brc

63 ms·

631.
by brc 12y ago
Eh, I'm used to it. I don't particularly care about karma points. I'm proud of my unfashionable opinions. Each one is the result of careful thought, aware from the blare of popular media and popular opinion. The herd instin
632.
by brc 12y ago
Exactly. People of a partisan flavour ( and I see much evidence sprinkled throughout these comments) believe that their guy is clean and only has their best interests at heart, while the other guy is evil and greedy. They're all i
633.
by brc 12y ago
"Wealth redistribution doesn't necessarily mean taking money/wealth, literally, from wealthy and giving it away to poor. " What? How could you possibly describe it any other way? You take cash from a wealthy person, and
634.
by brc 12y ago
Err, I do occasional woodwork, and working with imperial measurements is a nightmare. Any serious carpenter will always work in mm, anyway.
635.
by brc 12y ago
Even then, it's not a net loss to the environment. Coal is an energy dense naturally occurring product. The environmental damage from coal relates to mining, shipping and burning it. The environmental benefits of coal are that extrac
636.
by brc 12y ago
Those oil, has and coal subsidy numbers are completely bogus if they are generated from the iea numbers. Iea is just a solar/wind lobbying front - and the bulk of the numbers are made from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran directly
637.
by brc 12y ago
'reducing base load demand' Who is putting their hand up for their street lights to be switched off? For their hospital to run expensive co-generation when there isn't enough supply or it becomes to expensive? A lot of thes
638.
by brc 12y ago
You certainly appear to have the popular view that creating massively distributed grids of power that can meet base load demand is a simple hand-wave away. The fact is, a volatile generating capacity is a bad thing to have. There is no cos
639.
by brc 12y ago
It's also a long term capital investment problem. Power generation is hugely capital intensive, and there are disincentives for investing in such a volatile market. However, the demand is nowhere near as volatile as the supply can be,
640.
by brc 12y ago
Really, that stuff is small potatoes. Look outside at night time and see how much power goes into lighting. Then heating/cooling, large scale manufacture. It was fashionable a few years back to turn off your devices 'at the wall
641.
by brc 12y ago
That is nameplate capacity, not actual generation. Big difference.
642.
by brc 12y ago
The waste 'problem' is minor compared to current generation which burns fuels and just releases it into the atmosphere. Long term waste storage sites are possible. No current efficient power generation is either waste or accident
643.
by brc 12y ago
Any group that has spread non-factual anti-nuclear hysteria in order to oppose nuclear power generation and specifically the construction of new plants. The list is pretty extensive, really.
644.
by brc 12y ago
This type of problem with extending lifetime shows the problems that are coming from a two- decade plus halt in construction of new plants due to fearmongering by pressure groups. Even though plant construction has recommenced, it's no
645.
by brc 12y ago
Big moment in my childhood was learning to 'pop an ollie'. From that moment on, you could separate yourself from others with these seemingly impossible standing jumps up kerbs and over obstacles. I didn't ever really get mu
646.
by brc 12y ago
Australian traffic camera tolerances are also set ridiculously low, and there are far too many variations in limits. I fully support 50kmh urban street limits, but the open road sections should have a day/night limit, where the day lim
647.
by brc 12y ago
I am sure. Sydney is getting a 2nd airport. Air travel is easier to build, easier to expand and requires no private property resumption, wildlife corridors, bridges or tunnels. There is also zero population density between the two cities.
648.
by brc 12y ago
Good on you speaking in virtue of suburbs. There is a reason there are a lot of them - because they are a good product. There are bad ones and great ones, but most are good enough. Some people like the hustle and bustle and meeting new peo
649.
by brc 12y ago
Australian HSR will never, ever happen.
650.
by brc 12y ago
As someone a bit further up the snakes and ladders board than a lot of younger nomadic types, I woudo like to see a specialised house swapping community around remote workers. This woudo be houses with necessary workspaces, connections and
651.
by brc 12y ago
Canadians are particularly nasty at the border. I've found that every time I cross. I keep my information exceedingly short and curt, and keep a confident face on. Having said that I recently arrived at US border without a printout o
652.
by brc 12y ago
So great it see someone on HN who gets it. It's always about productivity, all the time. Increase productivity bad you increase wealth and quality of life. Focussing on job creation is the wrong metric because you can do it by employ
653.
by brc 12y ago
Risk taking and enlisting in armies or expeditions or whatever is different to being fearful and crazy (which is what the article is saying). I prefer the pg explanation - the reason we have messed up teenagers is they don't have any l
654.
by brc 12y ago
And have few, if any, life achievements to 'lose'. Be it career, wealth, family - whatever.
655.
by brc 12y ago
Every generation poorer than the last? No. Not unless you have major political upheaval (Zimbabwe et al) As a national economic policy? In which nation? North Korea?
656.
by brc 12y ago
Well, that is just not true. Technological innovation has been automating jobs since, well, the Romans built aqueducts and hydro-power and stopped people having to haul water in buckets up hills and bashing grain with a rock. There are mor
657.
by brc 12y ago
It's ironic how in the failed communist centralized economies, the economic policy was dictated by "elected" nomenklatura and it was BAD It was bad because the only effective way of determining which goods should be produce
658.
by brc 12y ago
Monopolies can only happen with a large and determined government to reinforce them. Actual monopolies are exceedingly rare, and nobody has ever provided me with an example where the monopoly power was not in part or wholly provided by the
659.
by brc 12y ago
I wasn't trying to define communism - if I was doing that I would say it was the public ownership of the means of production - or something along those lines. A better way of putting it would be 'all countries who have turned to c
660.
by brc 12y ago
>Have you seen many airline start-ups in the past half century or so? Yes, several. Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and Virgin America were all startup airlines that have gone on to have success despite being in highly regulated busine

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