Following All Rules of the Road While Biking - A New Movement

I've been commuting on my bike about half the time for about five years now, and I've never followed the rules of the road, especially traffic lights. It's faster to ignore them, but I'll admit that I've had a few close calls with cars I didn't see as I was blowing through a light.

It's arrogant and inexcusable to ignore rules we expect drivers to follow, while at the same time we demand respect from these same drivers. Each time a hostile driver sees a cyclist blow through a light, rage is built up in that driver toward all cyclists.

With more cyclists on the road than ever, and a lot of them new, it's important that we all start following the same rules, drivers and cyclists alike.

I started a few days ago. It's not much slower. I frequently catch up to cyclists who blow through the light in front of me.

Iowa Electronic Markets Take on Obama vs. McCain

I'm obsessed with the election and a huge Obama supporter. Lately all of the negative McCain ads concern me. To make myself feel better, I check out the latest quotes from the Iowa Electronic Markets, which have predicted all of the presidential elections accurately.

Here is the current chart showing Obama vs. McCain, winner take all, not popular vote:
2008 Presidential Election Winner-Take-All Market.

If you believe in the accuracy of predictive markets over flawed polls, as I do, then this race looks like it's not even close. Keep up with the race here.

Compare this chart to the chart for Kerry vs. Bush in 2004, and you see that the Iowa Market did not show a race as close as it seemed after the conventions. Also, the race tightens up before the conventions.
2004 Presidential Election Winner-Take-All Market.

So don't fret so much over the race just yet. Wait until both conventions end. If anything McCain has turned negative too early, and the media will lash out at him for it, instead of giving him a free ride and free airtime playing the ads as news.