Road tax per kilometer driven. By having a tracking device in every car. This has already been discussed in Dutch parliament, and so far has been rejected, but it probably won't be forever; I know people who are actually in favor of such draconian surveillance.

Of course, a decade after that it will be used to collect speeding fines on all roads. Which makes sense from a government point of view, but would be a practical nightmare.

Then again, ever increasing circles of concentrated power are also not doing the world much good. For example in Europe, where my national government is being slowly but surely usurped by the undemocratic, costly European parliament.

Smaller communities care more about the people living in them than supranational trillion dollar organizations. While I see a good use for national governments (healthcare, public transport), most power should probably belong with the municipalities.

Explain to them that you're not accepting the position due to their stalking tendencies. Or move to a country where people are less retarded.

If noone complains, nothing will change.

I'd call the cops if there was debris lying on the road.

Last time there was part of a car door on the edge of the road. They said they'd already received reports of it, and had made sure a road maintenance and cleanup crew were on their way.

If you see/hit shit in the road, it's nice to get it removed, so other people don't hit it.

A main problem with that line of reasoning is that they're wearing a camera.

Yes, how horrible, posting a photo of a social event to a social media page. Jesus fuck, people, it's perfectly normal to be seen acting social.

If some corporate human resources unit is unable to empathize with how pictures of social events work these days, and they'd attribute a random picture of someone holding two glasses of wine as a sign of rampant alcoholism, it's not a company you want to work for (and they deserve to go out of business, so that a competitor can take up the slack without being a sack of retards).

Especially channels amenable to spying on US citizens, we would never have heard of Snowden or the spy programs. If he had then tried to publish via other means, neither would his family.

At the risk of Godwin:
If you were, say, a German administrator learning about the death camps and being absolutely appalled, reporting it to any senior Nazi official wouldn't do much good.

If there is a veritable 'horde' of deviants, if there are so many of them, could it be that perhaps they should be heard?

You know, being a straight male (arguably young), I somehow do not feel emasculated by these 'perverse individuals'. If you do, perhaps that's *your* problem to deal with.

"Everybody knows" is not as useful as actually having it public and provable.

The guys who hide their ships and then shoot enemies in the back of the nacelles? I've always found that odd.

If I ever go cycling in the US, it'll probably be with friends, but point taken.

In the decade before I was born (the 70's), the Dutch made a concerted effort to increase cycling infrastructure. At the start of that decade, the situation was much like the US still is, today. By the time I got to riding a bike out in traffic, age 4-5, cars were used to bicycles, and there were plenty of bicycle lanes and paths, so direct mingling didn't happen very often.

One thing that helps is that you have to take driving lessons from an accredited school here, no parents teaching children how to drive. You learn practically how to deal with cyclists.

Also, if you're a driver and you hit a cyclist for whatever reason, you are responsible for at least 50% of the damages to the other person, whether material or not. If the other person is below 14 years of age it's 100%. This is regardless of the cause of the accident.

If you're ever going to ride your bike in Europe, and especially the Netherlands, I suggest you strap on a grin and try to follow other peoples' leads. :)

You don't have a codified right-of-way? WTF?

For right-of-way, in the Netherlands, we do not distinguish between the various "vehicle operators". This includes bicycles, mopeds, tractors, 18-wheelers, horses (at least with rider; I'm assuming horses themselves have not read this bit of traffic law), and all must keep to the simple elements.

Traffic from the right has right of way. If two participants are on the same road and one wants to make a left or right turn crossing the other's path, the turning driver has to yield (this actually also applies to pedestrians). If two drivers meet at an intersection and want to turn into the same lane, the guy making a right turn has right of way. Etc.

Obviously, with eye contact and other means of communication (positioning, lights, etc) you could yield where you don't have to, for more convenience. And yes, more cyclists should use hand signals. I tend to use them when I have to cross other traffic or slow down for a turn.

In the US, where there is virtually no cycling infrastructure and bikes have to share the road with cars. Cyclists have to use the highways(!!) to get to places, which is utterly ridiculous. The weaving is pretty much necessary for safe travel. Both cyclists and drivers need to get used to doing it safely though.

It's pretty simple: As a cyclist on a general road, make yourself as little nuisance as possible, so hug the right side of the road. If you need to overtake someone, see a pothole or need to take a left turn, look back, and if it's fairly clear, claim your place closer to the middle of the lane. Vacate this place as soon as convenient. As a driver sharing the road with cyclists, if you see a cyclist looking back and edging out into your lane, stop throttling up, assume he has a reason (and has seen you), and hang back until you can safely pass.

Voila, you're welcome.

Also, as for obeying rules: just like pedestrians tend to ignore red lights if the way is clear and traffic is light, because they have great overview and can accelerate quickly, cyclists have similar overview and acceleration capability. Also, like peds, cyclists are unlikely to injure someone if they break the rules, other than themselves. Right-of-way is the only absolute ruleset I can think of that you shouldn't break (except via communication with the other participant, obviously).

Disclaimer: I'm from Holland.

What is your problem? He's right.

Malala is a posterchild for peace. Not calling for increased war against the Taliban, but instead resistance to their ideas and ideals. She greatly impressed me, and awarding her the price would be a way to peacefully add a loud voice against the Taliban. The million dollars into her fund would probably also not go amiss.

And Snowden exposed Obama and the US government as running a network to spy on their citizens that the KGB and Stasi could have only dreamt of. They basically took the First Amendment away. What Snowden did was necessary and good.

Do YOU realize what this means? Apparently there are biologists at 4 km altitude!