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[-] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 55 points 11 months ago

This might be the first time I’ve heard a demand imposed on Israel from the US during this recent escalation. Hopefully, the first of many.

A concerning way to read this is that trust in institutions, not just religion but all of our institutions, is falling amongst the younger generation. But the best functioning societies enjoy high trust in their institutions. I am genuinely concerned about the falling levels of social cohesion.

They just had an election and the government flipped from centre-left to centre-right. It could just be the classic conservative “our position is whatever is the opposite of the left!”

22

This is a really great long form article about the efforts to upzone New Zealand, one of the only countries going through an even worse housing crisis than Canada. There's a lot to learn here about the political challenges of implementing good urban planning strategy.

I’m not convinced it is a good thing that both are being investigated if the investigation into Buttigieg is just political smearing. HRC’s emails show the cost of abusive investigations. Investigations aren’t cost free, either monetarily or in terms of public trust in institutions. It implies he did something worth investigating, and devalues the seriousness of real investigations, like those against Trump.

When the review was announced, Buttigieg had flown on FAA planes 18 times out of 138 flights for official trips since becoming secretary early in 2021, according to The Washington Post. He takes commercial flights most of the time, and when he uses FAA aircraft, it’s usually because it’s cheaper than commercial flights, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

This does not seem to be something worth investigating.

Even gun loving conservative scholars agree that the 2nd amendment is a barely coherent grammatically tenuous mess. It’s notoriously unclear.

But for my part, I don’t see how any sane person reads “A well regulated Militia” and concludes that all regulation is prohibited.

[-] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 55 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This ranking is bonkers. Turkey, India, and China are in the top 3. The bottom 3 are Norway, UK, and finally Japan. Mexicans work some of the longest hours in the world, but has a ranking similar to Sweden. Norway and Sweden are some of the happiest countries in the world, with some of the strongest safety nets and worker protections. Why do their “employee well being” scores not reflect this? I don’t trust this ranking at all.

Edit: misread Netherlands for Norway. Still, the Netherlands actually ranks even higher on happiness than Norway, so my point stands.

I like the article, but red tape means pointless or needlessly complicated bureaucracy. Doesn’t apply to just any regulation.

44

The new study, which looked at outcomes over 10 years, shows those fears aren’t unreasonable – commuting by bike is associated with an increased risk of admission to hospital for injury, with 7 per cent of cyclists experiencing such an injury compared to 4.3 per cent of non-cyclists. Squint a bit, and you can turn that into the “50 per cent more likely” figure mentioned above.

But Paul Welsh at the University of Glasgow in the UK, who led the study and who cycles himself, says the risk of death from cycling injury is vanishingly small. In fact, it is far outweighed by the decreased risk of death that comes from the increased physical activity and lower BMI of cyclists. “The data are still very much in favour of cycling for those who are capable of doing so,” says Welsh.

Cyclists have a far lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and death compared with people who drive, take public transport or walk to work – a finding supported by this and previous studies. If an extra 1000 people took up cycling for 10 years, we would expect to see 15 fewer cancers, four fewer heart attacks or strokes and three fewer deaths in that group.

Sometimes, people online and in real life ask why I complain about unsafe or lacking bicycle infrastructure but continue to put myself at risk by cycling. Is it worth it? Yes it is. Even from the perspective of self-preservation, cycling is safer than driving. I'd just like it to be even safer, and make it so that more people can benefit.

57

Of course, it's better to emit less carbon, and support systems and policies that emit less carbon. That said, carbon emission is unavoidable, and I'd like to minimize that portion of my impact as much as possible.

I am definitely willing to pay to offset my carbon usage, but I'm under the impression that this is mostly a scam. Does anyone use these services? If so, can you tell me what reasoning or sources you used that satisfied you that the service your chose isn't a scam?

[-] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 133 points 1 year ago

They compared the $130 TB4 Apple cable to $5 junk cables, but I wish they included some $40-80 competitors in the comparison. How does Anker fare?

People should check again. After I decided to avoid Amazon, I’m surprised by how many things are cheaper and/or better quality at my local stores. I think Amazons reputation for lowest prices is less true every year.

30

I would be excited about a well planned walkable good public transportation city during a housing crisis, but 100% of tech bro utopia ideas have been disappointments.

[-] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 151 points 1 year ago

I think Reddit doesn’t realize that what made their UI so appealing was precisely that it felt really functional and bare bones, like Craigslist still does or Google used to. As if it was designed by nerds who just wanted the most functional site. It makes it seem more trustworthy and neutral, less monetized.

This redesign looks painfully corporate.

1

Can anyone help me identify what’s going on? As I’m riding, the mid drive motor on my E bike sometimes starts making a whirring noise and then loses power. The console and lights remains on but the motor doesn’t give any more assist. When I turn the power off and back on, it works again. Does anyone know if this is more likely to be a battery issue or a motor issue?

I’ve taken it into a mechanic that specializes in E bikes already, but the business was brand new and, based on my discussions with them, I didn’t trust that they knew what they were talking about. I feel like, when it comes to E bike repair, it’s the wild west out there.

After hearing the results of several antitrust cases, the standard of evidence for anti competitive behavior seems impossibly high with current laws and precedents.

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SkepticalButOpenMinded

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