Notices by Ciarán Ferrie (ccferrie@mastodon.ie)

Let's just retire the term e-bike - there are motorbikes and there are bicycles.

Some of the motorbikes are battery-powered but that doesn't make them any less of a motorbike.

Some of the bicycles have battery-assisted power but that doesn't make them any less of a bicycle.

The term e-bike is redundant.

We have a problem with the catch-all nature of the term "e-bike" which includes both of these things.

They are, of course, entirely different machines - one a battery-powered scrambler motorbike capable of speeds up to 75km/h and the other a traditional step through bicycle which is powered primarily by pedalling, with a battery to assist on hills and against strong winds. The battery only operates when you are pedalling and cuts out at 25km/h.

The reason this is problematic is because of headlines like this.

It creates an impression that all e-bikes are dangerous and undermines efforts to increase active travel use.

We don't generally distinguish between EVs and petrol/diesel powered cars in road collision reports. Why do we do so with bikes/motorbikes?

A more honest, informative, and less reactionary headline here would be "Arrest as young girl injured after being struck by motorbike/scrambler"

"It is a famine that we could have prevented, if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel.

It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food, in a fertile land."

Read the full comments from the UN's Tom Fletcher:

https://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-says-gaza-famine-must-spur-world-urgent-action

This is what fascism looks like...
https://journa.host/@w7voa/115017115043592927

I love the optimism of the person who voted for 25% but the answer is 0.4%. 400km of cycle lane v. 100,000km of road. The government's ambition is for 3600km which wouldn't even hit the 4% mark.

"Capitalism is incompatible with any kind of human flourishing on this planet"

https://archive.fo/Wu1PS

Just as Putin's invasion of Ukraine was a direct consequence of the international community ignoring his annexing of half of Georgia, so Israel's attacks on Iran are a direct consequence of the international community ignoring the genocide in Gaza, the illegal occupation of the West Bank, the incursions in Syria and the attacks in Lebanon.

As long as they continue to face no consequences for their actions they will continue to widen their attacks.

Important notice for #Mastodaoine who are not citizens of Ireland.

There are two important votes coming up next year - the Local Elections and the EU Elections.

You do not have to be a citizen of Ireland to vote in these elections.

Citizens of other EU countries resident in Ireland can vote in the EU Elections, all residents can vote in the Local Elections regardless of citizenship.

You must, of coures, be over 18, and registered to vote.

Register here: https://www.checktheregister.ie/en-IE/

#LE24 #EU24

I suppose in a city that has imported US automobility values, it's not surprising that the #Galway Advertiser would print a US cartoonist rather than commissioning someone locally, and one that reinforces #motonormativity and the victim blaming that is such a feature of Ireland's #RoadSafety approach. #GalwayCityOfCars

An entire country of 88 million people, over 1% of the world population, is shutting down for two days because of climate change.

#ClimateEmergency

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/iran-shuts-down-two-days-because-unprecedented-heat-3669416

A comment complaining about coverage of the #ClimateEmergency in the media.

How do we get people to see the connection between the changing climate and the cost of living?

"Cuttlefish eggs are turning up in lobster pots in West Cork, a species of red jellyfish rarely found outside the Mediterranean has arrived in numbers in Ventry in the past week, and large Spanish octopuses have been eating the lobsters in Schull."

The warming of the north Atlantic is having catastrophic impacts on our marine ecosystem.

#ClimateEmergency
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41177896.html

RIP Christy - you were one of a kind!

Aslan frontman Christy Dignam has died aged 63 https://jrnl.ie/5970401