Nope.....no way global warming is a factor in them.

People are going to be in such good mood's on the freeway's this afternoon I can hardly wait for the drive home! Should be good for a laugh or two. The trick is to not let them drag you down to their level and rage against them and others. Road Rage can be like a contagious disease! Gonna see some steaming car's (and people) tonight for sure! Gonna have ma a "Tall Cool One" once I make it home! Good night to catch a movie maybe!

DT- Enjoy the drive home. Since I'm already home I'll just gloat and enjoy my smoothie.

Damn you have be getting tired of me. (wink)

Right now I am plugged into the telephone line at an air-conditioned Vancouver Shari's having ice tea and pancakes whilst I type this. Southbound 205 going home is a bloody mess right now from what I hear on the CB, and the air conditioner in the Bronco is F'ed up right now, just blowing warm air around the cab so I figure I will camp out here for a while until Crush Hour traffic lets up a large bit. Travelling Hiway 14 westbound from Camas for 20 minutes prior in this heat was a bit much. (I have lived in this area my entire life and in my 23 years I still appear to have not acclimated.......)

Not certain how my cousin (who I share a East Portland area apartment with) will get home but I bet he will likely take the Max. Figure about a 1/2 hour "commute" via Max and the bus, because he works downtown. [<--go fig.] At least he doesn't have ever-escalating gas prices to worry about. And he's from North Dakota, where the weather this time of year typically runs a few degrees cooler.

Fortunately our apt. has air conditioning!!

So, if this winter we happen to have a colder than normal day, you will proclaim, we have global cooling?

You can lead a willfully ignorant horse to water...

It is so insane to look at one heatwave in one isolated part of the planet and blame it on global warming. Guess what? The Northwest has a history of heatwaves since Europeons first arrived here. Please give it a rest!

BTW, Buenos Aires had their first snow in 89 years yesterday. Must be global warming!

Hey....I ain't a global warming fanatic but I do believe as the world population increases and along with that pollution that the planet has to be warming slightly. If not "Global Warming" then for sure we are in the midst of a huge climate shift. Some areas are getting hotter, some getting blown away, and others getting SNOW. These shifting weather patterns can be disastrous. At one time the Low Pressure system that is usually over prince william sound shifted south the dramatically effected the Herring and other fishing in that region. The water warmed and the fish followed the cooler water. Of course the Exxon Valdez did not help matters much either. Texas and southern states are getting hit with more frequent and more powerful storms. In the last 100 years the population went from 1.5 billion to 6 billion. So with that math by the year 2100 there will be 24 billion people on the planet. Warming of the atmosphere is likely and probable. Just think of the added pollution generated by that many people and also how much forestation will be removed in order for civilization to expand. Dire Straights loom on the horizon and if people don't make drastic changes now things are gonna get ugly. Overcrowding, shortages of food, fuel, and other necessities of life, disease. Anyone here remember the movie "Soylent Green"?

Our own Portland climate zone has changed in recent years. Just ask master gardeners and farmers. Crops that used to flourish in our region are not, and other vegetation is growing better.

Over the next few years our Portland climate is expected to be more like Santa Barbara, CA.

No argument, climate changes it always has. There are desert areas, that used to be thriving forests, and forests that used to be deserts.

And does man account for some of it, probably, the question is man really smart enough to know how to change it for the good?

Redford: Agreed that it's insane to blame one heatwave on global "warming" (really climate change).

However, it is equally (actually, much more)insane to bury your head in the sand in the face of a preponderance of evidence that carbon dioxide levels have a direct influence on global climate.

And don't try to give me any BS about it being "natural variation".

There IS natural variation. True.

However, average temps vary directly with CO2. Fact.

CO2 levels are directly influenced by US BURNING SHIT. Undeniable.

No Rush, it's not the volcanoes.

Plain and simple we need to decrease the number of fossil fuel burning, polluting machines on our roads. You have all probably seen a space shuttle launch and are amazed by the exhaust it generates on liftoff. The launch of the shuttle burns about 3.5 million pounds of solid and liquid fuel. That's about two minutes worth compared to the gasoline consumed in one day in the US - 3,250 million pounds or 3 billion 250 million pounds. The dinosaurs that made fossil fuels went extinct and if we continue using them at these increasing rates we will join them!

Maybe we should change our auto licensing (tags) scheme, instead of by price of the automobile, or a flat rate. Start at 50 MPG a flat $50.00, and for every 5 mpg under that your car gets, increase the auto tag price by $100 per year.

And let the state emission folks determine your MPG, not the manufacturer.


I would have no problem with increasing the gas tax at the pump by $1.50 per gallon.

Nwokie...you are a tax-and-spend conservative! Now, I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing...

Actually, something like that might work... if you want to own/drive a Hummer or huge SUV or truck, you're going to pay more out of your pocket.
Maybe people would run out in droves to buy hybrids.
Also makes the $76/mo. (effective Sept. 1) for TriMet or the $105 for C-TRAN's Portland Express routes look that much better!

"...the question is man really smart enough to know how to change it for the good?"

Yes. And we have the technology right now. The US however has not been a leader in this area, but we are getting better.

I see that exposure to pdxradio.com's Politics and other things is having a positive affect on NWokie.

I have always been for higher gas tax, and the money being put into the social security trust fund, and actually invested in something, not given to congress for them to spend and write an IOU.

I spend almost 4 hrs a day on C-tran and max.
Get a little work done, read some boks, technical and fun types, and just watch the interesting people.

Okie, we're in agreement on something! Glorious!

I actually voluntarily pay extra for cleaner fuel (biodiesel).

I'd love to actually utilize the public transit I pay for. Unfortunately for me, at this point it's not much more than an occasional novelty. When traveling(to east coast or foreign cities) I love being able to get around by subway.

I'd be all for doubling the gas tax and putting the proceeds into EFFICIENT transit (no busses or grade-level rail!)

Okie, do you support extending light rail into clark county?

Well Hell.....let's put in a tram across the river as well! NOT.....Not if C-Tran is gonna run it! Besides that light rail would take away surface streets which are already plugged and overcrowded. An elevated or Subway system would make more sense. Have you driven on interstate ave lately.....what a f'in JOKE! I can already see the mess with that albatross running down the middle of Mill Plain in East Vancouver!

Not unless they can speed it up.

The bad thing about Portlands light rail, they havent made any plans for express lines. And I'm afraid as they add other lines, that all intersect downtown, the whole system is going to slow down.

Also their limited to 2 car trains, during rush hours. Seems like they want to just build their empire, not caring about the commuters.

Right now bicyclists are a big problem on the trains, one of these days, there is going to be a major accident, and people wont be able to get off soon enough, because the exits are blocked by bikes.

I've got about 3 years until I really retire, and I dont plan to live here then, but Portland needs to seriously look at its might rail system, and fix the problems before expanding.

I dont mind spending 2 hours each way, I get a lot of work done, and I like the relative peace. I got a wife and 3 daughters at home.
Most people aren't willing to give up that much time. They need to be able to get someone from Hillsboro or Gresham to downtown in under 30 minutes.

I'll agree with the need for express trains. the two-car limitation stems from Portland's smaller city blocks. Longer cars would block intersections as only one train could get in existing blocks as opposed to two pairs of trains they do now. We'd have to work with bikes because, well, bikes have zero emissions. Hate to see them spending more time on buses/light rail, or CARS! if they're denied ridership.

The Wilsonville-Beaverton communter train will be something to watch. only 4 stops total.

I like all the things we are doing for bikes, despite them making driving more difficult. Watching for them, and learning some new rules is more than worth it to me.

I suspect we are gonna see a growing number of personal transportation devices that can leverage the bike means and methods we are working through right now.

The bikes on the inside of MAX do seem a bit scary, but I'm not sure that's worth dealing with. The system overall is pretty safe. Not sure how else to handle that one, other than wall off a portion of the car for bikes and reduce overall carrying capacity. Maybe with more bikes, this would make sense.

How about putting some of the bikes on the front of the Max trains a la the current bus carrier system? To make it attractive to bikers, offer a free ride ticket if they put their bikes up front instead of carry on inside.

I doubt the bikes-on-front plan would work on MAX... you'd have to let people walk in front of the train to put their bikes on, and that alone would nix the idea on safety grounds. Do any other rail transit systems allow bikes? How do they do it?

IIRC I *have* read future plans for putting the downtown MAX underground(eventually, when there are more lines. This would elminate the 2-car restriction too). Unfortunately in today's political climate, that kind of expense would be a dealbreaker for funding the project.

It's unfortunate that politics forces short-sighted planning decisions like these, but the alternative is no project at all.

One project I'd love to see (although I've heard nothing of it existing, even in the proposal stage) is commuter rail from Vancouver to Hillsboro. The infrastructure is already in place, there's even an existing rail tunnel under Cornelius Pass. There certainly seems to be plenty of Washingtonians commuting to the tech corridor to support such a rail service. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any tradition of commuter rail in this part of the world.

For years I rode a bike a lot, up to 20 miles to work. Since moving to the Portland area, I never ride a bike, the bike riders here are too obnoxious, and ride too dangerous, to themselves and others.

If I am ever on a jury involving a bike rider and an automobile, i will rule in favor of the motorist! And I know a lot of like mined people!

I love how they bitch and moan about rules of the road and bike right of way and then see them ride though a stop sign or through a red light. Most are a bunch of hypocrit's large as life.......most....not all. What is the bike speed limit on the cross walk anyway?

Doesn't a bike rolling through a stop sign roughly equate to the typical "California stop" in a car? Perhaps even safer on the bike?

"If I am ever on a jury involving a bike rider and an automobile, i will rule in favor of the motorist!"

Nice. Man, you are so backwards sometimes. Do you even think about what you say? Make sure you tell them that during the selection process, please. Tell them " Don't bother with the trial - I'm ready to hand down my judgement."

"And I know a lot of like mined people!"

You are one creepy dude.

And a californis stop, is just as illegal as running a stop sign. Bike riders gripe about their "rights", but they show no respect for any one elses's. Its just a matter of time before one of their "Critical Masses" gets someone killed, because you cant get through them to get to a hospital.

And the Portland Mayor rides with those law breakers.

They are not all law breakers......a good portion are though and huge hypocrit's! Ewwww....look at me...i'm special for riding a bike and saving the environment so I don'y have to obey those silly motor vehicle rules. I remember in grade school it was always taught to stop and walk your bike across the intersection. Not anymore...now you can just sail across at 15mph against the do not walk sign! I have almost squashed a couple of bonehead bike riders who would have been at fault due to the laws they were breaking. I don't know how many times i've seen some bike rider trying to go straight through a green light from the right when the right lane has a green turn arrow and the crosswalk is red. Dude.......move over to the straight through lane or get plowed!

I agree , not all, but a large majority of bike riders think their above the law, from their critical mass demonstrations, to jsut flat ignoring traffic laws. And why aren't bike riders required to carry insurance?

Let's not forget they also tend to "pack" transportation meetings, demanding increased bicycle funding over everything else.
I found out the other day that there is no law that says you cannot ride a bicycle on the sidewalk, except in Downtown Portland.

Yup.

It's what I call a "Nit Law*", in that it is a law that is commonly, and mistakenly, believed to be a law but was never actually enacted and is thus merely a figment of people's imaginations. Kinda like the thing about how it's supposedly illegal for consumers to rip the tag off a mattress or pillow. (Actually it is illegal EXCEPT if you are the consumer!)

I ride sidewalks about 95% of the time when I am not in a development that doesn't have sidewalks and in about the decade or so I have been riding bikes I have yet to have a cop stop me for doing so. I try to stay away from Downtown tho. Too messy (traffic, etc.) I think.

Oh yeah, and didja know it's legal to listen to earphones while riding a bike? Yes, it can be dangerous, particularly if you use the "closed" type (like my big Sennheiser cans I mentioned some months ago) and/or if you play them loudly, but it's completely legal. (I have even seen people in Washington anyways, listening to earphones while driving. DRIVING!!)

I usually have my Muzak piped into my helmet over a pair of the Sony "behind-your-head" earphones and usually at a very low volume. I can still hear traffic and who/what's coming behind or beside me and still hear my audio. So as with pretty much any other activity in life it could potentially be dangerous but given the proper metrics and a bit of self-control it doesn't have to be.

* Nit Law=Not In Terms Law. Kinda like a "De Facto" rule but completely unofficial and largely unrecognised by most government.

nwokie sez: "If I am ever on a jury involving a bike rider and an automobile, i will rule in favor of the motorist!"

I agree with chickenjuggler. You're getting creepy, Can't wait for a drunken driver to mow down a bunch of bicyclists so NWokie can keep him out of jail.

ps: get off critical mass. they hardly exist anymore. potter was freely elected by citizens of portland. you don't even live here.

Hey Skep...you ever heard of a band from the 90's called "Skeptic Tank"?

Potter got elected the old school way.

He walked many Portland neighborhoods, talking to people, shaking hands, listening, then asking for votes.

I was sitting in my living room, when one of his runners came to the door and asked if I wanted to meet Tom Potter, he's here right now. I said, "Of course!" and stepped outside. There he was, talking to little kids, walking right up the middle of the street. My neighborhood, where I lived at the time was not pretty either.

I spoke with him for about 20 minutes. He listened and wrote things down in his notepad. I asked some ugly questions and related some bad experiences. He listened and talked with me as a neighbor would talk with me.

He didn't ask for the vote, until after we had both said our peace too.

When the well funded competition was infused with more cash, he shook more hands and raised the small cap a bit to fund his efforts.

Freely elected indeed. He's spoken with more real Portlanders than most all other elected people here have combined. Real conversations too, not just staged events, or gatherings. He did it one or two at a time, all over the place.

That's one of the questions I had asked. He spent a majority of his time talking to people, not fund raising. Result is he is largely free to do what he was asked to do, not payback debts required to get into office.

Very American and a perfectly respectable way to get elected. You can bet he's doing the things people have asked him to do. I don't always agree, but I don't take that as a problem with Potter, just an artifact of democracy.

If you live here, I'll be willing to bet you can get a short meeting with the guy. I've actually gotten meetings with several of my elected representatives. More people should do that, and perhaps learn something, than just take pot shots here.

Potter got elected, so hes above criticism. Therefore hes above the law?