Off to Mobile AL

DISCOVER AMERICA'S LEGENDARY ROUTE TO FREEDOM

I should be in Mobile around 4 PM this evening. I'll be staying in a motel for the first two nights, taking care of last minute preparations and/or unanticipated mishaps like my bike not arriving on the same plane. If everything goes as planned, I’ll check-out the National African-American Archives and Museum tomorrow and then on Friday pedal north - starting with a 45 mile ride to my first campsite.

Malawi 1994

Something I found in old note book

Clearly, I read way too many self-help books when I was younger!!!

(1) Always remember utility companies are your enemy. They are out to get you. (trying to be funny); (2) Don’t be afraid to “try new things”. Avoid the common pitfall of “tranquilizing yourself with trivial” by devising seemingly-busy, innocuous, monotonous routines in order to avoid “living”. It’s easy to do. It’s comfortable. It’s addictive. Save it for when you’re dead; (3) Get to know yourself. What works for others might not necessarily work for you. Figure out what works best for you and then do it; (4) Remember “nothing is true; it’s only failed to be falsified” – it’s the essence of science - it allows an open mind in which to challenge social norms, preconceived “truths” and conventional wisdom; (5) Don’t be afraid to end an “old” life and start a “new” one – no matter how old you are or how “complacent” you are in your current life.

Trump: Bush is the Worst President in History

I'm not a huge Donald Trump Fan but this time I agree with almost everything he said...

1) The Administration Lied. Face it. They said they were absolutely, without a doubt sure that Iraq had WMD. Why say absolutely, without a doubt when you don’t know for sure? That’s a LIE. What else has the administration been lying about?

2) Support our troops? For what? To kill innocent people and be killed? Support our troops by bring them home, saving their lives, and giving the Iraqis their country back.

3) Having travel considerable recently, yes it’s true a lot more people from around the world hate Americans after the war then before. It’s embarrassing to say that one is an American while traveling.

4) Who is benefiting from the war? Is it really that hard to figure out? Gas prices doubled from $ 1.3/gal in Jan 03 (a few months preceding the war) to $ 2.6/gal today. The Military-Industrial Complex has taken in billion of dollar of tax revenue and paid it out to their stockholders. Who owns Gas Company Investment? the Bush Family. Who owns Military-Industrial Complex Investments (e.g. Halliburton): the Cheney Family. Halliburton's (Symbol: HAL) stock rose from $10 at the start of the war (March 2003) to $40 (March 2006).

Update: This is a quote from the New York Times: "From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Cheney received “deferred salary payments” from Halliburton that far exceeded what taxpayers gave him. Mr. Cheney still holds hundreds of thousands of stock options that have ballooned by millions of dollars as Halliburton profited handsomely from the war in Iraq."

New York Subway

I’m wearing a flat hat, gloves and a black hoodie, sitting on the 2 train, heading downtown.

Passenger: Are you cold?
Me: Umm…
Passenger: ARE YOU cold?
Me: Uhhh...a little.
Passenger: Those gloves of yours are pretty ratty.
Me: Oh, yeah... well...umm... I purchased them about 3 years ago from a street vendor in DC for $ 5.
Passenger: At least you’re able to hold not to them. I pay $50 a pair and loose them every other month.
(silence)
Passenger: Are you bald?
Me: Ummm...partially
Passenger: I thought so. Do you like your Hoodie?
Me: I wear it all the time.
Passenger: I just purchased one today. Do you want to see it?
Me: Ummm...sure
(He shows me his new hoodie.)
Passenger: What do you think?
Me: Why did you purchase a pink one?
Passenger: They didn’t have a white oone.
Me: Oh....okay

Proceeding with a monologue, he told me how much money he makes cutting hair, how far he walks a day and that his boyfriend gave him $400, all fifties. And as if I didn’t believe him, he took the 50s out of his sock and counted them for me.

Announcer: Next stop Chamber Street.
Me: That's my stop... nice meeting you...

Newark = Crazyville

New York Times - NEWARK, Feb. 27 — When Yusef Johnson, a 15-year-old honors student, was killed outside an apartment complex here so gang-infested it is known as Crazyville, a witness came forward within days and told the police she knew the man she had seen fire the fatal shots.

In another case three months later, in November 2005, officers found two people who identified a street gang leader as the man they saw kill a marijuana dealer named Valterez Coley during a dispute over a woman.

And when Isaiah Stewart, a 17-year-old wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet from a recent brush with the law, was gunned down that December, another Newark teenager sketched a diagram of the crime scene, correctly identified the murder weapon and named a former classmate as the person he had watched commit the crime.

They seem like slam-dunk cases, but none of the three suspects have been arrested. It is not that detectives are unsure of their identity or cannot find them. Rather, it is because so many recent cases here have been scuttled when witnesses were scared silent that the Essex County prosecutor has established an unwritten rule discouraging pursuit of cases that rely on a single witness, and those in which witness statements are not extensively corroborated by forensic evidence.

The 3 are among at least 14 recent murders in Newark in which witnesses have clearly identified the killers but no charges have been filed, infuriating local police commanders and victims’ relatives.

In 8 of the 14 cases, according to court documents and police reports, there was more than one witness; in two of them, off-duty police officers were among those identifying the suspects. But in a DNA era, these are cases with little or no physical evidence, and they often involve witnesses whose credibility could be compromised by criminal history or drug problems, or both

Marwan Back Home

This picture is great. I'm sure Marwan will never send me another, but I had to post it.

Marwan is a friend from DC. He graduated last year with a Master's in Business from Marymount University and returned to United Arab Emirates. And yes, he dresses like that everyday for work. He's saving a lot of cash on his wardrobe. Plus it's really hot there, so he benefits from the updraft. And no, they are not his wives. They are interns at his office. Why is he standing so far away from them? I really don't know.

Nope the quote its NOT about GWB

"Former officials portrayed him as a vain, paranoid loner who no longer believed he was a normal person and considered compromise a sign of weakness."

Its from the New York Times obituary of Saddam Hussein.

With 101 Homicides, Newark Nears a Bleak Milestone

NEWARK, Dec. 15 — The flickering votives, the tearful relatives and the angry activists scolding City Hall for the death of a young mother. It was a familiar tableau as a small crowd huddled to mark the killing of Taheerah Sweat, who the police say was shot twice by a man who had taken her out on the town but then left her to die on the chilly pavement after they had a fight.

Ms. Sweat’s killing early on Sunday was the 101st homicide in Newark this year, the authorities said, one body short of a 1995 record, when Newark was buckling under a wave of crack-fueled mayhem.

With three times the number of homicides per capita as New York, Newark remains one of the most violent cities in the country. New York’s homicide rate has edged up this year, but it is nowhere near that of the late 1980s. Cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando, San Antonio and Boston, have seen increased killings, part of a two-year rise in major crimes after a decadelong drop.

Underground Railroad Bicycle Route

Since I already own a touring bike and the requisite camping gear, I figure why not another cycling trip? I'm planning on cycling the Underground Railroad Bike Route this coming spring. The route starts in Mobile, Alabama and ends in upstate New York, or where at least it would end for me. I haven't spent much time in the South before, and I’m aware of the rumored bigotry, prejudice, ignorance and narrow mindedness overtones that supposedly persist there, yet I’m curious. I want to experience the South first hand and learn a little bit more about the Underground Railroad along the way, or as much as I can on a month and a half tour.

DISCOVER AMERICA'S LEGENDARY ROUTE TO FREEDOM

The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route honors the bravery of those that fled bondage and those that provided shelter. This route passes points of interest and historic sites along a 2,100-mile corridor. Beginning in Mobile, Alabama - a busy port for slavery during the pre-civil war era - the route goes north following rivers through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Waterways, as well as the North Star, were often used by freedom seekers as a guide in their journeys to escape slavery. Upon crossing into Ohio, the route leaves the river to head toward Lake Erie and enters Canada at the Peace Bridge near Buffalo, New York. In Ontario, the route follows the shores of Lake Ontario and ends at Owen Sound, a town founded by freedom seekers 150 years ago.