AlternativesMagazine

BUT FIRST, MY TAKE Dennis Ketterman I've read a lot of articles lately about how bicycling can save the planet and other related topics about the importance of cycling for the environment. If this is possible, and I have to agree that it could, why haven't we embraced cycling, shouted from the rooftops, gone crazy in the media, and made it the number one priority everywhere? If the simple bicycle can actually save the world, according to a lot of experts, you would think this would take precedence over everything.  Even politics. Well, one reason why we are not embracing it and saving the planet is that we are having too much fun destroying it. And there is a lot more money in doing that than there is in bicycling. The big bucks are still in oil and a bike burns none of that. Another reason is that we're just too freakin' lazy. We drive an $80,000 gas guzzler to the gym, down the block, to ride a stationary bike.  Anyway check it out, post your comments. Buy a bike. How...

  By Willard “Woody” Michels Guest Blogger A couple years ago a man named Gabriel Sherman wrote a book, “The Loudest Voice in the Room.” This book is about Roger Ailes the creator of Fox News. I’ll never forget a line in the book in which Ailes made a statement to Richard Nixon during his 1968 presidential campaign that has haunted me since reading it. I don’t recall exactly how it went but something to the effect, “the American people are becoming too lazy to make their own decisions and need someone to tell them how to think. Ailes then stated that TV would be the medium to do this.” This statement came back to me last week when I was looking for a particular business here in Mesa. I stopped at another business in the vicinity to ask directions. The lady behind the counter gave me the deer-in-the-eye-headlight look and said she had no idea. I walked out and asked another lady and she pointed across the street and down a couple of stores and said where it was. I wonder how ...

The planet fired a warning shot that says: "Shape up or join the growing list of endangered species." MY TAKE We seem to plow through life without much concern for anything except what's actually in front of us. We are at the disposal and mercy of the big corporations and a corrupt political system.  They tell us what we need to hear, what to buy, what to eat, how to live, and where.  C limate change is the greatest challenge that we, as a global community, face. But only to the people who know the facts and the science. The people who should be in our corner, consider it a hoax, fake and deny it even exists. They get their marching orders from the fossil fuel industry and that means money in the bank. 15 billionaires own 90% of all media in the world, none with a journalistic background. They form our opinions giving us the illusion we have a choice. They own us and they own our vote.  Money, of course, is the holy grail and we'll do almost anything to get...

A middle-aged man cycles. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo Cycling can hold back the effects of aging and rejuvenate the immu ne system, a study has found.  Scientists carried out tests on 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 and compared them with healthy adults from a wide age group who did not exercise regularly. The findings, outlined in two papers in the journal Aging Cell, showed that the cyclists preserved muscle mass and strength with age while maintaining stable levels of body fat and cholesterol. In men, testosterone levels remained high. More surprisingly, the anti-aging effects of cycling appeared to extend to the immune system. An organ called the thymus, which makes immune cells called T-cells, normally starts to shrink from the age of 20. But the thymuses of older cyclists were found to be generating as many T-cells as those of young people. Prof Janet Lord, director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ag ing at the Univer...

The City of Light became the City of Bike, and U.S. cities should take notice. CURBED By Patrick Sisson Jan 15, 2020 Paris’s great success in improving cycling will be one of the lasting legacies of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has relentlessly pushed bike infrastructure, often to the displeasure of drivers and local officials, as part of her pledge to reduce emissions and make the city a cycling capital. Hidalgo’s efforts have also set an example that U.S. cities should follow: Think big, and don’t be afraid to talk about climate change and transportation. Instead of relying on shared bike and bus lanes as it had in the past, Parisian officials decided to focus funding on protected cycling lanes, following a philosophy of fewer but better. The city has surpassed its goal of creating 10,000 new parking places for bikes by 2020, but lowered its target for building out bike lanes. According to Ken McLeod, the policy director of the League of American Bicyclists, the success in Pari...

How can this possibly be a victory for farmers? Fossil fuel  producers and real estate developers, like Trump, yes, but FARMERS? Farmland abutting prairie potholes, a type of ephemeral wetland, in North Dakota. Credit... Jim Brandenburg/Minden Pictures By Coral Davenport Published Jan. 22, 2020 Updated Jan. 23, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration (January 23, 2020) finalized a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands, and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers , fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens. From Day 1 of his administration, President Trump vowed to repeal President Barack Obama’s “Waters of the United States” regulation, which had frustrated rural landowners. His new rule, which will be implemented in the coming weeks, is the latest step in the Trump administration’s push to repeal or weaken nearly 100 environmental rules and laws , lo...

SPONSOR A RIDE! B IKE SAT URDAYS is more than a Saturday bicycle ride. It's about bringing awareness to the many benefits cycling provides. Organized rides with a theme is a great way to generate community economic development and a platform to help encourage people to start taking responsibility for their own health.  Biking has also become an international symbol for the "green movement" and a way to help the environment through non-polluting alternative transportation. There are many non-profit organizations and businesses doing great community service work around Montana that need help and exposure to let people know they're out there and what they do. An organized group bike ride, combined with social activities and a purpose, is a great way to spread their message and have some fun along the way. If your business or organization would like to sponsor a BIKE SATURDAYS , ride, give us a call at 406-871-6282 and we'll fill you in on the details.  The...