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bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵 reshared this.


Nothing makes you hate cars more than living on a busy street, forced to listen to their din day in and day out. >:(

Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud — Not Just Bikes

Urban noise is a common problem, and the vast majority of it is created by motor vehicles. Noise is far too often dismissed as a minor nuisance, rather than the legitimate health issue that it is.

The book "Curbing Traffic" has a chapter about the health impacts of noise pollution. I explore the research in the book, and visit Delft, the city that is highlighted in the book as being a shining example of what can happen when noise pollution is taken seriously.

This video explores the problem that farting cars, farting motorcycles, and farting mopeds create in our cities.

#FuckCars #urbanism

in reply to Neil E. Hodges

every time I contemplate "upgrading" the stock exhaust on my bike, I remember it's already louder than a car exhaust.

Most car exhausts, anyway. Not the M3 that my neighbour across the road drives.

in reply to Neil E. Hodges

The last place I lived was originally on a country road and was generally pretty quiet. But growing up population of the nearby city meant more and more traffic, and subdivisions (one was which ended up against my back property line). By the time I moved, the area had become solidly suburbia and the road became a major secondary road and quite noisy

bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵 reshared this.


From here:

There is no 'free' market, and there never has been. The 'free' market is predicated on the belief that all players will act honestly, and make informed choices based on available information. This is a completely false assumption, and has been proven so time after time.

It completely ignores human nature whereby someone will always lie, cheat, and steal to achieve their own ends -- this is what we see here.

Industry players will always form cartels and collude in anti-consumer behavior -- price fixing being the prime example.

Without someone to keep corporations in line, the market would steadily skew to all of the power being in the hands of a few.

There is no such thing as a 'free' market, and there simply never has been. It's a utopian myth which can never be true.

People who go around spouting about the 'free' market are either naive, self deluded, or actively lying.

#capitalism

in reply to Neil E. Hodges

damn, so we've had 11 years of this very thing getting worse.

when will people get it?! people keep voting for these pro corporate parties and it's depressing

in reply to bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵

Said parties have both rigged it to be this way and have convinced the people that this is the only way it can ever be. :(
in reply to Neil E. Hodges

well, the same is happening here in the Netherlands. people have been voting the neoliberals into power for decades, despite things going to shit, and other parties being available here.

it's the propaganda that's working; most people still believe that free market capitalism is great, and it will take a lot more downfall before they understand it's shit.

Neil E. Hodges reshared this.

in reply to bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵

@bazkie same in UK, but I think its also because neoliberalism provided short term gains - a young adult working in the skilled trades or the remaining middle level office jobs which exist and haven't been outsourced/replaced by AI can afford to get a used Audi on finance and just about run it - they get scared of green/left parties as they think "tax will go up and petrol will be £2/2€ a litre again" and that's a powerful paranoia (especially if they are in a long term relationship and have now got kids to feed/fund through school)
in reply to bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵

@bazkie about 10 years ago when I had learned just enough Dutch to read sites where younger folk hung out (and chat to them) I learned a fair few thought all the bicycles, good public transport (which folk in UK often envy!) and the high cost of learning to drive (which is same as UK) was imposed by "big government/EU" and they wanted to have cars just like young people in UK, enjoyed watching Top Gear and thought folk in UK and USA had more "freedom" (and those youths would be 30-40+ by now, many with families of their own)

At least you are highly unlikely to get Nexit as everyone can see the mess the UK is now in 5 years later..

in reply to Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

@vfrmedia UK has been a lovely warning sign for us indeed!

..tho people have been voting far right the past few years despite Trump, so maybe most people don't really understand warning signs 😅

and about that dutch youth; keep in mind we've had neoliberal rule for decades now, so the whole "free market good, nationalization bad" has been really hammered in.

not sure if we'll get rid of it in my lifetime tbh. but most of the lovely social policies we have left stem from the more progressive governing we had before I was born 😅

btw why did you learn dutch? (maybe I asked before)

in reply to bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵

@bazkie I moved to Suffolk, which is not /that/ far from the Netherlands (especially at the point of Lowestoft which is the furthest Eastern part of England) and has many cultural and trade links with NL, also I am a former radio pirate and was always curious about the pirate radio scene there and started listening to the stations and wanted to learn the language (piratenzenders are quite surreal, with 3 different languages of music and songs which are a mix of synthpop/disco, country and western and seashanties 😁 )
in reply to Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

@vfrmedia ohh right I think you mentioned that before! those piratenzenders sure are something else :D it's funny how it combines, eh, "rural culture" with everything else!
in reply to Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

I love pirate radio!

I don't know if it's actually a pirate station, here's an FM broadcaster near Quinault Lake here that plays all kinds of odds and ends with weird stuff in between. It might fall under LPFM, but I doubt the FCC would hassle them anyway since it's in the middle of nowhere and low power.

in reply to Neil E. Hodges

@vfrmedia what's LPFM?

I wonder if maybe the FCC is a bit more relaxed these days since people listen to FM radio less (or well, I imagine that they do)

in reply to Neil E. Hodges Neil E. Hodges reshared this.

the "free market" is to economics what the frictionless spherical cow is to high school physics.

The very existence of corporations means there is no free market. Corporations are a legal construct of governments that grants a business (and later even a mere collection of assets) status as a district entity separated to some degree from the owners and workers within.

As such, there is no choice between "government vs corporations" because they are *two sides of the same coin*...it is all one big hegemony.

We have all been thoroughly conditioned to think otherwise for a couple of centuries now. It is thoroughly ingrained the minds of everyone in the "free world" that corporations are the capitalist free market and government is the socialist planned economy but that is pure BS.

The biggest economies in the world have arrived in the same place from two different directions...the US being a corporatocratic regime and China practising state capitalism.

As such deregulation just means re-regulation.


in reply to Neil E. Hodges

≠ PHYSICAL REMOVAL WILL BE REQUIRED ≠ is ignored

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The sad state of the #Washington State Ferries discourages me from crossing Puget Sound. :(



When @clover and I went to Lake Quinault over the past week, we came across a really strange local station at 90.5 MHz FM. Anyone know anything about it? #Seattle #Washington #WashingtonState



This detour that #WSDOT had yesterday (still can't find anything posted about it online) was quite a tour! #Seattle #Washington #WashingtonState

Dave Heinemann 🇦🇺 reshared this.


I used to think my #Triumph Bonneville T120 was slow, but recent rides like yesterday's to #Lake #Chelan taught me that all I had to do to make it fast was use more of the engine's rev range and engage my core when cornering. It's so much fun now! (8 photos here. More from yesterday's ride to come.) #motorcycle #photography #photog #photos #Washington #WashingtonState

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The day after my Roslyn trip, I really wanted to get another ride in to make the most of my four day weekend, so I headed over Stevens Pass to #Leavenworth, which was filled with lots of both new and familiar sights. Just like when my partner and I visited Leavenworth by train together a few years back, the scenery of the Tumwater Canyon really captured my imagination! (Blog Post, Album (51 photos), 11 photos attached) #motorcycle #photography #photog #photos #photo #Washington #WashingtonState

Neil E. Hodges reshared this.



One of the reasons why I got into #motorcycle riding was to have an easier time getting to places like Eastern Washington. #Roslyn, #Washington was on my list of places to see, and it didn't disappoint! (Blog Post, Album (202 photos), 16 photos attached) #photography #photog #photos #photo

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Our return home featured not only a very long ferry ride, but also @clover 's first time driving in snow! Things went pretty smoothly the whole way home, nonetheless, as we stopped by the towns of #Anacortes and #LaConner. We also made a quick stop at the Seattle Premium Outlets in Marysville so @clover could look at shoes. (Album)

Finally got around to tagging and uploading all of the photos from the trip to the San Juan islands that @clover and I went on back in February. #photography #photog #photos #photo #Washington #WashingtonState #PugetSound #SanJuanIslands

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Our last full day in the islands was on Lopez, which was by far the quietest one. Not only did we see few cars on the road, we only found a few restaurants even open! The beautiful island scenery certainly made up for the lack of food options. Our dinner and stay were at the Lopez Islander, which was very cozy. (Album)

Finally got around to tagging and uploading all of the photos from the trip to the San Juan islands that @clover and I went on back in February. #photography #photog #photos #photo #Washington #WashingtonState #PugetSound #SanJuanIslands #LopezIsland



Our next day was spent on Orcas Island, which gave us even more beautiful sights around Mount Constitution and Moran State Park. Even our accommodations were nice at Pebble Cove Farm, which even had farm animals roaming about! (Album)

When we showed up, I went into the main house, only to find that it was actually a private residence, and that it was being house sat by someone who was as confused as we were. I'll never forget that awkwardness…

Finally got around to tagging and uploading all of the photos from the trip to the San Juan islands that @clover and I went on back in February. #photography #photog #photos #photo #Washington #WashingtonState #PugetSound #SanJuanIslands



After a rough time getting out there (it was @clover 's first long drive, after all), and a _very_long ferry ride, we had a very chill time on San Juan Island. I'd been there a couple times before over my life, but it had been yeears. We spent a lot of time around Friday Harbor, but also checked out South Beach, as well as the scenery along the way. (Album)

Finally got around to tagging and uploading all of the photos from the trip to the San Juan islands that @clover and I went on back in February. #photography #photog #photos #photo #Washington #WashingtonState #PugetSound #SanJuanIslands

Neil E. Hodges reshared this.



One of the goals I had in mind than pushed me into #motorcycle riding was easier access to Eastern #Washington roads. (I don't have as much time as I used to for doing that by bicycle.) This ride marks my first time doing so, and it was definitely worth it! I was treated to sunny weather and pine trees, which were exactly what I needed after all of the rainy days around #Seattle over the past few months. Really makes me want to move to Eastern Washington!

Snoqualmie Pass & Cle Elum (2022-05-01)

Album

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