Citi Bike Scam

The new citi bike bike share program is being rolled out and it looks like a big scam. Of course anything that puts more bikes on the roads is welcomed by me, so there are things I like about the idea. But the overall pricing scheme seems set up to rip off the unsuspecting tourist more than anything. It's not all bad, though, so let's start off with some of the more positive aspects of the bike share program highlighted by the department of transportation:

“For less than the cost of a single monthly MetroCard, an annual

Citi Bikemembership gives you instant access to unlimited short rides 365 days a year,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “Citi Bike will redefine what it means to get around New York City, and now is the time to upgrade to this fun, fast and safe transportation option.”

Sounds great, right? It does and that's just the problem because what it sounds like and the way it actually works are quite different. First off for those more casual users getting a day or weekly pass are limited to 30 minute rides. I ride thousands of miles a year around New York City and I can say that 30 minutes isn't much time at all. Combine that with the fact that many of the people riding these will likely be tourists it's certain that people are going to get lost and incur overage charges that add up quickly.

For the 24-hour pass you'll pay $9.95 plus tax. That gives you all the 30 minute rides you can take but should you go over that the next 30 to 60 minutes will cost you an additional $4. If you have it over that hour you'll get dinged another $13 for the next half hour. Meaning a 90 minute ride on one of these bikes could well cost you over $30! Every additonal 30 minutes thereafter will cost you an additional $12. So if you were crazy enough to take the bike out for a whole 24-hour period you'd be looking at a whopping $566.95 plus tax.

Now to be fair, the program explicitly states it's meant for short trips. The website is very clear that if you want to tool around on a bike you should visit one of the local bike rental shops. But that's precisely the problem. The program seems purposefully designed to protect the existing bike rental shops rather than offer them real competition that might actually benefit the consumer.

Now if you're a local and opt for the yearly pass it's going to set you back nearly a $100 and with it you get the advantage of unlimited 45 minute trips. This is a step in the right direction but it's still going to be a tricky. I happen to live in a neighborhood in Brooklyn that is literally saturated with the bike docks. Every couple of blocks there are docks and I still can't figure out how I would use the program if I were so inclined.

Say you wanted to grab one of the bikes to go to the grocery. Unless there is a docking station outside the grocery it's all but impossible. If you wanted to use it for commuting to work or school it would be equally difficult given the time frame and the overage charges would easily mount.

That's what is so frustrating about this system. It's purposefully designed to hit you with overage charges. There's no good reason it couldn't be more like Zip Car where you borrow the bike for a specified amount of time with a per hour rate. Thirty and 45 minute trips are not very long in New York City. True you can get to a lot of places in that amount of time but with the bike share you have the added inconvinience of making sure your destination has a docking station nearby; otherwise you'll incur overage charges.

I'm glad there will be more bikes in the City. This will no doubt accelrate the push for more and better bike lanes. But the pricing scheme seems all wrong. It exhibits all the problems of capitalism where the things we create and the services we build are created for profit rather than people. A truly equitable system of bike sharing shouldn't be that hard to build in a city like New York.

 

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Anarcho-Terrosism?

Steven Kurlander's "A Lesson of the Boston Bombings: Stop Classifying Criminal Anarchist Violence as Acts of War" is a real exercise in ignorance. According to Kurlander, "The Tsarnaev brothers were nothing more than immigrant anarchists carrying on a tradition of political violence, this time framed in religious fervor." To be fair, Kurlander believes "anarchist" is just another word for "terrorist":

Back in the early 20th century, "terrorists" were referred to as "anarchists" (basically the same thing) and carried out what would be termed these days as "acts of war."

Absent from Kurlander's spurious attempt to conflate anarchism with terrorism is the fact that anarchism gave rise to one of the nation's most peaceful social movements ever: Occupy Wall Street. Other anarchist groups like Food Not Bombs have been feeding people for decades. What is typically and falsely regarded as violence by anarchists is nearly always some form of destruction of property: smashing a window, sabotaging an animal trap, or destroying machines used to destroy our forests. Perhaps the most thoughtful reflection on the use of violence by anarchists can be found in Alexander Berkman's autobiographical "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist" where Berkman highlights the folly of his attempted assasination of the manager of Carnegie Steel. The act was largely repudiated by anarchists at the time and was a major source of growth for both Berkman and the iconic Emma Goldman.

More recently we have "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship" which was written over 30 years ago and yet remains as relevant as ever: "A clear explanation of why anarchists oppose terrorism, and why terrorism or propaganda by deed can be of no benefit to the working class, as capitalism is a social relationship, not a group of bad individuals."

In short Kurlander's nonsense is easily refuted by the long history of anarchism and anarchists working to create a better world through direct action, mutual aid, and solidarity. Thankfully many of the commenters pointed this out. One commentator pointed out the salient fact that Kurlander never mentions any of the numerous examples of state sponsored terrorism:

...yet never offers up examples of terrorism committed by the State and reactionary forces against its own population, most notably, the raids on IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) halls by federal and local authorities, as well as reactionary groups often hired by mill or factory owners; the assassination of prominent members of the Black Panther Party in the late 60s by local police forces; the bombing of the MOVE compound, in 1984, by the Philidelphia Police Dept.; the assassination of Martin Luther King, by a member of the KKK; the attack by local, state and federal forces of the Branch Dividians in Waco, TX in 1993; the atempted murder of Judi Bari by planting a bomb in her car for doing both environment and labor work, and lets not for get the killings of young, mostly, black males by police that have been so prominent over the last year its equating to one person dying every 28 hours.

We can't blow up a social relationship. No bomb or act of violence is going to destroy capitalism and the state. The men who bombed the Boston Marathon were not anarchists. And Steven Kurlander should be ashamed of himself.

 

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Links & Stuff

Just enjoying a lazy Sunday morning and thought I would share some links that grabbed my eye.

I love my iPhone for photography. I use to make videos (see above), time lapse photography and it constantly amazes me what I can do with it. If you're a budding iphonographer check out this link for some great accessories for your phone.

Here's more fuel for the fire of the nutty conspiracy theorists who think the bombing of the Boston Marathon was the work of our government. According to the story the first suspect was taken alive. They even have video evidence!

At the other end of the crazy spectrum we have Steven Kurlander conflating terrorists with anarchists over at the Huffington Post. I'll be posting more about this tomorrow, but the comment section does a great job of refuting Kurlander's nonsense. You might also want to take a look at "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship," for a great read on why anarchists reject terrorism and violence as a means of social change. It's over 30 years old and just as relevant today.

Perhaps the day's saddest story was reading about how the San Francisco Pride festival rescinded its offer to name Bradley Manning the Grand Marshal. Common Dreams has a great article on this hypocrisy. Apparently corproate criminals are great while heroes like Bradley Manning are questionable.

Hope you're having a great Sunday wherever you are.

 

 

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Look for the Helpers

The bombings at the Boston Marathon revealed just how good most people are. Despite what we are constantly told about human nature, it's events like this that reveal our inherent goodness, our natural inclinations towards mutual aid. As the bombs went off many people ran towards the blast to help people. As Fred Rogers famously said, "Look for the helpers." And the helpers were everywhere to be found.

There was the story of the " young surgical intern who had just finished a 14-hour hospital shift pushed his way through the police lines to treat victims at the end of a marathon route." Or the story of peace activist Carlos Arredondo who kept a complete strangers arteries shut with his bare hand. And who coudl forget the amazing tales of marathon runners continuing on past the finish line another 2 plus miles to donate blood at the hospital! Story after story of everyday courage and compassion emerged through the fog of terror to reveal just how much good there is in the world. No doubt most of them will never get printed, but for anyone paying attention people doing good far outnumbered the two cowards who sought to kill and maim.

As usual, Americans had to turn to comedians like Stephen Colbert to here the real news. As Colbert put it, "These people tried to make life bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do is show just how good those people are." As my friend Nick pointed out in his wonderful Boston Recap:

This was the sort of reporting we should have seen more of on Monday and Tuesday. Reporting that honored the strength and power of the people of Boston, that made people in Boston, and around the country, feel strong and uplifted; rather than giving in to the fear and mourning that any terrorist would have wanted us to embrace. It seems trite to say it, but the point of terrorism is to inspire fear. Every moment we stand up straight and saying, "No, fuck you, we're going to keep living our lives and helping each other," is a moment where we prevail and keep our dignity against the monsters of the world that try to steal it from us.

So don't fret. Don't let the fear mongers win. We're just as likely to be killed by our own furniture as by terrorism. Remember the helpers. Share their stories. And the next time chaos descends upon us, look for the helpers; be a helper! Spread the love. Stop the hate.

 

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The Technology of Surveillance.

David Henneberry

One of the most popular memes coming out of the bombing of the Boston Marathon has been the way technology has helped. Story after story has been posted and published detailing the ways in which technology has made it easier to nab the bombers. A lot of this goes toward justifying the spiraling costs of our Big Brother government post 9/11 Security State that wants to keep tabs on us at all times--for our own good, of course. Perhaps the most ridiculous story to surface, however, has been the notion that Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) was instrumental in finding the second suspect, Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

Gizmodo's recent story is a great example of this. But perhaps the best one is their most recent story titled: The Crazy Accurate Thermal Images that Saw Dzokhar Tsarnaev Through a Boat Tarp. We're all supposed to be amazed and delighted that security forces have such amazing technology. More importantly, however, we're supposed to believe that this technology is somehow responsible for nabbing the latest incarnation of evil.

The fact of the matter is this technology had nothing to do with finding the suspect. The man who owned the boat, David Henneberry, was out having a smoke when he noticed something amiss with his tarp. When he went over to inspect it he saw the bloody body of Dzokhar Tsarnaev. You can read the full story here. But there was no major technolgy deployed or used to find this kid.

 

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Reflections on the Boston Bombing

We're not a very reflective society. Immediately after the bombings in Boston people were calling for the heads of the perpetrators. Our instinctive response to violence is always more violence. In response to the attacks on 9/11 we've launched wars across the globe killing at least a million people, creating millions of refugees, and destroying entire nations in the process. Our leaders have codified torture and systemically rolled back our civil liberties. No doubt this attack will be used to roll back even more liberties. Here in New York City we have to show ID to purchase a utility knife. I imagine we will see similar efforts when one purchases a pressure cooker.

What's happening to us a society? It's not just Muslims from far off lands intent on killing us. Our own citizens have again and again went on killing sprees, intent on killing as many of us as possible. While we wage wars in dozens of countries across the globe the number one killer of our soldiers is suicide. And suicides are up across the board. Basically when someones not trying to kill us, we're killing ourselvesat unprecedented rates. Violence begets violence; and our systemic attack on the inherent value of life seems to come home to roost. We don't value life "over there" and we don't value it over here.

Much of the current focus is on regulating gun sales. Gun advocates point to the Boston Bombing as proof that curbing gun sales won't stop the crazies. All of this misses the much larger point that our collective actions at home and abroad are driving people to want to kill as many of us as possible. Calling it terrorism doesn't change this fact.

This isn't to justify any of this violence. But in a nation that routinely uses violence to settle disputes, is it any wonder that citizens and non-citizens choose that same route? When our President doesn't like what's going on in North Korea he doesn't reach out to discuss the issue, he flies nuclear capable bombers over the peninsula.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said so eloquently in 1967, "My government is the largest purvayor of violence in the world." We were then in the process of murdering millions in Indochina. Dr. King's sentiments are still true today in a world where the US nearly outspends the rest of the world on death and destruction. Over the last 30 years our police forces have become highly militirized, routinely murdering citizens with impunity, and acting more like an occupying army than a civilized police force.

Our problem is not Islam. It's not East vs West. It's not a problem of regulating gun sales or enhancing the security state. We can't regulate this problem. We cannot legislate it away. There are no easy fixes, but as Noam Chomsky has said again and again there's an easy way to stop terrorism: stop participating in it. Stop looking for violent means to address our problems.

 

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On Killing

Where I think the 1% have really won the war of ideas, it's not Capitalism Vs Whatever. It's the Hobbesian view of human nature as brutal, savage creatures. It's why the nightly News is rape, murder, rape, murder, murder, war and more war. People will confidently point to some event as proof that human nature is inherently bad/evil. We'd all be running around raping, pillaging and murdering to our hearts content if it weren't for the police! Today, in fact, there was a bombing of the Boston Marathon, further proof of the depravity of the human spirit.

Or is it? The truth is we are in our infancy of understanding human nature; anybody who speaks authoritatively and conclusively probably doesn't have a clue. But that's not to say we don't know anything. One of the most interesting books I've read in some time is "On Killing" by David Grossman. It deals with the psychological toll of killing on soldiers. But, perhaps, the most interesting aspect of Grossman's work is the inherent resistance humans have to killing one another:

During World War II U.S. Army Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall asked these average soldiers what it was that they did in battle. His singularly unexpected discovery was that, of every hundred men along the line of fire during the period of an encoun-ter, an average of only 15 to 20 "would take any part with their weapons." This was consistently true "whether the action was spread over a day, or two days or three."

Marshall was one of the pioneers in this field. What's even more surprising is that of that 15 or 20 who actually shot the majority of them were purposefully trying to miss! The firing rate continues to increase with modern training and by the Vietnam War soldiers are firing at a 90% rate and yet it still took an average of 50,000 bullets for every killed enemy soldier! Despite the higher firing rates, soldiers were still purposefully missing.

This phenomena appears to be universal. Take our nation's Civil War, one of the bloodiest wars in our nations history:

Author of the Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia F. A. Lord tells us that after the Bade of Gettysburg, 27,574 muskets were recovered from the battlefield. Of these, nearly 90 percent (twenty-four thousand) were loaded. Twelve thousand of these loaded muskets were found to be loaded more than once, and six thousand of the multiply loaded weapons had from three to ten rounds loaded in the barrel. One weapon had been loaded twenty-three times. Why, then, were there so many loaded weapons available on the battlefield, and why did at least twelve thousand soldiers misload their weapons in combat?

That's a lot of loaded muskets, and it says something wonderful about the human spirit. Remember this is a war where lines of soldiers may have only been 30 yards from each other. Given the weapons they used we should have seen kill rates of hundreds of dead per minute; instead these battles saw one or two dead per minute. Most of these men were simply pantomiming the movements of fire, load, fire. They were loading and loading and loading but never firing!

This is both sides! They have no idea that the soldiers across from them are doing the same thing. Bullets are being fired. People are dying. People are getting hurt. And yet the great majority of men did anything and everything they could to avoid killing anyone! Grossman sums it up well when he says:

Secretly, quietly, at the moment of decision, just like the 80 to 85 percent of World War II soldiers observed by Marshall, these soldiers found themselves to be conscientious objectors who were unable to kill their fellow man.

How amazing is that? How wonderful it is to think that even with their lives on the line, even in the heat of battle, most men find themselves to be conscientious objectors when it matters most!

 

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Bullet Catch

So much of what passes for modern entertainment is mean spirited; pitting people against each other in horrible competitions or trying to make fools of volunteers in some way. So it was a real breath of fresh air when Rob Drummond stood with his volunteer from the audience of Bullet Catch and said, "I will not be making fun of you or trying to embarrass you. We're here together to enjoy this journey." The audience loudly and positively affirmed this noble and good-hearted gesture and with that the stage was set for a very magical journey that blurred the lines between magic show and story telling.

Bullet Catch is now playing at 59E59 Theatres. It revolves, as the title suggests, around the infamous bullet catch; a feat so dangerous that even the amazing Harry Houdini refused to attempt the trick. Rob Drummond skillfully builds the necessary tension during the hour long show as he deftly pulls off magic tricks and tells the story of an unsuccesfful attempt at the bullet catch with the help of an audience member.

It's part story telling, part magic show, but what really carries the show is the sincerity and showmanship of Rob Drummond. Unlike so many so-called entertainers, Drummond isn't out to get a cheap laugh at the expense of someone else. You get the feeling that he's getting as much out of the show as we are and I really think that's what makes it such a special show.

Bullet Catch is playing now through April 21st. I highly recommend this show. The 59E59 Theatres rarely disappoint and this show is no exception. Great story. Impressive magic. And a sincere performance that reminds us of the good in each other.

 

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Moves

Wearable fitness devices like the Nike Fuel Band and the Jawbone Up have become increasingly popular over the past year. Earlier this year I purchased the Jawbone Up but found it lacking in a lot of ways. Partly what I disliked about it was that now I had yet another device to worry about: charge, sync, etc. It was one more device I had to think about. The other problem with the Jawbone Up was it really wasn't suited to my particular excercise habits. I bike, run, walk and swim. I also ride public transportation a lot and the Jawbone would inevitably translate all that bouncing and jostling as some manner of walking; inaccurately increasing the amount of walking I did in a given day. For $130 the Jawbone Up was really not doing what I needed. Turns out there really is an app for that!

Moves is an amazing little app that runs in the background of your iphone and tracks your activity throughout the day! It's one of the most impressive apps I've ever had. Throughout my day it seemlessly differentiates between my activities, magically knowing when I've hopped on my bike or started to run; it even knows when I'm riding the subway or bus and lables that as "transportation."

The interface is very minimalist and gives you a few different ways to view your data. To the right here you can see my activity summary for Sunday, March 24th. You can also toggle this data to show you the amount of time you spent doing each activity or the amount of steps in the case of walking and running.

Another view provides you with a great timeline of your day. The app, with your permission, pulls location data from Four Square and can give you a great snapshot of your days activities: where you were and how you got there.

Not only is this fun but it provides you a great way to look at your days and see how you might be able to be more active. Instead of taking the train I ride my bike or walk.

The best thing is I'm not carrying an additional device. I'm not having to charge and sync a separate device. And I don't need to start and stop the app. It just runs along in the background keeping track of what I'm doing.

Did I mention that it's free? Compared to the hundred dollar wearable devices like the Fuelband, Jawbone Up and Fitbit, Moves blows them away.

The only two things it doesn't do that these fitness devices do is track sleep and diet. I've added My Fitness Pal and Sleep Time to my phone and that covers all the bases.

If you're looking into the wearable fitness devices out there I'd highly encourage you to check out Moves. It's an amazing app with a price--FREE--that can't be beat.

 

 

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BYOB Painting Lounge

Our Masterpieces

If you're looking for something fun to do in New York City, I suggest checking out the Painting Lounge. From their FAQ:

Painting Lounge is a teaching art studio featuring daily group BYOB painting classes in a relaxed, social setting. Our experienced instructors make painting a masterpiece easy, fun and totally stress free. All supplies are included, and don't forget we are BYOB (bring your own beverage), so bring a little liquid courage to help get those creative juices flowing!

This was a wonderful birthday present I got this year. You can see the two pieces we did in the photo.

I have never painted in my life and I must say it was a lot of fun. I was sure my painting would turn out terrible, so I was really surprised by how much I actually liked it!

This was probably one of the easiest classes they have but all of the classes are designed for beginners. All the materials are provided, and the instruction made it all really easy to pursue your artistic vision.

Whether you're visiting or live here, the Painting Lounge makes for a great evening of fun. Plus you get to go home with your very own masterpiece! I imagine someone visiting the City starting out at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and actually seeing some of Andy Warhol's famous paintings and then heading over to the Painting Lounge to actually create one! (Other artists are also possible, of course).

 

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The Effectiveness of Stop & Frisk

The mainstream media does a very good job of framing issues. The recent criticism of the NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy is a great example of this. We are told again and again by liberal pundits that Stop and Frisk isn't effective (basically the same criticism these pundits will use to criticize war and other atrocities like torture). In a recent article for the Guardian, John Liu frames Stop and Frisk as being ineffective:

The numbers don't lie: New York City police have conducted 5m "stop-and-frisk" searches since 2002. More than 86% of individuals targeted were black or Hispanic, and 88% were innocent of any crime. The stop-and-frisk tactic is clearly discriminatory, often humiliating, and totally ineffective. It must be abolished.

The numbers don't lie, but they certainly don't tell the whole story. To believe, as Liu clearly does, that Stop-and-Frisk is ineffective we'd have to believe that it's intent is to stop crime. We would have to believe that the NYPD are complete bufoons who don't know the basic facts that Liu sums up for us. We would have to assume, as liberals often do, that this is a wrong-headed policy carried out by an otherwise benevolent and good institution: the NYPD.

The real intent behind Stop and Frisk isn't hard to comprehend if you're a youth of color in New York City, but thankfully NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly actually spelled it out in a meeting with New York State Senator Eric Adams:

Kelly “stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time they left their homes they could be targeted by police,” Adams said.

In other words the intent has never had anything to do with crime. Ray Kelly and the NYPD wanted to instill fear in communities of color and they've done that. Couple Stop and Frisk with the indiscriminate murders of kids like Kimani Gray and Ramarley Grahm and many more people of color and the NYPD has been very effective at terrorising the people of New York City.

Stop and Frisk needs to be abolished; not because it's ineffective, but precisely because it is effective. Bloomberg's Army has terrorized the people of New York City long enough.

 

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NYPD Terrorists

 

Every once in a while we get a gem from our rulers; sometimes they actually have the audacity to state their motivations. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly did just that when he informed New York State Senator Eric Adams that the Stop and Frisk program was aimed at instilling fear in young black and latino men. Senator Adams testified:

Kelly “stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time they left their homes they could be targeted by police,” Adams said.

Of course, Ray Kelly is denying he ever said such a thing. In fact, city attorney Heidi Grossman claims that was Ray Kelly actually said was that officers should "instill belief" in young men of minority backgrounds. Surprisingly Grossman didn't elaborate on what that belief might be; perhaps the belief that if you are a person of color in New York City you can expect to be terrorized by the NYPD.

Is this really surprising? What other motivation could there be? Roughly 94% of the stops result in no charges. While the super majority of stops target youth of color, whites are twice as likely to be carrying a weapon. Nine out of ten stopped in 2011 were neither arrested nor given summonses. Statistic after statistic proves that this has nothing to do with crime or gun control and everything to do with terrorizing people of color.

 

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Tipping

I do tip, but I also have a moral objection to the gratuity system. I can't walk into a restaurant and just take food for free. So why is it I can legally steal the labor of waitstaff?

The image to the right and other similarly worded images have made their rounds through social media networks. Invariably the anger is aimed at those who don't tip: the "cheap piece of shit."

Missing is the righteous anger at restauranteurs who refuse to pay a living wage to their help. The restaurant owner would never dream of letting the patron decide what to leave for a meal, but somehow it's perfectly reasonable to make that decision when it comes to the hard work of those who serve us?

In fact the restaurant lobby has successfully kept wages stagnant for the past 20 years:

Since 1966, a sub-section of the minimum wage has existed for people who work for gratuities, known as the "tipped minimum wage," which Congress last bumped to $2.13 per hour in 1991. Some states have increased the tipped minimum wage on their own as well -- and Washington, like six other states, has no tipped minimum wage at all, so servers earn a full $9.04 before gratuities. About half of all states, however, continue to allow restaurants to pay servers $2.13, provided they make up the difference if the server doesn't reach the standard minimum wage after tips.

As Oscar Wilde said, "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." We know the price of a burger. We know how much a pint of beer costs. But we have no idea how to value the labor of the hard working people that make it all possible. We need to push past the gratuity system towards a living wage that values peoples hard work.

 

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