Mark's Views, Perhaps — from behind my eyeballs
June 27 tweet by Secretary of the Interior
So yesterday (apparently) the President decreed that national parks no longer honor the single-gender bathroom concept. (Gender-specific restrooms — what an antiquated concept in this great society. 😯 )
Apparently whatever the sign may say is no guarantee what you will find inside. So beware of using multiple-capacity restrooms. The spectators therein may be more “sexually varied” than you bargained for. Read it all
My OregonLive RSS feed showed a dramatic helicopter rescue story. I like helicopters and Depoe Bay, so I clicked.
I looked at the photo and thought, “That rock sure looks like one I’ve climbed various times over the decades. That’s got to be at Fogarty Creek!”
Sure enough: Read it all
The elderly man and I stood just outside the fog line on the busy-at-that-time two-lane highway. The strip of pavement between the fog line and the gravel is narrow at that point. The gravel shoulder is itself narrow before sloping down into the shallow, weedy ditch.
We have no crosswalk. We have no Ped Xing sign. We have no caution sign of any sort. We have no diminished speed zone. We have no Read it all
My road.
Phone in hand.
Also their lives.
And mine. And mine. (No, I’m not repeating myself; that’s an optical “illusion.”) Read it all
I’ve never seen anyone drowning.
This article is sobering to me in a stunning sort of way. Read it all
I learned a few minutes ago (thanks, Google Alerts!) that, as of yesterday, there’s a new travel warning for Mexico. (Sonora is of particular interest to me partly because I share responsibility for some people there.) Here are some portions of the travel warning, followed by a link to full deal, which includes sections addressing other states:
The Department of State has issued this Travel Warning to inform U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Mexico about the security situation in Mexico.
[…]
Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including more than 150,000 who cross the border every day for study, tourism or business and at least one million U.S. citizens who live in Mexico. The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations.
[…]
There is no evidence that U.S. tourists have been targeted by criminal elements due to their citizenship. Nonetheless, while in Mexico you should be aware of your surroundings at all times and exercise particular caution in unfamiliar areas.
[…]
Due to ongoing violence and persistent security concerns, you are urged to defer non-essential travel to the states of Tamaulipas and Michoacán, and to parts of the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Jalisco. Details on these locations, and other areas in which travelers should exercise caution, are below. Read it all
And a government cover-up is better? 😐
And…the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress.
Help me out — why would that make Congress mad?
“We’re looking at a problem that could be as bad as drunk driving, and the government has covered it up,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety.
Here we go again. Somebody is going to tell me I can’t carry on a conversation while I’m driving. Come to think of it, I don’t talk much while I’m driving. I don’t drink much either.
The highway safety researchers estimated that cellphone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents over all in 2002.
That is astounding, but how do they go about estimating such things?
The research mirrors other studies about the dangers of multitasking behind the wheel. Research shows that motorists talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content.
😯
So, just add a new dimension to DUI. Maybe something along the lines of Driving Under the Influence of Conversation.
Wait a minute — why am I wasting my time here again????!!!! 🙁
One more thing: Will the time come when we attach drunk driving stigma to distracted driving?
Read the rest of the New York Times story here: In 2003, U.S. Withheld Data Showing Cellphone Driving Risks.