On Saturday morning, a 77 year old man was killed after being hit by a cyclist on Beach Rd in Mentone. That someone was killed walking in front of a bicycle is not surprising. Pretty much anyone who rides a bike in Melbourne will have had a pedestrian walk in front of them without looking at one time or another. The difference in this case is that this man was killed crossing with the 'green man' at pedestrian lights, by a 'peleton' of 200+ unofficially organised amateur riders that were either unable, or unwilling to break the bunch and stop in time. I can't help but think that bike/car relations in Melbourne are reaching some sort of crisis point. My daily ride to and from work, mainly along bike-friendly back streets, attracts abuse from motorists (and pedestrians) probably once a week on average. People hate bike riders. As a cyclist, the contempt with which I am treated by those in cars and pedestrians is really quite confronting. A short ride is enough
Interesting. But spinnable. You see Tom, the military involvement in the second world war was shorter, but that armed conflict occupied almost the entirity of the War on Fascism (Second World War is so 20th century.
ReplyDeleteA better comparions would be the Vietnam conflict. Not because there are any similarities between Iraq and Vietnam, of course, but because Vietnam was arguably the longest and largest US military action the context of the War on Communism (Cold War is similarly out-of-date).
So far, Iraq seems to be the largest and longest military action in the context of the War on Terror.
So surely the more important point is not how long the armed conflict goes on, but how long it is in proportion to the wider war of ideas. So let's just keep up this war against terror, and the relative duration of Iraq won't be so bad, right?
Sorry? What about all the human casualties and ruined infrastructure and whatnot in the meantime?
Well, I'm sure Iraq will be all sorted out soon. After all, we learned how to fight ideas with bullets in Vietnam, so the lessons of that war should help us in this one, right? Right?
If you're desperately searching for a Look-over-there-That-mess-is-even-worse kind of distraction, then look no further, Spin Doctors.
ReplyDeleteThe War on Terror: Iraq Chapter is still in chubby-cheeked infancy compared to the War on Drugs - now entering it's 38th glorious year.
And let's not forget the cleaning-company-sponsored War On Germs...
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