map of where you go

Some people don't know that bike riding is serious business.

It's life and death, death or glory, glory glory hallalujah out there on the bike paths.

That's why it pays to be prepared.

Know Your Way

Maps are good. Every bike reader needs a map of where you go. But don't go to Bicycle Victoria, they don't know. You could go to Moreland City Council for an 8MB map which is about as comfortable to use as a penny farthing, although happily they have formed a committee for being told to get a better bike map. They can be told here.

Know Your Philosophy

Philosophy is important for bike riders. You can't answer the death or glory? question until you've reconciled some pretty deep shit. Happily in Moreland there are an array of bike riding philosophies going around.

Commuter Cycles

We're always going places. Commuter Cycles is for people like us. People not like us should go here. Which is not to say that the content of Commuter Cycles website is not shamelessly commercial, but M.Shriek appreciates candour while commuting.

Human Powered Cycles

M.Shriek approves of websites which have a Philosophy page. That's why M.Shriek approves of the Human Powered Cycles website. The approval stops there because the philosophy is suspiciously vague: community-minded environmentalism. Happily, the memoriam suggests they have got the life/death, death/glory aspects of bike riding covered pretty well.

Ceres

God dam hippies are everywhere; it's like the 60s all over again but nobody's having any fun.

Except down at ceres. Down at ceres it's a wonderland of organic food, animalia, and good old fashioned bike fixing. The devil knows how good they fix bikes, but their philosophy is spot on: the Bike Group aims to 'encourage mutual respect by cultivating fair and equitable processes in the Shed'.

Hmm. Sounds like an artel to M.Shriek.

Long live communist hippies on bikes!

Just watch the delusional yuppies with prams.

Moreland BUG

The Moreland Bike Users Group is for serious people who think about the overall plans and policies for bike riding in Moreland. It doesn't sound like much fun and 12 seconds on the website bears this out, unless you happen to be into policy, budgets, and meetings.

On the upside, the Moreland BUG Philosophy is charmingly proto-evangelical, with volunteers who 'love cycling' and 'wish to share the enjoyment'. So long as they're quiet about it, M.Shriek wishes MBUG all the best in their mission to bring more bicycles and safer bike paths to the world.

Ethics, Terminology, and Christine Campbell, MP

Meet Christine Campbell, MP.


Christine is the State Member for Pascoe Vale, which encompasses Pascoe Vale, Pascoe Vale South, Oak Park, and the western districts of Coburg.

Her profile reads much like that of any other apparatchik: concern, compassion, community-mindedness, early age, community groups, member of, many years, keen involvement, electorate officer.

However, Christine's story has a curious theme: ethics. Yes, although her constituency mail has her fascinated by 'jobs jobs jobs', in fact she is frequently concerned with 'the dignity of the human person', and is currently studying a Masters in Bioethics.

How bloody fascinating.

What a relief to have a polly who isn't writing their own prognosis on how the first way can be combined with the second way to create the Third Way to salvation.

Yet how is this concern for ethics manifest?

As a member of the 2nd coolest creek gang going around (Friends of the Merri Creek, of course), is she raging against the degradation of the Merri?

Mmm, no.

As a member of the Moreland Bicycle Users Group, is she lurking at intersections, casting guilt-trips at single-occupant cars?

Mmm, no.

In fact, Christine is concerned about abortion, in particular the devaluation of a human life in embryo form. Kudos for Christine for stating her views; she makes no bones about the fact she believes motherhood begins with pregnancy. Her views are not held by M.Shriek, and at least for the purposes of this initial observation of Christine's interest in bioethics, we are concerned with terminology, not rationale.

In particular, her use of the term 'abortion industry'.

Now, terminology is a funny thing. We all use it with different meanings, and goodness knows the discourse surrounding abortion has been punctuated by regular use of heavily-laden if not downright nasty terms. 'Abortion industry' is one of them. It implies an industry which actively encourages poor contraception, unsafe sex, and accidental pregnancies purely in order to make a profit. 'Abortion,' says Christine, 'is about both a woman and her unborn. Abortion can never be about one or the other'. That's a noble sentiment, so long as we bear in mind that there is no Third Way in bioethics either - you cannot synthesise a woman and her unborn to concoct an 'abortion industry'.

Why should this get my goat? Because the kind of people who use the term 'abortion industry' are people like David Duke. The same David Duke who argues that the 'abortion industry' is run by 'extremist jews'.

M.Shriek eschews guilt by association. But M.Shriek also implores with Christine to watch her terminology, lest the unwitting mistakenly connect her to the profoundly unsavoury opinions of people like David Duke.

All the best to Christine Campbell, MP.

Edgars Creek

This is Edgars Creek. Less pretty but more geologically significant photos can be found here.

The creek runs 17km from Wollert to North Coburg, where it meets up with the Merri Creek, which itself is a tributary to the Yarra River. At the Edgars/Merri junction is a 6.5 hectare tract of open space - mostly parkland, native vegetation, and a golf driving range. Previously the land had been earmarked by VicRoads for the now-obsolete F2 Freeway project.

Now obsolete?

So we've got all this space and nothing to do with it?

Let's have a party and invite the world!

Alas no. The land is retained by the State Government, which has generously offered to sell the land to Moreland Council for the princely sum of $10 million. Failure to purchase will see the land sold to developers.

Naturally the people who have been using the open space for the past 30 years are a bit annoyed. They have become rather attached to Edgars Creek.

And so have a lot of other people. The Kelvinator, the Greens, Friends of the Merri - it seems everybody loves Edgars Creek except the State Government and VicRoads.

Send State Environment Minister Gavin Jennings and VicRoads an email and tell em not to be misers - gift the land back to Moreland City Council, so it can continue as open space for public use!

Further information can be found from the Friends of Merri Creek.