By SHANE ROMIG

BUENOS AIRES—Across Latin America, a region known for its aggressive drivers, growing numbers of commuters are doing the unthinkable: Ditching their cars for bicycles.

Argentina's capital city, a place where Mad Max would feel at home behind the wheel, is building a network of dedicated cycling lanes, joining a growing list of cities in Latin America that are pushing bike use to ease traffic congestion and improve quality of life.

Under its "Mejor en Bici," or "Better on Bike" program, Buenos Aires has built 48 miles of bike lanes, from virtually zero in 2009, when the program began. The city plans to have 81 miles of lanes by the end of 2013. Already, 2% of daily commuters are getting to their jobs on bikes, an estimated 36,000 people, say city officials.

"They thought we were crazy, but people are starting to see the change," said Guillermo Dietrich, the city's transportation undersecretary.

Last week, Mexico City announced it was tripling the size of its successful Ecobici program to 4,000 bikes at 275 stations. The city charges users a $30 annual fee to use the bicycles.

The change is remarkable for a region where drivers often imitate their Formula One heroes—such as Argentine driver Juan Fangio, Brazilian Aryton Senna and Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya—and where enforcement of traffic laws is lax. An estimated 1,600 pedestrians were killed in 2010 in Mexico alone, according to government statistics.

When introduced, most of the region's bicycle programs were roundly lampooned by skeptics, who chortled over the idea that the practice in cities such as Paris and Copenhagen could be replicated on the cracked concrete of Latin America's anarchic urban streets.

Indeed, brave cyclists face a host of hurdles in addition to hot-shot drivers. Most people in the impoverished region still view bicycles as a mode of transport for the poor. Thieves make quick work of parked bikes. And bicycles in Argentina, which has import controls, can cost triple the price of the U.S.

A Mexico City radio commentator took to the airwaves recently to denounce bicycle riders, urging motorists to run them over. "These people think they are French or European. Well, let me tell you: You're not French, you're Mexicans," said Ángel Verdugo, an economist who writes a weekly column in a Mexican newspaper. "That's why I ask you drivers when you see one of these pests, run them over, don't give them a chance, squash them. Maybe that way they will understand."Mr. Verdugo was temporarily suspended by the radio station after the comments caused an uproar. He later said he was only joking.

Unlike bike lanes in European cities like London, which are merely painted on the road, the lanes in places like Buenos Aires and Mexico City employ concrete barriers along many stretches to protect cyclists.

Even that might not be enough. A recent Mexican newsmagazine article featured at least five cases around Mexico of cyclists being killed by cars. In several cases, the driver simply ignored the bike lane.

Pablo Cavallaro, an attorney at a prominent Buenos Aires law firm, was riding to work in November when he said a driver plowed through a red light and hit him, leaving Mr. Cavallaro unconscious and in the hospital with bruises and a dislocated arm. The helmet he credits with saving his life was cracked. "There's a lack of consciousness by cars, cyclists and pedestrians," he said.

Still, Mr. Cavallaro plans to get right back on the saddle once he settles a lawsuit against the driver and buys a new bicycle.

Colombia and Chile are the Latin American bike lane leaders. In Bogota, 214 miles are used by 285,000 cyclists each day, according to the city government. In Santiago de Chile, the government is well on its way to building 429 miles of bike paths by the end of 2012.

The Buenos Aires initiative got a helping hand when a recent report in Argentine newspaper La Nación highlighted that a trip across town on a bike takes about half the time as by car. To help cut down on bicycle theft, the Buenos Aires legislature forced downtown parking garages to accept bikes at cut rates. Many still balk when one cycles up and asks where to leave a bike, but the majority of garages have obliged and its relatively easy to find a safe spot downtown now.

The city's program got an early boost when David Byrne of the rock band Talking Heads paid a visit and met with the city's transport officials and bicycle advocates. Mr. Byrne wrote Bicycle Diaries—the title is a wry nod to the 2004 Che Guevara biopic "Motorcycle Diaries"—about his experiences biking in cities around the world.

From: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444900304577577162647237798.html

Thanks for reminding me. I need to see this on Netflix again.

Borat Sagdiyev!!

[Kissing Gesture Made to Woman] Very nice. How much?
This is Natalya. [kisses her passionately] She is my sister. She is number four prostitute in all of Kazakhstan. [Natalya holds up her trophy] Nice!
[On the subway] Hello. My name-a Borat. I'm-a new in town. (A chicken falls out of his briefcase)
[to audience members at a rodeo] My name-a Borat. I come from lick my balls. Can I say first, we support your war of terror! May we show our support to our boys in Iraq! May US and A kill every single arab! May your George Bush drink the blood of every single child! May you destroy their country so that for the next thousand years not even a single lizard will survive in their desert!
Borat: This-a my wife Oxana. She is-a boring.
Oksana: What did you say about me, you skinny piece of sh*t?
Borat: Please, not now.
Oksana: Why don't you do something useful and dig your mother a grave?
Borat: Look, there is woman in car. Can we follow her, get her and maybe have sexy time with her?
Driving instructor: No! No, you cannot do that.
Borat: Why not?
Driving instructor: Because a woman has the right to choose who she has sex with.
Borat: [incredously] What!?
Driving instructor: Yeah, how about that?
Borat: You joke, right?
Driving instructor: No, there must be consent.
Borat: Ha-ha-ha!
Driving instructor: That good, huh?
Borat: Not good for me.
Borat: My wife make this cheese.
Bob Barr: It's very nice.
Borat: She make it from milk from her tits.
[Borat and Azamat, staying at a bed and breakfast, have recently found out the owners are Jewish. In the middle of the night, Borat makes an entry in his video diary.]
Borat: It is three in the morning, and I am in the nest of Jews. They have cleverly shifted their shapes; one of them has taken the form of a little old woman. You can barely see her horns! She has tried to poison me already. These rats are very clever. [hears a noise and turns on the light. He and Azamat see two cockroaches crawling under their bedroom door.]
Azamat: Look! The Jews have shifted their shapes!
Borat: [grabs a wad of cash] Oh God, how much shall I give them?
Azamat: [panicking] I don't know! [Borat throws a dollar bill at the cockroaches] More! Give them more than that! [Borat throws more dollar bills at them] It's not working! Run! Run!
[edit]Cast

Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Ken Davitian - Azamat Bagatov
Pamela Anderson - Herself
Bob Barr - Himself
Alan Keyes - Himself
Luenell - Herself
[edit]