WON ONE

Drunken driver gets 70 months for hitting cyclist

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND -- A Portland man who pleaded guilty to drunken driving and hitting a bicyclist has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

Jeremy Keith Jordan was taken away from a Multnomah County courtroom in handcuffs Friday after saying goodbye to his baby daughter.

Jordan admitted hitting Eric Davidson early on May 10 at a major intersection in northeast Portland. He sped from the scene and was arrested a few hours later.

Davidson suffered brain damage and is not expected to recover fully.

I am happy to see that in Portland they are taking this catastrophic event seriously. I wonder, however, if A) It's not serious enough, and B) Is Mr. Jordan responsible for Mr. Davidson's medical bills for the rest of his life.

Moral of the story KIds: Wear your helmets and PAY ATTENTION! (And that means no music). Ya wanna ride and listen to tunes????? Come to spin class tomorrow morning.


Also of note (speaking of cars and bikes), I somehow feel that the economy has dealt The Big Three US Auto Manufacturers a nice little dose of instant karma. They have ignored the trends, sabotaged alternative technologies, used their clout and power to increase massive profits at the expense of the environment, were stubborn, foolish and greedy. They made tons of dough for a hundred years as whores for the oil pimps. And now they want a bail out? Know what Ford, GM and Chrysler? Shove it up your ashtray.

Lastly, the price of light sweet crude is down again as reflected by regular unleaded I spotted the other day at $1.97. Why? BECAUSE WE LOWERED THE DEMAND. So why do I feel like we won that round? Exxon-Mobile and their cronies just posted another record profit for the last quarter. We're still in the Middle East losing kids on a daily basis for more control of the oil fields and GWB is lame duck stammering on the importance of jobs versus the environment. AND I FEEL LIKE WE WON SOMETHING?????

OK, let's end with something positive. Let's learn a couple of lessons from all this carnage, pain, sloth, greed and suffering.

1) RIDE YOUR BIKE MORE.
2) Pay more attention when you're in the saddle.
3) Always wear your helmet.
4) Indict Bush and Cheney (and Rumy and Gonzalez and Wolfowitz)
5) Bring the troops home.
6) Realize that NOTHING is more important then the environment.
7) Be happy we won something (and keep the momentum).
8) Say a prayer for Eric Davidson (and Jeremy Keith Johnson).