On 3/18/2011 10:03 AM, His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the
Stop the Bull**** Campaign wrote:

We have discussed so many issues here, but I remember that we
discussed stupid design in the engineering of bike lanes and city
planning...

Well, a smart listener called in NPR and reminded the experts that
"Tsunami" is a Japanese word and they could have placed easily the
reactors on higher ground expecting such events. That would have been
INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

Some would say that intelligent design would be to perfect fusion.

But I wouldn't pick on the Japanese. US has plants on fault lines.

For example check the safety section in this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant

or
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936...-asia-pacific/

We hear that the technology is in place to protect us and that the risk
is acceptable. WRT the potential danger here I doubt both of those claims.

Wherever we turn though we see stupid design, particularly when it
comes to bike facilities, a very low priority in safety since we are
the only casualties. We have mixed paths that mix people, dogs and
bikes and we have bike lanes that disappear. The issue is --more than
an oversight-- that we live in a hierarchical system --forget
democracy-- where decisions are taken without the feedback of the
people, who must shut up and accept what they get.

I think that the majority of decisions are taken based on profit
projections.