The Green Rabbinical Student

Some Light (rail) Reading

swimfast — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:07:19 +0000

High Speed Rail has hear its fair share of criticism. Most of these critiques appeal to the ideal “American Dream” of home ownership with a yard and one or two cars. Unfortunately most of the criticism stem not from economic reality in the near and long term, but in imagined ideas that we must continue to fund our bulging auto-based system with the hundreds of billions of dollars we could spend on sustainable infrastructure. Check out the following long report debunking the myths of HSR and the benefits it could bring to America. We must invest in our future, not prop up the status quo.

http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/HSR-Defense.pdf

Increase biking amongst lower-income populations

swimfast — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:38:02 +0000

A friend recently shared with me an article about giving access to a bike share for those who don’t use banks.

“Bike-share programs have to run on credit cards, or the whole thing would never work. This system, though, comes with a giant hitch: What about all the people who don’t have credit or debit cards? Not just young people, but low-income residents as well. In Washington, about 12.5 percent of all households are “unbanked.””

I’ve been thinking about that problem for a while – the people for whom biking promises the biggest benefits are lower-income areas and their residents. Often those people not only lack access to reliable transit, but they suffer the most from our societies food issues, namely obesity. Certainly, extensive bike share programs can dramatically change their lives, but again, most bike share programs tend to begin in “hipper”, white, areas.

There are two programs, bikes not bombs and bikes for the world that seek to help people in other countries gain access to the life changing bicycle, but I don’t know of anything large-scale that exists here. The bike market in NYC seems to be out of control, a 30 year old bike that has been converted to a fixie (single speed, no coasting) sells at a bike store for $250+, which is ridiculous. Where is the $100 bike and a matching 100% tax credit for purchasing it? I’ve thought that the faith-based community could begin to rally around this as they tend to be central gathering places for lower-income areas.

Can a bike share accomplish this? Could it be a gateway to getting people to buy their own bike? What can be done to make biking in these communities “cool”?

Happy Haloween

swimfast — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:57:38 +0000

Happy Haloween, originally uploaded by swimfast.

Go Browns!

Welcome to America

swimfast — Sat, 07 May 2011 19:45:28 +0000

Welcome to America, originally uploaded by swimfast.

Al Gore and the Ethics of Climate Change

swimfast — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:18:20 +0000

Al Gore and the Ethics of Climate Change, originally uploaded by swimfast.

If only he had been elected. Oh wait…

New bike racks on Nostrand

swimfast — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:44:51 +0000

New bike racks on Nostrand, originally uploaded by swimfast.

I counted four just on one block, in an area that needed it.

Israel’s Renewed Interest in a Rediscovered Ancient Color – NYTimes.com

swimfast — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 02:23:26 +0000

The whole concept of tekhelet fascinates me. In the third paragraph of the Sh’ma, Jews are commanded to affix a פתיל תכלת, one string of this color “tekhelet” upon their fringes (tzitzit). Some Jews have revived this tradition in Israel. Check out this article about how they may actually be right, and the amazing quote:

“Tekhelet is the color of the sky,” Dr. Koren said in his laboratory. “It’s not the color of the sky as we know it; it’s the color of sky at midnight.” He paused and added, “It’s when you are all alone at night that you reach out to God, and that is what tekhelet reminds you of.”

via Israel’s Renewed Interest in a Rediscovered Ancient Color – NYTimes.com.

This Is What Cheese Really Looks Like

swimfast — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:52:31 +0000

I read Gizmodo even though it’s gone way down hill, and then I see an article like this:

“There’s nothing in this world quite so delicious as cheese. And while I knew there was all sorts of bacteria and fermentation involved in delivering me unto cheddar, I never imagined it would be quite so graphic.”

via This Is What Cheese Really Looks Like.

You Are Not Stuck in Traffic… You Are Traffic : TreeHugger

swimfast — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:51:11 +0000

You Are Not Stuck in Traffic… You Are Traffic : TreeHugger.

Miles since September 2008

swimfast — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:01:54 +0000

Miles since September 2008, originally uploaded by swimfast.