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Brian McGrory fancies himself a latter-day Jonathan Swift
By adamg on Fri, 07/15/2011 - 9:12am
Or maybe he didn't think he was getting enough e-mail. But how long before Emily Rooney has him on her show to calmly explain why bicyclists should be shot on sight?
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Comments
Adam, he saw all the bike-related
comments on UHub and decided you were on to something!
Yawn. An article like this
Yawn. An article like this pops up every so often. Don't give it page views. It's probably the most-read article anyone's written at the Globe in the past year.
Well,
I do think he has a point (although I would not ban cyclists all together!) The attitude held by many cyclists, unfortunately, (not all, but many) is one of "F___, Y___" and "get out of my way!" And they also feel that the rules of the road do not apply to them (for whatever reason.) And, no, car drivers, by and large, behave well on the roads or we would have major traffic snafus on a fairly regular basis, methinks.
And many car drivers feel like McGrory does because they have been cut off one to many times by cyclists with attitudes. Car drivers have this attitude because of the attitude of certain "I own the road" cyclists, plain and simple. It does not make it right, but there it is.
Well, that should get things started ;-)
And I'm sure many new points will be brought up in this discussion. ;-)
Me, I'm staying out of this.
I read that column and was
I read that column and was like "zomg! UHub NEEDS to post this right?" Get your popcorn ready.
Satire hopefully?
Couldn't tell if he was being ironic, or spouting his true beliefs. Either way, he's trolling.
I'm most insulted at his
I'm most insulted at his statement that Boston roads were built for cars, ironically followed by a statement about how narrow they are. It's just plain false.
The road networks in all of downtown, the South End, the Back Bay, South Boston, and Charlestown were built with pedestrians and horse drawn carriages in mind. Building for streetcars entered the mix for the outer neighborhoods, hence larger avenues like Dorchester Ave and Hyde Park Ave. Cars don't really come into play until things built after about 1920. Those roads were awkwardly placed on top of the existing network, usually through demolishing neighborhoods (Melnea Cass, much of Columbus/Tremont, the Central Artery) or finding edge spaces to weave through (Morrissey Blvd).
I bet you listen to the Lame Stream Media too!
History-smishtory! If Sarah and Michele can ignore it, then so can Brian!
:)
yawn.... the glob has given
yawn....
the glob has given up ever selling papers again and is just focused with baiting the idiots for comments, I guess
My favorite
Cyclist rides by a pedestrian in the middle of Boylston next to the library and after veering to try and run her down yells - "Hey, you're jaywalking". Then proceeds to blow through the red light across Dartmouth. Of course, no helmet. At least he was going the right way.
I think the one good point McGrory makes is that if we are going to have an education and enforcement program, let's have one - not the sham that apparently went on the other day (warnings are fine - but you could probably give out 40 warnings an hour at some intersections).
And let's face it - the cars aren't perfect either - maybe some equal opportunity enforcement and education. I almost got hit twice the other day on the way to work and only cross about 6 intersections.
And then there is Alex Beam's column today ....
...calling for fighting obesity by legitimizing abuse and ridicule of the overweight.
Welp
Just unbookmarked the Glob's website. Guess we're supposed to shame the overweight into exercising (bike riding, anyone?) only for them to get shut down by idiotic Brian McGrory. Never liked Alex Beam anyways.
You used to say
"I'm canceling my subscription."
I'm sure the Globe is even more all broken up about being *unbookmarked*!
Columnists know how to write articles that will get linked. With all the money that columnist pageview-whoring generates, the Globe can afford to be unbookmarked a few times.
If the columnists didn't make money, the Globe would take away the columns and put those salaries towards actual journalism. Not the pandering and whacking off of columnists.
Unbookmarked
Considering that page views and suffering through rafts of ads are just about their only profit center ... and its been weeks since I bothered with Bossturd.com ... that is a tangible threat these days.
The difference being...
Jonathan Swift had talent.
The sad thing is that in
The sad thing is that in civilized, bike friendly cities like Amsterdam, elderly bikers, bikers with kids in tow, bikers with shopping to carry, they are the ones that set the tone and the prevailing speeds. Morons like Brian are the ones that discourage anyone from biking who is not an adventurer.
they blocked my comment
I one-upped him with a suggestion that they establish a point-system for drivers who hit cyclists. 1 point for a hit, 5 if injury, 10 if killed. Then I got a bit carried away and said to add bonuses for lycra, lack of helmet...then I got really bad and suggested bonus points for minorities and children. But I closed by telling him to go frak himself--that probably got it blocked.
Increasingly, I read the globe for amusement and universal hub for authority and relevance.
P.S., as I rode my bike to work today, I was careful to obey most of the laws and only went through one red light--after stopping and waiting for the 4-way walk lights.
uh....
I'm sure your comments, albeit in jest, about earning points for hitting cyclists and earning MORE points for taking out minorities, could have had something to do with your comment being blocked.
Why on earth would you invoke the the idea that minorities are more worthy of being hurt or killed than other people? How is that in any way whatsoever germane to the topic at hand? For that matter - how does it help make your point?
Busted sarcasm sensor, Anon?
His point was that McGory's article was ridiculous and obnoxious. His point was, why did McGory's hate stop where it did? If McGory's going to go over the deep end, he might a well go all the way.
You should probably go back and re-read the comment.
Meh
The most disappointing thing is that people will read this, and then feel justified in yelling "faggot!" out the window as they blow past, justified in their road rage, justified in recklessness and negligence that results in injury, etc.
He missed a real obvious flame-generator
He could have said that Menino has endorsed a bicycle ban in Boston for everyone except illegal, I mean "undocumented", aliens. That would have been a real two-fer.
Dang Hingham Drivers!
I love it when a dude who lives in Hingham gets miffed at how people who clearly live in Boston get about their city. Hey Brian, if you don't like driving conditions in our city, stay home! One less a-hole driver for me to contend with.
Majority vs. Minority
Just like car drivers, most cyclist bicycle responsibly. I am around the Beacon St area in Brookline once or twice a week and see folks commuting using the bike lane very effectively. Unlike my cycling days in the 80's-90's, the bike lane marks space for cyclists away from the parked cars at the edge of the road.
However there is a some small percentage of cyclist who feel that the road/sidewalk are video game screens for them to navigate through as quickly as possible. Pedestrians become slalom cones and sidewalks provide a quick emergency alternative when they feel that they can avoid slowed traffic on the road.
I'v decided to add thumb tacks, purchased in bulk, to my daily Bat Utility Belt. So if your an outlaw cyclist, beware!
Another Modest Proposal
Kidnap McBoring
Tie him up
Drag him behind as many cyclists as it takes to haul his lardy ass along the right of way.
Dump him in Hingham Harbor.
Hows that for a plan? I mean, while we are getting stupid, funk-brained, and uncivil about it ...
Lol Swirrly
Awesome idea! We'll break into his apartment, and make it look like he went on a vaca. Do you think we should pack his winter clothes, to make it look like he escaped the heat? How did The Gang handle this in Always Sunny?