Posthuman Blues

Activist bike creator Joshua Kinberg arrested

"Kinberg was stopped by police while demonstrating the bicycle for the television interview. His bicycle is a high-tech graffiti writer, using chalk to print anti-Bush political messages sent by people via the internet. Apparently there was a question of whether or not the sprayed messages were a defacement of property."

Taking it to the streets! (What do you want to bet someone's already hit on that phrase in regards to Kinberg's work?)

And what the hell's wrong with chalk? I don't see the problem. It's perfectly all right to drive a fume-belching Hum-Vee, but if you ride a bicycle that emits a dusting of chalk you get arrested? I can honestly say I've never seen any scientific study linking chalk graffiti with global warming or respiratory diseases.

In fact, depending on the albedo of the chalk, chalk graffiti could actually reduce global warming by reflecting thermal radiation -- just the thing for "urban heat islands."