Our family has suffered from nasty colds the last few weeks. We’ve been coughing, sneezing, and honking our way through the last few weeks. First it was our daughter with a runny nose and then a persistent cough. Then it was my wife and I.

As a result of this cold virus, my sensory systems have been under attack. For the last week I haven’t been able to smell anything - a sorry state of affairs over Thanksgiving. How I long for the simple enjoyment of smelling the aroma of tea or the perfume of shampoo!

My ears are plugged up too. I’m listening to a non-stop tinnitus soundtrack. When I eat cereal it sounds like a thousand jackbooted stormtroopers marching on cobblestones. Sit on my right side, please - that’s my better ear. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the possible uses of a blog is as a searchable database - a way of collecting information without having to file it. While this doesn’t fit the mold of a conventional publication, it can have its uses.

So, with that said, here are some scholarly publications I’ve come across that relate to nonmotorized transportation: Read the rest of this entry »

I was delighted to read two Star Tribune articles recently regarding efforts to make the city of Minneapolis more pedestrian friendly. The first article, “Makeover proposed for downtown,” details a plan that makes pedestrians a higher priority and creates a more pleasant downtown environment: Read the rest of this entry »

Richard Cretan of The Glebe Cow Drooled does not see the election as the end of a conservative era. He wants further proof:

Obviously there are many millions who want more–more war, more repression in the name of “security” and “faith.” They will growl and regroup. Many in the new majority, moreover, are anything but liberal or progressive (and you can find the right wing taking early comfort in that fact). So it seems too early to speak about the end of a conservative era. It’s too soon to speak about the end of destructive post-9-11 nationalism, too; give that another decade, alas.

But there are signs, however tentative and small. My friend Peter observes that with the scouring of Congress, there is less fear in his heart of fascism, and inside the beltway, my pal Chris writes:

The imperialist blowhards who favor war and torture and crushing the poor will perhaps be a little more sedate, while the potential for a little more debate and truth-telling has probably risen.

That’s what happened last week in my corner of the Upper Midwest. On Wednesday, November 15, we were basking in 80-degree warmth here in southern Minnesota. On Friday, November 17, we had seven inches of snow and temperatures in the twenties and thirties.

My two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and I quickly put the snow to use and went sledding on the big hills near our home. After being afraid of the sled last year, she’s excited about getting in it now. She is also stronger and able to hold herself up while I pull her in the sled. She can even make her way through the snow fairly well. Most of the fun for me was in hearing her squeal in delight as we bounced our way down the hill. “Again!” she cried every time we finished a run.

I’ve managed to resume riding my bike after a few days of automobile driving due to the snow and cold. This morning’s bike ride to my daughter’s school was only slightly slushy.

And so we move on deeper into winter, with the holiday season ahead.

The dust is settling from the 2006 election, and the Democratic Party has won victories across the board, from state legislatures and governorships to both houses of Congress. With the additional development of Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation as Secretary of Defense, it does seem to mark the end of a conservative era - though it has been a strange era in which conservative principles such as fiscal prudence have been thrown overboard.

In many ways the election has been a referendum on Republican rule, and the people have indicated their displeasure with the Iraq War, corruption, preferential treatment of corporations and the wealthy, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

The mid-term elections are only a week away, and I await their results with great anticipation. I’ve been unhappy with the ruling Republican party for a host of reasons, including the Iraq war, tax breaks for the rich, and inaction on health care and environmental problems. Poll results have me optimistic that the Democrats can at least take the House. I’m not even “cautiously optimistic” anymore, though I probably should be given the late Republican surge in the election of 2004. Read the rest of this entry »