Slog - Comments on As in Zen http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen On this slow Slog day, a moment of Zen. When being questioned about the passage of a law which will penalize drivers who endanger cyclists, Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago was questioned about the perhaps-not-so-considerate behavior of various and sundry bike messengers, who are (mostly falsely) used as an argument against any laws making motorists acknowledge that the road is everyone's. Daley came up with a line that is almost the equal of some of his father's famous dicta, which include: "Together, we will reach new platitudes of success." "I deny the allegations and the allegators." "The police are... Copyright 2008 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:16:00 -0800 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:18:29 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Mike of Renton Heh. The allegator one is my favorite.

]]> Mike of Renton http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970704 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970704 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:40:13 -0800 Comment by elenchos When a motorist flings a door open in front of a cyclist passing in the bike lane, Chicago bikers call it a "dooring"... Just think, some day Seattle will be a big city like Chicago and we will have our own special slang too. "Dooring." Good one, Chicago! Good one.]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970705 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970705 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:59:49 -0800 Comment by flamingbanjo He must've studied under the Yogi Berra.

]]> flamingbanjo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970723 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970723 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:45:44 -0800 Comment by Gecko45 Let's go get some pickinic baskets, Boo Boo.

]]> Gecko45 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970724 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970724 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:59:53 -0800 Comment by come again? Seattle will never be a big city like Chicago...

]]> come again? http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970730 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970730 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:23:28 -0800 Comment by Ziggity ...unlike Seattle bikers who call it "karma."

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970731 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970731 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:25:54 -0800 Comment by Elvis As a driver, I call it "death wish."

]]> Elvis http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970732 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970732 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:33:43 -0800 Comment by Akbar Goldstein ok, i realize this is a tad off topic,
but will Ted Kennedy be the "House Cracker" in an Obama Administration?

]]> Akbar Goldstein http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970741 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970741 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:05:48 -0800 Comment by shub-negrorath The first two are more like quasi-Zen malapropisms.

]]> shub-negrorath http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970742 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970742 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:08:13 -0800 Comment by Dan Savage war monger BAGHDAD -- Sometime soon, the U.S. military will suffer the 4,000th death of the war in Iraq.

When the 1,000th American died in September 2004, the insurgency was just gaining steam. The 2,000th death came as Iraq held its first elections in decades, in October 2005. The U.S. announced its 3,000th loss on the last day of 2006, at the end of a year rocked by sectarian violence.

]]> Dan Savage war monger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970749 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970749 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:43:39 -0800 Comment by Cowardly Carper Everything is Dan Savage's fault. Meanwhile, I have never been wrong and it is great fun to pick someone relentlessly and display my moral superiority.

Of course, I don't write columns all the time, so, on that never being wrong thing? You'll have to trust me. And, unlike Dan Savage, I don't put my real name, so you'llhave to trust me on that, too.

Trust me -- I'm never wrong, I'm morally superior, you can't check me out, nah, nah nah, and it's sooo much fun to say so, all the time!!!

]]> Cowardly Carper http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970751 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970751 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:51:11 -0800 Comment by I'm an Activist!!!! Moral Outrage is fun! And knowing the body count make me look smart!

la la la, look at me!!! I'm so smart!!!

]]> I'm an Activist!!!! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970755 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970755 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:20:58 -0800 Comment by Chi-town luva As a Chicago resident, I can tell you that many of the bikers here do not follow the laws. I can't tell you how many I've seen go through stop signs. I've almost hit a couple. They cross the road on a red lights, etc. "Death wish" indeed.

]]> Chi-town luva http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970758 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970758 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:46:07 -0800 Comment by Moonflower I just got back from Chicago and the headlines there this past week included the 19th shooting of a youngster for this academic school year (not all the shootings were at schools) and they are creating public boarding schools for the countless kids without a home or functional family. I hope Seattle Public schools get better...

]]> Moonflower http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970764 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970764 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:13:53 -0800 Comment by Big Sven I don't give a fuck about Mayor Daily or bike couriers or Yogi Berra. I just want to point out that the snorg tees models are *smokin* and not at all creepily pedophilic like the American Apparel models.

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970769 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970769 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:41:11 -0800 Comment by Dave As a Seattle resident, I can tell you that many of the drivers here do not follow the laws. I can't tell you how many I've seen go through stop signs. I've almost been hit by a couple. They cross the road on a red lights, etc. "Death wish" indeed.

On another bicycle note, I road in Chicago's Critical Mass last month and experienced another zen moment while observing bike cops corking the streets.

]]> Dave http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970770 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970770 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:44:14 -0800 Comment by Bob If a mt biker falls in the woods does ...

I really don't have anything for this post, except I quit riding motorcycles on roads because idiots in cars scared the shit out of me and even the most polluted days didn't cushion the air around me enough to take a hard one. Bikes? Streets? In cities? No fucking way. I'm even jumpy in my pickup.

I'm very impressed that nobody's been called a "sheeple" yet in this thread.

]]> Bob http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970786 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970786 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:45:37 -0800 Comment by Critical Ass yeah, what @16 said!

and may I add, "takes one to know one, buddy!" and "I know you are, but what am I?!!"

]]> Critical Ass http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970838 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970838 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:15:33 -0800 Comment by Andrew Well, Eastlake is still a fucking death trap. I was nearly hit by two cars that ran red lights and since there is no bike lane and half the fucking street is over run with construction....I would think that more bikers will be dead before Mayor Nickels does anything about it.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970839 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970839 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:18:05 -0800 Comment by Bob's friend Sheeple!!
(Just for Bob)

]]> Bob's friend http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970857 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970857 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:33:05 -0800 Comment by bigyaz "...bike messengers, who are (mostly falsely) used as an argument against any laws..."

Yeah, those bike messengers have never been known to flaunt traffic laws. (No, I'm not letting drivers off the hook, either...)

]]> bigyaz http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970858 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970858 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:33:27 -0800 Comment by Chicago Fan @21

You should not flaunt your ignorance of the flout/flaunt distinction. Bike messengers surely break the law, but they are hardly the Urban Menaces anti-bike folks make them out to be.

]]> Chicago Fan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970867 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970867 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:01:08 -0800 Comment by infrequent @21 falsely because:

- Most Bicyclists are not messengers
- There is no data that says messengers break the law more then other cyclists or more than drivers
- Even if they did, why would that justify not making laws to protect all cyclists?

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970871 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c970871 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:08:00 -0800 Comment by nbc @23

- urban cyclists are not just messengers, but also commuters
- one shouldn't kill the messenger
- if you can't say something nice, you keep your mouth shut
- i can't keep my mouth shut about cyclists being killed

therefore, i have something nice to say about the death of commuter cyclists

]]> nbc http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971105 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971105 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:00:30 -0800 Comment by infrequent @24. ???

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971362 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971362 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:49:54 -0800 Comment by bigyaz Let me commend you on your prowess at circular arguments.

]]> bigyaz http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971466 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/as_in_zen#c971466 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:18:29 -0800