Posts by Grace Dalley
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How does that anecdote go about a certain prominent former MP asking a staffer to "print out" the internet for him so he could read it over the weekend? In the MP's defence, that was many years ago; it would be nice to think most people now had a grasp of what teh internets is, and how it works.
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But, but, I thought this was going to be fiction?
Quite! It's more like an exposé. :-)
"Apparently she's from Upper Hutt."
"First Sarah and Christopher decide to cancel the wedding, and now I'll have to shave all my hair off."
I love it! Thanks, David.
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...though I wouldn't shun a comprehensile tail (for grasping tale content faster and firmer...)
ROTFL! Ian, that's perfect.
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Keep bicycling folks!
And if you wear a helmet, always ride as though you don't.
I don't think cyclists are in danger of feeling complacent on a road shared with cars, SUVs, buses and trucks! Helmet or no helmet, you're always the ant running with the elephants. The danger is that motorists see your helmet and think you're safe.
Interesting stuff about seatbelts, though.
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Scary (but cool) nature clip (warning: may give you the heebie-jeebies!)
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It would be a crime to put a helmet on that gorgeous hair.
So true! Boris Johnson is such a cutie. [should mayors be required to have good hair, do you think? I didn't look to see if the DM has already written on this subject :-)]
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Plus, Amy: I think you're totally onto something. Before Mr Honda's el cheapo second car, it was Shanks' pony or on yer bike, for getting to and from school or the shops, for your average one-car family.
I can't help wondering, also, if the culture of parents-constantly-supervising-children has contributed to the problem. When I was in primary school it was normal to walk or bike to and from school (or bus if you had far to go), and nobody expected an adult to go with you once you were past the primers. Nowdays it's not considered OK to let children of that age travel independently, which means most kids don't get into the cycling habit.
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I now officially admit that I obviously can't explain science for shit and shall give up trying. If you're reading this post, Kathryn Ryan, then please consider it to be my formal resignation.
Nono! Don't do that!! We need as much proper science in the media as we can get! Please?
I don't think this debate says anything about how good you are at explaining: it's a complex issue full of stuff we wish wasn't true. But it's one of the functions of science to unsettle our prejudices. It can be upsetting. That's not your fault.
Please don't quit. Otherwise we'll have to argue about politics, or, heaven forbid, sport. ;-) And I'd much rather discuss science.
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Here's a summary of the latest data from the LTSA over the period 1989-2006 (unfortunately the sampling doesn't straddle the compulsory cycle helmet laws any more conveniently than that):
-- the number of cycling trips decreased by 51% from 181 to 89 million trips
-- the total distance cycled decreased by 29%, from 3.5 to 2.5 hundred-million kmAnd don't forget that the NZ population has increased significantly over this period.
Crap!! What disappointing figures. And the opposite of what I would have thought. Thanks, David. I am interested to know all this stuff.
And I want to shake all these people who are put off cycling by having to wear a helmet. How can they be such wimps?