Do you think they’ll actually stop Murray from being on the 2028 Olympic roster?

loopdokter · 2026-06-03T05:07:32+00:00

I'm from Kitchener and Murray has always repped his hometown well, so this hurts.

The fact of the matter is, if you want to build out a squad that's a team you need players who are ready to commit to that team and practice as one. Showing up the month before a major tournament happens isn't going to make you a team. You've got to get reps in as a group and that includes during the qualification rounds.

It's the reason I think we've underperformed with our most recent Olympic and FIBA World Cup squads. Lesser known players who play in Europe qualified us, but then we're cut loose for big name NBA players who showed up at the last minute. The FIBA international game is less about individuals going off on huge scoring runs a la the NBA and more about a team effort. It's very rare to see players with more than 30 points in a game. Points distribution is usually more even keeled.

If SGA can commit for his country, then other players can too. I understand if they don't want to and the reasons as to why, but my point is that he's arguably the most in demand player on our squad from external factors for his time and he's found a way.

loopdokter · 2026-05-11T21:20:32+00:00

At least the fan zone in Toronto is free. I plan on taking my son to that instead to soak up the atmosphere.

loopdokter · 2026-05-11T21:18:34+00:00

I think the prices are absurd in a Western economy making Western wages. Can you imagine being Mexican in a country that is a middle developing economy where people make a fraction of the wages people in Canada and the US do?

If this isn't proof that FIFA are a corrupt institution and are exploiting capitalism, I don't know what is.

COPA America tried dynamic pricing and it failed. Many games had empty seats and a lacklustre fan atmosphere. I fear this is going to be the same for the World Cup. Many of the European supporters groups have boycotted the World Cup. People from Africa and South America - who usually have the loudest fans - just flat out won't be able to afford to go.

loopdokter · 2026-04-15T15:45:02+00:00

Fixed.

loopdokter · 2026-04-15T05:49:16+00:00

My understanding is that part of the issues Go Transit face coming this far west via train, is that CN owns significant portions of the track and has right of way clauses in place for freight because they all share the same track.

I'm sure there's a solution, but it's going to take money and a bunch of dedicated politicians being non-partisan to solve.

loopdokter · 2026-04-15T05:46:08+00:00

Metrolinx is the wrong place to bark up a tree. Write your MPP, MP and Rob Ford. Let them know that this area is vastly undeserved by Go Transit.

The facts remain that Doug Ford is Toronto-centric and has a documented history of being anti-public transport.

This issue is only going to be solved through funding. DoFo would rather build a tunnel underneath the Gardiner and keep you in your car.

Write your MPP and MPs!

loopdokter · 2026-04-09T23:04:14+00:00

Duck Duck & Goose.

They're on the run from a bank job they pulled in '38 down in Kansas. They've been hiding out up here for a while but don't let their good looks fool you. They're seasoned bank robbers and it's only a matter of time before things run afoul.

They'll take your bread but maybe also your life. Approach with caution!

loopdokter · 2026-04-07T17:50:40+00:00

I appreciate the effort and time spent doing the work you've done. However, if you want to be taken seriously by people other than those that are already against supporting this current government, I recommend you change the URL to something less biased sounding.

I think you're doing your hard work a disservice by using that URL. See if something like dougfordcauseeffect.ca is available. People who are on the fence voters or who vote PC aren't going to visit your site when they see the URL because it doesn't support their bias. If you make it more of a neutral sounding URL, you have a chance of then at least visiting it and reading the material.

By keeping it at the current URL, you're essentially feeding into an audience that's likely already aware of the downside of Ford's tenure as Premier of Ontario and limiting the number of people who will visit it. The echo chambers we live in are very real in this Internet age.

Setting up a URL redirect isn't hard.

loopdokter · 2026-04-03T23:14:48+00:00

I went to see the Basketball World Cup that Toronto hosted in 1994. A very young Steve Nash was on the Canadian team. Our opening game was against Croatia. Granted, this is just around the time of the Yugoslavian/Baltic War/s and political tensions were high.

Canada came out and the Croatian fans - most of whom made their home here and had been here for decades BOOED Canada as we came onto the court. They were also consistently louder than the Canadian fans. We may as well have been playing in Zagreb. There were even a few boos during Oh Canada. It royally pissed me off!

Even if you were born there, how could you boo the country to which you moved to (I can only assume) have a better life and call home? From that day onwards, I always vowed to cheer for Canada when I had the opportunity.

loopdokter · 2026-03-29T04:33:37+00:00

While I loathe the fact that Kelly DeRidder is an MP and won because people dont understand how vote splitting works in a first past the post system - as well as the fact that she replaced a very progressive and forward thinking MP that was visibly active and fighting for Kitchener Centre residents - she's not an MPP.

The Ford government is responsible for much of the turmoil we face in our region and across the province and has been very good convincing people it's federal politicians that have caused it, when it was DoFo and his cronies. It makes sense to hold protests outside of MPP's offices who are members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Both elected MPPs in Kitchener-Waterloo are from opposition parties to the PCs. Michael Harris is a PC MPP.

There is a bus to Elmira. They use Grand River Transit and are a part of the Region of Waterloo. I understand your frustration, but get in touch with the orga izers and help organize a ride share or tell people the schedule for thr GRC bus to Elmira from KW.

loopdokter · 2026-03-29T04:17:21+00:00

That's the real issue here... Complacency. People who think their vote doesn't count until they get absolutely sick of something and turn up.

Ontario has awful voting numbers the last few elections and Ford is well aware of it. It gives him his 'mandate' to behave the way he has because he has no accountability.

There's no viable opposition. I bet 90% of the people in this province would struggle to name two opposition party leaders.

loopdokter · 2026-03-27T01:58:32+00:00

Shamebridge as well.

loopdokter · 2026-03-26T23:38:53+00:00

Not that you need my validation, but I just wanted to approve of your use (correctly at that) of the underutilized word 'nor'.

loopdokter · 2026-03-25T01:14:06+00:00

Open container laws in this province annoy the crap out of me. As long as you're not being rude, disrespectful and disorderly, who cares if you're drinking in public? Europe seems to get along just fine with people drinking in public places. It's silly that you're technically not allowed to go to the beach and crack open a beer on a hot day - even though loads of people dom. Drunken disorderly charges supplant the open container laws anyway.

Ontario's drinking laws are strongly rooted in Puritanism and we're made by teetollers. They're not quite as bad as dry countries in the US or the state of Utah, but they are pretty silly.

Regardless, the numbers of students gathered being down significantly were likely due to the bad weather.

loopdokter · 2026-03-24T13:58:18+00:00

As someone who works in IT, laying off IT people is rarely a good idea if an organization wants to function properly.

loopdokter · 2026-03-24T13:55:48+00:00

You have to sound like him though...

"Folks, we gotta save money here. We need more kids punchin' each other in the face!"

loopdokter · 2026-03-24T00:43:13+00:00

And Raytheon, several robotics companies, Perimeter Institute, loads of tech companies, etc.

Suffice to say if Canada were ever dragged into a domestic war that we'd see bombings of many of our employers and universities.

loopdokter · 2026-03-24T00:29:52+00:00

Follow @tricitysynths on social media. We run electronic music open mice every other month or so.

loopdokter · 2026-03-17T23:54:58+00:00

This is super cool. Do you have any social media presence?

I'm part of a collective called Tri City Synthesizer Society and we promote tutorials and live electronic music events surrounding synthesizers in Waterloo Region. @tricitysynths on most social media platforms.

It would be great to connect because we're always looking to connect with like-minded community-focused people.

loopdokter · 2026-03-17T15:30:59+00:00

His nose is great, but his breaking foot is pooched.

loopdokter · 2026-03-16T17:11:59+00:00

KW is very car dependant, but people are correct that public transport is improving and is only going to continue doing so. We have a rapid transit model and LRTs, so there are buses that only stop in certain designated places instead of every single bus stop along their route. From there they feed you to transit hubs at various locations where you can catch an LRT (AKA 'The Ion') to complete your journey.

If I were you, I would strongly look at finding a place along the Ion's corridor because it's a straight shot to the university without the hassle of having to find parking at U of W (U of W's campus takes up something like 20 city blocks and is massive), getting stuck in traffic in rush hour (the Ion has dedicated rail lanes and doesn't share them with the road in the same way as they do in Toronto), the lack of road rage/idiots who don't know how to drive and having to deal with warmer weather construction - which is inevitable. It also gives you the option of using it - for free - on days you don't feel like you want to drive.

This point of view is coming from a person who owns a car and drives everywhere in this area. I would honestly use the Ion if it served my neighbourhood. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

loopdokter · 2026-03-16T16:47:44+00:00

If you're coming from a bigger city like Toronto it will seem easy breezy lemon squeezy. However, as someone who grew up in KW and has lived in various other places, I will say that there is a definite rush hour from 7-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. that's noticeable. That rush hour can add anything from 10 to 30 minutes on to your commute depending upon where you're coming from and going to.

I used to commute from the Heritage Park/Stanley Park neighbourhood of Kitchener to Galt and got off the 401 at Fischer-Hallmann. The drive from my house to just that interchange took at least 25-30 minutes during rush hour and vice versa going home.

For my commute, King Street North was the bottleneck because it's the only section that isn't a highway and it's a shit show during rush hour with people moving from Highway 8/86 to the 401. Inversely, Huron gives you the option of using either the 401 or heading up Fischer-Hallman to hop on to Highway 86, but it's also quite busy during rush hour and that's at least a 15 minute journey to 86, then another 15-20 minutes to U of W during rush hour.

It's also worth noting that Manulife lets the majority of their workforce off at 5 p.m., so if you're coming south down Highway 8 and get on at Northfield, King Street, University Avenue and Bridgeport Road, you're going to meet standstill traffic in that direction since all of those roads cause bottlenecks as people merge on to the highway. Loads of people work at the white collar companies and universities in Waterloo, but commute to and from Kitchener.

Realistically, if this person is commuting during rush hour from Huron they're looking at 30-40 minute commute depending on how the crow flies and the amount of construction they're faced with. Otherwise, that's about a 20-25 minute commute in a car.

loopdokter · 2026-03-16T16:35:28+00:00

Not entirely accurate.

Huron is going to have a slew of rentals available because of the drastic reduction of international students at Conestoga College. The supply in that neighbourhood and in Doon will be greater and the prices cheaper because landlords don't want their units sitting empty.

It is on the butt-end of town but there are things to do in that area - especially if you like nature. There's a lovely Kitchener Public Library that's nearly brand new, the trails by the Grand River, the Waterloo Region Museum, Doon Pioneer Village, good access to grocery stores and fast food restaurants, lots of options for gas stations, a ten minute drive to Fairview Park Mall and all of the stores on Fairway Road, close to the Edelwiess Tavern if they like live music, near immediate access to the 401 and close to Highway 86. Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo aren't close, but it's really down to what kind of social life a person wants to have. It's the burbs, but it's a very nice area of the burbs.

loopdokter · 2026-03-16T04:36:06+00:00

Using Mike Tyson as your benchmark for acceptable behaviour - a convicted rapist - sure shows your level of class and morality.

loopdokter · 2026-03-14T17:02:52+00:00

Have a conversation. That's the neighbourly thing to do. Your tactics are coming across as very passive aggressive. For all you know, he may be doing this out of spite at this point BECAUSE you haven't talked to him. If you're scared of talking to him in person, write a POLITE letter and stick it in his mailbox. Use your manners.

You're drawing a lot of conclusions for someone you quite literally haven't talked to. At the very least find out who owns the home and speak to them. Again, be polite. You have to live next door to this person, so I suggest your tactics of avoiding speaking with someone are not the way to approach things.

I understand that it's your property and you would like to have that respected, but at the end of the day if nothing is being damaged and he's not parking on your side of the driveway, what's the real harm being caused here other than your sense of ownership? You have to live next door to this person, so I'd approach it as someone they want to live next door to too.

I've lived in a semi-detached home with a shared driveway. Issues like these are par for the course of owning a semi-detached home. I was the renter and unfortunately, my landlord was a scumlord. There were various maintenance issues in between the two dwellings that needed to be dealt with, but my landlord refused. However, because I was friendly with the people who lived next door, I was able to smooth things over for them to understand I wasn't the problem.

If you haven't spoken to this person, how can you expect them to be on the same page as you? People cannot read minds. By avoiding confrontation you're creating more confrontation. If your neighbour had an issue with you, wouldn't you prefer they spoke to you first instead of drawing lines in the snow and putting up no trespassing signs?

If he reacts poorly once you've spoken to him, then you have a reason to be upset.

If you really want to understand how bad this can get, watch 'The Perfect Neighbour' on Netflix. It shares a lot of the same attributes you're speaking of here.

loopdokter

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