mechBgon

Do we have anyone in Pittsburg who can tell us if our letters get printed? I sure hope so!

Raiyn

Hey mech I hope you don't mind but I forwarded you parable to Mr' Buttplug in the following e-mail:

This was written by a friend of mine. I thought I might send it to you.


A parable...

I was walking down the sidewalk today, and I met a man going the other way. He was carrying a hunting rifle, and he was carrying it crosswise, taking up the whole sidewalk.
As I approached, I stayed on my side of the sidewalk, but he didn't’t move his rifle to let me pass, so I stopped. The man with the rifle stopped too, and appeared angry.

“Get out of my way! Can’t you see I have a firearm?!” he jeered.

I saw a bumper sticker once that had a message I really agree with, being an idealistic type. It said, “Just ignore your rights, and they’ll go away.” I knew quite well that I had a right to walk on the sidewalk, whether I had my firearm with me or not, and I told the man this, and I didn’t move.

He was very irritated, blustering about how powerful the weapon was, how it gave him the power to kill me then and there if he pleased, and pointing out that the safe thing to do would be for me to stay out of the way in case it accidentally discharged. Couldn’t anyone in their right mind see that I, an unarmed human being, had less right to the sidewalk than he did, by merit of his rifle? He finished his tirade by pointing out that HE pays taxes on his rifle and ammunition.

I countered by pointing out that it is the human being, not the rifle that they carry, which has rights, and that all people have the same rights in this country. In rebuttal to his nonsense about the taxes, I pointed out that I have a hunting rifle of my own, which I pay taxes on, although I was not carrying it at the time, and I pay all the other taxes that every other citizen does, including the income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes which the government uses to build sidewalks.

Unable to cow me into submission, the man, now red-faced with rage, stalked around me and continued on his way, still confident that his rifle somehow made him a superior citizen.

Can anyone identify with the man carrying the rifle in my parable? Probably not. But Dimitri Vassilaros evidently feels this way about getting into an automobile and encountering bicyclists, judging by the opinion he posted at https://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tri...s/s_82631.html. Sad.


I've read your article and I have found it to be the single most foolish piece of pseudo journalism I have ever had the displeasure to read. What gives? Are you trying to get picked up by the National Enquirer?

I suggest you read the following articles about a man who felt the same as you do, had that same attitude as you seem to flaunt and is now serving 45 years for murder. All because he didn't feel he should have to share the road.

https://www.chicagocriticalmass.org/mcbride_trib1.html
https://www.chicagocriticalmass.org/m...ly_herald.html
https://www.chicagocriticalmass.org/m...un_times1.html

"But during the trial, witnesses said he sped up to hit McBride, and after the bicyclist fell on the side of the street, he quickly drove off with the mangled 10-speed bike dragging underneath and sending sparks flying."

Is this the kind of reaction you intended when you, in essence, declared open season on cyclists?

To you sir "May you live in interesting times."

mechBgon

No problem He might have seen it already, since I did send it with name/address/phone to the Letters To The Editor address, in case they feel like printing it. But it exposes their editor as a dog-in-the-manger goon, and I live at the other end of the continent, so I doubt they'd print it. You never know...

John E

As an American libertarian-leaning centrist with no allegiance to either major party (i.e., a member of the true "silent majority" in this country, estimated by some to be 60 percent of the voting-age population), I do not see bicycling and cyclists' rights as a liberal vs. conservative issue. I love Mike's freedom-advocating response.

By the way, our columnist sent me the same "thanks for reading my swill" form letter which was quoted above, in response to my note to him:

Dear Mr. Vassilaros,

Your inflammatory, ill-informed op-ed piece is extremely
counterproductive to those of us who LEGALLY use our PUBLIC roads in the most efficient mode of transportation every invented. Bicycling is not inherently unsafe when motorists and bicyclists share the roads in a courteous, sensible, patient, legal manner.

Gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees come nowhere near covering the cost of our roadway infrastructure; the private automobile is the most heavily subsidized form of travel in the history of civilization.

When I choose to travel by bicycle instead of by car, I do something positive about global warming, fossil fuel depletion, traffic congestion, and air pollution.

Roads are for people, not just people in cars.


All the best,

John

Scorpion

On 7/24/02 I sent Dimitri a short responce to his article titled "Bicycles and cars don't mix".

Dimitri,

I guess brains and a newspaper column don't mix either.

Yours Truly,
Bob Faiano

To my suprise while checking my e-mail I found this responce.


Subj: RE: 7/23/02
Date: 7/26/02 12:02:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: dvassilaros@tribweb.com
To: TazD54@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)




Sometimes they are mutually exclusive. Go figure. J



-----Original Message-----
From: TazD54@aol.com [mailto:TazD54@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 6:58 PM
To: dvassilaros@tribweb.com
Subject: 7/23/02



Dimitri,

I guess brains and a newspaper column don't mix either.

Yours Truly,
Bob Faiano


On my copy of his responce the symbol after his sentence "Go figure." is a smiley face.

I guess he figured the only way to respond to all the e-mails he must have recieved was to try and make a joke out of it and to poke fun at himself. I guess he isn't much of a writer if this is the best he can do.

LittleBigMan

Don't cast your pearls before swine.

I told them it wasn't real journalism.

Seems to me he's just a crybaby.

"Booh, hoo! Those bicyclists are in my way!



Pout, pout.

gmitchell

I just went to the newspaper's web page and they posted at least one angry letter to the editor. Keep up the good
https://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib...n/s_83130.html

Inkwolf

From the tone of his replies, I have the feeling he regrets making his pet peeve into an article.....especially considering how he's getting hammered for it!

LittleBigMan

Here, give me a hammer!



Oh, forget it! I get in too much trouble, anyways!

:angel:

Hunter

Wow Chris this is quite a change in heart huh?
".. yes, and five minutes later another one comes along and does the same thing, so all that trouble was for nothing. The whole point is that you won't stop people from writing this crap whilever 'the great unwashed' are stupid enough to continue buying and reading it."

Stor Mand

I've seen the word "whilever" in several posts and I had to look it up. No offense intended and I must confess that I wasn't positive that it was or wasn't a real word ... well, it's not.

Chris L

Not really. It's basically the same point, just using different words. Pointing out inaccuracies in an article won't work. Sure, it might get an apology from him that's printed in very small font size, somewhere between the comics and the sport section (i.e. the bit nobody reads), but it won't stop people doing it again.

Basically, writing to them will give them exactly what they want, unless you write to them to stop your subscription. If you write to them pointing out the inaccuracies of the article, then continue buying the paper to see your letter in print, you're giving them all the justification they need to do it again.

Chris L

Whilever arises because for the most part I am too damn lazy to type "while ever", OK? It's a word if I say it is. You won't find "spanky" on dictionary.com either...

Stor Mand

Spanky is a perfectly good name.