President O says one thing on teevee, does the opposite in real life.
… that is just a fraction of the ways the Obama Administration and the Intelligence Communities ignored and even thwarted our attempts to consult the public on these surveillance programs before they were reauthorized. In fact, after the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in which Wyden attempted to close the FAA’s Section 702 loophole, which another important Techdirt post this week explains, “gives the NSA ‘authority’ to run searches on Americans without any kind of warrant,” I — as Wyden’s spokesperson — was specifically barred from explaining the Senator’s opposition to the legislation to the reporters. In fact, the exact response I was allowed to give reporters was:
“We’ve been told by Senator Feinstein’s staff that under the SSCI’s Committee Rule 9.3, members and staff are prohibited from discussing the markup or describing the contents of the bill until the official committee report is released. The fact that they’ve already put out a press release does not lift this prohibition.”
That’s right, supporters of a full scale reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act put out a press release explaining why this was a good thing, while explicitly barring the Senator who voted against the legislation from explaining his concerns.
Months later, the FISA Amendments Act, which the Administration contends authorizes its PRISM program, passed without the open debate that the President now contends he wanted all along. And, again, I’m only touching on a fraction of the efforts just Senator Wyden made to compel the administration to engage the American people in a democratic debate. …
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: art of urban cycling, bicycle chains, bicycling, bike maintenance, chain cleaning, cycling, Falcon, Robert Hurst
My non-standard views on chains and cleaning chains, posted recently on the Falcon.com blog:
Rousseau said: Men are born free but everywhere are in chains. A profound observation which foretold the bicycle craze. Then Aretha came along and said: Chain-chain-chain, chain of fools. Which sums it all up quite a bit better in my opinion.
The invention of the chain drive in the 1880s (almost exactly halfway between Rousseau and Aretha) enabled bicyclists to escape the purgatory of the highwheeler era, during which their pedals were shackled directly to those comically large front wheels. Along with Dunlop’s pneumatic tire, Starley’s addition of a chain and gears to the bicycle was certainly one of the most important waypoints in the entire history of personal transportation. The chain drive was a revolution in personal freedom and human dignity.
Not long after the miraculous chain drive took over, however, inventors were thinking of ways to put it out of business. Chains were hardly perfect, after all. They were greasy and needed frequent lubrication, and occasionally tried to take your finger off, realities that diminished the marketing glow of the new form of transportation.
…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: crude oil, demand, EIA, energy, energy use, gasoline, jet fuel, oil consumption, Peak Demand, peak oil, products supplied, US oil consumption
Via EIA Week in Review.
Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged about 19.7 million barrels per day, up by 3.7 percent from the same period last year. Over the last four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged over 9.0 million barrels per day, up by 3.3 percent from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 4.0 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, up by 11.1 percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied is 1.6 percent higher over the last four weeks compared to the same four-week period last year.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Beyonce, Beyonce Knowles, bicycling, Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, urban cycling
“…It’s amazing how I’m able to ride around on a bike. People kind of see it’s me but since I’m on a bike, they think, ‘No, it’s not her.’ And by the time they realize it’s me, I’m already gone.”
via Gets It: Beyoncé Bikes to Barclays | Streetsblog New York City.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: baby boomers, driving, oil consumption, The Least Greatest Generation, transportatioin, Vmt
Meanwhile, The Least Greatest Generation drives more.
Indeed, young people don’t seem that interested in driving. Just 79 percent of people between 20 and 24 had a driver’s license in 2011, compared with 92 percent in 1983, according to the Michigan study.
Conversely, the oldest boomers are trooping down to the Department of Motor Vehicles in growing numbers to remain licensed to drive. Almost 93 percent of those age 60 to 64 had a driver’s license in 2011, up from 84 percent in 1983.
via Boomers Replace Their Children as No. 1 Market for Autos – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle racing, Erie, Erie velodrome, tornadic activity, track racing
The velodrome in #Erie has been partially destroyed near County Line Rd & Bonnell Ave. #Erie @MattMakens247Wx pic.twitter.com/1wMbj9C6k1
— James Dougherty (@Dougherty7NEWS) August 4, 2013
…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: energy, light vehicle sales, Peak Demand, peak oil, SAAR, transportation
via Calculated Risk:
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: coaches, economy, government, public employees, USA #1, WTF
Sad-larious.
click to enlarge
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: crude oil, Egypt, energy, oil exports, oil production, peak oil
via Energy Export Databrowser:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycling, Boise, Idaho stop, stop as yield, urban cycling
The City of Boise Cycling Safety Task Force, 2009, composed mostly of law enforcement officials:
…Moreover, the Task Force largely agrees that bicycles, by nature of their mass, speed, maneuverability and lack of protection for the rider, are sufficiently different from automobiles to deserve separate treatment under the law.
CITY OF BOISE CYCLING SAFETY TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT 2009 (pdf).
Thanks to Rick Price for showing me this.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alta Planning, bike share, Citi Bike, Citibank, Citibike, NYC, Shiti, Shitibank
May not amount to much.
One possible interpretation of this story:
A system that is already proving to be ‘safe’ despite a barrage of pre-launch propaganda needed more bad press.
The security breach was discovered and corrected “at the end of May” and affected 1,174 customers who signed up for $95 annual memberships to the program, said Seth Solomonow, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation, which launched Citi Bike and controls all of the system’s communications to the public.
He did not explain the delay between the identification of the security flaw and notification of affected users.
According to NYC Bike Share LLC, a local subsidiary of system operator Alta Bicycle Share, an “error log” containing personal data on Citi Bike account holders was “briefly accessible” on the system’s website on April 15. The error was corrected as soon as it was discovered, NYC Bike Share President Michael Jones said in the letter.
via Citi Bike Accidentally Exposes Customer Credit Card Information – Metropolis – WSJ.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, contenders, Froome, Ryder Hesjedal, scenery, Tour de France
Contenders missing
It wasn’t much of a race
Nice scenery though
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Branham, Colorado Trail, continental divide, CTR, Durango, Indian Trail Ridge, Jefe, Jesse Jakomait, Kennebec Pass, Marshall Pass, Molas, mountain bike endurance racing, mountain biking, MTB, Silverton
UPDATE: Jefe Branham won again. Legendary.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brent, crude oil, Cushing, energy, Keystone pipeline, North Sea, oil prices, WTI
West Texas Intermediate crude became more expensive than Brent for the first time in almost three years as pipeline and rail shipments helped clear a bottleneck that reduced the price of the U.S. benchmark.
WTI hadn’t been higher than Brent since Aug. 17, 2010. The move was in intraday trading. WTI averaged $17.47 less than Brent in 2012 and traded as much as $23.44 lower than its European counterpart Feb. 8.
Improved pipeline networks and the use of rail links are helping to ease the North American oil glut created by rising production of crude from shale formations. WTI has jumped 18 percent this year, while Brent has decreased 2.5 percent as North Sea supplies stabilized after maintenance.
via WTI Crude Exceeds Brent for First Time in Almost Three Years – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Contador, dreams, Froome, jens, Jens Voigt, Nairo Quintana, Quintana, Rodriguez, Tour de France
Jens got swallowed up
As is typical with dreams
At least Nairo won
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alp d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez, Froome, Marco Pantani, pirata, Riblon, Tour de France
Slower than Marco
So nobody is doping
Feel so much better
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alpe d'Huez, BMC, Roblin, Teejay, Tour de France, Van Garderen
Oh TeJay Van G
We saw your winning effort
And your second place
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycling, biking, cycling, Fort Collins, Idaho stop, Rick Price, stop as yield, urban biking, urban cycling
But I think it’s time we talked about the feasibility of allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. This would solve a lot of problems and create some opportunities.
via Price: Do cyclists really need to stop at stop signs? | The Coloradoan | coloradoan.com.
It would probably cause some problems too, but would be an overall positive.
Deliberate signal infractions by bicyclists aren’t nearly as dangerous as people think, or as dangerous as people would like. The evidence is overwhelming.
Right on, Rick.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: food poisoning, projectile vomiting, stomach flu, time trial, Tour de France
No idea who won
The hillclimbers’ time trial
Vomiting instead
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 4th Amendment, energy costs, gas prices, Mark Udall, oil production, Randy Udall, Wyden
“Our people want to know why the flood of new domestic crude oil isn’t lowering prices at the pump,” said Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “There is no question that the lower oil costs are not getting through to Americans’ wallets.”
via Senators Grill Refiners Over High Prices Amid Oil Boom – Bloomberg.
If Wyden is this clueless about energy — what “lower oil costs”? — it does not give a fellar confidence that he is an effective guardian of civil liberties (Wyden is on the Senate Intelligence Committee which is supposedly a check on the executive branch’s surveillance fetish). Is he just trying to get someone from the industry to admit the truth, or is he really that out of it.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 