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General Road and Highway Discussion
(06-07-2017, 09:46 PM)SammyOES2 Wrote: Note as well, that this isn't just 'offensive', it actually reads as actively encouraging sexual harassment.

That is one way something can be offensive, yes. But even with interpreting it as the two words “grab her” the only reason harassment is the first reading is in the context of the current President. Before that it could as well have meant “keep your family close” or some such. It’s a license plate containing at most 8 characters, and as such almost all of them will be susceptible of multiple interpretations. I believe they should be constructed in favour of the plate owner when feasible.

The comment re: “Kuntz” is very much on point.

Of course the real solution is not to have personalized license plates. The purpose of plates is to identify the car, full stop. There is an entire bureaucracy that wouldn’t have to exist without personalized plates. And while I’m at it, plates are ridiculously small and easy to change or remove. Cars should have the license number painted right on like airplanes, front, back, left, right, and on top, and much bigger than the current plates. But none of that is going to happen.
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I didn't put words in anyone's mouth. I was being sarcastic, not speaking on anyone else's behalf. And the reason I was is because the case of Mr Grabher shows the depths of ridiculousness the issue of how we as a society respond to what a person finds offensive has reached. Did the person who was so horribly offended by this man's plate enquire as to whether or not it was a proper name or some stupid attempt at humour? No, they lodged a complaint, assuming it was the latter.

I am frequently offended by the sort of humour "dudebros" (as someone dubbed them) employ, but I am equally offended by the lack of any benefit of the doubt people are likely to grant and immediately assume the worst about people. Should we all speak up and contact the appropriate government agency or the media every time we're offended by something?

Last point, I just find it sadly laughable that with everything going on at home and abroad, this guy's name was considered something offensive. The person who complained should have been told it was his name, and to go home.
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Would anyone have launched a complaint, and would the media have run with it if the person's name was Grabhim? The whole issue is absurd!

There is plenty in the world and in our society to be offended about. To call this matter trivial would be giving it too much credit.

This has all been quite a tangent, and having expressed my opinion, I shall not contribute further to the deviation.
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(06-07-2017, 10:48 PM)Elmira Guy Wrote: Would anyone have launched a complaint, and would the media have run with it if the person's name was Grabhim? The whole issue is absurd!

There is plenty in the world and our society to be offended about. To call this matter trivial would be giving it too much credit.


Yes, yes.  Men have it so rough.

(This is my cue to leave this conversation, because its clearly not going anywhere good.)

Edit: And by the way, for someone so worried about the other issues at home and abroad, you've written a lot on this 'laughable' issue... so maybe it was worth discussing after all.
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Don't assume that you have me figured out SammyOES2. Anyone who believes that only one gender can be the victim of sexual harassment clearly has not done their homework, or experienced it themselves.

You remind me of the SJW's who believe that there are only two brands of discrimination; race and female-gender. There are all manners of ugliness out there, and even though I am a hatero, white male, I have suffered a lot of it. Thing is, you won't even entertain that it's possible. Sad
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Yeah, that's not what I said or think.
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You blithely dismissed that there are males who are victims of sexual harassment with your first comment. My point was and is that if Grabher has an unacceptable sexual connotation, then so does Grabhim. Your comment strongly suggested that it doesn't.
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I'm trying to stop here, but you keep completely misrepresenting me.

You were talking about "Would anyone have launched a complaint, and would the media have run with it". My comment doesn't dismiss males who are victims of sexual harassement, because that's not what you were talking about.

I'm sure you'll keep going on this new vendetta and personal attacks, but I'll pre-emptively just say that you should read what I wrote again.
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To which you replied... "Yes, yes.  Men have it so rough."

I took that as acidic sarcasm. If I was wrong, then I apologise. But was I?
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I missed this until now. From The Record: Kitchener gives neighbourhoods more ways to slow traffic

Quote:So councillors voted Monday in favour of a smaller-scale measure, that would allow neighbourhoods to apply for up to $15,000 for neighbourhood grants to slow vehicles going through their neighbourhoods. Those grants aren't exclusively for traffic calming, but could be spent on any number of neighbourhood projects, from community gardens to little libraries.

It takes ages to get a proper study done to investigate real traffic calming, and requires overwhelming support by neighbours. This might be a good middle ground for streets that could be made to feel safer and more comfortable, but don't need to be given a full traffic calming treatment, or anyway whose residents don't want to wait for it.

Most people aren't opposed to passive traffic calming measures; they might work (they also might not); and they can serve to beautify the neighbourhood at the same time. All good stuff.
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Well I never thought this forum would devolve into a Facebook level of rhetoric but there we have it, complaints about "SJW"s. Mods please remove this entire digression. It isn't fit for this board.
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(06-07-2017, 08:03 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-06-2017, 11:16 PM)timio Wrote: Westheights is being prepared for a resurfacing sometime soon.  Curbs have been replaced in spots and the outside edges have been shaved.  I hope they do a good paint job after.  The paint was confusing with the initial road diet and last year's reapplication only made things worse.

I never found it that bad, in a few places the old marks weren't so clearly removed, and a few places errors were made, but most of the road seemed fine.

In any case, the new stuff will be great---for about 3-4 weeks until drivers who drive in the bike lanes cause the paint to wear away.

For the most part, it's fine, but I find they did some weird things at the west Westheights/Highland intersection when they repainted last year.  Instead of going over the existing lines, they added a new line which takes cars into the bike lane turning onto Westheights and is not very clear where the left turn lane onto Highland begins.

Mind you, this issue is at the intersection, which will be replaced next year when they reconstruct Highland, so we may have to wait another year for the paint to be updated, whether it's for a standard intersection or roundabout.
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Hopefully no roundabout there...there are a lot of residential around, and a school (Sandhills) just up the road on Victoria.

The roundabouts on Ira Needles/Trussler are terrible for people on foot, but at least there really isn't anyone living to the west (although, maybe one day; on the other hand, maybe they won't be expecting to be able to walk anywhere anyway).

I'm loth to call Westheights and Highland "urban," but it is too developed and should be getting too much foot traffic for a roundabout.
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(06-08-2017, 07:26 AM)MidTowner Wrote: I missed this until now. From The Record: Kitchener gives neighbourhoods more ways to slow traffic

It takes ages to get a proper study done to investigate real traffic calming, and requires overwhelming support by neighbours. This might be a good middle ground for streets that could be made to feel safer and more comfortable, but don't need to be given a full traffic calming treatment, or anyway whose residents don't want to wait for it.

It doesn't mention the total budget here. I'd be interested in what's actually available.

In terms of doing traffic studies, I wonder if there is some way you could get reliable "crowd sourced" data.
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(06-08-2017, 08:00 AM)MidTowner Wrote: Hopefully no roundabout there...there are a lot of residential around, and a school (Sandhills) just up the road on Victoria.

The roundabouts on Ira Needles/Trussler are terrible for people on foot, but at least there really isn't anyone living to the west (although, maybe one day; on the other hand, maybe they won't be expecting to be able to walk anywhere anyway).

I'm loth to call Westheights and Highland "urban," but it is too developed and should be getting too much foot traffic for a roundabout.

Last I heard they were recommending against a traffic circle.

That being said, I don't necessarily agree with this.  Traffic circles are more uncomfortable for pedestrians, but I believe they are actually safer.  In the Netherlands at least, they are by far preferred and quite comfortable for pedestrians.

I suspect the reason is simply one of our cultural things.  When that ped light goes on, peds walk, no thinking.  With a traffic circle, there is negotiation and judgement to when to walk which puts some of the onus on the pedestrian not to make a mistake.  That is uncomfortable, even if it is safer.  This is just my speculation however, outside of Europe, I know of no data on the safety of roundabouts for peds (and of course there, a large high volume roundabout would get grade separated ramps, it is important not to treat all roundabouts the same after all---another mistake we make).
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