I'd be pretty suprised if anyone had bothered to a risk analysis of an individual not wearing a helmet while riding and the financial strain that would cause. And that's exactly the type of thing needed to justify outlawing it on those grounds.
The reason those laws are passed is that motorcycle riders don't make up a large or vocal demographic. There's no higher logic other than the DoT or other government agencies wanting the statistics of road fatalities to look like they're doing something.
Actually, I'd be surprised if there wasn't anybody who had created the analysis. Somebody already found out, that, for bicycle helmets, countries without helmet laws have less accidents per capita. The reason for the safety is because they have safer bike paths and facilities. In other words, they have chosen the more intelligent path of making the experience safer, instead of just forcing a helmet on somebody.
As for the size fo the demographic, I'm sure that that doesn't make a difference. Look at the size of the car demographic in Canada and the US. I'm sure that most parents don't want to spend money on car seats for 9 year olds. Yet, they still are forced to in Canada. Instead of engineering the car to fit the child, they make everybody buy car seats.
You know how we often say, "Faster; smaller; more features: pick 2", or something like that? Well, it doesn't really apply to light rail. We can purchase trains that are more plentiful, lighter, faster, cheaper, and more efficient to run, but we can't use them in many places in Canada and the US, because the laws require that they be over engineered to withstand a crash in those parts of the US and Canada, without any significant damage. I'm sure that there may be many self interest groups who lobby for stupid laws like this, but I'm sure that it's mostly the government being overprotective.
What makes you think that 3 churches can't work together, if they are all independent? The fact that they are on the same corner, and presumably not arguing, should indicate that they get along just fine.
Are businesses allowed to operate independently? Are countries allowed to operate independently? Are cities and towns allowed to operate independently? All of these can be operated without any conflict. Conflict often occurs when they try to become a big monolithic bureaucracy.
Metro Vancouver consists of Vancouver & Burnaby, so that's not quite right. Metro Vancouver is comparable to the surrounding area of Toronto and Toronto.
Lougheed Mall, Brentwood Mall, and Central City Shopping Centre are connected by SkyTrain also. They aren't major destinations, but still, a lot of people get on and off.
In Toronto they have the GO Train, which allows people to live in FAR cheaper municipalities. If you work in downtown Vancouver you can't live any further than Richmond without incurring a HUGE commute problem. That's expensive living.
Now you're being silly. West Coast Express allows people to live in Mission and Coquitlam, which is even further than Richmond. Granted, it doesn't run at all hours, but still, it works well for the commute. Richmond isn't the only place to live. Lougheed, Brentwood, Surrey Central and many other stations are developing new apartments. The area around New Westminster Station is looking better.
GO Train isn't part of Toronto's Transit System. It does go to many more places. The truth is that we are comparing apples and oranges.
Transit villages aren't being built in Richmond. Many places in Richmond can be just as good, but that's not what the project includes. The transit villages concept is about developing a few areas where there already is SkyTrain.
You haven't been in Metro Vancouver lately, have you? It used to be called the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which included many cities. The name is now called the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Only the name has changed. If you took a ride along the Millenium Line, then you would know that many tall apartments have cropped up. That's the same with the stretch between Patterson Station and Joyce Station. The Canada Line construction is ahead of schedule, and there hasn't been any significant destruction of the neighbouring buildings. Most of the line is underground, while in Vancouver. Oakridge Mall will be connected to the system, meaning that there will be more shopping malls connected to the light rail system. People who work at the malls can use it to get home, which means that the system is better.
The grass is always greener on the other side, unless we are trying to brag about something.;^) By the way,;^) are in Toronto, right now?:^)
I think that the problem has to do with FUD. There was a PBS documentary about the divisive nature of US politics. Many towns/cities which were typically neutral made sudden shifts. Some became Republican. Some become Democrat. In all cases, they found that there was a lot of FUD being spread around. I'm just paraphrasing. That's the message that I got from it.
The bottom line is that we have more in common with each other, than we do with the politicians that supposedly match our views. Yet, we turn to those polticians and get betrayed time and time again.
I grew up in Richmond, BC, actually, and while Vancouver's transit is not the worst I've seen, it's nowhere near the best, or IMHO even adequate.
Oh, I agree about it not being the best. Part of the problem about being best is that it is such a vague term, which requires many things. The best system would have buses and trains. What happens when the system doesn't need trains? Should it be disqualified? I think that Halifax is in that position.
Also, I think that it's unfair to compare Toronto with Metro Vancouver. Toronto is only Toronto, whereas, with Vancouver, you can travel much farther on the same system. To be fair, you'd have to combine Mississauga with Toronto, and then compare it to Vancouver and Burnaby.
The key to any transit system is the high speed hub link. In large eastern cities this is probably a subway or metro system. In Ottawa, Canada, this would be the Transitway - a network of bus-only roads with no traffic lights or intersections (bus-rail, if you will). In Vancouver, this is the SkyTrain.
In Calgary, they have 7th Ave. Have you been there? If so, what do you think?
I heard that real estate prices are coming down.
Also, according to the Translink web site, they are trying to create transit villages. The idea is to heavily develop areas around major stations. I have high hopes for the project, but of course the municipalities will probably derail it.
Have you seen the news about more cut backs?
Regarding more stations, I agree with you on almost everything, but the problem is that rapid transit costs a lot of money. Until we quit spending on road widening and new bridges, then I don't have high hopes.
A market isn't a free market, unless people have the responsibility over their domain. The tragedy of the commons was that there was enough for everybody but nobody managed to get enough. That happened because there were no fences. With fences come implied responsibility. Imagine what would happen if your sheep/cattle chewed up your grass, and then you went over to somebody else's property. Imagine what would happen if somebody dumped toxic waste in your back yard. The freedom to create the stuff isn't the problem. The freedom to consume isn't the problem. It's the freedom to dispose of it in your back yard. It's the freedom to not suffer the consequences of your choices.
Metro Vancouver isn't too bad. People still have that attitude of, "You don't have a car? Oh, don't get discouraged. You'll afford 1, eventually.". They're warming up to the idea, though.
I've seen 2 politicians use transit. I was actually quite shocked, because I never expected any politicians to use it. I said to Marvin Hunt, "*You* use transit??", and he said, "Yep.". He was probably offended, but he can't blame me. Politicians are typically "too busy" to use transit.
The biggest wigs that I see living car-free lives are the transit route planners.
Another obstacle is the minimum parking requirements. Property owners are required to have a minimum amount of parking. I believe that that was the biggest obstacle to the parking levy, but the news didn't really focus on that.
I agree with you. I think that you don't need a super computer to learn to type. An XT is all that you need. If the computer is destroyed, then they have the option of just getting rid of it. Hopefully, they'll deal with it in an environmentally friendly manner, but still.
Thrift shops around here, and presumably around the world, have matured to the point where they have found markets for rags. All thrift shops sort through donations to take what they can sell on the racks. The discards are then sent to other locations in bulk. If I recall correctly, they are then sifted through again, into good rags and bad rags. Don't quote me on the last sifting, but I guarantee you from my own employment experience and volunteer experience, that is exactly how it works in Metro Vancouver.
Value Village does this.
The solution is to sort them out into 2 different collections, before you donate. For example, if you have 2 bags of good clothes, and 1 bag of rags, then write on the 2 bags "resellable" [or "reuseable", etc.], and the other, "just rags".
Trust me, they do make money off of the rags. I even went in to Value Village to ask for the discards, thinking that I was doing them a favour, and that we could mutually benefit, but Value Village wouldn't give them to me unless it was some kind of charitable cause, so that they get even more benefit for it. They profit so much from the rags, that they didn't want to give them away for free. This is the same for the the other thrift shops.
Thank you for saying this. There is never such a thing as not enough jobs. I can imagine people relaxing and wanting to enjoy life, but it's impossible to not have enough work.
Thanks, again. I'm surprised that nobody else seems to have brought this up.
The problem is that these Apple workers are trying to make money off of the source code. The proper thing to do would be to go set up a 1-800 number for tech support and make money off of that.;^)
Thanks! I feel like I just walked into a trap! lol
Anybody remember that movie about a guy who plays an arcade game and does so well at it, that he gets recruited by an alien race? The whole game was just a test. I think that the movie was called, "Starblazer", or some such movie.
Slashdot Mirror
Agreed. Everybody wants freedom, but damn the world to hell, if they don't get that government safety net.
I'd be pretty suprised if anyone had bothered to a risk analysis of an individual not wearing a helmet while riding and the financial strain that would cause. And that's exactly the type of thing needed to justify outlawing it on those grounds.
The reason those laws are passed is that motorcycle riders don't make up a large or vocal demographic. There's no higher logic other than the DoT or other government agencies wanting the statistics of road fatalities to look like they're doing something.
Actually, I'd be surprised if there wasn't anybody who had created the analysis. Somebody already found out, that, for bicycle helmets, countries without helmet laws have less accidents per capita. The reason for the safety is because they have safer bike paths and facilities. In other words, they have chosen the more intelligent path of making the experience safer, instead of just forcing a helmet on somebody.
As for the size fo the demographic, I'm sure that that doesn't make a difference. Look at the size of the car demographic in Canada and the US. I'm sure that most parents don't want to spend money on car seats for 9 year olds. Yet, they still are forced to in Canada. Instead of engineering the car to fit the child, they make everybody buy car seats.
You know how we often say, "Faster; smaller; more features: pick 2", or something like that? Well, it doesn't really apply to light rail. We can purchase trains that are more plentiful, lighter, faster, cheaper, and more efficient to run, but we can't use them in many places in Canada and the US, because the laws require that they be over engineered to withstand a crash in those parts of the US and Canada, without any significant damage. I'm sure that there may be many self interest groups who lobby for stupid laws like this, but I'm sure that it's mostly the government being overprotective.
In fact, there should be very little technology; no video cameras for monitoring one's performance.
You're lucky. I'm still confused by what happened to me.
He said, "Mr. Wong, your confirmation question is, 'What did Eve first say, when she saw Adam?'.".
"Hmm, that's a tough 1."
"Yes, that is correct. Now, the deciphering question is, 'How does a foobar ask a question?'.".
"What?"
"Yes, that is correct. Will there be anything else for you today, Mr. Wong?".
What makes you think that 3 churches can't work together, if they are all independent? The fact that they are on the same corner, and presumably not arguing, should indicate that they get along just fine.
Are businesses allowed to operate independently? Are countries allowed to operate independently? Are cities and towns allowed to operate independently? All of these can be operated without any conflict. Conflict often occurs when they try to become a big monolithic bureaucracy.
Small sizes are a good thing, often times.
Metro Vancouver consists of Vancouver & Burnaby, so that's not quite right. Metro Vancouver is comparable to the surrounding area of Toronto and Toronto.
Lougheed Mall, Brentwood Mall, and Central City Shopping Centre are connected by SkyTrain also. They aren't major destinations, but still, a lot of people get on and off.
Now you're being silly. West Coast Express allows people to live in Mission and Coquitlam, which is even further than Richmond. Granted, it doesn't run at all hours, but still, it works well for the commute. Richmond isn't the only place to live. Lougheed, Brentwood, Surrey Central and many other stations are developing new apartments. The area around New Westminster Station is looking better.
GO Train isn't part of Toronto's Transit System. It does go to many more places. The truth is that we are comparing apples and oranges.
Transit villages aren't being built in Richmond. Many places in Richmond can be just as good, but that's not what the project includes. The transit villages concept is about developing a few areas where there already is SkyTrain.
You haven't been in Metro Vancouver lately, have you? It used to be called the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which included many cities. The name is now called the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Only the name has changed. If you took a ride along the Millenium Line, then you would know that many tall apartments have cropped up. That's the same with the stretch between Patterson Station and Joyce Station. The Canada Line construction is ahead of schedule, and there hasn't been any significant destruction of the neighbouring buildings. Most of the line is underground, while in Vancouver. Oakridge Mall will be connected to the system, meaning that there will be more shopping malls connected to the light rail system. People who work at the malls can use it to get home, which means that the system is better.
The grass is always greener on the other side, unless we are trying to brag about something. ;^) By the way, ;^) are in Toronto, right now? :^)
You are very insightful.
I think that the problem has to do with FUD. There was a PBS documentary about the divisive nature of US politics. Many towns/cities which were typically neutral made sudden shifts. Some became Republican. Some become Democrat. In all cases, they found that there was a lot of FUD being spread around. I'm just paraphrasing. That's the message that I got from it.
The bottom line is that we have more in common with each other, than we do with the politicians that supposedly match our views. Yet, we turn to those polticians and get betrayed time and time again.
I grew up in Richmond, BC, actually, and while Vancouver's transit is not the worst I've seen, it's nowhere near the best, or IMHO even adequate.
Oh, I agree about it not being the best. Part of the problem about being best is that it is such a vague term, which requires many things. The best system would have buses and trains. What happens when the system doesn't need trains? Should it be disqualified? I think that Halifax is in that position.
Also, I think that it's unfair to compare Toronto with Metro Vancouver. Toronto is only Toronto, whereas, with Vancouver, you can travel much farther on the same system. To be fair, you'd have to combine Mississauga with Toronto, and then compare it to Vancouver and Burnaby.
The key to any transit system is the high speed hub link. In large eastern cities this is probably a subway or metro system. In Ottawa, Canada, this would be the Transitway - a network of bus-only roads with no traffic lights or intersections (bus-rail, if you will). In Vancouver, this is the SkyTrain.
In Calgary, they have 7th Ave. Have you been there? If so, what do you think?
I heard that real estate prices are coming down.
Also, according to the Translink web site, they are trying to create transit villages. The idea is to heavily develop areas around major stations. I have high hopes for the project, but of course the municipalities will probably derail it.
Have you seen the news about more cut backs?
Regarding more stations, I agree with you on almost everything, but the problem is that rapid transit costs a lot of money. Until we quit spending on road widening and new bridges, then I don't have high hopes.
I predict that people will buy a home in the new city, and then drive to Shanghai for work.
Because building a new city increases the environmental footprint. Also, there is only so much tax money to spend.
A market isn't a free market, unless people have the responsibility over their domain. The tragedy of the commons was that there was enough for everybody but nobody managed to get enough. That happened because there were no fences. With fences come implied responsibility. Imagine what would happen if your sheep/cattle chewed up your grass, and then you went over to somebody else's property. Imagine what would happen if somebody dumped toxic waste in your back yard. The freedom to create the stuff isn't the problem. The freedom to consume isn't the problem. It's the freedom to dispose of it in your back yard. It's the freedom to not suffer the consequences of your choices.
That's not a free market.
You are exactly right about attitude.
Metro Vancouver isn't too bad. People still have that attitude of, "You don't have a car? Oh, don't get discouraged. You'll afford 1, eventually.". They're warming up to the idea, though.
I've seen 2 politicians use transit. I was actually quite shocked, because I never expected any politicians to use it. I said to Marvin Hunt, "*You* use transit??", and he said, "Yep.". He was probably offended, but he can't blame me. Politicians are typically "too busy" to use transit.
The biggest wigs that I see living car-free lives are the transit route planners.
Another obstacle is the minimum parking requirements. Property owners are required to have a minimum amount of parking. I believe that that was the biggest obstacle to the parking levy, but the news didn't really focus on that.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm trying to become a writer. I might do what you suggest. I'm still hesitant, though.
I agree with you. I'm shocked that anybody said what he said.
Anybody who assumes that starving is an option isn't familiar with the variety of torture methods out there.
I agree with you. I think that you don't need a super computer to learn to type. An XT is all that you need. If the computer is destroyed, then they have the option of just getting rid of it. Hopefully, they'll deal with it in an environmentally friendly manner, but still.
Thrift shops around here, and presumably around the world, have matured to the point where they have found markets for rags. All thrift shops sort through donations to take what they can sell on the racks. The discards are then sent to other locations in bulk. If I recall correctly, they are then sifted through again, into good rags and bad rags. Don't quote me on the last sifting, but I guarantee you from my own employment experience and volunteer experience, that is exactly how it works in Metro Vancouver.
Value Village does this.
The solution is to sort them out into 2 different collections, before you donate. For example, if you have 2 bags of good clothes, and 1 bag of rags, then write on the 2 bags "resellable" [or "reuseable", etc.], and the other, "just rags".
Trust me, they do make money off of the rags. I even went in to Value Village to ask for the discards, thinking that I was doing them a favour, and that we could mutually benefit, but Value Village wouldn't give them to me unless it was some kind of charitable cause, so that they get even more benefit for it. They profit so much from the rags, that they didn't want to give them away for free. This is the same for the the other thrift shops.
You are saying that you offered up a free Pentium [i.e. a 586], and somebody actually came and got it??
Thank you for saying this. There is never such a thing as not enough jobs. I can imagine people relaxing and wanting to enjoy life, but it's impossible to not have enough work.
Thanks, again. I'm surprised that nobody else seems to have brought this up.
It's a common problem with unskilled people, too. I don't see how the skill level comes into play here. Fair is fair. Everybody should get paid.
The problem is that these Apple workers are trying to make money off of the source code. The proper thing to do would be to go set up a 1-800 number for tech support and make money off of that. ;^)
I like the pay. I just don't get any of it. ;^p
Yes, that's the movie. Thanks, for clarifying.
lol Thanks for the kudos. :^D It seemed like such a wise thing to say at the time. :^)
:^D lol
Thanks! I feel like I just walked into a trap! lol
Anybody remember that movie about a guy who plays an arcade game and does so well at it, that he gets recruited by an alien race? The whole game was just a test. I think that the movie was called, "Starblazer", or some such movie.
Alright. I admit it. I'm impressed. I didn't think that anybody would come up with an idea of a machine to tangle something up on purpose.
You have my support.
*But* you still have the problem of getting the guys to sign up. Usually sign-up forms are embedded in articles, aren't they?
Hmm, there's a sport right there: article reading. It would take a tremendous amount of training and dedication to do that.
They might as well add painting and colouring, too.
Other recognized sports should include carpentry, carpet laying, cooking, morse code transmission, SMSing, etc.