The Man who Stopped the Tank

On June 5^th, 1989, for two minutes and fifty seconds, one small, simply clad, and nameless man stopped up the procession of four immense tanks on a mission to kill. The day before, hundreds of student protestors had been slaughtered at the command of China’s then Communist dictator, Deng Xiaoping. The protestors had been camped in Tiananmen Square for nearly seven weeks, remonstrating the death of Hu Yaobang, an influential and forward-thinking liberal reformer. They were also concerned with recent political corruption, economic nepotism, and economic reforms. On June 4^th, Xiaoping sent his troops into the square with orders to kill. And they did so. Although the exact number is unknown, it is believed that hundreds to thousands of protestors—mostly students—were killed during the daylong massacre. We can only imagine what this nameless man was thinking one day later, when he single-handedly stood up to a procession of tanks. The importance of his life surely was not at the forefront of his mind. His courage in the face of near certain death begs the following question: if one man can halt the indestructible Chinese military for nearly three minutes, what could a united, outspoken, and brave group accomplish? Although the fate of this passive resistor is unknown to this day, his courage in standing up to the Chinese forces is never forgotten. 

To watch the tank man in action, follow this link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeFzeNAHEhU 

Salt Lake City: 1, Portland: 0

One of my stops while road tripping from Oregon to Georgia last month was in Salt Lake City, Utah. Being from Portland, I will often brag about the advanced measures taken to improve the sustainability of our city. For example, Portland regularly tops the Huffington Post’s list of Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities and Greenest Cities in the U.S., and I’ve never failed to inform people of these facts. Hence, when I arrived in SLC and noticed the GREENbike stations all around the downtown area, I felt slightly taken aback. Portland hadn’t thought of this first?

            The non-profit GREENbike program is simple yet genius. It boasts 20 stations around the downtown SLC area that allow commuters to pay a small fee in order to ride a bike to work, school, the grocery store, etc. Once you arrive at a station near your destination, one simply re-racks the bike and goes on their way. Plus, GREENbike is the only bike-sharing program that “measures the actual distance traveled on each ride and keeps track of the calories you’ve burned and the carbon emissions you’ve prevented” (greenbikeslc.org). All of this information is stored on each user’s personal GREENbike web page. Convenient, affordable, clean, and green! And the best part is that it is “powered by the ultimate alternative fuel: you” (greenbikeslc.org).

In 2008, the United States was exceeded only by China in carbon emissions. Solutions such as GREENbike, which has begun catching on in numerous U.S. cities, will play a vital role in not only reducing emissions, but also communicating the urgent need for change to citizens. 

More power to the bikers!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJGfN6OlJQ