Love 'Em or Hate 'Em, You Gotta Tolerate 'Em

The red light cameras, i mean.

There have been changes in the traffic lights in recent years.  When lights turn red now, the other side does not simultaneously turn green.  There is a second or so of delay, the lights are red on all sides, then the other side gets a turn.  It's for safety, i'm told, and i guess it helps.

We also have, at a few select lights in town, cameras that snap your picture if you run a red light.  The corners that have these are notorious for traffic building up horribly and the light being green on the cross street for only a very limited time.  Waits to cross the major artery at these cross streets can be six or more light cycles, and that's on a good day.  That's why so many people were running those lights.

So, did they increase the amount of time the lights are green so more people could get through?  Only a little, their main answer was to install the red light cameras.

The cameras were supposed to help stop the number of people running the lights, and reduce the number of t-bone crashes at those intersections.  The threat of getting a ticket in the mail apparently works, because the number of such collisions, what i once heard an officer call "a yellow light accelerator introducing himself to a green light anticipator", have been drastically reduced at those intersections.

Rear ending collisions have replaced them.  Why does this not surprise me?

To quote Joshua, the computer in the movie War Games, "The only way to win the game is not to play!"


Today is

Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)

Carnival Tuesday -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Day -- Fairy Calendar

Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao

Freedom Days -- Farmington, NM, US (the Four Corners region celebrates freedom and The 4th in a big way; through Sunday)

Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day

I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)

Mineral Collecting Field Trips -- Bancroft, ON, CA (every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this month and next, geologists lead mineral collecting field trips, educating participants about mineral identification, collecting techniques, and earth sciences)

National Anisette Day

Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)

Rebild Festival/American Independence Day Celebration -- Aalborg, Denmark (the town dresses in red, white and blue, celebrating with BBQ, American beer, and more; through the 4th)

Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures


Sata-Hame Accordion Festival -- Ikaalinen, Finland (one of the worlds biggest and best accordion festivals; through Sunday)
 

St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!

Unity Day -- Zambia

Violin Lovers' Day

World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*)

*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!


Birthdays Today

Lindsay Lohan, 1986
Johnny Weir, 1984
Jose and Ozzie Canseco, 1964
Ron Silver, 1946
Richard Petty, 1937
Polly Holiday, 1937
Dave Thomas, 1932
Medgar Evers, 1925
Dan Rowan, 1922
Ken Curtis, 1916
Thurgood Marshall, 1908
Hermann Hesse, 1877


Today in History

Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698
Vermont  becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777
Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881
Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893
Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897
The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937
The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976
The AbioCor  self contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002