I actually like this example. All too often we hear a kernel of truth, “the moon rang like a bell”, without context or explanation and can just apply logic that that seems reasonable with things we understand without questioning the result

Or maybe location dependent - we have significantly reduced air pollution in most places. I can easily imagine places with chronic haze that are no longer so

A little bit of each. Technically drivers Ed in high school. I think 16 or 17, whatever I was the summer I took it. However my dad taught me to drive stick, plus driving a car was easier since I already drove tractors and ATVs

What do you want out of it? Owning adds responsibilities and costs. If you don’t have a reason to own other than you can, why take on those responsibilities and costs?

Owning a property is not just an investment, not just not paying rent, but a commitment. Some of us consider it well worth it. Some of us even like that part of it. But consider whether that’s you

Oh man, they got me dead to rights. I’m not the biggest fan of basketball or cnn but everything else. The only match on the other side is I do like going to a couple major league games every summer

I saw the video where the “officer” held their “non-lethal” weapon right up to the face of a non-violent protester and fired. This was clearly intentional and should be treated as such. There is no legitimate complaint about qualified immunity (and no, claiming total immunity doesn’t mean that is legal) or that he didn’t know. This was intent to cause major harm for no reason other than someone disagreed. It was horrible and any actual law and order would impose significant jail time and reparations

Not realistic. Taxis barely exist in small towns and rural areas. You might try to claim that ride shares could respond to actual usage and they do in urban areas, but the one time my kid tried that it was a 2 hour wait. Also not realistic

Adequate transportation is a need for anyone living independently, and yes we share expenses for common resources including needs that don’t serve us personally. If my contribution can go toward a physics lab that only serves a subset group of students it can also go toward parking that serves a subset of students

My taxes and tuition are paying for literally billions of dollars for stuff at my states public university system that I never use. It’s a great investment giving us one of the best education systems in the country.

No one said parking is the only solution. Buses work decently even at everyone else’s expense, but if you’ll read my responses you should see I advocate for going further, even at everyone else’s expense: many universities are even better served by trains. There’s a difference between advocating only one solution vs advocating for one solution that works now vs one you hope eventually works. And both are far better than just depriving a subset of people of basic transportation

That may be fair in an urban environment where there is little space and there is transit or walkability, but you can’t just wish it into existence by making a few lives harder.

In particular, many universities in the US are in small town or urban areas. They’re great at not requiring cars to get around campus. But students should also have a way to leave campus or even travel, or have a choice to commute from cheaper or better housing. It’s not a prison and they don’t control their surroundings

You’re assuming that’s a realistic option. I’d also prefer it, but in the meantime we have to deal with reality.

Note: I live near Boston, and we have decent train service to many urban universities. It’s a great model that we should expand on, but not every school is located in a major city with transit

My taxes and tuition are paying for literally billions of dollars for stuff at my states public university system that I never use. It’s a great investment giving us one of the best education systems in the country.

The picture doesn’t say where they are but my youngest is at university in a rural area about two hours drive away. They have plenty of land for parking and it’s tough to get anywhere off campus without a car. More importantly I need to take a full day off work to drive him back after break, when he could get himself there if there was a spot to park

Historically train service existed, so there’s hope, but restoring service lost even the funding to study and plan with the current policy chaos, and would have been far in the future anyway.

Instead my kid abit crazy - literal ten mile hike to get to a wilderness area where he can hike. What other parent has a kid walking 20+ miles, after going to class all day?

There are models that can run on raspberry pi. Obviously not the latest and greatest but still useful

The training is much more expensive than the actual usage

I’m pretty sure no one is going to think an in-game npc is real

Do it: modify Minecraft so a villager gives investment advice. No one could be dumb enough to expect that to be real, right?

1. Not getting off the sofa. Video doorbell pops up on my watch, no matter where I happen to be, so I can immediately decide whether it can interrupt what I’m doing.
2. Shut the hell up. Sometimes I turn off the chimes so I’m not bothered by yet another door to door sales drone. But I still have my watch in case whoever is at the door is legitimate
3. Intercom. My kid sometimes want to tell me something without coming inside
4. History. Yes, sometimes I want to scroll back through all motion trigger s in front of my door
5. Wildlife. Minor feature but it is occasionally fascinating to see what animals amble in front of my door. I’m urban so it’s limited but we have turkeys and coyotes

Dammit, I fell for rings assurances of “only in response to a warrant”. Mostly out of laziness, but still …… I really am going to have to figure out self hosting a video doorbell, aren’t i

Well the “good news” is the Lone Star Tick is expanding its territory. If we keep treating our environment like shit, it may just bring down the hammer on beef and dairy

It not really a question of “how?” Anymore. We know how to get most of the way there. We already developed technology to get at least halfway. We just need to roll it out, the “easy” part.

• We know how to decarbonize at least 95% power generation
• we know how to make significant efficiency/weatherization gains
• we know how to electrify residential
• we know how to decarbonize most of transportation
• we have at least possibilities for aviation, shipping, industry, and at least some plastics

Of course we don’t yet have 100% of the answer, but it’s criminal how much of the answer is already in our hands and we refuse to use it, or keep dragging our feet

For sure we should reduce overall travel.

• To the extent people still work from home: we do. On days when I work from home I generally don’t use a motor vehicle for anything
• to the extent we order online, we do. I rarely goto stores besides the grocery. Sorry retailers and local shopping advocates but a dedicated delivery vehicle is more efficient that you taking yours
• I’ve seen gradual progress in train buildout from the 2022 infrastructure bill. It’s very slow, piecemeal, not dramatic but there are more transit options

Even crazier when you started working from home at least part time since pandemic, so the shoes you’d normally wear to work get little use.

I got divorced about five years ago and still have a closet full of shoes I apparently needed but they’re all unworn so I might have a lifetime supply

…… And don’t go out in the woods during deer season because there’s always someone treating a deadly weapon all too casually and don’t think those rules apply to them