frostbiker

you do realize that the people burning lgbt flags now, will burn lgbt people, or whoever they think to be lgbt, if they get the chance to?

Yes, that is part of the point I'm trying to make. I am queer and thus scared of our governments appeasing these dangerous idiots. It starts by banning burning their stupid books, and god knows where it ends.

People should be able to burn a stupid book without fearing for their lives. Just like they should be able to burn a flag or any other symbol.

People like me don't harm Muslims. I wish I could say the opposite.

“The bill will make it punishable, for example, for people of the same sex to kiss in public. It will only aim at actions in a public place or with the intention of spreading in a wider circle,” Hummelgaard said

I agree with Hummelgaard. Those “protests” are used to create hatred. Even though it is also for me not comprehensible how people can be so sensitive about this, we all know the reaction it provokes. And even though we don’t agree and comprehend those feelings, we can still respect those feelings and just not senselessly create disruption. And hey… You can still kiss as many people of the same sex in private as you want.

This isn't an exaggeration: a few weeks ago in Ottawa we had anti-LGBT protests where rainbow flags were burned down -- guess who was there? And while many of us were offended and appalled, nobody was threatened or beheaded in response, and we didn't have politicians trying to pass a new law forbidding the burning of rainbow flags either.

The whole point of this is that in Europe we have fought for centuries in order to establish liberal democracies where freedom of speech and the separation of church and state are enshrined. We must not appease extremists who achieve change with threats of violence. There is a name for that.

In a democracy the act of burning a book, or a flag, is a canary in the coal mine: you know there is trouble when it dies.

The message is simple: we don't threaten people who have different ideas.

Governments should not be allowed to burn books.

Private citizens should be allowed to burn any books they own.

Neither governments nor private citizens should be allowed to harm or threaten people who burn their own damn books.

Example: you can purchase a dozen copies of "On The Origin of Species", burn them, and I will very happily not threaten to behead you. Easy.

What do you think about designing our streets so that cars won't drive faster than the speed limit simply because they wouldn't feel safe doing so? Narrow winding streets, on-sreet signs, raised intersections, concrete medians, paving stones, etc.

For roads, where faster traffic is required, we could avoid danger to bicycles by having a network of bicycle tracks that is separate from car traffic, or protected bike lanes where the geography makes it difficult.

The regulation that the city needs is that whenever roads are rebuilt they should prioritize transport options as follows: wheelchairs/pedestrians > bicycles > e-scooters/e-bikes > transit > compact cars > pedestrian mutilators (a.k.a. pickup trucks and SUVs). It is preposterous that some residential roads today don't even have sidewalks.

They should also eliminate right turns on red, which are as hostile to pedestrians and bicycles as it gets.

Evidence is classified and can't be shown to you. It has already been shown to a bunch of people with the necessary clearances. Is it so hard to understand? Want to see some evidence? Then write letters to your elected representatives to have it declassified.

If you want to lower immigration rates, you’re gonna need to increase birth rates

The opposite is also true: if you want to see higher birth rates then housing needs to be affordable. Most Canadians require some financial stability before they start a family, and that is difficult today with the sky high housing costs.

In most jurisdictions, yes. Bikes can typically ride anywhere except motorways.

Don't worry, when you get older the same will happen to you. This isn't anything new.

Doesn't this encourage speculators to buy a place and not rent it out, further exacerbating the housing crisis? We need taxes on empty units to be high enough to maintain the incentive to rent them out.

Having a small penis doesn't make you a bad person and being a bad person doesn't shrink your penis. Let's stop shaming people based on things they have no control over, such as skin color, sexual orientation or penile length.

Just another ~~old white dude~~ inexperienced colored girl rying to fix dumb shit instead of focusing on the real problems within.

Do you see how toxic it sounds now? Gross.