New York City: a model for the world?

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Thursday January 10, 2013 · 7:52 PM PST

2013/01/10 · 19:52

Cody Lyon

Tonight myself and one other cyclist almost ran into a group of pedestrians who were saying goodbyes in the pedestrian section of a Midtown crosswalk. The traffic signal was seconds away from changing- from yellow to red- for cars and yes, bikes. Both cyclists made the stop- no one was hurt. But-with my bike-centric certitude adrenalin flowing, I yelled what must have sounded pretty bratty- GUYS!!! This rather debonair looking fellow turned to me and said, "the light's red, you should be ashamed." In truth- I think I was! As he walked up 8th ave with his other friend, he turned back and smiled. I smiled back.

There are times when citizens of our busy and super-driven city are consumed with getting from point A to B in the fastest way possible. Any added hurdle that delays that mission, human or otherwise is cause for dirty looks or even an outburst. But sometimes, an unplanned pause that may have triggered that all to common reaction leads to an even greater appreciation of this palace of smart urban planning where humans constantly encounter other humans- called New York. There's more to this city than energy, dreams and tall buildings- there are also amazing people. Not only did I smile back at the gentleman who had scolded me, I smiled because I knew this would only happen here in this place I love, in New York.

We Humans must figure out how to find Peace

codylyon

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Saturday November 17, 2012 · 11:54 PM PST

2012/11/17 · 23:54

The afternoon sun had begun to fade, but the Bryant park trees twinkled, offering a sense of shelter, comfort, peace, away from the bustle of sidewalks, the glaring of glass high in the sky towering over the beating nucleus ,Midtown Manhattan.

A conversation carries on by phone, the New Yorker, questions, listens and learns about a friend’s trip up north to a city many miles away.

“It went well,” said the friend, on assignment in New England, where he’d given a speech, seeking to explain a campaign of tolerance to a younger generation.

The soul searching that day in New York had begun- the answer was never found.

codylyon

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Saturday July 07, 2012 · 9:09 AM PDT

2012/07/07 · 09:09

California's got it going on- in a high speed rail kinda way. Albeit costly-perhaps painful- to a state that's got a broken budget to spend billions on transforming its transit infrastructure- it's a clear-smart investment in a high speed rail future- an economically stimulating move that will hopefully produce thousands of construction jobs. More important- perhaps too it will lead the way for the rest of a nation that shouldn't have to rely on planes to make trips less than 400 miles.

Imagine a day, when the nation's most densely populated cities, even on the east coast, are connected by high speed rail such as trains in Europe or Japan. That, instead of the rusty old-often unreliable infrastructure that the antiquated Amtrak system operates with today. Add to that-the money and sanity saved by not having to drive to a crowded airport-deal with the nightmare of air travel today-but instead-leave and arrive in a city core-downtown.

Sure-it's an expensive investment- but its probably just the sort of self improvement- stimulus-this nation could probably use right about now.
Cody Lyon

Riding a bike without a helmet; well, Stupid

codylyon

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Friday June 15, 2012 · 6:22 PM PDT

2012/06/15 · 18:22

Riding a bike is-to some including myself- the best way to get around a city. I live on my bike.

But- recent events have reminded me that I've been pedaling sans helmet again- and that's really foolish. My most recent excuse-fitting-you see, I have a large head. In Austin, it was the heat, oh it gets to hot under there. Then of course,pure vanity, my hair-or, oh at forty something- I'll look dorky? What's really stupid is the fact that the minimal protective armor a helmet provides has been shown to reduce the incidence of catastrophic injury that can occur when skull-bone- meets hard concrete or the steel frames of a moving tons heavy austomobile or truck.

codylyon

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Wednesday July 14, 2010 · 9:37 PM PDT

2010/07/14 · 21:37

Jauregui writes "if media reports that Kagan is a lesbian are true, then her decision to bar military recruiters from Harvard has every appearance of growing from her personal preferences and practices. Obama says that he wants justices who have empathy and know what it is like to be gay. Well, it is relevant for Americans to know whether such a preoccupation of knowing how it feels to be gay, led Elena Kagan to ignore the law and ban the heterosexual military from Harvard because it conflicted with her own personal feelings and practices."

codylyon

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Friday July 02, 2010 · 7:55 PM PDT

2010/07/02 · 19:55

Washington reads like the ugly and mean spirited setting of a novel about corruption. It is a government where hypocrisy laden Republicans are bent on stopping any legislation that's touched by Democrats. Meanwhile, whiny Democrats eager to point the finger at Republicans, have apparently come to relish this role, a role better suited for the playground, where the annoying tattle tale child constantly squeals about the other kids. It seems that the truly sincere defenders of the down trodden are absent. In a nutshell, neither party seems to want to rise above the fray and exhibit the qualities of true leadership on this topic.

codylyon

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Saturday April 11, 2009 · 10:47 AM PDT

2009/04/11 · 10:47

Today's America is markedly different than it was when I was growing up in 1970's Alabama. While much among us has changed for the better, especially in the realms of official equality and social justice, mean-ness, as my Grandmother would have called it, still runs rampant throughout our society. One need only go online and read headlines from across the country that detail economic inequity, corruption and acts of brutal violence that have in many ways numbed our souls. Clearly, the biblical Golden rule that would have us do unto others, as we would do unto them, is still an afterthought, perhaps forgotten by many.

codylyon

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Sunday January 18, 2009 · 5:30 AM PST

2009/01/18 · 05:30

Reporting from Real Estate News Group GlobeSt.com in New York City said that Economist outlooks for the next two years were grim. Last week, at the Urban Land Institute breakfast discussion the 2009 Economic Outlook sent further warnings that the nation is in for perilous economic times. Moody's ecnomist Mark Zandi spoke of chilling job loss figures, saying that in New York City alone, 300,000 jobs could disappear over the next year and a half. The panel also raised veiled charges that fairly recent financial sector regulatory policy changes contributed greatly to the current meltdown. He stressed the sense of urgency that the new administration must maintain by acting quickly and massively perhaps restructuring the markets. They agreed this is essential to correct the financial sector's perilous state. Still, one of the most threatening clouds flying over the nation and particularly New York City are the predictions that the Big Apple stands to see job losses approaching 300,000 over the next year and a half with no consensus if, and when those jobs will ever come back. Below is an excerpt and link to the full coverage of the presentation from GlobeSt.com.

codylyon

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Saturday November 22, 2008 · 3:32 PM PST

2008/11/22 · 15:32

But there is another side that must be addressed with some sort of legislative mandate because if the auto world of Detroit is allowed to fail and sink behind the veil of protection that bankruptcy provides, the potential for great human tragedy becomes increasingly real for large groups of vulnerable Americans.

codylyon

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Monday November 10, 2008 · 5:57 PM PST

2008/11/10 · 17:57

by Cody Lyon

Leading up to the election, the hopes for an Obama victory were enhanced by the belief that another high profile pothole might be filled on the highway to true equality for gay and lesbian people. Publicly, blame for Prop 8 passage is being directed at a number of entities like the Mormon Church, well organized and moneyed efforts by conservative and right wing organizations from outside California while some have engaged in unfortunate knee-jerk tactics , laying blame on the heavy African American turnout and the tremendous influence of the Black church has in that community.

codylyon

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Tuesday October 28, 2008 · 2:49 PM PDT

2008/10/28 · 14:49

The doubter kept saying that this is America, a place where hypocrisy and secrets often reveal themselves in subtle fashions. He charged that America was still a place where inequity could be measured along racial and class lines and that it was on full display in policy and even in the most mundane activities of day to day life.

This was after all, a nation that would legitimize campaign questions based on rumors about one man's religion while failing to live by a "golden rule" that clearly calls for all people to be treated, as they themselves would want to be treated, with decency, compassion and respect.

Evidence of his charges could be found in countless news stories, statistics and facts. This was a nation where prejudice and discrimination were still tolerated, offering as an example, California, where the threat of Proposition 8 offered reaffirmation that we as a nation allowed the majority to pick and choose who was worthy of equality.

codylyon

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Thursday October 23, 2008 · 9:43 PM PDT

2008/10/23 · 21:43

by CODY LYON

Barring a vision from the Lord himself,there is probably no way to alter the thinking of those who subscribe to the philosophy of fringe right wing groups like the Columbus Ohio based Mission America and its leader Linda Harvey.

And, if it weren't for the particularly nasty tone or incessantly misleading words contained in an October 20 opine by Linda Harvey in the conservative "World Net Daily", any response to Mission America's typically insecure, filth laced and fright filled hyperbole wouldn't be worthy of time or effort.

But, in this case, a word or two, perhaps even a counter attack are warranted because, in her latest poisonous diatribe, Harvey not only spews lies about one of the LGBT community's most respected organizations, the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, but also attempts to link her lies to the candidacy of Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.

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New York City: a model for the world?

We Humans must figure out how to find Peace

California's High Speed Stimulus

Riding a bike without a helmet; well, Stupid

New Video masks Real Right Wing Phobia about Kagan

Neither Party Rises above Dysfunction for the Unemployed

Bullying, Suicide and The Golden Rule

Economist Zandi Tells ULI: Current downturn worst since Great Depression

An under-discussed potential tragedy if Detroit Fails

Tyranny of a Straight Majority?

Fear, Race and Hope during the Election of a President

A Shameful Right Wing Message from Mission America's Linda Harvey