Given climate change's existential consequences, the price seems like a steal. Compare it to 2023 DoD budget of $773 billion [1] and the _net_ interest the feds paid on national debt in 2023 of $659 billion [2].
Certainly, we should implement numerous intervention strategies to combat climate change. Government spending seems largely unaccountable to citizens outside of the lobbyist elite. Why not, at least, spend some Monopoly money on something that might actually work?
Googler here. We've structured the company to extract rent rather than innovate. We hire outsiders who are supposed to help us "grow up". That means processes and staying in your lane. Managers actively discourage work on 20% projects, because we "have a business to run."
Leadership needs to allow us to build things again. And they need to also recognize that innovative ideas can originate outside of SV and NYC.
The first and only occurrence I’ve heard of this claim was Rogan’s podcast. The article lumps him in with other claimants. But it doesn’t actually demonstrate that his anecdote is fabricated. How does this portion of the article make it past the editor? It’s entirely possible that his story is completely made up. It is also possible that it’s not made up. Tabloid journalists make conjectures. Real journalists substantiate their claims. We deserve better reporting.
> But it doesn’t actually demonstrate that his anecdote is fabricated. How does this portion of the article make it past the editor? It’s entirely possible that his story is completely made up. It is also possible that it’s not made up.
It seems to me that, if such a claim is made, that it’s much easier for the people making the claim to back up their claim with evidence. In this case, if one is claiming that a school is putting in litter boxes for children who identify as cats, then provide evidence. For example: what school, specifically? Sorry, saying a “friend’s wife” is insufficient.
How would you even demonstrate that the anecdote is fabricated? Isn’t that like proving a negative? Wouldn’t one, for example, need to do an exhaustive search of every school to disprove it? Or, identify all of Joe Rogan’s friends who are married with wives working in schools and contact those schools.
I’m somewhat partial to the line of thinking wherein if you make a claim (particularly one that’s unexpected), that it’s your responsibility for providing evidence to support your claim.
> But it doesn’t actually demonstrate that his anecdote is fabricated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchens%27s_razor says that neither journalists or anyone else needs to bother disproving that schools aren't filled with litter boxes for students if no one has any evidence at all suggesting that they are.
Scouring every last school in the country over every totally unfounded and ridiculous claim would be a massive waste of time and resources. If someone wants to claim that the litter boxes exist they can "put up or shut up". The burden of proof is theirs to meet, not anyone else's.
The substantiated claim is "There is no evidence that any school has deployed litter boxes for students to use because they identify as cats."
The Rogan example was "a litter box was installed in a[n unnamed school that his friend’s wife worked at". That's subject to all the usual third-hand hearsay cautions. It is not substantiated.
] So far there has not been a single factual foundation for any of these stories. Nor, for that matter, do the stories get it right when it comes to Furry culture and behavior.
It doesn't take authority to effect change. You'd be surprised at what you can accomplish once you figure out how who owns the various fragments of the solution.
OP – My offer to help still stands. I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. Sorry doesn't fix it. I realize that. But I want to make it right.
Agree. I’m a US citizen who lived in London. The cost of essentials are actually very affordable in the UK. Your lifestyle excludes the need to acquire material goods. If earning money is your primary focus, I would choose the US. These are my prime earning years and am happy to be here. Otherwise, I found the UK to be an amazing place to live. I look forward to hanging it all up and returning to a quiet village in the Cotswalds.
Love the concept. I find it nearly impossible to buy products that are made well and intended to last longer than a year. Any plans to lead a movement, because I’m in.
It’s the best extension I’ve installed. I only wish it would permit single hand navigation as a setting (e.g. left hand only with right on mouse all the time)
I hope to see a democratic China in my lifetime. Rationalize the “cold shoulder” however you like. But the CCP has so much more than to answer for beyond their self-interested COVID cover-up. Ask a Uighur Muslim who’s fortunate enough to “graduate” from their re-education camp. Or maybe inquire further with one of the untrustworthy who have been black listed by the social credit system. There are so many reasons to give the CCP the cold shoulder. It’s also fitting that this article comes out near the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Like another posted earlier though: easier said than done.
> I hope to see a democratic China in my lifetime.
This seems unlikely, given how Xi is now in for the long haul, and the CCP has strong enough a hold on the country that relinquishing power in favor of a system of democratic elections seems unrealistic.
Not to mention that modern-day democracy favors the richest. Russia started having elections after the collapse of the USSR, yet those with capital and influence seem to come out on top.
Similarly with the US, where the larger election funds can afford to influence ('propagandize') the voters.
Perhaps democracy is a good idea, but one that doesn't scale well beyond the city-state.
This confuses the notion of a people with that of a state, and supposes that the sum of the people (or their majority) back the practices of the state.
Boycotting a 'Made in X' market is not inherently racist, as it doesn't ascribe value judgments to the people of X. Instead, it promotes a bias towards one economy rather than another, for the purpose of relocating profit rather than because of ideological concerns.
So, if we do see an equation of 'Boycott Made in X' with racism against X, then that will probably be reverse (State of X-run?) propaganda.
Certainly, we should implement numerous intervention strategies to combat climate change. Government spending seems largely unaccountable to citizens outside of the lobbyist elite. Why not, at least, spend some Monopoly money on something that might actually work?
Edit: spelling
1) https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudg... 2) https://www.crfb.org/blogs/2023-interest-costs-reach-659-bil...