THUD Toronto campaign

K-Dough is hereby challenging all Toronto cyclists to help control the horrid lack of road safety displayed by other cyclists every day by policing ourselves and joining the THUD Toronto (Torontonians Heckling Unsafe Drivers) campaign. The prevalent opinion that has emerged over the past week in the media, however misguided as it may be, is that poor innocent cyclists are daily persecuted by crazed anti-bike car drivers.

Well, the reality is that the majority of cyclists on our city streets are a bunch of law-ignoring, cocky/stupid jackasses who flirt with their own demises every day, flouting rules and riding like pompous 8 yr olds with entitlement complexes.

So it's really up to us- the cycling community- to make sure they know how the respectable and law-abiding among us feel about their retarded behaviour on the road.

What can you do? Every time you stop at an orange or red light and witness some stupid idiot riding gingerly half-way across the intersection and then through it; or someone speeding through the red light with no regard for their own, or others' safety yell as loud as you can: "THUD!!!" THUD is the sound of a body crunching under the wheels of a car or truck.

Or, yell THUD as you are taking a picture of them with your cell phone and post it online. Better yet, get the attention of a police officer and have them chase the idiot down.

It's not enough to whine and whinge about how cyclists are getting a raw deal when so many of us are ignorant, reckless idiots. Do something about it. Remind a stupid THUD near you that he/she is being watched.

You can JOIN a THUD facebook group organized by my buddy here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=10370&uid=132728591329#/group.php?gid=132728591329

Framing the Discussion

Metro Morning just interviewed the huggy feel-good Yvonne Bambrick from Toronto Cyclists Union and the context they have put this tragedy in is one of cyclists rights and education: Should cyclists be licensed? How can cars and cyclists get along?

Of course, the feel gooder said cyclists need to feel more welcomed by society. Yup. That was her response to a question about how to help the problem of rampant ignorance of traffic rules. She went on to say, of course they need to obey rules, but they also need to break them to stay alive.

Hm Yvonne. Does include running red lights? Riding on sidewalks? Riding in oncoming lanes when its suits them to get around red lights?

Let's get it right people: the Bryant incident was about people and rage: assault. It had nothing to do with the mode of transportation each chose.

Psycholist's Death Mourned by 1,000 Fools

Someone has to say this.

Yesterday, approximately 1,000 cyclists disrupted Toronto city streets, ostensibly to mourn the death of a guy killed while attacking the car of Ontario's former Attorney General after a minor fender-bender.

But what was their message? What were these fools really doing? While a handful may have been truly mourning, the rest were displaying a mixture of dysfunction: blind allegiance to a nutty, geeky cyclist sub-culture that thinks cyclists are never guilty of infractions and that some evil car culture persecutes them; thumbing of the noses of the mundane and mediocre at the fallen mighty because all public figures deserve ridicule when their humanity is exposed; or, at its worst, this was a display of lawless, ignorant rage similar to the same rage that ultimately became that man's undoing.

The fools demonstrated publicly, crying "murder" despite published eyewitness accounts that clearly indicate this was no ordinary case of evil car dragging innocent cyclist. They rode in support of a fucked-up criminal, wanted on 64 outstanding charges in Alberta, who was drunk and removed by police from a property less than an hour earlier, with his own friends saying he was too drunk to drive. If he had gotten in a car at that point and killed a child, we would be publicly vilifying him. But because he rode a bicycle (which he reportedly threw at the car he attacked) he is a victim? That is indescribably fucked up.

I have true sympathy for the life of the man killed. According to media reports, he had to deal with a lot of unfortunate shit while he was alive. So have I. So have a lot of people I know. What drove him to to pay the ultimate price we can't change and the question of placing blame on others is for the courts to decide. We can only soberly think about that tragic example next time we want to punch someone in their car, on their bike, on the TTC or....anywhere.

But one thing is clear: This protest wasn't about cars versus bikes or the rich versus the downtrodden. This is about the glorification of crime, akin to gangbangers becoming legends in their hood once they are gunned down.

And even when the courts decide who really is at fault, and Bryant is exonerated to the sour milk cries of preferential treatment for the rich and powerful, the fools will learn nothing. Because they are fools.

Hellllo Strangers...

I know it's been a while. Thought you'd never hear from me again? Well, certain recent events have forced me to consider coming out of retirement.

Stay tuned for some gaseous vitriol- it's building up and desperately needs to be expunged ... very soon.

Kisses, K