My name is Kyle VanderBeek and I reside at 8xx Vermont Street, the last turn on the curvy portion of Vermont Street in Potrero Hill. I am writing this letter to express my support for the Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW) event being considered for April 4, 2010.

I moved into my current apartment just before the BYOBW event in 2008. When I heard it was happening, I was incredibly pleased and decided to turn it into an opportunity to gather with my friends. These events transform an otherwise normal Sunday into a time of celebration and community. I get to make food, be a host, and join my friends on the balcony to watch the spectacle. Many of us also choose to participate in what is truly a uniquely San Francisco experience; one that is family-friendly, joyous, and wacky.

I have enjoyed BYOBW for the last two years, and am encouraged by the additional organizational efforts being put forth this year (including more portable restroom facilities and monitors along the course). It has always been a low impact event, and I anticipate that being true this year as well.

As a directly-impacted neighbor, I urge the City of San Francisco to allow this annual event to continue and by doing so support the right of the people to assemble and be silly.

Thank you.

I really hope everything goes well. I can’t wait to throw a party!

I know everyone is on the Palin-slamming bandwagon, and with the material she provides it is all too easy to do. At this point I am, if nothing else, just in awe that she was tapped to be on the McCain ticket. I’m also blown away that her handlers and speech writers aren’t doing a better job in keeping her clear of these blunders.

But I digress. It really is stunning that a public politician seems to lack an understanding of science and would attempt to make a facile point about spending, only to shoot herself in the foot. You see, taking a cheap shot at fruit fly research makes no sense when also talking about special needs children. Fruit flies are an important tool and standard model in understanding gene-linked and developmental disorders such as autism. This sort of work is so important that the 1995 Nobel Prize in Medicine was given to a group of researchers that pretty much exclusively used fruit flies in their work.

But really, this is about big-picture thinking. It’s not enough to say something like “let’s cure autism”. You can’t just poke at autistic kids to do that. We need to increase the size of our research knowledge in areas of genetics, molecular biology, and developmental biology. We have to develop better tools to detect genetic abnormalities, toxic conditions, or other things that haven’t even been thought of yet in connection to ASD diagnoses.

All of these things can be done with a combination of public and private funds. This is the very stuff for which grants and endowments exist. It’s this search for knowledge which may not have a direct or immediate impact on health but might cascade into a sea change in the treatment of diseases. And this is precisely the type of research that we should frugally spend some funds on for the betterment of humankind and to make America a world-wide leader in science. A good leader must understand that.

Update: The research Olberman speaks of at UNC has already yielded some useful knowledge about the formation and function of neurons. The specific grant Palin was referencing is a mere $211k earmark made by California Congressman Mike Thompson for research regarding fruit fly threats California’s olive crops. It should be noted that this earmark was the first item on the 2008 awards page by the Citizens Against Government Waste, which makes it look all the more like Palin speech writers are just haphazardly grabbing info they can parrot off the internet without digging any further.

Obama ‘08 – Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

I live in a big city, and I have American values, not these illusory and somehow superior small town values. Hell, I grew up in a small city, so I guess I’m some sort of mutt; do I still count? Who am I?

I am America. I pay my taxes. I believe in equality for all. I hope for peace. I work hard doing a white-collar job at a company that produces a product that the world buys. I have my hard earned money in the flailing stock market. I love my family with my whole heart. I voice both my agreement and my dissent. I would take up arms and fight to the death to defend our freedom. I lend a helping hand. I cram my brain with knowledge and then share it. I give blood. I install CFLs and recycle. I check on my friend’s cats when she’s away. I practice critical thinking. I vote.

I am America so please, please stop implying that the cleanliness of my fingernails, my geographic location, or how I conscientiously cast my vote makes me anything else.

Now, to wind down: I am drinking a beer!