gascan

16 ms·

121.
by gascan 8y ago
Politically the US has a very strong preference for pushing decisions down to the lowest level they can, whereas European countries [...] take a much more pragmatic approach. This seems disingenuous. Pushing zoning decisions down from the
122.
by gascan 8y ago
People absolutely want large detached houses, but housing developers want to build densely packed multi-family housing because they're more profitable. To me it has always seemed that presented a big empty plot of land, large detache
123.
by gascan 8y ago
Consider BAC. Technically, you're just not allowed to drive impaired. And different people function better or worse at the same BAC. But we have adopted a de-facto standard of 0.08%. The police don't prove in fact you were too i
124.
by gascan 8y ago
The common law of nuisance handled the negative externality situation just fine Isn't specific standards of property care, basically a more formal codification of nuisance law? Subjective laws being a pain to apply consistently, I wa
125.
by gascan 8y ago
I would think owning your place of residence would be a pretty good long term investment most anyplace. It's practically a fundamental rule of the market; more expensive to rent than own long term.
126.
by gascan 8y ago
As I see it, the corruption challenge of collective action is because it is so often not carefully, purposefully structured. Government is constructed with the express purpose of checking power. I read a bit I liked a while back about early
127.
by gascan 8y ago
Caveat, this seems to play out fine if the project slips 10-20%, which is sort of within expectation, and your competitors may be slipping the same amount as we speak. If however the project is due to slip 200%, or 400%- I guess I don'
128.
by gascan 8y ago
I know there are lots of rational arguments, but it's still funny to picture a vocal, outspoken radical voter worrying that if ID was required, the government might be able to figure out they voted for the vocal, outspoken radical cand
129.
by gascan 8y ago
As a Citizen I'd want to submit comments with some superficial guarantee of anonymity. I dunno, I want the FCC et al to know who I am when I comment. I want them to know I care and I'm willing to stand up and name myself, and
130.
by gascan 8y ago
The biggest challenge probably being the 2x4 walls... if there's one code change to future-proof today's new housing stock, it might be adding 2 inches to the walls, either with 2x6 studs or 2 inches of rigid foam, for R-20 or so.
131.
by gascan 8y ago
Hell, for the right money your in house staff might make the right ladder for you! ... wait.
132.
by gascan 8y ago
The guaranteed human and economic benefits of wiping out mosquitoes, far outweigh any theoretical downside. I like how you just state that, like it doesn't even matter what the downside was. What if bird populations crashed and a pes
133.
by gascan 8y ago
According to whom? That now-famous intern from 8 years ago?
134.
by gascan 8y ago
Which is funnier: tech bros innovating their way to public transit, or bitcoin folks slowly reinventing financial regulation? -- Joseph Fink, Apr 2017
135.
by gascan 8y ago
So, I said there are plans for solving the energy consumption issue. And your counter-argument is what, exactly? "I'll believe it when I see it"
136.
by gascan 8y ago
As far as I can tell, it's pretty simple- they've always been ideologically opposed to emissions regulations, so every headline is bent to accommodate that perspective.
137.
by gascan 8y ago
I, for one, am happy we have had 50 years of steadily tightening emissions standards, rather than sitting on our hands since 1965 waiting for EV to kick in. ICE may very well one day be fully outmoded, but that day is not here yet, so in th
138.
by gascan 8y ago
Some people have tried to argue that the cheating is definitive proof the regulations were too hard, and so obviously emissions regulations should all be scrapped.
139.
by gascan 8y ago
It's not even like the test couldn't be met, VAG just wanted to skip the urea system. At the same time as they were cheating, they were selling other diesels with urea that met the regs just fine, no cheating.
140.
by gascan 8y ago
http://www.ipfone.com/taxes-and-fees/
141.
by gascan 8y ago
Embodied environmental impact is a difficult calculation, and nobody ever agrees on a number for any complex product like semiconductors, cars, solar panels. But, if we one day price in all the externalities, we can count on the markets to
142.
by gascan 8y ago
Taxing TV and phone is like taxing internet connectivity. Is it? Then why do you pay taxes to use VOIP? Is internet not a carrier, while TV & phone are services?
143.
by gascan 8y ago
I must agree- we like the idea of absolute neutrality, but the internet is so general purpose it's possible that society will ultimately settle on things like this. TV and phone are two services both provided over one or two strands
144.
by gascan 8y ago
"You libertarians are insufferable" is not exactly a critique of an argument.
145.
by gascan 8y ago
Not with taxes, but providers have had rate plans like that.
146.
by gascan 8y ago
I've been wondering for a while how closely correlated racism and food-racism are. Are picky eaters more likely to be xenophobes? Off the cuff, we know from history people will find just about any reason to believe they are better th
147.
by gascan 8y ago
What is disgusting about tomatoes and onions? I can understand vitriol around meat, and I can imagine people who eat a lot of garlic being seen as smelly. But tomatoes and onions are healthy & fairly benign.
148.
by gascan 8y ago
The interesting truth is that inept preparation of food requires a lot more spice to get the same effect. Speaking as someone who was long inept.
149.
by gascan 8y ago
Isn't 15% a pretty good margin? Restaurants & retail make low single digit margins.
150.
by gascan 8y ago
Semiconductors are fairly unique in this regard- power consumption has been going down so quickly for so long, it can often be both uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly to continue to operate older hardware.

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