trboyden

6 ms·

1.
by trboyden 5y ago
By comparison, the US only spends 3.4% GDP on the military per year.
2.
by trboyden 5y ago
If you plotted all the other things the government spends money on, pensions would be the biggest chunk. Stop being dense.
3.
by trboyden 5y ago
In case you need me to Google that for you some more... US GDP is currently 21.43 Trillion dollars. 7% of that is 1.5 Trillion dollars. The 2020 Federal budget was 4.79 Trillion dollars. So, pensions are roughly a quarter of federal governm
4.
by trboyden 5y ago
Newsflash, most taxes have loopholes in them to allow the money to be used on things other than what they were intended for [1]. Vehicle taxes are used for multiple purposes, not just roads. Currently, 7.2% of GDP goes to pensions [2], and
5.
by trboyden 5y ago
Yes, continue the explanation with your math, including the part where you don't actually get that rebate; as part of the solar program financing, you have to hand that rebate over to the bank to pay the finance fees, which is factored
6.
by trboyden 5y ago
Hmmm. No. The payback is 20 years, which is the length of the panel life, and the limit on time the utilities have to pay you for the energy. After that, they get the energy from you for free.
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by trboyden 5y ago
Try $20k plus a re-roof at $10k. And that is for a small 1200sqft 3 bed/1 bath house that has full south-southwest exposure.
8.
by trboyden 5y ago
I put solar panels on my last house. You know what impact it had? Zero. Why? Because renewable energy sources are more costly, less efficient, and have a greater environmental impact over the full lifecycle than Natural Gas Plants [1]. If w
9.
by trboyden 5y ago
Doesn't work. Because corporations find loopholes around the law to achieve an "equivalent" of carbon reduction, that doesn't actually reduce it, but still call themselves green. If anyone thinks that planting a few tree
10.
by trboyden 5y ago
It's easy to throw around numbers without understanding the people behind them. Say the plumber whose business is worth $10 million dollars, pays himself $100k, and re-invests the rest back into his business and his employees. Is he ri
11.
by trboyden 5y ago
If you truly care about cost, efficiency, and the environment, you should be looking at Natural Gas plants [1]. They are inexpensive at $60 million each, are more efficient [2] than all other power generators, provide more power (which will
12.
by trboyden 5y ago
No, redistribution is organized extortion. I make $100, the government takes $50 of it, pockets $30 of that, and then redistributes $20 to those that will keep them in office (A.K.A. a bribe).
13.
by trboyden 5y ago
And your point is what? You just provided the exact evidence to what I already stated. Parts of the gas tax, excise taxes, vehicle sales tax, recycling fees, etc... are all fees that Americans pay that are supposed to go to addressing impac
14.
by trboyden 5y ago
Americans pay many fees and taxes that go to environmental concerns. They also see the government does not use that revenue to address those environmental concerns, because instead it goes to state and federal pensions. Therefore, the real
15.
by trboyden 5y ago
Quite a coincidence. My dad was an HM3 on the USS Frontier from 1964 to 1967. He also passed in 2016. He never talked much about his service though. I only remember one story he told where US soldiers were issued bullet proof vests for the
16.
by trboyden 5y ago
Except, they did. Apple started the threats against Epic when Epic started lowering their prices for add-ons on other platforms, which made Apple look greedy. To bolster their anti-competitive case against Apple, Epic turned on the in-app s
17.
by trboyden 5y ago
These replies to my comment are completely missing the point. The debate isn't about what is the better system, which is arbitrary, it is about whether you have a choice, period. If you didn't want to use Windows, you had a choice
18.
by trboyden 5y ago
Except, as we have seen with Epic, and why we are talking about this case, is they can, by dropping your app from the App Store in retribution for offering an alternative. They can do that because there is no other app store on Apple and ef
19.
by trboyden 5y ago
That's a false premise because consumers have endured the Microsoft ecosystem for decades and the risk vs choice is one that consumers have accepted. The only way Apple would have an argument for that aspect of their ecosystem, is that
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by trboyden 5y ago
Yes, digital downloads for Nintendo, Xbox. Digital gift cards for Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo, including credit for Playstation Store and Nintendo eStore.
21.
by trboyden 5y ago
I can also go into a mom and pop store, load Target's website on my phone, and order a pick-up order from Target. The Mom and Pop store can't stop you from doing that.
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by trboyden 5y ago
Except what you state already exists. I can load the Walmart app on iOS and order a TV from Walmart, not Apple. Apple is preventing Epic from doing the same - buy in-app merchandise through Epic's app on iOS.
23.
by trboyden 5y ago
The problem is, this is all marketing, and pricing it lower than Tesla is just a head-turner for the press, not the average citizens that actually buy these things. The base model F150 the low-end of the Lighting line compares to is only $2
24.
by trboyden 5y ago
This is a misconception of what is actually required by US state tax laws. The business is required to pay the tax on retail sales - they are not required to charge the consumer that tax. The fact that it has become common practice for reta
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by trboyden 6y ago
I believe that is anti-community in spirit and non-conductive to solving the issue you claim exists. Many developers breath of knowledge extends only to that they have experience with personally. Maybe they joined the project because they w
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by trboyden 6y ago
I think that is totally fine! Especially if it is organized that way from the start. But as soon as you allow contributions, is the project really yours anymore? Is it fair to the community that has contributed to your project, all of a sud
27.
by trboyden 6y ago
I can't help but think this is self-inflicted. If we really are to apply the spirit of open-source, wouldn't the community-pro action here be to open the project up to additional maintainers to pick up the slack and delegate out t
28.
by trboyden 6y ago
Not accurate and the car insurance market provides the model health insurance should be based on. In car insurance you have multiple providers you are free to choose from with different coverage levels and service options. If your bad drivi
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by trboyden 6y ago
I am sure the Nazis told the Jews there are plenty of opposition voices (government controlled ones) as well in the 1930s.
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by trboyden 6y ago
BTW, I WFH doing manufacturing ERP system implementations and custom development. I also have Psoriatic Arthritis, so have been pretty much sidelined at home since March 1, 2020. Used to travel a few times a year for work, which was nice, b

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