there ...
You enjoy cycling to work? Good for you. Excellent idea for those who want it. But, believe it or not, jobs that require physical labour still exist, and some people are absolutely knackered, even after only eight hours at work. They appreciate mechanical assistance to take them home. Some people don't live across the roads from the shops. They appreciate having a motorized vehicle to place all their groceries in for the trip home.
Don't need rego for bikes? For now. What makes you think the govt wouldn't change the rules if no-one had a car?
ONOZ...what would they do? Impound my $200 Fixie? Meh.
As of this moment the following Statist extortion activities are not required, or are avoided, when operating a bicycle:
Driver's licenses, seatbelts, yearly registration, Smog/Safety Checks, insurance, parking fees. As a bonus there are no speeding tickets, parking tickets, gas taxes, oil change disposal fees. You can be cited for running a red-light, or for DWI. Groceries for a week wil fit in a basket on the handlebars.
Let's see, my trip to work is eight miles one way with a pretty deep valley between points. I'm to pedal my 57 year old ass down a hill, proceed another three miles, then pedal up a steep hill and, two miles later, pull into work all freash faced and clean smelling. Then in the evening, reverse the process, climb the steeper hill, go another three miles to my home, tend to family, do some work around the house, sit on Zero Hedge for hours. And do this daily.
Fuck that. I'm driving.
RACIST!
I'm with ya OldPhart! I travel 500 miles (it would be more, if I kept a bike off of interstate as is required by law) with an 80 lb seabag, to work a 28 and 14 schedule. Now maybe, I could get home in a week and back to work in a week, but I prefer the old full size car and 10 hour travel time.
Re the two cyclists in the picture "Bicycles are effective":
Do you think either of those guys would say no to a van? Oh, that's right. The bicycle is "cheaper". I guess the guy on the right is quite happy to make the extra trips to fetch his tool box and the unistrut. "Winning!"
What if I have a twelve foot double-sided step ladder? Might need two bicycles.
Bike with rifle rack. What's not to like?
http://e67ti2w9ws71al8xmnhsozd3.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2012/02/Mt...
All you need is a kiddie trailer to carry the load back.
http://www.bfw.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/379971_2186033612267_12898...
How's that bicycle handle the recoil? Or is there little recoil? (I don't know much about guns.)
Ha ha, quick with the red arrows but they have nothing to say.
professed gun ignorance or, worse, distaste, is not an easy swallow in these here parts.
i thought your points were generally well taken.
of course it does depend so much on what you do with a byicycle, or a guitar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_machine_kills_fascists
Not proud of my gun ignorance, just letting people know where I'm at in case the question was stupid. I actually do like guns. Even spent a bit of time in a gun club. Would've stayed longer but I ran out of money. I don't know much about guns because I have other hobbies too, and just never get 'round to it.
So anyways, how's the bike handle the recoil?
Get a bike. The EPA will soon outlaw cars on order of the Supreme Soviet.
He is an autocrat, try to keep up friend.
Two buns beats two hundred tires on a bite, every time.
Got it. Thanks, HH.
what is the deal with st. louis? makes me question the data a bit. twice the next highest per capita gasoline usage?
here's another take on it, ranked by household consumption. i'm still wondering at data quality.
http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/10/gas-guzzling-cities_slide_21.html