Author Archives: HildegaWicks

Lunch Time Freeway #2

by HildegaWicks Posted on March 18, 2017

Mother Jones

Here’s another long-exposure shot of a freeway. It’s better! I found an overpass (Bear St.) with no fencing, so that eliminated the blurry diagonal stripes. I got there at the right time, which produced a more interesting picture. And the overpass was less shaky and allowed the use of a tripod since there was no fencing in the way.

Who knows? Maybe #3 will be even better when I get around to it.

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Lunch Time Freeway #2

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This Ted Cruz Endorser Would Have Sent Married Gay Couples to Jail

by HildegaWicks Posted on April 1, 2016

Mother Jones

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One of Ted Cruz’s supporters in Wisconsin once stood up for the idea that gay couples who married in another state should be sent to prison—and be fined hefty sums.

Back in 2008, when California legalized same-sex marriage (before Proposition 8 temporarily ended marriage equality there), same-sex couples in Wisconsin considered heading to California to tie the knot. But there was a hitch. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported at the time, an obscure state law “makes it a crime for Wisconsin residents to enter into marriage in another state if the marriage would be prohibited here.” The law also carried a serious penalty of up to $10,000 and nine months in prison.

And at least one person wanted to see that law enforced against gay Wisconsin couples who married elsewhere. “If it were challenged and the courts decided to basically wink at it, and refused to enforce the law, we have a problem,” Julaine Appling, who led the Wisconsin Family Council, said at the time.

Appling, now president of Wisconsin Family Action, a conservative Christian group, was dubbed “the most important social conservative” by the Capital Times. Her name appears at the top of a list of 50 evangelical and Catholic Cruz supporters that the campaign released Friday ahead of the April 5 primary in the state.

Appling has a long history of fighting marriage equality. She supported passage of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2006. And in 2009, she was behind a lawsuit to block a Wisconsin domestic partnership law to grant same-sex couples some of the benefits married couples received. Appling called the law “an assault on the people, the state constitution, the democratic process, and the institution of marriage.”

The conservative crusader wants to not only stop gay couples from marrying, but also keep straight couples from separating. In 2014, she told the Capital Times that she wanted the state to pass laws to encourage relationship counseling and discourage divorce by lengthening the waiting period for obtaining a divorce.

And she is no fan of Donald Trump. In February, she signed on to an open letter to the Republican front-runner from social conservatives asking questions like “How will you make America great when you’ve run businesses associated with increased crime, bankruptcies, broken marriages and suicides?” and “What would you say to young girls and women who are concerned about a president who is directly connected with the exploitation of women?”

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This Ted Cruz Endorser Would Have Sent Married Gay Couples to Jail

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This Ted Cruz Endorser Would Have Sent Married Gay Couples to Jail

In the fight for bike-safe streets, we’ll need everyone to join the ride

by HildegaWicks Posted on November 1, 2014

In the fight for bike-safe streets, we’ll need everyone to join the ride

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1 Nov 2014 8:05 AM

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At the mention of “bicycling advocates,” you probably picture dread-headed hippies at a Critical Mass ride, or yuppie professionals whining about their commutes. But it’s just not true. Not only do people of all backgrounds totally bike, but there are also tons of folks out there making the movement toward bike-friendly cities a lot more diverse.

To wit: A new, comprehensive “bike equity” report put out by the League of American Bicyclists profiles dozens of groups from El Paso to Milwaukee to New York that are bringing more bikes to people, more people to bike policy conversations, and more conversations about race, class, and equity to the conversation about bikes.

In Santa Barbara, Calif., for instance, Bici Centro brings affordable bike repair to the largest group of cyclists in the city: low-income Latino commuters. New York City’s Local Spokes gathers all kinds of people together from the Lower East Side and Chinatown to brainstorm ideas for bike programing and street design. Cycles for Change in St. Paul, Minn., has a Bike Library that lends bikes to low-income communities, and a program that helps first-time adult riders — often refugees and immigrants — “become the most amazing bike advocates.” (It’s also one of many bike coalitions across the country with an “earn-a-bike” program, which asks folks to volunteer a few hours at a repair shop before taking a bike home).

The report highlights all this and way, way more, and weaves in some powerful interviews with folks behind bike equity. Among them: Seattle’s Ed Ewing and Milwaukee Bicycle Works co-founder Keith Holt, who points out that shifting some of this stuff is going to take more than building bike lanes:

There are some folks who just say, “Black people don’t ride bikes.” I often ask, “How do you know this?” If that’s the premise, then that becomes the narrative everywhere. …

The general belief out there is, “If we just put more bike lanes in communities of color or make sure more low-income folks have a voice at the table that’s the big key for this.” Honestly, I think that’s part of the equation. … But I know that realistic access to affordable bike ownership and repair will make a huge impact, too. …

Bottom line: if there is no bike shop in a neighborhood, it’s much more of a challenge for someone to start and continue biking.”

Because “bike equity,” as wonky as that sounds, is about making sure cycle-friendly cities are actually friendly to all cyclists — and that bike advocacy includes all voices.

If not, well, bikes will never achieve world domination. And that’d be a damn shame.

Source:
New Report: Bike Equity Today

, League of American Bicyclists.

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In the fight for bike-safe streets, we’ll need everyone to join the ride

Posted in Anchor, Everyone, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, OXO, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on In the fight for bike-safe streets, we’ll need everyone to join the ride