Activist. Vegan. Cyclist. Parent. (Almost) Criminal defense attorney.

Podcasts

So much going on these days, and I'm sure I'll post about it sooner or later, but in the meantime I wanted to share a couple of great podcasts with you.

Radio Lab - Coming out of WNYC, I've only listened to a couple of shows, but the Morality show was incredible. There is interesting research being done on where and when humans find morality. There's some evidence that at least some part of our morality is biological. A huge portion of the show is dedicated to these 2 scenarios in which people must choose to kill one person to save five others. Answers are almost universally the same and yet no one can explain why. Download the show, take an hour and listen to it. It's really interesting.

Anything You Ever Wanted to Know - This is probably one of my favorite podcasts. One, because it's done in Dallas by KERA, and I remember listening to Glenn Mitchell do the show before he passed away and two, because it uses the collective wisdom of all the listeners to come up with answers to everday questions. It melds the curious nature of humanity with the generosity of strangers. Subscribe, it's good stuff.

Think - Also done by KERA, this show is not unlike any other show on public radio, except that the interviewer has a knack for asking the question that I'm wondering at the time. I just listened to a show where she interviewed the author of a new book about William Shakespeare.

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So, about yesterday's post...I was happily riding my bike down Hawthorne yesterday. When I got to about here, I heard a crunch and felt the bike run over something. I was keeping an eye on traffic and since it happens sort of frequently, simply thought, "wow, I wonder what that was." I kept riding, and as I was locking up my bike once I'd stopped reached for my phone. At this point, I realized that not only did I not have my phone, but that it was now, in the middle of an intersection at least a mile away.

I rode back, cursing myself for not paying more attention, but relieved that $4.99 for insurance each month would actually be helpful. When I got back to the intersection, my phone was in many pieces, littered across about 8 feet of the intersection. I picked up as many pieces as I could between the green lights and rode home.

Today I called the AT&T equipment replacement line and they give you six options for claiming damage. The first is dropping. After several other options, none of which were suitable, including loss or theft, the last option is Other Damage. Well, considering mine was dropped, and subsequently run over by bike, car and truck (to my knowledge) I chose option 6 and had to explain to some poor guy in a call center how I managed to destroy my phone.

Ah, the risks of commuting by bike.

Speaking of commuting by bike, I've recently started reading a blog by a cyclist in NYC. One of my favorite posts is an open letter to a city maintenance official regarding potholes. This portion is my favorite:

[A]s long as the city and the drivers who use her streets continue to toy with my life, I intend to continue making and adhering to my own rules. I shall continue to treat traffic signals as optional; I shall continue to follow and verbally harass drivers who irritate me; and I shall use no hand signals except the one that needs to be blurred out on TV. And please be assured I will do all of this only out of necessity, as it is the only way to remain intact as a cyclist in this town.

Good stuff.

I just found a new toy that allows you to map bicycle rides turn for turn with elevation.

On May 9, 1934, the International Labor Association (ILA) called a strike by the longshoremen at all the ports along the West Coast. From Seattle to San Diego goods were not to be unloaded by longshoremen. A few days later the seamen joined the strike. Additionally, the teamsters refused to handle struck goods--anything unloaded by scab labor.

In San Francisco the employers' organization, the Industrial Assocation (IA), hired scabs to unload ships. They were housed on barges or in fenced housing complexes. The strikebreakers were escorted to and from work by local police.

On July 3, several fights broke out between strikers and police and scabs. However, a few trucks were able to make it through the picket lines.

July 4, no goods were moved and the holiday passed quietly.

July 5, the IA attempted to open the port further. That morning, police fired tear gas into the strikers and made an assault on the picket line. Strikers threw the canisters back at police and held the lines.

In the afternoon, picketers surrounded a police car prompting officers to fire shotguns into the air and fire their revolvers into the crowd. A striking sailor, Nicholas Bordois, and strike sympathizer, Howard Sperry, were killed in this attack. Strikers immediately placed flowers and wreaths upon the spot where they were killed. Police moved in to remove the memorials, to which the strikers responded by placing new flowers and wreaths and stood guard over the spot.

Police then fired tear gas at the ILA union hall where the wounded were being housed. Allegedly, a phone call was received at the union hall asking, "Are you ready to arbitrate now?"

The governor of California eventually called in the National Guard to patrol the waterfront overnight.

Several days later, after the funerals of Bordois and Sperry, a general strike was called for San Francisco. In effect the city shut down. Even small businesses closed putting signs in their windows in support of the striking workers. Rumors were workers in Portland threatened to follow suit.

Ultimately, the General Strike Committee agreed to arbitration and the longshoremen did not win all that they sought. But the aftermath of this "bloody Thursday" was such that workers engaged in "quickie strikes" and sympathy strikes. These were no longer the pipe dreams of a radical few and became a reality in many cities.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) recognizes "Bloody Thursday" by shutting down all West Coast ports each year.

A year later President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the National Labor Relations Act. This law acknowledges the inherent inequality in barganing power in employer/employee relations and protects the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively for wages, hours and working conditions.

Often, when I'm riding my bike around town my mind wanders.

Just yesterday I was wondering what, many years from now, I'll tell someone what it is like living in the US at the dawning of a new millenium or the turn of the century or whatever other nickname you'd like to use for this time in our history.

Would I talk about the growing threat of terrorism?

Not likely, on a day to day basis I fear my country's government more than I fear terrorists. Not a day goes by that I don't hear or read about someone being a victim of police brutality. Particularly in Portland, the police force acts with impunity because no one has the courage to take them to task for grotesque abuses of power.

Would I have to explain how President Bush was "elected" to two terms?

How could I explain that? Would anyone in the future believe that in this day and age elections could be fixed without the people rising up and saying, "No, we won't stand for this!"

How would I justify the apathy that pervades our society to such a degree that our government continues to do that which we never imagined while we watch American Idol?

Everytime this Administration spits in the face of democracy I think, "Finally! Finally the people will get it and say, 'Not anymore!'" But no, we read CNN.com in disbelief, then wait to see what Jon Stewart has to say about it later. Don't get me wrong, I think he's funny too, but when we're getting our news and analysis from Comedy Central?

When will enough be enough?

I think the reason I'm thinking about this right now is because of so many headlines about Kobayashi losing the Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. The focus? How a guy from the US won. This xenophobic attitude that we have to win this contest cause we're 'merkans and it's our contest. Seriously?

I'm just so disappointed in my country right now. I'm incredibly upset about the work that needs to be done, and how much work has to be undone. The Supreme Court is so far gone I can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Democratic Party is such a huge disappointment. If we had a Dem in the White House and a Democratic Congress it still wouldn't matter. The Democrats have got to put the democracy back into the party, if it was ever there...

Something's got to be done...

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little swept up in the iPhone mania too. I definitely want one now. But check out this video and watch this woman get, in my brother's words, "iPwned."

Perils of Cycling

So, about yesterday's post...I was happily riding my bike down Hawthorne yesterday. When I got to about here, I heard a crunch and felt the bike run over something. I was keeping an eye on traffic and since it happens sort of frequently, simply thought, "wow, I wonder what that was." I kept riding, and as I was locking up my bike once I'd stopped reached for my phone. At this point, I realized that not only did I not have my phone, but that it was now, in the middle of an intersection at least a mile away.

I rode back, cursing myself for not paying more attention, but relieved that $4.99 for insurance each month would actually be helpful. When I got back to the intersection, my phone was in many pieces, littered across about 8 feet of the intersection. I picked up as many pieces as I could between the green lights and rode home.

Today I called the AT&T equipment replacement line and they give you six options for claiming damage. The first is dropping. After several other options, none of which were suitable, including loss or theft, the last option is Other Damage. Well, considering mine was dropped, and subsequently run over by bike, car and truck (to my knowledge) I chose option 6 and had to explain to some poor guy in a call center how I managed to destroy my phone.

Ah, the risks of commuting by bike.

Speaking of commuting by bike, I've recently started reading a blog by a cyclist in NYC. One of my favorite posts is an open letter to a city maintenance official regarding potholes. This portion is my favorite:

[A]s long as the city and the drivers who use her streets continue to toy with my life, I intend to continue making and adhering to my own rules. I shall continue to treat traffic signals as optional; I shall continue to follow and verbally harass drivers who irritate me; and I shall use no hand signals except the one that needs to be blurred out on TV. And please be assured I will do all of this only out of necessity, as it is the only way to remain intact as a cyclist in this town.

Good stuff.

Out of touch

My Ride to Work

I just found a new toy that allows you to map bicycle rides turn for turn with elevation.

Going to Texas Tomorrow

Today in Labor History: Bloody Thursday

On May 9, 1934, the International Labor Association (ILA) called a strike by the longshoremen at all the ports along the West Coast. From Seattle to San Diego goods were not to be unloaded by longshoremen. A few days later the seamen joined the strike. Additionally, the teamsters refused to handle struck goods--anything unloaded by scab labor.

In San Francisco the employers' organization, the Industrial Assocation (IA), hired scabs to unload ships. They were housed on barges or in fenced housing complexes. The strikebreakers were escorted to and from work by local police.

On July 3, several fights broke out between strikers and police and scabs. However, a few trucks were able to make it through the picket lines.

July 4, no goods were moved and the holiday passed quietly.

July 5, the IA attempted to open the port further. That morning, police fired tear gas into the strikers and made an assault on the picket line. Strikers threw the canisters back at police and held the lines.

In the afternoon, picketers surrounded a police car prompting officers to fire shotguns into the air and fire their revolvers into the crowd. A striking sailor, Nicholas Bordois, and strike sympathizer, Howard Sperry, were killed in this attack. Strikers immediately placed flowers and wreaths upon the spot where they were killed. Police moved in to remove the memorials, to which the strikers responded by placing new flowers and wreaths and stood guard over the spot.

Police then fired tear gas at the ILA union hall where the wounded were being housed. Allegedly, a phone call was received at the union hall asking, "Are you ready to arbitrate now?"

The governor of California eventually called in the National Guard to patrol the waterfront overnight.

Several days later, after the funerals of Bordois and Sperry, a general strike was called for San Francisco. In effect the city shut down. Even small businesses closed putting signs in their windows in support of the striking workers. Rumors were workers in Portland threatened to follow suit.

Ultimately, the General Strike Committee agreed to arbitration and the longshoremen did not win all that they sought. But the aftermath of this "bloody Thursday" was such that workers engaged in "quickie strikes" and sympathy strikes. These were no longer the pipe dreams of a radical few and became a reality in many cities.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) recognizes "Bloody Thursday" by shutting down all West Coast ports each year.

A year later President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the National Labor Relations Act. This law acknowledges the inherent inequality in barganing power in employer/employee relations and protects the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively for wages, hours and working conditions.

Normally not this cynical

Often, when I'm riding my bike around town my mind wanders.

Just yesterday I was wondering what, many years from now, I'll tell someone what it is like living in the US at the dawning of a new millenium or the turn of the century or whatever other nickname you'd like to use for this time in our history.

Would I talk about the growing threat of terrorism?

Not likely, on a day to day basis I fear my country's government more than I fear terrorists. Not a day goes by that I don't hear or read about someone being a victim of police brutality. Particularly in Portland, the police force acts with impunity because no one has the courage to take them to task for grotesque abuses of power.

Would I have to explain how President Bush was "elected" to two terms?

How could I explain that? Would anyone in the future believe that in this day and age elections could be fixed without the people rising up and saying, "No, we won't stand for this!"

How would I justify the apathy that pervades our society to such a degree that our government continues to do that which we never imagined while we watch American Idol?

Everytime this Administration spits in the face of democracy I think, "Finally! Finally the people will get it and say, 'Not anymore!'" But no, we read CNN.com in disbelief, then wait to see what Jon Stewart has to say about it later. Don't get me wrong, I think he's funny too, but when we're getting our news and analysis from Comedy Central?

When will enough be enough?

I think the reason I'm thinking about this right now is because of so many headlines about Kobayashi losing the Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. The focus? How a guy from the US won. This xenophobic attitude that we have to win this contest cause we're 'merkans and it's our contest. Seriously?

I'm just so disappointed in my country right now. I'm incredibly upset about the work that needs to be done, and how much work has to be undone. The Supreme Court is so far gone I can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Democratic Party is such a huge disappointment. If we had a Dem in the White House and a Democratic Congress it still wouldn't matter. The Democrats have got to put the democracy back into the party, if it was ever there...

Something's got to be done...

iPwned

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little swept up in the iPhone mania too. I definitely want one now. But check out this video and watch this woman get, in my brother's words, "iPwned."