pvnick

8 ms·

1.
by pvnick 9y ago
Political discourse is off-limits on Hacker News * *Except when Sam Altman feels like talking about it
2.
by pvnick 9y ago
> The homeless in SF are disgusting. Why don't you tell us how you really feel?
3.
by pvnick 9y ago
> The only thing I can think of is fully funded group homes that are mandatory to live in -- basically prisons with nice amenities and educational programs that you can graduate out of based on demonstrating a track record of being able
4.
by pvnick 9y ago
By slowly withdrawing from the internet entirely. Cancelled my facebook and twitter accounts; the variety of websites I visit has dwindled to just a handful; I use a blackberry and will likely go to a flip-phone when I can find a decent che
5.
by pvnick 9y ago
The results are contradictory and highlight technical illiteracy of the respondents. Another conclusion: Americans trust ISPs to protect access to the internet more than they do any branch of government. These issues are complicated and sus
6.
by pvnick 9y ago
Something about large corporations bullying government officials into enacting their preferred legislation doesn't sit right with me.
7.
by pvnick 9y ago
Target the violence, not the speech. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Being an American, we have a bit of a libertarian underpinning to our culture, so maybe it is different. You use the term "hate speech" as if it is a definite th
8.
by pvnick 9y ago
Ignore it. How is that even up for debate?
9.
by pvnick 9y ago
Cutting down on trolling, perhaps. But there appears to be an encroaching ideologically-driven purge in some areas against people expressing "incorrect" speech. Most of the complaints seem to be focused on youtube, twitter, and fa
10.
by pvnick 9y ago
Folks always make this argument which this kind of thing comes up. Just because you as a private entity can limit free speech, doesn't mean you should . Censorship is generally a bad idea, and I as a private entity can be upset at H
11.
by pvnick 9y ago
While it is within Harvard's right as a private institution to dictate which speech it finds acceptable, it is perhaps still a bad idea. In today's culture, those in positions with the authority to moderate speech (e.g. online for
12.
by pvnick 9y ago
Vasco and his humanist priest had their Catholic theology all wrong, and their heresy had disastrous consequences. There is a tendency within Catholic circles to view oneself only as an irredeemable sinner. This fills one with shame and cau
13.
by pvnick 9y ago
1) Good - states' actions are how the constitution was framed 2) Weird - the governors appear to be taking action unilaterally by executive decree, which is how the Paris accord was originally agreed to (Obama) and reversed (Trump) Thi
14.
by pvnick 9y ago
If the Congress is unwilling to pass your agenda, then you usually just have to deal with not having your thing. That's the point of separation of powers. Going the extra-constituional route as a matter of course fed the GOP's ref
15.
by pvnick 9y ago
The Republican party seems split between the freedom caucus (less government) and the establishment (not sure what they stand for ... Maybe corporate and military interests?). The Democrats are more-or-less unified around the principle of i
16.
by pvnick 9y ago
I do not wish my statement to be taken as a partisan one (although I do admit to being conservative), but rather as a general observation about the dangers of executive decree.
17.
by pvnick 9y ago
That is because the previous president decided to unilaterally bind the country to the agreement rather than seek treaty ratification from Congress. It is a risk that ruling by executive decree entails.
18.
by pvnick 9y ago
You do yourself a disservice by misrepresenting my point. A lot of folks throw around the phrase "false equivalence" to mean that the current president is abnormally and objectively bad, and that those opposed to the administratio
19.
by pvnick 9y ago
Everybody is a political hack. There is no such thing as objective reporting. You are expressing a sentiment which reflects a suspicious and conspiratorial perspective on the Russia dealings. Rush Limbaugh would express a sentiment reflecti
20.
by pvnick 9y ago
A bit of a tangent - it seems to be common for folks to express disagreement with a certain sentiment by labeling the sentiment or the person expressing the sentiment as some adjective of repulsive, immoral, or gauche, rather than describin
21.
by pvnick 9y ago
Agreed - who cares, other than the odd nut like the author. The wings are spread out further and show more of the wing. It looks nicer.
22.
by pvnick 9y ago
> false equivalence and the need to sell newspapers to both sides of the aisle What does that mean? Are you saying you would prefer the paper take a more hardline stance in favor of one side because you perceive that side to be objective
23.
by pvnick 9y ago
What an unnecessarily cruel thing to desire
24.
by pvnick 9y ago
It may be fine for self-absorbed silicon valley types with plenty to eat but that sentiment condemns people on the lower rungs of the economic ladder to financial ruin and death.
25.
by pvnick 9y ago
Interesting (and perhaps emotionally satisfying), yes. Productive, no. Imposing tariffs is akin to shooting yourself in the foot if what you really want is innovation in clean energy.
26.
by pvnick 9y ago
Doesn't matter - tariffs decrease purchasing power (these things have a tendency to affect unrelated markets because of the economy's interconnectedness), and lower purchasing power means slower economic activity, which includes i
27.
by pvnick 9y ago
This is an emerging talking point, but tariffs are a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot maneuver; restricting free trade increases the barriers to innovation, and innovation is precisely what renewable energy sources need to become cost effective.
28.
by pvnick 9y ago
Good - renewable energy is becoming more efficient and within our lifetimes will become overtake fossil fuels as the most cost-effective forms of energy. Indeed this will happen faster in the absence of taxes and regulations that slow innov
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by pvnick 9y ago
With the rise in interest in political activism, it's worth reading Saul Alinksy's Rules for Radicals. All sides are moving towards utilization of the tactics and ethics contained therein, and it's helpful to understand how c
30.
by pvnick 9y ago
Then it is the regulations that need changing

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