BIKE: AAS

[Michael Bluejay]

On Mar 30, 2004, at 4:43 PM, Lane S. Wimberley wrote:

> Ah well, something to be said for not biting the hand that feeds, or
> looking the gift horse in the mouth, or whatever.  I'm happy to reward
> good deeds, even when preceded by maybe not-so-good deeds, in the
> hopes of future good deeds.  I sent a thanks, and I pointed out that
> she missed a good resource -- bicycleaustin.info.


Of course the article was good and the author deserves kudos, and of 
course I sent them.  That's not the point, and that's not what I was 
responding to.

Jeremy Elliott asserted not only that the Statesman is "[not] even 
remotely right wing" and doesn't pander to monied interests but also 
that anyone who thinks so is "off the mark".  It was these ridiculous 
assertions that I was rebutting.

-MBJ-

>
> Michael Bluejay writes:
>>
>> On Mar 30, 2004, at 2:04 PM, Jeremy Elliott wrote:
>>
>>>  I was amazed to read someone trying to argue
>>> that the AAS is remotely right-wing or pandering to
>>> big-money, big corporate, bad-guy stuff. At the risk
>>> of ending a sentence in a preposition, it made me
>>> realize just how far off the mark some people on this
>>> list really are.
>>
>>
>> Fine, have fun living in a fantasy world.  The AAS has a long, long,
>> history of developer-boosting, enviro-bashing, and sloppy reporting.
>> That you suggest that anyone who notices this is "far off the mark" 
>> has
>> to be the most ironic thing I've heard all year.
>>
>> Maybe I should cut you some slack, considering you probably have never
>> been interviewed by the Statesman (I have) and seen them print the
>> opposite of what you say (yep), had them intentionally lie about your
>> friends (ditto here), or review their coverage for fairness and
>> accuracy (ditto again).  But I won't, because not only are the
>> Statesman's misdeeds frequent, flagrant, and a matter of public 
>> record,
>> the fact that you've decided that anyone who believes the obvious is
>> actually incompetent deserves a rebuke.
>>
>> Yes, the Statesman recently printed a pro-bicycling article.
>> Whoop-de-do.  You announce this as though you've made some sort of
>> point.  Their printing of an occasional pro-biking article does not
>> absolve them of years of gross misdeeds.  I don't let them off the 
>> hook
>> for their crimes simply because they run a pro-bike article, but
>> apparently that's all it takes to make them appear saintly in your
>> eyes.  I'm sure the AAS is very appreciative of how easily its
>> readership is swayed.
>>
>> Given the choice between sloppy, hurtful reporting balanced by the
>> occasional pro-biking article, vs. proper reporting but without any
>> cycling boosterism, I'll take the proper reporting without boosterism
>> any day.
>>
>> As for the article, of course they list as a resource a site a year 
>> out
>> of date and filled with dead links (BikeToWork.com), while completely
>> missing the obvious (BicycleAustin.info, AustinCycling.org), or even
>> BicycleSafe.com.
>>
>> An extremely brief rundown of some of the Statesman's misdeeds:
>>
>> 	http://BicycleAustin.info/media.html
>>
>> Also, one of my favorite Statesman tips for how to save the
>> environment:  "Do not buy products made from endangered species."
>>
>> -MBJ-
>>
>> P.S.  You ended your sentence with a verb, not a preposition.
>>
>> P.P.S.  Yet again, the simple address for this list is:
>> forum
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Get on or off this list here:  
>> http://lists.bicycleaustin.info/listinfo.cgi/forum-bicycleaustin.info
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Lane Wimberley             8303 N. MoPac, Suite A-300  Austin, TX 78759
> Wayport, Inc.                512.519.6195 (voice)    512.519.6200 (fax)
>
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