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Morning News Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Ray’s 5 Top Stories plus
This is Ray Mossholder with the morning news for Sunday, July 12, 2015. Here are the top five stories to this hour……
From The Guardian in England….. “How to save Greece from financial chaos? Germany answers “It’s all Greek to me!”
Greece’s final attempt to avoid being kicked out of the euro by securing a new three-year bailout worth up to $80 billion dollars ran into a wall of resistance yesterday from the eurozone’s fiscal hawks.
Finland rejected any more funding for the country and Germany called for Greece to be forced to sit on the sidelines and out of the currency bloc for at least five years.
The last-chance talks between the 19 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels ended at midnight, as they struggled to draft a policy paper for national leaders another emergency summit for today was called that is billed as the decisive meeting.
With Greece on the edge of financial and social collapse, eurozone finance ministers met to decide on the country’s fate and on what to do about its debt crisis, after experts from the huge amount of creditors said that new fiscal rigour proposals from Athens were good enough to form “the basis for negotiations”.
But the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has called for Greece to be expelled from the eurozone for a minimum of five years and demanded that the Greek government transfer fifty billion dollars of state assets to an outside agency for sell-off.
Timo Soini, the nationalist True Finns leader, meanwhile, threatened to bring down the government in Helsinki if Alex Stubb, the finance minister, agreed to a new bailout for Greece. Berlin also demanded stronger and more intrusive powers for outside monitors to police the economic and fiscal reforms that Alexis Tsipras, the leftist Greek prime minister, would need to commit to to secure the new bailout.
The eurozone has been united for five months in the negotiations with Tsipras, but with the stakes rising greatly in the last 10 days, major divisions have surfaced, with the French working tirelessly to save Greece and the hardliners now pushing Greece’s expulsion for the first time openly.
The European commission and the European Central Bank issued dire warnings that a failure to grant Greece new rescue funds of up to 78 billion would put the country on a trajectory of complete banking and financial collapse.
The widening gulf between eurozone hawks and doves paves the way for a far more serious “World Cup” summit today, with France and Italy lining up against Germany and the northern and eastern European nations. Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, is expected to tell chancellor Angela Merkel that enough is enough and that Greece should not have to put up with any more humiliation.
Merkel is under intense pressure from the Obama administration not to “lose” Greece and is worried about her own legacy. But Greece fatigue is becoming endemic in Germany and she faces growing unrest in her party ranks where Schäuble’s hard line is popular. She is said to have endorsed Schäuble’s tough position.
If the talks break down irretrievably and Greece is allowed to slide into even greater chaos, relations between Berlin and Paris will be extremely strained.
And this from The Washington Post…..Different strokes for different folks.
So what would Greece’s financial collapse mean for the global economy and America in particular?
Maybe not as much as we think. Europe’s firewall seems to be working. It’s hard to say what would happen in the worst case of Greece leaving the euro zone, but it’s probably something like this:
In Greece: The new drachma would plummet, inflation would soar into the double digits, imports such as food and oil might need to be rationed, companies that borrowed in euros might go bankrupt, and the government would have to balance its budget overnight. In other words, things would get a good deal worse than they already are, which is saying something when you’re talking about a country with 25 percent unemployment. But after a year or two, this pain would pass and Greece would be left with a cheaper currency that would make its exports more competitive and its tourism more attractive.
In Europe: First off, they’d lose real money here, as in the hundreds of billions. Greece’s government hasn’t just gotten 240 billion euros, but its banks also have received 89 billion euros in loans from the European Central Bank in the case of a euro exit.
Second, there’d be some harm. Borrowing costs could creep up for Italy, Spain and Portugal, but the fact that the ECB is already buying their bonds and has promised to buy as many as it takes to keep their interest rates low means they shouldn’t rise that much.
Third, all this uncertainty should make the euro fall further, boosting their exports in the process.
And finally, though this might sound cruel, the worst thing that could happen to Europe is if Greece does well after it leaves. That would embolden anti-austerity parties in the rest of the continent by showing that they have nothing to lose but their fiscal chains by challenging the continent’s budget-cutting beliefs.
In the United States and everybody here our banks should be fine. Some hedge funds might fail. And the stronger dollar (the flip side of the weaker euro) should make our exports a little less competitive overseas. And that’s it. There really shouldn’t be too much damage from the failure of a country whose GDP is the size of Connecticut’s. The fact that there is— and there could still be — tells you how fragile the euro zone is.
From The Associated Press…… If you can’t think of a girl’s name who is on a California beach this summer, just call them Sandy…..
Drought-stricken California will be shutting down outdoor showers across the state’s beaches this whole summer, forcing surfers and sunbathers to get creative when it comes time to shake off the sand.
Public rinse stations in all state-run beaches and parks will be off limits starting this coming Wednesday as the state battles a four-year dry spell. The severe condition has led Gov. Jerry Brown to order California communities to cut water use by 25 percent compared with 2013 levels.
California State Parks report that its 278 parks have successfully met the water reduction mandate, but those areas with more water scarcity will have to further reduce consumption.
Todd Lewis, acting superintendent for the department’s Orange Coast district, said visitors should look for alternatives to the showers, such as using a broom to brush off their bodies or bringing their own water, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
“Bring a bottle of water? How big? A tank? That is not a good idea,” Sara Israelsson told the newspaper as she finished rinsing at a public shower at Santa Monica State Beach.
She said she won’t swim in the ocean anymore if she can’t rinse herself off afterward.
While many beachgoers aren’t thrilled about the showerheads running dry, some said the inconvenience was worth it to conserve water.
“Take your shirt off and dust your feet off,” said Brithany Mcginty, a visitor from Arizona. “We are in a drought.”
Shutting off public showers could save more than 18 million gallons of water annually, the department estimated.
“California is facing extremely severe drought conditions,” California State Parks director Lisa Mangat said in a press release. “It is important for all Californians to conserve water at home, at work and even when recreating outdoors.”
For now, it will be “ocean air, salty hair” until beachgoers reach home for a cool rinse.
From Fox News…..Those Iranians are sneaky. Surprise! Surprise!
It is extremely clear today as world powers hold talks with Iran in Vienna to curb Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, the Islamic Republic’s spies have been seeking atomic and missile technology in neighboring Germany as recently as last month, according to German intelligence sources.
Iran’s illegal activities have continued since talks between Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as its rotating member, Germany, began with a Joint Plan of Action in 2013. The talks were intended to stop Iran’s work on a nuclear weapon until a comprehensive agreement is reached.
With a final agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program set for Monday, the intelligence data from Germany raises disturbing questions about the success of a deal.
“You would think that with the negotiations, [Iranian] activities would drop,” a German intelligence source said. “Despite the talks to end Iran’s program, Iran did not make an about-turn.”
The startling revelations of Iran’s ongoing duplicity first appeared Friday on the website of The Weekly Standard.
Iran has a long history of illegally obtaining nuclear technology from within Germany and transporting it in ways that circumvent international sanctions. German companies have shown an eagerness to legally tap the Iranian market, though none are accused of abetting illegality in the latest efforts by Iran.
Tehran has sought industry computers, high-speed cameras, cable fiber, and pumps for its nuclear and missile program over the last two years, according to German intelligence sources. Germany is required to report Iran’s illegal procurement activities to the UN.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency—the equivalent of the FBI—in late June issued a detailed report on Iran’s wide-ranging activities to obtain illicit technology for its nuclear and missiles program.
Bloomberg News reported in June that sanctions experts from the Iran UN panel said, “The current situation with reporting could reflect a general reduction of procurement activities by the Iranian side or a political decision by some member states to refrain from reporting to avoid a possible negative impact on ongoing negotiations.”
A nuclear deal with Iran that lifts sanctions could be an economic windfall for Germany. Michael Tockuss, a spokesman for the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce Association in Hamburg, said annual exports to Iran could rise to the equivalent of $7 billion after a final agreement. The Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Germany sees bilateral trade rising to the equivalent of more than $13 billion annually in a post-sanctions world.
Germany has not taken as skeptical an eye toward the talks as France, whose top diplomat, Laurent Fabius, famously termed the 2013 Iran talks resulting in the JPOA a “fool’s deal.”
Frank-Walter Steinmeier , Germany’s foreign minister, slammed U.S. Senate Republicans for their letter to Iran’s Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei in which they warned that Congress could override a lousy agreement.
“Obviously mistrust is growing…on the Iranian side if we are really serious with the negotiations,” Steinmeier said in March, adding that he hoped “the letter of the 47 senators no longer causes any disturbance in the negotiations.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accused Steinmeier of coming from “the Neville Chamberlain school of diplomacy,” in a reference to the World War II-era appeasement diplomacy of the former British prime minister.
From USA Today online……The GOP’s Trump card was played today in Phoenix…..
Donald Trump, the billionaire Republican presidential candidate, on Saturday took his anti-illegal-immigration message to Phoenix, delivering a 70-minute speech to a packed downtown ballroom that at times seemed more about needling his White House rivals and settling scores with his critics than public policy.
Trump’s at times undisciplined afternoon remarks at the Phoenix Convention Centerveered into international trade, national security and foreign policy but always returned to the topic that has his candidacy climbing the polls: immigrants who commit violent crimes while in the United States without authorization.
“I respect Mexico greatly as a country, but the problem we have is that their leaders are much smarter, sharper and more cunning than our leaders,” Trump said. “And they’re killing us at the border.”
Trump, one of 14 declared GOP presidential hopefuls, has claimed repeatedly that the Mexican government is deliberately sending criminals to the United States, and has vowed to build a border fence and force Mexico to pay for the construction.
On Saturday, Trump said that as president he would charge Mexico $100,000 for every undocumented immigrant who crossed the border. And after the speech, he told reporters, without elaborating, that he believes “without question” that Mexican officials are complicit in sending undesirable immigrants to this country.
About 20 minutes into Trump’s speech, a group of protesters disrupted the speech, and the ballroom immediately erupted. Trump supporters shouted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as the demonstrators were led out.
“I wonder if the Mexican government sent them over here. I think so,” Trump said to applause. “Because I’m telling you. I tell about the bad deals that this country is making. Mexico — I respect the country — they’re taking our jobs, they’re taking our manufacturing, they’re taking our money, they’re taking everything, and they’re killing us at the border.”
He added: “Don’t worry, we’ll take our country back.”
Throughout his Phoenix visit, Trump stressed that he loves the Mexican people and their “spirit” and that he respects Mexico. He repeatedly blamed a “dishonest” media that he said took his previous remarks out of context. Trump has drawn heat for saying many Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime to the United States and are rapists.
“We have a situation that’s absolutely out of control,” Trump told his 4,200 supporters in a crowd that displayed surprising intensity. “We have incompetent politicians, not only the president. I mean, right here, in your own state, you have John McCain.”
The audience booed at the mention of McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and senator from Arizona who has publicly disagreed with Trump’s comments about immigrants.
“For some reason, some people don’t get it, and I don’t think they’ll be in office much longer,” Trump said. “We are going to make this country so great again. We are going to work so hard.”
Trump later predicted to reporters that he will win over Latinos because his policies will provide them jobs.
“I will win the Latino vote,” Trump said. “I have employed tens of thousands of Latinos over the years. I employ many, many Latinos right now. They love me. I love them. They’re fantastic people. But they come to the country legally.”
Trump repeatedly referred to crimes in which undocumented immigrants killed people.
At one point, Trump invited Jamiel Shaw Sr. to speak. Shaw told how his son, a Los Angeles high-school student and athlete, was shot and killed by an undocumented Mexican gang member in 2008. Before Trump arrived, Mary Ann Mendoza addressed the crowd. Her son Brandon Mendoza, a Mesa police officer, was killed in a head-on collision with an undocumented immigrant who was driving the wrong way.
“I tell people all the time when they protest me, when they protest Mr. Trump, what you have to do is soul search,” Shaw said. “Put yourself in my shoes. Think about your child. A man in the street dead. Your mother, your wife, your father, anybody. … Then find out that someone illegally in the country did it.”
As presidential hopeful Donald Trump spoke to a packed crowd in Phoenix, he was interrupted by a group in the crowd holding a large sign. As they were escorted out, the crowd erupted into cheers of “USA!” VPC
Trump was preceded on stage by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has a national reputation as an immigration hard-liner and whose department was found by a federal judge to have racially profiled Latinos.
Arpaio brought up his and Trump’s interest in President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and the widely debunked conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the United States and thus is not eligible to serve as president under the Constitution.
“We had a couple of things in common. I won’t talk much about it, but the birth certificate,” Arpaio said. “He investigated it. And I have. That’s common. We both want do something about the illegal-immigration problem.”
While stopping illegal immigration was the main theme of the speech, Trump also spent a lot of time ridiculing the companies who have cut business ties with him over his inflammatory anti-illegal-immigrant rhetoric. Those companies include ESPN,NASCAR, NBC, Univision and Macy’s Department Stores.
Trump also repeatedly slammed Obama and two presidential rivals, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another leading GOP contender.
Trump criticized Obama for his approach to negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran and for his swapping of Taliban prisoners for captured Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who subsequently was charged with desertion and whom Trump dubbed “a no-good traitor.”
The president is “weak, and he’s ineffective, and he’s not respected,” Trump said.
And the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” must be repealed and replaced, he said.
As for Clinton, Trump dismissed her as “the worst secretary of State in the history of our country” who he said would make “a horrible president.”
He ripped Bush as weak on immigration and education policy.
“How could I be tied with this guy? He’s terrible,” Trump said of Bush. “If you people go with Bush, you’re going to lose.”
From Reuters…. The teacher’s pet seems to be Hillary Clinton…..
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton yesterday scored a key endorsement from a large teachers union at a time when her chief rival is picking up support from organized labor.
By backing Clinton, the American Federation of Teachers, which as the nation’s second-largest education union represents 1.6 million members, became the first national union to endorse a 2016 candidate.
The endorsement comes just two days before Clinton delivers a speech about the economy that labor leaders will watch closely. Some of them have already expressed public support for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is also seeking the nomination.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement, citing Clinton’s record as a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, “Hillary Clinton is a tested leader who shares our values, is supported by our members, and is prepared for a tough fight,” Weingarten and Clinton are longtime friends and allies. The AFT endorsed Clinton in 2007 when organized labor split between supporting her or now-President Barack Obama.
Both Bernie Sanders and Clinton are set to meet with labor leaders this week as they court a crucial base of support for Democratic candidates.
Looming over the meetings is a Pacific Rim trade deal that the Obama administration is finalizing and which has drawn vociferous criticism from labor. The issue is a difficult one for Clinton, who was Obama’s secretary of state and has remained largely silent about the agreement, which Sanders has consistently opposed.
Clinton’s campaign released a statement saying she was honored to receive the AFT’s endorsement.
Hillary said in the statement “The men and women of AFT work throughout our communities in our preschools, K-12 schools, hospitals, colleges and universities, and public agencies. Their voices and the voices of all workers are essential to this country.”
Clinton also has a crucial meeting at the end of the month with the executive council of the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group for 56 unions, including the AFT.
The AFL-CIO has not said whether or when it will endorse a primary candidate. In 2008, when its member unions were split between Clinton and Obama, it backed Obama only when it became clear he was going to be the Democratic nominee.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has urged local and state federations to remain neutral as the process plays out.
And from CNN…..
Pope Francis delivered yet another biting critique of contemporary capitalism on yesterday, saying the poor are often sacrificed on the “altar of money” and accusing the wealthy of worshipping a new “golden calf.”
“Certainly every culture needs economic growth and the creation of wealth. But political and business leaders have a responsibility to ensure that profits reach the pockets of the poor as well as the rich. ” the Pope told a group of civic leaders in Paraguay, the final stop of his weeklong trip to three South American countries. ” Francis said.
Saturday’s speech was neither as long nor as scathing as the sharp denunciation of modern capitalism the Pope delivered Thursday in Bolivia, in which he called the relentless pursuit of profits the “dung of the devil.” Still, it had its share of rhetorical fire.
The Pope said he gets “snotty’ when he hears highfalutin speeches from politicians that “everyone knows are liars.” He compared corrupt regimes that convict political opponents on bogus charges to Hitler and Stalin. And he said the worshipping of golden calves — an ancient form of paganism — has “returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy.”
Francis’ fierce condemnations of economic inequality have led some — including leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales — to say the Pope is preaching socialism. But he said Saturday that his concern for the poor comes from the heart of Christianity.
“As Christians, we have an additional reason to love and serve the poor; for in them we see the face and the flesh of Christ, who made himself poor so to enrich us with his poverty,” the Pope said, citing the Apostle Paul.
When he heard confessions as a priest, Francis said, he often asked Catholics whether they touched the hands of people to whom they gave alms or just tossed coins in their cups. To do the latter, the Pope said, is to “disdain the poor” and to use them as an object to salve our guilty souls.
Pope Francis has apologized for the “many grave sins” committed by Christians against indigenous peoples in South America during the colonization of the continent by Spain several centuries ago.
In a speech largely dedicated to decrying a “new colonialism,” in which corporations and banks take the place of colonizing nation-states, the Pope acknowledged Thursday that the Catholic Church’s history is not entirely free from transgression.
“I say this to you with regret,” Francis said during a speech to grassroots movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. “Many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God.”
As the Pope noted, his predecessors, including St. John Paul II, had acknowledged the church’s soiled history in South America.
“I humbly ask forgiveness,” Francis added, “not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for the crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.”
The Pope’s apology goes further than previous pontiffs, said Andrew Chesnut, a scholar of Catholicism and Latin America at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Pope Francis’ apology, the fullest ever, is the most significant aspect of his trip thus far.”
Chesnut added that it will be interesting to see whether Francis also apologizes when he visits Cuba in September. The Jesuits were the “largest corporate slaveholders in Brazil,” where they imported slaves from the Caribbean, the scholar said.
Francis has made a point of reaching out to native peoples during his 8-day trip through South America, which has taken him to Ecuador and Bolivia and ends Monday in Paraguay.
Masses have featured chants and readings in local languages , and in Ecuador he urged President Rafael Correa not to drill for oil in the Amazonian rainforest, the ancestral homeland of Native South Americans.
The Pope’s approach seems to have earned him at least one prominent fan.
“For the first time, I feel like I have a pope: Pope Francis,” said Bolivian President Evo Morales, who claims to have indigenous ancestry.
One of the key Catholic phrases describing Pope Francis’ mission and manner is “a culture of encounter.”
That’s a fancy way of saying that he tries to meet people where they’re at — and there’s no better example then visiting a prison.
On Friday morning, the Pope went to Santa Cruz-Palmasola, the largest — and most notorious — prison in Bolivia. The men’s facility, where the Pope met prisoners and their families, holds about 2,800 inmates.
“I could not leave Bolivia without seeing you,” Francis told the prisoners, earning a hearty cheer.
Francis called for some reforms, including access to education and easing overcrowding. But perhaps the most poignant moment occurred when the Pope got personal.
“You may be asking yourselves, ‘Who is this man standing before us?"” Francis said. “I would like to reply to that question with something absolutely certain about my own life: The man standing before you is a man who has been forgiven. A man who was, and is, saved from his many sins.”
After the Pope’s blockbuster speech Thursday night, it was another side of Francis showing forth: the humble pastor who looks for lost sheep, not the fiery prophet who denounces the pursuit of money as “the devil’s dung.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the Pope’s prison visit was his body language.
He was leaning forward, attentive, making eye contact with the three prisoners who shared the stage with him and delivered short speeches. It was a contrast from Thursday night, when Francis appeared to be a bit wearied by Bolivian President Evo Morales’ very long speech.
In other early morning headlines……
Italy’s foreign minister vowed that his country would not be intimidated after a deadly explosion yesterday morning killed one person and heavily damaged the Italian Consulate in the Egyptian capital.
In a message on his official Twitter feed, Paolo Gentiloni wrote, “Our thoughts are with the people affected and with our personnel. Italy will not let itself be intimidated.”
In a report released Friday The American Psychological Association, the profession’s largest U.S. organization, colluded with CIA and Pentagon officials on the nation’s post-September 11 interrogation program, a new report finds. Association members, including the ethics director, intentionally released broad ethics guidelines that didn’t restrict interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. The CIA was using tactics like waterboarding, widely considered torture, to obtain information from detainees.
The association, which has since renounced the guidelines permitting its members to take part in interrogations, issued an apology after the report was made public on Friday.
Top-seeded Serena Williams overcame a slow start to beat Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 yesterday to earn her sixth Wimbledon title and fourth straight Grand Slam title. Williams also notched the third win in a quest to hold all four major championship titles in the same calendar year, a feat no one has managed since Steffi Graf in 1988.
Movie, Broadway, and television star Roger Rees has died at 71. Rees played the snobbish Robin Colcord on TV’s “Cheers” and the British ambassador, Lord John Marbury, in “The West Wing.” Other recent TV credits include “Elementary” and “The Good Wife.” On Broadway he played Gomez in “the Addams Family” and “The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, along with many other roles. In the movies he was the Sheriff of Rottingham in Mel Brooks spoof “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” and also “The Scorpion King,” and the original “The Pink Panther.” He is survived by his longtime husband, playwright Rick Elice.
A Baltimore woman was reportedly arrested yesterday morning for throwing water on city Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as she greeted residents at an event.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Lacheisa Pailin-Sheffer, 37, is accused of running up to Rawlings-Blake and pouring a large cup of liquid of the mayor’s head. The mayor’s aides rushed to dry her off, while the protection united grabbed Pailin-Sheffer and arrested her.
Pailin-Sheffer was charged with second-degree assault, police said.
“I didn’t know what it was that she threw at me,” Rawlings-Blake said when asked about the incident. “I hope it was water.”
And finally…… This story is true:
In Amsterdam, there are people paid full-time, with benefits, to fish for bikes
Bike fishermen use a giant claw to remove bikes and other detritus from the Amsterdam canals. The bikes are deposited on a trash barge, and later recycled for scrap.
Traveling journalist Pien Huang writes:
I went to the docks in the very center of Amsterdam with, basically one thought in my mind: This is going to be freaking awesome.
I mean, c’mon. It’s bikes and fishing. For an Oregon boy, it doesn’t get any better than that.
But then, it did. I saw the claw.
It’s like they plucked it straight from “Toy Story 3″ and moved it to Amsterdam. It’s a huge hydraulic claw, connected to a crane that sits on the front of the barge.
“That’s our equipment for fishing the bikes out of the canal,” says Diane Kleinhout, a spokesperson for Waternet, the agency tasked with keeping the canals clean.
Kleinhout says the company has been bike fishing since the 1960s. She says so many bikes were piling up in the canals; they were scraping the bottom of boats.
Along with her are the bike fishermen, Richard Matser and Jan de Jonge. They fish for bikes every day.
Why you ask?
“There are a lot of bikes in the water,” says de Jonge.
That’s why they tow an empty barge behind them. They need a place to put all those bikes.
We start trawling a block or so from City Hall. Matser pilots the boat while Jonge operates the claw, dropping it into the murky water.
“How do you know where the bikes are?” says de Jonge. “We don’t know. We’re just searching.”
Fishing for bikes is like plunging your hand in a sink full of sudsy water, searching around for a spoon. You grab around blindly until you find something.
Pretty soon. We have our first bike.
These guys were good. We caught one on our third cast. This being Amsterdam, it was a black granny bike. It looked like the wheel was pretty shot. Someone probably tried to pedal it and was like, “Ehh, I’m good.” So they hucked it into the drink rather than dealing with it.
This bike will eventually end up at a recycler. Just like all the other bikes the claw plucks out of the canals.
De Jonge says they catch 15,000 bikes a year. Yes. You read that right. To put it in perspective, the city of Amsterdam estimates there are 2 million bikes in the city. So while 15,000 is a huge number, it also means that only .07 percent of all the bikes end up in the canals each year.
Still, it’s nuts.
The habit of throwing things into the canals goes way back. “The canals used to be an open sewer,” says Kleinhout. “There was no sewer system in Amsterdam so this was the open toilet for the people of Amsterdam.”
In 1860 Amsterdam started to see — or rather smell — the error in that practice. They started to clean the canals up. And they encouraged people to stop using canals as a big ‘ol trash can. But Amsterdam still hasn’t totally kicked the habit of tossing things into the drink.
That’s why there are bicycle fishermen. They keep the canals clear for boat traffic by hauling up one bike after another.
“Look, another bike!” says de Jonge.
It was a folding bike. But he says that still counts.
Now, we’d only fished for about a block. But we got quite a haul: six bikes, a shopping cart, that folding bike, and then, well, we pull up a walker. Even though it’s all garbage. It attracts a crowd. Tourists and locals stop to look at what comes up.
“I joined them last week and we found a real professional camera, and a sign for traffic and a scooter,” says Kleinhout. “It was a nice catch of the day.”
Bikes are the main catch. In the next 30 minutes, the claw snatched 30 bicycles from the bottom.
And while the whole thing is cool, and endlessly fascinating — and the claw is worth worshiping — there’s also this weird realization you get after seeing all the bikes. It’s that in Amsterdam, bikes are litter.
It’s not like the states, where some people (me) lust over bikes built by Vanilla, Icarus or Chapman.
I mean, in Amsterdam bikes are tools for transportation for sure. But here, they treat ’em more like keg cups at a tailgate. Easy to use. And easy to huck where you’re done.
I ask de Jonge and Kleinhout why people toss bikes into the canal. They didn’t know. De Jonge thought it was probably just drunk people doing drunk-people things.
There are other theories. Some say that bikes get thrown into the water by thieves, who just want dispose of their crime. Others blame cars for bumping bikes off the edge–there are no guardrails in the city. And still others believe that bikes really are like keg cups. The host of my airbnb rental says he picked one up for about $40 online. So if it costs more to repair, why keep ’em?
Waternet hasn’t launched any public service campaign to stop the practice. They’re relying on journalists like me to spread the word. But I think they might want to start, as the rate of bikes being thrown into the canals remains steady.
But until people stop throwing bikes into the canals, I do know there are two guys in Amsterdam with one of the best city jobs you’ll ever get.
“I love my job,” says de Jonge. “You’re standing outside with a lot of freedom around you. So it’s a nice job.”
Of course it is. He’s fishing for bikes.
We have a newscast coming and did I just want you to know that I am ready almost building with a B ran into a wall of resistance yesterday from the euro zone’s fiscal hawks ****************************
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Morning News Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Ray’s 5 Top Stories plus
Morning News Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Ray"s 5 Top Stories plus