Comments

1
When a cyclist gets crushed by a semi, knowing whether he had a helmet or not is about as pointless as asking if the people in a 55 mph head-on collision (that's an impact sum of 110 mph) were wearing seat belts or if the air bags deployed. Some collisions are just going to be too much for any safety equipment to handle.
2
@17

The name writing on the cup thing I guess is supposed to add a customer service friendly touch. Though I'm quite happy with McDonalds, Burger King and similar places that just give me a number.
3
@1 - Witnesses at the scene stated that the cyclist plowed into the back of the semi, so wearing a helmet would in theory make a difference (perhaps).
4
@ 3, I missed that detail when I read the report. That's what happens when I don't take the time to read slowly.

I'm not sure that would help, depending on what exactly happened. If he hit it face first, then there was still no protection. Or maybe his head snapped back, breaking his neck. But it wasn't like I first imagined, and the detail that he was wearing a helmet is not pointless after all.
5
The bike in the photo is crushed. The back wheel is twisted and the frame is broken. This is not consistent with plowing into the back of a truck.
6
RE: 70% favor death penalty if Boston bomber is convicted.

MOAR VENGANCE! MOAR!!
7
Selling rifles specifically designed for five-year-olds is good business. There's money to be made there. It just stands to reason. The Second Amendment [pause for prayer] doesn't say anything about age limits. There's nothing about a five-year-old that's particularly unsuited to the work of killing things.
8
@5. You're right. Your knowledge of the situation based on a single photo posted online totally invalidates the reports of the people who were actually there and saw it happen.

It's all actually a conspiracy. All the witnesses are paid members of a semi truck lobbyist group. The FBI is also part of the cover up. But you have spotted the truth. You are a hero.
9
Truly there is no insult greater than someone at a Hong Kong Starbucks misspelling your name. This is an act of war.

Also, did she ever consider the idea that maybe there was someone named Vagina who never got her coffee, because presumptuous ol' Virginia got all grabby?
10
@5 It is if you wind up under the back wheels. Back could mean the back half of a side which would make sense with the cyclist hitting the truck as it went through the intersection.

Someone was probably running a red. Either outright, or they entered the intersection to late after it went yellow.
11
I hope you have brakes on those fixies because a bicycle without brakes is just fucking stupid. And don't give me that shit about how your legs are your brakes, stopping the rear wheel only (as long as the chain stays put). Keep track bikes on the track. Fucking mooks.
12
KING5 says witnesses saw the bike hit the back of the semi truck as it passed through the intersection. Driver didnt even know the cyclist hit him and had to be flagged down.

Just this morning I saw someone on Boren and Pike stop at the red light, look both ways and ran right through it as I was walking through the crosswalk.
13
A while back I was living in Seattle and would occasionally bike to my job at Kent Space Center West. It is an odd mixture of breakneck commuting in heavy traffic and pastoral gliding on bicycle only paths like the Interurban and Green River Trail.

I think the plan was always to have an all trail network. Will it ever happen?

Also, reverse commuting has exceeded city commuting..in Philadelphia.

Reverse Commute Rising From City to Suburbs

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/loca…
14
If anyone needs me today, I'll be curled up in the corner crying for all the children whose lives have been ruined by guns/ gun nuts. I just can't take any more of this.
15
I wish the President would have a press conference every week. Maybe if the journalists got more practice they would ask better questions.
16
The television stations should pool their money and hire some anarchists.
17
Why do they write names on cups anyway?
18
Yeah, me too, @14. I be bawling my fucking eyeballs out. Because, of all the fucked-up shit that's going on in this world, I've got nothing better to worry about.
19
I thought HIPPA Privacy Rule protected all individually identifiable health information and not just names.
Yet the Health Department was prepared to release the city of residence, age, ethnicity and abortion history of patients and when and where each abortion was performed to some anti abortion activist?
It seems to me this information could easily be used to identify some individuals and obviously should be protected.
20
I wear my helmet every day, but I have no illusions about how it's going to protect me in a car or truck collision. It's going to protect me if I fall over sideways, that's about it (which is a legitimate concern for a klutz).

Big trucks scare the shit out of me, though. We don't get too many semis on the streets I ride on, but there is an epidemic of double-trailer dump trucks racing up and down Stone Way these days, speeding, drifting in and out of lanes, taking up two lanes for a block at a go, veering right into the oncoming traffic lane to make right turns because they're too long to do otherwise, clattering and banging like crazy when empty, parking two or three trucks at a time in the center turn lane while they wait for the jobsite to free up, visibly destroying the pavement....

They're terrifying enough when I'm in my car; on my bike, when I get wedged between two at a light or something, ugh.
21
MacCrocodile, if I ever have a daughter I am going to name her "Vagina", in honor of the way you think. Well done!

As for the whole name thing: When I worked in hotels, it became fashionable (if a guest was calling from their room) to answer the phone with their name (i.e. "Good Morning, Mr. X"). I always thought that was creepy and presumptuous, so I never did it. Once time I stayed at the Four Seasons in New York with a co-worker who had the room in his name, and everytime I called any place in the hotel, they always answered the phone by using his name. It got on my nerves after a while.

22
@14, completely agree. I read that first blurb thinking it was a re-post of the story from yesterday in Alaska. What else could kill this many kids with impunity? The general sense to ignore the problem and not hold people responsible for these non-accidents must be contributing. At least the political pressure is increasing on Senators who voted against a bill supported by 90% of the electorate.
23
My middle name is Vagina.

(Awesome pickup line? Right?)
24
@21 - I dare you to make that a boy's name.
25
@23 - I always thought your middle name was Basket.
26
@ 20, it will protect you in some auto collisions - ones where the car isn't flying at top speed. Hell, one of those crappy skid lids did just that for my dad over 30 years ago, when someone turning the corner ran right into him. Don't downplay their effectiveness.

@ 9 & 21, Dan Clowes once had a cartoon featuring a loser asking out a very homely bank teller named "Vagina" on a date. It went sideways because, as she told him, "it's pronounced Va-GEE-na."
27
I ride the same route the rider who got hit on. I also saw his body on my commute into the city. Pretty fucking sobering to see first thing in the morning. It's a VERY truck heavy route in the morning and there's not much room for mistakes. A dedicated seperate bike lane down there would be fantastic. Fuck.
29
21 dear, I thought about making it a gender neutral name, but that was too much work for the prospect of something that will never, ever, ever, happen. After all, children would only get in the way of our erotic lifestyle.
30
@10 the bike could also have been run over by a following vehicle. The Times reported that the cyclist was crossing E. Marginal, which is a bit odd as Hanford dead-ends there at the shipping dockyard. If the cyclist hit the rear of the truck, then the truck was likely going northbound on Marginal, the cyclist eastbound on Hanford (unless the cyclist was turning left to Hanford going south on E. Marginal. Not sure how dedicated bike lanes would have made a difference here.
31
Self- serving plug. We are having a large-scale debate on gun control tonight at the Mukilteo City Hall (11930 Cyrus Way, Mukilteo) at 7pm. Members of local Police departments, 2nd Amendment Foundation, and members of the local HS debate team acting as seconds on both sides. Moderated by state Rep Marko Liias. It will be covered by TVW, and likely shown in the next couple weeks, But if you wanna be there, and have something to say, (ask a question, demand an answer, etc) now might be a real good time to actually get off your ass and come out.
32
Does the coffee lady know they don't check ID at Starbucks? If her misspelled name is a constant source of frustration for her, perhaps she could just say her name is Tom.
33
@8 & @10: Let me clarify my statement @5...

A crushed back wheel and broken frame are not consistent with JUST plowing into the back of a truck.
34
In other news, the Chicago Blackhawks have had a tremendous amount of sex this season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-d…
36
@25 Uh, basket is obvious slang for VAGINA? (All caps because...basket! Would you like to...basket-size that order? <----another great pick up line?).
37
I can never say "basket" again without blushing. Vagina is OK though, it's a girl's name.
38
A tisket, a tasket, a flower-making basket!

Anyone? Anyone?

@37 I say it to myself all the time instead of using blush...?

39
I saw a guy on a bike slam into the side of a car in an intersection. He flipped right over the hood and landed in somebody's yard at the corner. His bike was trashed, but amazingly, the dude got right back up. A bit scraped up, but not seriously injured. I'm pretty sure the helmet helped save him from a worse head injury.

A helmet won't make you invulnerable to a massive impact with a truck, obvs, but they can make a huge difference in lesser crashes.
41
@2, how in god's name did you reply to a comment that hadn't happened yet?
42
@41, indeed. @2 - got any stock tips?
43
@20,

A friend of mine was biking on Burke Gilman a few years ago, hit a tree root, and flipped over her handlebars. Her helmet was split in two and she suffered a broken collar bone. Had she not been wearing her helmet, she'd be dead.
44
@20: I got hit by a car last year, which put me airborne. When I landed, my head whacked against the street. My helmet saved me head from damage.
45
@42 buy most low PE consumer cyclicals with moderate to high dividends.

Or get the Dogs of the Dow funds - there are two, one is an ETF, the other (something like DOG or DDOG or DDOGX) is a mutual fund.
46
You'd think a "well regulated militia" wouldn't be recruiting five-year-old children, but maybe that's just my ageist privilege talking.
47
Meanwhile, business goes on as usual in Washington:

Obama to appoint cable industry lobbyist Tom Wheeler as FCC head

Wheeler raised more than $500,000 for Obama's re-election effort, according to data provided by the campaign. He also contributed more than $17,000 combined to Obama's re-election and to several Senate campaigns, including Virginia Democratic senator Tim Kaine's successful effort.

Wheeler is former head of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and the National Cable Television Association. Since 2005, he has been a venture capitalist at Core Capital Partners.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may…
48
@46 we aim for 17 year olds, actually, at least in the Army and Marines. We pretend we want them older, but we don't. Start recruiting warm up aimed at 13-14 with full on kicking in the second they show up in high school (and the summer beforehand).
49
@41, 42,

It's either:
1. The same person with two accounts.
2. Two different people but they know each other and set it up.
3. @2 made a mistake and fletc3her @17 just capitalized on it for laughs.
50
Oh, artbasketsarah, I heart you.
51
But not enough to spell your name right.
52
@49 Argh you're on to me.
53
@50/51 I love being hearted!! Thanks! And I just assumed the "h" was for heart. ;)

(One of the few times a TV dinner has expressed appreciation for me...)
54
fletc3her is my new hero. Mind you, at year's end I compile a list of my regrets that is 5x the size of the Stranger Regrets Issue, so big it's just a marketing schtick predictably void of any sincerity.
55
Also newsworthy: a movie made with dancing atoms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-enviro…
56
Stupid bicyclist decides to red light, hits side of semtruck and dies. Let's ban semitrucks.
57
On a positive note, I saw a squirrel with a baby in her mouth make it across Dexter at Harrison alive. Took a few tries and a truck narrowly missing her.
58
@57 Must have been a pretty big squirrel. A whole baby?

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