deciplex

81 ms·

751.
by deciplex 11y ago
Japan is currently in the middle of one of these due to a hot summer last year. It is not as bad as the Norwegian one, however it is not the only one in recent memory, either - there was a butter shortage in Japan in (IIRC) 2008 as well.
752.
by deciplex 11y ago
>[the officials] would conclude that the citizens were trying to tell them something The officials may also take the opportunity to move against political rivals, or other threats and undesirables, under cover of laws which most people d
753.
by deciplex 11y ago
Indeed, and there is an even darker side to this, which is what you get when the government starts selectively enforcing these ridiculous laws. Play ball with the oligarchy, and they'll ignore that you didn't bother to go through
754.
by deciplex 11y ago
If people had thousand-year life spans they might take a greater interest in what is going to happen to Earth ecology further out than 2050. Right now, thinking about 2050 is considered to be taking a 'long-term' view - it is anyt
755.
by deciplex 11y ago
I'm not sure that refactoring our genome is going to be enough. We need bodies that can survive cosmic radiation as well as maintain structural integrity for the thousands of years required for most interstellar trips. We probably also
756.
by deciplex 11y ago
>find another community without high standards for replies I think you're generally right about post quality on HN, but don't confuse capricious voting culture with high standards. HN might have high standards, but you see it m
757.
by deciplex 11y ago
>As an alternative, I wouldn't be disappointed if the threshold for greying out was reduced to -3 or so. And full death at -10? I think this would go a long way toward resolving people's negative attitudes toward downvotes. The
758.
by deciplex 11y ago
Can you back this up? As far as I can tell, while there are seasonal variations on sea ice extent that can rebound briefly to "normal" levels, overall sea ice coverage as well as sea ice volume are both in decline. I can't
759.
by deciplex 11y ago
What she says isn't incompatible with science. If basic human social psychology coupled with policies informed by neoliberal market fundamentalism prevent us from addressing climate change, then we will either need to do something abou
760.
by deciplex 11y ago
His actions at PyCon were not shameful, and his employer had to let him go to avoid being drawn into the witch hunt any more than they already had been. Perhaps I can blame his employer for not standing a little stronger, but mainly I'
761.
by deciplex 11y ago
I only call it a "tax" as a shorthand, libertarians would not call it that. Rather they devise a system where, for example in the case of air pollution, there is no such thing as a public good, and instead of regulation and fines,
762.
by deciplex 11y ago
In fairness to the "libertarian crowd", the smart ones usually do grok negative externalities, and come up with grandiose (if naive) schemes for internalizing them. The likely result most of the time is a community that spends 20
763.
by deciplex 11y ago
Unless the US government is hiding an unfriendly boxed AI and the Snowden disclosures have introduced a risk that this AI may unbox itself - no the downside can not be anywhere near unlimited . How about we look at what we already know of
764.
by deciplex 11y ago
There are also crimes for which they are. In fact I think we can judge him on outcomes alone and he will still come out ahead, but even in the face of adverse outcomes, the fact that he sought to expose these very illegal programs with repe
765.
by deciplex 11y ago
How do you reckon? He tried going through the official channels for many months, and when it was clear that the system he was working in would not allow those programs to receive even the slightest airing in public, he went to the press. Wh
766.
by deciplex 11y ago
The reason the US ranks low on the corruption perception index, is that those in the electorate not totally apathetic have scandal fatigue. Try looking into what passes for a "scandal" in some of the countries that have similar
767.
by deciplex 11y ago
> Another problem, of course, is that they would have a very hard time proving they stopped, even if they did. If they just said, "yeah, we're sorry, won't happen again", who would believe them? This is a good argumen
768.
by deciplex 11y ago
He didn't say it was a fourth amendment ruling. The initial statement is a little ambiguous, but the subsequent parenthetical makes his intent clear.
769.
by deciplex 11y ago
What we need is a way to link policy with its desired effects. Call it evidence-based lawmaking if you like. If you make a new policy, that policy should have a falsifiable goal embedded into itself. If that policy doesn't achieve its
770.
by deciplex 11y ago
Do you have some reason for believing this, or are you just being cynical? (Not that I have any particular problem with cynicism, rather I'm honestly curious.) I know of some serious breaches of ethics early in the history of cryonics,
771.
by deciplex 12y ago
There are great examples of that in every comment thread ever.
772.
by deciplex 12y ago
So what? Figure out if the idea is likely to work and judge it based on its merits. Unless you're ready to prove that "taxes and big govt" necessarily and inexorably lead to adverse outcomes because of basic physical laws, th
773.
by deciplex 12y ago
Is this a matter of direct contributions versus PAC contributions?
774.
by deciplex 12y ago
> The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax -- and, believe it or not, are even entitled to a tax refund from the US government. After you exhau
775.
by deciplex 12y ago
We might take better care of Earth, if we thought we would be around in 5000 years. Turns out that people tend to care more about themselves than theoretical great-great-grandchildren - no matter how much they protest otherwise. So I don&#x
776.
by deciplex 12y ago
What do you want clarified? The meaning is very clear, and well-established by the courts. The prefatory clause it's a part of is a matter of some dispute and interpretation, but the meaning of "well-regulated militia" itself
777.
by deciplex 12y ago
It baffles me that the country famous for high speed trains never bothered to build one between the city where 1/4 of its people live and the airport that handles most of its international flights (and used to handle all of them). Skyl
778.
by deciplex 12y ago
"Masonlove's" posts ITT need to be upvoted not downvoted :-) They must be seen to be believed. And, FWIW, kindergarteners have more self-awareness than this.
779.
by deciplex 12y ago
The reason there is malaria and potable water shortages in the developing world is that no one gives a shit, and cutting funding for cancer research isn't going to change that. There is absolutely no reason not to do both. Also, disagr
780.
by deciplex 12y ago
> But wow is it frustrating that this is the one piece of $&%! our representatives actually agree on? Do you think it's a coincidence? But, it seems like it's Republicans siding with Obama against Congressional Democrats.

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