lutz

The "Vacaville Reporter" brings us a new way of anti-cyclist propaganda (an unbelievably stupid piece btw.).
(Please see: https://www.thereporter.com/dannybernardini/ci_8650162 )

The cycling related paragraph starts with:
"Thou shalt not dress in florescent spandex and bogart the road....."
and ends with:
"I hear they are remaking Sly Stalone's '70s picture "Death Race 2000." Here's hoping they film on the back roads of Solano and Yolo counties."
Apparently, in this movie cyclists get killed.

More info in this NorCal thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/northern-california/400201-vacaville-reporter-cycling-accident-related-humor.html

qmsdc15

May his next pet peeve be "Why do cyclist think it's OK to smash my teeth in with their 'u-locks'?". Haha, that would make a humorous piece!

KrisPistofferson

Oh my god, let's all freak out about it as if we've never even heard of a "Sense of Humor" or an "Op-Ed" for 7 or so pages.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=dunkin <- threads like these are one of the reasons A&S is a laughing stock for the rest of the forum. Helmet Head is the other.

christina.h

His real pet peeve is probably "people who are more fit than me and don't have 3 chins like I do."
Why? Because he has the same BMI that he had when he was last on a bike, when he was the fat kid on the block left behind by his neighbor kids. Oh bitter, bitter man.

twobikes

The columnist is an equal opportunity offender who insults several groups in one short piece. He is a troll, and probably dead from the neck up. I would be inclined to send copies of his column to the paper's advertisers and ask if the reckless opinions in the article are consistent with their corporate policy.

irabidfish

As cyclists we do often wear some of the most ridiculous outfits imaginable, tight fitting neon clothes that a normal person could never get away with. Obviously its for a reason, but c'mon, lets have a sense of humor about it.

UmneyDurak

Personally I don't care, seems like he is offending bunch of people equally. So he is not targeting cyclists specifically. Although if anyone cares enough...

lutz

It is easy to agree with your statement and with this part of the op-ed (yes, most cycling jerseys are ugly) - but this is not the questionable part. The ( in jest) wish for accidents to clean the roads from cyclists is a bit disturbing ( but it is just a joke!, ha ha ha , funny).

randya

but Kris, that thread is in commuting, not A&S

wHoops!

qmsdc15

For the record, I was just kidding about smashing his teeth in. Haha. Get a sense of humor, Krispy.

maddyfish

Always funny how car taxes for roads comes up. As if car taxes actually can pay for roads. And as if most cyclists don't also have cars.

KrisPistofferson

Quick rule of thumb for finding your way around Adult-Land, guys:

Op-Ed columns are the opinion of whoever took the time to e-mail or send a letter, not the newspaper. This means that every Rush Limbaugh fan, person who claims Obama is an "Islamofascist," person who claims Global Warming is a religion for atheist abortion doctors, and person who think fluoridated water is a Jewish conspiracy is given equal time. If you decide to get offended at all of this, you are wasting valuable time that could be better spent breathing, reproducing, watching American Idol or reading Harry Potter books. The most dismaying thing about the article in the OP is that it is not funny, not that it advocates the murder of cyclists, (perhaps that's a bit of a hyperbole-laden stretch?)

Every week some whiner in A&S posts a thread about how the Bush administration is oppressing them because the guy at Burger King didn't let them take their bicycle inside during lunch rush, or some stupid cager-hate thread. It gets old. I certainly don't want any of you sandy vaginas representing me to the non-cycling public at large.

irabidfish

Actually in adult land, the things that people send in are called letters to the editor, opinions written by staff writers are op-ed's, or just opinions, and if its a regular one its called a "column". The newspaper does state its opinion, thats called an editorial and is signed off on by the ed-board. An editorial looks very different from a op-ed, and an op-ed is very different from letters to the editor.

This op-ed was written by a staff reporter and not just some yacko. I didn't find it offensive, but it really wasn't funny either. But then, we are talking about the vacaville reporter not the NYT here.

I am with you that its supposed to be a humorous piece here, but honestly the way you are approaching this is not something I would advise in "adult land". When you take a condescending tone, make sure you are actually right.

randya

Actually, Kris is right, op-ed pieces are really just longer letters to the editor written by someone with some supposed credibility regarding the topic under discussion, which are granted special status by the editors.

irabidfish

It depends. It is correct that what you call a piece has more to do with what section it falls in rather than the content. However there are some things that won't happen. Extremist positions are almost never printed anywhere besides letters to the editor.

"This means that every Rush Limbaugh fan, person who claims Obama is an "Islamofascist," person who claims Global Warming is a religion for atheist abortion doctors, and person who think fluoridated water is a Jewish conspiracy is given equal time."

That clearly describes something no responsible newspaper would pay for. Op-ed pieces, those done by experts usually don't take such a radical stance because the newspaper actually pays for them and they usually want something that readers will find enlightening or funny, or somehow worthy of space on the page. This is not to say all letters to the editor are worthless either, because many are very interesting as well.

Thats splitting hairs though. The point is this article was written as a column by a staff reporter. Not someone who just took the time to mail it in. You can call it whatever you like, but the spirit of what Kris was saying was absolutely wrong.

lutz

Actually, Kris seems to be not right whatsoever. At least his statements are curiously inconsistent.
He tells us to not mind and not care if a staff writer for a newspaper implicitly threatens us cyclists with accident and worse (although it is supposed to be funny) and then gets strangely outraged and personally offended if other people voicing concern on his (?) forum (and are neither representing a newspaper nor claim to represent him).
Although Kris is clearly a better and funnier writer than the genius from the vacaville reporter, this does not make his statements on the implication newspaper opinion pieces (in his adult world) correct. This nonsense would usually not even appear in letter from a reader. It is not marked as an Op-Ed, it seems to be part of his work as a regular "columnist". Thanks irabidfish.

buzzman

I thought op-ed (opposite editorial) was an individual opinion expressed by a writer (sometimes on the staff of the paper or of some outside source but of some level of authority). These are far more controlled articles than a standard "letter to the editor"- they are often an opposite opinion solicited by the editorial staff.

What's with the "adult land" comment and patronizing attitude? How necessary is that? Especially when you're not quite so clear on the concept yourself.

Oh, I just saw your name and now I get it- you're a pistoff(p)erson- Didn't mean to cramp your style.
Carry on.

randya

your analysis is good but fails when you understand that newspapers are under a lot of pressure from their advertisers and the pervasive car culture that exists both in the mass media and the general public, to actively advocate for motorists and against cyclists; then you do get extreme viewpoints on both the editorial and the op-ed page. staff reporters are of course influenced both by car culture and the senior editors at the rag they work for.

lutz

Sorry randya, but I fail to see that the "extreme viewpoints" of the vacaville reporter are anywhere in the range of extreme opinions normally voiced in the media (I am aware it is the standard for Limbaugh but only people who really need this are able to listen his stuff). I cannot imagine that pressure from advertisers would promote such nonsense nor would it excuse it. If you like the idea of newspapers publishing stuff like the VR and perhaps fold under pressure as described in your post than of course, just do nothing.

KrisPistofferson

This thread reminds me of when my brother used to start bawling and make us turn it from the 3 Stooges because "they're being mean to each other!"

That was when he was 5.

Perpetual-victimhood is perhaps psychologically gratifying in making us feel like we are part of some magical secret club, but it will ultimately run far more people off than swell our ranks. Countdown to someone comparing our "plight" to the Civil Rights movement in 3...2...1...

lutz

Kris,
do I understand you correctly, that your attitude will improve things for cyclists. Well, how do you suggest we can put your arrogance and condescending behavior to work successfully for new bike paths or cyclists rights on the road ???

You must have copied this "perpetual victim hood rhetoric" from another rant, it does not apply to this thread - it was just about an idiot advocating car racing to get rid of cyclists accidentally (in jest) and this idiot being a staff writer.

mike

Don't get too worked up by "Danni Bernardini" of Vacaville in northern California. He writes like a typical stoner in small town. My guess is that his favorite foods are catfish and watermellon.

He lives with his parents and writes the articles on the computer in the basement of his parent's house. His mother checks his english before it is submitted to the local paper. His mother is a retired third grade teacher. She got the job for Danni. By coincidence, Danni's mother used to date the editor when they were in high school, and again temporarily when she was briefy separated from Danni's father.

Dannni gets paid $25 per article which he used to buy "some great bud" from one of his old high school friends who gets it sent to him from a guy in Oregon.

Don't worry about it! Danni doesn't own a car of his own.

KrisPistofferson

What I do for advocacy is ride my bike in traffic, follow the laws of the road, and respect motorists and other cyclists. Call me crazy.

When a small town newspaper gets inundated with e-mails from all over the country about a tongue-in-cheek article with an off-hand mention of a 70s b-movie, this makes the e-mail recipients think that somewhere on the internetz is a group of losers who consider it their job to get offended. What this does for cycling advocacy you'll probably have to explain to me.

Scout!

The funniest part is the name of the town. "Vaca" is Spanish for "cow". "Ville" is from French for "village". California puts them together to make "Vacaville", which sounds a bit more posh than "Cowtown".

Allister

You're crazy. No-one here will believe that's even possible.

A squeaky wheel gathers no moss, as they say.