Tubularsock

 

There was a protest yesterday, Thursday the 20th, in San Francisco and Tubularsock knew it was coming but still got up late and had to double time to get to the appointed staging area which was just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. And of course it was up hill!

 

So Tubularsock hopped upon his old heavy two-wheeler and started to pedal in the direction of San Francisco. The rally was to start around 11:30-ish so leaving Oakland at 10:15 should pretty much work if I pedaled rapidly. But this was my old heavy two-wheeler and the gear cable is broken so my range of gear choices ………. forget it!

 

So rather than zip to BART (our rapid transit system) I clanked along and caught the train at the Lake Merritt Station and was whisked under the Bay to the SF Embarcadero Station right at the foot of the Ferry Building.

 

Bounding out of the BART elevator which has a speed very close to my old heavy two-wheeler grinding up hill I jumped on my trusty steed and rode up Market Street made a left at Embarcadero and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Well now, this was a Thursday around 10:40 am and the Embarcadero is a rather popular place and the fossil fuel driven vehicles were moving as crazy as usual in order to move a 150 lb person in a 2200 lb steel/plastic box. But Tubularsock rides the City a lot so I’m used to it. Cabs think they own the road, buses think they own the road, commercial trucks think they own the road, cars think they own the road and some cyclists think they own the road. When Tubularsock pedals his two wheeler he KNOWS he doesn’t own the road and so far he is living proof!

 

Zipping (in my mind only) past Pier 39 a mall-type-tourist-trap selling authentic San Francisco keepsakes made in China and passing Fisherman’s Wharf where they haven’t seen a fishing fleet in thirty years (if you’re into mercury-laden fish of all kinds, well be my guest) I pedaled toward the Marina Green.

 

Moving along the beach front trail dodging rent-a-bike tourists Tubularsock finally dismounts the old heavy two-wheeler and double locks it so it might be there on my return just short of Fort Point. From there it’s a steep climb up to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was 11:25.

 

The climb up from the waters edge to the staging area is a bitch but after a rapid bike ride it adds to the endurance challenge.

 

Arriving at the staging area fully exercised at 11:37 ….. the first announcement ……. there is a delay in the protest. The NATIONAL NURSES UNITED protest against the  Keystone XL pipeline was delayed because the bus loads of nurses were tied up in traffic! I love irony like that!

 

And then the first photo I took was that of an oil tanker passing by in the Bay right behind the banners-of-protest against the Keystone XL pipeline. Irony abound, Tubularsock knew that this was going to be a great day.

 

After the nurses arrived in buses they joined the rally at the staging area for the protest and after speeches and music proceed to march across the Golden Gate Bridge. About 1500 protester took part in the march and they were very dedicated in their convictions of the health hazards created by the Keystone XL.

 

 

Now Tubularsock has been to a multitude of protest in his time but this particular one was focused upon the HEALTH HAZARDS of the XL pipeline and oil refining in general.

And that perspective always seems to get lost in the dialog when discussing BIG OIL.

 

A fun side note: In the recent Mayflower oil pipeline spill an independent air sampling conducted in the weeks following the spill identified some 30 toxic chemicals. And remember inhaling contaminated air is just one way to be exposed to chemicals from oil. Hundreds of families’ health were affected in Mayflower and the surrounding area.

And compensations doesn’t bring back your health!

 

Now you know that Tubularsock knows that the XL pipeline will be approved by our step-and-fetch Obummer but my hat goes off to the NATIONAL NURSES UNITED and all others who stand up and say NO to the madness of BIG OIL.

 

To the property owners that had their land taken from them through eminent domain by a foreign corporation so as to run a private pipeline through that land is shocking to say the least. But PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE is the capitalist creed.

 

And even though Tubularsock has predicted the outcome he never is going to stand by and not at least stand up and say NO.

 

And I urge everyone to do the same.

 

 

On my return trip back to Oakland Tubularsock had to weave his old heavy two-wheeler through a group of homeless veterans with their cardboard signs asking for help at the entrance to BART.

 

You know, I just couldn’t help but wonder just how many people have been fucked up because of this incessant lust for oil.