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At first, I laughed.
And then I felt like crying. Cuz this nut is in the lead in the gubernatorial race.
http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15673894
Bicycle infrastructure is anti-American, and in fact is an attempt by the UN to take over the world.
I love that this comes out today, they day current Gov. Ritter will stand on the steps of our state Capitol with Lance Armstrong to announce Tour of Colorado.
Yep, it's obviously a slippery slope to the downfall of civilization ;)
If you let people ride safely, legally, well and looking faaaaabulous in their TE gear (check it out, there's FREE SHIPPING on orders over $100) at first yeah, sure they say they love only one lifetime steel lugged bike. They're going to want multiple bikes. And they may want to ride with a Wald basket or Burley dog trailer and then animals are involved. :eek:
And think of the children; do you want your children seeing that riding a bike is acceptable? "don't look son, those are cyclists. Quick, get back in the SUV, have a slurpie and some chips. I'll turn on the DVD. What? Your sister doesn't want to watch that movie? She has her own screen on the back of your Mom's seat. It's only 2 blocks, we'll be home soon". ;)
And it's not just your kids. The children of cyclists get teased on the playground because their parents wear those funny pants and are fitter, look younger regardless of their real age and are just plain healthier than the other parents.
What about MY rights and MY personal freedom??
Driving a car isn't the only expression of freedom in this country.
Hallmarks of the conservative side have long been self determination and self sufficiency (it's that whole "nanny state" fear). My determination to ride a bike - and not rely on my motor vehicle (which I own and CHOOSE to leave parked in the driveway) should be applauded by the T-partiers and their ilk. They are just another side of the Man shoving his views down my throat.
This guy goes beyond "kooky" into the realm of dangerous paranoia.
He's serious??? Oh my- that's scary.
"Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to have."
"This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms," Maes said.
"At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said
I know, right? Just think of the horrid effects on the planet if we commute and work together with other nations to do right by our planet. Think of the anti-consumerism that will abound if we buy bikes and gear related to it... oh the horrors!!!
I still don't get how CO is a red state, BTW.
Oh my goodness. This is priceless. Scary, but priceless.
And at the same time the CDC releases the current obesity rates (1% increase in the last 2 years), but, quoting the CDC....
So, again, what is the problem with being a global citizen and getting on the bicycling band wagon?Quote:
If you go to Denver and outside of Denver, there are bike trails, walking trails, and they're heavily used, suggesting that Colorado has more of a culture of physical activity than other states," the CDC's Dr. William Dietz said
[[obesity article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0318532120100803 ]
well my state (OK) could take a lesson from CO, because when the CDC came out with their findings, my state is one of the 9 worst states in the country for obesity. We have 30% obesity, where the other 41 states in the union are only at 15% or less. I'm so proud (not!)
Healthiest is CO and Washington DC. Nicely done, CO. ;)
And OUR governor killed the Tour of Missouri, which Colorado is now jumping on.:( My vacation will NOT be in Missouri any more if I can help it. I can't wait for the next election. I think Mr. Nixon is going to be surprised at how many Missourians are on bikes. Not just Belgians...(His words, not mine. Thanks for being here today when you could have been out watching Belgians ride bicycles.ha ha ha).Quote:
Originally Posted by JennK13
Enjoy the tour. It is something else!
I'm dying here...I needed this laugh.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
The interesting thing is, there is no one identifiable *thing* that they are against, exactly. What is their argument? Are they arguing that cities would somehow sign themselves out of the country and become part of the UN? Um, it's not exactly that easy.
I would like someone to ask him exactly what makes the U.N. so evil.
Eh, you blue state peeps are so naïve. ;) We've been hearing this stuff for ten years at least...
Seriously? Most of the economy from mining and ranching? Those foofoo enclaves are a very small part of the state, just like in Idaho.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tri Girl
Here's an irony: Our greenway/bike path is interrupted by the UN. You have to move onto an actual avenue to get past it.
I'm sure this guy would be thrilled if he knew that.
I'm SO excited about the Tour of Colorado. I live close enough to go watch that! Yea!
You can't argue with those who can not maintain a coherent well connected reasoning. They have none!
When the gas price goes through the roof, because of dwindling sources and increase consumption by Chinese (1 billion and counting for some time) and by Indians (1 billion and counting and soon to surpass Chinese), we can't be consuming 25% of world supply of oil. We account for less than 10% of world population.
I'll stick with my bike and work on solar power.
Thank ya very much. And trek420 is very funny, sad so true!!
This was taken at the Quiznos Pro Challenge announcement this morning:
http://velonews.competitor.com/files...ds-300x225.jpg
Those poor children!!! They've been corrupted by the U.N. at such a tender age.
(from this velonews.com article: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...ge-race_132692).
We've all been corrupted and brainwashed by the UN and are now part of this socialist-pinko-commie-hippie-multilateralist agenda. We're now totally incapable of fathoming the danger to the American Way that Mr. Maes has so thoughtfully pointed out, all because of THE BICYCLE!
:rolleyes:
Love my bluest of blue state.
These people are crazy. Yea, my bike is going to ruin the world.
I bet he secretly watched the tour in the men's bathroom stall. ;)
Thanks. Now there's chai all over my screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by redrhodie
Quote:
Originally Posted by redrhodie
That makes two of us owlie....Quote:
Originally Posted by owlie
:D :) Yep, subtly moving his foot over and showing some sockQuote:
Originally Posted by redrhodie
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodSO_SHA.html
HA! You all are killing me!!! :D
Bet he secretly wears bike shorts under his suits. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by redrhodie
I need to stop reading this thread when there's liquid in my mouth. Now there's cream soda on my keyboard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
As Jason Jones says: "...that which you hate the most, you secretly are."
(he reads Momentum on park benches during his lunch hour, wearing a big pair of sunglasses and a Walz cap pulled low over his face) http://www.walzcaps.com/
I think he was picked on when he was 8 years old by kids riding their bikes home from school and hasn't ever let that go.
HE'LL SHOW THEM.
OT:
Roguedog, I know I've heard the song that your sig line is from. What is it?
/OT
His first wife saw those chiseled calves and ran away with a Cat1 racer. ;) He'll show us!Quote:
Originally Posted by roguedog
He has a pair of bike shorts at the bottom of his underwear drawer, and sniffs the chamois when no one else is home.
@ Owlie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTBnqsLP5a0
I didn't know it either - but song lyrics are one of the things I don't hesitate to google. :) Kind of a cool song.
Bwaaaa ha ha ha ha...............
You all are missing his point. He has nothing against promoting bike friendly policies. In fact he is all for them. He has an issue with ceding American sovereignty to an international organization. Any time a country signs on to a treaty they agree to give up some of their right to self-government. That is what makes it unconstitutional.
This article is written in a deceptive manner to make Mr. Maes look kooky and anti-bike but if you read his own words without the biased reporters spin you get a different picture.
"At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said.
International treaties, like this one, include policies that are often very harmless on the surface. Unfortunately, biased journalists love to make the party who will not sign them look evil for wanting to thwart the so called good work when the underlying reason for not signing is because the party realizes how important it is to hold on to and respect America's sovereignty at all costs. Many of the policies within treaties trample on the freedoms we value as Americans. The good policies in these seemingly harmless treaties can easily be adopted without sliding down the slippery slope of ceding ones national sovereignty.
On this issue we should be thanking Mr Maes for protecting our liberties instead of demonizing him.
ICLEI is not a treaty.
ICLEI does not cede any sovereignty in any way, shape, or form.
Half of the ridiculousness of Mr. Maes' paranoid fantasy is that he doesn't even understand what ICLEI is.
http://www.iclei.org/
"ICLEI provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. Our basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives."
I will mock him, because he is xenophobic and paranoid and sees increased bicycle usage as "reining in" Americans' freedoms.
If someone from my city planning department wants to get free information from a Copenhagen city planner through ICLEI on how to design better bike lanes, I'm all for it.
At some point every nation has to grow up and realize there are more people in this world than just itself. We can either become part of the larger world, or we can spin into a paranoid tight little ball and implode into something like Kim Jong Il or explode into something like what started WWII. Targeting ICLEI and bicycle infrastructure education and information as a sign of impending doom is paranoia.
But it's true that underlying most of this is a strong feeling that it is Americans' "God"-given right to take every resource from every country, live with the greatest perversity we can imagine, and destroy the earth for all of its denizens including ourselves.
Really, I hear it in nearly those words all the time. Maes is neither unique nor new.
As one of the commenters to the article stated;Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
It's designed to share best practices. Everybody panic!
:rolleyes:
Maes is not protecting my liberties, because they are not being threatened. Agreeing to work together to change our resource-devouring ways does not cede American sovereignty. It's being responsible and creating solutions so that we can still have a planet on which to practice our American sovereignty.
His line of thinking is odd (at best) and at worst he's igniting fear in people that we're somehow going to lose all our freedom because we are in agreement with other cities/nations to reduce our carbon footprint and find sustainable alternatives. Insanity!
The NY Times had something to say about Mr. Maes. The comments in this group are more incisive and funnier, though.
It's nice to know that the stupidest politicians are not all in my state.
Thank you all for stating the ridiculousness of Maes' position in a coherent and polite way.
I really don't understand how a person could think that the U.S. "gives up sovereignty" when it joins an international delegation, to help solve a pressing world issue like sustainable resources. G-d forbid we *collaborate.* Why are people so afraid that we might *gasp* become a little more like the rest of the world?
Yea, xenophobia is a good word.
Like I said before, there's a reason I live where I live...