TeslaRati:
North Carolina wants to spend $50K to trash free public EV chargers
[....] The bill, House Bill 1049, would set aside $50,000 to get rid of the free public EV chargers unless free gas pumps are built alongside the free public EV chargers.
[....] incoming state House representative, Ben Moss is sponsoring the bill. Dyer noted that there are three free public Level 2 EV chargers in his town and unless the towns and cities refuse to build free gas and diesel pumps next to the EV chargers, Moss wants them gone. Dyer wrote that the main theme of the bill is:
"We've simply got to do something about these free public chargers, even if it costs us $50,000! Those things cost tens of cents per hour when they're being used."
Car and Driver:
North Carolina Looks to Remove Public EV Chargers, Probably to the Trash
[....] Ben Moss cares about the consumers being harmed by these hypothetical free chargers—namely, any customer who arrived via internal-combustion vehicle, or on foot, or in a sedan chair. Why is someone else gaining some advantage based on a decision they made? That's not how life works.
[....] House Bill 1049 decrees that all customer receipts will have to show what share of the bill went toward the charger out in the lot. That way, anyone who showed up for dinner in an F-150 (not the electric one) can get mad that their jalapeño poppers helped pay for a business expense not directly related to them. It's the same way you demand to know how much Applebee's spends to keep the lights on in its parking lot overnight, when you're not there.
[....] Critics of this bill might point out that increasing the number of electric cars could actually benefit owners of internal-combustion vehicles, thanks to reduced demand for petroleum products—kind of like how, during the Colonial Pipeline gas shortage, there were no Ford Mustang Mach-Es in line at the local pumps. Or, to put it another way, if the price of paste skyrockets because your local politicians eat so much paste, those prices might come down if you could get them to eat some crayons.
EV drivers shouldn't turn onto a street marked NO OUTLET.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Kell on Wednesday July 13 2022, @12:45AM (8 children)
... but somehow folks are always telling you what you can't do.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by RedGreen on Wednesday July 13 2022, @05:35AM (1 child)
"... but somehow folks are always telling you what you can't do."
By the same people in the Repugnant Party who will tell you they want small government and it getting out of your life. Which only counts for those they agree with. If they do not agree with you they are all for them getting into your life and telling you what to do by adding regulations to stop you from doing it. Too bad the Democrats are such spineless chicken shit idiots who have never meet a defeat they could not snatch from the jaws of victory. It looks like them lies the Yanks have been telling all these years about freedom, democracy and equal rights is about to come crashing down in the coming civil war the Repugnants and their ilk are planning.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday July 13 2022, @10:00PM
...tell you they want small government and it getting out of your life.
Not getting government out of YOUR life, but out of theirs. For instance, weakening worker or environmental protections.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Wednesday July 13 2022, @07:48AM
are you being sarcastic or do you really believe this is "the land of the free"? Try being genuine and use irony and sarcasm less. I can't even tell what kind of point you are trying to make.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:40AM (4 children)
The Carolinas are full of "don't touch my guns" and "diesel for $2 per gallon is a birthright" nutjobs.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday July 13 2022, @08:08PM (3 children)
Please read that comment again. It may have sounded better in your head. #1 Is a constitutional right. #2 Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
Oh, you would rather everyone switch to electric cars? California can't even keep the lights on, let alone support millions of additional electric cars. Do you hate filling up gas at the gas station? Would you rather spend 20 minutes every time you need to charge your car? It takes me a couple of minutes to pump the gasoline into my car and I still hate having to fill up. 200 miles may seem like a lot of miles, but that's not much when you're traveling across the country for vacation. Just add an extra 40 minutes for every 400 miles you go. Also, I sure hope you know where your charge stations are. Some stretches of the nation may actually be unreachable with an electric vehicle.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @08:27PM (2 children)
#1 is a Constitutional right that has been mis-interpreted in the modern world to allow solo nutjobs to randomly terrorize domestic targets like shopping malls, office buildings, and elementary schools with body counts in the 10-30 range. Australia passed some mild gun control legislation a few years back, caused the entire body of legislators who passed it to have to retire permanently, but also made significant measurable progress against mass killings like happen on the US on a regular basis. https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1819576527 [theonion.com]
#2 is a socialist price-fixing wish. Sure, oil companies are evil and the whole supply chain is profiteering on the current social-political climate, war in Ukraine, post-pandemic supply surges and shortages, etc. However: to say that a commodity will always be available at a fixed price is nothing but socialism. Want cheap fuel like that? Try moving to Venezuela, or some other 3rd world countries. The U.S. is an anomaly in the developed world with its relatively cheap fuel, and today's U.S. prices are still cheap by developed world standards.
Just because you get up early, strap on a tool belt, and drive a "work truck" does not entitle you to... well... anything. Contrary to popular Carolina opinion.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday July 13 2022, @08:49PM (1 child)
Which other constitutional rights would you like to get rid of? Right to privacy? What a riot, Google, am I right? Facebook, is a person too.
We like our fuel cheap. Partly due to the fact that Americans drive a lot more than their neighbors across the pond. America has fostered a sense of independence and part of that is the ability to drive where you want/need. Thus, cheap fuel. In the event that I could get, essentially, free driving with Electric Vehicles, I would be all over it. As I suspect a lot of people would. Electric Vehicles haven't existed long enough to do serious comparisons with ICE vehicles. People know they can make the bills, etc. with their current vehicle. People with Electric Vehicles are paying the early adopter tax. I.E. High Prices and High Uncertainty. Where are the studies that show, you will pay X amount per 200 hundred miles? Electricity isn't free or cheap in a lot of places. Add to that, the uncertainty of being able to find a "place to charge" and the "long wait time" to charge. It's a wonder that Electric Vehicles have taken off at all.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @09:37PM
>Which other constitutional rights would you like to get rid of?
Well, for starters, I believe in the right to bear arms as it was drafted in 1787. According to my interpretation of the Constitution, as drafted by the founding fathers circa 1787, you may stockpile as many muskets, flintlocks, and even black powder cannon as your heart desires, for self defense, for hunting, for whatever you want. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/the-men-who-wrote-the-2nd-amendment-would-never-recognize-an-ar-15/ [washingtonpost.com] Do you suggest, as a counter proposal, that the populace has the right to bear such arms as are wielded by the militaries of the modern world? Up to and including nuclear weapons? Tanks? Long range high explosive artillery? Cruise missiles? Surface to Air guided weapons? Where, exactly, should this line be drawn? Global data including first world English speaking countries suggests that restricting the distribution of assault rifles to the general population has measurable benefits to public safety, and we should all exchange that to assuage the personal insecurities of a few?
>the fact that Americans drive a lot more than their neighbors across the pond.
That would include the Pacific pond and Australia / New Zealand? Not.
>People with Electric Vehicles are paying the early adopter tax.
The only EVs we own in this household are bicycles and lawn mowers, and they're awesome in their niches, but I agree that the current state of EV cars/trucks is not quite ready for mass market prime time - coupled with the fact that I quit driving into the office 2+ years ago and our annual miles driven on all 4 ICE vehicles we own totals something like 5-10K miles... yeah, I'm not impacted by the cost of gas like some are. I would encourage those who are able to do so to also stay home for work, the benefits to yourself and the environment are significant, no EV required.
>We like our fuel cheap.
Who wouldn't? I'd like a pretty pony for free, including upkeep, too. We (U.S. citizens) do drive a lot, in part because our fuel has been traditionally cheap - low tax, subsidized, government incentives handed out to fuel producers, backed by MULTI TRILLON DOLLAR WARS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#:~:text=The%20CBO%20estimated%20that%20of,or%20%246%2C300%20per%20US%20citizen. [wikipedia.org] you pay for your fuel in taxes, and as a lower than average fuel consumer, I say it's time for you to pony up your fair share at the pump and quit sucking off the government teat.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Insightful) by looorg on Wednesday July 13 2022, @12:58AM (11 children)
So who built the "free" EV charging stations and why? Was it the city then? So they first paid to build them and then for the electricity and now the government wants to pay for removing them? Wouldn't it be better to just charge for them to be used then?
That said how the hell can it costs $50k to remove three charging stations? Just turn off the power to them. Is this some kind of secret slushfund in play? Another bridge to nowhere?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Samantha Wright on Wednesday July 13 2022, @01:54AM (1 child)
As TFA concludes, it's ultimately a PR stunt intended to antagonize EV owners, which is to say the intersection of people who care about the environment and people who have enough money to afford an EV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @03:01AM
Strange... I thought it was a stun to remind people that once everybody has converted to EVs, there will be no free lunch anymore and the price of energy will sky rocket and you will end up paying twice as much as you are paying for gas right now. That is always what happens when you eliminate competition and the EVs movement is just similar to Microsoft "embrace, extend and extinguish" and other strategies to eliminate competition then raise prices.
Right now, only gas engine users are evil but then, everybody is going to be evil for wanting to move around. You could then just stay home and be happy. That's what I do mostly (I work from home) and use my bicycle or use public transit which has a cost effectiveness of moving many people at once. I am very afraid that I will have to pay substantially more for my house electricity once everybody has converted to EVs.
There is an environmental cost to moving around and it doesn't matter the energy source you use. In that sense, the current EVs are cool bullcrap is just non-sense.
Also moving food and other stuff around from continent to continent is also a killer, have a local economy at least for food. Always buy local products if you really want to contribute to lowering carbon emissions and don't believe that EVs are a panacea! They introduce a whole lot of new problems for the environment.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by epitaxial on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:17AM (8 children)
You might try reading the article. The butthurt party of small government is adding legislation so that even a private business providing free charging for customers is a burden. If you own a cafe and provide free customer charging you will have to show the fiscal breakdown of what the electricity cost the establishment on their receipt. Might as well go full retard and require the business to show how much natural gas was used to cook your well done steak.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:52AM (5 children)
Nah, not the natural gas. Put a full breakdown of all the taxes on there. "Your $5 burger really cost $2 + Tax."
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by krishnoid on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:45AM (2 children)
While you're at it, why not put subsidies and carbon footprint [slashdot.org] in as well? I bet that $5 burger actually costs something like $10 or more to make.
(Score: 1, Troll) by fliptop on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:52PM (1 child)
That's a really deep rabbit hole [heartland.org].
To be oneself, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity
(Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Wednesday July 13 2022, @04:11PM
Well, at some point it helps to take the red pill [youtu.be] and find out.
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:53AM
I'm pretty sure GP just hates well-done steak. Gotta read carefully.
(Score: 2, Troll) by crafoo on Wednesday July 13 2022, @07:50AM
You know what I like that.
Include costs for licensing fees, various annual inspections, and the army of people required to do all of this. It didn't use to be like this. The boomers created all of these new licensing boards to kick out the ladder behind them. Another way of robbing future generations.
(Score: 5, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @06:52PM (1 child)
Full retard transparency is never a bad thing.
If you drive your 12mpg crew cab diesel dually to the coffee shop and want to be outraged that $0.03 of your $7 latte goes to pay for charging your neighbors's EV, odds are you are already outraged that your neighbor also voted to require a background check when you buy your third AR-15.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:53PM
(Score: 5, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday July 13 2022, @01:05AM (35 children)
this is boiling over.
the right hates the left. like, 'kill' kind of hate. its shocking.
they object to all that the other side does, just because its the other side.
you object to having a fast car (electric), quiet and in some companies, free charging? you really want to die on that hill, by fighting this very cool tech?
hey, its your hill to die on. but the south is still a joke and shit like this does not change anyone's mind.
have your coal and pollution. only problem is that it becomes ours, too, and we dont really appreciate you ruining everyone's air. if you could ruin just yours, that would be FINE (encouraged, even) but you are not in a bubble or island.
astonishing how wrong and misguided all of the right is. and I mean ALL of it. they could not be more wrong about everything they take a position on. its almost like they have a perfect score on being WRONG.
they have no popular support but they are cunning at stealing, lying, cheating and they got the supreme court; so things are gonna be pretty uncertain in this country until we get the balls (and votes) to properly dillute the court, thus making it less of a threat.
yeah, court is a threat. never thought I'd hear myself saying it. the christian taliban is an actual reality, not just a threat. it happened while most of us were not watching closely. it was the slow-cooked coup ;(
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2022, @01:36AM
I demand they remove all public drinking fountains unless they install free soda machines next to them. That will teach them sissy water drinking libs.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by dalek on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:42AM (4 children)
I'm not sure that's what I'd take away from this bill. I don't really see it as a partisan issue. I'd also be very surprised if this bill became law. It's been referred to committee, but no further action has been taken. I suppose it's possible that the committee could act on the bill later, but a lot of bills never even make it out of committee. Also, somehow Ben Moss has become primarily associated with this bill even though it was introduced by Keith Kidwell. The other articles didn't actually contact Ben Moss to get a statement from him. They're opinion pieces, not reporting. Here's some better reporting about the actual bill: https://www.thepilot.com/news/bill-would-eliminate-free-charging-stations/article_3001e498-f955-11ec-a464-e7fb9915f060.html [thepilot.com].
I don't see this as a right vs. left issue, at least as Moss is describing it. Moss does have a valid point that electric vehicles need to be more affordable. This isn't the correct approach to achieve that, but it's a legitimate concern. The idea of building electric vehicles in the USA and creating jobs sounds great, but it's also misguided. Right now, we have more job openings than laborers available to fill those jobs. Businesses are paying bonuses and higher wages to attract employees, which is a factor in driving inflation. I'd prefer that we increase the labor supply in this country through increased immigration, but it seems more likely that we'll instead get a recession and increased unemployment.
There's also a deeper problem here, which is the attitude that opposing something that benefits another person because you don't directly benefit from it as well. That same sentiment was expressed in a comment in my journal [soylentnews.org] about student loan cancellation. In this case, the comment was written by someone who paid for his college with loans a couple of decades ago and doesn't want taxpayers to be on the hook for other people's degrees. This is a short-sighted view. In the past, states generally budgeted more money to higher education, which resulted in lower tuition. The person who posted this comment would have benefited from cheaper tuition from taxpayer funding, just through a different mechanism. It's a similar issue because people are arguing that it requires lower income people to subsidize wealthier people. In essence, it's saying: I will oppose helping others unless I benefit directly from it as well.
I also noted employment as an issue earlier. One of the main reasons people oppose immigration is the fear that immigrants are taking American jobs. It's not supported by the facts, but it's an impediment to bringing the labor supply that would staff factories to build electric vehicles. It's a similar line of reasoning: immigrants are taking away something that belongs to me, so I'm going to oppose them coming to the US even though their presence benefits me overall.
This sentiment isn't limited to electric vehicles, student loans, and immigration; it's widespread. People see others getting help from the government when they're not also getting help. I don't see it as a left vs. right issue, but instead something that leads to populism. But the solution isn't to refuse to cancel student loans or ban free electric vehicle chargers. Instead, we could forgive student loans and make community college free for everyone, and then require students to make satisfactory academic progress to keep the benefit of free college. And the electric vehicle issue is probably solved by giving tax credits to lower income people for purchases of electric vehicles. Tax higher income people who can more readily afford electric vehicles anyway, then use the revenue to pay for the credits.
Do we want a rising tide that lifts everyone, even if not every single wave lifts each person to the same degree? Or do we want to force equality by sinking everyone's ship? This definitely falls into the category of the latter. I don't think this is a left vs. right issue, but instead an issue of populism.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday July 13 2022, @04:53AM (2 children)
a key premise of the 'right' is that others having good things annoys *you*. its weird but its their way. you cant have others getting a benefit. its like its taking something you should have. odd thinking, but again, its what goes on in those bird brains.
so, they see an e-car 'pump' and some guy getting free 'gas' and they act all mad. like its taking something from them. they cant stand to see others benefit, especially when, to benefit and join that crowd, you have to 'give up' some of your red state 'club' card membership. in their mind, of course.
in the bay area where there are tons of teslas, people will often cut you off or even try to damage your car. they are angry at the world and they blame you, since they see you as 'successful' and maybe they dont see themselves that way.
in the deep south, its the poorest part of the US and people have a right to be angry. but voting R again and again isn't going to ever get them out of that shit spiral.
some day, they have to stop the cycle and vote D just to get some fresh air in the system.
if you cant' vote D, just stay home and sit this one out.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday July 13 2022, @07:36AM
Arithmetic may be hard for their brains.
Tens of cents, let's take 90 (otherwise it would be dollar(s)).
Wasting $50000 for their taxes in just one year just for the pleasure to have others deprived of 50000/0.9 = 55555.55 hours of free charging. Or 6.34 years worth of free charge to be denied to others (over 2 years/"pump").
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday July 13 2022, @04:57PM
I don't think that entitled, narcissistic attitudes are a partisan thing, it seems more of a human thing to me. I hear the right saying nearly the same words regarding any "liberal" government entitlement program you care to mention.
Devil's advocate time: the argument from the Right, as I see it, is "I should benefit from the taxes I pay". This is adjacent to the "taxation is theft" position that extremists take on the issue. Being forced to contribute to programs they don't agree with and don't benefit from grates hard on the conservative mindset. Note also that several of the same people will voluntarily contribute to local programs that do the same things as the tax-funded ones they complain about.
That said, I still boggle at the logic that they should discourage businesses from providing free EV services to their customers. Anyone with a problem with that is free to boycott the restaurant-or-whatever that they think is overcharging to help other customers increase global "smug" pollution.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday July 14 2022, @12:54AM
Keep in mind that the media dramatizes everything to the max. That's how they make money.
Also, these politicians that in all likelihood no one outside of North Carolina ever heard of before, have gotten themselves a whole lot of attention, for the outrageous trolling and flamebait they expressed. They're loving it.
The proposal isn't even all that remarkable, not even for the stupid pettiness of its spitefulness, waste, and mean spirited counterproductivity. It's peeing in the lifeboats on the Titanic. It's Saruman messing up the Shire. Not much different than wanting to hold an old fashioned book burning.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:47AM
Bit of a blinkered view there. Which party was it decided "it's OK to punch a Nazi. Anyone wearing a hat I don't like is a Nazi."
Talk to anyone who goes to political rallies about what would happen if you :
A/ Wear a MAGA cap to a democrat rally, or
B/ Wear an "I'm With HER" T-shirt to a republican rally.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:05AM (25 children)
I don't recall any right-minded people showing up to kill a Supreme Court justice lately. I mean, traveling all the way from Cal to D.C. just to shoot a justice. A good ol' boy might shoot a justice if he flushes one while hunting grouse or something, but he knows you can't hunt in city limits.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Touché) by helel on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:07AM (7 children)
No, generally the right just go into schools and residential neighborhoods and shoot anyone they can.
Republican Patriotism [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:13AM (6 children)
Citations? I've looked that up a couple times. Mass shooters mostly don't have politics. Those who do are leftists as often as they are right. If you can find verifiable statistics that say otherwise, I'll at least look at them.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday July 13 2022, @04:57AM (4 children)
the vast HUGE majority are white men, christian and conservative.
and everyone knows it.
lefties dont 'love' guns and fantasize about them. that's 100% entirely the domain of the right.
you want a mass event for the left? a bong-a-thon on a college campus. or a phish show (are they even around anymore?)
you want a mass event for the right? gun shows and violent events (violent sports, included)
PROVE ME WRONG. but you cant. uncomfortably, this is correct and accurate.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by dalek on Wednesday July 13 2022, @06:20AM (2 children)
Any mass shooter is batshit crazy. Trying to argue that their political views are representative of any larger group is ridiculous.
I don't fear the political views of one deranged individual who decides to shoot up a school. I do fear that a significant percentage of Americans believe Trump's Big Lie (TM) that the election was stolen, and that they are enacting changes as a result that will affect future elections. I fear that too many people, a significant percentage of Americans, believe climate change is a hoax, and that we won't take substantive action before it's too late to avoid serious consequences.
However, I reject that climate change denial or belief in Trump's Big Lie (TM) are representative of "the right." I actually go a step further and say that it's harmful and helps to more firmly entrench these ideas.
When people associate with a group like the Republican party or, more generally, "the right" and agree with some positions of those groups, they're more likely to adopt other positions that are prevalent within those groups. They might share some beliefs like Christianity and the desire for less government regulation of the economy, leading them to identify as being Republicans or part of "the right." Because "the right" might also be associated with opposing efforts to address climate change and with belief in Trump's Big Lie (TM), these people might also adopt these beliefs when they didn't previously hold them. Here's an article that discusses some of the nuances of this: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/tribalism-myth-group-solidarity-prejudice-conflict/621008/ [theatlantic.com].
When you associate harmful ideas like Trump's Big Lie (TM) with "the right," you are reinforcing these toxic group norms. Instead, we would do well to point out the diversity in these groups and that not everyone agrees with the toxic norms that you rightly object to.
I've watched every NASCAR Cup Series race live this year. I've watched nearly all of the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races, too. Given that information, you might assume that things about my political views based on the perceived norms of those groups. You'd also be wrong, and this would be unhelpful. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of stock car racing, but it is harmful to reinforce the perceived norm that NASCAR fans like to fly rebel flags and chant "Fuck Joe Biden" after superspeedway races.
Perhaps we would do well to avoid assuming things about people based on perceived group norms. When I tell you that I watch NASCAR, I don't want you to assume anything about my politics. I just want you to assume that I really like watching cars make left turns... lots and lots of left turns. And even that's not quite true because I really like Formula 1, too. Let's skip the sweeping generalizations and focus on the issues.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday July 13 2022, @08:27PM (1 child)
70% of the Republican party believes the lie that the election was stolen, though. [poynter.org] How is that NOT a representative description of the party?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2022, @01:36AM
It's only mostly republicans.
https://www.prri.org/research/competing-visions-of-america-an-evolving-identity-or-a-culture-under-attack/ [prri.org]
(about halfway down that very long page.)
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @12:10PM
Now, that's real science that we can all get behind.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by helel on Wednesday July 13 2022, @09:42PM
Everyone "has politics." Claiming otherwise is just stupid.
That said, no, most mass shootings aren't done to achieve a political goal. They are however mostly done by people who have right-wing politics. That's why you have people hunting down asian women and black children and homosexuals and every other minority group conservatives attack in their media and policies. That's why mass shooters wear MAGA hats and quote Tucker Carlson.
Heck, you want to go old school? Even the Columbine shooters liked quoting Hitler and bullied minority students with racial slurs.
Republican Patriotism [youtube.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by dalek on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:30AM (8 children)
The right wasn't plotting to kill Supreme Court judges because they were too busy looking for opportunities to hang Mike Pence.
You'll probably find that comment incredibly unhelpful. It might well piss you off. And it should. That sort of rhetoric is extremely unhelpful.
This debate over "the right" and "the left" is toxic tribalism. My political views would be on the left of the political spectrum by American standards. But I don't see "the right" as my enemy. I'm alarmed by people who believe Trump's big lie that the election was stolen, and their actions in the aftermath. I'm alarmed by people who believe that humans causing global warming is a hoax. I absolutely condemn vandalism, arson, and other violence as a means of protesting police abuse of power and brutality. But these are about issues, not about "the left" or "the right."
We don't try to find common ground or talk to people whose views are different from ours because we're too busy dehumanizing them.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. The smallest minds, of course, spend their time discussing hosts files. We've reduced the level of our discourse. We ought to be discussing the merits of ideas and principles. Instead, we spend our time discussing people in the abstract terms of "the left" and "the right."
The left and the right are abstract concepts, not two teams on opposite ends of a football field. They're not homogeneous groups, either. We'd get a lot further by discussing the merits of ideas. This legislator's idea is an asinine and short-sighted idea. His concerns about lower income people being unable to afford electric vehicles, and the free electricity disproportionately benefiting the wealthy, is not without merit. It's not a left vs. right issue, though. It's a short-sighted attempt to solve a legitimate problem, when we would be better off thinking about how to make electric vehicles more affordable for everyone.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2022, @05:15AM
You're injecting unifying sanity and exterminating the divisiveness. Thank you. Davros must still be in stasis.
I'm more liberal / left, but I know a lot of "right" people, and they are nothing like the lefties portray them. They are well-mannered, caring, giving, benevolent, generous, highly contributing to society and the world, just good salt-of-the-earth people.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @12:20PM (6 children)
You're one of the newer guys around here. Have you ever seen those political spectrum tests? It might surprise you to learn that I'm really close to center of center. A wee bit left of center, and a tad up on the authoritarian scale. Close to center, on both scales.
It's somewhat unfortunate that the US uses that left/right nonsense, implying that we conform to the way the rest of the world uses the terms.
Democrats are not leftists. I think the DNC is poison. I could only wish that the DNC were comprised of European style leftists.
Take abortion, for instance. In Europe, it is accepted that abortion should have some restrictions. In the US, the DNC insists that abortion should have no restrictions. Why can't Democrats accept what virtually all of Europe accepts? Sometimes, abortion is necessary, even desirable. But there should be some restrictions. Democrats cannot accept that, and they are willing to kill Supreme Court justices, willing to rewrite the constitution, willing to usurp the Supreme Court, and to pack the Supreme Court. There is not one ounce of compromise in the DNC, they want to kill babies without any restriction, even after the baby is born, screaming and crying.
Please, give us some European leftists to deal with. They are much more reasonable than a Democrat!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Wednesday July 13 2022, @12:35PM
Keep in mind that "the rest of the world" is just part of Europe.
(Score: 2) by dalek on Thursday July 14 2022, @01:11AM (4 children)
You mean a test like the political compass [politicalcompass.org]? Yes, I've taken it. I used to post on another forum where one of our resident trolls would refer to people like me as LLQs because of being in the lower left quadrant of that political compass.
You criticize elected Democrats for being unreasonable, saying they should be more consistent with policies in Europe. I will flip this around. Perhaps the Republican Party platform should be more in line with center-right (conservative) parties in Europe. This means accepting that humans are causing climate change, and that action is needed. Even Boris Johnson supported taking action on climate change as a skeptic, then later accepted the scientific consensus [bbc.com]. It means supporting things like universal health care, labor rights, and permissive immigration policies that go far beyond the Republican Party platform. Very strict gun laws are normal in countries like France and Germany, and even center-right leaders like Angela Merkel supported more gun control.
When you compare the Republican Party platform [gop.com] with center-right parties in western Europe and Canada, you'll find huge differences. The Republican Party platform doesn't even mention "climate change" or "global warming" once. There are six pages about agriculture, energy, and environmental policy, but climate change doesn't even come up a single time.
Here's another article about where Republican Party leaders are absolutely failing: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/ziblatt-democracy-conservative-parties/530118/ [theatlantic.com]. The article makes the case that conservative (center-right or right) parties tend to be critical to the health of western democracies. It's not to say that liberal (center-left or left) parties don't have a role, but historically the conservative party tends to determine whether a democracy is successful or it collapses from anti-democratic forces. The decision of the conservative party to embrace or reject anti-democratic forces is critical. This article was posted years prior to the 2020 election, but I think we all know how it would assess the response of elected Republicans to the 2020 election.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 14 2022, @01:53AM (3 children)
Well, I don't feel obligated to defend the GOP. My opinion is, GOP is bad, but DNC is worse by orders of magnitude. Which is why I'm a registered Independent.
Should the GOP more resemble Euro conservatives? I don't really have an opinion on that. Perhaps you misunderstood, or maybe I stumbled in presenting my case. I don't really want Democrats to mirror Europe's left. I did want to distinguish Democrats from liberals, and to establish that the DNC is not actually liberal, or left.
I have pointed at abortion. The most liberal and socialist nations in the world put restrictions on abortion. Yes, you can mostly get an abortion if you want it bad enough, but you're going to jump through hoops. The DNC however, demands abortion on demand. Do you not think that is radical? Extreme? Leftists throughout the world have accepted that restrictions apply, but not the DNC.
To answer your question, no, I don't really want our left, or our right, to resemble polical parties in Europe. I was mostly using Europe to demonstrate how radical our DNC is.
And, neither of our parties genuinely supports democracy around the world. We support any government, as long as it is profitable to do so. And, we are willing to topple any government, including genuine democracies, when it seems profitable. I refer you to Operation Ajax.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by dalek on Thursday July 14 2022, @02:15AM (2 children)
You're saying that the Democratic Party is radical compared to Europe. I should point out that your comparison is on a single issue (abortion), and against European policies that have actually been enacted instead of the policies advocated by center-left parties in Europe. If you believe that the Democratic Party is radical, why not compare them against center-left or left-wing parties in Europe?
Perhaps you misunderstood my comment as well. I discussed multiple issues, comparing the GOP platform against policies advanced by center-right party leaders in Europe. The GOP platform and recent actions by party leaders would be much more comparable to what I'd expect from Marine Le Pen (from France's far-right) instead of center-right politicians like Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. The GOP is far more extreme than their mainstream conservative party counterparts in Europe.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 14 2022, @02:38AM (1 child)
Perhaps. Before I could agree or disagree with that statement, I would have to really look at the various Euro parties, and compare them to one another, as well as compare them to the GOP, individually and collectively. It would require that I actually understand Euro politics. I really don't think that I want to dive down that rabbit hole. A course in comparative religions would probably be easier than comparative politics.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by dalek on Thursday July 14 2022, @03:14AM
Fortunately, you don't have to do large amounts of research. Others have done this for you [manifesto-project.wzb.eu] by analyzing party platforms and manifestos, then made the data available along with convenient visualization tools [manifesto-project.wzb.eu]. Note that Germany's center-right party is classified as a Christian Democratic party, not a conservative party.
As per this article [nytimes.com], which uses data from the above linked site:
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest just whinge about SN.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:03PM (7 children)
No, but you saw a huge mob descend on the capitol on January 6, 2021 with the intent to kill members of congress, including the vice president who was in their own party. Even built a gallows for him. You've seen right wing terrorists drive through crowds, shoot people in churches because they were a different race... you simply can't make today's Republican party look civilized, because it isn't.
It ain't your grandpa's Republican party by any means.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:13PM (6 children)
How many times have anti-Trumpers hanged, or otherwise killed Trump in effigy?
Allow me to point out one more time: the scaffold at the protest wouldn't have supported any full grown man, probably no full grown woman, and may have fell apart trying to support a 50 pound child. The scaffold was quite suitable for an effigy.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday July 20 2022, @07:08PM (5 children)
Hanging in effigy isn't violence, the American revolutionaries hung King George in effigy and set the "king" on fire. As to the scaffold, your statement "wouldn't have supported any full grown man" is total bullshit.
150 police officers were injured. THAT is violence. Trump had peaceful demonstrators pepper sprayed. THAT is violence. Proud Boys? Trump-loving violent racists, as were the other groups charged with conspiracy.
Do you really believe those debunked lies, or do you just follow the crowd like the rest of the lemmings?
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 20 2022, @08:58PM (4 children)
Apparently, you follow the MSM lemming crowd. Enjoy.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday July 23 2022, @05:41PM (3 children)
The lemmings are you narrow minded bigots who believe in conspiracy theories and what some internet stranger [npr.org] (yes, NPR is mainstream) say. Keep yourself in your dark little echo chamber bubble that is divorced from reality, it won't bother us at all as long as you keep your assault weapons out of our schools, supermarkets, and July 4th celebrations.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 23 2022, @06:35PM (2 children)
The only assault weapons I ever handled in my life, were left in the custody of the US Navy, locked up in the arms lockers to which I returned them after use. I have never handled an assault weapon in my civilian life. The difference is the selector on the side of the weapon. Assault weapons have positions for 'safe', 'semi', and 'auto', also known as the 'giggle switch' or 'rock and roll switch'. Civilian weapons have only 'safe' and 'fire'. No 'giggle switch' available.
Why is it so hard for many of you to distinguish between an automatic and a semi-auto?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday July 27 2022, @01:19AM (1 child)
There are semi automatic assault rifles, and automatic assault rifles. An M-16 is still an assault rifle even if you disable its ability to fire fully auto. Yje M-16 was the only fully auto weapon I ever fired, only they wouldn't let us fire them fully auto (Basic training only).
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 27 2022, @02:45PM
Citation needed. The Army's very definition of "assault rifle" includes "automatic fire". The sister services pretty much follow the Army. There are a lot of scary looking, menacing weapons that are more deadly than assault rifles that, by definition, are not assault rifles. Snipers, for instance, don't use assault rifles, because carbines don't have long enough barrels for long distance precision shooting.
Example found here: http://everyspec.com/MIL-SPECS/MIL-SPECS-MIL-DTL/download.php?spec=MIL-DTL-32309.030374.pdf [everyspec.com]
Let it be noted that the RIFLE, 5.56 Millimeter – M16A4 was never intended to fire in full automatic, rather, it fires in automatic bursts of 3 shots, then the trigger must be pulled again to get another burst. Other weapons vary, according to the military specification promulgated by the military. All military assault rifles today are select fire, with a mode of automatic fire, either bursts, or full auto.
It should also be noted that not all M16 are exactly the same weapons. You say you fired an M16 in full auto, and I don't doubt your word. But the M16 you fired in full auto was not an M16A4. Couldn't have been, as we've just looked at the milspec for that weapon, and there is no "full auto" selector position.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by RedGreen on Wednesday July 13 2022, @05:49AM
"yeah, court is a threat. never thought I'd hear myself saying it. the christian taliban is an actual reality, not just a threat. it happened while most of us were not watching closely. it was the slow-cooked coup"
I have been watching it these last few decades as the Repugnants have taken control and the useless Democrats have done next to nothing to fight back. Unfortunately many people are going to die in the coming war they plan to start. The Russians got you and did not even have to fire a shot just manipulate your already corrupt politicians and the useful idiots, as they call them, in your society to do it all. Pathetic.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @06:56PM
My father says it reminds him of the "kill a commie for Jesus" crowd from the Vietnam era. We survived that mess too.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Insightful) by progo on Wednesday July 13 2022, @01:37AM (12 children)
> get rid of the free public EV chargers unless free gas pumps are built alongside the free public EV chargers
So… you don't like giving away electricity for free? Charge whatever the market price is, to use the chargers. Even if they don't make money you wouldn't have SPENT $50k to remove them.
Fucking government.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:07AM (8 children)
The ordinary people supporting this move have spent roughly 2.5 years experiencing suffering and death on a massive scale just to prove those egghead doctors and the libs wrong about germ theory, masks, vaccines, and social distancing. The moves to prevent anyone from doing anything that might follow the science around climate change are motivated by the same instincts.
The politicians proposing doing this almost definitely think they'll get a nice payout from the oil companies if they do this, and that's all that matters to them.
This is not about rationality, sense, good governance, or practicality, and that's why your suggestion will go nowhere even though it would be the obvious thing to do.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RedGreen on Wednesday July 13 2022, @06:00AM (7 children)
"This is not about rationality, sense, good governance, or practicality, and that's why your suggestion will go nowhere even though it would be the obvious thing to do."
It is all about causing chaos in society then they can start the take over in the coming unrest they will get going to accomplish this. I am no fan of the American government, way to much scummy behaviour messing over the world by all of them over my lifetime of watching them, but it will be sad to see the coming downfall and the resulting carnage in the rest of the world due to it.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:33AM (6 children)
Yes, there's definitely an element of "burn down the world so I might be king of the ashes" going on. A fetishizing of death and destruction and other people's despair. Building a religion around the idea that everyone who isn't "one of us" will experience pain and suffering and death followed by eternal torture.
And then they get all indignant when the rest of us try to stop them from getting AR-15s and putting a guy intent on wrecking as much as possible in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal. And they're very clear that the rest of us shouldn't be doing anything at all about their occasional mass murder, because that would be mean.
I'd compare them to ISIS, but I'm not sure that ISIS is that nihilistic.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RedGreen on Wednesday July 13 2022, @03:40PM (5 children)
"Yes, there's definitely an element of "burn down the world so I might be king of the ashes" going on."
I never understood it until I got that idea into my head. I have watched it for a long time and was always thinking what the hell with those people, surely they want to have a decent world to live in too. But no it is clear to me now they simply do not care about that, it is all about the destruction and chaos unleashed so they can cement their grip on power. And it appears more than a few of the parasite technology and media companies are fully on board with their aims. Some really fun times ahead for your country they have the conditions perfectly setup for another civil war.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @07:04PM (4 children)
There isn't a good dividing line to fight a civil war over today. Even if you call it urban vs rural, there is a lot of both ideologies in both places. Registered party affiliation is near meaningless and super easy to change, skin color has too many rational people of every color to go that way, and we've got a really high proportion of mixed blood these days. Rich vs poor is already in open hostilities, but there are too many wanna be rich sucking up to them for the poor to have a fighting chance in a shooting war.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Wednesday July 13 2022, @10:24PM (1 child)
"There isn't a good dividing line to fight a civil war over today."
Keep thinking it this is what has got the Repugnant aligned freaks among you so confident in their plans. They openly go about their business now a days they no longer hide in the shadows. This is what they count on the idea that people are useless in the response to them always downplaying the goal they go for. I used to think no way in hell it could happen until an openly racist sack of shit got to be President and encouraged them in their ways, with seemingly full support of the party. Add in the media they control 24/7 going on about how hard done by they are by anyone who support decency in society, with the scumbag parasites in the corporations funneling the same garbage messages and the cash in their direction. As I say fun times ahead when the chicken shit Democrats sit around and do as little as possible wanting everyone to get around the camp fire and sing kumbaya holding hands saying can we all just get along. Well they are not playing that game, they have been on an at least 50 year mission to overthrow your system of government. They are extremely close, they have packed the supreme court with christian fundamentalists radicals intent on overthrowing all the measures passed by sane jurists. They do not even follow the law now they outright lie in the opinions they use to overturn precedents. The congress is packed with the extremists on their side and there is good chance the next Repugnant President is going to be just as bad as if not Trump again with them in control of both houses. As I said before good luck with the coming shit storm with morons like the Democrats for the opposition, who have never met a defeat they could not snatch from the jaws of victory. They get control for the first time in ages and totally waste the effort with the bi-partisan foolishness, like they want to co-operate with them, it should have been perfectly clear since Newt's Contract on America they have no interest in doing it. But yet they still try to be reasonable with extremist morons who will never agree to it.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:22PM
>They openly go about their business now a days they no longer hide in the shadows.
I think electing their idiot-hero as president gave a few thousand of them the confidence to go out and try an insurrection, and tens of millions of them to "let their freak flags fly" after decades of feeling like it made them look stupid because the majority of people didn't back their views. Reminds me of when I'd ask (the wrong kind of) girls out to do something in college, they'd come back with responses like "who else is going to be there?" and that was what it was all about for them: would they be seen with the "right crowd" to further their ambitions...
>an openly racist sack of shit
Don't forget, the SOS still courted the black and hispanic votes with flimsy promotional videos about how he was their best friend evah! I don't know what I'm more disappointed in: the holder of the highest office in the land trying something so insultingly transparent, or the (hopefully few) people of color who swallowed it hook, line and sinker and went and voted for him, some of them twice.
>on an at least 50 year mission to overthrow your system of government. They are extremely close
There have been subversives in the republic since before the Constitution was drafted, large numbers of them. We have had worse times than these, and I don't think we're extremely close to anything. I feel like our system of government is far more stable today than it was, for instance, in the late 1960s. The Great Depression certainly seems like it was a bigger challenge, both economically and politically, than anything going on today. Obviously the Civil War was a bigger problem that this...
>they have packed the supreme court with christian fundamentalists radicals intent on overthrowing all the measures passed by sane jurists.
I am hopeful that these "dogs who actually caught the car they barked at all their lives" are so happy to have sunk their teeth into the bumper that they lose sight of what they are doing to themselves in the ballot box. No, Supreme Court justices aren't thrown out by election, but a determined legislature and executive branch can run rings around them - it only takes enough backing of the voters to give congress and the president the power to overwhelm stupid court decisions with sane real world rules of engagement.
>They do not even follow the law now they outright lie in the opinions they use to overturn precedents.
This, too, may be their undoing. I sincerely hope AOC's push for impeachment bears fruit.
>Newt's Contract on America
I met Newt around 2001 or so - less than a year after he stepped down from office following some young thing sex scandal. He was a VERY different person face to face than what you saw on the evening news clips. Not a "great man" exactly, but really more interested in helping small businesses connect with resources they need (mostly investment capital) and not at all apparently concerned with any particular group "beating" any other. Of course, he came to us directly after an appointment at a major news outlet, so he was still playing in that pool as well.
All in all, if you want to be outraged about the news, there's plenty to be outraged about, but day to day life goes on, and most of the really bad, and good, stuff that comes about has little or nothing to do with the outrage items. Possible exception for idiots who defund the WHO and CDC and actively oppose their messages in the media leading to the first global pandemic escape in a century. People who back the "stop wasting money on the corrupt WHO and CDC" thinking seem not to remember all the previous potential pandemic outbreaks which were stopped before they went global, in large part due to the efforts of those (no doubt) corrupt and wasteful agencies. Corruption and waste are a part of life, and we should always strive to minimize them, but cutting off funding to organizations that provide valuable services to ALL OF HUMANITY is not smart, not even a little, particularly when so much other corruption and waste continues to be lavishly funded because the slush is going to "the right people."
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday July 15 2022, @01:57AM (1 child)
This is the one I think will do it. Many of those "sucking up" will flip to attacking if they see a way to just take what they want. Nationalizing the assets of the "corrupt rich" (into their own pockets) is a prime tactic of revolutionaries. Many of them start out fighting genuine injustices and with high ideals, but eventually corrupt little weasels take over from within "The Party", start purging the true believers, and simply replace the "decadent rich" class with "Party Faithful".
Regardless of right/wrong/justified/etc, most revolutions, and virtually every successful revolution, is carried out by the upper-mid to lower-upper class against the upper-upper class. The poor might go along with it, especially if it is justified, but long term they are rarely much better or worse off exchanging one set of overlords for another.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday July 15 2022, @12:10PM
I think a big factor saving the US from revolution is that the side that is most ready to fight, stockpiling guns, storming the capitol to overturn an election, etc. is also the side fervently protective of the rich not being taxed.
If they rile up the occupy types enough, then you might see some eat the rich type activities, but for now the rich have more than adequate public police protection, and of course the super rich have their own secret service style security forces.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Insightful) by epitaxial on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:21AM (2 children)
No it's fucking republicans, not fucking government.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2022, @05:10AM (1 child)
Hoping someday you'll grow up and stop being divisive.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 13 2022, @11:39AM
Oh yes, it's so "divisive" to place the blame for a policy precisely on the people who proposed and enacted that policy, so we should just pretend they aren't responsible for their own actions, right?
Let me ask you: When the federal government did something you didn't like recently, did you blame "the government" or blame Biden and the Democrats?
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by PiMuNu on Wednesday July 13 2022, @09:23AM (4 children)
An effective strategy for a politician seeking media coverage is to invent a ridiculous law that can easily support lots of journalists to write lots of editorials. The law has to be very carefully targeted so it alienates folks who wouldn't vote for you anyway.
It probably works better for the Republicans than the Democrats, given the demographic of their electorate.
Trump used this strategy to win a presidential election. Johnson here in UK played similar games.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @07:07PM (3 children)
How in the hell did the UK elect a PM named Boris right after the US elected a Russian sleeper agent with a Czech mail order bride?
It's no wonder Putin thinks he is impervious to repercussions...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday July 13 2022, @08:58PM (2 children)
Well-positioned friends thought Boris was a Russian agent as well. There are rumours that he has been chatting to a number of Russian oligarchs explicitly without his security detail, for example.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 13 2022, @09:40PM (1 child)
His F-ing name is BORIS!!! Are we living in an Austin Powers movie?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday July 14 2022, @06:34AM
Good point. In other news Donald is a duck. Joe is a GI. And Keir?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:16PM (2 children)
I think the chargers should stay, because it's infrastructure. I'm sure when the Interstates were first being built there were many who complained that so much money was being spent so rich people in their fancy motor cars could get to their country estates faster. But the Interstate highway system, like the rail networks before did (and still do), facilitated commerce and development and made the country as strong as it is now. It eased the transition from horse-drawn buggies to motorized transport. Suddenly poor people could go visit relatives three counties over, too.
Likewise supplying free public chargers facilitates the shift from ICE vehicles to EVs. People who own their own homes can charge at home and don't need public chargers. Renters in highrises have no place to charge an EV, so public chargers make it possible for them to recharge.
In a larger sense, having a public recharging network helps the country strategically. We're all suffering now because we still rely on oil and gas, whose supplies can be disrupted by war and natural disasters. Europe is about to feel double the pain when the Russians shut off the gas pipeline. So it is important to move our transportation and energy sectors to a renewable & local footing.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 13 2022, @02:32PM
This proposed law goes further, though. It wants to penalize private companies for putting up their own free charging stations. Maybe the Quik-E-Mart wants to put charging stations in their lot to entice people to come to their business, but this law would make them either provide free gasoline too, or burden them with paperwork showing how much of their business expense is passed on to the customer. This is what passes for "business friendly" politics these days.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday July 13 2022, @04:54PM
Wait a second ... does the gas pump have to work? Or be connected to a tank that's refilled regularly? Seems that a law like this may not be that well thought-out.