The reporter in me says "what a great image!" while the nerd in me says "Obviously that's why they build things like parking lots on flood plains."

I flew back from Las Vegas literally hours before Hurricane Irene hit Philadelphia. Let me say that it’s pretty unfair going from the City of Overstimulation straight to twenty-four hours of lockdown inside my apartment, but I was worried about leaving my cats alone. I had visions of my windows shattering, glass flying everywhere, and one or both of the cats getting lost in the streets of South Philadelphia, and I figured that if I was home, I could pull them into the bathroom where there are no windows.

In the end, of course, there was very little damage. The wind blew pretty noisily for a few hours, and a brand new leak opened in the ceiling of my living room (which reminds me, I need to call the landlord today…) but mostly I played on Facebook and watched a lot of sensationalist hurricane coverage on the news.

Speaking of sensationalist hurricane coverage... my favorite image to come out of Hurricane Irene, courtesy of Skeptoid genius Brian Dunning.

To be clear, I am not complaining. At all. While Irene’s passage through Philly wound up being mostly hype, there were a good two hours when I was feeling pretty anxious, and I’m thankful things weren’t worse. One look at the consequences in North Carolina and in the Catskill Mountains reminds us that we shouldn’t take such weather events lightly.

After the storm, I went for a long walk along the Schuylkill River in Center City, from the southern end of the Schuylkill Trail at 25th and Locust up to the Art Museum. What I saw wasn’t exactly devastation: mostly I saw a lot of downed tree limbs, though some were quite large. The height of the river, and speed of the currents, was impressive  - as was the mammoth collection of garbage that had collected in the eddies and along slow spots. Apparently, Irene scoured the Delaware Valley and carried all of its trash downriver. It was a reminder that while hurricanes are dramatic, humans are truly disgusting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2mgjatwb4

More photos below. Clicking on the images will bring up larger versions.

Yesterday in Pittsburgh it was ninety degrees and muggy, and Bane and his army of soldiers or minions or whatever were wearing winter coats. That’s fake snow that’s blowing around on the steps of the courthouse. Makes me a little glad I’m not in the movie business.

I took advantage of the gorgeous evening in Philadelphia last night with a long-ish bike ride through the city and along the Schuylkill River Trail and Kelly Drive. Not too many cities offer 30+ miles of prime riverside trail, and Philadelphia residents are generally quick to take advantage. Lots of residents. Lots and lots of residents. I know, because I nearly hit damn near every one of them.

Like those out for an evening stroll with the family, walking four abreast on a crowded recreational trail – holding hands. Heavy ladies, side by side with ample room in between for arm swinging. Inline skaters, most of them inexperienced, legs kicking wildly like newborn deer. Then there are the serious cyclists – of which I am not one – who tear through the crowd at approximately seven hundred miles per hour, a barely perceptible streak of neon lycra and entitlement.

How one’s perception changes with their station in this melee! When I have been a pedestrian, I curse the reckless bicyclists who warn me with a staccato ”onyourleft!” a split second before nearly bisecting me. When I run or ride my bike, it’s the pedestrians who are the assholes, utterly oblivious to everything happening around them. When they aren’t head-down in their personal electronic devices, they’re caught up in conversation, or staring mindlessly at the clouds like a hapless cow heading for the bolt gun.

Move from the trail and into the streets, and the introduction of motor vehicles adds yet another dimension. When you’re a driver in the city, everyone else is an idiot. Pedestrians wander blindly into the street just a moment before you make your turn, and bicyclists crash off the sidewalk into your path, as if skintight corduroy culottes, neon plastic eyeglasses and clever pork pie hats afford some protection against collision. When you’re not the driver, though, it becomes clear that the people in the big steel-and-glass boxes are entirely to blame.

The only people I will give credit to for being generally courteous and aware of their surroundings, both on the trail and in the city, are the runners. Why this is I’m not sure. Perhaps all those endorphins just put people in the right mind set to be conscientious and polite. Or maybe it’s just self-defense – I know when I’m the runner, every other person on the street is an asshole.

I’ll leave you with a little video I discovered last week that reveals why we just can’t get along on city streets: because no one is doing what they’re supposed to do, and everyone is out for themselves. It’s a Libertarian paradise.

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

…in the words of Michael Helms.

This past Thursday and Friday, armed riot police invaded the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus.  Ostensibly defending the visiting G-20 delegates meeting several miles away, these police in no way confined themselves to breaking up disruptions or protests.  They attacked and arrested students who were making casual use of campus facilities including the student union and the residence halls.  They trapped students between locked doors and police barricades and gassed or attacked them when they “refused to disperse.”  They arrested student journalists and legal observers.  They even invaded student housing, going to far as to arrest students for “refusal to disperse” within their own dorm rooms.

How has the University responded?  With outrage at the treatment of students making typical use of University and public property?  With warnings about overreaching police power and questions about closing an entire city to its residents because of a handful of visiting foreign nationals?  Not exactly.

At first, Pitt announced that they would be sending every student who was arrested before the University’s Judicial Board to decide whether they should be suspended or expelled for violating the University’s “Student Code of Conduct.”  They reversed that position shortly thereafter.  According to the Pitt News, a University spokesman explained that “Being arrested does not mean you did the crime, so simply being arrested is not a violation of the student code.”  Well gee, did it take a political science professor to explain that one?

The University’s new announcement is that some of the students who were arrested will go before the Judicial Board, and some will not.  No clear guideline has been issued, but there’s an implication that a conviction will lead to Judicial action.

The Pittsburgh Police, meanwhile, have kindly announced that if students can prove they were innocent bystanders, charges will be dropped.  How nice of them to announce that they will not prosecute people they already know to be innocent.  It’s very thoughtful of them not to waste their money.

I am ashamed and angry at the response from the University of Pittsburgh.  It’s not bad enough that K-12 students are taught to OBEY, we are now extending that education to universities?

The only proper response from the University is to condemn any and all violence, whether directed at the police or at the protesters, and the wanton destruction of private property, but to take the side of their students and condemn the actions of the police who inflicted physical and psychological harm upon students who represented no public safety threat whatsoever.  Students have the right to their campus facilities, they have the right to free access of public spaces, and they have the right to observe the police.

They have the right to peaceful protest, too, but I’m not even getting into that here because these students weren’t even protesting.  They were minding their own business, or idly watching the police action.  This is why the response from the University is so disappointing.  They should be advocating for the constitutional rights of their students, not sending a message that those who do not OBEY will be punished.